《Tree of Aeons (an Isekai Story)》 The Tree’s first years Death and reincarnation I am Matt, an indie game developer. I died in a bus accident on my way home. ¡°You died.¡± An old man says. He reminds me a little of Santa Claus. ¡°Oh, I did.¡± It is a plain white space. Reminds me of the scene where Morgan Freeman plays a god, so I look at him and ask. ¡°Are you God, and is this the pearly gates?¡± ¡°Yes I am a god.. My name is Mozart, and I¡¯m the administrator of the soul transmission system.¡± Mozart. What a name. ¡°Uh soul transmission? Wait. Reincarnation?¡± ¡°Yes. Like all the isekai stories you¡¯ve been reading.¡± Oh that¡¯s a good way to explain it. Thinking about all the other reincarnation stories I could not help but feel a little excited. Would I get to build a harem? ¡°Oh nice. So, what am I reincarnated as? What special powers do I get?¡± ¡°Roll this.¡± A big disc appears with weird characters on them. It is like a giant wheel of fortune, complete with colors. ¡°Huh? What is this?¡± ¡°This is the race wheel. The result of your roll woll tells you what you get to be in your next life. You can be a mosquito, or a dragon, or maybe even a minor deity.¡± ¡°Hmm, why not a human? That¡¯s how it normally is for isekai stories.¡± ¡°You did not qualify.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Based on the kind of life you led, you do not qualify to be reincarnated as a human.¡± ¡°So¡­.¡± Oh that sucks. ¡°But why?¡± ¡°That''s just how the rules are. Roll the wheel. You will be randomly allocated a race to reincarnate as.¡± I could not comprehend what are the words on the wheel, so I look at Mozart. More accurately, I stare at him ¡°Seriously? Is this a trick?¡± ¡°Just roll. Or you can be a mosquito. That¡¯s permissible. Or a small gecko.¡± ¡°Fuck that. I will roll the wheel then.¡± I am just about to roll the wheel, then I stare at him again. I do recall having died in a bus accident, so there¡¯s quite a few other guys on the bus. Am I being singled out here? ¡°Erm.. how are the other guys in the bus?¡± ¡°Dead. They are going to be reincarnated as well. After you.¡± ¡°Oh. So, do they need to roll the wheel as well, like me?¡± ¡°Nope. They will be reincarnated as humans or elves.¡± Hey, I am being singled out! That¡¯s quite unfair! ¡°What. How come?¡± ¡°They have been chosen by the gods, and those who pray for heroes. Selected as champions of the world they are going into, so they get special powers and stuff, to fight a big bad guy.¡± ¡°How about me?¡± ¡°You are not a champion. You just happen to get on the same bus as the kids.¡± Wait. I am collateral damage? That reminds me that there are quite a few teenagers on that bus. It¡¯s a route that passes by a mall, and it''s late so they probably are on their way home after an outing. ¡°Why them? Why do they get to be champions?¡± ¡°Because they are young, courageous, good hearted and have a desire to do good. Not yet tainted by the evils of society.¡± ¡°Wait. So you chose kids to bear the burdens of the world?¡± ¡°That''s the criteria the gods and the people look for, so that''s what they get.¡± ¡°Damn.¡± I roll the wheel. And it stops at some random word that I did not understand¡­ Wait. The word transforms now. ¡°A tree.¡± I understood what it said. ¡°What?!?!¡± Hey this is not going the way I thought it would. I am supposed to get super powers and get reincarnated. ¡°Yeah, trees have souls too.¡± Mozart seems rather nonchalant about it. ¡°Trees are not bad, actually.¡± ¡°How about grass?¡± ¡°Oh grasses of a critical mass have souls. Before that they don¡¯t. For trees it is their age. Once the trees reach about a certain size they get a soul. There are world or species specific exceptions of course.¡± ¡°Uh.¡± ¡°Anyway. Tree. Goodbye-¡± Blackness. Darkness. Kind of like a TV screen gets turned off in the old CRT days. And then a menu. What is a reincarnation story without a menu, right? It shines against the dark backdrop, and reminds me of old DOS interfaces. Oh a clock. Year 1 Month 0 [Skills : [Hibernate], [Germinate], [Autopilot]] [Species : Normal Tree] [Level : 1] Oh wait. Skills and levels. Ah yes I get to do awesome shit! At first I thought it would take some loading time. Maybe this dark space is like a loading screen. But then a good two hours later I am still in this darkness. And I do not feel a damn thing. No sensation, no vision, no sound either. It''s still dark. Am I supposed to do something? I try to open my eyes but it is still dark. I kept waiting. I don¡¯t seem to tire physically, but I felt mentally exhausted. An Hour. A day. Two days. Three days. Four days. Five days. Six days. A week. The clock just keeps ticking and nothing freaking happens. Darkness. Black. Black. Black. Frustrated I tried using my skills. [Germinate] Not the right season. A pop up appears. What is the season then? Once I had that thought, next to the clock a seasonal calendar appears. Another DOS like menu, but with a slowly moving indicator that says ¡°winter¡±. Curious, I click [autopilot], and suddenly a popup appears. [Autopilot engaged. You have activated [hibernate]. And I recall falling into a sleep like state. And when I woke up, a good four months passed on the clock. But still darkness. At least the season menu says [spring]. [Autopilot has activated [germinate]]. Nothing happens. It is still darkness to me. And with autopilot active, time passes quickly. At first I thought I misunderstood the clock, but it soon became quite obvious that 1 second is actually 1 hour. Which is really convenient because there is absolutely nothing to do. And so time passes. A year passes. Another year passes. And another year. Year 4 In the fourth year, a string of notification appears, instantly kicking me out of autopilot. [Amber Lee has died. You received a fragment.] [Samantha Chandran has died. You received a fragment.] [Peter Varoufakis has died. You received a fragment.] [Hyuna Park has died. You received a fragment.] [Reed Constance has died. You received a fragment.] [Shah Rasul has died. You received a fragment.] [Mai has died. You received a fragment.] [Lee Kang Ho has died. You received a fragment.] [Shane Andrew Fillon has died. You received a fragment.] [Pink Fong has died. You received a fragment.] [The Demon King Asmodai has been defeated and sealed back to the demonic realm] Oh wow. At first, I do not recognise these names at all. But when the demon king¡¯s notification popped up, that is when I realise that the kids won. And nothing. Again. Darkness. I thought something would happen, perhaps it would prompt me that our mission is complete and we would move on to the next reincarnation, but nothing. A year passed. Another year. And another year. Year 8 A notification appeared. Similar to the others previously, it just says Saita Maru died. Year 9 Mark Antoinette died. Year 11 Samantha Charleston died. Year 14 Kim Possibru died. Year 15 A demon king appeared. [Demon King Astaroth has spawned.] Frankly I think I should panic, but somehow being trapped in this darkness I can do absolutely nothing. Year 17 A string of notifications again. Azares Fox, Sarah Cole, Pamela Seis, Lucy Braveheart, Winston Chow, Donald Stump all died. Cumulatively, a total of twenty fragments now. It seems to suggest that they have been defeated by the Demon King. Year 20 An interesting message appeared. [The Gods has summoned twenty new heroes from beyond to answer to the threat of Demon King Astaroth.] Oh god. More kids? Year 25 Indeed, 5 years after they were summoned, Demon King Astaroth is defeated. But in the process, another eleven kids died, and now I have all these 31 fragments with their names sitting in my menu. I get the feeling that this circle never quite ends. Demon Kings appear, and the gods summon heroes from beyond to answer them. In the next 10 years, another five died, and their death seems to be spread out, suggesting either they somehow fought and killed each other, or someone or something killed them. Year 45 Another demon king appeared. Demon King Dantalion. Somewhat predictably, on the 47th year, another four names died, and that brings my total to 40 fragments. Year 47 The gods summoned another fifteen heroes to this world. Year 50 Demon King Dantalion, and of the fifteen, ten of them died. And I have a total of 50 fragments. Thankfully it seems my menu has changed such that the fragments now have their own dedicated menu. It seems like if the world had another demon king attack, the gods will always summon heroes to answer them. Year 52 I am jolted out of the darkness by a spirit. A spirit that I can actually see. It is like he is a light in a sea of darkness. ¡°Hello.¡± A young boy, no older than ten. ¡°Hi.¡± ¡°Oh my god, did you just talk?!!!!¡± He shouts and then runs in circles for a while. ¡°Wait I think everyone else will think I am crazy if I say a tree can talk.¡± ¡°Yes of course.¡± Frankly I can only see his spirit, shining against the dark background. ¡°Erm.. do you have a name, o tree spirit?¡± At that point I wonder whether he sees me as a tree or as a person. ¡°My name is Matt. What is yours?¡± ¡°Indra. I am ten this year, and I am a druid.¡± ¡°Hello Indra.¡± He seems quite willing to talk. ¡°I see. How come you can see me?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I think that is because I have a unique skill. It is called [Soul Communion].¡± ¡°Sounds really special.¡± ¡°It does not do much actually. Just allows me to see and talk to ghosts and stuff. Oh my, I think I better go back.¡± Looking at the time it is quite late at night. ¡°Well, drop by if you feel like it. It is nice to talk to someone.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Indra nods, and walks off. Indra would later come by every week, and we would talk. ¡°Can I ask for a favor?¡± He asks one day, after a few months talking. ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Would you mind being my magical companion?¡± ¡°How does that work?¡± ¡°I get to summon you to aid me in battle.¡± ¡°I would love to, but I think I do not do much. I am not sure if I have any combat powers.¡± ¡°Its okay, nobody I know have a tree familiar. I think it should be quite cool.¡± ¡°Fine then.¡± Indra starts mumbling some things, and that is when I have a popup. [Indra has requests to enter into a familiar contract. Do you accept?] A menu to click yes or no appears, and I mentally choose yes. Indra smiles. ¡°Yay! I have a tree familiar. This is so awesome. I bet nobody else has a nature-aspect familiar.¡± Later that week he returns, and sits next to me. ¡°My teachers took a look at my tree familiar form and so I might be going away for a long time. It seems the druid council wants to see more of my tree familiar abilities, as it is fairly rare in the world.¡± ¡°Oh. Good luck then. Is it that special?¡± ¡°Yes. It is quite different from other forms as it has mostly defensive and healing skills.¡± Hmm I didn''t even realise he use my skills. Seems like once I agree to the familiar contract, I don¡¯t really need to do anything. At which point I wonder whether I could see what my tree familiar skills look like. pop A menu appears. [Tree Familiar] [Level 1] [Skills : Ironbark skin, Healing fruit, Minor Regeneration] Seems my familiar contracts skills are quite different from my own, or maybe the familiar form has its own skill tree? ¡°It is my first time going so far away from home.¡± ¡°Are you scared?¡± ¡°Yes. But I think it is also an adventure! My mom tells me not to worry though. I will be going with the town¡¯s lead druid to the capitol.¡± ¡°Sounds like fun. Spend more time with your parents before you go, okay? Never know when you will see them again.¡± Since the day I died, the people I miss the most are my parents, and then followed by my friends. ¡°You¡¯re right, I should spend more time with my family. I should go.¡± Indra nods, and gives me a small bow. ¡°Bye. Good luck with your trip. Stay safe.¡± Unfortunately, that is the last time I ever saw Indra. About three years later (Year 55), I got a notification. [Indra Sinahalia has died. All the experience accumulated by Indra when using your familiar form. You have gained 13 levels. A fragment of Indra¡¯s unique skill has been bequeathed to you in accordance with the familiar contract. You have obtained unique skill : Lesser Spirit Vision] You have also received the skill [Limited Telepathic Communication] For the first time in forever, I can see. It is not the kind of sight that humans normally have, but I can now see spirits of people if they are really nearby, and the pitch black background is now replaced with a black background with faint outlines. So that¡¯s how I come to the realisation that I am in some kind of park. Or a garden. And people. They are all a distance away but every now and then they would pass me by. At a distance, they are all a blob, kind of like a wisp, but as they walk nearer, the details improve. It¡¯s kind of like shortsightedness, but for spirits. I attempt to communicate, but so far all just run away. It felt like they all thought they are being disturbed by ghosts. Disappointed at how the people around refuse to communicate, I went back and examine my levels. A tree with a skills, As a result of those levels, I gained skills that upgrade the effects of my familiars, boosting my telepathic powers, gaining some other skills and some healing skills. I should have used my skills first before attempting to communicate but hey, its hard to hide my excitement when I suddenly receive the ability to see and talk. But thanks to the higher levels in skills my visual range improved. Sadly, very few people actually walk near enough for me to communicate with them. It seems I¡¯m placed quite deep in the park or garden so everyone seems to be quite a distance away. Even with some additional skills, they pretty much need to be next to me to hear anything. So¡­. nothing happens for quite some time again. Year 56. A fight breaks out. I could vaguely see lots of spirits in the distance fighting some soulless creatures (they appear as a rough moving shadow). The battle seems intense, as many of the spirits get extinguished, and the battle spills over into the park as well. One of the human fighters stands next to me, and excited, I took the chance to communicate. Maybe he needs help, and I can get him to agree to a familiar contract. ¡°Ugh damned demons¡­¡± At this distance, I could hear what he says, and I could tell from my [inspect] skill that he is wounded. ¡°Need some help?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± He looks around, one hand still clutching his wounds. He then looks at the tree. ¡°Talking tree?¡± ¡°You need help?¡± ¡°Ah. Yes.¡± [Healing fruit] As a result of my skills I now have the skill to create a small fruit that gives some healing affect. [Familiar Contract]. The battle is still ongoing, so i figure that they do not have much time. ¡°Oh.¡± He accepts, and munches down the fruit. His wound heals somewhat, and he nods. ¡°Thanks. I should go and help the rest now.¡± I did not see that guy again after that, and ten days later I got a notification [Semara Falk has died. You gained 1 level] [Level 15] Oh that''s it eh. The soulless monsters appear every now and then since that day, and the people repeatedly try to fight them off. Some days I could see those monsters everywhere, even around me. Thankfully they did not indiscriminately destroy everything, so they did not attack me. I wonder what happens if they attacked me then, perhaps I would die. Then a few days later the humans or whatever would come back and chase them away. This lasted for a good two months, as the battles ebb and flow, and then eventually the humans won. A lull. And then a person approaches me. ¡°Is this the tree?¡± Hmm. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Ah. It is! I am Starric, Semara¡¯s squad leader, and he asks me on his death to thank you. Thanks to the power of your familiar he became quite the hero.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have much, but he also asks me to bury his trusty sword next to you.¡± Starric digs a hole and then places the sword inside. ¡°Would you like a familiar?¡± I ask. ¡°It is okay. I already have a familiar spirit of my own.¡± Ah damn. After he leaves, a few days later, a spirit appears next to me. ¡°Hi.¡± It¡¯s that Semara guy. ¡°Huh? Why are you here?¡± ¡°Oh. I am just a part of Semara that is embedded in the sword. The real me died and passed on.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s complicated, but the sword has been by my side since my youth for the past thirty years. So a fragment of me is in it.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°So¡­ how long will you be here?¡± ¡°Maybe a few more months. I will eventually fade away with time..¡± With Semara next to me, we end up talking. A lot. Semara is a lot more knowledgeable about the world compared to Indra, so he had more to share. That is how I learn a bit more about the world I am in. This world has many gods and religions, and magic is commonplace. Demons and monsters appear frequently, as a result of the world¡¯s proximity to the demonic realm. And due to stellar movements and astronomical forces, the barrier that protects the world from the demons occasionally weakens, and that results in stronger demons entering the world. That sometimes leads to the entrance of Demon Kings. Gods and kings of the world, respond to this by summoning heroes from another world. The heroes rise to defeat the demons, and usually they do succeed, at great cost. The world today has five remaining heroes. Arsene Emir, Valerian, Roana, Ashley Cole, and David Becks, and it seems after the defeat of Demon King Dantalion 5 years ago, they have since fallen out with each other, and are now fighting to be the most powerful ruler in the world. Demons and monsters still appear frequently, even if the demon king has fallen, demons and monsters are still a huge threat to the world. And demon kings are not the sole threat, though they are extremely powerful and seek to destroy the world and remake it in their homeworld, so in a way they are the most dangerous of them. Those 6 months pass a little easier with Semara to share his knowledge, but good times do not last very long, and so Semara fades away after those 6 months, disappearing back into his sword. Year 57, Month 1 On the first day of the year, a young elf kneels before me. ¡°Oh tree, I, Salada Stoppu of the elvish tribe, humbly request for the blessing of the tree spirit.¡± How did this random elf know of my existence? And his name is Salad? ¡°How did you know about me?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ erm..¡± He seems a little embarrassed, but then kneels. ¡°You have been listed in the register of benign spirits by the local council, following the reports of Captain Starric to the town council.¡± I am in a register of the town council. Seriously. I feel like a botanic garden exhibit. ¡°Fine. Familiar contract?¡± Thinking about how Semara¡¯s spirit accompanied me for 6 months, I add a condition. ¡°You must leave an item with strong personal connection to yourself with me, and on your death, your weapon should be buried near me.¡± He nods, and buries a small wooden chain next to my roots. ¡°This is a small chain I made when I was a kid. Is this fine?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I frankly do not know what is the criteria to recreate Semara¡¯s case but I say yes. And then, I offer him the familiar contract. Maybe I¡¯ll gain a skill that lets me tell someday. He kneels and he leaves, feeling happy. I sigh, and I go back into my autopilot mode. Year 57, Month 8 Another elf comes to find me. Another boy by the name Croissanta Fillings. Same deal with Salada I offer a familiar contract and he buries a small metal ring. Happy, he then walks away. I wonder how long do I have to live as a tree. Would I live longer than them? A popup appears. Trees are eternal if they do not get killed. No shit. Year 57, Month 11. I gain a level [Level 16]. But nobody died. Strange. Year 57, Month 12 Somebody visits. He does not respond to me but he seems to be trimming some of my branches. But since I do not feel any damage I let him be. He also then collects the trimmed branches, and leaves. Year 58, Month 1 I gain one level [Level 17]. And I acquire a skill called [self awareness]. Unlike what it says, for a tree, it means being able to look at myself. That is the first time I can see all my branches and my roots. I am actually pretty big, about the size of a small house. Being able to see myself, I also realise that guy trimming my branches are crushing them to make some kind of tea. Maybe that is why I am gaining levels? Year 58 Month 2 Another elf named Corna Corrola comes and ask to be my familiar. Turns out elves have a thing for tree spirits (which is quite rare) and on discovery of a tree spirit in the town of Moton, quite a few migrate to live near me. Anyway, I agree to let Corna Corrola have a familiar, so I give her the usual terms, but I also made a special request, which is I want her to come back every 6 months and tell me what happens. Year 58 month 6 I gained another level. Nothing in particular happened. [Level 18] Year 58 Month 7 A human kneels. He asks for blessing to heal his child of his disease. ¡°I am not sure whether I can, but I can try. Bring him to me.¡± A small baby, probably 8 months. He looks really sick. I create a magical healing fruit with all the nutrients I can gather. The man feeds it to his child. The child still is sick, and the man leaves with the child. Three days later he comes back with the child. The child¡¯s spirit looks better. Turns out due to the war against the demons, there are no more healers in this small town. Most of them died some time ago, and those that survive now serve in the royal army, on the King¡¯s army. Child is actually just having a very bad fever. I gain a level. [Level 19] The man returns a few days later again with poop. Cow poop, and he mixes it into the dirt. Fertiliser? I feel nothing, and I thank my lucky stars I cannot smell cow poop. Year 58 Month 12 Winter. During this time I cannot create fruits. A man kneels and begs for help for his wife, but I cannot do it no matter how much I want to. I tell him to hang in there and return when spring comes around. Year 59 Month 1 The man returns and curses me. I guess she did not make it, so I do not respond. And after the exchange, I gain a level and a skill. [Level 20] [Minor winter-resistance] Yeah, that man is going to hate me. Year 59 Month 2 A young lady drops by, and begs me to protect her husband. Her husband will be going to war soon, to defend the country from a demonic rift that appeared somewhere. Her voice sounds like she wants to cry, but I am a tree, so in my mind I can only empathise, and explain that I am not a god, I do not have the power to provide blessings. I am just a tree living here. ¡°Is there really nothing you can do?¡± ¡°Does he want a familiar?¡± ¡°Oh. I¡¯ll ask him.¡± The next day a young man comes, along with the young lady. ¡°Is this the tree you¡¯ve been visiting?¡± He glances up, and shrugs. ¡°Doesn¡¯t look very impressive.¡± ¡°Please Andy, a familiar might protect you.¡± He shakes his head. ¡°Do you have no confidence in me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that, but if something can give you a bit more protection, will you not take it?¡± Andy sighs, and walks really near to me. ¡°This is so weird, talking to a tree, but hey, if you hear me, can I get a familiar? Just so that my wife feels safer?¡± I wonder whether having a familiar would offer any protection, as they might overestimate their own abilities and end up taking more risk, but I offer a familiar contract anyway. Andy seems a bit surprised, ¡°Oh wow. There really is a spirit here.¡± The wife smiles, ¡°Please come back to me, Andy.¡± ¡°Yes yes.¡± He accepts, and the couple leaves. Year 59 Month 3 The man with the sick wife returns. With something in his hand. He scolds and shouts for a while, and starts hacking at me. I don¡¯t feel any pain however, and it is then I realise that my trunk is really really hard. After some time, he gives up and leaves. It is about that time I wonder how did that other guy manage to trim my branches. Year 59 Month 4 Corna Corolla returns, and when she touches me I actually get the experience accumulated so far on the familiar. [I gain 3 levels. I am now level 23.] She tells me that there is some heavy fighting going on at the moment, and that the town of Moton may not last for very long, as the town is located near the border with the wastelands. Year 59 Month 9 A bad month, really. The month started with 3 deaths, the 3 elves all died within days of each other. [Corna Corolla has died] [Salada Stoppu has died] [Croissonta Fillings has died] I gained 12 levels. I am now level 35, and my species transform from normal tree to spiritual tree. At this point my skills are still mostly things like healing, and defense, but I also gained a skill that is a sort of ¡°insurance¡±, called, [tree-rebirth]. Year 59 Month 10. Death comes to the town of Moton. I see monsters attacking the town every day, and as much as I want to help, nobody got near enough for me to grant a familiar contract. I see some fighting in the distance, but it looks like the defenders are losing. On the last day of the month, it seems the war is getting really bad. [Arsene Emir has died. You gain a fragment.] Oh. One of the reincarnators has fallen. Year 59 Month 11. [Demon King Baal has entered the world!] 9 years after the fall of Demon King Dantalion, another Demon King enters the battlefield. Is it me, or it seems to be getting more frequent? Moton at this point is deserted. There¡¯s absolutely not a single soul that I can see from my [spirit vision]. I hope it¡¯s more of a case of people fleeing, rather than killed, but the past month¡¯s battle makes that seem rather unlikely. Year 60 Month 2. My surrounding is absolutely barren. Monsters now wander everywhere, and a few tried to cut me down, but thankfully my bark is really strong, and these monsters give up once they realise it¡¯s pointless. Year 60 Month 9. The town of Moton is no more. The destruction of the past few days has been massive. And I think I see the Demon King. Oh shit. He¡¯s huge. A massive, massive presence, he looks like he is the height of a 3 story building. Even at a distance I could see his burning presence, and I could see a soul, but unlike human souls which normally appear faint white in color, the demon king¡¯s presence is a bright red one, and is surrounded by a reddish fire. [The Demon King Baal] A red name hovers right above his soul. Oh damn it really is him. He turns, notices me, and he walks towards me. ¡°Tree?!¡± He roars, and the earth shakes. Oh shit. I felt myself shiver and tingle, and I do not even know how I can feel the tingle when I got no sense other than vision! He raises his arm, and slashes. ¡°Ughhhhhhh!¡± I yelp in pain. For someone who is a tree, I am amazed and frightened that I can feel pain. It felt like I got hit by a car, or a truck. The top has been chopped off. For a brief moment, I thought I see his burning soul smile, and then he walks off. I am in immense pain, feeling like I a. being pulled in multiple directions, but a short while later, I am just thankful that I live. I live! I am just a tree stump now, but trees do not die so easily! He disappears into the distance, and once he is out of sight, I fall into some kind of sleep. Year 65 Month 2 Oh shit I¡¯ve been sleeping for the past 4 years?! I am still mostly a stump, but now a few small shoots emerge from the sides. There¡¯s a notification menu that thankfully records all the string of messages I missed. The four remaining reincarnators has been killed, but amazingly, they manage to slay the Demon King Baal as well. Also, I gain a level [Level 36]. And an achievement. [Demon King Survivor] Moving house Year 65 Month 8 The shoots are not growing very well. In fact, they survive for no longer than a week, and then die off. And because the shoots as a result of a lack of nutrients or sunlight (frankly I''m not sure what my body needs) my ability to stay conscious is really poor. Still, a random elven druid visits. ¡°Oh tree, are you still there?¡± He touches the stump, carefully inspecting the damage from the demon king¡¯s claws. ¡°Yes I am.¡± I reply, but he doesn¡¯t seem to understand me. ¡°Ah¡­ the damage must have really weakened you.¡± He touches the stump, and seems to be using some kind of druid magic. I feel invigorated, but only temporarily. It seems that energy is quickly drained away. ¡°The demon king¡¯s presence has tainted these grounds, that is why you are unable to recover. To survive when the fire still burns and the grounds corrupted shows you must be a strong tree!¡± I do not sense the demon king¡¯s presence, but maybe my ability to see is impaired as well. As I still could not really keep myself awake for very long, I didn''t dwell on it. ¡°I will help you, and that will include moving you out of these tainted lands.¡± He says, and leaves. I wonder how he plans to move me. Year 65 Month 9 A few men arrive, all of them appear quite old. Oh, and that druid from last month. ¡°This is the tree I mentioned. It is amazing that is survives an attack by a demon king.¡± ¡°Indeed. I believe the druid council would like to examine it further.¡± Another man speaks, he seems to be holding some kind of wooden staff, and he kneels over me. "These fires are interesting." ¡°Should we move it back to the druid council garden?¡± ¡°Hmm, I rather not. I rather not have the others discover this. Druidhome already has another tree spirit. I would rather we keep this for ourselves.¡± ¡°True. Would be troublesome if the other group finds it. Where do you propose?¡± ¡°Am thinking either Solaza¡¯s mansion or the Adventurer Guild¡¯s garden, or Temple of Gaya¡¯s garden.¡± ¡°The adventurer¡¯s guild. I think that won¡¯t be a place they will expect.¡± ¡°I prefer the Temple of Gaya. Easier to explain why we are moving trees, especially with the reconstruction happening there. The Caretaker would want to have a look at this as well.¡± They vote, and eventually decide on the Temple of Gaya. I feel a little headache from following their conversation. The five of them spread out in a circle, surrounding me. And they start mumbling something, and then I feel the entire ground shake, and crack. Then, the entirety of the earth around e floats and one of the guys take out some kind of sack. And then it is just all black for me. Maybe they somehow suck me into the sack or some kind of druid-tree moving magic, I''m not sure. Turns out once my roots no longer touch any land, I just lose consciousness. Year 65 Month 10 ¡°How is it reacting to the transplanting?¡± ¡°Better than expected. Color seems to be returning somewhat and the taint of the Demon King is fading. But the fires remain.¡± ¡°Did I say I am amazed it can resist the demon king¡¯s fire and attack and also its corruption?¡± "Yes you did. But I think most druids would be." ¡°That''s what makes it worth studying.¡± The guys are talking, and I could still hear them faintly. But I find my consciousness fade every now and then, so I could not catch everything. They come over every other day to check on me, but some days I just cannot keep myself awake, though I do seem to be gradually recovering. Year 66 Month 2 I feel much better now and I can actually keep myself awake. Those guys still come over regularly and now I notice they have been casting some kind of spell on me. I think it sounds like some kind of [appraisal]. On top of that, they seem to be poking me with weird contraptions, and they seem very interested on my stump, mumbling about fires of hell and stuff like that. Still, I''m too sleepy to think too much, and everytime I do I get a headache. Year 66 Month 3 ¡°Is this the tree?¡± An old man comes to visit. Seriously, I''m really popular with old men. Is it a thing in fantasy worlds for old men to constantly poke at interesting things? ¡°Yes.¡± He touches the stump, and seems to be rather deep in thought. ¡°From Moton, you say?¡± ¡°Yes. It survived a demon king¡¯s claws, the scars on the stump still char a little with the demon¡¯s fires.¡± ¡°A fascinating sight. To see the demon king''s fires still burn on the stump¡± Wait, the demon king¡¯s fire is still burning my stump? I took a good hard look at myself, and that''s when suddenly I feel a surge of pain. It seems [autopilot] cut off a portion of my senses, so I did not notice that I am still being burned. [Status : The Fire of Baal] Whoah. And oww. Oww oww oww. It feels like touching a hot kettle, for a long time. Pain. PAIN. [Autopilot]. [Autopilot] is suppressing the sensations from the burning surface. ¡°These fires¡­ we should learn more about them.¡± The old man says, seemingly touching the fire with a small stick. The younger man scratches his chin. ¡°The demon king will return someday. We can better defeat them if we know what we face.¡± ¡°What do you have in mind, Caretaker?¡± ¡°Can we defeat demons with their own power?¡± The Caretaker muses, twirling the stick in the fire. The question stuns the younger man. ¡°It must be possible, for demon kings must demand the obedience of their minions, so they must have a power to control or punish their minions. So the fires of a demon must be able to damage any other demon, or else they would have no way to keep order.¡± ¡°Caretaker, to channel the demon¡¯s powers, that¡­ that may be seen as witchcraft and perhaps blasphemy. Best not to repeat it.¡± The younger man shakes his head. ¡°Perhaps you are right.¡± The Caretaker sighs. "Good reminder, Acolyte." "To stay the path of Gaya, is my duty, Caretaker." Year 66 Month 9 The past months is filled with people all investigating the endlessly burning fire on my stump. Usually it''s the same few old men with different contraptions or spells. The investigators and researchers would try things like dousing me on holy water, or trying to extract my stump surface. Still, the conclusion they seem to draw is that I am strong enough not to die from it, and not let it burn the rest of me, but not strong enough to extinguish the fire. The Fire of Baal also interfere with all my attempts to telepathically communicate. I suspect they seem to hear something, but they could not make out any details. The stump is actually constantly regenerating a sheet of fire-resistant layer, and that layer gets replaced by another layer once the fires completely consume the upper layer.¡± Ah, so it''s kind of like a zerg rush and a wall of turrets. Maybe that analogy doesn''t quite work. Year 67 Month 1 It happened in the middle of the night. A group of masked men sneaks into the temple grounds, they dress like typical cults, in dark hoodies and masks, and carry weird religious-like items. ¡°This is it. The tree that carries the Fires of Baal.¡± One points. ¡°So the rumours are true. The Temple of Gaya is really experimenting with demonfire.¡± "To find demonfire, the master will be pleased.¡± He takes out a kind of vase. I think it is a vase, because it looks like a vase from the outline. The cultists seem to mumble some kind of weird chant, as the one holding the vase leans close to me. Heopens the cork on top of the vase, and it seems to suck up all the fires into it. It has a cork, does it make it a whiskey bottle instead? I wish I could see properly. ¡°Harvest the fires and lets go.¡± ¡°Yes yes.¡± About ten minutes later he is done, and strangely, at that point someone shouts. ¡°Stop! What are you doing!¡± Oh come on, why do guards always spot them only when they are done. ¡°Let''s split!¡± The cultists shout. And they all flee in different directions, and then into the distance. [The Fire of Baal removed. Negative effects on some of your passive recovery, skills, spells and abilities removed] Oh thank you cultists, and I hope I do not meet a demon king again. The next day. ¡°Who is behind this?¡± ¡°The fires are gone!¡± ¡°Did you hear me? Who is behind this!¡± ¡°Anyone able to collect the fires of Baal must be affiliated to the demons. Perhaps the demon cults.¡± No shit, genius, ¡°Ugh. No one spotted them?¡± ¡°The guards did. They are dead now. We found a few of them killed in the alleys.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± With the fires gone, I am not very interesting anymore. Nobody even comes over to visit, and quiet returns. I''m not hot anymore. Year 67 Month 3 A small boy sits on me. I offer a familiar contract, and he rejects. Damn. Year 67 Month 5 Without the Fires of baal, I am able to now regrow a proper trunk in the past 5 months, right next to my stump. With this, I feel a bit more energetic than before. Year 67 Month 8 ¡°This is the tree that has a seat!¡± With a the trunk growing rapidly, I am now like a small tree, with a stump stuck at the side. In a way I look like a chair. Or maybe a stump + stick combo. It seems quite a few people do come over and sit on me, but most seems to ignore all my familiar contracts. I wonder why, and then a popup explains ''Believers of Gaya cannot accept familiars of nature, and are naturally resistant to telepathy.'' Ah that explains why everyone rejects me. An old man approaches me one day, on the last few days of the month. ¡°Hi tree.¡± He looks a little crazy. His soul looks really messed up. ¡°I am dying. And I am looking for a place to be buried. Can I bury myself here?¡± I have no idea how to respond to such a question. Seriously. Should I say, yes, please bury yourself here, or should I say, no, don''t bury yourself here? He touches my growing trunk. ¡°Yes. I will bury myself here.¡± Uh. Okay. You made the decision, so I''m not saying a thing. Hey, maybe you''ll end up a spirit next to me like Semara. Year 67 Month 9 That same death-wish old man sits on me, and then falls asleep. He did not wake up, and I could see his soul fading. He is discovered later in the evening by the temple guys. ¡°Oh dear. This crazy old man really died here.¡± A young temple initiate complains. ¡°He been telling the Caretaker he wants to be buried here.¡± ¡°Call the Caretaker." I am guessing the Caretaker is some kind of position in the Temple of Gaya, but no one answers me. The Caretaker from before returns and kneels over the old man¡¯s corpse. ¡°Old friend, I will bury you here as you asked.¡± The two initiates complain. ¡°But Caretaker, he is not a believer. What gives him the right to be buried in the temple grounds?¡± ¡°He was a believer. His three sons fought valiantly against the Demons, a part of the warriors of Gaya. But their death made him curse us, curse the temple, for bringing doom to his family, so he stopped believing. In his dying days I believe he has come around.¡± ¡°Ah.. if you say so, Caretaker.¡± They dig a hole next to my roots a day later, and buried him next to me. Strangely enough, it is not in a coffin. Perhaps they do not have such culture here. Come to think of it, I do not recall ever seeing coffins. I feel relieved that I won''t get chopped up to be made into coffins. I wonder whether he will end up being a spirit. Year 67 Month 10 ¡°Hello tree spirit.¡± ¡°Oh. Hello old man.¡± The old man really did become a spirit, even though it did take him a few weeks. I wonder why it takes him so long to transform from dead man to spirit. Is there like some kind of incubation period? ¡°Have you been here for long?¡± ¡°No. I just appeared today. I think your roots are in my body now, so now you can see me." Hmm, my roots? ¡°Oh. Did you know I am here?¡± ¡°No. I just liked the look of the tree and the location. It seems like a nice place to be buried.¡± ¡°Uhuh. What a thing to think about. That sort of thought never crossed my mind.¡± ¡°You are a tree. Death must be a strange thing for you.¡± ¡°Hmm. Never mind. Why are you here and why are you not moving on?¡± ¡°I want to. But I have a lot of regrets. So much.. anger and hatred. Frustration for the temple of gaya. Anger at the gods and demons. Anger at how weak I was to let my children die.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°Must be a foreign concept for trees with no family.¡± I understand it quite well, but I choose not to interject. ¡°Life and death. To lose your children to monsters, to flee when your children are fighting. Do you know how much I regret it?¡± ¡°No. Why did you flee?¡± He wants to vent, so I let him. ¡°To protect my younger children. I ran with them. I ran with their wives, their kids, my grandchildren.¡± ¡°Then you did your part, no?¡± ¡°No. I felt I should have been the one fighting, while they fled. An old man like me, choosing to run instead of fighting. That torment, it burns me.¡± ¡°Is that called running? Sounds pretty honorable to me, and if you did stay and fight, would it have made a difference?¡± ¡°Maybe. I am much older, but when the demons attacked many years ago I still could hold a sword very well. I could have. I am much higher level and I have better skills. It is wrong for them to entrust the protection of their wives to me. I, the dying old man should have been the one fighting and holding off the demons while they make their way out.¡± ¡°They must have believed you can protect their wives and kids better than them. They wanted to stay back?¡± Hey I didn''t sign up for spirit-counselling. Is this guy going to vent at me for the next few months, because if he is, I am going to [hibernate] ¡°So what. I should have knocked some sense into them.¡± Ugh. I have to cut this guy off. ¡°You are dead. Let it go and move on.¡± ¡°No! I cannot. I must not. I spent the last fewyears thinking back to that day when we parted in Olbast. I should have stayed and they should have left. Thirteen years, every night I think about it. If I made a different choice. If.¡± ¡°You are dead.¡± ¡°I am a spirit. There must be something I can still do. Something I can still change. That is why I am still here and not in the underworld.¡± ¡°What would that be?¡± ¡°I don''t know!¡± ¡°Uh.¡± The old man, his name is Gewa, and he spends a lot of time being upset over the death of his three sons. I occasionally humor him, but I mostly ignore him and go into hibernation. Year 67 Month 11 [Andy Schulon has died. You gained 9 levels.] [You are now level 45] Oh. I totally forgot about that guy. The guy who¡¯s wife came and beg for protection. He lived really long! ¡°Have you heard? Lieutenant Commander Schulon of the South Army died in battle against the demons.¡± Some initiates chatter in the garden, and with the levels my vision and range of hearing improves. Ah, wow that boy became quite high ranking. ¡°The demon must be really strong.¡± ¡°Indeed, and he is back at his peak with his power returning. This seems to suggest the demons gather strength out there, and they will only get more ferocious.¡± ¡°You seem to be interested in the conversation.¡± Gewa''s spirit sits next to me. ¡°Yeah I am. Have you heard of Andy Schulon?¡± ¡°Hmm.. Sounds familiar! Oh wait, I remember now. He got a bit famous a few years ago. He led the defense of Parsala pass against a large demon attack.¡± ¡°What''s that?¡± ¡°A battle where the demons attacked one of the many passes that connects the humanlands to the rift, and are successfully repelled, despite being outnumbered. It is human battle history, not surprised you never heard of it.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°He is known for his defensive skills, but his abilities somehow weakened a few years ago for some unknown reason, it returned recently, and he contributed quite significantly to a few battles with his healing and defensive skills. His front line combat support has saved many many lives and won many battles.¡± ¡°Don''t armies have mages and healers? What''s so special about him?¡± Seems strange that a familiar can make such a difference. ¡°Mainly because he is in the front line, providing active support and healing. Healers and mages can provide support but they do so from the back and there is always a delay. Mages and healers can be in front too of course, but their lack of close combat abilities make them really vulnerable. Schulon is like a fighter with some mage and healer''s abilities, so that makes him very versatile.¡± ¡°Oh. You seem to know how to fight.¡± I''m actually quite impressed by this Gewa''s analysis. ¡°Every generation has to fight multiple demon kings and lords throughout their lives. Combat ability is a necessity.¡± True, I seem to forget that multiple demon kings have appeared since I came into this world. What a cruel, harsh world. ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°A mage can cast shield that provides a half reduction in damage as a passive enchantment, but someone like Schulon can create a wood barrier to counter specific attacks that reduces the damage by much higher amount.¡± ¡°Makes a lot of sense.¡± ¡°So¡­ why are you interested in Andy Schulon again?¡± ¡°Hmm. We used to have a familiar contract. I mean, I gave him a familiar a long time ago before he became famous.¡± ¡°Huh?!¡± Gewa¡¯s spirit paces around me, seems to be thinking. It seems that statement triggered some kind of eureka moment. ¡°So you and him have a familiar contract, are you the source of his defensive powers?¡± He looks at me with some hopeful, curious eyes. He never looked at me like that before, so it freaks me out a little. ¡°I¡­ am not sure. But if it is some wood based ability, I believe that is most likely from my familiar.¡± ¡°I see I see." Gewa walks in circles around my trunk, and it makes me a little dizzy. He stops. "Can you give your familiar contracts to more people?¡± That¡¯s a strange question. ¡°Where are you going with this?¡± Gewa gives me a kind of stare. Its weird for a spirit to stare. "What?" He stares somemore. "Seriously, what?" ¡°You. You have some power to reduce casualties in battle. Imagine if the world had hundreds of warriors with incredible defensive powers, we would see less death, and we would have higher leveled warriors all round because they all survive longer.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°What ¡®hmm?¡¯ Am I wrong?¡± No, Gewa does have a point, so I mentally wonder how many familiar contracts can I give. You can presently grant 12 familiar contracts. There are no familiar contracts utilised at the moment. ¡°What are your concerns, tree spirit? Or do you not care about human lives?¡± Gewa pushes. "Grant more familiar contracts, let those with your powers protect more people!" ¡°Hmm¡­.¡± Why should I? Okay, I guess giving familiar contracts make sense because I gain experience from it, but¡­ Frankly I do not know why I am hesitating, so I end up looking at Gewa. Feeling a little headache at having to make a decision, I decide to take a nap. Year 68 Month 1 ¡°Your naps are really long.¡± ¡°Time moves differently for trees like me.¡± I respond instinctively, but then I wonder why I did. Maybe reincarnation means an entirely new set of experiences in this world. ¡°So, familiars?¡± Gewa kept pushing and I ignore him. I still wanted to think, and he mumbles something about me and my absurd timeframes. A druid drops by. ¡°Ah, you are doing well.¡± The new part of my tree has reaches a reasonable size now, right next to the stump. The surface of the stump is still charred black, but it is healing. ¡°Hi.¡± I reach out telepathically. The druid startles, and he looks around. ¡°Is.. is anybody there?¡± ¡°No one. Only me, the tree.¡± ¡°Huh?!¡± He stares at me. ¡°You¡­ talk?¡± ¡°Yes. Do you want a familiar contract?¡± I am blunt like that. ¡°Uh¡­ no.¡± Okay I am a little too blunt. ¡°Are you a tree spirit?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The druid walks in circles. ¡°So, what kind of tree spirit are you?¡± What¡­ what kind of question is that? ¡°Uh...¡± The druid looks puzzled. ¡°Ah. I mean like are you looking for help with breeding or spreading your seeds, or the type that wants special nutrients or fertilizer, or like¡­ you want help with pests? Tree spirits are usually not chatty. And they only give familiars to those who has done a great deal of service for them, like after helping them through a difficult winter or battle a horrible disease.¡± Oh. ¡°So¡­ do you need help with something? That''s why you are offering familiars?¡± Hmm. The druid walks in circles a few more times. ¡°I heard you survived a demon king¡¯s attack, maybe you need help with your wound, is that it?¡± It seems he is caught in some kind of monologue with his own mind, and presuming that I need help. Why is this guy asking and presuming I need help? He kneels, hovering over the stump. ¡°Your wounds are fully healed though. Ah tree spirits, always being so vague and need us druids to guess what you need.¡± ¡°Wait. WAIT!" ¡°I know, I will give you some time and I will come back next month, okay? Trees need time to think, right?¡± The druid bows and walks off. ¡°WAIT!¡± Oh come on I am literally shouting and he just walks away. ¡°Are druids normally so dense?¡± I look at Gewa, a little frustrated. Gewa shrugs. ¡°Mages tend to be stuck in their own world. Magic is everything and it consumes them.¡± ¡°But for them to ignore me like that¡­¡± Another move? Year 68 Month 2 The temple is abuzz with activity, but the mood is tense. Injuries and wounds, by the cartloads, as people keep getting carried into the temple. Me, in the garden, I can somehow picture the image of blood everywhere, and the stench of it. Or maybe it is just the newer initiates saying how strong the smell is. "How many more do we have?¡± ¡°A lot more, Caretaker.¡± The Caretaker is like the lead priest of the Gaya temple, and he handles most of the administrative matters. ¡°Demons?¡± The Caretaker perch over one injured man, using some kind of healing. ¡°Yes, caretaker. Beast-type demons, about a hundred, from the rift.¡± An initiate explains, while assisting the others in carrying a few of the wounded soldiers into the temple grounds. Another initiate nearby helps to support a few that can walk. Some initiates start putting up tents in the garden, and classifying the wounded by the severity of the injuries. Those needing less immediate attention are relegated to the garden. And so quite a lot of the wounded and their carers are within my range. ¡°I did not lose a llimb." One injured soldier vents at the guy next to him. "I had a scare when the beast lunged for my arm. It is thanks to the other guys." "First battle?" He nods. "I.. I just froze when that beast roared like that. I did not expect that." "Their roar has a fear effect. You should not have stood so far away. You are lucky to get just a few cuts." ¡°Yea. Just a gash, probably will heal and be a manly scar later on. Maybe you can get girls with it.¡± Another soldier tries to lighten the mood. ¡°Girls do not like scars.¡± One of them said. ¡°Says who? I met girls who like scars. They say it looks really tough and they feel safe when they see it.¡± ¡°No way.¡± ¡°You guys are disgusting.¡± A female soldier comments, she turns to another side and face another sleeping female soldier. ¡°Hey, we did not die facing those beastdemons. Cut me some slack, I am just happy to live another day.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah.¡± ¡°Did you kill any of those beasts?¡± One soldier turns to ask another. There are about thirty of them in the courtyard, resting in makeshift tents. Most of them here are not very serious, light scratches or some gashes, and won''t die if so quickly. But they do need some medical attention to prevent disease. ¡°No. Their hides are so thick. If I had one of those magic swords, maybe I would have gotten a kill or two.¡± ¡°Your skills, did they not work?¡± ¡°It did, but it is not enough.¡± ¡°When do you think the healers will come for us?¡± One of the soldiers that can walk asks, he sits next to another soldier. ¡°Once the heavily injured ones are dealt with.¡± An initiate interrupts, handing out water and some light food. ¡°Yeah. We understand.¡± The soldier nods. ¡°How is in there?¡± ¡°Bad. Quite a few will not live through the night.¡± The soldiers glance at each other. They sigh, but most are secretly relieves they got out of it mostly fine. The initiate looks at the tree. ¡°I think that tree produces fruits every now and then. It is edible, so feel free to take it, because we are short, do not have enough proper food.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Based on my current pattern, I produce two or three small peach like fruits per week, but if I want to I can trigger a small bloom to produce more overnight. I felt like helping these guys, and hopefully lead to some familiar contracts. The next day, I have about ten small fruits, all containing mild healing effect. The soldiers did not hesitate to take and consume them. ¡°Tastes kind of bland.¡± ¡°Feels like I am eating some kind of disgusting forest herb.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t like it, you can starve your ass instead.¡± One grateful soldier smiles. I felt a bit slighted at the comments, and at that point, I realise I did not select any skills that enhance the taste of my fruits. Such human aspects should be considered after all. ¡°I feel a bit better though. I think the fruit has some mild healing. [Appraise]¡± One soldier holds up his half eaten fruit, looking at it inquisitively. There are skills like [appraisal] too, and I wonder what is the difference with my [inspection] skills. A loud horn blares. It is so loud that my trunk vibrates, and my leaves rustle. ¡°Oh. That is not good...¡± A few of the soldiers look at each other. ¡°Another attack?¡± ¡°Looks like it.¡± Some of the soldiers stand and walks, ¡°We should go.¡± An initiate runs out. ¡°No. You guys must rest. Going there injured will be bad.¡± ¡°I am fully healed.¡± A few of the men with light injuries have recovered as a result of the fruits. The initiate looks at them, ¡°Let me.. let me get the caretaker to verify before we let you out. I can''t sign you out without his approval." The soldier nods, ¡°Yes yes. Normal tracking procedure. Please hurry and get the caretaker. The army needs our help, if it is anything like the previous attack.¡± The initiate runs in, calling the caretaker. The soldiers look at the rest of the recovering soldiers. ¡°You guys better eat more of that fruit then. Need you people back on field once you are fine.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± One of the soldiers shrug. ¡°Stay safe, and don''t get killed." ¡°We won¡¯t.¡± At that point, one of the soldiers walk close to me. ¡°Hey, thanks for the fruit.¡± Since he is just next to me, I pounce on the opportunity and immediately offer a familiar contract. The popup probably startle the soldier, as he stares for a while. ¡°Oh. Okay.¡± He accepts, and then he looks at the other soldiers. ¡°Hey, go and say thanks. You might get something.¡± Some of them laugh and walk away, but two others walk over and give me a pat on the trunk. Similarly I offer both of them a familiar contract, and they accept. ¡°Hey¡­ did the tree just...¡± One soldier look at the other. ¡°Yes.¡± The other nods. ¡°What happened?¡± Those who are still injured seem a bit curious, because they seem a little startled by the weird expressions on the three soldiers faces. ¡°I think this tree, it.. it gave three of us familiar contracts?¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°What does it do?¡± [Ironbark skin] One of the soldier¡¯s skin glisten in a brownish shade. ¡°Some defensive skills and healing skills. It is a tree familiar." ¡°Hey, this is useful.¡± The soldier right next to me taps my trunk lightly. "Thanks." ¡°Yeah. Don¡¯t let it get your head though.¡± One of the injured soldiers say. ¡°Let me check, everyone please come over.¡± The caretaker arrives and starts looking at the soldiers that say that they have recovered. A while later, he nods. ¡°Hmm. It seems you guys are fine. Free to go.¡± ¡°Thanks Caretaker.¡± The recovered soldiers go off, and the remaining soldiers, about twenty of them look at each other. After a while, they start talking again. ¡°You think this tree can give us a familiar contract?¡± One of the injured soldier approaches. ¡°I still can give a few more, if you guys are not believers of Gaya.¡± I reply to him telepathically. ¡°Ah!¡± The injured soldier loses his balance and falls. ¡°It¡­ It talked!¡± ¡°It did? I did not hear a thing.¡± ¡°It.. it talked into my head!¡± ¡°What did it say?¡± ¡°Uhm. I think¡­ I think it said it can give a few more if we are not followers of Gaya.¡± ¡°Huh, but we are in a Temple of Gaya?! Is this tree not a Gaya''s spirit?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go call the Caretaker again.¡± The Caretaker approaches me, and then looks at the injured soldier. ¡°You said this tree can give you familiar contracts if we do not believe in Gaya?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ yes.¡± I attempt to reply on behalf but somehow is repulsed by some kind of telepathic barrier. The Caretaker looks at me, and then touches my trunk. [Detect Evil] and [Detect Spirit] His eyes widen. ¡°It really is a spirit.¡± He looks at me, and then he calls an initiate to bring some materials over. He then seems to chew on some kind of leaf. After a short while of chewing, he then looks at me. [Ethereal vision] ¡°Hello tree spirit.¡± The Caretaker looks at me, and then he notices Gewa next to me. ¡°And¡­ you too, old friend.¡± ¡°Hey.¡± Gewa smiles. ¡°Hi.¡± ¡°Who are you, and what are you.¡± ¡°I am a tree.¡± ¡°But you have a spirit. That is rare.¡± That contradicts the statement I receive from Mozart. I thought he said trees of a certain size has spirits¡­. ¡°Yes. I do have a spirit. I do not know whether I am rare." ¡°You told the soldiers you can¡¯t give them familiars if they are believers of Gaya?" ¡°Yes. Your believers will reject a nature familiar.¡± The Caretaker thinks for a while, and he says. ¡°Hmmm¡­ I do recall one of blessings of our god is we can only use familiars of god, but I must confirm that later.¡± He then looks at the soldiers. ¡°Any of you not believers?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± A soldier walks over. ¡°Not yet, at least.¡± ¡°Can you give him a familiar contract?¡± The Caretaker asks me. "Will help me assess what I should do?" I offer him a familiar contract. The Caretaker bites a different kind of leaf. ¡°Accept the contract, and open your menu. Eat this leaf.¡± The soldier nods, accepts the familiar contract and munches on a kind of leaf. Seriously, do they have weird drug-like leaves in this world? Wait, they must have, it¡¯s a fantasy world. Then his menu appears for all to see. It is far more complicated than the menu I have. I wonder how I could see it, but.. I just do. [Tree Familiar Level 1] [Element : Earth and Wood] [Rank : Nature Aspect] [Alignment : Neutral] [Active Skills : Ironbark skin, Healing Fruit, Minor Regeneration, Wood Shield] [Passive : Damage resistance, Improved Healing, Earth Magic and Wood Magic enhancement] Hey, there are more skills than I used to remember. ¡°So¡­ is the tree evil, Caretaker? Should we revoke the contract?" ¡°No. Probably not. But it is just not aligned to Gaya.¡± ¡°Trees have alignment as well?" The Caretaker shrugs. ¡°No idea. Still, you soldiers can accept the familiar if you want to, I think it will be helpful for the battle ahead. As for me, I need to go talk to some druids¡­.¡± Year 68 Month 3 ¡°Move it somewhere else.¡± The Caretaker sighs. ¡°Yes Caretaker. This is really necessary?¡± ¡°Yes. I brought this up to the temple counselors, and the conclusion is that we are a temple cannot accept a spirit that does not accept Gaya in our compound. It woukd be perceived negatively by the common folk if a tree tells people not to believe in Gaya to receive a familiar.¡± ¡°It is a tree.¡± ¡°I would have chopped it down if it¡¯s just a tree. But it has been helpful and I do not see a need to destroy it. So moving it to more... neutral location would be better." The druid nods. ¡°Understood.¡± Inside his head he scrambles to think where to mvoe the tree. Still, did not take long for them to decide, I see a few druids come over, surround me, and once again they move me. ¡°Caretaker says you¡¯re a spirit, so we got to move you.¡± The druid says apologetically. "We will be gentle, and you will not come to any harm." Before I could respond, he casts some kind of magic, and the earth shakes. And once again, I lose consciousness. Seriously, being moved around is annoying. Freeka, Elf Village Year 68 Month 4 Freeka. A small village with less than fifty souls, out of town. Elves. All of them. It seems that the presence of a spirit tree does not go well with a lot of people in the city, so the druids decide to move me out of the city. It seems a spirit that is not aligned to the religions of the world are seen as heretical to some of the believers, and so I think I am quite lucky that there are druids who look after tree spirits. The elves are happy to have a tree spirit in their small village, and I could tell from their conversations. The leader of the village requests I be put in the center of the village, apparently for the protection a tree spirit can give. The elves are quite chatty, and from that, I learn that the leader of the village is a middle aged man, Ricola. ¡°A tree spirit is good fortune to our small village.¡± Somehow, he gives me a very pleasant feeling, so I immediately offer him a familiar contract the moment I could. ¡°An honour, o tree spirit.¡± ¡°If anyone else wants a tree familiar please let me know.¡± I telepathically speak. ¡°Certainly.¡± Of the village¡¯s warriors, I give out all my remaining familiar slots to 8 more of the men and women. It helps them in protecting the village, from the frequent monster attacks. Year 68 Month 5 Ricola¡¯s wife, Laufen is pregnant. They come over and ask for my blessing, I reply I can¡¯t give blessings, but if they fall sick they can come to me for some healing fruits. Year 68 Month 6 The elven kids decorate me for a festival to the earth. The elves in this world are a little animistic, they believe in spirits of nature, and their god is the nameless great spirit of nature. ¡°Trees are spirit of nature, so this festival is also dedicated to you.¡± An older female elf, Cashern leads the ceremony. She seem to play the role of the master of ceremonies, and also a living record of the elvish traditions. They eat fruits, vegetables, and some hunted meat, and pray to the earth for good harvest, a good hunt, and protection from demons, monsters and humans. They too serve some kind of fermented sap, which sends some of the men in some kind of high and dance throughout the night. Year 68 Month 8 The tax collectors visit the elves. Ricola pays them with what little gold or silver coins they have. Some of the elves in the village sell their excess foods in the city for coin, just for the purpose of paying taxes. After the tax collectors leave, Ricola sits next to me and sigh. ¡°These tax collectors are bloodsucking leeches. We get no protection from the army, yet we are forced to pay taxes, lest we suffer the wrath of the Kingdom¡¯s tax enforcement force.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Do you have demons here?¡± I suddenly wonder how do elves deal with demons. ¡°Oh tree spirit, we do face demons. But demons are usually drawn to places with lot of souls for them to kill. Sparsely populated places like our village is usually spared of their wrath. It is only when the Demon King descends, when the elves throughout the continent gather to fight it.¡± ¡°I see.¡± One of the elf kids run over and knock on my trunk. ¡°Hey tree. Do you think you can give me a familiar?¡± Ricola pats him on the head. ¡°Brislach, please don¡¯t disturb the tree spirit. He has given all his familiars to the adults.¡± Brislach pouts and walks away. ¡°How¡¯s Laufen doing?¡± I asks, but actually I could see from my spirit vision that she is well. Spirit vision is good at telling the overall health of a person. ¡°She is doing well. It''s been a few years since the last birth in our village. Everyone looks forward to it, especially Brislach and Wahlen. They cannot wait for someone younger than them to appear.¡± Year 68 Month 10 Harvest season before winter. Harvest is better than last year, and Ricola says it is because of me. I can¡¯t tell because I do not see a skill that boosts harvest, but apparently as village head, he has a skill that lets him know what effects are affecting the area. Maybe it is race passive for spiritual trees or something, that things grow better around it. Year 68 Month 11 Being at the center of the village, the elven villagers frequently come over to chat under the shade. I am growing quickly, and am quite close to my size before I got chopped by the demon king. The ladies now start to do some of their leisure activity under the shade. This means things like sorting or cutting through their harvest, or occasionally, processing hunted animals. Some of the elderly also use the shade to teach their kids. It seems elves believe that the tree spirit improves learning, but I suspect that might be a placebo. Year 68 Month 12 Winters are mild. I can produce some healing fruits, but their effectiveness is rather poor. The men fight some monsters during this time, it seems winter comes with its own set of monsters. Nobody gets seriously hurt, so the mood is fine. It seems one of the guys, Jura, is the village¡¯s best fighter. He''s really good with a sword, and says he is going to be level 40 soon. Laufen and the ladies would collect whatever winter fruits I produce to make some kind of tea. Year 69 Month 2 Another festival to mark to end of winter. The elves are preparing some kind of fruit cocktail. The elves come over to vent their frustrations, mainly about how things are done by other elves. Elves are people after all, and at times they come into conflict with each other over rather petty things. I generally just listen. I''m not going to play counselor. Year 69 Month 3 Laufen gives birth safely, its a baby girl, and is named Lausanne. . The elves throw a small party, and apparently tradition has it that elvish babies are supposed to be given the juice of a spirit tree, if there is one. I make her a healing fruit with all the healing abilities I can gather. Year 69 Month 4 One of the elves sat next to me and tells me dire news. He just returned from the city from their weekly market visit, and the demon attacks are increasing. Rumor is that the demon king will descend very soon, and based on past trend, that does seem likely. More worryingly, for some human cults have also emerged. Some of them profess to be able to control demons and have taken control of some distance villages, and some are religious puritanical zealot who cannot accept other races. Still, the focus seems to be on the demons. A time for human unity, they say, as the demon king will rise once again. To some extent, I wonder why do these humans bother when the gods summon heroes to defeat the demon king. It is not humans of this world who defeat them. ¡°Will the gods summon heroes to defeat the demon king?¡± The elf sigh, ¡°Probably.¡± ¡°Why do you sigh?¡± ¡°Every time heroes descend into this world, we trade the methodical destruction of the demon king, for the reckless destruction of the otherworldly heroes.¡± ¡°Eh, elves don¡¯t look at them as heroes too?¡± ¡°The elves are in two minds about it. A faction believes the god¡¯s heroes, some of which appear as elves, are god¡¯s blessings to the elves. Another faction believes that the gods do not want to summon the heroes, but because the destruction wrought by the demon king is too great, they had to. So heroes are a desperate response from the gods.¡± ¡°What do you believe?¡± ¡°The heroes. They are a blessing.¡± Hmm. ¡°Has the demon king fallen to a hero from this world before?¡± The elf stares at me. ¡°Legends has it that the demon kings of the past¡­ all defeated by the summoned heroes.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± I suppose summoned heroes must have some special thing about them that allows them to slay demon kings. Year 69 Month 6 A small group of soldiers arrive, the villagers are tense. Ricola talks to the captain, and it seems the city is trying to gather the numbers to fight in the demon pass. No one goes with the captain, captain is not happy, but they leave after a while, having many other places to go. Year 69 Month 9 Baby Lausanne starts mumbling. She¡¯s really cute, I can¡¯t help but remember my own nephew back on earth. Ah, home. I wonder how things are back there. The elves live hard lives, but generally are happy, and many of the ladies enjoy spending their time playing with the baby. Year 69 Month 10 I gain two level when the men return from their hunt. [Level 47] The men tell me they had to fight a giant beast and thanks to my familiar¡¯s skills, they succeed. I also gained two rather strange skills one morning. [Nourish] and [Secret hideout]. The secret hideout creates a small room right beneath my roots, probably can fit 2 adults. I wonder whether it is because the kids, Brislach and Wahlen frequently play hide and seek with my roots and trunk. Maybe they should play a bit more if that leads to skills. Harvest this year is better than last year, and it seems when I am around, the soil replenishes its nutrients a little bit faster. Year 69 Month 11 Lausanne is feverish. I grow a small fruit of healing, for the Laufen and Ricola to feed the juice within. Ricola has an argument with the tax collectors over higher taxes this year, but eventually pays it. Year 70 Month 1 The men report seeing more human armies on the move. And the frequent movement is disturbing animal movement. They say it''s rare for armies to move about when winter has not cleared, so the demons attack must be really intense. I gain a level [Level 48]. I have my first attack skill. [Root strike]. In the distance, a demon king Year 70 Month 2 There is great unrest in the human cities, and the elves too. They look up into the sky every night, and Casshern, the old lady explains that it is an ominous sign. Six stars align in a hexagonal shape, is the mark of the warp. The warp, signifies a weakening, a breach in the rift that separates us and the demon world. In other words, the demon king, is returning. If I could sigh, I would, but all I could is sway my branches. Or shake. It probably looks like a shake. ¡°Worry not, the gods will look after us.¡± Casshern nods, sipping a hot cup of tea. It¡¯s still cold this time of the year, and I get a new menu. It¡¯s a temperature bar, and it reminds me of weather widgets on my android phone. ¡°How do you know for sure?¡± ¡°They always have, tree spirit. Legends have it that we have been invaded by demon kings since time immemorial, and every time our world triumphed.¡± ¡°...¡± As a financial advisor once said, past performance is not indicative of future returns, but I let Casshern continue. ¡°The stars. Despite the warp, in the distance there is hope.¡± I wonder how the stars look in this world. Year 70 Month 3 Baby Lausanne tries to crawl around and over my roots, and I get nervous every time she looks like she is going to have a fall. This feeling really reminds me of my babysitting days. I wonder how my nephew is, maybe he has grandkids by now. After all 70 years has passed. On a more serious note, the men fought a few lesser demons while hunting, and the presence of demons so near their home worries them, so they made some changes to their hunting practices. ¡°The summit of the elves will not be long from now.¡± ¡°Summit of the elves?¡± ¡°When the demon king is about to descend, the elven nations summon warriors from all over to take up arms, and defend the elvish lands from the demon.¡± ¡°We are not in the elven nation, are we?¡± I vaguely remember not being in the elven nation, but since being relocated to Freeka, I have no idea whether that statement is still valid. ¡°We are not, tree spirit. But some of the men still feel a desire to answer the calling, to test whether they can be the shield of the elves.¡± ¡°Jura, perhaps?¡± ¡°Maybe. But while we are happy with our sons and daughters who answer the call, the village has to figure out its defenses without their best fighters.¡± ¡°Ah. That is indeed a problem. When demons roam about, villages are without their best defense.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± She sips her tea, and her wrinkly arms touch my protuding roots. I can vaguely feel her touch, but my sense of touch is hardly accurate. ¡°How old are you, Casshern?¡± I suddenly realised I do not know her age, but then again, age is just a number. In fact, I ask that question, then realise how disconnected that question is with the previous topic. ¡°Ah. I am old, tree spirit, I do not remember the exact year anymore. But elves live up to 500 years. Humans, if they have magic in them, can live similarly long. ¡± ¡°So magic extends one''s lives.¡± Our conversations tend to drift, I would ask about things that I spot along the way, and Casshern generally lets me go off tangent. Perhaps she just thinks it is how spirits think and talk. Or maybe my mind is jumbled up by being a tree. ¡°Indeed. It is a blessing, and a curse. Live long enough to see so many demon kings come and go, and they are as natural to this world as a typhoon, or a massive earthquake. Long enough, to see tree spirits die." ¡°Have you ever met other¡­ tree spirits?¡± Casshern looks up to the night sky again, looking at stars I cannot see. ¡°Once. But when demon king Astaroth descends on my town then, the tree spirit died.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Tree spirits play an important role in a proper elven society. An elven village or town without a tree spirit within is nothing more than a temporary gathering of elves.¡± ¡°Can you explain more?¡± ¡°The elves, we believe that the tree spirit is the guide after death. A birth under the tree spirits blessing is stronger than one without, and on our death we believe that our souls would be guided by the tree spirit, and through it, return back to our nameless mother. Our warriors are stronger, our druids wiser, our walls sturdier. Our inbuilt potential is best expressed when a tree spirit is present to channel and guide us.¡± If I could gulp, I would. In fact I feel like going for a nap then. I do not think I can play such an important role that elves demand of me. ¡°How are other tree spirits?¡± ¡°The one I met is imposing. Its presence dominates the town, and its protection allows the town to resist years of human attacks. A powerful tree spirit, like a strong fortress, its roots seep into the walls, healing it from damage.¡± ¡°Still it fell.¡± ¡°Yes. But not to any threat. It fell to a powerful demon lord of Astaroth. A monstrous being shaped like a corrupted demonic dragon. It burned the tree and the entire town¡­¡± ¡°Oh.¡± I survived demon king Baal, does that make me super impressive? Or maybe I got lucky? I think I got lucky because the demon king did not press its attack and left with one strike. It just figured cutting me off and leaving that fire on me is sufficient to kill me. So, any high level demon should actually be able to kill me fairly easily. After all I am immobile so dodging is out of the question. It is either I have a powerful offense, a powerful defense, or at best, both. Or if I am lucky, I won¡¯t have to fight demons. Year 70 Month 4 Humans come around again. This time a smaller group of four, led by one captain. ¡°The King decrees that each village is to despatch 5 able bodied man to join the King''s Royal Demon Slaying Army.¡± ¡°We cannot spare 5 men. 5 men means we will lose our ability to defend ourselves or hunt for food.¡± ¡°This is not open for negotiation, villager. The King commands, and its people answer.¡± The Captain is stern, his face looks like he has heard this a thousand times. ¡°We cannot give 5 men.¡± ¡°Then I shall mark your village as disobeying the King¡¯s orders.¡± ¡°How about 2.¡± ¡°No negotiations, villager.¡± The captain turns to leave. ¡°Let me discuss with my people.¡± The Captain nods. ¡°An hour. That is all you have.¡± The villagers huddle and words fly. They speak and argue, but eventually Ricola meets the captain again. ¡°We will send 5 men.¡± Ricola answers. ¡°But not today.¡± ¡°Not today, villager. Send your 5 men to report at Hammerhold Fort in two month.¡± The captain nods, pass them a letter, and the small group leaves on horses. "Bring that letter along, without it, your village is deemed not to have provided your men." After the captain leaves, Ricola and the men kneel before me. It seems the decision bothers them greatly, and now they seek my counsel. ¡°Oh wise tree spirit, do you some words for us?¡± Oh damn. I am no wise great tree spirit, I do not know what to do at this time! Uh wait, so what should I do? ¡°I don¡¯t know, Ricola. When do the men need to leave?¡± ¡°Hammerhold Fort is a month away, so a month from today?¡± I took a nap. And I had a dream. A nightmare, actually. I rarely get that in this world. A demon. A large demon. Lots of them. In my dreams I could see them in color, in detail, and they remind me of monsters out of Diablo. Huge, I see dead people all around them. Their path, one of destruction. Dead people. Dead bodies, all scattered all over the floor, burning forests, and a tree. A tree on fire, with corpses pinned on its branches. A large monstrous demon walks through the corpses, it''s steps crush every corpse in its way into pulp. I feel afraid. I shiver. Is it coming for me? It''s head turns, it''s red eyes look at me. And a notification pop out. [Demon King Andras awakes.] Fire. Death. Destruction. A thousand and one screams. It''s as if the world screamed as one, and it''s deafening. I feel my ears hurt, even though a tree should not have ears. And then I snap out of it. I snap out of my dream and I see Casshern touching my trunk, looking worried. ¡°You were shaking, tree spirit, after you went to the dreamworld the past few days. What ill news you bring?¡± ¡°Demon King is here.¡± ¡°Oh.. oh¡­¡± Casshern¡¯s old wrinkly hands shake, and she shouts a call. The villagers all react in shock, and they rush out of their houses and surround me. Ricola looks at me and leans in. ¡°Is there something you wish to tell us, tree spirit?¡± ¡°Demon King is here.¡± Ricola sat, he then asks the children to go back home, and only the adults remain. He then faces the rest of the villagers, explaning what I told him. The villagers look at each other. Jura is the first to speak. ¡°Then we should join the King¡¯s army, crush the demon king before it gets too strong.¡± Another man shakes his head. ¡°Only heroes can kill the demon king. The best the army can do is clear a path, and take out the rest of the demon king¡¯s champions.¡± ¡°Ah yes. But¡­ but all the heroes died in their battle against Demon King Baal. Until the gods summon new heroes to this world, there is no way of defeating the demon king.¡± ¡°So this army is doomed.¡± ¡°Indeed. So we should not join the army...¡± ¡°Would you rather face demons, or what''s left of a destroyed army? If we stay at our village, maybe a hero might emerge before we are attacked. ¡± The villagers stand and start to argue, but a decision comes out of it soon enough. ¡°Thank you for your guidance tree spirit. We stay.¡± I didn¡¯t really say anything, but hey, it seems that is what they wanted anyway. Year 70 Month 5 The men are hard at work, creating fortifications around the village. Hunting will soon be difficult, as the demons will spawn more regularly. The demon king''s presence is always accompanied by a surge in demons entering the world. It is just the way demon kings are, with their corrupting powers. ¡°Many will die.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°Every demon king has led to death. Countless deaths.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because it is so.¡± ¡°Why is there no angel king?¡± I sometimes wonder why the enemies are always demon kings. ¡°That would be¡­ heroes?¡± Casshern looks at me, thinking I probably asked a stupid question. Year 70 Month 6 An injured group of adventurers arrives at the village. The group of four fighters are all bleeding heavily, and two lost their arm to what appears to be a huge monster bite. Ricola immediately brings them to me. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Their spirit is weak, what is normally a white spirit fades on and off, like a flickering light bulb. [Healing Fruit] I create four fruits, Ricola and another elf assists to feed them. Their wounds stabilise somewhat, but the lost arm cannot be undone. ¡°What did this?¡± Ricola sits next to one of the adventurers, helping him eat the fruit. "Demons." It looks like peace is going away very, very soon. A Fiery Destruction Year 70 Month 6, continued. The adventurers. They speak of a new breed of demons, large, ferocious, and with teeth able to chew out any creature. Giant, walking on two feet, massive, magically reinforced jaws, and armored with thick skin. Some have horns along their backs. Ah, demons. ¡°Are all demon kings the same?¡± I ask Casshern, to which she shakes her head. The adventurers are stable, physically. The two of them who lost their arms are emotionally unstable, lamenting about their lost future as adventurers, and they would be nothing more than beggars now. It is so bad, that Ricola separates the two one-armed adventurers in a room, so that their negativity don¡¯t spread. ¡°Have we met any demons described by these adventurers?¡± ¡°I think the description is pretty standard. Fangs, claws, scales, horns.¡± Year 70 Month 7 The adventurers eventually come around and they leave. The King¡¯s demon slaying army starts their march for one of the heavily contested passes for the rift. No worry about the demon king so far. Strange, maybe they did not get the message. Year 70 Month 8 A raid. A demon raid. It starts in the morning, a small trickle,. One of the elves spot a group. Thirty demons, led by an elder demon. This, will not end well. The elves quickly assemble for battle, whilst the young, men and women without combat skills quickly retreat to the fortified village hall. The demons, these group is different from the earlier ones described by the adventurers. These are winged, mild fire wielders, using axes forged of dirty metals. The two forces clash, and the elves throw everything they have at them. Every skill, all their familiar powers they have unlocked. And the demons fall. But so does the elves. The demons are tough, and they have three times the toughness. Even with the advantages provided by the fortifications, familiar blessings and other tactical, for every four demons killed, one of the elves still get a fatal blow. The dying elves, they still try their best, everything they have. And I try to help, by the battle is fought mostly outside of my very limited range. I see their fading spirit, and I try to reach out to it. Hey, don¡¯t die on me. They walk closer, their spirits turning deathly pale, the wound on their body too deep, too serious. The tide turns, the elves now outnumber the demons, and with numbers, the deaths stop. And the elves win. ¡°Four. Four of us too many.¡± Ricola kneels of their dying bodies. All of them placed next to me, right next to my roots. I try to help, with every single healing ability in my disposal. I sigh, if I could. Maybe my branches droop a little. The wounds too serious, the damage too great, the bleeding too much. Casshern leans and holds onto one of the dying fighters. ¡°Death comes to us all, but for some earlier than others. Death, may come, but your spirits will never die. Oh tree spirit, take good care of them.¡± I gulp if I could. The four soon pass on. I see their spirit fade to darkness, and a brief flicker of light at the end, like the last hurrah of a match. And they fade, their spirits drift into the ground below. The mood turn grim since then. The men focus on repairs, and sharpening their weapons. The women focus on their children. The loss of four men is too much for some, and the only way they could cope is to hold it in. But at night, when the house is quiet, some of the women and some of the men come to talk to me. ¡°How do I move on? I have known him all my life. Things just cannot be the same, can they?¡± I have no answer. I am just a tree spirit, but I have no words who can calm the hearts of those who lost someone. I nod, and I try employ some empathy, but I know it is no cure for the hole in one¡¯s hearts. [Level up! Level 50! You gain the following skills, [calming voice] and [haunted tree]] Year 70 Month 10 More demon attacks. But mostly small groups, so no biggie. Year 70 Month 11 Death comes. But not from demons. ¡°Village of Freeka!¡± A roar breaks the morning quiet. ¡°You have failed to send what your King required of you. 5 soldiers, and you failed.¡± Ricola and the villagers, those who wake up early, quickly wake everyone up. ¡°Elves. The King should have known that elven villages have no loyalty to the King. Only humans know what it means to live under his majesty¡¯s protection. ¡± A small platoon of the army. About four hundred, comprising a mix of knights, archers and other fighters. They carry insignias, and wear standard issue armor. The army surrounds Freeka. There is no retreat, with their large numbers. Ricola sighs, they must have taken out their sentry. Ricola offers to talk, to explain, ¡°The Demon King has come. Without heroes, the army is doomed!¡± ¡°Hush, villager. No. Let me correct that, traitor!¡± Laughter from the human army. They are confident, as they should be. They outnumber the fighting force almost twenty times. ¡°I will not listen to your excuses. Those who dare defy the King will be punished.¡± The army has not tried to make its move yet, so the women and children quickly hide. Lausanne, Brislach, Wahlen, Laufen and two other younger ladies squeeze into the secret hideout beneath my roots. The rest, even the older women grab whatever weapons they could. ¡°Are you ready, elvish scum? We are going to kill all of you now.¡± Fire. Fire arrows. ¡°The humans¡­ they do not plan to fight us!¡± The burning arrows fly, and explode mid air in a fireball. The fire torches the roofs, the houses, the furniture. More arrows, and the elves try deflect the arrows. ¡°We must break through! That is our only chance!¡± Jura yells. The rest of the elves follow, creating a wedge, and all of them head for it. Their only chance of survival, rather than being trapped in the inferno created by all the burning arrows, and burning homes. They could dodge the arrows, but as the fire spreads, it is either make a break for it or be cooked alive. The elves and the human army fight, and it seems some manage to escape. But I also see many die. Unlike demons, humans have levels and skills, with actual military training. This is a force that has done these sort of ¡°rebel suppression¡± many times. As for me, I could only watch in horror, as the humans remain firmly outside my [root strike] range. The fire spreads, and I think a part of me is on fire. But such mild fires cannot kill me, even if they do burn my branches and leaves. More fire arrows, and the surrounding is just a blaze. I check in on the three children and two women now squeezed into my [secret hideout]. Shaken but still safe. It seems my roots and bark protects them. Good. The fighting intensifies, and I see Ricola. He staggers towards me, bleeding. His spirit is weak, and an arrow pierces him. ¡°Oh dear tree spirit¡­. I will soon leave this world.¡± I try to heal him, but with multiple arrows through his body it is not working. And it seems the fact that my branches are burning also weakens the power of my healing. ¡°Please. Take care of my children and my wife. Protect them from the demons¡­ and these monsters too.¡± ¡°Yes.. Yes. Don¡¯t die.¡± I respond telepathically. From the blaze an armored knight emerges, he holds up a sword. ¡°Why won¡¯t you die!¡± He stabs. And stabs. And stabs again. The blood splatters, all over my trunk. I feel anger. What is this stupid human doing fighting each other when there is a demon king out there. [Root strike]. A root surges from beneath, impaling the knight, and he dies. There is still fighting in the distance, as some of the elvens run for their lives, as Freeka burns in a swirl of fire. Hot. But not enough to kill me.Somewhere along the way, I gained [Fire Resistance - 80%], and mortal, normal fires cannot kill me. One of the elves fight, but she takes a few hits. And deciding she cannot make it, she retreats, and she soon stands next to me. ¡°Casshern!¡± I mentally yell ¡°Oh tree spirit.¡± She is wounded, two daggers still in her chest. ¡°I thought of choosing my place of death. Let me die beside you, spirit.¡± She coughs. I think blood came out. This is madness. Man against elves! When there is a demon king around! Two human knights with spears close in on Casshern, they attempt to lunge at her. [Root strike]. I strike at both of the knights, killing them. But not before one of them used a skill and drive a spear through Casshern. ¡°We will meet again, tree spirits. Elves who die with their tree guardians never truly die.¡± And she collapses, a spear through her chest. The fire rages on, and the battles soon come to a conclusion. The humans win, overwhelmingly. One by one the elven fighters die, and once the battle is over, the humans drag the corpses of the elves, towards me. ¡°Hang them on this tree.¡± A commander of human army says. I count, about twenty five bodies. Maybe fifteen or so made it, and manage to flee. ¡°Then burn it.¡± ¡°How about those that got away, commander. Should we give chase?¡± ¡°Let them. Let them spread the word, disobey the King, and face dire consequences.¡± The commander surveys the corpses, and walks well within range of my root strike. I have three root strikes left for the day. And in my anger, I attack. Two root strikes right at the commander. The roots shoot out of the ground, and though he sees it, he is not fast enough to dodge. He activates some kind of shield and barrier, but it is not much use. My roots struggle a little, but eventually crack the barrier. It pierces him right through the heart, and the other through his pelvis. ¡°A druid! Fan out, there must be a druid that is still hiding.¡± The vice commander shouts, and he runs. Lucky he did not suspect the tree. Argh, he goes out of my range. One root strike remaining. I see a bloody soldier, ¡°We should totally do this more often. Y''know, killing elves. Always hated these long eared dudes.¡± ¡°Rather than talk shit, why don¡¯t you find where is the druid?¡± ¡°Chill the fuck out dude, the druid probably used the last of his magic to take out the commander. If he is still around, he is defenseless now.¡± Huh these people seem really apathetic to the loss of their commander. Or maybe death is just a common thing for them. ¡°True. Still some of them manage to run.¡± The village is now totally no more, replaced with burnt ash. ¡°This tree is pretty sturdy, even though its all black.¡± ¡°We should just impale the elves on the tree. Teach these long ears the power of humans.¡± ¡°Thats a little too much, man.¡± ¡°You killed elves too. I am merely enjoying the process. Seriously, elves on a stick, like a barbeque.¡± I agree with the other human, and in my anger I strike him with my last root strike for suggesting such an abhorrent idea. In a flash, it kills him, as it went right through his armor and his heart. ¡°Fuck! The druid is still around.¡± The soldiers look around, and they spread out. An hour later they all return. ¡°What should we do with the bodies?¡± ¡°Pile them up with the tree and burn them. Don¡¯t want them turning into undead or zombies, or food for the demons.¡± Fire. The humans stack and pile the elves around me, and then start a fire. I feel helpless. So very helpless. The fire did not hurt me much, even though I look like I am charred. And more importantly, the six in my secret hideout is still safe and alive. Fire. The humans left after three hours, deciding their raid is over. The elven corpses, the heat and fire cook and roast them, and slowly they turn into ash. The fire rages. The elves in the hideout shivers. They are afraid, I can sense it. Their body weak, so I use [nourish], restoring their body strength. So many dead. Is is my fault? Why did I not ask them to send the 5 men to the army anyway? No. I may have a part, but they decided it. Maybe I have a role, my lack of knowledge of the tensions between humans and elves, and weakness and inability to protect those who give me a place in their lives. So many, dead. The fire burns into the night. Though intense, my trunk and branches are fine, the surface blackened. This pain pales in comparison to what I felt before. Death. The death that I see stirs something, a desire, a fury, a need. I, must change. I have wasted my last 70 years in this world, taking things as they come. As a result, everywhere I go, I am a bystander, with too little power to intervene meaningfully. I, must be a whole lot stronger. Else these deaths, of those around me will never end. [Ricola Searwind and six others died] [You gain a total of 13 levels] [You are now level 63] [You have unlocked the next species change, upgraded from spiritual tree to magical tree] [Secret hideout upgraded] [Camouflage & illusions upgraded] [Spirit Collection upgraded] [Essence harvesting obtained] Recovery Year 70 month 11 A day after the human raid The bodies are now a mix of ash and charred flesh. Freeka destroyed, the inferno engulfed all the wooden houses and halls. The six crawl out of the secret hideout after the fire burns out. Tears. Laufen is crying. So is Lausanne, Brislach, Wahlen. The two younger ladies also squeezed into my secret hideout, Emile and Bellerive (fondly referred to as Belle) also cry. Death. The air stinks of it. The charred smell of burnt bodies. The girls seem to gag whenver they get too close to a burnt body, and holding back their urge to vomit. ¡°What are we to do now¡­¡± Laufen looks at Emile and Belle, who are in their teens. Their eyes are wet, their faces dirty from all the ash and soot. Everyone is covered in ash and soot. Well, everything is coated in a layer of ash and soot. ¡°Keep Lausanne in the hideout. It is too dirty and dusty.¡± Laufen sighs, her hand still holding on to what looks to be a burnt momento, Ricola¡¯s personal belongings. Emile carries her, and once the hideout door opens, she gasps. ¡°Uh.. Laufen¡­ the.. the hideout looks different.¡± Laufen shakes her head. ¡°Not now.¡± Belle goes over and she too gasps. ¡°The hideout changed. It is not like that when we came out.¡± Brislach and Wahlen jumps and walks over. ¡°Yeah it changed.¡± A proper room. Still too small for all of them, but more comfortable than the space earlier that is about the size of a cellar. "I just gained a skill upgrade for [secret hideout]. I think all of you had to come out for it to reset and change into the new one." A magical space, a creation of the tree spirit¡¯s ability. 10 feet wide, long and tall, it is a lot more comfortable than the 5ft by 5ft space earlier. In the center of the ceiling, is a glowing fruit, that provides a faint light. With more space, at least the elves have a place to stay for the night. The elves nod and say a prayer of some kind. Lausanne is now one and a half years old, and can walk by herself, Brislach and Wahlen babysit her, while the 3 older elves go around, surveying what''s not lost. The three ladies are trying to recover whatever usable items they can find, perhaps some manage to survive the blaze, somehow protected by other rubble above them. But most important is food. ¡°We¡­ we are gonna starve?¡± Emile asks. ¡°All our food is gone.¡± Laufen sighs. She is the oldest, so in a way she is in charge. She kneels before my black trunk, ¡°Oh tree spirit, are you there? Can you make some fruits?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I respond, my body recovering from the damage. ¡°I hear Emile¡¯s concerns, and you may eat my fruits. I will make some.¡± From a few of the black branches, a burst of life. Fruits. May not be satisfying or tasty, but fruits to deal with their hunger. Later on, the elves recover one of the hidden chests buried beneath the houses, a place where elves store their most personal items. Multiple chests survived, as the fire tend to range above group, so only the floor is burnt. In it, some clothes, some weapons, and some personal items. All go into the hideout. ¡°Don¡¯t go too far, girls. We don''t know how far the humans went.¡± Laufen warns, still cautious. They nod, and mostly walk about the remains of their village. I could sense their sorrow, every now and then they would cry, perhaps they stil have not come to terms with the destruction. Brislach, the little girl asks ¡°Tree spirit, are you okay? You are all black...¡± She''s playing with Lausanne, and Wahlen with some sticks and stones. ¡°I am recovering, Brislach. Rain will wash off these black stains.¡± ¡°Uhmmm. why are the humans so evil? They killed us.¡± Brislach looks at me, and ask. "Why did they do this to us?" Ah, a question about the nature of man. If I could answer this maybe I could win a Nobel Peace Prize or something. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Brislach. But you must be stronger. All of us, must be stronger.¡± Laufen, Emile and Belle spends their time sorting through the rubble, and at the end of the day, everything usable is now in the hideout. It didn''t take long for them to sleep, exhausted. As for me, once asleep, I look at each of my skills and abilities, and test out each and every one of them. [Essence Harvest] From the ashes, from the burnt wood, faint energies emerge and they join together into a ball. [Obtained Essence of lesser courage x 1, Essence of the sword (minor) x 1, Essence of the spear (minor) x 1, Essence of lesser fire x2, essence of death x 1] Oh? What does these do? Essences are a type of material, used to permanently create and teach skills, enchant or imbue creatures and items, or combine them to create stronger essences. The next day, A small pack of demons appear. Without the walls and the fighters, and with the smell of death lingering in the air, certain demons naturally gravitate to such places. Just four demon hounds,, a tiny pack really but with only Laufen having any knowledge of combat, they decide to run into the hideout. Laufen had no confidence in taking them all on her own. ¡°Run!¡± Laufen stands at the hideout¡¯s entrance, with her only weapon, a dagger. She grips in hard. ¡°Hide, Laufen.¡± She nods, and but stands next to the entrance. Her survival instincts are kicking in. [Root Strike x 4] The roots surge out of the ground, spearing the lesser demons who are trying to find the hidden elves. With my extra levels, I can use Root Strike a total of 10 times. Three of them die instantly. One, still barely alive, maybe I missed a critical bodypart. The root still impales the hound though, and it growls, dying. Laufen emerges from the hideout, and she lands a killing blow. A stick to the head. The events from the day before drive her into a state of rage, and she bashes the hound¡¯s head repeatedly with the stick until it broke. ¡°Arghhhhhh!!¡± "ARGHH!!" She shouts. The hound is dead, but she kept smashing. "ARGHHHHH! Die DIE DIE DIE DIE!" She shouts. ¡°Laufen¡­ sis. Calm down.¡± Emile emerge from behind. She''s frightened. Laufen pants, her breathing ragged. ¡°I.. I am sorry Emile. I¡­ I just need to vent my anger, my frustration and my sorrow at something.¡± Emile nods. She too walks up to the dead hound, and kicks it. ¡°Damn you demons.¡± Anger. Maybe this is how they are coping with grief. [You gain a level. Level 64] Grief. We all have it. Yet if I am to protect these elves, and help these elves protect themselves, I need to get them to gain a lot of levels. In short, some assisted powerleveling is required. Year 70 Month 12 Rain and winter. With no food supply. ¡°Fruits.¡± Laufen sighs. I think she is getting a little sick of fruits. The earliest she can start planting crops is in early spring. "And it is freaking cold outside." Her winter wear is all destroyed in the fire and raid, so they can only step out in short bursts of time. ¡°At least it is warm here.¡± Emile nods, thinking positively. The secret hideout is temperature controlled, and comes with a small tap on a corner which supplies water, which is drawn from the roots below. Freeka, is nothing more than a flat area now. The dust and soot is gone, and the constant rain had washed it all away. All of them, except baby Lausanne, have a familiar contract with me, and they attempt to hunt whatever animals that emerge during this time. But these girls, and one young boy, are inexperienced at hunting and so the animals all manage to run away. So no meat. Only fruits for today, just like yesterday. In the meantime, I get them to make a spear, to test the essence I harvested earlier. ¡°I think it is ready, tree spirit.¡± Laufen and Belle hold up a spear, a repaired one. A wood stick, a large metal tip. [Essence of spear (minor)] I use one of the essence, and a small ball of light emerge from the lamp-fruit on the ceiling, and then lands on the spear. The spear shakes a little, and absorbs the ball of light. ¡°Laufen, how is it?¡± ¡°[Equipment inspect].¡± Laufen apparently helps with maintaining the weapons the men use, so she has this skill which reveals more equipment specific details than my general [inspect]. ¡°Eh tree spirit, I think it absorbed it partially. Compatibility stat is at 50%, but it grants a +2 to spear combat, so it is pretty good. ¡± ¡°Huh.¡± That sounds like gibberish. It reminds of when one of the pure technical guys sit down next to me and start explaining about their database infrastructure. ¡°Try using it?¡± Laufen shakes her head. ¡°I think Emile should use it instead. I have a thing with spears.¡± ¡°Thing with spears¡­?¡± Emile nods. ¡°She means she accidentally hurt someone a long time ago and now she has a phobia when using spears.¡± ¡°Oh. Emile, would you?¡± ¡°Yes tree spirit.¡± Emile grabs the spear and swings it around, and she seems rather skilled with it, or at least her movements look really fluid. But then again, flashiness is not always a sign of skill. ¡°How is it?¡± ¡°Wonderful. I need some time to build affinity with it, but once I do I should be good.¡± ¡°What¡¯s affinity?¡± Thats a new term, I had to ask. ¡°Oh.. erm.. it is the familiarity of a person with a weapon, so with low affinity, your reaction time, energy use and overall ability is weakened. At full affinity you could use it like an extra limb. We get extra damage, speed and parry with high affinity weapons, so getting new stronger equipment does not mean it should be used immediately.¡± Laufen explains. ¡°How do you know this?¡± It still baffles me. ¡°Its¡­ combat basics. Everyone knows it when learning how to use a weapon. I think the only exception to this are the summoned heroes. The legends say Weapon King Valerian has 200% affinity with any weapon he touches instantly.¡± ¡°Oh. What does that do?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really know, but I think the stories say the weapons are able to exceed their own limits and in his hands, the weapons often do things normally not possible.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Oh ya, reincarnators have cheat-like abilities. I wonder whether I could get one for myself. ¡°Which of the summoned heroes were elves?¡± ¡°Our last eleven champion is the Roana the Druid.¡± ¡°Let me guess, she controls nature like a druid?¡± ¡°Yes yes. She is like the most powerful druid ever, her power over the forests and tree spirits is incredible. It is said that every tree spirit that meets her will instantly like her and will obey her. In the battle against the demons she transformed an entire forest into an army of super-treants!¡± ¡°Huh.¡± I somehow feel a strange pain in my head. I also need to learn more about this world¡¯s powers and creatures. There clearly is a gap in my knowledge. ¡°Anyway, please practice with it.¡± Emile nods, but her face seems a bit sullen. ¡°Okay.¡± Laufen gives her a hug. ¡°It¡¯s just us now. I know you always thought you did not have to fight, the guys would protect us¡­¡± The thought of having to defend herself kind of saddens her. ¡°Yeah¡­ we all miss them.¡± ¡°Yes. Yes we do. But we must live on. Else their deaths is wasted on us.¡± Emile nods, and both of the girls cry a little. Year 71 Month 1 Now it is really cold. The elves frequently hide within the hideout, as cold winds now frequently sweep through the place. According to Laufen, Freeka is located on one side of a mountain range, and so occasionally when the winds get strong enough to cross the range, it tends to get really cold. Previously, the village buildings create a kind of a bubble from the cold winds. A large bear appears. It looks curious at the disappeared village. ¡°Oh. There is a bear.¡± I telepathically notify Laufen. She is playing with Lausanne, and she shakes her head. ¡°It¡¯s too cold. We cannot catch it now¡­¡± ¡°Oh.¡± The bear walks really close, and it rubs its fur against my trunk. I could kill it now. But me killing it would not be the point. [Root strike] x 4. Using 4 root strikes out of my daily 10 is quite overkill, as a good well placed hit through the chest would have killed it. But the point is to disable it, and get the elves to kill it. If they gain some levels they get to be more useful, and I can save up on the mana used to generate the fruits daily. The bear screams in pain, but the four strikes means all it could do is flail its head now. ¡°Emile, can you come out with the spear?¡± She nods, and once she opens the latch that leads out of the hideout she yells. ¡°Oh my god its a brown bear.¡± At that point I wonder whether it is possible to use [Essence Harvest] on a bear, so I did. [Fragment of bear essence obtained. Collect 20 to form 1 bear essence!] Ah the whole RPG grinding mechanics. The bear struggles, immobile, and Emile stab it right through the head. ¡°Wow.¡± Emile¡¯s hands shake. Perhaps a mix of adrenaline and fear? ¡°We.. we have bear meat!¡± Laufen and Belle comes out to assist her in cleaning up and processing the bear meat. More importantly they cut out the pelt and fur, which would help them in this winter. ¡°Did you gain any levels, Emile?¡± ¡°Nope. But I did get a skill [Spear thrust].¡± Hmmm.. They do not seem to be gaining levels that easily. Year 71 Month 2 The elves are happier, with the bear meat as another type of food in their diet. Spring is coming soon, and thankfully some of the crop seeds should be good for replanting. I take every opportunity during this time, to let the elves land the killing blow on any stray demon or monster that pops up. Still, their leveling is slow. I wonder whether I am leeching off all the experience, and so I decide to change the manner of my training. Instead of injuring the monsters, I use [constrict], a new ability I gain after disabling so many beasts. I suppose there is some sentience in this system that tries to make things easier over time. But because [constrict] required multiple roots to act, I can only use it twice a day. The first time I use it, Emile, Laufen and Belle end up spending a good half hour trying to kill the trapped lesser hellhound. It seems a full strength and health hellhound can take a bit of damage, especially from these unexperienced elves. But I could sense the hellhound weaken considerably once Emile use her [spear thrust]. After killing it, the three elves do in fact gain a level and skills. ¡°This is hard.¡± Belle said, recognising that between Laufen, Emile and herself, she seems to least adept at using a spear or sword, or a stick. Still, I had to do it. Powerleveing is slow in this world. Year 71 Month 2 Week 4 ¡°Is there is a village here?¡± ¡°Must be a mistake.¡± A human merchant group passes by. ¡°The map says there is an elven village.¡± An old man turns his map around a few times, thinking that he read it wrong. ¡°Come have a look at it.¡± Another guy goes over and looks at the map, and nods. ¡°Yeah this is the place. Freeka.¡± ¡°There is just a tree in this place.¡± ¡°It looks creepy.¡± The merchant group, about eight of them. They look defenseless. At this point I telepathically ask the elves. ¡°What happens if you attack innocents?¡± ¡°Nothing much if you did it once or twice. Do it often you might get a [criminal] title, which makes it hard for anyone to go to town or cities where they have a [detect criminal].¡± ¡°Should I kill these human merchants?¡± Laufen pauses. ¡°Uh¡­ uh..¡± I could sense she is conflicted over her hate on that humans that killed her husband, but at the same time, these merchants have nothing to do with it. ¡°Never¡­ never mind.¡± She shakes her hand, but I could see her squeeze her staff a bit. Maybe she really wants to, but a moral, just part of her still is holding on. As for me, if these elves want, I would let them have the last kill. ¡°Its a really creepy tree.¡± One of the merchants shake his head. ¡°We should not get near, I feel its dangerous.¡± ¡°So what do we do, we are supposed to rest a day at the village before we go on.¡± ¡°We make camp here? It is a nice open space.¡± ¡°Preferably some distance from that tree.¡± The merchants at least have the sense of set up camp a little further up from where Freeka is, and that night, one of the merchants actually walks up to me, and stands really close to me. ¡°Why does this tree feel different?¡± He is one of the older ones, probably in his late 50s. He has some arms and looks like he can fight. ¡°Are you some kind of rare wood?¡± He touches my trunk, but then pulls back instantly. He touches his hand, then he tries again. ¡°Eh? It¡¯s a normal tree?¡± One of the effects of [camouflage], so I appear as a regular tree. Else even animals with any sense of danger would not dare come close. ¡°Hmm.. I feel spirits¡­¡± ¡°Danton! Get your ass back here and stop masturbating at the creepy ass tree.¡± ¡°Hey fuck you I ain¡¯t masturbating.¡± The old man sighs, and then he unzips his pants. And he pees on my root. At that moment I am tempted to kill him. He walks away and back to the group. Year 71 Month 3 [You gain a level. Level 65] [You obtained Learning Aura] Boosts exp gain by 20% for those lower level than you. All that ¡°guided¡± powerleveling led to a new skill. Still, Laufen is only level 27, Emile and Belle Level 18. Wahlen and Brislach are level 6 because they are still too young to be fighting. Despite their levels, their skills are actually mostly unrelated to combat, and only their recent levels and skills led to more survival and combat abilities. Now that winter is over, they start to plant crops around me. It almost feels like things are getting into a new routine. Year 71 Month 4 I see an elf. A familiar one, walking through the woods. Alone. It¡¯s Jura, and he looks like he¡¯s been through hell. One of his left arm is gone, and his body is covered in scars and cuts of all kind. He walks up to me. ¡°Tree spirit, you¡¯re still here¡­¡± I tell Laufen to wait, even she wants to run out and hug him the moment they saw him. I just want to be sure this is not a trap. ¡°Yes. How are the rest? Did any get away?¡± Jura kneels, his face looks really defeated and sad. ¡°I only manage to safely send ten of them to the elven kingdom. Demons, monsters, and humans. There are too many¡­¡± ¡°You have done what you could.¡± Jura clutches his left arm, the one that is lost. ¡°I wish I could do more. Is everyone, dead?¡± ¡°No.¡± Laufen says, she could not hold back so she ran out, and gives him a hug. ¡°Glad to see you, old friend!¡± ¡°Laufen! You all are alive?!¡± Jura weeps, he is overjoyed to see survivors. ¡°Yes. Yes. We live, it¡¯s been really tough, but the tree spirit watches over us.¡± Jura enters the secret hideout with the rest of them, and he gives everyone a hug. ¡°I cannot believe it. To think some of you still live.¡± ¡°The rest died ¡­ horribly.¡± Jura shakes his head. ¡°Things have not been well for us either. Or anyone, even the humans.¡± Laufen sits, ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The demon king emerged during the depths of winter, and his swarm of demons crushed the King¡¯s army. A few human cities near to the west rift has been destroyed, its people slaughtered. That made our escape difficult...¡± Laufen shakes her head. ¡°Serves the humans right.¡± ¡°So the demons and the death that followed made our travel to the elven kingdom really challenging. With little belongings and no money, and plenty of other refugees, we were attacked, robbed... A few of us died to robbers and bandits who think we have money.¡± Emile and Belle both nod. ¡°Oh..¡­¡± Jura munches on a healing fruit. ¡°So.. so we had to fight other people, and demons..." About this time, a few riders emerge from the woods. I instantly let Jura and Laufen know, cutting short their conversation . ¡°Oh no, I was followed!¡± Six of them, they look like bandits, their attire is messy and seem like they did not carry any armor. ¡°The tracks of the elf leads here.¡± ¡°I like his sword. I want it. Find him.¡± One of the older bandits gallop around on his horse. ¡°Where could he have gone?¡± ¡°I thought there is a hidden village of elves we could raid. Should have strike him when we had the chance.¡± They are at the edge of my range, but then I ask Jura to come out. ¡°Huh?¡± Jura did, holding his sword. ¡°Taunt them.¡± I whisper into his mind. ¡°Stand next to me.¡± ¡°Hey you scums. You want a piece of me?¡± The bandits laugh. ¡°So there you are. I wanted that sword. Give it to me, and I might let you live.¡± ¡°Dream on. Come and get it you foul smelling scoundrels.¡± The bandits charge. All of them. Great, they are really comfortably within range now. [Root strike] x 6. Six roots shoot out of the ground, stabs each and every one of them. The leader though had some kind of magic armor, and the root merely knocks him off his horse. ¡°Ahcks!¡± He coughs, as he lands on the ground. The armor bent a little. ¡°Oh you are some kind of druid, eh?¡± Jura is visibly surprised as well, but then he smiles. ¡°Yes. Come and get me.¡± ¡°Can you win?¡± I ask telepathically. ¡°Maybe. With one hand I am not as good as before.¡± The bandit leader slashes. Jura dodges and counterattacks. But the bandit dodges his attack. They trade a few more strikes, but they seem even. Jura coughs. ¡°Ugh, you¡¯re pretty good. If I still had my arm I would have won this easily.¡± ¡°But you don¡¯t.¡± The bandit smiles, and activates some kind of skill. His body radiates a kind of aura. ¡°Now you die.¡± Jura struggles to fight back, and he gets a cut. ¡°Aghhh.¡± I decide to step in. With all my remaining [root strike]. My roots impale the bandit leader, his armor did not protect every part of him. Two roots through the thighs, one through the gap between his armor, and another punched through the dent made earlier. ¡°Ugh¡­ To think you still had a trump card¡­¡± ¡°That was not me.¡± Jura stands, and taps the trunk. And the bandit leader dies. [Level up! Level 66] [Root strike range extended] ¡°Jura.¡± Laufen asks him to sit. ¡°You.. you would have beaten guy easily.¡± Jura shakes his head. ¡°Not anymore. I have a curse. [Tormented fighter.]. It weakens all my abilities and skills.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± A curse? Jura sighs. ¡°At first the effect is mild, but as time goes on I have nightmares every day, and now I cannot even wield my weapon properly.¡± Emile then asks, ¡°Jura¡­ can it be healed?¡± ¡°Maybe. Curses can go away in time. Or if something breaks the curse.¡± Indeed, Jura later demonstrates that curse affects how his skills are now cut short, and combos he easily pulled off in the past, can no longer be performed. ¡°Tell me what you¡¯ve seen out there.¡± I ask Jura. ¡°Maybe fighting is not something we should be doing now.¡± Year 71 Month 4 Week 3 Jura¡¯s daily routine is talking with me, playing and helping with the crops. I suspect the curse is something like mental pain, and wonder whether my [calming voice] can help resolve it. It seems the curse is so bad it actually interferes with his ability to use familiars. Still, an extra hand around to help do things, and he seems to really really enjoy having the kids around. He is kind of like Lausanne¡¯s uncle and spends time playing with them. The first batch of crops are ready for harvesting even though they were just planted 2 weeks ago. I do in fact have a lot of levels, so perhaps they do have an effect on the crops. ¡°I am trying to train these girls in combat. What is the best way to do it?¡± ¡°Well, actual combat experience is the best. Otherwise will be mock battles.¡± ¡°Why are they gaining levels so slowly?¡± I ask Jura, even though I asked the others before. ¡°I don¡¯t think they are slow. Based on what they have been doing, it seems they are gaining levels quite fast already!¡± ¡°Huh. No way to speed it up?¡± ¡°If there is a [tutor] or a master, you could¡­ or if they somehow get hold of any of the artifacts of the heroes.¡± ¡°Artifact of the heroes?¡± ¡°Uh.. ya. I once heard Casshern talk about how the heroes artifacts can cause explosive leveling and skills.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°No idea.¡± Year 71 Month 5 Demons. A sudden surge in demons. I see them enter my field of view, in the thousands. At this point, Jura and the elves are hiding inside the hideout. That is their only chance. Thousands, they sweep through, killing everything in its path. They look like hounds, and thousands of them. ¡°So many of them.¡± They approach, but their claws and teeth fail to damage my bark. And even as more demons sweep through, all I could do is just watch. A large demon, one wielding a fiery axe. It looks like a demon lord from Dota. It swings its axe at me, yet it bounces off. No damage. Annoyed, the demon lord hacks at me multiple times, but every time the axe just bounces off. Eventually, it gets tired and it too continues the march. The army, the swarm of thousands of hounds and other kinds of lesser demons continue passing through for a week. I only have a limited number of root strikes, so with no means of killing a massive army, I thought pretending I am harmless is the best way to protect the elves. The elves never felt so afraid in their entire life, yet are simultaneously amazed at how these lesser demons are unable to damage me. Hiding inside, whilst the demon marches overhead is probably the most scary thing they ever had. Every moment they wonder whether a demon will burst through the door. ¡°The demons.. a week. That''s easily an army of twenty thousand!¡± Jura calculates, for me I did not bother. It seems I am the only surviving tree as far as the eye can see. ¡°The humans won¡¯t make it.¡± Laufen sighs. ¡°If Freeka is still here, it won¡¯t either.¡± Jura nods. ¡°Thankfully I only saw a few mid tier demons. It seems to be a massive army of low tier hounds, something an army of half the size can handle.¡± Later that month, one bigger demon appears, taking the same path as the hounds earlier. A large, lizard like creature. It resembles a gigantic komodo dragon, but has red horns and eyes. ¡°That¡¯s a giant redhorn demon.¡± Again all the elves are hiding, and I secretly thank my lucky stars that we have [secret hideout]. It sees me, and it stares. Then it opens its mouth, and breath fire. It feels kind of warm. But with 80% fire resistance, it can¡¯t kill me. Its monstrous. About the size of a three story building. Bigger than me and it tries to bite me. But its fangs could not get through the bark of my trunk. Then it uses its claws, again no damage. Infuriated, it slashes and swipes with its claws, and then mixed with a bit of bites. Still, the bark holds. I''m amazed at my bark, there must be some kind of anti-demon buff. Annoyed, I use four [root strikes] at it. It pierces its thick hide, and it roars in anger, biting and swiping at my trunk repeatedly. But once again it''s attacks does nothing. ¡°Tree spirit.. how do you withstand such fearsome strikes?¡± ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know?¡± I am starting to suspect my [demon king survivor] have a thing to do with it. Maybe it grants me resistance to demon attacks? Its injured from my root strike, and its angry. It breathes fire again. Nothing. And this time when it attempts to bite me, I send 2 [root strikes] to the mouth, probably what is its upper mouth. And it pierces through, a root strike up from the mouth and through the head. Kind of like how a stick goes through the brain. The giant redhorn demon starts to burn in a strange fire, and after the fire is done, all that is left is its fangs, and horns. ¡°Hey why does it do that?¡± I ask Jura and Laufen, both ecstatic to survive. ¡°So it is demon king¡¯s summoning, not a natural demonspawn. A creature mostly made of the demon king¡¯s mana, when slain it reverts into its mana form.¡± ¡°I see¡­.¡± [You gained 5 level. Level 71] [You unlocked the following skills] [Rooting field] [Local rootnet access] [Poison field] Whoahhhh! More offensive abilities, except that [local rootnet access]... Demon Boss Battle I (assisted) Year 71 Month 6 [Attempting Local Rootnet Access. GrassNet found. Connecting.] [Sunsunsunsunsunsunsunsunstepstepssunsunnightnightnightnightnightsunsunsunsunsunsun¡­] What the fuck is this. [sunsunsunsunsunsun¡­] ad infinitum Oh. After a while it reminds of a pinging. A constant pinging where the grassnet transmits what it currently feels. Damn. [Disconnect from GrassNet]. [You unlocked a new skill. [Create Rootnet Node]]. The elves spend a lot of time hiding, as more demons pass through, this time from the other direction. Once the demon king appears, the number one activity worldwide is fighting demons. There is no peace until the demon king is slain, because his very presence triggers demons to appear. For our little group, we would attack if the size of the party is small, and get the elves to help take a few down or land the killing blows. If it is too big we would hide, since the lesser demons cannot hurt me. I checked my skills, and it seems that I get various defense buffs from all the levels. Year 71 Month 7 The huge army of demons travelling through from last 2 months are retreating. So I take the opportunity to test out my new skills [poison field] and [rooting field], which effectively create a field with tiny roots that attempt to tangle and dislodge any passing monster, and then the same roots also has tiny thorns with poisons. The hounds generally pass through unharmed, as their small size, flexible and nimble paws and more importantly, they appear to have some poison immunity. The mid tier demons though, generally are larger and unable to avoid the tiny thorns, so quite a bit gets hit, and the poison causes a few to collapse onto the ground. The root field then slowly cuts at the collapsed demons, eventually killing it. All this happens over a period of a few hours. About a week after the demonic swarm retreats, an army of humans now appears, which I believe to be chasing after the swarm. ¡°A tree...¡± An old warrior speaks, he rides on an armored horse. He rides up next to me, and look at my trunk. "Even when thousands of demons pass through here, nature survives." Two other warriors ride up to him. ¡°Yes, Lord Rajjiv. Amazing that a tree can live, when so few trees survive the hound swarm.¡± They look at the barren field around them, all the trees has been either burnt or destroyed by the demons, though signs of recovery is seen. ¡°We make camp here then. It is a good omen from the gods. Perhaps this tree is blessed." A superstitious bunch, but it reminds me of the founding mythos of many ancient cities. ¡°Yes, milord.¡± The Lord and his trusted lieutenants all camp within my striking range, and the remainder of the army beyond it. My [root field] and [poison field] expired a few days ago and still is on cooldown. ¡°What should we do?¡± The elves are slightly panicking, because a large group of humans somehow trigger a bit of fear. ¡°Hide! We have enough food.¡± Laufen insists, not wanting to face the humans. Lord Rajjiv sits next to me with a drink. ¡°Oh tree, I suspect you must not be an ordinary tree to survive. Perhaps you are a tree spirit, like the guardian trees of the elven capitals?¡± Perceptive! ¡°Ah wait, if you truly are a tree spirit, proper introductions are necessary. I am Rajjiv Nung II, of the Kingdom of Nung. I am a minor lord, I come in peace, and I am here to push back the demon army that is brought tremendous destruction to the world. Perhaps with some deeds the King would elevate my status." Hmm, I guess I should reply. ¡°Hello.¡± He jolts in shock, his drink almost spills. ¡°Ah. You are indeed a tree spirit! Well met! The demons, they passed through?" Directly asking a question on military intel. ¡°Yes, a week ago.¡± ¡°Hmm.. A week. We are still too slow after all.¡± ¡°Why so?¡± ¡°We are trying to catch up to them, but if they are still a week away, means we have not gained on them. How many of them, would you know?¡± ¡°No idea. Maybe ten thousand?¡± Ten thousand. Hmmm.. we can still take that.¡± He takes out a map, and though I can¡¯t see the writings on it, I could still notice him pointing here and there. Things are all just a lot of outlines to me after all. Maybe I can learn a skill to see normally. The demon king is very far away, but he has multiple champions that lead his campaigns against the world. It seems after the champions are slain their armies tend to scatter and weaken in coordination, so taking out the demon champions are a good way to reduce the threat of demons. The champions are then given multiple lieutenants, such as giant demon lords or just massive demon beasts. ¡°What if you meet the demon king?¡± Lord Rajjiv laughs. ¡°Then we run. We run as fast as we can.¡± ¡°Is fighting him that scary?¡± ¡°Unless you happen to have the weapon of the gods, or are a summoned hero, there is no chance. Why fight a doomed battle?¡± ¡°Good point.¡± Well, Rajjiv and the army departs a day later, marching towards the demons. Year 71 Month 8 Lord Rajjiv returns. He is injured, and so is his army. And a demon swarm is on his tail. ¡°Set up camp. Defensive structures!¡± The army set up a makeshift trench and wall, by digging into the ground. They would have added spikes, but all the trees are gone, except the small trees growing nearer to me. ¡°Scouts. Where are the demons?¡± ¡°Should be here in 3 days.¡± The army spend most of their time setting up the trenches, hoping to trap the hounds so that they can stab them easily with spears. Those with higher levels and skills will be deployed against the mid tier demons. In a way, a defensive battle against demons is advantageous. But, the trenches will overflow with bodies, and soon that defensive advantage will dwindle. ¡°I don¡¯t know whether we can survive this.¡± Rajjiv sighs, polishing his sword. "The men must be ready to fight to their last. We beat them here, or the towns behind us will die." ¡°Fear not, Lord Rajjiv. The reinforcement army is on their way.¡± One of the lieutenants assure him. Rajjiv, and a few lieutenants stand underneath me, the only natural shade in the now empty plains. Once it is a forest, but the demons destroyed all of it. ¡°Rajjiv, do you need a familiar?¡± He turn, looks at me. ¡°Uh¡­ yes. That would help. It would really help.¡± I also grow a few healing fruits, which the humans happily consume. Meanwhile, the elves continue hiding. ¡°What should we do?¡± Laufen ask, one hand carrying Lausanne. Jura sips a cup of water. ¡°With such a large human army, we should just hide. Its safer here, if the size of the demon army is like what we seen before.¡± ¡°Yeah. Just feels like all we have been doing is hide.¡± Laufen sighs. "Should we fight for a change?" "No." I intervene. "Hide. I will protect you." Seriously, just hide. 3 days later. A black line emerges in the horizon. Hounds. A lot of them. They charge at the human army, like a tsunami approaching the shore. [Ironbark skin] Lord Rajjiv shouts, enchanting his nearby lieutenants. His lieutenants then joins the line, barking their commands. ¡°Spears, ready!¡± The defenders raise their spears, creating a spear wall. The swarm of hounds close in, and enter the firing range of archers. Archers unleash a volley of arrows at the swarm, and quite a few die. But not enough. ¡°Spears! [Defensive line]¡± Lord Rajjiv shouts, and the soldiers feels a surge in strength, a hardening in their skin. Some lieutenants and sergeants activate their skills, the swarm smashes right into the line of humans. Death. Some hounds skewered. The battle continues. Hounds, in the thousands. They bite, swipe and growl at the humans. The defenders switch to short swords, and cut the hounds that are close. Still, the momentum of the hound''s charge is intense. The first line breaks. The swarm is just too much, and now smacks into the line behind it. [Tactical reorganisation], [Morale Boost]. Rajjiv shouts, as the line around him breaks. The second line of humans step in, reinforcing the line that just broke. More fighting, more blood. More death. The hounds outnumber the army, so they seem to be winning, but it could go either way. The second line falls back to the third, another wall of spears. Rajjiv waits for the moment to activate his skill. Timing is crucial. But help came, and the odds shift rapidly. A horn. And a stream of charging knights on horseback, 5,000 strong. They descend from behind the hounds, crushing them with their heavy lances. Rajjiv looks like he has tears of joy when he hears the horn. ¡°Hold it together, men!¡± Lord Rajjiv lifts his sword overhead, it glows in a bright flash. The flash stuns the army of demons briefly, allowing the defenders to regain some ground. The charging knights lose their charge momentum, and a vanguard group is holding back the hounds. A pack retreats, but then turns back, with speed. Lord Rajjiv lifts his sword again. ¡°Men! Advance and attack now.¡± Another flash of light, and he stuns the hounds that glance at it. The demons, sensing defeat, start to flee. And the knights chase after the laggards, before reuniting with the main army. ¡°Glad to see you, Lord Rajjiv.¡± A heavily decorated rider rides up to him. ¡°Me too, Captain. You came just right on time.¡± ¡°My pleasure. You seem to have them in your hands anyway.¡± "Perhaps, but I rather not gamble with my soldiers lives. Your charge helped alot." "Let''s burn the dead before they start transforming into zombies." The humans gather their dead into a mountain, and set fire to it. It seems that is one of the ways to prevent the demons or the undead from defiling the dead. As the fires burn, a huge creature appears on the horizon. A large demon, perhaps drawn by the sight of the smoke. The sight of it instantly sends the army into a panic. ¡°A demon champion.¡± Lord Rajjiv pales. The hounds appear beside it, but unlike before, they did not charge at the human army. They wait, perhaps for a signal. The demon champion is massive, the size of large building. It looks like it is a giant earth golem, but reddish in color, and has spikes and horns throughout its body. It is like a grotesque mix of a golem, a hedgehog and a demon. It steps closer, and the earth shakes. Every step, the earth shakes from its massive steps. ¡°Oh shit.¡± I feel a shiver down my spine. Like a demon king. Okay, that understates the presence of a demon king. Maybe a lot less than a demon king, maybe 1% of a demon king. The champion, a giant demonic earth golem, walks closer. Each step leaves a deep scar in the ground, like godzilla¡¯s massive steps. It feels like I am face to face with a kaiju. It roars, and it sounds like an exploding volcano. ¡°Get the general force to retreat. All our top fighters and mages gather to me. This will be a battle of champions.¡± Rajjiv commands. "Send a courier to inform HQ now. Tell HQ to gather heroes and champions if they do not hear from us in two days." The regular soldiers are more than happy to retreat far away, there is no shame is running from a giant monster that can crush you underfoot. ¡°Together, with me.¡± I telepathically inform Rajjiv. Together, I think we have a chance. I think that''s instinct? Rajjiv nods, ¡°Protect us, tree spirit.¡± The captain dismounts, and his force of riders mostly retreats as well. Gathering around him, is his highest leveled warriors, healers and mages. I offer him a familiar contract too. In fact I offer everyone I can a familiar contract, maxing out my limit. The captain leans in. ¡°Tree spirit, do you have [Empower Allies]?¡± ¡°No.¡± The captain then takes out a scroll. ¡°[Loan skill] [Empower Allies].¡± You have been loaned [empower allies] for 24 hours. Oh. The golem approaches. The human fighters and lieutenants stack themselves with all the buffs and healing they have. The earth shakes. Little pebbles jump at every step. Jura climbs out of the hideout, deciding this battle is one he should take part in. ¡°Huh?¡± The humans are surprised to see an elf appear from nowhere, but there is no time for that argument. The golem roars, it is within range, and it throws its fists at the humans. woosh They dodge, but the punch has such force that it creates a small shockwave, catching some of the umprepared lieutenants. The captain activates [Quick step], allowing those too near to run away. The captain and the lieutenants attack, but it barely scratches it. Normal sword attacks or arrows do no damage against its large and horn covered bodies. Slash. The humans attack its feet, and those with leap attempt a few slashes at its body. Punch. The golem punches the ground, the earth shakes and rocks fly everywhere. Slash. One brave lieutenant tries to climb up its back, but a rock arm appears and punches him off. Punch. The flying rocks is like a scattershot. Some smaller rocks and stones still land a hit, and it hurts. About fifteen hits in, the humans realise the folly of using regular weapons and attacks on the golem. ¡°Don¡¯t swing at it blindly, reserve your strength for magical attacks!¡± Lord Rajjiv yells, and he knows some of these lieutenants have never faced a high-defense and regenerating golem. Maybe he should have said that earlier, but he panicked when it starts to punch. It tries to punch the fighters, yet its bulky size gives up its intent, so they manage to avoid its punches directly. They had to just account for the shockwave and the flying debris as well, which is harder to dodge. [Holy strike] Lord Rajjiv lands a cut, and with the holy damage it leaves a small tear. But only a small one. [Energy Lance] The captain lunches at the demon with a magically enhanced charge, and it leaves a small hole. The golem does not dodge very much, mainly because its thick rock hide is just incredibly tough and it regenerates. The golem swings its large arms, and two lieutenants are caught. ¡°Arghhh!¡± They cough, probably blood. [Empower], [Defense], [Ironbark], [Wood shield] I activate all the defensive abilities I have, and the golem¡¯s arm lands on some kind of barrier. The golem now is almost next to me, and so, it then punches at me. Ouch. I really felt that. A dent in my trunk. A punch. I feel myself groan and twist. And it punches at me again. I activate wood shield, and the wood shield shatters instantly. But no direct hit. The humans keep using their skills, and it scratches the golem. But nothing too deep. It manages to grab one of the lieutenants, and crushes him. ¡°Argggggghhhhhh!¡± The captain charges with another magical attack. Again, like all the previous attacks, just a small dent. ¡°Its too tough. None of our attacks can break through it.¡± ¡°I have a special holy charge skill, but I think it is not powerful enough to kill it.¡± Rajjiv pants, dodging a swipe of the demon¡¯s large arm. The demon stomps the ground and the earth shakes. Some of the fighters lose balance. It then throws a few loose boulders. ¡°It can do that?!¡± One of the fighters yell, frustrated that after dodging rubble, they now have to dodge boulders. I activate [wood shield], and I manage to shield a few from the boulders, but three of the lieutenants still get a boulder right in their face, and the boulder crushed them instantly. ¡°Ugh. We are losing!¡± The captain screams, assessing that the damage dealt to the golem is less than what it is dishing out. If it keeps picking them off, they would lose eventually, they can only harn it with skills, but the demon''s regular punch could knock any of them out. A battle for attrition or endurance is a losing one. The humans need special skills. The Golem stomps the ground, everything shakes, me included. It roars and a burst of flame emerge around it. A few lieutenants catch fire, but one of the mages then puts it away. The mages attack with some fireballs, but it seems to be resistant to fire. Rajjiv stands next to me. ¡°Tree spirit, do you have any strong attack?¡± Well, I only have one attack, so I use [root strike]. It strikes at the demon, breaking maybe a rock or two from the golem¡¯s massive body. Though it chips a bit of rock out, it does not really hurt it. The golem retaliates, punches me right in the trunk again. My entire body shakes and another dent in my trunk. ¡°Ughhhh.¡± That really hurt. I felt like somebody just punched my gut, and some. I feel a little drowsy and dizzy. Pain. Pain. I suddenly recall that feeling of being chopped by demon king Baal. The golem has smaller appendages on its back that swipe at any attackers, and though Rajjiv and the rest try to take to chance to attack, its mostly does nothing. The human fighters throws a few more magic attacks at the golem, but mostly just a scratch, or a small dent. ¡°I have a crazy idea.¡± Rajjiv looks at me. ¡°Everyone, cast all your support and boosts on the tree!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Trust me!¡± Rajjiv shouts, he dodges and then runs next to me. [Holy Power X], [Blessed strike V], [Demon slayer III], [Energy burst V], [Fatal strike], [Heaven¡¯s Punishment], [Holy Blessing]. Rajjiv use a string of powerups on me, and I feel a strange surge of power and magic in my roots. He chants and mumbles it out, while dodging the giant golem''s attempt to interfere with it. ¡°The tree spirit¡¯s root strike on its own, can damage the demon. With enough magic enchantments, it can deal a strong hit!¡± He shouts, and continues channelling some kind of holy magic. [Imbue Holy Power]. I feel really light-headed. The captain nods, ¡°Ah! Makes sense!¡± He dodges, and he too runs next to me. [Energy boost], [Piercing strike], [Magic damage III], [Attack boost III] A few of the other human fighters run up to me as well, using their support boosts, [Power strike], [Dodgeless strike]. All that enchantments makes me feel really quite engorged, like my roots are about to blow up. The earth shakes. The golem punches me again, ugh... If I am human I would cough blood now. And another punch. I feel my barks bend and buckle. Pain. But here goes, I honestly feel like exploding, and I¡¯m not sure whether its from all the magic or the punches. ¡°That¡¯s it, tree spirit. Give it everything you got!¡± Rajjiv shouts. I let it all out, [Root strike] x 9. All my remaining [root strike], all at the same time, and it appears like nine flashes of light. Nine flashes that shoots into the sky, piercing through the demon golem. Nine magically overcharged root strikes. It tears 9 massive holes through the golem, and it stops. And then it crumbles. The massive golem shatters into multiple pieces and crumbles into rubble. All the rocks that form the golem fall like a puppet whose strings were cut. ¡°The golem falls!¡± Rajjiv shouts. "Woooooooaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!" The human army roars in joy. The hounds disappear from the horizon, perhaps taking queue from their defeated champion. Rajjiv, the captain and the remaining lieutenants gather next to me, but I just could not respond. But I felt really dizzy. Its as if everything just went blank. And I fall into a kind of sleep¡­¡­... [Level up! You gained 15 levels! Level 86!] [You unlocked the following skills! Dream tutor Wood magic & creation Rhizofiltration The following skills have been upgraded : Secret hideout Root strike range and quantity Local rootness access Waking and more reincarnators? A dream. A dream that contains visions of what looks like my home world. It begins, in a vast sea of stars, like the milky way and more. A galaxy, and a nebula in the distance. From the vastness of space, it zooms in on a solar system, then a planet. Earth. Or is it? The dream does not linger, and it moves a bit too fast. The scene zooms in on a hospital or a clinic A doctor, a nurse, a child and probably the child¡¯s family. The child smiles and nods. A few around him cry. And the child sleeps, and those around him give him a hug, crying. Then it zooms out again, back to the view from space. Stars. Thirteen streaks of light, all from the planet. They shoot up, and then the view speeds up, like a warp, or a slipstream. A white layer emerges around all the streak of lights, and just as it exists the slipstream, a black barrier appears. It shatters, like glass. And a green planet is seen. Thirteen streaks of light, they fly towards a point, but one¡¯s brightness starts to flicker, and move a little slower. And that one streak of light loses speed, and starts to drift apart from the rest of the group. And it crashes into the planet. A little while later, the twelve streaks of light crash on the planet as well. [Twelve reincarnators have arrived!] Year 71 Month 10 2 Months. I¡¯ve been asleep for 2 months? The elves! What happened to the elves? Oh. I still feel them here. The elves are alive, thankfully. I had a scare whether my fruits or [secret hideout] or [nourish] would be disabled when I woke up, but everything seems to be¡­ alright? ¡°Jura, Laufen¡­ what happened?¡± ¡°Oh?!¡± The elves jump, surprised. ¡°Tree Spirit, you are awake!¡± ¡°Ah. Yes.. I¡¯ve been sleeping for two.. Months?¡± ¡°Yes. All of us are really surprised that you did not respond earlier, and one of the captains mentioned it could be a kind of mana-sickness.¡± ¡°Then?¡± ¡°Oh, erm¡­ The humans left after the battle 2 months ago. They want to talk to you but they all left after waiting for a few days. After the demon champion is defeated, it¡¯s quiet around here for a moment. The demon hordes in this region are in disarray and their behavior is erratic. Other than that, nothing much, we mostly continue hiding here, your fruits and [nourish] ability is still working¡­ so we knew you are merely sleeping. So, we''ve been keeping ourselves busy since. We gained a few levels too!¡± Jura did participate in the battle against the demon champion, so, it makes sense for him to gain levels. ¡°Ah. how many levels did you gain, Jura?¡± ¡°Oh levels. Erm.. I think I gained 4 levels, and a skill?¡± Well, that''s a big difference. Is it because I landed the finishing blow? Jura smiles and nods. ¡°Thank you, most importantly, battling such a huge golem helped with my worries and boosts my confidence, and my [tormented warrior] has improved to [tormented warrior (mild)]. I think if this keeps up, I will lose the penalty soon enough!¡± Laufen and the rest shake their head, no levels for them. All they did is just hide after all, if you didn¡¯t participate, you don¡¯t get levels. Sounds fair. In fact, this whole fuzzy logic behind leveling incentivizes hard work and participation. It¡¯s probably designed by a school teacher somewhere to reward kids, no? Laze off, don¡¯t take risks, and you get nothing! Year 71 Month 10 A few days after I wake up Ah, that reminds me, I have new skills. Kind of forgot about them in the daze of waking up. It feels like a bad hangover really. [Wood Magic] A wheel pops up in my mind, at the center of it a leaf shape. There is a lot of greyed out skills and menus that grow out of that wheel. Ah, I unlocked the magic type, and I have under it two skills. [Bind] and [Bloom] [Rhizofiltration] This is a passive skill. Will extract minerals and other items via roots, and automatically filter out negative effects in the ground. [Dream Tutor] May use dreams to learn, and to teach. Requires a collection of spirits, memories and objects to unlock more ¡°Dreams¡±. Essences can be used to bestow certain skills via dreams. Target must be sleeping for the ability to kick in. If sleep is interrupted, learning may not be effective. I immediately test it out on the elves, once they go to sleep at night. Year 71 Month 11 The effects of dream tutor seems quite varied. It works very well in the case of Jura, as he gains a new attack skill. For Laufen and Emile, they seem to be feeling a little lost, the dream felt more disorienting and confusing than enlightening. But they seem to say they are learning something. For the youngest Lausanne, it seems to cause her nightmares, so I choose not to use it on her until she is much older. Perhaps dreams are just scary when you''re 2 to 3 years old. Nothing much happened this month. It is really cold again, and the elves spend time mostly resting in the expanded hideout which now has an additional room. Occasionally, they would pop out to kill whatever creature that comes too close. Powerlevelling. I should get a skill like that. Year 71 Month 12 [Melur Marin has died. You received a fragment. You have 56 fragments.] What. That is way too fast for one of the reincarnators to die. It is only slightly more than a month since they arrived! Are they in danger? Or maybe a conflict broke out? I ask Jura to gather more information, but he wants to be here, with the rest of the elves. "I don''t think its good for me to leave, tree spirit. It''s better if we stay in this hideout. It''s really the safest place with you around." Oh well, the nearest town is a human one, and maybe the elves won''t be so well received anyway.... [Your root has harvested some materials. Raw Iron x 5. Do you want to disable all similar notifications?] Oh. Okay. Materials, like essences, are used for making stuff, and its part of my [wood creation], so the iron and essences get absorbed into the wood, and the wood then forms itself into the item I want to make. It¡¯s a slow process. Year 72 Month 1 Week 1 I create a wooden ring, with iron and essence of lesser fire. It¡¯s more like its been growing within a branch, and once its finished growing the outer layers peel off to reveal the inner ¡°product¡±. A popup appears. [Material compatibility is low. Effects are reduced by 50%]. Ah. Laufen, being the resident inspector, then advises on its effects. Honestly it felt like I am at a masterchef competition waiting for Laufen¡¯s judgement. ¡°Boosts fire magic (minor), and attack stats increase.¡± Ah. Not bad. Maybe I won¡¯t get disqualified this round. The rest of the time, its a lot of resting and the occasional monsters. [Woodcrafting upgraded] Oh that¡¯s easy. Week 4 Demons. A group of hounds. I kill them, and let the elves kill a few. Obtained new skill : [Powerleveling I] Ah! Finally. The elves, other than Jura, gain a level. Year 72 Month 2 Quiet month. More demons, more killing. More levels for the elves. Other than that, the elves can¡¯t wait for spring. Winter is finally ending. [Essence of winter (minor) x 1 obtained] [Essence of cold (minor) x 1 obtained]. Ah, auto-mode [essence harvesting]. My new discovery that most of my harvesting/material type skills have an [auto] mode. I mean, I am a tree, and the cells of the tree extracts mineral without the need of my conscious interference. Its kinda like breathing. Year 72 Month 3 Near me, a few small bushes and trees start to grow. The remains of the previously destroyed trees, now regenerating. The recovering bushes and trees start to add some texture and features back to the previously empty field. This is also the season when the elves start to plant their crops, so that they have a better variety of diets on top of my fruits and [nourish]. Surviving on fruits alone is possible, but not the most tasty way to do things. Demons, or more accurately the hounds appear like locusts. Swarms of them, here and there. I kill those that I can, and ignore those clever enough not to come too close. I mean, it''s not like I can chase them. KInda like a venus flytrap. Gotta wait for my stupid prey to come near. Maybe I can get a "lure" skill some day in the future. [Level up. Level 87!] [Healing fruit upgraded] [Healing vines upgraded] Obtained a new skill: [Solar-healing] Oh. I feel like a bulb shaped monster now. Year 72 Month 4 A horseman passes through. He rests a while under the tree. He sleeps under the shade, right on my trunk. I drop a fruit on his head. ¡°Ouch.¡± He grabs it, examines it for a while, and then eats it. ¡°Thanks, tree.¡± He rides off after his nap. [Skill : Fruit-attack obtained] Oh. Year 72 Month 5 More demons. Seriously, these things never end. How do these guys deal with so many demons? ¡°The demons appear on average twice a week, that¡¯s pretty okay. When demons are actually terrorising us a few years ago, they appear daily.¡± Ah wait, I keep forgetting my sense of time is different from the elves. Killing all the demons though gives me a new skill. [Obtained skill : Root surge] [Obtained skill : Lesser demon suppression aura] Year 72 Month 6 Big harvest! The elves have crops, and some of the trees around me are growing larger. Its quite unnatural to see them grow so quickly, but apparently a common occurrence if there are tree spirits around. Apparently I''ve grown taller as well, and I am now about the height of a four story building. Excess mana harvested by tree spirits (who usually do not spend their mana) is dumped into the land around it, and that turbocharges all other plant growth. Also, thanks to [wood creation], all the elves are now equipped with weapons and armor I made, which also gave that skill an upgrade. Year 72 Month 7 One thing being a tree, I am mostly immobile. So in a way, I really spend a lot of time doing mostly nothing. It''s really a waiting game, hoping for things to happen. Do trees always feel like this, just waiting? Or maybe a rock? So I usually try to use my plentiful idle time to help the eleves, by using my skills [dream tutor], [powerlevelling] and [wood creation]. Right now, Jura is level 54, Laufen Level 31, Emile is 26, Belle is 25, Brislach and Wahlen Level 11 and Lausanne is still unknown. Lausanne, the now 3+ baby can talk quite well but still does not know how to access her menu. Maybe in a few more months she will tell me what level she is. "Tree-tree." Lausanne would walk around, her steps now quite stable, and crawl up and down the roots. Laufen would then pet her daughter''s head. "Now now, that''s not how to refer to a tree spirit." "Tree-tree." Lausanne mumbles. "tree-tree?" I kinda like that name, I should call myself that. Discovery & Adventurers? Year 72 Month 8 A small group of young adventurers appear, six of them, on horses. Heavily armed, their horses exhausted, they made camp next to me. It seems like being the only large tree in this vast field does seem to draw attention. ¡°I think that tree in the middle of the field looks nice.¡± ¡°I think so too. Lets go have a look.¡± These six adventurers, they stand next to me, examine my trunk and the leaves, and the trees that now flourish around me. At this distance, I make out that there are four girls and two boys. One of them look around, and she sits down on one of my protruding roots, then admires the view of the fields. ¡°Its a nice view, even though it''s probably one made by the demons.¡± "Yea, good place to take a nap. Our journey to the rifts is still a few days to go, and we best enjoy this peace and quiet while we can." "True." So they then set up camps next to me, and rest that night. The next morning, a group of fifteen demons appear in the distance, and I learn from Jura that these large winged creatures are known as manticores. They make their presence known with a loud roar, and that wakes the adventurers. Silly, these manticores. They should just keep their mouth shut and attack the adventurers while they sleep. The adventurers though seem unshaken, as if its a normal occurrence for them. In fact, it seems the adventurers already set up some kind of magical defense, and a huge thunderbolt zaps the manticore that intrudes into the area marked. A long haired girl shout some kind of chant, and an orb of red lightning float between her two palms. The red lightning leaps out of her two palms in a flash, and it zaps three of the flying manticores, and fries them instantly. They fall onto the ground, charred. The leader of the adventurers, a guy wielding some kind of warstaff, he raises it and creates a forcefield that blocks all the manticore''s acidic spits. And after that another chant, which cause all the manticores to move sluggishly. The other guy of the adventurers then takes out some kind of contraption that resembles a very long rifle, and fires a high speed orb. It explodes mid air and blasts a few of the slow moving manticores caught in the explosion into pieces. A short haired one wearing a thin armor, flicks something that looks like a fan, and a huge gust of wind appears. The force of the wind pushes all of the manticores, and they fall onto the ground in a smack. The two remaining girls,, both pull out a pair of shortswords, and they slash the remaining grounded manticores to death. One of the twinsword girls smile. ¡°I gain a level. I get a skill!¡± She jumps around, happy. ¡°Oh what did you get?¡± The other twinsword girl taps her on the shoulder ¡°[Flawless Dodge].¡± ¡°Oh cool. I didn¡¯t get any.¡± The guy that cast the forcefield sigh, and he sits on one of my roots. He takes out some kind of cloth and starts to clean his warstaff. ¡°Stop whining, you¡¯re Level 75! I am just level 63!¡± The twinsword girl shouts. Meanwhile, the mage girl is harvesting the remains of the manticore corpses alone with a small dagger and a bag. After going through a few of the manticores, she notices she''s doing it alone and then glances over at the rest of her teammates, and asks. ¡°You peeps not helping to collect them loot?¡± The rest of them unanimously shakes ther head. ¡°You do it. We¡¯ll just ruin it.¡± The mage girl rolls her eyes. ¡°Ugh. You know my ability works as long as I am around!¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t taking that risk!¡± They banter for a while, and rest. After cleaning up their camp, they soon set out towards the demonic rift. Year 72 Month 8, two days later. Five demon knights, on hellhounds arrive. It seems they are following the scent of the adventurers. These demon knights are previously human, but their body has been corrupted by the demonic forces and then transformed. As they are once human, they still speak normally to each other, with the only difference is their voice. ¡°They were here.¡± One of the riders pat his hellhound, tracking their scent. ¡°They are headed for the southern rift.¡± Another rider examines the dirt, and some of the little remains from the battle. ¡°Six of them, still on horses. Probably rested here for a day.¡± ¡°No sign of any injury. Looks like the manticores are unable to hurt them. Will need more powerful monsters.¡± The rest of the demon knights nod. Two of the demon knights start chanting some kind of spell. It looks like some kind of communication spell. At this point, I wonder whether I can beat these demon knights. ¡°You think we can take them on, Jura?¡± Jura shakes his head. ¡°They have abilities and skills like a normal human, so I am not sure of our chances. They could be very strong, or just like a normal human. I''ve never fought one, so... I honestly can''t say." Somehow, I decide to let them go. Year 72 Month 9 A huge explosion in the distance. Then another. And another. The earth shakes constantly, even though the explosion is so far away. The sky above is filled with streaks of colors. It¡¯s not a pleasant sign, one of fighting.... perhaps monsters. ¡°TreeTree, these explosions¡­ They are starting to get nearer.¡± More explosions.The vibration and shaking gets stronger. In the distance, a huge rupture, as rocks shoot up. And Jura sees it. Two large flying creatures, each breathing some kind of elemental attack at a small group. Its the six adventurers! The earth shakes so badly, my roots increases its grip on the earth, reducing the shaking. More explosions and spells criss cross the skies. The explosions and destruction sends huge plumes of dust into the air, and it creates a minor dust storm, blocking some of the sunlight. More explosions, and I could sense the adventurers fall back. The adventurer group retreats, while retaliating with ranged attacks. The two large demonic wyverns are also accompanied by a huge swarm of hellhounds and lesser demons, but they keep their distance. It seems the wyvern''s elemental breaths deal a whole lot of collateral damage. Bam! An explosion right at one of the demonic wyvern''s chest. And it falls onto the ground, and the earth shakes from the impact. ¡°Ugh yes!¡± The adventurers take the opportunity to run, and three of them are heavily injured. The remaining wyvern try to chase, and a nicely placed fireball from the magegirl manage to tear one of its wings. Unable to fly, it chases after the adventurers on its two large foot. Luckily, it''s a lot slower this way. They run towards me, and at this time they notice a large group of demons appearing on the other direction. The demons have the adventurers surrounded with hellhounds. ¡°The tree. Let''s fight there.¡± The fan girl points at me, and they try to run as fast as they can. Well, any cover is better than no cover. As the adventurers reposition themselves around me, I can now sense that the gunner man , and twinsword girls are injured. Their spirits is wavering, flickering, and one of the twinsword girls'' spirit seems engulfed in some kind of demonic fire, or rot. I''m not sure. Around me, it''s hordes of hounds, and lesser demons. Only the now lumbering demonic wyvern approaches, but this is after a moment of hesitation. ¡°They¡­ the rest don¡¯t seem to be approaching?¡± ¡°Huh?! Great!¡± One of the mage girls seem really surprised, and she scrambles over to help her injured compatriots. "You guys deal with it. I need to look after them." The wyvern roars, and then it charges at me and the adventurers. It¡¯s already injured from all the ranged attacks, so the moment I feel like I can get a good shot. [Root strike] It stabs it right in the abdomen. Some of its inner matter splurt out, but nothing too serious... yet. Its not dead yet, but the stab slows it down. [Root strike] x 2 I hit the abdomen of the wyvern again, and this time one of the roots manage to pierces through, and stabs the wyvern right through the chest. And it falls. The death of the wyvern scares the rest of the hounds and the lesser demons, and causes them to be afraid to approach. ¡°Oh wow.¡± The forcefield man touches my trunk. ¡°A tree spirit! We''re saved!¡± The mage girl shakes her head, still trying to look at her friends. ¡°They are dying!¡± ¡°Bring them to me, I mentally tell the mage girl, and she uses a kind of magic to levitate all 3 of the injured adventurers next to me, and a small branch reaches out, touching them. [Solar Healing] [Healing fruit] [Nourish] The wounds start to close a little, and I could sense their spirit start to stabilise. Two of them recover quickly, their wounds and cuts heal, except the twin sword girl, who took a deep stab into her chest. She''s the one who I seem to see some kind of demonic presence in her body, gnawing away at her. She yelps in pain. ¡°Don¡¯t die.¡± The mage girl holds her hand. The twinsword girl smiles weakly. I keep trying to heal her, but that demonic energy is interfering with the healing. Or more like, it''s just undoing whatever healing we apply. ¡°No.¡± The mage girl holds her hand tightly. ¡°No, no, no.¡± The demons keep trying to get close, but without the giant demon, the rest of them are just small fries, easily defeated by the forcefield dude, and the other wind-wielding girl. I extend of my thinner feeler-like branches, touch the wounded girl on the head, and activate my healing abilities. The wounds recover a bit, but it lasts only for a short moment, before it somehow opens again. ¡°The demons. Damn them! They used some kind of special demonic rot attack, and the effects are still in her body¡­ it will keep burning away at her body, despite our attempts to heal her. To really heal her, we need to remove that demonic rot, and in the meantime, all we can do it keep her alive.¡± The mage girl curses, and then glances up at the tree. ¡°We need to coordinate our healing. We cast healing alternately, so that her body does not deteriorate too much.¡± With the other twinsword girl and gunner healed, the remaining 4 adventurers unleash their fury, and slaughter the remaining demon swarm. The huge numbers of the hellhounds mean very little for this group of powerful adventurers, now fueled by anger and desperation. The demon¡¯s numbers fall quickly, as the 4 healed adventurers unleash wave after wave of attacks. The hellhounds start to flee, it seems they too are frightened of the adventurers. And about two hours later, there''s not a single living demon in sight. They have all either fled, or died. That then shifts the focus to the injured twinsword girl, still battling against the demonic rot inside her. ¡°Its not getting any better.¡± Mage girl sighs. ¡°We been trying to heal her¡­.¡± ¡°We have to take her somewhere, to the town.¡± ¡°No.¡± Magegirl shakes her head. ¡°I don¡¯t have enough mana to keep healing her... We won''t make it back to the town in time. If I stop healing her, the demonic rot will kill her within three to four hours. We can maintain it now because the tree spirit''s healing abilities is gives me room to recover my mana." ¡°Huh¡­¡± The fangirl holds the injured girl''s hand. She''s asleep at this point. I can use a mix of healing and regeneration abilities I have as a tree to keep the injured girl alive, but I am unable to remove the demonic presence gnawing away at her body. So its a constant battle between the healing forces and the demonic rot. ¡°Hmm. So here¡¯s the plan. The three of us will stay. And the three of you find the rest, and find a cure for demonic rot or anyone who has any inkling of what sort of cursed power that demon champion used. The three of us will be here because she needs healing, and working with the tree spirit, we can keep her alive. I will stay back for protection.¡± The three, one twinhair girl, the fan girl and the gunner guy nod. ¡°Hmmm.. best chance we have then. Let¡¯s go, no time to waste.¡± At that point, it occurs to me that they never asked whether I agree to the plan, but fine. Since these adventurers will be here for some time, I ask Jura and Laufen to come out. ¡°Huh. Elves.¡± ¡°We live here. Tree spirit says we should meet you.¡± Jura and Laufen introduce themselves. "We heard your plan to stay with the tree spirit." ¡°Ah. We mean no harm. We need the tree spirits help to keep my friend alive.¡± The mage girl explains. "I can''t do this on my own..." Jura and Laufen look around, and nod. ¡°Then please come in.¡± ¡°Come in?¡± The elves bring them into the secret hideout, and the injured girl is placed on the floor of one of the rooms. At that point, a popup appears [Do you want to initiate Life Support protocol?] Oh. Okay. At that moment, the room shakes a little, and multiple branches appear around the injured girl, attaching itself to her. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± The forcefield dude asks, he seems worried and reaches for his warstaff. "Explain!" The magegirl stops him, ¡°The tree spirit is doing something. I think it''s putting some kind of magical ¡®support¡¯ mechanism.¡± The branches all form into like a hospital bed like shape, and a few little wooden feelers attach itself throughout her body. The feelers, supply a mix of condensed healing fruit juice, and whatever regeneration ability I have. It also gives a minor version of whatever passive healing ability I have. ¡°It¡¯s like a¡­¡± The forcefield dude and the mage girl look at each other. ¡°A hospital bed.¡± ¡°Thank you for help us.¡± Jura and Laufen shrugs, ¡°It seems the tree spirit agreed to help you, so we''ll be okay. We just hope you''re not like the other humans.¡± ¡°Ah. We promise we won''t bring you any harm. We just want to save our friend''s life and I pray we won¡¯t take too much of your time or space.¡± The forcefield guy nods, and sits down. Mage girl looks at her injured friend, and after a while, she too rests next to her injured friend.. ¡°She¡¯s stable. The tree spirit is using some kind of constant healing, channeled through the branches connected to her.¡± The magegirl observes, using some kind of spell. Laufen passes them some fruits to clear the tension. ¡°What''s your name? I am Laufen.¡± ¡°Hendry.¡± Forcefield dude then munches on the healing fruit. ¡°Alexis.¡± Mage girl too takes a bite, and she then points at the injured girl. ¡°She¡¯s Meela.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°This place¡­ its a magical pocket dimension inside the tree spirit, right?¡± Alexis asks. She''s into the whole theoretical basis behind magic and finds it really fascinating on how magic works and interacts, ¡°Uh¡­¡± Laufen scratches her head. Laufen had never thought about such things. ¡°It''s bigger inside than the tree itself, yet not underground. It has to be.¡± Alexis explains, and to be honest, that is the first time it occurred to me as well. Meela''s asleep, as I use a mix of liquid healing fruit extract that I feed into her body via the branches, and occasionally [solar healing] via a leaf that is right above her head. Alive, and asleep. With the healing powers between myself and Alexis, we could heal her completely, but the demonic rot would just reopen the wounds again. Whatever it is, this demonic rot is pretty nasty. Exhausted, both Alexis and Hendry soon fall asleep, but not before casting a wide range of precautionary spells. They are careful, and prepared. [You gain two levels] [Level 89] [Nourish upgraded. Life support unlocked. Suspended animation unlocked] The next few days They wait. Their three friends will take some time to come back to them with any kind of cure. Alexis would peep at Meela, who is still asleep, every few hours to check on her. Hendry seems restless, paces about and takes long walks around, and seems to be talking to himself about demons and monsters. He would go on long ''walks'', where he slaughters any lesser demon he comes across. ¡°Worried?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Alexis munches on a bread that she pulls out nowhere. ¡°I don¡¯t want to lose her. We, don¡¯t want to lose her. It would be unbearable to me.¡± Laufen nods, and tries to reassure her. ¡°Your friends will be back with a cure.¡± ¡°I hope so.¡± ¡°What did you fight, that caused such a bad wound?¡± ¡°A demon champion. Some kind of earth snake that seems to be corrupted by huge amounts of demonic energy. It had a special weapon, a kind of venom¡­¡± ¡°A demon champion?!¡± Laufen gasps, her hands to her mouth. ¡°Yes. We killed it, but not before another hidden assassin demon retrieved that special venom and stabbed Meela with it.¡± ¡°Wow... Must have been a big expedition into the rift.¡± Alexis pauses. ¡°Ah.. yes.¡± ¡°Demons. On the horizon.¡± Hendry comes back into the hideout. ¡°A lot of them. Hounds and a lot of mid tier creatures. Maybe they will hide some powerful demons inside as well, so we should be careful.¡± ¡°Huh? Demons can do that?¡± Jura seems surprised that demons are capable of such sophisticated tactics. ¡°Uh.. yes.¡± Hendry nods. Jura shrugs, and then looks at the two adventurers. ¡°I think we should hide. Normally they will ignore us. Our tree spirit has all sorts of defensive buffs, and the demons can''t scratch him.¡± ¡°Treetree.¡± Lausanne interjects, and Laufen catches her. ¡°Its Treetree.¡± ¡°Yes. Treetree has all sorts of defensive buffs.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ very well.¡± Hendry retreats inside, and the demon swarm approaches. They fan out, covering most of the area, destroying the regrowing shrubbery. Some come close to me, but they mostly walk past me. A few attempt to attack my now thick and large trunk, but not a scratch. Hendry seems surprised when the swarm eventually leaves. ¡°It''s really neat, right? That''s how we survive so long out here.¡± Emile smiles, her words a little hint of bragging. ¡°The demons just pass by us like¡­ we are not there. And even when they do notice the tree, they can''t hurt us.¡± ¡°That is so strange.¡± Hendry sits, he rubs his chin, and then his head. Later on, Laufen eventually tries to make some conversation. ¡°So¡­ how long you think it¡¯ll take?¡± ¡°For?¡± ¡°Your friends. To find a cure.¡± Hendry and Alexis shake their head. Alexis rubs her chin and explains. ¡°Not sure. None of us have any specific anti-demon abilities. We don¡¯t even know the specific magical nature, or the mechanics of the disease or demonic rot that Meela is having¡­ We''ll just have to try whatever they bring back.¡± ¡°Ah¡­.¡± Laufen felt like she just asked a question that led to a technical question way out of her depth. ¡®AHHHHHHHHHHHH!¡¯ Meela screams in pain, and all of them rush over. ¡°Meela, are you okay?¡± Hendry and Alexis grab her arms, Alexis quickly using some kind of diagnostic spell. As it turns out, the constant heal-destroy cycle actually results in a surge in pain, as the body regains the sense of the healed area, and then gets damaged again. And that sensation accumulates, abruptly jolting her into an intense pain every now and then. ¡°I.. I don''t have any kind of pain reduction spells.¡± Alexis sighs. ¡°If only we had a pill or something.¡± Hendry shakes his head. ¡°Meela¡­ you got to hang in there.¡± Meela collapses, unconscious. The demonic rot is also weakening her spirit, ao I suspect that also contributes to her inability to remain conscious. ¡°Tree spirit, do you have any pain reduction spells?¡± ¡°Hmm.. no.¡± But I wonder I can produce saps or materials that can suppress the pain. I recall quite a few medical products that are derived from plants. [Tree¡¯s natural abilities unlocked : Tree extracts & saps ] Oh. Wow. A menu pops up and shows me a huge list. Rubber, oils, poisons, fragrances, saps¡­ Wait. Found it. ¡°Pick some leaves and make tea.¡± I mentally tell Laufen. A small branch with odd colored leaves appear right next to the wall. ¡°Huh? Oh okay Tree-Tree.¡± Laufen runs to get hot water, quickly snap a few leaves off the branch, and quickly mashes it. The process of making the herbal tea takes about an hour, but eventually the fragrance of the tea starts to come out , and they feed Meela the tea. She yelps from the hot tea, but as the tea flows into her body, it releases a pain-suppression effect. Alexis grabs the remainder and examines it, just to make sure its nothing dangerous. ¡°Ah¡­¡± Meela falls back into slumber. They make the tea for Meela every 6 to 7 hours, as the pain would pop up every now and then, and a few more days pass by. Year 72 Month 10 Meela¡¯s still in a state of assisted living, her body still affected by the demonic rot. [Tree saps & extracts upgraded] Thanks to constant use of the leaves for the pain-numbing tea, it levels up, and it¡¯s more potent and longer lasting. Thanks to it, she could stay awake for about 30 minutes to an hour per day to talk, which helps Hendry and Alexis¡¯s mood greatly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t die.¡± Meela smiles, looking around the room. ¡°This feels like a hospital. It¡¯s a familiar place.¡± Alexis shakes her head. ¡°No. We¡¯ll get you fixed up again, okay?¡± Hendry frequently spends his time climbing up my branches, and sometimes just sitting out in the sky. This is probably his way of coping with being trapped here, his friend wounded in this manner. Apparently the stars are beautiful, and there are more moons here. Later that month, we had demonic visitors again. ¡°The demon knights.¡± Hendry grips his warstaff. Riding on the hellhounds, eight of them. They wield a mix of weapons, three with swords, two with spears, two with bows and arrows, and one with a staff. Alexis holds him back, ¡°No. You can win, but we must hide. We do not want the entire demon swarm coming down on us. The demon knights are looking for us, you know it. Hide. Not fight. Not with Meela injured.¡± Hendry sighs, but agrees. The demon knights ride up to me. ¡°Hmm, their scent fades here.¡± ¡°Some went that way¡­ but not all of them.¡± ¡°Two.. maybe three is here.¡± They look at me, and three of the demon knights raise their sword. Their sword flashes, into a burning sword, and the three of them slash my trunk repeatedly. And¡­ it feels like an itch. ¡°Huh.¡± The demon knights pause, as their slashes do not seem to work. ¡°Strange¡­¡± To be honest, I¡¯ve always found my defense against demons extremely strange too. But hey, not complaining. They slash a few more times, before the demon knight with a staff walks close and cast some kind of spell. [Detect resistance] Oh. There¡¯s such a spell. The demon knight pauses. ¡°Oh. Oh no.¡± The other demon knights turn and look, ¡°What?¡± ¡°This tree¡­. It has [Demon immunity : Midtier] and [Elder demon damage reduction - 84%]¡± I¡¯m shocked too. ¡°How?!¡± One of the demon knights ask, their attacks now stopped. They probably realise it¡¯s futile in face of that sort of resistances. ¡°It looks just like any other large tree.¡± At this point, I realise I probably should not let these knights run, and a few [root strike] surges out of the ground, right through the hellhound and into the demon knights. One manage to leap, but still the root crushes through his demonic armor. Turns out these demon knights are just pretty much humans in armor, so in an instant, all of them are dead, skewered by roots. They probably are tougher than regular humans by a bit, but against my root strike it''s still just paper. After the battle, Hendry and Jura asks. ¡°Tree-Tree, how did you get your demonic damage reduction?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± I don¡¯t know. ¡°Is it an item you have?¡± Alexis asks. ¡°Some items reduce damage from demons. [Wards]¡± At this point, I can only think of my fragments. I attempt to take out one fragment, but an error pops up. Fragments cannot be separated. It¡¯s fused to your body. Oh, but I can move where they all are. ¡°Alexis, Laufen, I¡¯m going to show you something, help me examine and inspect it.¡± They both nod, and the roof shakes a little. And the wooden roof move in a circular fashion, , revealing a lantern-like object made of intricately shaped wood, with dozens of little lights floating inside. It pulses in a regular fashion, with tiny flashes within. ¡°Oh it¡¯s beautiful.¡± [Inspect equipment] Laufen uses her only inspection ability, and then shakes her head. ¡°I can¡¯t see a thing. It¡¯s just filled with unknowns and question marks.¡± [Thorough Examination] Alexis has a far superior identification spell, and after she uses it she loses her strength and sits on the floor. ¡°You okay?¡± Hendry tries to hold her. ¡°I.. I am.¡± Alexis points at it. ¡°I¡¯m just stunned. That.. that thing is your heart, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Oh. I think so.¡± It kinda does feel like it is my ¡®center¡¯. They are right now inside me, anyway. ¡°[The Tree¡¯s Heart and Spirit-Lantern], this is the heart of the tree, adorned with the fragments of 56 heroes, it gives the tree 2800% increase in experience gain, 560% extra damage against midtier demons, 280% extra damage against elder demons, partial demon armor-negation, immunity to lesser demons, damage reduction against elder demons and significantly reduce damage from fire.¡± So all the fragments do have a function after all. Hendry pauses. ¡°Alexis, are you sure?¡± She nods. ¡°We must tell the others. We must revisit how and where the battles with the demons is fought. This ability transforms this location into a favorable battlefield for us. We can save lives!¡± Jura and Laufen sit, ¡°Tree-Tree, I didn¡¯t know you¡¯re so amazing.¡± Alexis then looks at Meela, who¡¯s still asleep. ¡°TreeTree, can you please move your heart closer to Meela?¡± It is right next to her now. A prompt appears. ¡°Do you want to absorb ¡°Meela Adams¡±?¡± I shake off the prompt, answering no. Alexis looks at Meela¡¯s condition. ¡°Hmmm.. no effect. The rot is still there. It seems the resistance is not shared by the glow. Oh well.¡± I keep my heart back, suddenly realise it¡¯s probably very dangerous for me to reveal it that way. Perhaps if it is destroyed, I would die? I think so. Now that I know the source of my past effectiveness is due to the fragments, that means against non-demon enemies, I¡¯m actually significantly weaker, and someone of incredible power like Hendry or the humans could probably easily destroy me. [You gained 3 levels. You are now level 92.] [Skills upgraded : Secret hideout - healing chamber adaptation] [Obtained skill : Summon insect warriors] [Obtained skill : Super anti-demon root-strike] [Obtained skill : Customisable branches] Heroes and a surprise attack Year 72 Month 12 The heroes arrive. Accompanied by an army of adventurers of three hundred. It is normal for heroes to have a huge group of tag-alongs, these people seek the glory and glamour of being associated with the heroes, but will probably be the first to flee should shit get out of hand. The heroes themselves, five of them, are three boys and two girls, and they look no older than twenty. Or maybe slightly over twenty. The gods chose young teens for their demon killing tasks this time, and in a way, thats better than choosing high schoolers. They ride into the makeshift camp, and one of them stops and stares in my direction. Though I cannot meet his eye, I could sense his probing gaze... ¡°Hmmm¡­ I feel a familiar presence.¡± One of the heroes mutter, and rides his horse closer. ¡°You were here before, hero?¡± An adventurer accompanies him, and asks. ¡°No.¡± The armored hero places his hand on my bark, and I feel my body shiver a little. ¡°Just... someone familiar... Hmmm¡­¡± [Hero''s sense] The hideout shakes a little, and everyone freaks out. It seems this hero has some kind of magical touch, and my body reacts to it defensively. The shaking causes Hendry to sigh, and he decides to goes out to talk to the hero. ¡°Hey hero.¡± The hero¡¯s eye widen and stares at Hendry. ¡°Hendry!¡± The adventurer next to the hero raise his sword at Hendry. ¡°Eh? Who goes there.¡± ¡°It is fine. Lay down your arms. He is one of us.¡± The hero stares at Hendry. ¡°Hendry. It¡¯s been a while¡­¡± ¡°Yes it has. Anyway, take your hands off the tree, and I.. I might need your help.¡± The hero takes his hand off. ¡°Well, nice to see you, again.¡± Hendry pauses. And sighs. ¡°Nice to see me? I take that means you stopped blaming us for her death?¡± The hero shakes his head. ¡°I¡¯d like to think we have come to terms with it.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Hendry takes a step back. ¡°We were all too eager. Too excited to be given this opportunity, this chance to make something of ourselves.¡± The hero walks closer to Hendry. Hendry pauses. ¡°Really? Just like that?¡± The hero puts his hand on his shoulder. ¡°Yes.¡± And the hero punches him in the gut. Thud. ¡°Ugh! I knew it.¡± Hendry groans in pain, but he recovers, and throws a punch back at him. The hero dodges. The adventurers stare, ¡°Uh, hero, should we do something?¡± The hero, yells. ¡°No. This is between me and him.¡± They punch each other a few times, then it escalates, and they start throwing high speed punches into flashes, as both attack each other with their abilities. This cause the adventurers to stare at the high speed exchange of blows. A few more heroes come over. ¡°Max! Stop this.¡± Two female heroines shout, and Max, the hero jumps a few steps back, and that ends the barrage of punches. ¡°Hendry!¡± One of the heroines seems to cry a little. ¡°Hey.¡± Hendry stops, and sits on one of my roots. The heroines runs over and gives Hendry a hug. ¡°Been a while.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been looking for you guys...¡± The heroine smacks Hendry on his shoulder. "Running off like that..." At this point the adventurers ask, ¡°Uh¡­ who is he?¡± Max laughs, ¡°Ah yes, please ignore us. He is a friend. You guys go ahead, We¡¯ll need to talk privately with our friend here and so, we¡¯ll be fine.¡± Max started by elaborating... "You guys should not have left like that. We''re angry, and we¡¯re still sad. It still is a lump in our hearts. But we are willing to let it go, for on hindsight, we had a part to play too. We failed as well. We all did. I think a part of the way we acted is because we were angry at ourselves.¡± At this point, I''m confused at what their conversation is about, perhaps there is some historical bad blood. Hendry nods, his eyes a little teary. ¡°Heh... Water under the bridge now. Well, Max, like I was saying, I need your help. Do you still have anti demonic powers?¡± Max thinks for a while, ¡°Huh? I still do, why?¡± Alexis, right on cue, comes out with Meela, she¡¯s asleep and supported by Alexis¡¯s levitation. ¡°It''s actually for Meela. She¡¯s received some kind of demonic rot or maybe demonic poison. She¡¯s weak and battling that demonic rot internally, and currently supported by a whole lot of healing magic. It.. it seems to be some kind of magic meant for... us.¡± The heroes gasp. ¡°Meela...¡± Max runs over, looks at her, and holds her hand. He then proceeds to use some kind of magical ability on her, then their two bodies start to glow faintly. The hero chants and mumbles a little, his palm glows like a monk trying to use some kind of mantra. [Divine Touch] The ability causes Meela¡¯s body to glow in a faint light. ¡°Hmm.. I can¡¯t remove it completely. It contains a strong taint of the demon king¡­. You are right. This is made to kill us, and this... this makes this demon king more dangerous than ever.¡± He sighs, and everyone else follows. Alexis holds Meela¡¯s hand, who¡¯s gradually opening her eyes. ¡°But I can suppress and weaken the effect of the demon king''s poison, such that it will stop hurting her.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Meela opens her eyes, and speaks. Max smiles. ¡°Nice to see you too, Meela." Reincarnators. These adventurers are reincarnators as well. Now that they are right next to me, I feel strange. Are these people from earth too? The kids, those few when I came so many years ago they have all died. These people, a similar fate probably awaits them. What should I do? Should I reveal myself as a reincarnator? But what good does that do, other than unnecessarily involving myself in the demon war. There is also the question about the [Fires of Baal] that I had before, and how I can recover from it yet Meela fails to. Why? Is it because the fires are just generic demonking fires, whereas Meela''s demonrot is a customised superweapon for reincarnators? I have no answer to that, unfortunately. At this point, I decide to wait and see. I mentally ping Alexis. ¡°So... may I ask what is happening? Are you going to leave with them?¡± ¡°Ah.. er.. right now there¡¯s still three of us that is out there looking for a cure. 3 of us out there. Or maybe, there is no cure, and only killing the demon king will wipe away all traces of it. Oh, anyway, I think Meela¡¯s in no condition to fight yet. Her demonic rot is still present but now weakened by a counteracting holy power that Max has, but until we know what that means in combat, we do not want to risk it. Meela''s body seems to be fine, with no observable negative effects so far, but I think there is a high chance that whatever demon king magic it is, it will probably interfere with our divine gifts. So, attempting to assault the demons without being at full strength is folly, so we plan to stay back and attempt to regroup with our other 3 friends first.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Alexis is a lot more technical when it comes to magic. "Sorry can you repeat that in simpler terms?" ¡°So I think me and Meela will stay back. We will wait for the remaining 3, and then we will join up with Max and group. The fact that the demon king has a special weapon designed for us is... worrying." The next week Year 72 Month 12 Week 2 News and reports of the demon champions come in. The heroes, adventurers and the soldiers move out, towards the rift. Meela and Alexis remain, Alexis is playing the role of Meela¡¯a observer, and monitors her body¡¯s condition. Meela would try use her abilities and they discover that with the demonic rot still present, her abilities are weakened by about 20% to 30%. Alexis''s hypothesis is right after all. The camp is now a lot quieter, about 1,000 soldiers remain. These are the communication mages, the logistics coordinators, and just some guards to keep the stray demonhounds at bay. Year 72 Month 12 Week 4 IThe heroes defeat one of the champions. And then the next day, the camp is attacked. Six large demons, part golem, part demon, lesser versions of the golem demon champion, accompanied by tens of thousands of the new rock hybrid hellhounds. The six demons, their bodies made of a mix of rock, lava, stone and flesh, their synchronised steps shake the ground. How did they appear so suddenly? Three at the front, three at the back, they have the camp cornered on both sides, and their sudden appearance sends the camp into a panic. Mages quickly send out requests for help. But any request will be too late, reinforcements will take some time to get to us. Alexis and Meela look at each other. ¡°How¡¯d they get behind us?¡± In fact, that''s on the mind of the thousand or so soldiers now trapped in the camp. But at this point, there are more urgent questions to be answered. The two demon forces march on the camp. Their footsteps cause the earth to rumble. How did all the shaking go unnoticed? I summon [Insect warriors]. My insect warriors appear, crawling out of my branches. Three of them, they will deal with the hellhound hybrids, and hopefully not die too easily. The humans scream when they see my giant insects, but did not attack it. I try to survey the field of demons. I need to save my [super antidemon root strike] for the lesser champions. The guards try get ready, as the demons close in. The mages in the camp blast, magic spells at the golems, and the camp soon descends into a chaotic battlefield. The six giant demons are exceptionally resilient, enduring volleys of spells and weapons from the mages, and escaping with minor wounds and damage. Alexis and Meela both join the battle, using their special abilities to wipe through the hellhounds with ease. Once it get messier, Jura too joins in. But there are probably tens of thousands of them, even with Alexis¡¯s numerous AoE spells killing hundreds per shot. And it is from this battle I see the sheer OP-ness of these reincarnators. Alexis could blast waves and waves of magical explosions, almost constantly. Meela, even with her weakened form, could swirl and twirl and her slashes somehow go through all the monsters like they had absolutely no armor and is made of chiffon. It''s rather ridiculous how they can sweep through hordes of demons like nothing. One large golem is destroyed, a pointblank fireball from Alexis destroys its body. One large golem passes me, and I take the chance to use my new [super antidemon rootstrike]. It shoots out of the earth and slices the golem in half. Whoah, I felt a little pleased with myself. Alexis blows up another large golem. Throughout the camp, soldiers and mages battle with the hybrid hounds, and though they could beat them easily one on one, even one on two, the hounds have far larger numbers, easily ten times the number. So, mages and soldiers are dying. Even with Meela and Alexis providing tremendous support to the battlefield. Meela cuts down one of the large demons with some kind of flashy slashing move. My insect warriors seem to be perform as expected, they are able to take down about twenty or so hellhounds, before they get torn apart by the hounds. Alexis manage to blow up another golem. And another fireball from Alexis blows up the last golem, she really is the true MVP in this battle. ¡°We did it!¡± Now, Alexis turn her attention to the regular hybrid hounds, and joins Meela and the soldiers in exterminating them. Then the earth shakes, and sparks of lightning shoot out from the rubble of the destroyed giant demons. The lightning connects to all the other remains, and the remains of the destroyed golems float into the air and join together. Alexis sends a few fireballs instinctively, and it knocks some of the rocks off. But something is still pulling it together. The remains of all the fallen golems and hounds merge into a giant six story tall centipede made of earth, rock and stone, covered in sharp jagged rocks and stone throughout its body. In a way, its part centipede, part porcupine. It then charges into the battlefield, crushing both allies and enemies alike in its charge. Once it loses momentum, it tunnels underground. ¡°Shit.¡± Alexis and Meela run, waiting. ¡°It can appear anywhere!¡± They look around, but mostly at the ground, waiting. The earth shakes, and it shoots out of the ground, killing more soldiers and also hounds. But the death of the hounds is beneficial to the giant rock centipede, as the debris and corpse of the fallen hounds would then merge into it. It¡¯s a scene reminiscent of giant spice producing sandworms. Yet, it does not approach me. In fact, the moment it heads underground, I know exactly where it is, and it seems that my roots create a kind of hard rock that it is unable to tunnel into. I could sense it, tunnelling from one side to another, trying to get through the ¡®wall¡¯. My roots is able to detect its motion, and predict it. And I think I can beat it, I instinctively seem to realise that my root strike is more powerful underground. But it moves really quickly underground, shaking up the dirt above ground as well. Its speed is something I cannot deal with, but if I could just get it to slow down I think I can take it. ¡°Gather around the tree! The monster is unable to tunnel close to it.¡± Alexis yells, seemingly coming to similar conclusion as me. She activates a weird console like magic, and calls all the surviving mages to her. The demonic centipede surges out of the ground again, and Alexis yells. ¡°Now.¡± The mages all coordinate a magical blast on the demonic centipede, and a few large chunks gets blasted off. The demonic giant centipede tunnels again, and I try to follow its movement. Its really fast, but it slows down for a moment before it surge upwards. Thats the best time for me to hit it. And it shoots out of the ground again, killing more soldiers and also hounds. I strike it with two [Root strike]s, and manage to knock a few chunks off. The centipede regenerates from our attacks, rocks that we knock off would get pulled back, but I could feel that its magical energy balance dwindles each time. Defeating it means getting its magical power down to zero by blasting its chunks off. It attacks a few more times, as I try to figure out the timing. At this point, almost 70% of the humans are dead, and almost all the demon hounds are destroyed or absorbed by the demonic giant centipede. Its between us and the centipede, now. The centipede splits itself in two along its length, and then both tunnel underground. Underground, the split centipede reconnects itself, become one very long and lean centipede. And this time, it pops up out of the ground, and uses its now longer body length like a whip. Slamming into the soldiers, mages, and also into my trunk. It can''t tunnel near me, but it can whip its body to attack the humans around me. I feel my trunk shake when the body of the centipede slams into me, and some of the mages quickly let out a blast. Once again knocking some of the rocks off this demonic rock centipede. It pulls back, curling itself like a snake, and using its longer body as a spring to attack the mages and soldiers. [Grand fireball]. Alexis activates her signature superpower, a blue fireball, and it blasts right into the demonic centipede. It breaks and burns from the fire, but the momentum of the centipede¡¯s attack still pushes through, and stabs Alexis right in the chest, and pushes her back, slamming into my trunk. ¡°Arghhhhhhhhhhhh---¡± Alexis screams in pain as her body is stabbed by multiple sharp rocks. Those same rocks are burning from her Grand Fireball, and it spreads throughout the Centipede¡¯s body. It flails, but still pins Alexis to the trunk. Alexis, somehow still manages to cast another [grand fireball], creating a huge explosion right in front of it. It blasts almost all of the rocks at the head of the centipede away, but a skeleton of super hard rock remains, and it pierces Alexis''s chests. It flails, but does not want to let go of Alexis, so it pushes, and pins her body into the ground. I use [constrict], holding onto the centipede so that my root strike can catch it, and then all my remaining [super anti demonic rootstrike]. They pierce through the centipede, and this time, together with a 3rd grand fireball, it successfully depletes its magical energy, and it crumbles, turning into ordinary rock. Alexis explodes into a huge fireball, and then suddenly, a vacuum like effect appears, as all the fires swirls back and merge into a human shape, revealing Alexis whole and unharmed. "Ugh." She groans, unharmed but very visibly drained. "I always hate using [Body of Fire]." Meela smacks her on the back. "Thats why you''re always the bait! Everyone aims for the mage!" Reincarnators... [You gained 8 levels. You are now level 100] [You have evolved into an Ancient Soul Tree. The next evolution rank up is at Leve 130, if conditions and materials are met. You can still gain levels without ranking up.] [Your following skills have been upgraded : Life support chamber] [Healing powers upgraded] [Secret hideout upgraded. Extra rooms, special purpose rooms and hideouts unlocked. Customisable branches option now has "External room"] [Soul absorption upgraded. Soul realm unlocked] [Symbiotic extension unlocked] [Essence collection upgraded. Essence mastery and generation obtained. Customisable branch options now include "Essence generator"] [Materials Obtained] [Essence of giants x 1, Essence of starlight x 1, Essence of sword x 4, Essence of knights x 1, Essence of fire magic x 1] Interlude – Level 100 & Soul realm Level 100 and the rank up brings change, and a lot of benefits. One of the key changes is a UI change, as my interfaces become much more organised, and menus expanded. There are more tooltips as well, and information about my skills improved. Size wise, the rank up brought about greater size and range. Twice as large, almost eight stories high, and my roots extend wider. And deeper roots, which leads to my discovery of how the demons appeared. Deep tunnels. The rock centipedes dug tunnels deep beneath the ground, and used them to move their forces without beig detected. They covered the entrances, but these tunnels, their reach is well beyond my range, and perhaps even into the demon lands as well. Valuable information, perhaps I can trade something for it. The sudden increase in size overnight scares the humans, but they are too preoccupied with the dead to do anything. It seems to [camouflage] and [illusion] confuses them. With this new size, I have eight large branches, and the new skills allows me to set some of them as an [essence generator], creating essences of the moon, the sun, and nature. These can later be used as part of the forming process of the items and things I want to create as weapons. From the little I gather of the heroes and warriors, demons are generally weak against stellar materials, like metals of an asteroid. My healing room too changed, and now it has something like a pod, where a body can be fully submerged within. Rebuilding bodies some day in the future. Attached is also a lab-like area, a small underground room filled with roots, pods, and other things, like a spawning pool. I activate [soul realm]. I feel my consciousness shift, and I appear in a vast space filled with little floating lights. These, little wisps, they float and swirl around, and¡­ they seem to whisper and chatter endlessly in a language I do not understand. ¡°What is this place?¡± ¡°This is your soul realm, and this is one of the strongest powers of a spirit tree.¡± A wisp floats before me, it is different from the other wisps in that it is green, while the others are white. ¡°Here, are all the souls of those who have died in your vicinity. Here, they lay dormant, resting, waiting...¡± ¡°For?¡± ¡°For their onward travel to the afterlife. Tree spirits, as the elves once advised you, are the beacons of souls, attracting those who died. You, also function as a pitstop, refreshing the souls, and souls who are stronger are more likely to make the travel to the afterlife, where will they reenter the cycle of life. Your very existence here prevents the presence of regular stray ghosts, but in turn, the ghosts exists all in and within you.¡± I pause and I look at this green wisp explaining all this to me. ¡°And... you are?¡± ¡°I am Wisp, a creation made of the combined souls who did not make the cut for the journey to the afterlife, and my role is to support and guide the newly dead. I have existed within you, from the very moment you transformed into a spiritual tree. You have many questions, and I will answer them.¡± He first guides us to a tree filled with little lights, like fireflies in a swamp. "These are souls of the recently dead. The faint white ones are humans, and as you can see, its currently mostly humans, but we can also see that there are little souls with different colors, and these are the mixed race humans." Wisp floats over to one black tree branch, with tiny little lights there, these lights are smaller than the other souls. They look like little blinking sparks on a dark tree. ¡°These are the leftover souls, fragments and souls that have degraded, or some that just do not want to be reincarnated. At their current state, they have lost their identity and awareness, so they become just a shell. So, they can be used to create things, custom familiars, infused into weapons, merged together¡­ quite versatile, all in.¡± And after that, Wisp led me to another black branch that¡¯s split in half. ¡°This is the [soul forge], where you can make even more things with the remnants, but it¡¯s inactive at the moment, as you need to either connect to a magical leyline, or gain more levels such that you can power it yourself. It connects to the pod in your secret hideout." I pause, and I ask, "Why is the soul realm a powerful ability?" The wisp twirls. "The soul is at the core of power in this world. It is souls that gain experience and levels, and the body expresses that extra experience and levels." "But why do people train their bodies then?" "Because the body changes the soul. It is a feedback loop. A strong healthy body nourishes the soul, and vice versa." "Okay. You said this is a strong ability. Why?" "..." The Wisp pauses. And twirls around. And it twirls and spins a while more, before it pauses. "...because to change a soul, is to amend destiny." Interlude 2 : Alexis Perspective of Alexis. The demon king is out for their heads. She knew it. She felt it. Every battle with the demons, their eyes seemed to contain a deep, feral rage, all directed at them. Is it just how they always look? Even when they are not fighting, it feels like she could sense where the demon king is. It¡¯s as if there is always a cold wind that blows from that direction, but there¡¯s no actual wind. After the constant ambushes and attacks, she now also suspects, so can the demons. It''s the only plausible reason why incredibly powerful demons appear where they are, and somehow, can always strike when they are apart. ¡°Its a coincidence, Alexis.¡± Max waves off the idea. ¡°They have hunter-demons and demon knights constantly tracking where we are. That''s why they know where we are.¡± Maybe. But is it? As a mage, there is a logic to everything. This system, even if it does not fit anything from where she came from, has its own rules and laws. And those rules means all power must have some kind of feature or law which it obeys, including that of the gods¡¯ blessings. The blessings of the gods. The blessings, they offer some degree of protection from demons, they enhance stats growth, boosts experience gain for easier levelling. These are common knowledge, that heroes get perks like this, to make it easier to defeat the demon king. For them to gain the power necessary to destroy the demon. Lately, she had occasional moments of clarity, and she now suspects the blessings do more than they say they do. Her friends, those who came together with them. They all were headed for a cafe when the truck lost control and the huge container came undone, and slammed into all of them. Their friends. After a brief meeting with the gods, they all woke up in this world, and her friends, herself even, went all in on this divine quest to slay the demon. Heroes, her friends, and even herself. So engrossed with that goal. Such that all the death, pain, suffering, all just a side note. A number. The vast destruction around her, all they seem to do is enhance their resolve to destroy the demon king. Its as if all of them heroes have been mentally altered, made immune to the destruction, and all that negative energy and emotions is funnelled into achieving their goal of defeating the demon king. Meela, even with her near death, went back to the battlefield happily, as if her brush with death never really matter. Alexis did not realise this before, but lately, that brief clarity of mind. It¡¯s only when she reread her daily journal, that she realised her own strange mental processes, the strange way she is reacting to all these senseless death all these time. ¡°We¡¯re on the way back, Alexis.¡± A communication mage walks up to her and passes the message. Alexis nods. The heroes, all of the summoned, they will converge soon, back here, at the tree. Alexis scribbles on her journal. For the moment, destroying the demon king aligns to her and her group¡¯s interest. After all, they are hunted. That sense, that ominous feeling that ¡®the demons are coming¡¯ still permeates her. Wait. If her suspicions are true, the demon king will look for them, even before they are ready. What would she do? What should they do? Can they keep running? She glances up at looks at the tree. It¡¯s larger, far larger now. And she feels¡­ safe. If they had to fight, this is the best place for it. If the plan is up to her, they would fall back, and fight here. Still, can the demons find them? She sits, and closes her eyes. Stilling her mind, she concentrates on her breathing, the prickling senses on her skin, the beating of her heart. And she searches. For a subtle signal, a presence of their own. Are they leaking some signals behind? Are they, like a nuclear bomb, leaking radiation which the demons can pick up? If the gods had a hand in this, where would they do it? If they could hide their presence, maybe, just maybe, they could deal a surprise attack- ¡°Alexis, are you busy?¡± Meela asks, she looks like ran. ¡°Ah.¡± Alexis snaps out of her concentration. ¡°Uh.. yes. I would like some time.¡± Meela nods, ¡°Oh¡­ Okay.¡± She sighs, and walks away. Alexis closes her eyes, and tries again. Demons. Anger. Destruction. Fire. Death. Fields of dead men. The voices of all the grieving humans, saying the Demon King must be slain. Alexis shakes her head. Not again. All of them, all the heroes get this every now and then. As if the world reminds them of their duty. She walks closer to the tree, and lifts a small wooden teapot. She pours herself a cup, and sips on it. Tea. And the voices go away. The lab Year 73, Month 1 Jura steps out of the green liquid pod in the lab. He¡¯s been submerged in it daily, and undergoing¡­ experimentation. ¡°How do you feel?¡± ¡°Fine, TreeTree. Did you do anything, my status is unchanged¡­¡± ¡°No.¡± In truth, all I do is look, at his body, in great detail. The first time he steps in, and submerge himself, the pod floods me with data and details. And it''s fascinating. It¡¯s like looking at the body of the person with an electron microscope and some kind of radio wave imaging machine. It¡¯s incredible, to see every strand of fibre, the organs, the bones. In a way, this is also the first time I have an actual idea how Jura looks like, outside of my somewhat pixelated spirit vision. The details, the effects of all the parts on his body, and how it influences his fighting abilities and magic. Another thing I spend a lot of time on, on his soul, and how it interacts with his body. It is like the source of a river, higher levels result in a bigger source, and the water from this source flows into each body part, which then gives each body part toughness, and awakens magical properties. And, in his body, as if there is a polluted drainage pipe, releasing dirty water into that river, and so each body part is not getting clean water. I reach out to it, and then I knew. It can be fixed. But I will need the right materials. ¡­ Later that evening I ask Meela for her help. If I could see Jura¡¯s body in such great detail, I wonder what I would find from the heroes. This request however seems to make Alexis a little suspicious, so she insists to be around as well. Ah, there¡¯s no helping it, so Jura guides both of them to the new laboratory underground. ¡°This¡­ this looks like...¡± Both of them had a stunned look, as if they did not expect to see something like this¡­ not in this world. A lab. I recall only the elves been to this new room, different from the medical ward-like area that Meela once rested in. Jura nods, and points to an open pod. ¡°Please, if you don¡¯t mind¡­¡± Meela glances at Alexis, but then, ¡°Okay.¡± Jura smiles, and then leaves the two heroes alone. Meela undresses and then steps into the warm green liquid, and then the pod slowly closes in. Alexis stares on, cautious, but she looks like she is thinking. And a torrent of data washes over me, and it stuns me for a moment. ¡°How long will this take?¡± Alexis asks. ¡°About two hours.¡± I snap out of my shock, and start my investigation into Meela¡¯s body, wondering what makes her tick. First, physique. Her body starts of as that of a normal human, but as she gains levels, her body changes with it. Already I could tell she is about three to four times physically stronger than Jura, before any magic spells that would further push her into crazy strong territory. Her skeletal structure tougher than steel. It¡¯s as if she has an adamantite frame, and her muscles all store tremendous amounts of physical energy. Then, the soul. Her soul is like a massive spring, with a two waterfalls from the aether pouring even more water into that lake, and it flows downwards like a raging river. Yet, it is not fully clear. Right next to that spring, a small whirlpool, sucking some water away. It is now barricaded with some kind of energy, so only a small portion water is drained away by that whirlpool. ¡°This is taking too long.¡± Alexis mumbles, and uses some kind of magic. ¡°Is she alright?¡± ¡°Yes. She¡¯s fine. A bit more.¡± I could analyse and revisit the data later. I reach out to sense that black whirlpool¡­ and I feel an ominous presence. Demonic. It attempts to burn me. Ugh. I investigate the waterfalls instead, and I sense a kind of unknown power¡­ perhaps divine? Or is it astral? These reincarnators¡­ their souls must have been modified by the gods that summoned them here. Their size and capacity far exceeds that of a normal human, if compared to Jura. But I would need more samples. Alexis looks nervous, she does not seem to like seeing Meela in the pod. ¡°Ah. I am done.¡± The pod¡¯s doors opens, like a reverse venus flytrap, and Meela¡¯s eyes open. Alexis immediately grabs her. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Meela rubs her eyes a while and say, ¡°I feel pretty nice, actually. It¡¯s like a massage.¡± [Secret hideout - Biolab upgraded] Oh. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah. I do. You should try it.¡± Alexis shakes her head. ¡°Uh¡­ never mind.¡± ¡°Why are you worried? The tree saved my life, if it wants us to just dip into a pool¡­¡± ¡°No.¡± Alexis turns. ¡°If we are done, lets go out.¡± The two reincarnators leave, and I then telepathically reach out to Laufen, for her turn to dip into the pod. And then I task Jura with a request. ¡°Capture a demon hound.¡± ¡°Capture?¡± ¡°Yes. I want it.. alive.¡± ¡°Really? Its teeth can chew through any rope or net we have¡­¡± And a net appears next to him. ¡°Woven from my bark and fibre. Should last a bit. Use this as well.¡± I hand him a wooden container containing paralyzing sap. Jura nods, and set out. Around this time, some message spells bounced back and forth between the heroes, and both Alexis and Meela leave, together with the remaining army. It seems one of the nearby cities are under attack from a demonic army, so the rest of the heroes change their plans and head straight there instead. And this is great, because the elves finally get to have their space again. ¡­ Year 73 Month 1 Week 3 Jura finally caught one. Its tough trying to find a hellhound that is in a manageable small pack, but he got it. The hellhound lost four limbs, but is still barely alive. ¡°So¡­ what do I do with it?¡± Jura looks at me quizzically. ¡°Bring in down into the lab.¡± Jura pauses. ¡°Inside?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He gulps, but carries it in. The rest of the elves look curiously, Laufen, Emile and Belle all ready for battle, just in case the hound tries something funny. And Jura throws the hellhound into the pod. My branches and roots, they move to wrap and attach itself to the paralysed hound, and its struggling stops. One of the roots administer a dose of sedation, knocking it out. Then, I peer into its body. The body of a hybrid hellhound. The first thing that I notice is the unusual nature of its body. A mix of normal flesh, but with a smattering of earth. Its made of a layer of flesh, mixed with a latticework of interconnected rocks, and this mixture is present throughout its body. Some parts, near its skull and its teeths, the rocks are much more present, and the type of rock appears to be some kind of compressed stone, that is magically augmented. A thick layer of sap coats its major vessel, and this is how the paralysing sap disables this hound. Then, the soul. If the magic from Jura¡¯s soul is that of a water tap, and Meela¡¯s mana is a fire hose, this hellhound would be best described as a dried watering hole. Parched, dry, its body devoid of the natural mana. Instead, there is a small red fire that hovers right above where the spring would be, and it emits a kind of heat that powers all the magical augmentation throughout its body. As I reach out to touch it¡­ Demon. A pushback from that tiny fire. A¡­ wall? I keep pushing. The wall bends, its not strong enough to resist me. And for a moment, I see a glimpse of a faraway place¡­ A red planet, a surface filled with fire and brimstone, a large glowing red stone. And then the fire disappears. At that moment, any sign of life in the hound disappears, its like somebody pressed an off button. Hmm.. Yet the hound is still there, as if its turned off, it¡¯s body is floating, its four limbs still severed. [You gained a level. You are now level 101] [Secret hideout - biolab, upgraded. Additional pods now available.] Two additional pods pop up next to the one with the floating hound. It¡¯s dead? Yet its body remain, perhaps the pod interferes with its natural decay into mana. Jura steps in, wondering what is the sound he heard. It¡¯s actually the two new pods that popped out. ¡°Its fine. The hound¡¯s¡­ dead.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°Anyway, good that you are here. Dip in.¡± Jura pauses. ¡°Uh¡­ okay.¡± Two days later, a horde of hellhounds appear, together with about fifty or so larger demons, their target is not me. But based on the strength of these demons shown to me so far, I can defeat this horde. And so I did. A mix of [root surge], [super antidemon root strike] and [root strike], and Jura too participate in the battle. A few of the demons survive, and Jura assists to capture them for my¡­ experiments. Year 73 Month 2 Week 1 [Rajjiv Nung has died. You gain 3 levels, you are now Level 104] [Obtained skill : Lesser Holy Enchantment] Huh. He died. That''s strange, he is with the heroes, I would have thought he should be quite safe. Must be a rather fierce battle. This actually also reminds me of the familiars I grant, and so I pull up a menu that shows all the granted familiars. And it seems I have been neglecting them, so I call Jura and Laufen over, and have both of them show me their familiar forms. A familiar allows access to the spells and abilities of that familiar, which is by and large based on their grantor. They¡¯ve gained levels, Jura¡¯s familiar is level 30, and Laufen¡¯s familiar is Level 13. They manifest in many ways, usually depending on the user. When they did, a prompt appears before me. Jura¡¯s tree familiar has reached the limit of Level 30. Do you wish to elevate the familiar to the next phase? Huh. ¡°How long did it stay at Level 30?¡± ¡°Oh.. for quite some time already. My familiar reached level 30 during the last attack by the demon centipede.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ why did you not tell me?¡± ¡°I thought you knew?¡± Jura rubs his head. Ah dammit. Communication breakdown. I need to get these elves to tell me more about themselves. I mentally say yes to the prompt. And Jura pauses, his eyes wide open. ¡°Uh.. I did not even know a familiar can rank up! Wow I get to choose its next form!¡± Huh. I know too little about familiars¡­ One of my branches has been converted using [customisable branches] into a room, but it serves its function as a jail cell, for all the captured hellhounds. On top of the ¡°dead¡± hybrid in one pod, I subject the remaining hellhounds onto more investigation, and if I do not attempt to sense the ¡°fire¡±, it¡¯ll stay ¡°alive¡±. Year 73 Month 2 Week 2 Shake. The ground buckles, and bits of rock fly. My roots, they attempt to hold on, but the shockwave that causes this is way too strong, so throughout the plains, the ground buckles. Shake Jura rushes out in the direction of the shake, I ordered him to look out for what causes it and retreat immediately. A part of me feels¡­ afraid. Shake, shake. The earth keeps shaking, and as the day goes on, explosions get louder. Something is coming. Or a battle is coming. The shockwaves propagating through the earth gets even stronger, and my rootnet is flooded with pain. The rumbling continues even at night, and Jura runs to us in the darkness of night. ¡°No good! Three demon champions appeared. The heroes are engaging them in battle, but they seem to be retreating this way.¡± ¡°Three?¡± That is far too many! Fighting one almost killed me, and knocked me out for weeks. But can¡¯t the heroes beat them? ¡°Did you see the heroes?¡± ¡°Yes yes. They are retreating here!¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe they are trying to lure them away from the cities!¡± The explosions and rumblings continue. They seem to be fighting even when retreating, so whatever they are fighting can keep up with them. ¡°How far?¡± ¡°A day!¡± Shit. ¡°What should we do? If three demon champions are here, can you hold them back TreeTree?¡± ¡°No. If they are anywhere like the giant golem earlier, I may not last very long. I can take a few hits¡­ but it will be a matter of time before it kills me.¡± ¡°But you are stronger than last time.¡± Jura pauses. ¡°Maybe you can take one. And.. maybe thats why they are coming this way. They need your help to even up the odds.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t they have an army of adventurers?¡± Jura shakes his head. ¡°I think they are either dead or they have fled. I don¡¯t think any sane adventurer would want to battle three demon champions together. It''s foolish, and only the bravest of adventurers would attempt it.¡± ¡°And the world expects the heroes to?¡± ¡°Heroes have special powers! They are different!¡± ¡°This does not make sense. I thought they killed some of the demon champions already. How is there three appearing out of nowhere¡­¡± Jura pauses. ¡°Uh¡­ I don¡¯t know. I am guessing the heroes don¡¯t either.¡± The earth shakes. More rumblings. I could feel it. They are going to be here in a while. Maybe less. ¡°What¡¯s our plan?¡± Jura paces the room. ¡°If I remember correctly, a few of them can take one demon champion with no problems. So¡­ there must be more to it. How many heroes did you see?¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t get a good look at them. Its too chaotic.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Three demon champions, if they are of a similar strength as the golem, its going to be a real challenge. They are going to be here maybe in about two hours, so the heroes must have something in mind. Are they wounded? How do I defeat these demons? I look at the hounds in the lab, strapped to the pod. ¡°Jura, what¡¯s known to be effective against demons?¡± I actually asked this before, I recall the answer that there are weapons created by the heroes that have special effectiveness against demons. There''s also natural weapons like the usual holy magic, or star weapons like metal swords made from asteroids. Do demons have an off switch like the hounds? If I could extinguish the fire in their body, they would shut down. Okay, following that metaphor, if their source of power really is that fire, would water therefore destroy them? And so I test out on a hound, pouring my mana in through the connected roots. It enters its blank soul realm, and some of the mana evaporates in the process. Is it the heat of the soul? But after the initial evaporation, I could see the fire shrink, and eventually its extinguished. It works, for one. But from this I realise its slow, and not as effective as a simple strike. A strike would have destroyed that hound for far less mana. And if a demon champion is larger and more powerful I would not be able to do it. The ¡°dead¡± hound¡¯s body cracks, the rocks on its body falling off like its shedding skin. And then, it convulses, or vibrates. It twists against the vines, and it starts to suck in mana. My mana. It twitches. And it¡­ stops. And I see¡­ its body regenerate, the wounds heal, and its limbs and fangs regrow. The rocks that once decorated its fur is replaced with a strange, woodlike texture. A shiver runs through me. ¡°Jura. Lab. Now!¡± Jura immediately jumps, and runs for the lab, armed. He sees one of the hound. ¡°Which one?¡± And the hound opens its eyes. And¡­ its green. [Hellhound forcefully adapted into your subordinate minion with your natural mana, and has transformed into woodhound] ¡°Wait.¡± Jura eyes the hound, his arms grip his weapon. A hound should be an easy battle, but never could be sure. The pod opens, and the healed hound crawls out. It looks at Jura. I mentally command it to sit. And it does. It feeds on my mana to survive, and I could sense that mana link between me and this.. woodhound. Its a similar link to my summoned insects. Fascinating. [Skill obtained : Natural Mana Overwhelming] But, no time to waste. I still don¡¯t have an answer for the three demon champions coming my way. The earth still rumbles and shake, and the explosions can now be seen in the sky. Think! I have, familiars, essences, souls, soul realm, a few root attack variants, saps, leaves that can function as tea, wood magic and forming abilities, healing powers, spirit vision, a secret hideout wih a lab and healing chamber, insect warriors, rootnet, barkskins, defense, wood-shields, some other lesser defense items, and a whole list of passive stats buff. Can souls and essences be made into a weapon? Soul forge required to form high efficiency weapons. Ugh. Not that. How about essences? Can I convert them into a weapon? Currently, the essence of fire, essence of death and essence of starlight can be converted into a single use weapon. Fine. Combine them. Vessel required. I would want to use it together with my [super antidemon rootstrike], so I quickly form a sharp pointy piece that will serve as the piercing edge of my root. With the piece of wood, the essences are then added to it, forming a sharp, three pointed wood. The earth rumbles. And streaks of light can be seen in a distance. ¡°They are here.¡± Streaks of light in the distance now become explosions, and the heroes zoom toward me from the distance. Using some kind of speed burst, they retreat and dodge the explosions. Three demon champions appear, a large golem, a huge horned stone centipede, and some kind of stone turtle with spikes. They stand in the distance, surrounded by a horde of lesser demons, minor golems, and a few other lesser centipedes. The True Power of Heroes Year 73 Month 2 Week 4 Heroes & Champions Eleven heroes. They run, leaving destruction in their wake. Explosions, deflected by barriers. Fires, blocked by magical shields. The heroes, they try. Magical thunderbolt here, lightning blast there, and the lesser demons fall like flies. Yet, there are easily tens of thousands of them, and only eleven heroes to stand against it. The fan lady twirls, and she mutters a kind of chant. The demons attempt to disrupt her, but the other heroes cover her. Swoosh. A blast from the sky, and hundreds of the demons, crushed instantly. And a blue giant fireball streaks through the demon swarm, roasts all in its path, then explodes, killing a few hundred more The giant tortoise demon stomps its feet, and the earth shakes tremendously, and a few dozen massive boulders fly at high speeds towards the heroes. A wall of light emerges, disintegrating the boulders and also the the lesser demons in its path. An ability that both Hendry and Max use together, a holy wall of some kind. The tortoise stomps its feet, and a few dozen more boulder fly towards the wall. ¡°Ugh.¡± Hendry and Max both winces, ¡°Its using up quite a lot of mana. Alexis!¡± The heroes retreat closer, and Meela runs up to me. ¡°Tree Spirit, please aid us in battle!¡± ¡°What if I refuse?¡± ¡°Then the demons will kill you too.¡± ¡°So, do you have a plan?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The heroes retreat into a formation behind me, and start some kind of chant. The horde of demons charge in, the thousands flood the fields. My insects and Jura together with my roots, form a protective layer, drive the demons away from the heroes. The three demon champions seem particularly disturbed by the chanting, and so they join the battle. The centipede, the fastest of the three, is unable to tunnel too near, due to my dense subterranean root network, and so it chooses to attack us directly, trying to ram the heroes. My wooden shields appear to block the centipede¡¯s strikes, and they shatter on impact. But it is sufficient to deflect it away, as I land a few holy-enchanted root strikes on its side, and it knocks it back a little. I have its attention, and it tries to ram me instead. wham That hurt, a few barks crack, I had all my defenses up, but not fatal. Another root strike, this time to its body, and a big chunk of stone chips off. It rams me again. wham It shatters the three layers of wooden shields I create in its way. Whatever the heroes are planning, it better work. The giant centipede rams me again, while smaller centipedes try to attack the heroes. A white dome appears over the heroes. They protected themselves with a magical barrier, great! The smaller centipedes ram into it, but nothing happens. It¡¯s ideal subterranean attack nullified by the root network, it can resort to ramming and swiping the dome with its stone thorns. The larger champion centipede is still focused on me. It¡¯s bigger than the centipede before, but so am I. My larger form flows into additional power for most of my abilities, so Jura and the heroes are right that I can hold my own against these creatures¡­ for a while. The golem champion is now in range, and it tries to punch the white dome. [Constrict] My roots shoot out of the ground and grab hold onto the golem champion, and the tangles hold his punch back. I activate [constrict] on the giant demon centipede too, and it retaliates to it by twirling its body around my trunk. It coils around me, my branches, roots and vines also wrap themselves around the giant centipede, so we are both stuck. Or more like, the centipede is stuck. It feels like a snake is wrestling with a stick. Some of my roots pierce through its stone structure, after all it is made of earth and my roots are good at going through such surfaces. Elemental advantage, I suppose. Still, the golem and centipede are still mostly unharmed, even though are trapped in a thicket of roots and branches, and the giant centipede all coiled around my trunk. The centipede took a few blows, and its struggling and trying to crush me with its stone body and gore through the trunk with the horns. But the trunk and bark holds, with all the defense buffs that I have passively and the effects of the demon damage reduction. The tortoise is the only ¡°free¡± one, and it then bites through the vines that tangles the golem. chomp chomp Sharp bites cut through the vines and roots, and one of the golem¡¯s arms is free. And it punches. The punch slams into the dome, hard. wham The white dome cracks. Crap. That¡¯s bad. I need to protect them for a bit more. A few root strikes pop up, hitting the underbelly of the tortoise, and knocks it back a little. However, it did not topple. The golem raises its fists and readies its next full power punch. Ugh, I use a [super antidemon rootstrike] together with the essence-edge, and it slams right into the golems chests. It explodes in a flash of starlight, and a huge hole appear in the golem¡¯s chest. It still lives! It punches again, and I create multiple massive [woodshields] to block its strike. Its punch crushes the shields easily, and still manages to hit the dome. But, the shield did its job, the dome¡¯s only lightly cracked. The giant tortoise rams me instead, and tries to bite me with its beak. scratch I could feel a gash near my trunk, but it quickly heals. The centipede tries to crush me even more, but my roots are also sucking out energy from its body. The golem¡¯s other arms are free, and it throws a few more punches at the dome. Once again I create wood shields and try to reduce the impact. But only the first punch is weakened. The other few punches land squarely on the doom and it cracks even more. The dome glows. It seems, I have done enough. Now the heroes need to show what their plan is. The dome pulses somemore, then it the glow becomes brighter. Then, woosh. A blinding light. The dome explodes, and a massive energy wave sweeps outwards, like a nuclear shockwave. The wave disintegrates all the demons in its path, the lesser demons all vaporised, and in an instant, only demons surviving in the entire battlefield are the champions. That¡¯s just too overpowered. The 3 champions though did not escape unscathed. The giant tortoise¡¯s shell is half destroyed, revealing its charred in body, the golem¡¯s arms and half its head that faces the dome is destroyed, and the giant centipede¡¯s body is half gone too. Yet somehow, the rest of us are safe. It seems like a special ability tuned to demons. The heroes, they emerge from the dome, wielding shining weapons, and covered with an armor of light. They dash towards the demon champions, and in just a few flashes of light, all the demon champions are killed. At that moment, the only thing that went through my mind is, ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Did I just tank three demon champions so the heroes can activate some kind of ougi power of friendship OP ability? Indeed, the heroes in their light armor form make such quick work of the champions that I found it hard to believe they are even demon champions in the first place. The heroes, having destroyed all the demons, regroup. ¡°Thanks for covering us. We gained quite a few levels from that.¡± Seriously. Now that they are not jumping or flying from place to place, we get a better look at them, and the heroes new outfit actually reminds me of power rangers. Or maybe kamen rider. ¡°Meela¡­ Did you guys unlock some special ability recently?¡± ¡°Yes we did! We got this special uh¡­ [Heavenly Form], and a few special skills. That big boom thing is our [Starlight Nova].¡± Whoah. How do I get that kind of power? ¡°Meela¡­ may I ask you dip into the pod again?¡± ¡°Yea sure!¡± Meela says happily. At this point, Alexis and Hendry grabs Meela. ¡°No. Its our power, we cannot reveal it. Don¡¯t do this.¡± Meela shakes her head. ¡°Both of you are being unreasonable. TreeTree just helped cover our butts because this skill activation has a ridiculously long chant time, and now you want to deny it?¡± Hendry and Alexis pauses, ¡°Let¡¯s decide, collectively. As a group.¡± Seeing heroes, and interlude 3 : Demon King Battle Eventually, the heroes came to a compromise. Meela¡¯s argument sort of won. ¡°Here goes.¡± Meela dips in. The rest of the heroes look on, some with a rather concerned expression. Alexis and the fan lady activate some kind of magical ability, and Meela glows somewhat. ¡°Insurance. Anything unnatural, we go in.¡± The mage explains, and I deduce it¡¯s some kind of magical short-range teleportation ability. Max shakes his head, ¡°If this Tree saved Meela¡¯s life, and Meela has done this before, I really do not see why such precautions are necessary.¡± Hendry puts his hand on Max. ¡°Yes. Yes he did. But our gift, our burden must be carefully guarded, and not put under the knife, or risk getting stolen. Precautions are necessary.¡± I sigh¡­ These reincarnators are a pain, but whatever. ¡°I¡¯m not stealing it. I¡¯m just having a look at it.¡± Meela shakes her head. ¡°You guys, stop being paranoid. I want to do this, and we voted. I¡¯ll be fine. I can dip in a pool.¡± One of the heroes poke in. ¡°I don¡¯t see the issue too. Our ability comes from the gods, and I highly doubt it can be easily stolen or copied or whatever. Just because you can see the schematics does not mean you have the tools and materials to create a machine.¡± Well, he has a very good point. Meela¡¯s fully submerged, and the roots and vines attach itself to her. And I could sense the data flowing into me, so I start to peek into her body. What is most immediately obvious, is that the two waterfalls from the aether that once pour normal clear water into the lake of her soul, is now pouring a sparkly liquid, and it sparkles with starlight. I think this is what they refer to as, ¡°star mana¡±. The black whirlpool also disappeared, and so the water that flows down into the rest of her body is strong, thick like that of a raging river. That starlight water pours and feeds every part of her body, and enhances her body¡¯s strength even more than before. It¡¯s kinda like those athletes taking performance enhancing drugs, really, only the change in muscle strength and texture is permanent. The star-mana is the fuel that powers their tremendous destructive ability, and their exceptionally large and powerful soul is the engine, and the body is the vehicle. Comparing Jura, Laufen to Meela, it is obvious to me that in every where, Meela¡¯s soul is just huge, and as a result, their displayed potential is just absurd. ¡°Is it done yet?¡± Hendry asks, it¡¯s about an hour in. They seem really anxious, but perhaps they are unaware how long medical procedures actually take. But I think it¡¯s enough for me to gather all the data I need. ¡°Yes.¡± The hatch opens, and Meela steps out. She shakes her body abit, and yawns. ¡°That was a very pleasant nap. I felt like your healing energies were all inside me!¡± Meela laughs, and she looks at her worried teammates, ¡°See. I am fine!¡± Alexis and Max both casts some kind of spell and then nod. ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s fine.¡± Max then looks up to the Tree, ¡°Apologies for our reservations. Hope you keep whatever you discovered a secret.¡± ¡°Honestly, all I discovered is your souls are exceptionally large, you have huge amounts of star mana pouring into your body, and the huge natural mana from your soul and the star mana changes your body into anti-demon superhumans.¡± All the heroes pause. ¡°Really, that¡¯s it.¡± ¡°Star mana?¡± Alexis pauses, and then she blinks. ¡°Hmm¡­ that makes sense.¡± ¡°What?¡± The others turn and look at Alexis, the group¡¯s wizard. ¡°I mean, it explains why we have such success against demons. Star mana is rare, known to be naturally effective against demons who are extraterrestrial in nature and yet our body overflows with it. It, it never occured to me that the special mana that we all get access to is just star mana. it should have been obvious, how our recent abilities have star-like names.¡± Alexis then sits in one of the many root-benches in the lab. ¡°Did you see our¡­ gifts?¡± ¡°Hmm, I can¡¯t identify which one is a gift without comparing to another body. It¡¯s from your differences that I know what is what, else I have to assume all that is the same is the norm for everyone.¡± ¡°Hmm. That is true. You need a control or reference to interpret the results.¡± Alexis rubs her chin. ¡°Alexis?¡± Hendry walks over. ¡°Hmm.. nothing.¡± Alexis then walks out of the lab, and eventually all the heroes follow. Once they are out, I turn my attention towards digesting the new data I possess, now stored like a medical record. Indeed, I am not lying when I do not know where the divine gift is, and comparing two reincarnators with different gifts would be one of the easier ways to find them, since one would naturally expect different gifts to appear and manifest differently in one¡¯s soul. The heroes, went back to their camp. Using some kind of magic they create a magical transportable inn that allows them to live in comfort, even whilst travelling. Ah, such a magic would put hotels and inns everywhere out of business, but the hospitality business can count on their lucky stars, as such magic is so far exclusive to heroes. Later that night, Meela came over again. ¡°Hey Tree Spirit. I, I just want to apologise for my team¡¯s behavior. We, we tend to behave like that, it¡¯s all about us, and not anyone else. Everything just to further our own aims of beating the demons.¡± If I could nod I would. On hindsight, the heroes are pretty asshole-ish. ¡°You saved my life, our lives, and helped us alot. So I think we owe it to you, and I am really unhappy with what my team did. Even Hendry and Alexis are suspicious, and I.. I don¡¯t know why.¡± Meela pauses and sits on one of my many roots. Some of them are flat on top now, to serve as tables and benches. ¡°Can I make a deal with you? Once we beat the demon king, I¡¯ll come back and help you, even if I am not as magically clever as Alexis.¡± Hmmm, I¡¯m not sure whether that sort of help is useful, but if I had to ask... ¡°Tree Spirit, do you have any requests?¡± Hmm, ¡°Accept my familiar.¡± I gain experience if they die, so in many ways that helps me. ¡°In fact, ask everyone to take a familiar, that¡¯ll be enough.¡± These heroes are going to fight more demons in the days after this, might as well profit out of it. Meela nods, ¡°Oh that is fine. Give me one first, and I can ask the rest.¡± I activate the familiar contract, and Meela accepts. She grins. ¡°Ooh it''s like a summon.¡± The next morning, Meela shows off her new familiar abilities to the heroes, and about half of them do end up accepting a familiar from me. The other half have their reservations, though. Oh well, better than nothing. Six heroes with familiars, and five without. They left that afternoon. Perhaps it is better that way. Experience from the demon champion battle [You are now level 110. (+6 levels)] [Secret hideout : biolab upgraded.] [Wood shield upgraded. Steelwood barrier obtained] [Constrict significantly upgraded] [Absorption significantly upgraded] [Obtained Tree ability : Subsidiary Tree] [Customisable branches options expanded] --- The Heroes¡¯ POV. (Alexis) After the defeat of the 3 demon champions, we were feeling quite good about ourselves. We gained on average 10 levels each, and all of us now at least level 100. We felt we are ready for the demon king. [Heavenly Form]. We got that power when all of us hit level 90, and now after the demon champion, it leveled up, and we gain variants of that power. Max for example has [Heavenly Barrier Armor], and does not require that stupidly long chant time anymore. And even that chant time is somewhat irrelevant, now that Freyas, our resident lady with a fan, gains a power called [Accelerated chanting - Heavenly form], which allows all of us to enter into the form within a minute. The gods plan on winning. And we are accordingly equipped with powerful abilities and skills. Yet, why did so many heroes die in the past? Meela sits next to me. ¡°Still thinking about it?¡± We left the tree spirit a day ago, and Meela seems fine despite our initial disagreements on what we should do with the Tree¡¯s request. After all, we do have a common enemy, the big bad that is the demon king. ¡°Yeah. Still bothers me.¡± ¡°It bothers Max too.¡± We¡¯re closer to the rift now, and it almost feels as if we can sense it. The next demon champion is last spotted guarding one of the rifts, and our goal is to destroy all the demon champions. Meela usually rides next to me. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s hidden in plain sight. Something¡­ obvious.¡± Possible! Some demons attack, we dispose them off easily. We are a group of 11 level 100+ heroes after all. The journey towards the rift brings us to more demons, and in a way it¡¯s good. THe more demons they throw at us, the higher level we get. Two days later, we arrive at the rift. It¡¯s like a glitch in the system, like a damaged LCD monitor. What¡¯s a beautiful view is jarringly broken by a large black gash floating midair, and demons are pouring out of that gap like water. Thankfully, just lesser hounds. The demon champion here is a giant cyclops with multiple arms, and it plays a function more than just a guard. It¡¯s also a guide for the new demons. It would point, and the hounds would go off in a direction. We attack, and with our newfound powers we crush the demon champion easily. Max¡¯s star-mana powered [Starlight Smite] skill weakened it significantly in a single blow, and a few hits later it collapsed. The rest of the lesser hounds didn¡¯t last very long. A few AoE spells, and these fragile hounds die. The rift is still pouring demons out. ¡°Can we do something about it?¡± Meela nods. ¡°I¡¯ll need help, but I think so.¡± Meela starts dancing in a rhythmic fashion, and her body starts to glow in a myriad of colors. ¡°Meela?¡± I sense the presence of her mana, that special mana, and.. .something. ¡°I had a dream.¡± She points both her swords at the rift, and two beams of light shoot out towards the rift. ¡°When I was in the pod.¡± The light hits the rift, and it looks like the rift¡¯s energies start to battle the light. ¡°In the dream, I see a rift close when some heroes channel their power into it.¡± The rest of us try, and indeed, together, our combined powers start to overwhelm the rift¡¯s energies, and it shrinks, and eventually vanishes in a spark of light. The deserted, destroyed valley suddenly becomes quiet, and¡­ normal again. Demon King. A sensation in our body, like an ice cube just rolled down our back. We feel it, the demon king. It¡¯s coming for us. All of us share a few glances. ¡°It¡¯s going to happen soon.¡± ¡°How long, you think?¡± I felt it again, that presence. I know it knows where we are. And I think I know where it is, too. Max and Hendry both sit. ¡°I have a feeling¡­ maybe two weeks.¡± Strange, I had the same number in my head as well. We all can feel it. ¡°Strategy?¡± ¡°Hit it with all we got. At range.¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to come to us with everything it got, too.¡± ¡°Then I suppose we should intercept it, take it off guard.¡± ¡°I could do that.¡± Indeed, for a long range homing attack, I think I might have just the spell. It took a day¡¯s preparation, but we got into position. We could sense it, and if we can sense it, we can attack it. Eleven of us concentrated our energies into a glowing white energy ball above us, this is our ¡°opening act¡±. [Neutron Comet] A large building sized ball of light, containing our daily charged energy. It zooms towards the demon king, flying at high speed, perhaps a few thousand miles per hour. The demon king is far, perhaps a thousand miles away, but this is tuned to that ¡°sense¡± of him, and I believe I can hit it. Impact, and we could feel as if the air shakes a moment. And then, a retaliation. A wave of boulders fly towards us. We deflect them easily. Still, it shows we can hit each other, so we resume our daily comet. And the two weeks is over, every day we attack with a comet, and it retaliates with the boulders. There are lesser demons too, but we crush the, easily. And then, we have visual contact. The demon king Andraas takes the form of a large flying fortress with multiple spider-like legs, multiple tentacle-covered buildings as its body, and has multiple spires with eyes. It¡¯s as if a tentacle monster merged with a fortress to become this¡­ monstrosity. It¡¯s angry. And it attacks. [Demon King Andraas] It¡¯s unleashes a wave of rocks at close range, and these rocks are magically enchanted with demonic energy. And it¡¯s spires and eyes shoot beams of energy at us. ¡°This is it.¡± Hendry puts up a magical barrier, and yet it cracks when the beams hit it. And we descend into battle. It¡¯s faster, stronger, and tougher. The heroes and demon king is now in close battle, and the deserted valley is instantly filled with beams of light, flying rocks, and our counter-magics. A jagged rock flies right past me. I duck. I felt a shiver. The jagged rock breaks up into a million tiny needle like shrapnels next to me. [Fireform] My body of fire burns up the tiny rock needles. And a few other rocks that fly my way. The other heroes have their own ways of protecting themselves. Freyas with her wind magic is able to surround herself with a constant layer of magically enchanted high-speed winds that shred the needles. ¡°Help!¡± I turn to look at our gunner. A massive tentacle is trying to crush him. [Holy Thunderstrike] A thunder zaps the tentacle, paralysing it for a split second, but enough to let him escape. Max¡¯s sword glows with holy magic, and he slashes the tentacle. It explodes, and the demon king¡¯s blood get everywhere. ¡°I thought they normally look like¡­ demons.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s what the record says. But this demon king has been doing strange things from the start, it has elemental hybrids!¡± Hendry creates a huge barrier, and we take this moment to enter our [starlight armor] form. The demon king roars, it¡¯s tentacles and legs flail repeatedly at the barrier. It cracks, and it cracks quickly. Will we make it? I wonder as we chant, the cracks appearing throughout the barrier. Hendry nods. A flash of light. The armor is done, and the barrier explodes, and a white flame burns the tentacles close to the barrier. But still, the demon king looks relatively unharmed. The demon king¡¯s spider-leg stab Max in the stomach. ¡°UGH!¡± ¡°MAX!¡± Meela¡¯s light sword cuts the spider-leg off, but a stab is a stab. He¡¯s hurt. Max¡¯s blood drips onto his sword, and he enters a frenzy. He climbs onto the demon king¡¯s spider leg and rushes forward. ¡°WE should get on the body!¡± ¡°Good point. There might be a heart somewhere we can destroy!¡± The fan lady calls the rest of us to her, and she sweeps a fan. And a tunnel of wind appears, carrying us to the body of the demon king. The castle itself. And the fortress is like a disneyland turned into a demonic playhouse. Tentacles everywhere, each house covered with eyes, and giant spiders roam the fortress. ¡°Should we just blow up this entire structure?¡± ¡°We could.¡± And we start attacking everything. The floor, the buildings, everything we see. The tentacles and giant spiders try to attack us, but it doesn¡¯t do much. We eventually bore a hole right into the fortress itself, and we found what we wanted. One of the many hearts of the demon king. Max, in his fury, slashes it, and it blows up, and tonnes of it¡¯s black blood splash everywhere. ¡°One.¡± An army of human-sized demon knight appears as we look for the next heart, easily a thousand of them, accompanied by spiders. They are strong, but in our starlight form we crush them easily. We found the next heart in a tall spire, and it is our gunner who blows it up. The third heart is hidden in one of the many buildings. The fourth in a corrupted church, and the fifth in a barracks. Each time, more and more demons try to stop us. ¡°How many hearts are there?¡± ¡°Nine?¡± We found the sixth and seventh hidden in another set of buildings. The demon king starts to lose ability to fly, and starts to crash onto the ground. More demon knights and demon champions try to stop us, but we destroy them easily. The eighth heart is in what looks like a market, and then, the ninth heart is in what appears to be a corrupted garden. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± At this point, we are all drenched in blood and whatever gunk the demon king is made of. The fortress crashes onto the ground, yet the tentacles are still attacking us. But unlike before, their attacks seems to be blind flailing. Then, the entire thing starts to shake. All the remnants of the demon king¡¯s hearts start to float out of their remains to pool together into a black ball midair. Meela laughs. ¡°This is like a video game. It¡¯s not even it¡¯s final form!¡± The tentacles, the eyes, the legs, they all melt into a black liquid that merges with the black ball. We throw every ranged attack at it, and we manage to incinerate some of the black liquid away. And then¡­ an eyeball appears on a black ball. An evil eye? The next form is a massive eye. And it lets out a wave-ray of destruction. Max and Hendry join together to put up a barrier, but that ray destroys it instantly. And then starts to burn us. Unlike before, it¡¯s not a focused beam, but more of a shining light, and everything that is lit by that light burns. ¡°Ahhhh.¡± We attack it, and cuts appear in its body. Yet it seems to be a partial liquid form that seems to nullify our attacks. Meela uses a special ability and manages to jump onto it. And she stabs it repeatedly with her two swords. The eye closes, and tries to turn and twirl repeatedly, but the Meela¡¯s magical swords are deeply embedded into its¡¯ body, and sticks even with it¡¯s liquid forms. Still, it tries to shake her off, Meela flings around like a ragdoll. She¡¯s fine though, and she shouts. ¡°There¡¯s something hard deep inside. I think we need to get it!¡± That is the cue we needed, and our gunner takes out a special harpoon like weapon. It shoots a chained-harpoon and stabs into the eye. I wince a little at the imagery. And he channels a kind of energy through the chain into the eye, and it blows up. Meela thankfully manages to jump away in time. A round red crystal. And it pulses. And pulses. And it starts to glow. ¡°Oh fuck it¡¯s going to explode.¡± All of us huddle together, and activate all the defensive and barrier spells we have at our disposal. It then blows up with the strength of a huge hydrogen bomb. [Demon King Andraas has been slain] Next generation Year 73 Month 2 A few days after the heroes leave The [subsidiary tree] unlocks 30 additional trees, and with that, using my natural tree spirit powers to ¡°stimulate¡± plant growth, a small forest now grows out around me, and though all these new smaller trees look separate, but they are actually part of me. They are linked underground via rootnet, and they serve a few functions. Each separate tree is actually one [customisable branch], and they collect a few things, such as solar energy, essences. The immediate impact is of course, happier elves! Well, Jura¡¯s happy for a few reasons. After his involvement in the battle with the 3 demon champions, though it¡¯s mainly dealing with the lesser demons, he gained a level and successfully removed his curse. It seems growth can naturally overcome such curses. But the elves are happy because the additional trees remind the elves of this place, before the humans, and before demonic stampedes that razed this place to the ground. Freeka, is once surrounded by forests, and the forests was once home to many natural creatures that the elves hunted, and many herbs that the elves used extensively in their cooking, I have been trying to regrow the surrounding area multiple times, but each time a demon attacks, these regular trees do not stand a chance. These subsidiary trees, they inherit my resistances and defenses, and so, I think they will last a lot longer. The 30 extra trees form two circles around me, 6 in the inner circle, 24 on the outer circle. ¡°It feels like a wall.¡± Jura looks around. ¡°It is meant to be a wall.¡± Indeed, a layer of demon-resistant trees is my idea of defense. ¡°These trees, do they do something?¡± Laufen asks, and Lausanne walks next to her. Looking at Lausanne, Brislach and Wahlen, I decide to convert one of the inner trees into a playroom. The secret hideout did not have much space, given that it mostly living quarters, the food store, the lab and the medical area. Oh, and there is a small pool. These elven kids have seen too much, and maybe a proper play area will bring a greater sense of normalcy into their lives. The playroom has a small wooden slide, a few different wooden toys, some racks and small chairs made using my wood forming magic. Ah children, what innocent souls. Eh. I wonder how a child¡¯s soul would look like, and Lausanne is too small, so Brislach volunteers for the dip. And a child¡¯s soul, is the same as Jura¡¯s, with one notable exception. The earth, or the body, is¡­ soft. And the spring which pours out, seems inconsistent. Brislach¡¯s soul at time surges, and then it shrinks. ¡°When do children start practicing magic?¡± ¡°Oh.. it differs by culture¡­¡± Laufen and Jura sits around and explain. ¡°Some cultures believe it is best to let the body mature before attempting to draw out mana, and so the exposure to magic is late, like their mid teens. Some cultures believe it is better to be exposed early and let mana flow more freely in the body.¡± ¡°And different societies expose them differently, its not as if there is one standard way of doing it, as the bodies of different people are very different. People may learn the same spell, but the body¡¯s elemental preference, stats can change how that translates. In fact, the only so far somewhat uniformly agreed skill that appears the same way is the most basic of spells¡­ spark. And from what I hear, that does not apply to heroes!¡± Hmm.. I suppose the shape of body, the way that water flows from the soul to the body makes that difference. Wahlen¡¯s next, and indeed, once he dips in, I get a notification. [Obtained passive skill : soul grading] And indeed, it is a skill that sort the souls into general grades, and what I see is the both Wahlen and Brislach are graded as a range of rank 2 to 4, where Laufen, Emile, Bell is rank 3, Jura is rank 6. The grade range for the 2 children seems to imply that children¡¯s souls are still flexible and subject to influence. Actually, looking at all this I now wonder what am I? I am a tree spirit, but I do have a soul, and I wonder whether it is possible to look at myself, the way I peek into others? Nope. I can¡¯t see myself. Though, I do have a wide array of menus and measurements. Oh well, maybe someday I will get some kind of reflection-ish ability. But menus are supposed to be a lot more accurate, after all they quantify everything into a number or a ¡°status¡±. But this recent experience does draw some limitations of menus. Numbers are rigid, and yet the vision of one¡¯s soul, and that notion of a flowing water, it explains how everything is linked, and how the body feeds back into the kind of energy produced. Anyway, back to the children, and my new found tree-mates. With 30 extra [customisable-branch], and the new options for them, the innermost trees are reserved for elves, so for the inner 6 trees, 1 is a playpen for the kids, 2 is some extra rooms for the elves, and perhaps future visitors, such that they don¡¯t get inside me, and I left 3 empty for now, since the process of changing one occupied customisable branch to another type takes a good month, even though the first change from blank takes¡­ a day. As for the other 24, I set one as a kennel for the woodhound, 10 for essence extraction, 4 as mineral processors, 5 as housing for insect warriors, which as a result, spawns an additional 15 insect warriors in my service, and 4 unused. Perhaps I¡¯ll get some kind of defensive option, which the remaining 4 can be used for. I set a lot of the customisable branches for essence extraction, because wisp claims that essence is one of the key materials for the [soul forge]. Still, even now it¡¯s not operational, the soul forge needs a power source. The elves now walk about their expanded ¡°safe area¡± protected by the 2 layers of trees. Jura takes one of the extra rooms, and the two young elves, Emile and Belle takes the other room. Laufen and the children continue to stay in the secret hideout. An unfortunately, the toilet and washroom is still in the secret hideout. Perhaps a common public bath can be made later on. ¡°TreeTree, will these rooms grow?¡± ¡°Maybe? I don¡¯t really know.¡± Perhaps these trees can level up and I can give them more options. But I think it is quite unlikely as they are connected to me. ¡°Ah oh well.¡± Belle shakes her leg on her new mattress. In the room the 2 girls share, there¡¯s 3 single beds, and a few cabinets. It¡¯s fairly large, and there¡¯s windows out to the main tree. In a away, these rooms look like they are carved out of the trees themselves. Emile too checks out her new cabinets. For once she can move her clothes out of her chest in the hideout, into proper cabinets. ¡°You think the heroes will defeat the demon king?¡± Emile sits on the other mattress. ¡°Yea, of course they would. They are heroes!¡± ¡°Not as good looking as I hoped though.¡± ¡°Well, I guess history paints heroes with a whole lot of makeup!¡± Belle laughs and rolls on her new bed. The mattress is made of old clothes stuffed inside. Emile stands and looks out one of the windows, to see a few of the new subsidiary trees. It¡¯s home to the giant beetles, and a few of them are resting. The home of the giant beetles, these giant trees are hollow within, and contained inside are nectar which these beetles feed on. She felt a little tingle, perhaps an instinctual fear. It¡¯s weird to be so near these giant beetles, but they are minions, creations of the Tree Spirit. Jura walks in. ¡°Ah, the design is the same.¡± ¡°Oh Jura.¡± ¡°Settling in already?¡± ¡°Yeah. Finally a space outside!¡± ¡°Yeah, tree spirits are amazing.¡± There are other tree spirits around the world with similar powers, and some of these very ancient tree spirits managed to elude the wrath of the demons by ¡®escaping¡¯, by creating mystical forests that are able to disappear temporarily. The methods the denizens of the world used to survive and outlast the demons are varied, some choose to disappear, some choose to constantly move. Year 73 Month 3 Week 2 [Demon King Andraas has been defeated] [Maximilian Powell has died] [Meela Adams has died] [Hendrick Mathers has died] [Freyasian has died] [Gunnar Forrest has died] [Peters Schmiel has died] [Fang Wei has died] [Omar West has died] [Sally Ann Courtlass has died] [Reese Witherfork has died] [You received 10 fragments. You now have a total of 66 fragments] [You gained 4 levels. You are now level 114.] [Tree Familiar abilities upgraded] [Skill : Defensive dome obtained] [Customisable branch option unlocked : Shield Generator] [Soul Tree range greatly expanded] It started with a set of popups, and then I had a very, very bad feeling, and I asked all the elves to hide. They didn¡¯t know why, but they trusted me commands. I activated all the defensive measures that came with the higher levels, and indeed, there is something. There is a small delay, about an hour, but then it happened. A very strong wind swept across the entire area. It¡¯s like a shockwave from a faraway explosion, and with it, searing, hot air. Thankfully, it seems to have weakened considerably by the time it came here. ¡°What the hell was that!¡± Jura exclaims, and looks at the other elves. ¡°The demon king died. And¡­ I think some kind of massive explosion happened.¡± ¡°OH!¡± The elves clap their hand. ¡°That¡¯s great news!¡± ¡°And the heroes died as well.¡± ¡°Oh. That¡¯s sad, but that¡¯s great news too!¡± Jura frowns, and then laughs. ¡°What? Why?¡± THe other elves look at Jura. ¡°Surviving heroes tend to create political chaos after the demon threat is nullified. Actually, quite a few of the human kingdoms and empires we see today are descended from heroes. So¡­ heroes, while necessary, do create a whole lot of wars and fighting.¡± So what next? ¡°What would you do to prepare for the next demon king?¡± The elves pause. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Wait. I thought elves being long lived tend to plan things out. Jura and Laufen glance at each other. ¡°Well, we¡¯re concentrated on our day to day lives, training, or looking after the kids, that we don¡¯t think much about the next demon king. Kings and emperors, heads of priests worry about such stuff.¡± That somehow reminds me of regular people stuck in dead end jobs, unable to see the bigger picture because it¡¯s deadlines after deadlines at work. ¡°And even if we thought about it, the demon king is so powerful that whatever we thought isn¡¯t going to work.¡± Well, fair. If it¡¯s not something you have the ability to change, you don¡¯t worry about it. At this point its the children that speak up. Brislach and Wahlen laugh and say, ¡°if we could be heroes, then we can beat the demon king!¡± That¡¯s actually the ideal. If we could beat the demon king, then we need not worry about the problems that it creates. And if I want to try that idea, I¡¯ll need to get my [soul forge] online. Year 73 Month 3 Week 3 The death of the demon king takes a while to get out, not everyone gets a nice notification in their menus like I do. It seems that the place where the demon king perish, is warped by the mixture of his demonic magic and the natural magic in the area, and creates special mana crystals known as ¡°Daemolite¡±. Daemolite is a valuable mineral, for it only exists at the places where the demon kings has died, and the amount of such mana crystals created is finite. But, it¡¯s valuable for it¡¯s ability to store mana in large quantities, and is therefore valuable in high-mana requirement spells, rituals and generally as a source of power for large, long range weapons. Even adventurers also use them as a sort of a reusable mana potion, as they lack of pains of potion-sickness, as these crystals merely store their own mana, which they can withdraw later on. And so, the period immediately after the demon king¡¯s death is usually a mad rush to the demon king¡¯s site, to harvest these minerals. It is for these reasons that some adventurers have a secondary mission given by their countries, which is to observe and inform their benefactors the location of the demon king¡¯s demise. Yet, mining such minerals, which usually appear as crystalline structures on the surface, is fraught with challenges as well. The dense mana pool tend to attract leftover demons, and also large monsters. Daemolite is valuable, but what gets kings and countries to send large armies to seize control of the area, is for a very rare thing, the last remains of the demon king, is a small finger sized horn, known as the Horn Of Eternity. Ground into powder and consumed, it restores one¡¯s youth, extends one¡¯s life significantly, and depending on compatibility, gains access to a special type of magic, known as chaos magic. In an age where one¡¯s life is finite, agelessness and youth is very much desired. And, we have our first human encounter again. ¡°Airship!¡± Oh, a magical airship. It seems those exists in this world after all. It¡¯s a small one, and it zooms ahead quickly. At this point, Jura looks up. ¡°That airship¡­¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°They belong to the Salah kingdom that attacked us.¡± Ah. That¡¯s a kingdom I don¡¯t want to benefit from this entire adventure. Hmmm, but I can¡¯t attack it at range, my root strike doesn¡¯t fly so high. If only I have some kind of lasso, but I¡¯ll work on that next time. Perhaps flying insects too. But for now, I think my fruits can hit it, if I shoot them with it. Perhaps I can create explosive fruits next time, like explosive mangrove seeds. Maybe next time, this system has a way of creating things I think about somehow. I create a bunch of corrosive fruits, and right when it fly overhead, I unleash a huge barrage of them. They hit it underneath, and it shakes midair, and starts to crash. The airship shakes, and somehow manages to perform a controlled landing, and about six men pop out. ¡°Huh what the hell happened?¡± One of them came out, he seems like a fairly experienced adventurer. ¡°We are attacked. Something hit us with these things.¡± Another guy points at the remains of the corrosion fruits stuck at it¡¯s bottom. The hull is riddled with holes. ¡°There¡¯s only that bunch of trees. Something is in there?¡± ¡°Yea.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go check it out.¡± The six men draw their weapons and approach the outer trees. And as they come a bit closer, my roots pop out, and wrap around their bodies like multiple pythons. They scream. But my roots and vines are able to hold back a demon champion. They struggle. Still, my beetles pop out and bite off their weapons. Weaponless, and restrained by vines, I wonder what do I do with them. Kill them? At that point, I wonder whether are all men of the kingdom of Salah the same. Maybe these men are unaware of the atrocities their fellow men committed. ¡°Tie them up and interrogate them. Find out what they want.¡± I mentally speak to Jura. Jura takes a bit of my extra-strong paralysing sap and makes all but one of them drink it, and it causes the five men who had a taste of the bitter sap to shake and convulse like they are electrocuted. The last man, the oldest and the one who looks to be in charge, stare at Jura. ¡°What the fuck are you doing!¡± ¡°You belong to the Salah Kingdom, and they destroyed this village some time ago. I¡¯m just taking revenge.¡± The man¡¯s eye widen. ¡°I have nothing to do with it.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Jura shrugs. ¡°That¡¯s what everyone says. But the sins of the nation are shared by every citizen and follower of the nations. I might spare your life is you¡¯re cooperative, but otherwise I¡¯ll kill you.¡± The beetle carry the remaining five men into a wooden cell, one of the extra [customisable branches]. Essentially it¡¯s a room, but with no windows and a door that only can be opened from the outside, and vines inside that holds onto their bodies. ¡°So.... do you want to cooperate?¡± ¡°Fine. What do you want?¡± ¡°Good.¡± The group of beetles then transport the damaged airship into the area between my main tree and the sub-trees. I¡¯ll have to take a look at them later, the idea of having my own airship is appealing, even if I can¡¯t use it. Year 73 Month 3 Week 4 The adventurers are alive, and my routine involves putting them under the microscope. There are certain differences in the human body compared to elves, and this is most apparent in the nature of their ¡°water¡±. The elves have a very slight greenish tinge to them, and this it seems leans toward a nature-based magics, and makes it harder for them to use magics that contradict this natural disposition, whereas the humans generally have pure, clear, colorless water. After a week of going into the pod they¡¯ve gone slightly crazy, and it seems they are hallucinating. Perhaps it¡¯s the sleep-inducing elements that I inject into them via the nourishing branches. ¡°Are we going to keep them here forever?¡± The younger elves are complain, but put up with it because they are monitored by beetles and restrained by the vines. Well, I plan to dispose them, eventually. But for now, they are useful. If the soul forge is that powerful, understanding this is key. Jura grins. ¡°I would like to fight them one on one.¡± Hmm, maybe I could set up a match between Jura and them, and let them fight for their fate. But what if he loses? No, if he loses, I have a problem. ¡°Fine. IF they win, they go free.¡± Jura gulps, but he is the best fighter the elf village has, with all the additional levels from the recent battles. ¡°Let them know, one on one, if they win, they go free, they lose, they die.¡± The adventurers are more than happy with such challenges, and so they agree. So, the next day, the captain faces Jura, outside the ring of trees. I¡¯ll still be able to easily kill them with a root strike, so I¡¯m not too concerned. The battle starts with a staredown, the captain and Jura stares at each other, and readies their weapons. ¡°Start.¡± Laufen, flanked by about six beetles, start of the match. She shakes her head, this is a silly men thing. The two men starts trading swords, but it¡¯s easily clear that Jura¡¯s a lot stronger. I figured as much, as my investigations into his body doesn¡¯t suggest anything special. The adventurer tries a few dodgy tricks. A poison dagger, a random hidden weapon, and it fails. Jura as an elven warrior has fought adventurers many times in the past, so such tricks are not new. And a slash, the battle ends. All in, it¡¯s mostly posturing and sensing for a good 3 to 5 minutes, the actual fighting is like for 5 minutes and that¡¯s it. So, the adventurers will die. Year 73 Month 4 Week 2 Some peace and quiet. It¡¯s lovely. Rather than killing them with a root strike, I felt like trying something different so I used [absorption] on them, and drain them into nothing but a husk. With the new weapons and items collected from the adventurers, the elves can now practice different kinds of fighting, which they will need to do eventually. My multiple essence generators are producing well, but I think I¡¯ll need new skills and abilities soon. And one alternative to the [soul forge] is to power it myself, but that would require a tremendous amount of energy, and so I¡¯m exploring how to store energy, the solution came in the form of a potato. [Tree ability : create tuberous storage] A potato that stores energy. Customisation and crops Year 73 Month 4 Week 3 One tuber for every [customisable branch]. So for a total of 40 potatoes, given that my main body grown and has 10 customisable branches now, and 30 for each of the subsidiary trees. These standard sized potatoes is also now my standard unit for energy. The ¡°energy cost¡± of my [soul forge] activities will be measured in ¡°potato units¡± (PU). And we see a group of¡­ returning refugees. Dislocated by the demonic invasion, these men and women seek to return to their old home, to rebuild, and to see what¡¯s left. Their expression a mix of fear, excitement, relief, and worry, to return, there is a lot to think about. They probably lost a lot to the demons, and yet they still want to return. They however did not get too near, and mostly just went on their journey. ¡°I wonder how are the rest of our village?¡± Laufen sits at one of the flat roots that link the main tree to the other tree. Jura¡¯s opposite her. ¡°They are in the elven kingdom, I¡¯d like to think they will be fine.¡± Jura nods, but he probably is being optimistic. Not many survived the journey, and to restart in a foreign land is hard. ¡°Do you think they will come back?¡± ¡°If they know what we have, yes.¡± Jura pats the flat top of the wood. It¡¯s like a table now. There¡¯s a lot of things to do, though, and one of it is for me to make contact with other¡­ spirits. To further extend the range of my [local area rootnet], I would need to engage in some infrastructure ¡®projects¡¯. But of course, it is a difficult exercise, so it¡¯s important to locate other spirits first, and then attempt to link up. The elves unfortunately do not remember where is the nearest tree spirit, and it is possible not all tree spirits are ¡°known¡±, though it seems that those attuned to nature can generally sense it, and so, I wonder whether I can sense it. And I get pulled into the soul realm. It¡¯s the Wisp. It seems it can pull me in here whenever it wants to. ¡°Hello.¡± The wisp floats, surrounded by multiple other floating souls¡­ They glow like little balls of white light, orbiting the wisp. ¡°Oh. Hi Wisp.¡± One of the little balls stop and float right in front of me. ¡°Tree Spirit.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Oh, is this like Gewa? I take a better look, and this ball is.. different. It¡¯s glow pulses, and the color is bluish. ¡°One of your heroes. Unlike the others, there¡¯s something holding it back from returning to the gods.¡± ¡°So, you are?¡± Heroes? Ah well, heroes are supposed to be special, their spirits belonging to the gods. ¡°Meela. Died.¡± How? ¡°Her soul¡¯s in pretty bad shape, whatever caused the death is¡­ really bad. Souls, even those of the gods also naturally decay unprotected, and it¡¯s actually amazing it made the journey here.¡± The wisp floats. ¡°You¡¯ll need your soul forge to repair her back to normal.¡± ¡°Why?¡± I ask Meela¡¯s ball of light. ¡°Promise. Help. Tree Spirit.¡± ¡°My guess is it followed the path of the familiars attached to it, else it would have given up and return to the gods¡­ She holds rather strong emotions of ¡®debt¡¯ to you, so she returns.¡± Ah. It¡¯s a bit like Gewa¡¯s case, but in this case it¡¯s due to her promise. I¡¯ll need to figure out how this works better. ¡°Okay¡­ will it decay further?¡± ¡°Nope. Now that it¡¯s in your soul realm, the decay stops. But to repair whatever caused the damage to her soul, you¡¯ll need your [soul forge].¡± ¡°I see.¡± It seems everything related to souls must start with having a functional soul forge. ¡°Can I ask what happened?¡± ¡°Demon King. Explode. Die.¡± Meela¡¯s soul bobs up and down. Oh okay. ¡°I think that¡¯s all it can manage for now.¡± The wisp stops me from going further. ¡°You can talk to her again tomorrow. Her soul need to get ¡®recharged¡¯ now.¡± The wisp then moves away, and the other souls follow. ¡°The rest are the other reincarnators?¡± I ask, noticing the other souls, but they do not look like Meela¡¯s. They look ordinary. ¡°No. Just random souls that died within your range. You get a lot of these.¡± Kind of like a magnet that pulls souls towards me. Or is it gravitational field? ¡°Doesn¡¯t these souls have information I can use?¡± I mean, if they can talk like Gewa, that means I get a constant stream of information as long as people die! ¡°Maybe, but you need a soul forge to squeeze it out of them.¡± Seriously! Must everything be dependent on a [soul forge]? ¡°No, you can also get a skill, but you¡¯re not there yet. Spend more time in the soul realm, you might learn something.¡± The Wisp bobs, and then wooshes off. Year 73 Month 4 Week 4 Refugees! And adventurers. They have somewhat aligned interests, refugees want to return to their old homes, while adventurers want to check out what¡¯s left behind. Perhaps from the many demon battles, those who perished leave valuable items behind, useless to demons, and they need the refugee¡¯s knowledge of their areas. Perhaps they are here to raid any abandoned castles or stuff. There are about four batches of refugee humans, and then one odd lizardman. Too bad the lizardman didn¡¯t get close, I would love to put him under the scope. And they mostly avoid me. It seem a gigantic tree surrounded by two rings of trees is scary! I did some thinking and I came up with three threats which I need to prepare for. The first threat are the nearby kingdoms, their adventurers and armies will seek to restore their rule over the land, and that will include coming back here and claiming this place. I will therefore need to prepare for an army, easily larger than before. And this will include their adventurers as well, that may see myself as a prize, or a bounty. The second threat are the non-demon monsters. I had it easy with my various buffs against demons, but now that the demons are gone, we are back to the regular monsters. I recall I can handle most of the regular ones, but if there are greater monsters, of which the abilities are unclear. There may be dragons, or monsters of that level, which may now be attracted to my larger size. The last threat is obviously the returning demon king. From the past trend, it looks to be a ten year cycle, and I¡¯m not sure whether ten years is enough to prepare, so I¡¯ll also want to know whether I can somehow influence the return of the demon king, perhaps the rift sizes influences the demon king¡¯s return, or something. If I can figure out how to push the time back even a year or two, that may allow more options, maybe even push it back indefinitely. The kingdoms are the immediate threat, of course, and I would like to get back at the Salah kingdom for what they did to the elves. So, dealing with a conventional army, I would need a large amount of area effect abilities, a standing army, perhaps in the form of a large beetle army, or some converted ¡°woodhounds¡±, and some camouflage or ambush-like abilities to take out unprepared forces. It seems the political situation for most nations is held together by the big bad guy, the demon king, and once it¡¯s dead, the cracks in most nations tend to emerge, so the period after the demon king is usually followed by all sorts of rebellions, coups, power grabs and so on. I could offer protection from demons that these kingdoms cannot, and that¡¯s a strategy to gather ¡°supporters¡± and rebuild Freeka. For non-demons, it¡¯ll be on the elves. I¡¯ll need to get them to the point where they can handle monsters, but dragons or other powerful flying beasts, if I ever encounter them, would bel a headache. My anti-air options are limited, my fire resistances may or may not apply against dragonfire, and I hope I don¡¯t have to find out. For demon kings, I honestly don¡¯t know where to start, but first of all, I need data. What has been written about demon kings in the past, and that means finding libraries, scribes, historians, other tree of knowledges, if there are such things. ¡°TreeTree.¡± Emile snaps me out of my thoughts. They can call out to me anywhere around my main tree, and somehow I can receive it. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Can you put your smaller trees anywhere, or must they be next to you?¡± ¡°Good question.¡± I didn¡¯t think about it, the moment I got the ability I just instinctively put them around me. At this point a popup appears on my menu. Subsidiary trees can be placed anywhere within your root network. Each subsidiary tree also extends your root network. It¡¯s like a build-range thing strategy games have. I should have pylons. ¡°Why did you ask, Emile?¡± ¡°Oh, I thought it¡¯ll be cool if we could like¡­ have a room to stay at the end of every day¡¯s journey. If we were on a journey. I¡¯m just daydreaming. Haha.¡± Emile laughs and rolls on her bed. ¡°Or maybe the trees can become a wall or something¡­¡± Hmmm, spacing out the trees like a electrical pylons is interesting, since my vision is shared by my trees after all. ¡°Or maybe they¡¯ll be like the magical twin-trees of the old Ellara. There¡¯s this two spiritual trees that are apparently twins, and they have a connected portal that allows a person to move between the trees.¡± Well, thanks for the idea Emile! Year 73 Month 5 Week 1 I¡¯m trying to find out whether my leaves can act as some kind of energy generator since I discovered the potato storage. In a way, a solar-panel - battery combination. I mean, in a game-sense, I think it¡¯s possible, but I¡¯m not sure what I¡¯m missing to upgrade them. There should be a more ¡°efficient¡± and higher output design and construction. Leaves after all generate ¡°food¡± via photosynthesis, and the tubers act as storage of the food, and if the leaves can produce more, it¡¯ll be faster to refill the tubers. Maybe I¡¯m missing certain kind of minerals. I¡¯m also stuck with the soul forge, but at least I know what I¡¯m missing. ¡°To fire it up for the first time, 1000 potato units (PU). Subsequent use depends on the type of forging or change you are making.¡± The Wisp floats. I like that he uses my terminology. From what I calculate so far, I have 40 potatoes underground, and each of my leaves and trees generate 1 PU as well, so if I use my existing production and release my stored energy I can hit 80 PU. 920PU to go. I need to figure out how to close that gap. The elves, using their mana can each produce about 1 to 3 PU worth of energy, so their contribution is relatively negligible. And now that I have the potatoes, I¡¯d like to compare against the storage capacity of this daemolite that everyone¡¯s looking to get. ¡°There¡¯s a fair bit of souls coming.¡± The Wisp bobs and floats. My soul realm lately looks like a firefly park. I wonder whether there¡¯s a capacity. ¡°No. There¡¯s no limit.¡± ¡°If I kill someone, do I get their soul?¡± ¡°If they are strong and hold strong emotions against you, no. Otherwise, there¡¯s a chance you will. Most souls lose their worldly bindings and don¡¯t really care which spirit tree or spirit being captures them.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t all the souls float back for my familiars?¡± I wonder whether he knows, but I suspect it¡¯s a chance thing. ¡°Like Semara?¡± ¡°There¡¯s quite a bit of¡­ randomness involved. Proximity, luck, the manner of death, whether there are other soul trees nearby¡­ a lot of things influences it. The ideal situation to absorb a soul is to repeat Gewa, ie, for them to die right next to you, on their own, next to you. Killing them, or a painful death reduces that odds. In their case, their actual soul still needs to go on to their next life, but that ¡°waiting time¡± is spent with you¡­¡± ¡°So will Meela move on to the next life too?¡± ¡°She should, as it is the way of the world, but¡­ otherworlders are special. I am not aware of whether their rules are different. In any case, the damage her soul received prevents her from moving on, so you have time to.¡± Ah¡­ so there are plenty of souls that are damaged, and unable to move on. A gruesome death tends to damage the soul, and releases dark energies that may create hauntings or manifest as evil spirits, but the presence of spiritual intermediaries, such as tree spirits, exorcists, evokers, spiritualists or certain types of places of worship is able to contain said energies and manage the souls. Year 73 Month 5 Week 2 It¡¯s getting hot. The small patch of crop the elves plant around the trees are doing well, augmented by my presence. Using some wood magic to fashion a set of wooden pots, there are multiple pots hanging around all the branches, and also on the floor, and they contain things like chillies, herbs. There¡¯s also a small patch that grows edible potatoes, and corn. Harvest should be soon, at least for this batch. Jura¡¯s practicing his tree-jumping thing. It seems elven archers used to jump from tree to tree to get into position, and previously with only one tree, he didn¡¯t have anywhere to jump. The kids want to follow what he¡¯s doing, so Laufen keeps them in them in the playpen. Lausanne¡¯s at that mimicry stage after all, and even with her tininess she¡¯s trying to climb up the trees. And I acquire a new skill. [Customisable branches : Harvestable Products obtained. Options are : Cotton, Maple Syrup, Oranges, Olives. Expanded options will be available with higher levels, or when new types of fruits are studied in the biolab] Ah man. I don¡¯t feel like using the inner ring trees or the main tree¡¯s available branches for this though. So that leaves all the 4 outer ring trees for these functions. ¡°For us, we¡¯d like cotton. We¡¯ll get to make new mattresses, new clothes and new pillows. We already have rather tasty fruits.¡± ¡°If we¡¯ll see more travellers, maybe there will be merchants too! Olives and syrups should sell quite well, we can get money!¡± ¡°Ah¡­ money.¡± Hmmm¡­ That would be interesting. I wanted to still leave some of the outer trees available, so I choose 1 for cotton and 1 for olives. The two chosen trees enter a sort of hibernation stage, and I could sense it¡¯s inner body changing. In fact, as I reach out to it, a popup appears in my head. Transforming to produce chosen products, please wait 3 days. Ah well, that¡¯s not long. That money and merchant thing though¡­ I think I¡¯ll scare them if I talk directly into their head. ¡°We¡¯ll do it.¡± The three ladies, Laufen, Emile and Belle. ¡°We used to buy and sell stuff with merchants, so I think we can handle it.¡± Alright then, olives for sale. Year 73 Month 5 Week 4 The two trees are ready, and it seems each tree products one cartload of olives, and one bale of cotton, per week. The elves though need a storeroom, so for now they put in within the [secret hideout]. The cotton is in rather raw form, so the elves and the kids help with processing them into more usable form, which will take quite a while. In some places of the world, magic is used to process these raw cottons. As for the olives, they are harvested in their fruit form and will be pressed into olive oil later. It seems these oils are rather expensive, since they don¡¯t grow everywhere. The quality of these 2 produces are average, and I suppose that¡¯s because I just acquired the skill to make them. Perhaps I¡¯ll get the ability to produce higher quality produces later. With the additional crops, the elves are now a lot busier, and somehow it cheers them up. It seems to remind them of a proper village life where everyone¡¯s got some kind of work to do. Even if it is tiring to work on the cotton, or to press the olives with the wooden press I¡¯ve made with some wood magic, these elves find some kind of comfort and pleasure in doing such chores. Occasionally, there are still some stray packs of hellhounds and other monsters appearing, but they are easily disposed by the beetle group. And then there¡¯s an odd bunch. They¡¯re like adventurers, but not. ¡°Ah, bless the nameless mother!¡± The druids, they seem extremely interested and so they move closer. ¡°These trees! They look untouched by the demon¡¯s destruction.¡± ¡°Ah, indeed. The gods are kind, for some lands are preserved!¡± The elves hide. Laufen shakes her head. ¡°Who are these people?¡± I ask the elves, now all hidden. ¡°It looks like there are people living here!¡± One of them mutter, as the rest catch up. A man that wears a strange wig, with a necklace of multiple tiny bones, claws and feathers look at it and point at my main tree. He reminds me of those shamans or witchdoctors and he carries a wooden staff decorated with small skulls and bones. ¡°Spirit sign.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Another man comes up next to him. He¡¯s got a long flowing white cloak, and hood. A bit like priest, but¡­ not. ¡°That explains it.¡± ¡°Leave?¡± The shaman asks, and the others nod. ¡°Yes, yes. This place don¡¯t need our help.¡± ¡°Wait. Wait.¡± The super excited first guy interjects. ¡°I think there are elves here.¡± ¡°Yes. So?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t there a bounty on elves?¡± ¡°No.¡± The shaman shakes his head. ¡°No elf hunting.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let the King hear that.¡± Another of his companions chime in, and rides up next to him. ¡°He no king.¡± ¡°Okay, okay. We¡¯re not having this conversation. Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go.¡± One of them gets in between the shaman and the other over enthusiastic guy, and tries to break up their conversation. ¡°We¡¯ve got plenty more to do.¡± The shaman guy nods, and they move on. Year 73 Month 6 Week 2 Shrubs and small trees grow around my circle of trees now. They¡¯ve been growing since spring began, and now they form a layer outside. Throughout the valley, weeds and small shrubs pop up, and so it is now a layer of green. My presence contributes to this burst of nature and vegetation, of course. And roads. Yes, actual roads are being built. A group of 40 men, using a mix of earth magic and fire magic are building a road across the valley. They¡¯re accompanied by cartographers, and some guards. ¡°Let¡¯s mark this in the map.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Freeka isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s left of it. But it looks like other than the destroyed forests, the general area is unchanged.¡± ¡°At least that¡¯s a piece of the map we don¡¯t have much to change.¡± ¡°Yea.¡± One of the men scribbles on what looks to be a very large floating book. The earth mages keep on forming bricks and the fire mages blast them, cooking the bricks, and then it is magically arranged on the floor by the other mages. It¡¯s a continuous, ongoing process, that builds tiled bricks for faster travel by merchant wagons. ¡°But we do need to note down that giant tree. It¡¯ll be a landmark.¡± ¡°Giant trees. Probably magical. To be investigated further.¡± And that¡¯s the end of it. They moved on. In this world, the devastation caused by magic is incredible. Towns flattened, hills destroyed, forests razed. But similarly, the nature¡¯s magics also restore the hills, and forests at a speed far faster than my own. And despite the really huge deaths from every demon attack, it seems the world¡¯s population is still growing rather steadily. Not all continents are affected by the demon king, though the demon king¡¯s move and rotate its appearance between the continents. So, the destruction is localised, and gradually spreads, as the demonic rifts open in more and more places, until the demon king is killed. To some extent, the presence of reincarnators and heroes made the natural denizens of the world¡­ lazy. Lazy. And selfish. Because its not their problem. The heroes will deal with it. The armies from those nearest to the demons are there just to buy time and reduce the destruction, but kingdoms across the other continents would not send armies to aid. I find my thoughts constantly coming back to how the demon king is a regular ¡°disaster¡±. It¡¯s like a hurricane that happens every 10 to 15 years, and if what Meela briefly suggested, slightly stronger each time. And that brings me to the next question. What if no heroes come the next time? I hope I don¡¯t jinx it, but, what if? Ah, maybe I should ask the gods. Can I talk to gods in this world? Maybe I should not think so much. I am a tree, right? Next day ¡°TreeTree¡­.¡± Lausanne sits on my roots. Ah, yes. I got distracted. Baby duties. When the adults are busy with the olive press or splitting the cotton fibres, Laufen asks me to keep Lausanne entertained. Brislach and Wahlen are old enough to be given some tasks, but Lausanne at 3 is still too small. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Play time. Please make a wood ball?¡± ¡°Oh okay. Sure.¡± A wood ball appears, and she grabs it. She has many wood balls, but she seems to enjoy the newly made wood balls the most. She says the surface is smooth. ¡°Ball.¡± ¡°Yes. Ball.¡± ¡°Balls are like round fruits. Like oranges. But smoother.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Lausanne hops around carrying her wood ball. She walks out of the hideout to the inner circle courtyard. The other elves are working with the wooden press. ¡°Can you make a big ball?¡± ¡°Yes, how big?¡± ¡°Bigger than the tree? Bigger than.. the world?¡± ¡°Well, no. I can¡¯t make a ball that big.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Lausanne looks down. ¡°Can you make a treehouse? So I can throw balls further?¡± Well, I could make a mini treehouse in her playroom. But she¡¯s 3. ¡°Ah. Yes, I can.¡± No. Wait. I don¡¯t have the skill? But I could create a treehouse like structure, but its not secured to the tree¡­ ¡°Can you make one now?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ no.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I need to prepare.¡± ¡°Can you make stairs?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Where is Lausanne going with this? ¡°Can you make stairs between trees?¡± That¡¯s like bridges, no? Should be possible, even though the trees are not linked. ¡°Mommy says I am growing. Are you growing too? You are a lot bigger now.¡± ¡°I.. I think so.¡± ¡°I think I am growing. I can reach for things on the table now.¡± ¡°Yes. Yes you are.¡± ¡°How much taller and stronger can I grow? Will I be a hero someday?¡± Lausanne kicks the wooden ball. It¡¯s hollow and smooth, so it doesn¡¯t hurt so bad. The ball rolls onto another bunch of roots. ¡°Maybe like your mommy.¡± ¡°Can I be strong instead, so I can protect mummy and everyone?¡± ¡°Why not. If you work for it.¡± ¡°Uncle Jura says not everyone has the ability to be heroes. Needs to be born with the talent.¡± Man, Jura¡¯s a bit too realist there. ¡°I¡¯m just telling her to not pursue the impossible. People are born with a ceiling to their ability. Everyone gets there and they plateau off.¡± Really? Maybe his understanding is incorrect. But then again, I¡¯m not sure either. Is this world so fatalistic that everyone settles at a certain level? Do the mechanism of levels actually form a cap? ¡°I can, right?¡± Lausanne looks at me, hopeful. She wants to be a hero, and, I think she can. ¡°Yes. Of course.¡± She smiles, pick up one of the small sticks and starts swinging it around like she¡¯s fighting. She¡¯s a bit too young for that, honestly. Laufen shakes her head, but doesn¡¯t stop her daughter. She then goes back to work, sorting through the cotton threads. They have some kind of basic loom invented, but needs quite a bit of manual assistance to make basic cotton cloth. New habitants Year 73 Month 6 Week 3 A large caravan passes by. They go along the road made by the earlier bunch. ¡°I hope they are sure.¡± ¡°No one¡¯s sure, but if we manage to get there we will be one of the first groups to reopen the old trade routes. And that, will make us rich. The price differentials is huge!¡± There¡¯s easily 200 men in this group, with about a hundred horses carrying goods. ¡°Wonder why they did not just send airships.¡± ¡°You know how expensive the power crystals are? And they take so long to charge!¡± At about this time, their conversation is interrupted. ¡°Hello merchants! Would you like to buy some oils and cloth?¡± They turn and see two female elves. Laufen and Belle, with two baskets next to them, one containing olive oils stored in small wooden bottles, and the other containing the processed cotton cloth they worked on for the past few weeks. Of course, hidden a distance away is the armored beetles. Thanks to the tall natural weeds, they can easily hide. And they both picked a location well within my [root strike] such that I can quickly intervene if anything happens. ¡°Elf?¡± ¡°Kill them. We¡¯ll get bounty.¡± One merchant says. Laufen and Belle¡¯s face turn pale. ¡°Shut up. The bounty is worth a lot less than our trade rights to the elven kingdom! Apologies ma''am, please ignore my guildmate.¡± He shouts out, and smacks the merchant on the back. One of the riders, a guard ride up to them two. He signals to the merchants. Two of the merchants then ride up to the elves, dismount and look at the wares. ¡°Hmm. I am surprised you have olive oils in this area. I don¡¯t see any olive farms or groves.¡± Laufen smiles, and did not answer. ¡°Hmm. condition is average, and storing them in wooden bottles is not good.¡± The merchant takes the hint and focuses on the goods. ¡°Yes, we would like to also buy some glass bottles, if you have them.¡± Belle adds. Olive oils are usually stored in vases, away from sunlight and kept sealed. Another of the merchants ride up to the two. ¡°Oils?¡± ¡°Your field of expertise.¡± The merchants glance at each other, and it seems this one is one that trades in all kinds of oils. The merchant takes out a small glass bottle. ¡°May I?¡± ¡°If you buy them.¡± The merchant laughs. ¡°Fine. I have six large amphoras empty. I¡¯ll pay for that much.¡± He takes out some coin and pass them to Laufen. Laufen carefully inspects the coin she receive. ¡°Would you sell us a few of your large amphoras?¡± The merchant shakes his head. ¡°I have no extra today. But I will arrange for one of my men to ship some. You can pay my men then. How many do you want to buy?¡± Laufen looks at her coins again. ¡°I think this can afford me¡­ ten?¡± The merchant laughs. ¡°Yes. Ten is about right, once you include the cost of transport. I will get my men to deliver ten then. To this location?¡± He looks around, and jots some notes onto a book. Its probably his order or transaction book. The amphoras, pottery used to ship goods, usually liquids between large distances. There¡¯s also wooden barrels, or metal containers, but these amphoras made of clay are cheap and quite durable, so are popularly used. Laufen nods. The merchant pours the olive oil from the wooden bottle, into his glass one. He inspects the color, smell, and stirs it a little. ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s average, but still rather fresh. I can sell them.¡± The merchants make some kind of signal. Some of the men, the merchant¡¯s assistants come and assist to pour the olive oil from the wooden bottles into the large empty amphoras that hang by the side of the horses. ¡°How often do you make olive oils?¡± Laufen pause. ¡°Maybe once every 3 months? Except winter.¡± ¡°Ah. You will have available supply in 3 months? I know some nobles will prefer fresher olives oils, rather than those imported from further out.¡± Laufen and Belle huddle and discuss a bit, and then she nods. ¡°Yes. I think we can have two or three amphoras by that time.¡± ¡°Great.¡± The cloth however, had no buyers. Superior quality cloth is available around the area, so the one they made won¡¯t sell for much. So it¡¯s not worth the effort of buying and them attempting to resell these average quality cloth. But, strangely enough, one of them asked about the wooden bottles themselves. ¡°These wooden bottles are beautiful. The surface is really smooth. Do you have a master woodsmith with you?¡± Well, they are made with my woodforming magic, and not carved. ¡°That¡¯s a secret.¡± Belle smiles. ¡°Alright we should get going.¡± ¡°One more¡­ do you have any vinegar stock for sale?¡± ¡°Ah yes. One small bottle?¡± And that is the last of it. The merchants continue on their journey, and the elves have some coin and a small bottle of vinegar stock. It seems that Laufen and the girls are planning to make fruit vinegar with the extra healing fruits I make. ¡°Ah. Next time I want to ask for flour!¡± Belle sighs. ¡°Too bad we had to buy the amphoras first.¡± ¡°Bread?¡± ¡°Yeah. I want bread.¡± Jura laughs, and eats some potato chips. The inner courtyard is full of potatoes. It¡¯s the elven staple apparently, since they don¡¯t the vast farmlands the humans maintain. ¡°I¡¯m fine with potatoes. They taste pretty good when fried with olive oil.¡± Jura shrugs. ¡°Bread.¡± Belle rolls on her bed. Emile laughs. ¡°We can trade for that next time. If we can get better quality stuff.¡± The elves kept all the money at first, I wanted some, so after some discussion the elves gave me a fifth of the coin, which I keep in my inventory. ¡°Did not realise Tree spirits wanted money.¡± The elves collectively asked, it seems it never occurred to them that a tree would ever want money, even though I, a tree, am conscious, sentient, and I supplied the raw materials. ¡°I may need to purchase certain items so I want to start saving some money for it. Especially for the advancement of my¡­ powers.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Well, I will need money someday, so might as well start saving. I would like to be able to trade, somehow. There will be goods or materials I¡¯ll need to buy, since I can¡¯t possibly make everything myself. ¡°So yea, can I have a fifth of all the coins received?¡± The elves huddle and discuss, to be honest I can hear everything they are saying, but they agree. It¡¯s really mostly about what they want to buy, and why a tree needs money, though in the end, their gratitude to me wins out. Year 73 Month 7 Week 1 The elves are hard at work, mostly doing the olive press. The cloth they made is used to make new mattresses and clothing, but since it doesn¡¯t sell, the elves now focus their efforts on the olives instead. So, a bit of this week¡¯s cotton is left unharvested. A small merchant convoy also drop by to deliver the amphoras as agreed. It seems the merchants have a means of long range communication. It¡¯s on one hot day, a small group of fleeing men and women, riding horses, six of them. Heavily injured, they all have multiple arrows in their backs, and even the horses are injured. And a group, about ten men in cloaks chase after them. They seem injured as well, but less than the earlier group. ¡°Head for the trees!¡± The group of six gallop with all their remaining might. The cloaked men chase, a few trying to slow them down with more arrows. At this point, I wanted to kill all of them, but the six looks so heavily injured they would probably die of bleeding soon. And I would like horses¡­ ¡°Who goes there!¡± Jura, perched on a tree call out. The six yell out some gibberish I do not understand. Jura, though, does. And he shouts. ¡°Tree Tree, target the cloaked men!¡± And he throws wooden spears at the cloaked men. [Root Strike] x 8 Eight roots strike at the riders, faster than they could ever react, killing them instantly. The remaining 2 jerk, trying to pull back, but they are too close. [constrict] Roots pop out and tangle the remaining 2, and deliver a strong dose of sleeping poison. The six riders earlier did not look back, and they ride next to the outer ring. The heavily injured six walk in, and it seems they all suffer heavy wounds. It is then, one of them reveals a young baby. Jura pauses. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Hold him. Please.¡± His blood soaks the cloth wrapping the baby, and Jura reluctantly holds the baby. The six wounded men and women dismount. ¡°Is this Freeka?¡± Jura pauses. ¡°Uh¡­ I suppose.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± The wounded start to treat each other, and they pull out the arrows from each others back, and start pouring healing potion over it. Of the six, two male humans, one female human, two male elves and one female elf. It is the female elf who shouted the gibberish earlier, and she looks at Jura, her armor drenched in blood. ¡°I am Eriz, an aide and guardian of Yvon.¡± ¡°Who is that?¡± Jura scratches his head. ¡°And why do you know our passphrase.¡± Passphrase? Ah, it seems Jura and the men developed a passphrase to identify friendly people before this. ¡°Ah. Yvon, our mistress, she.. she says her brother is the village head here.¡± Her wounds are recovering, the potions are working. ¡°Brother? Ricola?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ yes. I believe she mentioned his name is Ricola. Is he around?¡± ¡°He¡¯s dead.¡± Jura¡¯s still awkwardly holding the baby. He looks to be less than 6 months old. ¡°And.. take this child back.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Eriz pauses, and turns back to face the other riders. ¡°Do you have clean clothes that we can change him? All of ours is bloody¡­¡± Laufen, who¡¯s eavesdropping from inside the hideout, walks out with some clean cloth from the extra clothes she made with cotton earlier, a bowl filled with paste and some clean water. She takes the baby from Jura and starts to clean the blood-covered baby up. He¡¯s alive, but weak and exhausted. ¡°Does Ricola have a sister?¡± ¡°Yes. I met her when we were wedded, but have not seen her since.¡± Laufen nods, her hands cleaning the weak baby. ¡°Is she well, in the human kingdoms?¡± Eriz smiles. ¡°The mistress is alive. But it is a challenging period now, with the King suspecting the elves for treason. And the other Princes finding every chance to remove us.¡± ¡°Who is this child¡­¡± ¡°Uh¡­ It is the mistress¡¯s baby.¡± ¡°What?¡± Eriz nod. ¡°It¡¯s inevitable. With the tension in the capitol, the mistress requests that her brother assist to look after her child.¡± One of the humans walk up next to Eriz. ¡°Please, raise the child as your own. We will return to the capitol.¡± Laufen shakes her head. ¡°I cannot. We cannot.¡± Eriz pause, and the other human female come up. ¡°Perhaps the 2 of us stay back with the child? The guys can head back...¡± She looks around. ¡°Will you guys accept us? As a refuge?¡± The other men nod. ¡°That is a good idea. The child is most attached to you, Eriz. This place feels safe, and magical.¡± Eriz looks around, at the trees and then at me. She stares for a while. ¡°...The mistress has many good people around her. She would want some of them to ensure her child¡¯s safety.¡± One of the men say. ¡°I will stay too, if you want.¡± ¡°Can we stay, with the baby?¡± Laufen pauses, and they both go back into the hideout to discuss with the rest. They agreed, eventually. Laufen felt particularly conflicted, because if this baby is indeed her nephew, then she felt bad to turn him away. ¡°Yes.¡± Eriz, the human woman, Safran, and a human man, Pock, stay back. As for the two unconscious human attackers, they are kept in the jail, where the adventurers once were. [Level up! Level 115] [Skill upgraded - Subsidiary Tree amount increased to 40.] [Skill upgraded - secret hideout has unlocked - Tree-asury] Ah. Treasury. And more trees! So convenient, this levelling system. Year 73 Month 7 Week 2 The 2 humans, under the influence of strong hallucinogens, quickly reveal that they serve one of the Prince of the Salah Kingdom, Prince Wargo, the first prince, and the King is aging, dying. So, all the Princes are positioning themselves to seize the throne. Eriz and the mistress Yvon serve another Prince, Prince Galan, the third prince. It seems Prince Wargo is a humanist, meaning he is against non-human citizens of the kingdom, and he is recently a target of a botched assassination attempt by elves. Prince Galan, who is surrounded by elvish and other non-human minders, are under tremendous scrutiny from the rest of the Prince, eager to eliminate the competition. Yvon, is apparently a highly skilled administrator, in the inner circle of Prince Galan, and so having a baby is huge vulnerability. The men wanted to capture the baby and force Yvon to defect to Prince Wargo¡¯s side. There¡¯s also suspicions whether the baby is one of Prince Galan¡¯s many illegitimate children. And after extracting everything from the 2 men, I use [absorption] on them and drain their life away. It¡¯s a slow, painless death, with the effect of strong sedatives. And one which leaves no remains, as their body turns into nutrients. The elves are not comfortable letting the new people so near, so for the first day, the humans lived in tents, while Roma and Eriz stay with Emile and Belle. The next day, I decide to spawn two of my new trees outside the 2nd circle, and so there is two new rooms for the new people. This surprised the new people greatly, especially Eriz. But the distance is necessary, because the elves are not comfortable with new people, yet. ¡°This¡­ A spirit tree?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jura nods. They also react strongly to the beetles. All of them jump and almost wet their pants went a group of beetles crawl down some of the trees while they are walking. The beetles have been busy. Non-demon monsters multiplied and so I frequently send a group of them to kill these monsters. Year 73 Month 8 Week 1 The newbies are here for a month, and out of boredom, they are now helping with the olive press. The merchants are supposed to be here the next month, so the olives are now stored in the amphoras. The beetles have been very busy too. Every day some monster would appear and they would be sent on missions to kill them, and bring back their bodies. So many monsters, that my beetle skill upgraded. Still, the beetles are equivalent to about six or seven hellhounds at their upgraded strength. [Armored beetles upgraded to warbeetles] Anyway, the elves are right to suspect these new people. Eriz has been communicating with somebody magically, and perhaps she forgot that tree spirits have vision of everything in the trees. Perhaps her mistress, but otherwise its coded and in an unknown language. As for the remaining 8 subsidiary trees, I place them like pylons, in a circular fashion. Each of them as far away as possible, in one of the either directions. With this, I can extend my vision to cover the entire valley. And strangely, this led to another upgrade. [Subsidiary tree upgraded. You can place a total of 60 trees.] The increase in [subsidiary tree] means an equivalent increase in [tuberous storage] amount, so at 60 trees, plus ten with my main tree, I have a total of 140PU. Still very far away from that 1,000 PU. There must be a way to do this. Year 73 Month 8 Week 3 ¡°No good. We must go back. We must help.¡± Eriz shouts, startling everyone. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°The King, and the Prince, they start ordering mass execution of the non-humans.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Safran and Pock both seem surprised. ¡°How¡­ how do you know?¡± Jura asks, his hand on a knife. Eriz pauses. She rubs her head and then sighs. ¡°I.. I have been magically communicating with Mistress Yvon. And now that the news is out there is a massive uprising in the kingdom by the non-humans.¡± Pock shakes his head. ¡°The King is mad.¡± ¡°Prince Galan and Mistress Yvon has not seen the King for weeks.¡± Eriz shakes her head. ¡°It may be the Prince using his name¡­¡± ¡°What is the mistress planning.¡± ¡°Escape. The army is too strong and organised, and fighting back is meaningless. She had been making arrangements for the rest of the civilian non-humans to flee to the sympathising cities, or to the other kingdoms, but it seems the other kingdoms have closed their borders.¡± Safran nods. ¡°We can go and help with the refugee traffic.¡± Eriz, Safran and Pock turn to face Laufen. ¡°Please, take care of Roma. For us. We must go. We will return.¡± ¡°No. One of you stay.¡± Laufen insists, Roma still asleep on the bed. ¡°People are getting slaughtered. They need help.¡± ¡°And a baby child needs her guardian.¡± Safran and Pock nod. ¡°She has a point, and both of us will be able to disappear easier as humans. Eriz, please stay. We will come back.¡± Eriz sighs. ¡°Very well.¡± And, a few skills of mine upgraded after using it all this while. [Secret hideout : Biolab upgraded. Pods increased to 5.] [Essence collection upgraded. Extraction rate and speed improved.] [Mineral extraction upgraded.] [Mineral augmentation obtained. You may use the metals obtained to strengthen your [subsidiary trees], and [insect warriors]] Ah, I do have a large stockpile of essences and irons from the automated harvesting. More refugees and a baby Year 73 Month 9 Week 1 Eriz has been updating everyone what¡¯s happening, almost daily. She just could not keep her anxiety to herself. I kinda stop following after a week. I mean, its just people fighting and dying far away. And, running, of course. Its kinda like me switching on my television, and watching world news about some bombing or fighting in some distant land. It gets tiring, and shit like this happens all the time in this world. I suppose I should feel somehow for them, since they are elves, but I personally feel obligated to the 7 elves under my care, and¡­ that¡¯s it I suppose? ¡°Wisp. Any idea how do I speed up this uh.. powering the soul forge? Isn¡¯t 1000PUs too much?¡± ¡°I thought its quite little. A small forest would have more than a 1,000 trees, easy.¡± ¡°But that implies I have all the trees as a subsidiary tree!¡± ¡°Do you have to?¡± ¡°Uh. What?¡± ¡°I said too much.¡± The Wisp floats. ¡°I cannot give you that answer.¡± ¡°Oh come on.¡± ¡°There are some things a Tree Spirit must learn on their own.¡± ¡°Tree. Smart!¡± Meela bobs in. ¡°Tree. Good.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Okay, so there must be a trick to this. So if I did not have to have all of them as my subsidiary tree? Is it via rootnet? Let me try it on a shrubs and trees that now spawn throughout the valley. [Local Rootnet Access connecting to nearby trees¡­] [Connected.] And I hear spam again. Spam. So much. Spam. Spam¡­. [Filtration activated] But can I extract power out of them? [Attempting to connect. Energy drain initiated. Rootnet function obtained : Tre-energy.net.] [Connecting to 64,5XX grasses, 367 shrubs and 141 normal trees, producing an estimated 18.4 PUs. Normal trees produce 0.1PU, shrubs 0.01PU, and grasses 0.00001 PU.] Ah, I need ten thousand normal trees to hit 1,000PU. But! It¡¯s very doable. The entire valley is within my rootnet! All I need to do is to actively use my tree spirit mojo and grow this entire valley into a forest like it once was. I feel like dancing. Weeeeeeeee¡­ Now I need to work on my mojo. Year 73 Month 9 Week 3 Massive! Massive burst in tree growth in the valley. The number of normal trees surged by 300 in two weeks! If I keep this up, I can hit 10,000 normal trees by Year 75. The elves are especially surprised to see the sudden surge in tree growth, and what is sparsely covered valley is starting to look dense again. But there is a trade-off, though. In using this ability, my essence and material extraction slow tremendously. It seems essence and materials are not extracted and instead used in the creation of these trees. But no matter, I have been hoarding essences and irons since I had the auto-extraction function. Oh, and the olive oil merchant actually came. And I get me some of that coin, too. It seems an ongoing non-human genocide does not stop merchants from doing business. Ah, those who worship the coin are probably the most devoted of devotees. So I leave a path of some kind for the merchants, and an area where the trading can happen. There is a small hut, made using wood magic, at the side of the path. Jura and Laufen helps to make a wooden panel that says, ¡°Freeka trading post¡±. Eriz is still on about the chaos in the kingdom, and there¡¯s some sparse resistance, as most choose to flee. Anyway, distant matters. Year 73 Month 10 Week 1 More trees! Another 300 plus trees spawn, bringing the valley¡¯s normal tree count to 762. This is the single indicator I follow for the next 1 year until this damn [soul forge] comes online. Animals appear now. It''s actually a curiosity how animals appear when they were not here before, but according to the elves, there is a god that ¡°creates¡± animals in the lands where trees appear, in the same manner as how monsters appear out of nowhere. Well, it is logically consistent. If monsters are just magical versions of animals, and monsters can ¡°spawn¡± out of nowhere, it should be the same for animals. Maybe they are both creations of the same gods. But can sentients spawn out of nowhere? Ah anyway, Jura¡¯s out hunting. Apparently spotted one of his favourite food, a deer or something like that. There is a new mild annoyance. Birds. I mean, birds. They make nests on your branches, and they poop everywhere. And some of them are brazen enough to attack my iron-reinforced warbeetles. But they are just irritants. ¡°TreeTree using magic?¡± ¡°Yes Lausanne. It will be a forest once more.¡± Lausanne likes trees. She likes flowers too, and some of the shrubs have flowers. She likes the yellow flowers the most. She says it looks like the sun. ¡°Wow. Teach me, please?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t. I just¡­ feel it. It¡¯s like a primal urge I just have to let out, and it happens.¡± Its true. That spawning trees this is kinda like something I do naturally, and its only suppressed by the materials and essence extraction. Once I activate it, it just¡­ happens. Weird tree spirit mojo. Lausanne shakes her tiny toddler head. ¡°No no. Do you know druid magic?¡± ¡°No I do not.¡± ¡°But best druids learn from Tree Spirits!¡± ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t. Maybe someday.¡± Did I say she¡¯s too young? She¡¯s too young. I don¡¯t think she should be learning magic at 3 to 4 years old. But I frankly do not know how to teach my kind of magic. Ironic, considering I have [learning aura] and [dream tutor]. This valley regrowth boom led to my subsidiary tree leveling up. I think the subsidiary tree ability is just linked to me doing tree-like things. [Subsidiary tree leveled up. Limit increased to 90 trees.] [Some of your stored iron materials and essence of nature has been consumed. Six inner circle subsidiary trees upgraded. They are now able to support 3 external rooms each.] Progress! The elves gained some skills in [olive oil making], Laufen apparently already has [trading] and [coin management] from her past experience, so she¡¯s the elves primary treasurer at this point, assisted by Belle. Progress for the elves! Sadly, bad news from Eriz. The resistance spreads and the country descends into a civil war of some kind, with the humans overwhelming on one side, and the non-humans, outnumbered and outgunned. Prince Galan, their benefactor is killed in an assassination, which is quickly framed on their mistress. So, the non-humans are fleeing in large numbers. Year 73 Month 10 Week 3 [Rootnet is now connected to 1,000 normal trees. Local rootnet access upgraded, range extended] The valley now looks like a forest, and I am no longer easily visible from afar. On hindsight, I should have done this a long time ago. The tree cover this forest of normal trees help hide my presence. With the increased [subsidiary tree] amount, I scatter about twenty of them across this new forest, and have them as home for my [insect warriors]. This brings up my total warbeetle population to 78, so I have a small army of beetles in my hands. I mean, it seems like my abilities are derivatives of what a tree does in my real life, doesn¡¯t it, so I wonder whether I can get an air force of some kind, perhaps these birds or some kind of bees. The beetles occasionally get attacked by the animals, but they are tough enough to shrug it off. Anyway, air force. How do I lure new creatures? Why can¡¯t they just give it to me like the beetles? Year 73 Month 10 Week 4 Elves, dwarves, halflings, treefolk, gnolls, minotaurs, centaurs, lizardmen. A lot. Maybe two thousand. ¡°How long do we have to keep moving?¡± ¡°As long as we need to. The armies are still after us.¡± The only thing uniting this ragtag bunch of nonhumans is the humans. Once things settle down they will all split up. ¡°After this is the old demon king territories¡­¡± ¡°Safer than being hunted by an army. Lesser demons remain now, so it should be safe...¡± ¡°Should.¡± One discussion came up with the elves recently. About accepting these refugees, if it ever comes to it. The view amongst the 7 elves is that they are not comfortable with them being too near, and that is defined as the two rings of subsidiary trees. That space, to them, is still ¡°their¡± space. But, they understand the need of these people, so they are open, and willing to share the valley with them. Perhaps these refugees could base themselves at another part of this large valley, after all, with trees now popping out everywhere, it won¡¯t be a problem in terms of cover or protection. ¡°There¡¯s a path.¡± ¡°We should take it?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°No.¡± In the end, some take the path, some decide to wade through the forest. It took them a few days, but eventually, of the 2,000, about 300 or so elves, treefolk and centaurs decide to stay in the forest. Being different races, they split up and start to make some housing in their own part of the valley. For the others, a forest is not their ideal ¡°place¡± and so they decide to move even further. Perhaps the army is still a bit too close for comfort. Thanks to the cover of the forest, they don¡¯t know about me or the elves presence, yet. And that¡¯s fine. Some of them saw the Freeka Trading Post sign, though, and probably wonder whether its still used. After all, the merchants only come by quarterly, and its going to be winter. To some, it is better to gather food and shelter before winter. ¡°Oh.. there are treefolk, elves and centaurs in the valley?¡± ¡°Yup. The treefolk is near the small pond, the centaur near the valley¡¯s slopes, and the elves at the far end.¡± ¡°Whoah.¡± Treefolks. They are part tree, part humans, part insect, apparently a creation of the nameless mother to give trees some variety. Looking at them using my vision of the valley, they resemble insects that disguise themselves as tree branches and leaves. And for them, when they sleep, their legs must touch the floor, so they often sleep upright, or slightly tilted, leaning against the wall. Living in multiple stories is a strange and uncomfortable concept for them. And in a way, they are the first to detect my presence. When they sleep, their feet would extend small feelers into the ground, and this would exchange their bodily waste for nutrients. This leads to contact¡­ [Foreign entities attempted to connect. Treefolk presence detected. Isolating¡­] [Treefolk successfully isolated.] ¡°Huh.¡± They jolt from their first night of proper rest. ¡°This place¡­ the ground¡­¡± A group of beetles appear outside their makeshift settlement. The few warriors quickly take up arms, but there¡¯s too many. Easily 40 of these beetles. ¡°Hello, treefolk.¡± It¡¯s nighttime, and treefolk¡¯s vision is rather poor, but an elven voice is strangely welcome. ¡°Who goes there.¡± There is a de facto chief among the treefolk, he steps forth. ¡°I have been instructed to visit you. Welcome to Freeka, and this is our valley.¡± The treefolk look at each other, ¡°We see no Freeka, no settlement.¡± ¡°Ah yes, razed by the Salah kingdom. But some of us survive, protected by our guardian spirit.¡± ¡°Guardian spirit?¡± The treefolk instantly connect the dots. ¡°A tree spirit, here?¡± ¡°Yes. He¡¯s been watching all of you. This valley is under his domain.¡± A few of them gasp, but the leader then asks. ¡°Does he want us to move away?¡± ¡°No. At least, not yet. We are just a greeting party. If there¡¯s no unpleasant events, our tree spirit will not take any hostile actions¡­¡± The leader breath a sigh of relief. ¡°Ah. As treefolks, we would be greatly honored to live in a land watched over by our ancestors.¡± ¡°We hope so. Try not to chop too many trees down, and if you encounter any beetles, please do not attack them. They are the minions of the tree spirit.¡± The leader nods. ¡°Certain.. certainly.¡± The beetles and Jura disappear back into the night, and the treefolks quickly huddle together to discuss this revelation. Back home, Jura looks at me. ¡°Was that necessary?¡± ¡°Yes. It is important they know who they are dealing with, and treefolks seem like the ideal candidates to make that first exposure. And I won¡¯t want them randomly attacking my beetles.¡± Treefolk and elves have an awkward relationship, and are often tense with each other. This is because though they share the forests, they have different ideas of what an ideal settlement is like. Elves, especially the high and sun elf variants prefer to build tall structures, carved from the trees, whereas the treefolk prefer to have vast sprawling settlements that allow contact to the earth at all times. Elves also have good night vision, whereas treefolk vision is generally poor, and they depend on a wide range of other senses like touch, gravity, vibrations. The elven group are quick to start working, tying their cloth and whatever vines they find to form a kind of makeshift shelter, while a few of them use some kind of magic to bend and shape the normal trees into a house. It¡¯s a slow process, whatever wood-forming magic these elves use, and from my observation, it reduces that tree¡¯s energy output, in exchange for greater structural integrity. The centaur group live near the sloped areas of the valley, where there is a mix of shrubs and trees. Unlike treefolk and elves, they erect large tents, and they prefer to be out of the woods. Any trees in their vicinity is used to anchor the massive tents, and one of the taller normal trees become the center core of their chief¡¯s tent. The tents themselves are made of their leftover hair, mane and fur, cloth and whatever animal fur or skin they can find. ¡°So what do we do with the elves and centaur?¡± ¡°Watch them. I¡¯ve instructed my beetles to stay away from them, and since both elves and centaur are at the forest''s edge, its still fine¡­ for now. But once they grow, I will need to make myself known.¡± ¡°It would be easier to let them know now, though?¡± Laufen thinks. ¡°If we wait too long, they might feel defensive.¡± ¡°Hmmm.. true. True. Let¡¯s be proactive then. Jura, can you visit the elves?¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± And so Jura goes close to the elven settlement. Everyone is so busy working on their new place that they did not notice Jura walk right through their makeshift gates. ¡°Hi everyone.¡± He shouts, and everyone turns. They quickly panic and grab their arms. ¡°Who are you!¡± Their posture is poor. These are not warriors. They are exhausted from their long walk that they just want to rebuild. ¡°I am from the village of Freeka. Its a really really small village, but thought I¡¯d still let you know we exist.¡± ¡°Village? Freeka?¡± ¡°That unused trading post?¡± ¡°Its.. rarely used.¡± Jura laughs, and opens his hands. ¡°I come in peace and, know this, that a tree spirit watches over this valley. It is for his presence that a forest is now here, so quickly after the fall of the demon king.¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± A young elf quickly shout. Even amongst elves, the youth can be rude ¡°Nothing much.¡± Jura smiles, and thirty warbeetles appear next to him. The elves all feel a shiver of fear. ¡°Just know that this valley is protected, and behave accordingly. Something elves should already know, in the presence of a tree spirit.¡± An elderly elf appears. ¡°Ah¡­ I did not know Freeka has a tree spirit. That is a pleasant discovery.¡± A younger man appears, he looks like a warrior and he glances at Jura. ¡°Are you the chieftain of Freeka?¡± Jura laughs. ¡°We are so few, so small, we have no need for a chieftain. But our tree spirit guides us, and speaks to us. Our tree spirit sent me to greet you.¡± The elderly elf pats the younger man on the shoulder. ¡°This is our chief.¡± ¡°Well met.¡± ¡°How do we find you?¡± Jura pauses. He did not want to answer that. ¡°How many are you?¡± ¡°Less than ten.¡± ¡°Then you should stick with us. We have more. Help us. Your warbeetles too.¡± Jura shakes his head. ¡°These warbeetles, they belong to our tree spirit, and they do not listen to me. Our tree spirit, is our guide.¡± The young chief shakes his head. ¡°I have never heard of elves who obey tree spirits. Tree spirits are our guardian spirits, but we, elves, are the true masters of the forests. Tree spirits will follow the will of great elves!¡± Jura smiles, and he want to ask why is he running, but then decide that would ruin the relationship a bit too much. ¡°Ah, you are free to believe what you please. I am here to greet, and welcome you to the valley of Freeka. And warn, that the forests you see, is under the protection of our tree spirit. You are free to test our tree spirit¡¯s patience and kindness, if you feel that is a hollow threat.¡± The young chief winces. ¡°Ugh.¡± Jura smiles, turns around and leaves with the warbeetles. Tense. But I have more free [subsidiary trees] now. If necessary I can place more of them facing both the elves and centaur, so that there is always a beetle group ready to respond to any¡­. uprising. But lets see how the centaurs are¡­ ¡°An elf?¡± The centaurs spot Jura the moment he peeks out of the forest. ¡°Hi. I wish to speak to your leader.¡± Two centaurs appear, one male and one female. ¡°We are the leaders. Speak, elf.¡± The female one speaks first. ¡°I am here at the request of the tree spirit of the valley, to welcome you to Freeka.¡± The male one then speaks. ¡°Are you here to threaten us?¡± ¡°Yes, and no.¡± Jura smiles, such negotiations are getting easier. ¡°The tree spirit has reasonable expectations of proper conduct from the valley¡¯s inhabitants.¡± The female centaur looks at the male and whisper to it. The male centaur nods, and then turns to face Jura. ¡°A tree spirit, you say?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The male centaur nods. ¡°May we meet the Tree Spirit?¡± ¡°Yes. We will arrange a day for the chiefs to meet.¡± ¡°Chiefs?¡± Both centaur ask simultaneously. ¡°Chief of the elves and treefolk too.¡± ¡°Ah.. so there are other refugees that seek to make this valley their home. Greenery in what we thought is demon-wrecked lands is a pleasant development.¡± The male centaur turns to look at the female. ¡°If we meet the tree spirit, we will decide whether to comply.¡± Jura nods. Eriz, during this time is still on about the fighting happening in the kingdom. Her mistress is trying to flee too, as her protector, the prince is dead. But it is difficult to flee when she is the main suspect, and the target of widespread human propaganda. Anyway, I¡¯m more focused on the new valley-mates, and also wonder how to best use my additional [subsidiary tree] slots. If there is going to be tension, I will want more beetles to fight off their numbers, and I have no indication of how strong the leaders and warriors are. Maybe they are as strong as Jura, or maybe more. Year 73 Month 11 Week 1 Normal tree counts grow to about 1,400, the elves and centaur did eventually cut a few trees to build their homes and other structures, but otherwise the growth rate is stable. The new trees mainly grow nearer to me, increasing the density in the middle of the valley, and I didn¡¯t want to take away the kind of sloped spaces that the centaur enjoy. Eriz is upset. She¡¯s been crying for days. Her mistress stopped communicating with her magically, and she fears for the worst. Laufen on the other hand feels sorry for Roma, the baby who¡¯s away from his mother. And his body is rather weak, probably lacking nutrients as he is apart from the mother, so, Laufen brings him into the biolab, into the pod, where I can nourish his body and channel nutrients in via the vines and feelers in the pod. Roma¡¯s small baby body is frail, and needs to be constantly comforted by one of the ladies, and Eriz is too attached to the conflict back home to properly care for him. ¡°Can you do something, Tree spirit?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try¡­¡± Hmmm¡­ I suppose what hospital have is some kind of incubation facility.. perhaps my medical room or the biolab pods can be modified¡­ [Secret hideout upgraded : Childcare corner obtained] [Childcare corner produces a special infant friendly syrup, similar to baby and milk formula. Infant-syrup can be further upgraded with various kinds of materials and minerals, if available] Ah! The system to the rescue! A meet, a gift, and a root Year 73 Month 11 Week 2 The chiefs finally meet. It¡¯s their first time in Freeka. Three from each of the three camps. The treefolk instantly prostrate themselves before me, and sing some kind of song, from the moment they see me. It sounds a bit like aboriginal songs, if that makes any sense. ¡°What are they doing?¡± I mentally ask Jura. ¡°Some treefolks worship tree spirits. They are like a crazy version of elven tree huggers.¡± Jura chuckles at that. "They are everywhere after all." The young elf chief glance at the treefolk and shakes his head. ¡°It¡¯s just a tree spirit...¡± The elder elf next to him ribs him with his elbow, and whispers. ¡°Shh. Not so loud.¡± ¡°What? It''s pathetic. It''s just a very large tree with magic, and absorb our elvish souls. It can¡¯t even protect itself, and needs us elves to fight for it.¡± He speaks back to the elder, his voice is a little bit softer, despite his defiant words. The treefolk though ignore his words, and continue to sing their songs and hymns. It''s rather pleasing, actually, once I got used to it. The centaurs, the two chiefs and one older centaur that seems to be the shaman or mage of the tribe are unperturbed by the acts of the treefolk or the elves. ¡°Hello.¡± I speak directly to their mind. ¡°And please stand.¡± The treefolks stand. It feels like they jumped, at how fast they moved. I think their limbs have some kind of spring action in it. Not exactly.. trees. ¡°I¡¯m TreeTree, tree spirit of Freeka. All of you are here because I¡¯d like to set some norms and processes, on conduct between us, to minimise conflict with me, the elves, and each other.¡± I spent the whole night thinking what to say, without coming off as too asshole-ish. I thought of starting it by saying I am Lord TreeTree of Freeka, but then again, I''m not a lord. The centaurs nod, ¡°So, the purpose of this meeting¡­¡± ¡°Is to just tell you all, I exist, and as the entire valley and forest is within my influence, I hope we can all coexist peacefully. I have no intention meddling in your respective affairs, if all of you do not meddle in mine.¡± The young elf chief shakes his head. ¡°My priority as chief is the safety and survival of my people. If it suits us, but no promises.¡± ¡°What are your ¡®affairs¡¯, Tree Spirit? Would it not be better to set certain boundaries of each of our territories?¡± The centaur male instantly, with a wooden stick, starts drawing on the ground. I can¡¯t see it, my vision is after all a spiritual/magical one, but Jura helps to explain. In short, the Centaur claims the entire left slope, the Elf claims the far side of the forest and a big piece of the lands after, and Treefolk a circle around the pond. Anything not covered is mine. At this point, I feel like a host that suddenly has guests, and now the guests are demanding a room. Their boundaries will still cross with my roots, after the last expansion of the eight subsidiary trees. And I can extend even further. So carving up ''my'' territory feels not really nice. ¡°That boundary drawn is nothing more than a ''designated area'' for each of you, such that you don''t unnecessarily create conflict. But this entire valley, remains under my care, as my roots extend everywhere. And no chopping of trees." "Uh....." The elf chieftain shakes his head. Well, I want to grow the trees in the valley¡­ It won¡¯t help if all these new people are chopping down trees, right? ¡°That, is not reasonable. You, are a tree spirit. Nothing more. What gives you the right to dictate what we do?" The elf chief stands forward. "We may need to chop some trees to survive, and we will need to hunt. Restricting us, you may as well chase us away." I pause. So do the centaur and treefolk. Strong words. The elf chieftain turns to face the other chieftains. ¡°Look. We are just dealing with a few elves and a tree spirit. I say, our needs are more important. There¡¯s a few hundred of us! Why should this tree spirit and a few elves be allowed to say what we can or cannot do. I say we do what we want, regardless of what this tree spirit wants. It''s just a foggy old tree.¡± We just started the conversation and the elf is already so hostile. Why? The centaur look back at the elf, and then look at Jura and myself. They want to see my response. It feels like the elf''s words is intentional. He means to provke me, to test me, and pretty much force me, so, a display of power is necessary. If I back down now, I will look weak, and I will not be able to protect the elves and my home from their ransacking. I cannot allow that. Sigh. Although I know force is right, but I still feel a bit reluctant. I wish these elves did not force me. Refugees, after all. I felt like being nice. I mean, these elves, centaurs and treefolk, they are all refugees, fleeing from the non-human slaughter in their home kingdoms. But this sort of entitled behavior is unwarranted, unreasonable. This is my home and these are my people. No. I say no. A [root strike] shoots out of the groynd, and it flies just next to the elf chieftain¡¯s head. The force of it root creates a loud swoosh, and the elf chieftain falls down onto the ground. ¡°Huh.¡± The elves react in shock. They probably did not expect that, seeing how the elf chieftain''s reaction is a mix of shock, horror, and probably fear, a sudden realisation that I could kill him. I think. If that is meant to be a test of strength, I think I passed. The root strike made all of them sweat. Jura, though, smiles. He stands, and opens his two hands. ¡°Our tree spirit here has survived many creatures, including demon champions. If you think you could just walk in and do what you want, in this valley, you are wrong.¡± The centaurs share an awkward, uncomfortable glance. The three treefolk instantly prostrate themselves. The elf chieftain stands again. ¡°How dare you!¡± He feigns arrogance, defiance, but from my vision, his spirit is uncertain, his body shaking. ¡°Should I hit the head, this time?¡± I mentally transmit into all of them. He gulps. Everyone also gulps. The centaurs take two steps back. The elder stands in front of him, trying to cover for him. "No." He holds up what looks to be a wooden buckler, as if that would stop my roots. ¡°The roots can come from anywhere. You can¡¯t protect him. In fact, I can hit anyone in this valley.¡± They both gulp. Everyone probably realise that if they make enemies, they won¡¯t leave this valley alive. Jura then stands up and walk to the elf. ¡°We understand that you are refugees, and there are many of you. We want to help, and we want to share. But you cannot just march in and demand things from the caretaker of these lands. We can let you stay, but on our terms.¡± The elf chieftain grunts. ¡°Ugh!¡± And he walks off. The elder nods. ¡°I apologise, he is young and only wants the best for our people. I think I will convince our chieftain to obey your rules and I will try to convice him that as the tree spirit here, this is your home and we are... guests. We.. we can decide on the rest of the details later. For now we will stop any chopping of trees. We will speak again when everyone cools down. As you know, winter is soon to be on us, and travelling now is a hazard. May we stay through the winter at least?¡± Jura smiles and nod. He then turns to me. ¡°Is that okay?¡± ¡°Fine. You all can stay, as refugees, but if I see any unpleasant behavior or actions from your people, I will not hesitate to take what I deem necessary." The centaurs nod, and I can see their body language is nervous. ¡°We believe that is a good suggestion. We will meet again.¡± The treefolk rise from their kneeling position, and walk backwards, their heads still bowing. "As you wish." And they leave for their respective areas. ¡°That did not go very well.¡± I mentally sigh. ¡°I thought it went wonderfully.¡± Jura shakes his head. ¡°Power is sometimes a great way to enforce peace. I think the chiefs, all of them got the message, that we are not one to be messed with.¡± ¡°For a peaceful coexistence, to be forged by power and fear?¡± ¡°The people need a uniting force. ¡®Force¡¯.¡± Year 73 Month 11 Week 4 No news from the other camps or further out, but that''s fine. Trees are growing even more, and I just crossed 1,600 normal trees within my rootnet. It seems my growth rate slows down in winter. The winter cold is starting to bite, and all the elves, centaur and treefolk are hard at work, gather food, hunting, and for the treefolk, collecting fruits. The animals are spawning, even in winter, and apparently some smaller forest foxes and small bears has reappeared again. The refugees try their best to hunt, with some success. Still, they lack proper storage facilities, and so the food may not last them that long. Perhaps some of them have food preservation skills and abilities, and if so, their chances of surviving winter would be better. Jura too, occasionally hunts animal for food, and thanks to everyone¡¯s efforts, we are going into winter with a surplus in our food store, and new warm clothing. Anyway, the presence of these newly spawned animals, I wonder how are they just ¡°created¡±? And whether they have a soul. So, out of curiosity, Jura captures a few of the new animals for my [biolab]. In fact, I would really love to see how centaurs and treefolk look in the biolab. But.. next time. Eriz stopped crying, finally. Her mistress is still not contacting her. But, she got tired of crying, or maybe she just had enough of venting. Roma is responding well to the infant formula, so much so ,the elves are also giving it to Lausanne. Adding olives into the child-syrup maker produces a kind of nutrient infused syrup, so I think this machine just creates ¡°baby-friendly¡± food, with whatever given to it. In fact, Roma¡¯s weight stabilised and is starting to regain some of his lost weight. Now that its cold, Emile, Laufen and Belle got down to preparing some warm clothing using a mix of cotton and animal wool, kind of like a basic jacket, first for the kids, and later for the adults. They spent so much time at it that they got [Tailor] as a skill. Laufen cried when she got the skill, as it reminds her of another lady in the village that used to make all the clothes. So, the start of winter is probably pretty pleasant. The production of the cotton and olives reduced substantially in the last week, but quite a lot of cloth and olive has been made, and for cottons some of them are left unharvested. Year 73 Month 12 Week 1 Tree growth is really slow this week. I think only 50 trees sprouted in this cold weather. In fact, it¡¯s pretty awesome that they still sprout despite the biting cold. It¡¯s not freezing or snowing, yet, but I think a bit more it will. At this slow tree-growth rate, I think my estimated time to reach the [soul forge] is going to be delayed. On the last day of the week, it starts to rain. Cold, cold rain. It rained the whole day, pouring water into every corner of the valley, and some parts of the valley start to flood. And with it, cold winds, so everyone stays indoors during this time. For the area immediately around me, my roots are able to quickly absorb the excess water and so there¡¯s no flooding, but still, it¡¯s an unpleasant environment, so everyone gathers in the main [secret hideout]. Because the main tree is the safest, in a way. But I have confidence in my subsidiary trees, they are all large, thick, solid trees, and they share my buffs. ¡°I wonder how the others are doing¡­¡± Eriz sits about. ¡°I mean¡­ the centaurs and all¡­ they just got here and it''s already winter. It¡¯s probably tough.¡± She¡¯s the most sympathetic to the refugees, being one who assists her mistress on such matters prior to this. And perhaps helping refugees is how she wants to repay her mistress. Jura suddenly snap his fingers. ¡°Did we just harm them by stopping them from chopping wood? They¡­ they might need it for firewood!¡± These elves have it good. The [secret hideout] and [customisable branches : external rooms] are temperature controlled and contain natural ventilation, and even water drawn from the roots, and so they are quite comfortable and warm all year round. As a result, they have little need for firewood. Any cooking they need to do, is with collecting dried branches, which regularly drop from trees, and they have a healthy stock of that. Elven and treefolk societies generally try to avoid using firewood, except when really necessary. When they do, its usually via a farming method where only branches are cut off. As a result, their conventional sources of warmth is either energy crystal, heating metals or oils from the trees, either peanut, cashew, palm or olive oils. Furthermore, thick, mature trees, are able to retain heat quite well, so the homes built within them need minimal heating. ¡°Ah.¡± I pause. Oh. I mentally check on the three camps. The treefolk seem fine, their bodies naturally able to withstand rain or winters without much additional heating. From what I can observe, they used their natural abilities to shape the trees into a hut-like structure, and smaller shrubs into fences, and that seems to be adequate, for now. They don¡¯t seem to really fear the rain, and are quite fine with being outdoors. Of the three camps, the treefolk seem to think rain is normal, in fact, some of the treefolk are still walking around in the rain. The elves, also use a kind of wood-magic to bend the trees into housing, but their constructions are structured differently from the treefolk. They also try to shape trees of the forest, into their dwellings. As the forest is relatively young, the size of the trees, and their trunks are small, unlike my [subsidiary trees] which spawn naturally large that they can fit a dwelling, or multiple beetles. As a result, the elves are not well protected from the rain. So they huddle together in the largest of their mixed tree-houses and tents. Using whatever fur and water-resistant clothing to cover themselves, some rain and wind still gets into those shelters, and they look uncomfortable. The centaurs, their massive tents are able to provide shelter from the rain, and similarly, they are also a little cold. From my tree-vision, some of them are running inside those tents, in circles, to keep themselves warm. The location they picked to perch their massive tents seem to have little issue with the deluge, as the slopes means water run downwards, not into their tents. ¡°Do you think they need food?¡± ¡°Hmmm. I don¡¯t know.¡± I look at the camps, and see their spiritual presence fluctuating. Maybe that¡¯s a sign of weakness? But then, everyone¡¯s presence fluctuates. ¡°Doubt it, they¡¯ve just moved here for a month, If anything, what they have is barely enough to get by, and they probably have not built any cold cellars or chambers.¡± Eriz muses. ¡°Refugees may have some skilled builders but they need resources and tools, and time.¡± ¡°Should we help, if they need it?¡± I pose this question to the 8 elves now gathered. Of course, the manner of aid should also be carefully considered, but to be fair, we only have a surplus of dried branches, fruits, cloth, oil and potatoes. The meat supply is relatively short, as the animals are relatively recent appearances. Lausanne, is the first to answer. ¡°Yes! Heroes help people. And I would like to help!¡± Ah, this child got her head in the right places. Eriz too, while rocking Roma to sleep, ¡°They are refugees, and my mistress would have helped.¡± Emile and Belle both nod as well, ¡°I suppose a bit of support will help smooth things out between us and them? I mean... we do have quite a bit of surplus, with the cotton clothes and all...¡± Jura and Laufen nod. ¡°Very well. A bit of generosity is also a show of strength.¡± ¡°Then it is decided. We help, a bit.¡± ¡°How do we deliver all these things there in this rain¡­¡± Emile points to the cloth and food. It is a concern if these things get wet. I think I can do something about that¡­ a bit of wood-forming magic will do. Using [Wood shield] but point them upwards, it acts as a massive umbrella, and so the elves can then load some of the extra cloth, small bottles of olive oil and food onto the cloth bags at the side of the beetles. There are 3 beetles assigned for transport and utility duty, equipped with cloth bags and compartment at the side. And that, is how my first aid convoy went out. Beetles carrying cloth, olive oil, some potatoes and fruits, covered by wood shields acting like a massive umbrella. ¡°Hello chieftains.¡± Jura arrives at the edge of the centaur tents. They seem surprised to see Jura pop out of the forest. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°We would like to offer a gift, to help your people tide through this first difficult winter.¡± The two centaurs, the leaders ride out and see the beetles. ¡°These are¡­¡± ¡°Cloth, some food, some dried wood branches, and olive oil, which you can use to maintain a small fire for lighting.¡± The centaurs pause. Jura starts unloading them, placing them at the side of the tent. ¡°It¡¯s a gift.¡± The two centaurs share a few whispers, before nodding. Jura departs once all the goods are unloaded, then returns to the main tree, the beetles¡¯ cargo reloaded, and once again, set out for the elves. The elves instantly draw their weapons the moment they see Jura and the beetles. ¡°What do you want!¡± The elf chief shouts, defensive. He brandishes a big sword, and wears armor. Jura smiles, his sword sheathed at the side. ¡°I¡¯m not here to fight. We have some gifts for you.¡± He didn¡¯t want to argue with the other elves, or talk, really. The elf chieftain¡¯s probably going to argue and shout, so he just unload all the cargo, place them at the side, say what they are, and then leave. The elf chieftain looks shocked, but then the other elves shamelessly start to grab the items. Survival comes first, pride, can be decided later on. Lastly, Jura made a similar trip to the treefolk. The treefolk nod, and smile. ¡°I believe we have little need for such items, we are well used to rain and cold weather, due to our heritage.¡± Jura nods. ¡°I see, but it is only fair that we leave some for you as well.¡± ¡°Actually¡­ Actually we have a request to make, but it didn¡¯t seem appropriate to request it in our meeting previously.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°A few of our children are sick from the long journey, and we¡¯d like to know if the tree spirit has any healing items. We are willing to trade what we have for it.¡± Jura pauses, ¡°I.. I need to check.¡± ¡°Oh, healing fruits? Sure sure.¡± Thanks to [winter resistance], I can make fruits all year long. Later on, Jura returns with a basket of healing fruits, and the treefolk promptly administers them to the young treefolk. It seems the long journey causes the younger treefolk to suffer from some kind of ¡°movement-sickness¡±, a problem that goes away naturally for the more mature treefolk. It¡¯s nothing fatal, but it causes a bit of vomiting and slows down their natural growth. Still, as parents, it still saddens them to see their child being weak, so a simple healing fruit is all that is needed to fix it. As a gesture of thanks, the treefolk elder passes a small wooden box. ¡°This is?¡± Inside the wooden box is a root. ¡°It¡¯s a medicine. Helps boost a person¡¯s strength. But only take it if you¡¯ve never taken it before, else it¡¯s not so useful.¡± ¡°Ah....¡± Jura returns to the main tree, with the box of¡­ medicine. ¡°Have you seen this before?¡± He shows it to everyone else. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ a root?¡± ¡°How do we eat it?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ That¡¯s what the elder says, but we¡¯ve never eaten it before.¡± Eriz looks at it curiously. ¡°Ah.. it¡¯s looks like a some kind of herb.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Herb? I would like to make that! At that point, the root goes into the [biolab] pod for analysis. And after an hour, I gain a level. [You¡¯ve gained a level. Level 116] [Essence collection upgraded] [Essence infusion unlocked. Essence-infused fruits, leaves and barks now available. Essence-infused subsidiary trees now available] [Biolab : Analysis of specimen completed] [Specimen is Low-grade ginseng root, 2 years of age. No special enhancements. Provides small permanent boost to disease-resistance and stats] [New unique tree ability obtained] [Limited-series Tree-type unlocked] [Magical ginseng plant] [Ginseng plant is limited to 3 growing plants at any one time (can be increased with level). The qualities of the ginseng depends on the age of the root, overall health throughout it¡¯s life, essences infused, mana infused, materials infused, the environment, astronomical conditions etc. Ginseng roots, when consumed, give permanent boosts to various stats, resistances, skills, mana or abilities. Permanent Effect diminishes with subsequent use.] [Warnings] [Cultivating ginseng will slightly increase monster spawn rate] [Ginseng plant does not share any defensive or support buffs of the main tree.] [Ginseng does not work on Trees] Snow, Wolf and Lab work Year 74 Month 1, Week 1 Cold. Compared to last year¡¯s warmth, it is much more cold this year. Perhaps it is the demon king¡¯s influence that led to last year¡¯s warmth, but whatever it is, this year is cold. And so, the rain gives way to snow. Only three normal trees are added to the valley in this snowy weather. Three. And I could sense everything is less active in this snowing weather. The energy I receive from my subsidiary trees is half a PU, the energy generated by normal trees drop to a fraction of what they were. I suppose myself and the subsidiary trees are considered evergreen trees, therefore we can maintain a portion of our energy output. In this cold weather, it jusy doesn¡¯t seem like a nice time to test out my new [ginseng tree]. Of the three camps, the treefolk are best suited for the snow. They seem to have a kind of quasi-hibernation state where their bodies slow down tremendously and in exchange they gain a wide range of defensive buffs. In fact, I would really, really like to look under the bark of those treefolks. The elves and centaurs group and gather together at their biggest camps, and burn branches for warmth. The centaur elder seems to have some kind of ability that allows him to fully extract energy out of the branches, such that their fires burn longer. The one of the elven men uses some kind of ability to keep warm air circulating within their temporary building. Among the refugees, some possess other cold resistance abilities, and this allow the elves and centaur to tide through the difficult weather, especially the biting cold at night. ¡°I am sure some of them will trade their goods to stay in this warm, cosy rooms.¡± Eriz said, while reminiscing her time in the city. In palaces and cities, there are dedicated butlers and maids who possess the ability manage room conditions, to the comfort of their lords. Some mayors and lords too have a kind of [soften weather] effects which reduces their city¡¯s heating and ventilation requirements. ¡°Well, they had to piss treetree off, so that¡¯s not happening.¡± Jura said. ¡°It¡¯s already very generous of TreeTree to send gifts and let the elves stay.¡± ¡°Are we chasing them away?¡± Lausanne asks. I pause. Well, I think they should go. The elves, at least. The elven chief is probably not happy that I attacked him, and I have no clue whether the rest of the elves harbor the same sort of aggression, still, I have to be wary. ¡°They tried to threaten us, Lausanne. If they are bad people, they should go.¡± ¡°To prison?¡± ¡°No. Go away.¡± The cold brings about new creatures, from further away. White wolves, and horned deers, perhaps antlers. The white wolves, seeking food in the cold and snow, a pack of them, about ten of them. They are large, slightly smaller or about the same size as my already rhino-sized warbeetles, and equipped with similarly huge fangs and claws. I try to command my beetles to intercept, and a warning pops up. Beetles suffer significant movement and attributes penalty in snowy weather. Insects are not adept at winter combat. Half of your beetles are in a dormant state and cannot be woken up. Oh man. Previously it was just rain, but if it snows, this happens? Oh well, at least I learn about this now. At least I¡¯m producing essences of winter and snow. Back to the white wolves, it seems they spawn in the wild, beyond the valley. And they spot the centaurs. Food. Watching through my various subsidiary trees placed throughout the valley, I feel like I¡¯m witnessing a documentary, of a pack of wolves fighting with centaurs. The centaurs, their leaders fight their best, but these wolves are huge, and some of the centaurs fall from their ferocious swipes. It occurs to me that maybe I should help. And I think I want the experience. And a specimen for the biolab. [Root strike] [Root strike] Two root strikes fly out of the ground, through the snow, and into the belly of the largest of the wolves. The pack leader. It growls in pain, the root strike clearly hit, and shatters a few bones and punctures a few of it¡¯s organs. The second root strike hits a part, and this second hit actually penetrates the wolf¡¯s rib cage and instantly kills it. The sudden death of the wolf leader sends the pack into a panic, and they flee. As the remaining white wolves flee, I notice one particular wolf falling behind, suffering from injuries. Great. For the [biolab]! [Constrict] My roots successfully capture the injured wolf, and a paralysing jab knocks it out. And I send a few of my active beetles to collect that paralysed wolf. Experience gains come from killing, but also from learning. Although less, I would not be surprised if there are bookworms out there that are reasonably high leveled. One way nobles have an edge over the poor, I suppose, as their means of gaining levels is wider, through literacy, and learning through books. Other than that, each of the camps keep to themselves. Week 2 It¡¯s still snowing heavily, so I turn my focus onto more¡­ academic matters. The white wolf in my biolab. This white wolf does have ¡°mana spring¡± in its soul, but it is smaller than any of the humans or elves, though still larger than the smaller foxes or other animals captured. Relatively, Meela is like the Niagara Falls, a regular human is like a small waterfall, a normal animal is like a pipe of water. This white wolf, is like a water from a fire hydrant. Next is the body. The soul and the body is a symbiotic relationship, a feedback loop. So, a strong soul usually leads to a strong body, and vice versa. But, in the case of the wolves, their bodies are strong, robust, and full of natural energy, yet a small, almost non-existent soul lives in it. It¡¯s a common theme, I think, perhaps a feature of non-intelligence, or their designated status as ¡°animals¡± or ¡°monsters¡±? Strong. A lattice of magic protects its bones, and claws. And then, some little sparks of energy in its muscles and joints. A kind of¡­ residual mana? I recall seeing something similar in Jura¡¯s hands, and also Meela¡¯s hands, but theirs is almost negligible. I zoom in on it. Nothing. Maybe I don¡¯t have the right tools or ability to identify it, because I feel magic of some kind. As I look at the jaws and their teeth, I get a similar feeling. There is something here that I have not yet figured out. Ah well. After going through every part of the wolf, I decide to leave it inside the biolab under sedation. And put Jura under the lab. Jura¡¯s body now no longer has the lingering effects of his trauma, but he says he hit a limit. A plateau, and all the monsters he is fighting etc is no longer giving him any new levels, so to speak. Under the soul grading, Jura is rank 6, and he is currently level 65, his familiar level 35, after the familiar¡¯s upgrade. His body is strong, and his soul too. At first, nothing seems wrong. The body, the muscles and bones all look strong, healthy. Well, except the left hand. But as I continue to watch how the energy from the soul spring instantly gets drained by the body, I believe Jura¡¯s intuition is right. The soul, is capped out. The amount of soul energy it produces is just enough for it to be at the current level, but no further. Like a country with an electrical power shortage, the country needs to find ways to have more efficient use of energy, or produce more power. ¡°How do we change this?¡± The wisp twirls around. ¡°The elf can have an awakening, and find his soul ranked up.¡± ¡°That, can happen?¡± ¡°Of course. He can consider going to a quest out of his league, struggle and emerge triumphant. Such acts of heroism and pushing against limits are rewarded. The ranking system you possess is just an estimate, after all, but reality is an exponential curve, and it is possible to climb up that curve.¡± Huh. Still, that implies nothing much I can do at this time. ¡°With his strength, it will be quite a long time before you can do anything to his soul.¡± Meela butts in. ¡°Upgrade. Body?¡± Hmm.. That means I get ahead of the soul - body feedback loop, and try to first upgrade the body, hoping that somehow drags the soul along. Hmmm.. How do I upgrade the body? Stimulants? Surgery? Or maybe I should try fixing his left hand first. I wonder whether the natives of this world have techniques to upgrade to body, and actually, how does the ginseng interact with the soul & body? Week 3 Less snow. Yay! Some of my beetles wake up from their dormant state, so only a quarter is still dormant. More trees! From a low of 3, I am now back to about 10 additional normal trees per week. I should make preparations for spring, and so I ask the elves to help by collecting any seeds they see, and use the beetles to help spread the seeds around. The elves, with not much to do in the cold, spend most of their time working on some of the cotton. Jura, spends his time tinkering with the damaged airship from the Salah kingdom adventurers, and by some fluke, accidentally dismantle what appears to be the power source of the airship. A basketball-sized crystal, the demon-residue¡­ daemolite. It¡¯s the first time I see it, so, naturally, into the [biolab]. Magical barrier exists. Analysis unable to proceed. Eh. The rest of the small airship is made with mostly simple metals and wood. It¡¯s really this magical crystal, and a network of enchantments and runes throughout the structure that gives it flight. Perhaps by damaging its enchantments, it therefore loses the ability to fly? The runes and enchantments are incomprehensible to me, sadly. Enchantment familiarity missing. Language not understood. Understanding of runic markings required. Ah man. The biolab¡¯s ability to analyse non-biological items is rather crap. Maybe I can develop a material lab someday. The three camps still keep to themselves. Some of the hunters from both the elves and centaur do continue looking for food, foraging and hunting the rabbits, or small rat-like creatures that now also live here. This creation of animals is interesting, and I¡¯ve been trying to catch it happening, bt so far I failed. Every time I try to take in the granular view of the entire valley, so that I can watch how these animals appear throughout the forests, through the ¡°vision¡± from all subsidiary trees, I get a massive headache. If I keep it up, I¡¯ll accidentally lose consciousness, and wake up a day later. The closest I got is a rabbit that somehow crawl out of the snow. So, even if I could see, perhaps the system that spawns these animals have ways to avoid ¡°notice¡±. Week 4 A freak snowstorm on day one, and after that, sunny! Snow is melting. ¡°My mistress is still alive!¡± Eriz shouts and jumps happily. ¡°Your mommy is alive!¡± She hugs Roma and jumps. The baby cries. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°She¡¯s managed to escape with the rest of them and are headed here. They slipped past the last of the human settlements and the Kingdom¡¯s hunters! So maybe a week or so!¡± Laufen smiles. ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± ¡°So¡­ where would you go after this?¡± Eriz pauses. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean¡­ since once your mistress comes here, you all should have some plans, right?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ I think we plan on staying here.¡± Eriz rubs her head. ¡°Can we? I¡¯ll let the mistress know that we have to obey your rules, and you are in charge. Maybe.. maybe a spot somewhere in the valley?¡± Jura rubs his head. ¡°No no. TreeTree is in charge.¡± Emile and Belle nod. ¡°Maybe this is like¡­ rebuilding Freeka?¡± ¡°How many of them?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ she did not say¡­¡± Ah. More.. refugees to deal with. Okay, fine, I¡¯ll have to handle this better than the earlier elves. Y74 M2 W1 The tail end of winter. Tree growth is recovering, and this is the focus from now on. I want to hit 10,000 trees by the end of the year. I mean, it sounds like a big number, but if there are one tree for every 5 meters, an area the size of one square kilometer would have 40,000 trees. And the world of Earth have somewhere around 3 trillion trees. So. 10,000 trees. The beetles are busy spreading seeds or spare branches they can find, and then I channel all my mojo to boost the growth rate. It¡¯s actually an urge, and I get better at it. It even feels easier as the winter lets up. ¡°What are you doing, TreeTree?¡± Lausanne is the one who asks, all dolled and wrapped up in thick clothing. Laufen¡¯s not letting her go out without winter protection. ¡°Growing trees. A lot of them.¡± ¡°Oh. I like trees.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I like fruits. They are yummy. And I like leaves. They give shade.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± I don¡¯t recall telling the elves about the [soul forge] but oh well. I suppose they suspect something. The refugees and the mistress should be on their way, soon. [Your Subsidiary Tree skill have leveled up. Subsidiary tree limit increased to 120] [Secret hideout - biolab upgraded. Autopsy table and precision tools obtained. Pods increased to 10] Mistress and the kingdom Year 74 Month 2 Week 2 The mistress and her band of refugees arrive. About 400 strong, half warriors, half escapees, comprising a mix of humans, elves, dwarves and centaurs. Eriz, quickly stepped in to mediate. I think she probably saw the early scuffle with the elves and want to other elf group and want to avoid a similar conflict. In fact, once they are right outside, she ran out to meet them, before they enter the forest. I think she knows I can observe them, once they enter the forest. They spoke at length, and of course she took Roma with her. ¡°Think they have good intentions?¡± I ask the elves. ¡°Nah. I don¡¯t think they got good intentions.¡± Jura shakes his head. ¡°They just want some cover for a while, and probably cover them from their enemies.¡± ¡°But they know your secret password.¡± ¡°So? When we designed it, it¡¯s not meant to give free access to few hundred people.¡± ¡°True.¡± In the end, the rest of the refugees wait at the forest¡¯s edge, and only Eriz, Roma and five other come in. Two elves, two humans, and a dwarf. One of the elves is a lady, and I do sense something¡­ different about her. She approaches the edges of the trees, and she is the one who speaks first. ¡°I am the leader of this band of unfortunate refugees, here to seek the protection of the guardian of this valley.¡± ¡°And why should I?¡± ¡°We offer you our services, our goods, our knowledge, those that we can give. And we will keep our distance from you and your affairs.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°We just seek safe passage, and protection from the kingdom that seeks to hunt us down.¡± ¡°I want no part in your conflict.¡± The mistress Yvon sighs. ¡°I understand, but please, help us, Tree Spirit. There is no where we can turn to, and if you push us away, we may as well die. An army is coming our way, and we¡¯re too weak to outrun them.¡± ¡°You lure an army here?¡± She gulps. ¡°No. When we realised, we were already almost here...¡± ¡°And you still come here?¡± ¡°We had no choice. There is no where we can go¡­¡± ¡°Why should I not leave you to die?¡± Yvon takes a deep breath. ¡°Because¡­¡± ¡°Enough. Eriz. You lured them here, so you have blame in this.¡± She pauses and she kneels. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I felt they.. It¡¯s their best chance of surviving. The humans are slaughtering elves by the thousands, and¡­ there¡¯s no openly-nonhuman friendly territory in anywhere near the Salah Kingdom¡­ except.. Except here.¡± I sigh. It feels like I¡¯ve been led into this conflict. ¡°How many is coming?¡± ¡°Six hundred or so, mix of knights and archers, on horseback.¡± Hmm.. if I leave these refugees out there, will they let us go? Fact is, I do have three groups of non-humans already living in the valley, and if they are really hunting down all non-humans, they may very well just set the entire forest on fire. Maybe something I can handle, if they don¡¯t have someone at the level of the heroes. I mentally reach out to Jura, and he¡¯s been listening in. ¡°It¡¯s not much of a choice. I think we can punish Eriz, this leader of the refugees and whoever lured them here later, but the fact remains that a small army trailed the refugees all the way here and would highly suspect that this forest is the non-human base of operations. As we already have other refugees.¡± ¡°If we defeat this army, what¡¯s stopping a larger army from coming here?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. If we can somehow pull of a feint, like¡­ distract the army and lead them to somewhere else¡­¡± ¡°These refugees can¡¯t outrun this horseback-army.¡± ¡°True. And, the army may not be a conventional force. They may have mages or specialists amongst them, since they are chasing after this group. Can you see them, TreeTree?¡± Jura pauses, sits down and tries to think. I try to reach out to the furthest of my trees, and my roots. I put one [subsidiary tree] in that direction, and it extends my vision slightly. And another [subsidiary tree]. ¡°Spotted.¡± Six hundred horseback men. I couldn¡¯t tell much though, but if a conflict is necessary, I could drag them into difficult ground. They probably are not aware of my abilities as a high level tree spirit, and would march past trees without suspecting anything. So, I plant about twenty additional [subsidiary trees], all of them with [warbeetles], spaced and spread out in that direction, such that it maximises my root coverage. The army pass the trees. No action as expected. ¡°The moment we accepted the first group of refugees, I guess we already have taken a stand in this conflict.¡± Jura sighs. ¡°Let me march to the three refugee groups, and ask them to participate in combat.¡± He¡¯s not exactly right. The moment I taken on the promise to protect these elves, when Freeka is destroyed, I have made the choice, to protect this valley. An army marching on us, is therefore an enemy, especially a human army that¡¯s going to be burn up this area. ¡°Offer them.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Jura turns. ¡°Offer?¡± ¡°If they are willing to participate in this battle, I will consider lifting restrictions and conditions on their stay here. This is their opportunity to show their worth to me in this valley, and earn their right to stay.¡± Jura laughs. ¡°Hah! A tree spirit truly is wise. To make these refugees fight!¡± Jura nods and then goes off. I then turn to Eriz and Yvon. ¡°Get your men ready for combat. I have, very reluctantly, decided to join this conflict. Eriz, Yvon, and whoever suggested all of you to come into combat, your punishment will be decided after this battle.¡± Yvon pause, and she nods. ¡°Very well, if we live to see tomorrow¡¯s sun, I¡¯ll take the punishment.¡± The three camps, the elves refuse to participate. It seems they¡¯ve already decided to leave once the weather improves. The treefolk and centaurs both agree, and send about twenty men each. Jura himself, and also about a hundred or so men from Yvon¡¯s group is also getting ready. The rest, the woman, children all hide in the forest. The army approaches. ¡°Those stinking rebels, is that their hideout?¡± ¡°Forest. Hah! Its so predictable that it is a forest! Elves!¡± ¡°They should choose a cave or something.¡± Chatter. They past by a few of my subsidiary trees. I¡¯m watching them, looking for¡­ special individuals. ¡°I don¡¯t feel so good.¡± ¡°What, you feel like pooping? You can poop on the elves later.¡± ¡°Did Lord Rovas say we can take prisoners? Elven ladies are hot.¡± ¡°No. He said kill everyone. No survivors. Can¡¯t leave any of these rebel scums to breed.¡± ¡°Ah man.¡± ¡°I hate this armor. Why¡¯d they insist we wear military uniform anyway?¡± ¡°We¡¯re legit now. Deal with it.¡± A burly man comes around and smacks a few of them with a cane. ¡°We closing in. Mages, get ready.¡± A woman rides next to him. ¡°Our target is Yvon, Prince Galan¡¯s corruptor. It is she who led him into this foolish non-human love affair.¡± ¡°She¡¯s hot?¡± ¡°She¡¯s got a way with words.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Shut it. We can¡¯t let this group escape. If this is their base, let''s take it all out.¡± ¡°Okay boss.¡± Hmmm¡­ They just passed the second layer of trees. ¡°They will try to fight in the forest, though.¡± ¡°No. We burn the forest. Anti-elf tactics 101. Why go into the forest and fight on their terms? Set the forest on fire, and we attack whoever comes out.¡± Funny, they just walked past a few trees. They should have attacked the trees, then. ¡°They have centaurs and dwarves, right? And they can run to the other side?¡± ¡°A handful. Not enough to make a difference. Another group has already went ahead, the other side of the valley.¡± ¡°Ah! Such genius!¡± ¡°Mages, gather up, and cast a few fireballs into the forest. Let¡¯s burn this forest to the ground.¡± Great. That¡¯s the cue I¡¯m waiting for. Of the six hundred, about twenty step forth, and they start to channel some kind of fireball. And right when they start to channel, [Poison Field] [Root field] Roots surge out of the ground and release a kind of toxic fume into the air. It¡¯s not fast acting, but would work. Then, twenty root strikes. All at the mages. I hit 18. Killing them instantly. Their armors, though metal, didn¡¯t hold up very well. Two remaining had some magical instinct, and manage to break their fireball-chant in time, to dodge the surge. ¡°Druids?¡± Their horses panic, as the roots and the poison is uncomfortable. They want to run. [Root surge] I only have two use of this ability per day, but it¡¯s very useful as an area attack. Sharp roots emerge in the area around four subsidiary trees, and so there are roots attacking about half of the enemy force. ¡°What!¡± The root surge though lacks the punch each individual [root strike] have. I reckon they are about a quarter as strong. Some of the men activate their defensive abilities, successfully blocking off the surge. But as an area attack, about a hundred or so died, so that¡¯s pretty good. ¡°Run guys! We¡¯ll need to come back with a bigger army!¡± One the surviving mage shouts, using some kind of magic to boost his escape. ¡°Whoever is protecting them is a very powerful druid. Perhaps one of the great elven archdruids!¡± That actually need not be said. Some of them are already running, when the [poison field] and [root field] popped up. Well, I can¡¯t let mages run, though. So I shoot a few more rounds of [root strikes], and I kill one. The last surviving mage uses a string of magical nullification spells. He¡¯s hurt, but not dead. ¡°That cursed elf woman! She¡¯s got a backer! Must be one of the elven nations secretly meddling in our country¡¯s politics!¡± ¡°Retreat!¡± I try a root strike at the leader. It hits a magical barrier, breaks through it, but then a metal shield blocks the root strike. ¡°You won¡¯t get my head that easily!¡± He shouts, and he activates a few magical and physical defensive abilities, then as he is about to turn back, a shout came from the forest. ¡°Charge!¡± Yvon and the refugees charge out of the forest. Honestly, if you ask me, that is a stupid decision. Why¡¯d she and the refugees charge out of the forest? Well, since she¡¯s charging, I activate all the warbeetles hiding in the twenty subsidiary trees. Sixty warbeetles appear and charge into the chaotic mess that is the Kingdom¡¯s army. The beetles kill a few, but with the stronger, more experienced soldiers, it¡¯s an even matchup. After all, these soldiers have skills, abilities, and probably some enchanted equipment. The leader though, smiles and shouts at Yvon. ¡°Ah, you succubus! Decided to appear and fight eh?!¡± Yvon pulls out a sword, uses some kind of ability, and she vanishes. Only to reappear a second later, right in front of the army leader and attempt a stab. He blocks, and his magical barrier is broken. ¡°Hah! Not so easy!¡± He pulls out a sword as well, and leaps out of his horse. Both Yvon and the army leader enter into a sword-fighting match as they trade blows. Meanwhile, the rest of the refugees and the warbeetles fight. At this point, I stop attacking and observe the battle. ¡°She¡¯s pretty good.¡± Jura laughs, still sitting at the side, not joining the battle. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going?¡± ¡°Soon. I¡¯m just waiting for the trigger.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°That woman. She¡¯s going to try something.¡± She charges up some kind of ability as Yvon and the leader are fighting. Well, sorry, I¡¯m gonna have to ruin the surprise. Two root strikes impale through her body. She yells in pain. ¡°AGHHHH¡­.¡± Both Yvon and the army leader turn to see the woman with one root through her chest, and another through her tummy. The army leader looks at Yvon furiously. ¡°Which country is helping you. You treasonous beast.¡± Yvon shakes her head. ¡°None.¡± ¡°Then explain this root magic.¡± Yvon pause. ¡°I can¡¯t. I didn¡¯t know of it either.¡± ¡°Lies. Again.¡± The army leader activates some kind of ability, and starts slashing at Yvon at high speed. She, in response, activates some kind of ability as well, and they are back at a stalemate. Him slashing, and she parrying, dodging successfully. She pants, her breathing heavy. ¡°You can¡¯t beat me. You know it.¡± ¡°I can try. Vengeance demands it.¡± He laughs. ¡°I didn¡¯t land the killing blow, mind you. It is not I, who killed Prince Galan.¡± ¡°But you were there. And so you must die.¡± Yvon¡¯s sword glow in a greenish hue. ¡°Oh?¡± The army leader laughs. I thought I saw a few chances for me to throw a [root strike], but eavesdropping the conversation is a lot more interesting. Yvon disappears into a whirl of greenish light, some kind of sword-dance ability. The army leader laughs, glows in purple and he too disappears in a purple-glow, and the two appear as sparks for a good few minutes. And when they both reappear, the army leader look unscratched, whereas Yvon has cuts all over her body. ¡°See? You can¡¯t beat me, and I will make you join that Prince Galan soon.¡± Yvon shakes her head, and forces herself to stand. ¡°Where¡¯s that druid of yours anyway? Ran out of [root attacks]?¡± Well, I still have about fifty to spare. But I¡¯m interested in watching. My beetles and the rest of the refugees, still fighting, few of the beetles killed, and they manage to hunt down the last mage. So, with the mage out of the picture, I¡¯m actually letting the rest of this play out. About this time, 40 additional refugees join the battle. The treefolk and the centaur. They waited for a chance, as they did not want to join the fight until Jura did. ¡°Oh, treefolk. That explains the [root attacks].¡± The army leader laughs. ¡°I¡¯ll slaughter them after I kill you.¡± ¡°Not if I have anything to say about it.¡± Jura steps in front. ¡°Jura.¡± The army leader laughs. ¡°Oh? I¡¯m Waysorious Moffard. Also known as the Purple Blade.¡± Jura bows, ¡°Pleased. Allow me to join this battle, as I¡¯ve been robbed of my prey.¡± Well, I killed the lady Jura wanted to fight, so¡­ ¡°Well, come.¡± Jura grins, and activates some kind of ability, covering his body in a layer of wood. They trade a few blows, and Jura jumps backward. His wooden armor had multiple scratches, but he lives. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m weaker with the sword. But thankfully my defense is a lot stronger.¡± The wooden armor regenerates, and the scratches disappear. Waysorious laughs. ¡°That armor of yours is strong, but if that¡¯s all you got, you won¡¯t last.¡± At that point, Yvon steps up, her body fully healed. ¡°Well, what if it¡¯s both of us?¡± Waysorious pauses. ¡°Ah¡­¡± Jura activated a healing ability before they started fighting. He looks around, and sees the rest of his men dying, or fleeing. He then starts laughing maniacally. ¡°I see. I see. I¡¯ll be back, you cursed witch.¡± Yvon quickly attempts to stab him, but in a flash of light, he disappeared. ¡°AGH! Should have known he carries a ring of escape with him!¡± Huh. There¡¯s item like that, eh? And once the captain leaves, the rest of the soldiers did not last very long. It seems without his presence, some buffing effects that he had fade away. Whoever¡¯s still fighting is quickly killed by the remaining warbeetles, Yvon, Jura and the rest of the refugees. So, the battle ends. The refugees strip whatever equipment or items from the soldiers, and pile the bodies up to burn. Yvon¡¯s bunch of 200+ refugees lost about thirty or so men, whereas the 40 treefolk and centaurs lost none. All thanks to a great element of surprise, rootstrikes, and warbeetles. Warbeetles have a [taunt] ability with tends to cause nearby enemies to attach them first, and that tanking effect help minimise casualties. Add to the confusion from the rootstrikes and root surge, the army seem to be concentrated on fleeing more than fighting. ¡°Centaurs and treefolk, thank you for your participation in this battle. With this, I¡¯m willing to offer you full rights to your designated areas, and also such that each person may chop 1 tree, per year. Ration your wood accordingly. Treefolk may trade your wood-rights, if you do not need them, with centaurs, but notify me beforehand.¡± The centaurs and treefolk nod, and return to their homes. They¡¯re glad that no casualties in their bunch, but they join the battle late. . I later overhear that the sight of roots surging out of the ground is rather scary. From afar, it looks like the earth itself decided to fight them. Which reminds me, maybe I should have a giant-worm of my own, like the demons. A subordinate giant worm or centipede would be nice. As for Yvon¡¯s group, they quickly bury their dead, and heal their wounded. Yvon¡¯s frustrated though, not that I care. Her punishment is due and Jura delivers the message. ¡°You survived. Now face punishment.¡± Jura speaks, in a small gathering. Yvon sighs. ¡°... no way out of this?¡± ¡°Speak to the Tree spirit.¡± Later that day, after all is done, Eriz, Yvon both stand right outside the main tree. ¡°So¡­ what punishment are we facing?¡± ¡°Eriz. Did you know you¡¯re putting everyone at risk by luring them here?¡± ¡°Yes. But it is the best decision, I think.¡± ¡°You. You intentionally wanted to get me involved in this.¡± Yvon shakes her head. ¡°Uh¡­ to be honest, I didn¡¯t fully believe Eriz when she said there¡¯s a Tree Spirit able to protect us. And from my point of view, we had to escape the human-lands. Wherever we go, we are going to be hunted, so, since my son is here¡­ I thought coming here made sense.¡± She looks at Jura, and Jura shakes his head. ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°Erm.. whatever it is, I didn¡¯t realise there is a forest here, and I didn¡¯t think that they would suspect this forest is a hideout for rebels. On hindsight it is obvious, but when we are just trying to successfully escape, we.. we didn¡¯t think that far ahead. So¡­ we decided to take a chance on whatever Eriz said..¡± I sigh. How should I punish these people? She¡¯s trying to feign innocence, and that annoys me even more. How? At this point, the wisp appears in my mental realm. ¡°Take her soul.¡± ¡°What?!¡± I mean, what? Like.. how does one do that? ¡°I mean, make her surrender her soul to you when she dies.¡± ¡°I can do that?¡± ¡°Yeah. You can mark her soul, with a special process. She has to consent to it, of course, and recite a long phrase and agreement to mark that wills her soul to you.¡± That¡­ that somehow feels a bit extreme. And, I didn¡¯t know I have that kind of ability? ¡°That sounds like what a demon does, I mean, take one¡¯s soul on death?¡± ¡°Well. It¡¯s actually the same thing. The contracts in essence are the same, but demons took the ideas to the extreme of course.¡± ¡°Why would I want her soul, anyway?¡± ¡°Well, all the souls you see are marked for their onward reincarnation or whatever the gods have planned for their next phase, and stay in the realm at most for a year, usually six months. But if a soul agrees, they drop out of that process and belong to you¡­ for a thousand years. And during that thousand years, you may use the soul as you see fit.¡± ¡°Like?¡± ¡°Well.. anything.¡± I shake my head. Sounds exactly like what a demon or devil does. Not exactly what I thought a ¡°soul tree¡± or ¡°Spirit tree¡± should be doing. I mean, how does it work? ¡°What else are you not telling me?¡± ¡°Or if you think taking away her soul is too.. much, tell her to give you a few of her levels or her skills.¡± ¡°What.¡± Another bombshell from the wisp. This.. wisp, is hiding things from me. ¡°Ah, well, its actually a fairly common ability amongst the ancients, high nobles, blue blooded royalty, and high level magic smiths, artificers and crafters.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°There are restriction by the origin of your power, of course, and in your case, the person surrendering the levels must be at least level 20, and they can surrender no more than 20% of their levels, and no more than 20% of all skills.¡± Okay, wisp. Infodump here, but this sounds pretty important. I turn to Eriz and Yvon. ¡°Rest. I will decide your punishment in a few days. If you attempt to flee, I will kill you. And the refugees.¡± They gulp, but they nod. Having seen the roots, they probably realise I could kill them. Once they leave, I go back to my [soul realm] to the Wisp. ¡°You and I, are going to have a long conversation on what else you have not been telling me.¡± ¡°Oh, I have plenty of others, but the information I can release to you is dependent on the progress you make on the [soul forge], and if you want know everything I know, you need an active soul forge.¡± ¡°Can you tell me more about these soul contracts and surrendering of levels and skills.¡± The wisp bobs around and then pauses. ¡°Making a deal for the soul is common throughout history. When a desperate man sacrifices everything to protect his family, he is making a request to the heavens or hell, or whatever natural aspects watching at the time, in exchange for his soul. It is then up to the nature aspect to decide whether they want the soul, and balance the costs of assisting versus the benefits.¡± Huh. ¡°Simplify?¡± ¡°Granting souls is super common, and not forever. As a soul or spirit tree, having souls that won¡¯t move on is very useful. Just think of it as an employment contract.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t I just make her work for me?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s harder to enforce than having a contract carved into her soul, no?¡± ¡°Oh.¡± True, it''s like having a slave that cannot defy you. Well, that is nice, but is that a ¡°good¡± punishment? Death feels too... cheap. Punishment & Soul Forge Year 74 Month 2 Week 3 Spring begins. Beetles are out spreading seeds. I¡¯ve finally decided on the punishment for Eriz and Yvon. ¡°Thanks to your selfishness, Eriz, you¡¯ve permanently dragged us into this conflict. This is despite our hospitality to you these past months. Your punishment is that you are to surrender your soul to me, and to serve us for the rest of your life.¡± ¡°My¡­ my soul?¡± ¡°Yes, your soul. You put us at risk, even when we helped take care of Roma. For putting our lives at risk.¡± She pause, and she¡¯s too stunned to respond. Then it is Yvon¡¯s turn. ¡°Your punishment is that you will now have to protect this forest for the rest of your life. And I¡¯ll enforce that by not having you leave this forest. If you do try, I¡¯ll kill your people. In exchange, I¡¯ll allow your people to share and stay in this valley with me, though, as you¡¯re probably aware, I have rules that I want followed.¡± She stops. ¡°I did not think taking your soul is necessary at this point, and I am of the opinion that your combat and management abilities will be useful to manage the coming refugees. But, I will be watching you closely.¡± Yvon pauses, thinking. After about five minutes, she sighs, and she then nods. ¡°I can accept that.¡± I guess she figured to have me as a protector of the refugees is worth the cost. She dragged me into this conflict, I may as well make the most of it. If this is going to end up into a war, I¡¯d better have more bodies to throw at the enemy. I do want to fight the Salah Kingdom, so this accelerates this entire process. But I was hoping for more clandestine, stealthy methods, by way of sneaky subsidiaries trees, but, oh well. ¡°How.. how are you going to take my soul?¡± Eriz looks puzzled. A magic ring appears around her, an ability I didn¡¯t know I had until recently. [Spiritual Contract - Judgement]. It¡¯s essentially a soul contract, but in the form of a judgement. Demons, devils and the dark gods get a lopsided version known as [Unfair Contracts], which is¡­ unfair, but, less robust as a result. It has also sneaky abilities like concealing terms and conditions, but all of these result a reduction of the ability grade to a lower-tier (relative, of course). ¡°Accept.¡± She shakes. She looks at her mistress, and then back at Jura, who¡¯s watching her. ¡°I.. I..¡± ¡°Are you testing my patience, Eriz?¡± I wonder whether there is undue influence in this world. She gulps. ¡°I...I¡¯m sorry. Is there any other way?¡± ¡°No. For the fact that you¡¯ve dragged me into this conflict, and the kingdom knows of this forest, you¡¯ve made life difficult for me. Therefore, this is an adequate punishment for you. You could have told your mistress to meet you elsewhere, but here we are.¡± Yvon tries to defend her subordinate. ¡°Her soul¡­ it¡¯s too much isn¡¯t it? Can¡¯t she protect this forest like I do?¡± ¡°No. Her soul, or everyone dies.¡± I probably would not actually kill everyone, but an ultimatum it is. Eriz cries. And she cries for a while. She glances at Jura, but Jura shrugs. After she finished, she accepts the punishment, and the magic ring around her glows, expands, spins around awhile, and then enters her body. It is done. [Eriz Maforlas¡¯s soul is now leased to you for 1,000 years. Soul lease will commence on death] Lease? Isn¡¯t that like renting? ¡°Uh¡­¡± She looks around. I think she¡¯s preparing for something more gruesome and painful. And after a while, she looks at Yvon. ¡°Am I still here?¡± Eriz seems to think she will die instantly. ¡° ¡°Yes.¡± Yvon nods, and she too looks puzzled ¡°That¡¯s it? I don¡¯t feel anything different. Have you taken my soul, yet?¡± ¡°Oh, not now. When you die, Eriz.¡± I wanted to say, so don¡¯t die, but then, I¡¯m sure she knows that. Now that her sobbing stops, she looks at her mistress. ¡°Oh. OH! That¡¯s all?¡± Y''know... I¡¯m starting to think ¡°on-death¡± is not that great a term, after all it still means this person gets to act out her life, for the remainder of her days, (which is by no means shorter). It¡¯s a painless punishment, nothing''s changed, unless they care about their soul. Oh well, I guess I¡¯ll take levels next time. Though having seen Yvon¡¯s combat abilities, having her around would be useful against the fighters this Salah Kingdom may deploy. ¡°For the soul part, yes. Also, from now on, you serve me.¡± Year 74 Month 3 Week 1 I love spring. Thanks to the hard work of the beetles and the regrowing bounty mojo, the normal tree count in the valley surged to 3,800. That¡¯s a huge climb, but I am guessing the season of spring counts to that. If this continues I might hit 10,000 a bit faster than expected. Other than that, nothing of particular concern happened. The Kingdom does not seem to be sending anyone at us, yet. As for the refugees, Yvon¡¯s group of refugees set up camp along the right side of the slopes. All the refugee camps start building more permanent structures now that winter is over. The centaurs, now given a certain allotment of trees that they can chop down, start to construct basic houses, which resemble stables. Some of them engage in wide scale planting, of a plant known as ¡°shrub of the fours¡±. Largely inedible to anyone but centaurs, minotaurs, satyrs and their kind, its their staple food. It seems centaurs can survive on this plant alone, and once the plants start to grow significantly, I would like to analyse them. The treefolk are incredibly fascinating to observe. Their abilities resemble an inferior version of mine in many ways. They enjoy being in the sun, and clearly their abilities are affected by the season, their steps faster, their skin and body more¡­ vibrant. Their feet has some ability to connect to the earth, drawing energy, nutrition, and even mana. The treefolk use their innate affinity to trees to weave the branches of trees into more structures, and it seems this is their preferred way of construction, bending trees into shape. It¡¯s like large scale bonsai sculpting. I suspect they have the ability to boost tree growth as well, but I will ask them someday. Yvon¡¯s elves, being the most exposed of the bunch, start with building a mix of houses and fortification from the earth. Stone walls, stone houses, I am quite amazed at the speed which they manage to build with the rocks and dirt. They had to cut some of the trees down for the rest of the materials, but with outburst of trees in spring, the loss is acceptable. The last group of elves, are split. A group, about three quarters, are leaving. They only want to stay through winter. The remaining quarter are going to join Yvon¡¯s group. No matter. Year 74 Month 3 Week 3 No movement from the Salah Kingdom. We initially wonder why, but the olive oil traders came. For olives, of course. ¡°War breaks out. Kingdom of Nung, Kingdom of Takde have declared war on the Kingdom of Salah. The civil war and slaughter is an opportunity, a weakness, so both of them are trying to take a bite out of the Salah kingdom¡¯s territory.¡± Well, that¡¯s a wonderful coincidence. Some cash change hands, and olive oils, sold. ¡°The merchants guild would be trying to sell information about me, no?¡± Yvon pops out at the trading post. ¡°Ah¡­ the mistress herself.¡± The merchants grin. ¡°Well, the kingdom is occupied now, but they are offering good money to find out who is backing your rebellion.¡± ¡°Oh, any leads?¡± Yvon laughs. ¡°The merchants guild have our own theories, but if you mean to share¡­¡± Yvon shakes her head. ¡°How is the guildmaster doing?¡± ¡°Ah, he is fine. No one would dare touch the guildmaster of the merchants guild, even if he is half-minotaur, if that''s what you are asking.¡± Yvon nods. ¡°That is good.¡± She then hands the merchant multiple letters. ¡°I take the merchants still offer delivery services, even to me?¡± The merchant smile, grab the letters, and shove it into a box of some kind. And some coin changes hands. ¡°I take you know the terms.¡± ¡°No worries, its to the other kingdoms.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Sorry¡­¡± Laufen butts in. ¡°Do you mind¡­ helping us buy some things?¡± ¡°Like?¡± ¡°Oh, one of my friends want exotic fruits and books about trees. Can you help us procure some, we¡¯ll pay you.¡± ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll look out for it.¡± Year 74 Month 4 Week 1 The young chieftain and the elves left. I am at 5,300 normal trees. The surge is down to an awesome combination, the hard work of the beetles, this wonderful season of spring, and better mastery of this ¡°bounty¡± ability I have. Within the inner circle of subsidiary trees, I finally felt confident enough to start growing my first [ginseng tree]. Life for the refugees are starting to stabilise. With homes built, their focus turns to defense, and preparing for winter. Potatoes, and all the other plants. [Subsidiary tree leveled up. You can now have 180 subsidiary trees] Year 74 Month 4 Week 3 I spread more subsidiary trees, further out, as a form of surveillance. And this is when I notice my increasing inability to manage such a vast area of [subsidiary trees]. It¡¯s too far. So, although the [subsidiary trees] are giving me vision, it¡¯s not functioning as an early warning system, and I can¡¯t camp there to watch over it personally. There¡¯s a hill a distance away, and I would like to somehow get my hands more unique minerals and materials. The essence production at this point is still slow, because most of my energy is focused on growing trees, which now touches 6,000 trees. Other than that, there are more refugees, more non-humans, and they all join Yvon¡¯s camp. I think about 200 of them. It seems Yvon knew they were coming, and have prepared extra houses and buildings to house them, so Yvon¡¯s side is becoming quite lively. There were some centaurs among the new batch, which went on to join the existing centaur group instead, but it¡¯s a small bunch, only about 20-30. Year 74 Month 5 Week 1 Spring is almost ending, and it seems the growth of new trees start to slow down again. It is now about 500, per two weeks, so I stand at 6,500 now. To support the elves, centaurs and treefolk, I¡¯ve created subsidiary trees that produce cotton. The deal is that they shall pay me 20% of the proceeds, should they be sold to traders. But if they make it for personal consumption, no tax. Yes. I am taxing the refugees. I call it, the cotton tax. In addition, treefolk, centaur camps commit to provide 30 warriors each to the valley¡¯s defense. Yvon¡¯s group naturally commit the most, being the largest. They put 200 of their people for the valley¡¯s defense. They mostly focus on the small monsters and creatures that spawn naturally in the region. And Jura, being the chief coordinator and communicator of the valley, gains a new class. [Envoy] (working title) Year 74 Month 5 Week 2 More refugees. Seriously. The invasion by the two kingdoms seems to have displaced even more people, and more death. I know of the death, because with my wider reach, I¡¯m collecting more souls. My soul realm is filled with little sparks of light, of humans, of non-humans, all these souls making the journey to the other world. They will stay, for about 6 months to a year, before moving on, so the constant death is currently adding a lot of little lights to the soul realm. ¡°It is good that you are approaching an active [soul forge] soon.¡± The wisp bobs around. ¡°Tell me about.. Other soul-manipulating creatures.¡± I get to the point, I have questions, I ask. ¡°When you get a soul forge.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± I¡¯d like to sigh in frustration, but I can¡¯t. ¡°So, do I have a limit on how many souls I can store?¡± ¡°Nope. Soul realm can store as many souls as you can possibly have.¡± ¡°How¡¯s that even possible, doesn¡¯t that break some rules or something?¡± ¡°It¡­ it just does.¡± The wisp can¡¯t answer, but oh well. Magic. Like how the [secret hideout] is far bigger than my actual tree. Year 74 Month 5 Week 3 More refugees. After 2 weeks of more refugees, Yvon¡¯s group is touching almost 800, and they are accepting some humans as well. At first, my initial response is to reject, but then their location, at the edge of the valley, and the assurance of Yvon and her group, I¡¯ve relented. More bodies to throw back at the Kingdom is good. So, Yvon, and a lot of the earlier elves and humans now take the role of enforcer, and they seem to have come up with some kind of norms. They also have an unofficial name for their growing part of town, which is located a bit further from where Freeka is. New Freeka. At first, they wanted to name it after their benefactor, Prince Galan, so the name floated about was Galansburg, but I rejected that idea, as it steps on the history of this place, of Freeka. So it¡¯s fine then. That new settlement they are working on can be the new town, and the area my main tree is will be the old-town of Freeka. And I gain a random level, after almost 6 months of not gaining a level. [Level 117] [Timber-farm] [Produce average quality timber, at a much faster speed] ¡°Ah.¡± Year 74 Month 6 A small scouting party from the Salah kingdom spotted. Their enmity with Yvon has not ended after all. The skirmishes with the Nung and the Takde are just minor distractions, Salah is one of the larger states in the region, and they have sufficient resources to hold both fronts, and still pursue their¡­ vengeance. For Yvon, this came as a disappointment. Their earlier hopes of making peace in this land, is not going to be as easy as they initially hoped. Anyway, I decide to let Yvon deal with it. If they are to make a life in this valley, they gotta show they are up for the challenges, so they captured the scouts, interrogated them, and then killed them. I suppose they¡¯ll be suspecting when the scouts don¡¯t return anyway. Later in the month, the traders came along, trade some oil, and brought us some exotic fruits. It seems the olive oil prices went up slightly during the wars, so we were paid a little more, though the merchant¡¯s share is obviously higher. It seems the Salah¡¯s claim over our valley and a few other territories, is disputed by the Nung, that abandonment during the demonic wars renders the Salah¡¯s claim moot. The past few months consists of a mix of skirmishes, and high level diplomatic meetings, and so the dispute areas has been declared a temporary no-go zone. But that¡¯s ending, as neither is budging from their claim, so Salah is coming. And so is the Nung. Ah, peace is but a temporary lie, the outcome of two nations bickering with words. [Harvestable products upgraded. Papaya and grapes obtained]. Normal tree count : 7,800 Year 74 Month 6 Week 4 More refugees. Yvon¡¯s group is expanding their walls, a second layer of walls is being built to protect the additional houses now. With the help of timber, some of their earlier buildings are being rebuilt taller, more¡­ dense. Yvon¡¯s group is actually fairly talented. One of them, was actually a [Mayor], has taken the role of mayor of New Freeka, and he is in charge of construction and absorbing the refugee influx. With him are few [Councillors], and [Paperworkers], experts at setting up and managing paperwork. It seems they even got started on making some paper from all the branches and leaves. Another of Yvon¡¯s men is a [Military Trainer], and she¡¯s in charge of managing the defensive aspects. I suspect the whole conflict stems from prince Galan¡¯s skilled retinue, and this somehow threatened the elder prince. [Skill obtained : Growth surge] [Creates patches of normal trees, shrubs and grasses. Affected by weather and seasons] Year 74 Month 7 Week 2 There¡¯s a fair bit of movement at Yvon¡¯s side. People moving in and out. Other than that, everyone¡¯s getting ready for another round of winter. The elves, Laufen and all do drop by each of the camps, though I keep watch whenever they do. Last thing I want is a kidnapping. Though they are ¡°new¡± and are strangers, it makes them happy. They are in a society after all, and elves who stay alone for too long lose that social connection. Especially the kids. There are more kids to play with, kids, their age. Lausanne in particular found another girl her age, and they play catch in the small town of New Freeka. In New Freeka, multiple [subsidiary trees] keep watch. These are so that I am can look and keep myself aware what''s happening. But, I am struggling to keep track of so many things happening at once. Especially now that it grows to almost 1,200 people, not counting the treefolk and centaurs. Year 74 Month 7 Week 4 Army spotted, 10,000 strong. They bear the flags of Salah. A proper army, swords, armors, knights. And mages. They march towards New Freeka, and as they approach, one man on horseback yells. ¡°We demand you surrender!¡± ¡°No!¡± I have insufficient root strikes to kill that many people. At best, I can take out about¡­ 1,000? And that leaves 9,000 men. The refugees are worried, of course. Its a large force. They talk about running, but Yvon somehow convinces them to stay. The past months they have built a wall to act as a defensive fortification, preparing for this day. 10,000 is a lot, but not all need to die. If I can get a hit on the leaders, and deliver a visible smacking to their morale, perhaps they can be convinced into fleeing. ¡°I think the core group of about 400 are professionals. The rest look like conscripts.¡± ¡°Mages?¡± I had in mind, similar strategy, to the earlier fight. Take out the mages first, but they did see how we fought the first time, so they might know that we would go for that. And indeed, there¡¯s no obviously visible mages, all of them wear armor,so, the suspected mages are those wielding staffs or sticks. They will probably show themselves once the battle gets into close range. The army closes in. There¡¯s not many horses this time. The refugees field about 800 fighters in total, 700 from the camp itself, and 100 from centaurs and treefolk. Arrows start to fly, and the enemy leader activates a shield barrier, deflecting the arrows. Some of the arrows though, are from actual archers, with shield-penetrating abilities, so some still go through. The treefolk use their ability to throw rocks and boulders at the army, and their size and energy us able to pierce the shield. 10,000, mostly soldiers? Something is not right. They enter into some kind of turtle-ish formation to reduce the impact of the projectiles. And they get nearer. Around the walls are my [subsidiary trees], and they are walking past them now. I take this chance to take a closer look. Mages. I know some of them are, but with the bodies flanking and blocking, I can¡¯t seem them very well. A few of the refugees are mages, and two fireballs fly towards the army, smacks right into a magic barrier. Its at this time, a long range projectile smashes into the refugee mage, killing him instantly. And I quickly turn my attention to them. Far away there¡¯s 3 men, one holding a long barrel gun, a sniper? But its a lot more crude, made of forged crystal, and it fires magic bullets. Another look like a mage, with the whole wizard gear. And the last man, is an old man in knight armor. He looks somewhat like a lord. ¡°Did you spot any archdruid?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°10,000 men is overkill. Its probably those treefolk.¡± The old man nods. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t count Yvon out just yet. She¡¯s probably got something in her sleeves. The fact that she so brazenly set up a physical camp here, suggests she has some kind of backing.¡± The sniper shakes his head. ¡°Seriously, no unusual mana signatures.¡± The wizard shrugs. ¡°Maybe she¡¯s just overconfident. Or just tired of running.¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± Sniper turns his barrel around. ¡°All these trees are¡­ annoyingly tough.¡± He fires, and the projectile pierces through one of my subsidiary trees. But it slows the crystalline projectile down significantly, and softens the blow. The wizard pauses, seemingly realising something. ¡°[Detect Presence]¡±. He pauses, and turns to the Lord. ¡°We should¡­ leave.¡± The Lord looks dumbfounded. ¡°Huh, why? Don¡¯t we have good odds?¡± ¡°I sense an ominous presence that stretches this entire valley¡­ not something¡­ not something an archdruid can do. The trees¡­ they are looking back at us.¡± The wizard points at the trees. ¡°I feel them watching us.¡± The Lord stares. ¡°How sure are you?¡± ¡°These trees¡­ has a faint killing intent. This is no ordinary forest.¡± ¡°Hmmm.. that explains why the refugees are stuck. They dare not venture through the valley. So they may as well make a stand here.¡± ¡°We might still be able to defeat Yvon and her band of rebels. But whatever else its here¡­ its not going to fall to us, not to what we have here. If Yvon is somehow working with or trying to control whatever lurks in this forest, we may not stand a chance. Its a trap, milord.¡± The Lord pauses, and looks at the sniper. ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°I trust his judgement. If he says we should leave, we should.¡± He fires another shot, this time intentionally hitting one of my subsidiary trees. It punctures a whole through the subsidiary tree, and sends a jolt of pain through me. ¡°Normal trees would explode on impact. I agree that this forest¡­ has secrets. I¡¯ll need explosive weaponry.¡± The wizard nods to the sniper. ¡°It is best I report this to the wizard¡¯s guild. A deployment of a much larger group of wizards may be necessary.¡± The Lord nods. ¡°Very well. There is no shame in retreating to fight another day. Call the army back. If this is a trap, we will not fall for it. We would be better placed if we can tap some rangers and shamans for the next fight.¡± And so, the army of 10,000 halts its advance, and retreats. It is surreal for the refugees, who thought they would be goners, or lose most of their people. The casualties on both sides are relatively small, about twenty to thirty, and for Yvon and group, this was a huge victory. [Skill : Haunted tree upgraded to haunted forests.] Ah. Did I just scare away an army? I am pretty sure the army cannot kill me, but I probably won¡¯t be able to kill all of them too. Still, it looks like they will be back with a vengeance. So I need additional countermeasures. Year 74 Month 8 Week 3 10,000 normal trees reached! Firing up [soul forge]. All of the trees in the valley, abruptly emit a faint glow, and it scares the refugees. And I feel power surging into me, my roots, all of them overflowing with power, energy gathered. And then a huge thunderbolt from above lands on me, like a constant electrical connection. It causes everyone to jump, and the secret hideout shakes like it is experiencing an earthquake. The ground shakes. My entire body of tree glows in a bluish light, the thunder, like a chain linked to the sky above, shakes, and flickers. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Jura asks. ¡°Tree Spirit are you okay?¡± They don¡¯t know. The treefolk seems afraid. ¡°Is the tree suffering through a magical crisis?¡± The centaurs wonder whether this is some kind of divine punishment. The normal trees push more energy through the roots, and all of that energy flows into the once-inactive [soul forge]. A spark, a small blue flame pops out and dances in the middle of the soul forge. The soul forge actually looks like a massive circular jar, and now there is this blue light emitting from within. And then, a shockwave. The outer barks of my body is shredded by the bolts of lightning, as they hop in and out of my body, like a short circuited set of electronics. [You gained 4 levels.] [Level 121] [Skill obtained : Magic suppression : All hostile magic abilities below tier 3 are absorbed] [Skill upgraded : Root surge. Covers a wider area and use limit increased] [Skill upgraded : Subsidiary tree increased to 250] [Soul forge : Blue] is active. [Soul forge : ForgeTree. The physical realm¡¯s link to the soul forge] [Soul forge abilities unlocked] [The power to repair, mend souls. To strip souls apart, and put them back together. The ability to add souls to your abilities, familiars, items, trees. The ability to push souls to their limits, and beyond. The ability to rank up a soul. The ability to fuse soul fragments whole, and create artificial sub-souls from ordinary soul fragments] The wisp shakes, and he splits into three wisps. Two then circle around the soul forge, orbiting it. ¡°You¡¯ve done it. An active soul forge.¡± ¡°Where do I start?¡± ¡°I suggest, given your now expanding reach, is to have¡­ assistants.¡± ¡°Okay, lead the way.¡± Not all souls are suited to make the journey to the afterlife, the aether dimension whether all souls return. Souls, though extremely durable, do fracture and crack, and decay from the presence of the outside world. Some souls are torn by the magic of men, between life and death. Some souls are stuck, lingering, seeking vengeance or salvation. Whatever it is, some souls cannot make the journey. And for these souls, they decay into fragments. But it is not the end. Eventually, in the eternity of time, enough of these fragments will pool together and form a soul-body able to make the journey into the afterlife, where the administrator of souls can restore them, and send them onwards, to continue the eternal duty of souls. To reincarnate into the next life. A soul forge assists in this repairing and renewal process. It fuses the fragments of ordinary decayed souls, into a soul body, and the soul body then makes the journey to the afterlife. But, it leaves behind a ¡°frame¡±. An artificial thing, not possessing the limitless, self sustaining life force of a soul, but yet, close enough. To use an analogy, the soul comprise of a car (an outer layer) and a driver (an inner layer). The decayed souls are broken cars, unable to continue its journey to the other side. The soul forge, forges the broken parts of multiple broken cars together, such that together they can make that journey. But, once that journey is made, the inner layer disappears, but the outer layer remains. This outer layer, is the ¡°artificial-soul¡±. Like a person without heart, it is close, but not the same. And with this artificial soul, we, upgraded one of my very first abilities. [Soul-forge is fusing autopilot with an artificial soul]. [Autopilot has transformed into Forest Mind, Level 1] [You may now name Forest Mind.] ¡°Trevor.¡± I wanted Treevor, but never mind. ¡°I am Trevor, Level 1 Forest-Mind. Greetings Master TreeTree.¡± It speaks! ¡°I can handle the administrative, defensive and organisation aspects of the valley on your behalf, and as I gain levels, you may select the skills and abilities I gain. Please assign me a duty.¡± Bear and Beetle Year 74 Month 9 It is as if I am playing a strategy game, and now I unlocked the radar and now have minimaps, live indicators, numerical representation of all the things going on before, with much better details. An example would be normal trees, previously I have a data indicating how many trees is connect to me via rootnet, but now that data is a lot more granular, like how many of those trees are producing seeds and fruits, the average age of trees, the estimated fertility of the ground, and estimates of how many trees will be added. ¡°The merchants are spotted southwest, sir.¡± Yes, I think I prefer sire over master. And my alarm system. ¡°Good.¡± ¡°The elves are on their way. With the olives.¡± There are certain things innate to Trevor, things that do not need to be taught, because they come naturally. Things like tree management, boosting growth rate, checking for new ¡°foreign¡± objects, managing mining and essence extractions. ¡°Master, I gained a level.¡± ¡°Yes good.¡± And he is level 5 now. Here¡¯s a limitation with artificial souls, though. Artificial souls start off with a level limit of 20 and to break that, I need to upgrade the artificial soul, or fulfill certain set criteria. As they get upgraded, their abilities grow, but according to wisps, so will their tendency to¡­ misbehave. So, in a way, artificial souls generally become less stable as they grow. But, this is also influenced by various factors, such as the skill of the soul forger, the power of the soul forge, and various other unknowns. Another, is that Trevor, leeches off on my knowledge, and fuses it with its innate knowledge of tree-stuff. So, while it can handle forest related matters superbly, it struggles to even talk about¡­ communicating with its inhabitants. In fact, that communication it has with me, is due to the fact that it is synchronised to me, and therefore can relay its message to me specifically. So¡­ in a way, an assistant no one knows about. Well, doesn¡¯t matter to the elves, does it? ¡°How about me?¡± Meela pops by. Her soul is damaged by the journey, but I have used the soul forge to repair her back. Still, it is not a complete repair. It seems I will need to find additional upgrades for the [soul forge], to fully get back her power. ¡°I¡­ I haven¡¯t thought of how to best use you. And you are due for reincarnation, no?¡± ¡°Oh I spoke to Nobuo last night. He said I can stay for 1,000 years before I return.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s Nobuo?¡± ¡°Oh.. the reincarnation god.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± I thought his name is Mozart? Or are there multiple reincarnation gods? ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ he assumed my soul was destroyed by the demons, and would take a longer time to get back into the system, so he didn¡¯t arrange a subsequent reincarnation for me yet, so he says I can hang around for a 1,000 years.¡± ¡°That¡¯s awfully long for him.¡± ¡°Oh, time flows differently in the aether realm, its like super fast there.¡± Meela¡¯s soul bobs around. ¡°Really.¡± Well, I suppose its like saying flies have short lives, and perhaps to these gods, our lives are like flies. ¡°Trevor, any suggestions?¡± ¡°No sir. Souls are not my area of expertise.¡± ¡°Would you like a combat role?¡± Meela¡¯s soul spins. ¡°No. I did a lot of fighting with the stupid demons, so¡­ I can help with defenses if you need it, but¡­ something more¡­ domestic?¡± ¡°What do you like?¡± ¡°I like dancing, I like¡­ kids. I used to volunteer as a kindergarten assistant, and maybe playing games and stuff.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ anything else?¡± Meela seems slightly annoyed. ¡°Why can¡¯t you just pick something. Can¡¯t I change if I don¡¯t like it?¡± Hmm. ¡°Wisp, is the soul forge fusion reversible?¡± ¡°For artificial souls, no. The disentangling process will shred to soul-frame (outer layer). For normal souls, yes, but the normal souls have a ¡°cooldown¡± period.¡± ¡°You are right Meela, looks like you can change if you don¡¯t like it. I was afraid that its an irreversible effect, in which case a mistake would be¡­ terrible.¡± ¡°Aaaahh. I see I see. Well, I do like exploring places, eating food, talking to people. You know, like, be a tourist. I think that would be nice.¡± ¡°A tourist eh.¡± I can¡¯t create human bodies, so too bad. At most I can make a wooden puppet¡­ wait. A wooden puppet might be a good idea. ¡°Is that it?¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ I also like to draw, and paint. And hang out with my siblings.¡± ¡°Sorry, I suddenly thought of it.. don¡¯t you miss your family or whoever where you came from?¡± I suddenly miss my nephew too. Meela pauses, ¡°I do. But like I said, time moves differently for different places.. Relativity, interdimensional timespace and all that mumbo jumbo. This 1,000 years is not going to be a 1,000 years in my home. Nobuo say he can send me back, without my memories, to the exact moment before we had the bus accident, and that accident didn¡¯t happen. According to him, the only thing I will get from this world once I return¡­ is strange, unusual dreams.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Yeah. Things will be back to the way they were, and all I get is a dream.¡± ¡°Like primary school essays eh. Where you wake up and realise it''s all been a dream.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡­ ¡­ ¡°Do you like doing¡­ research?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ How about you pick something?¡± ¡°...I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°...seriously?¡± ¡°Yea.¡± ¡°Any ideas?¡± I look at the actual Wisp, and he turns around. I take that as a no. ¡°Ah. Can you just be my secretary then?¡± ¡°Sounds lewd. No.¡± Year 74 Month 9 Week 3 There are patches of [subsidiary tree], with grapes and papaya in all the different refugees groups, as a form of dietary supplement. The refugees of new Freeka swelled to 2,000, boosted by the ¡°victory¡± over the large army. So, New Freeka is bustling with activity, as they try to cater to the needs of a growing town, with Yvon and her group of advisors as the unelected leader. Most of the new refugees are mostly escapees, as the war with the Nung and Takde continues to devastate that region of land. ¡°I bring¡­ troublesome news, Tree spirit.¡± Jura nods, and sits in one of the tables in the inner circle of trees. He sips on the tea made with tea leaves, and then continues. ¡°Yvon¡¯s group is planning to send a delegation to Salah. To negotiate a truce, for coexistence.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± How is that troublesome? Is it not worth trying? ¡°The refugees themselves though, do not think that is a good idea. Many lost friends, family to the brutality of the Salah kingdom, like us, enmity is not going to accept a truce. Personally, I think Yvon still wants to coexist peacefully with humans.¡± Hmm. ¡°So¡­ the mood amongst the refugees is a bit conflicted. They are aware their options for revenge is limited, but feels injustice and dissatisfaction at ¡°peace¡±.¡± And? ¡°Some of them think you should decide. Whether truce is a good idea.¡± ¡°Yes. And besides, do you think Salah kingdom is going to hold on and honor a truce?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°So a truce is a good idea, because it buys time. It gives us just cause to retaliate.¡± Jura pauses, and then nods. ¡°Yeah. Maybe.¡± Now that its decided, I turn my attention to artificial souls. ¡°Thinking of making another?¡± The wisp asks, clearly knowing my thoughts. ¡°Yes. But I have much to think about¡­ considering I have only sufficient fragmented souls to make¡­ 4 more, for now.¡± ¡°People die, and over the eternities you will gather thousands, maybe millions of souls. Life in this world is so fragile after all.¡± ¡°Ah true. Do these artificial souls die?¡± ¡°Yes, if they get destroyed.¡± Kinda like computers then. It is then we direct our attention to the [forge tree], a large tree located on the outer ring of my circle. Black in color, as if the tree itself has been scorched, its split into five from top through the middle of the trunk. At the bottom, there''s a big black hole into a pitch black screen. And Jura gulps, he steps in. [Soul Forge activating¡­] [Merging artificial soul, tree familiar and essences of earth and 50 essences of bear] [Familiar has transformed into a Bear-shaped Tree Eidolon, Level 1. You may name it.] ¡°Bamboo.¡± Jura walks out of the soul forge feeling a bit dazed, wondering what happened. It is then that a smoke like thing start to appear, out of his skin. And it then accumulates, spins and swirls, then transforms into a bear made of branches twirled and spun together. ¡°Hi.¡± A loud, hoarse voice breaks the soft rustling of the forest. Jura jumps. ¡°What?!¡± The bear takes a few step and stands on two legs, like a grizzly. ¡°I was once your familiar. With the blessings of the tree spirit, I have now transformed into an eidolon.¡± ¡°Eidolon?¡± Well, I¡¯ll let Jura figure it out. Next, is a large giant warbeetle. The soul forge took a whole day to merge a warbeetle with an artificial soul, but when it is finally complete, a large warbeetle emerges. [Warbeetle has transformed into Beetleknight, Level 1. You many name it.] ¡°Horns.¡± ¡°Master.¡± It speaks to me telepathically. ¡°Great. Horns, you shall lead the beetles.¡± ¡°As you command.¡± [To assign more artificial souls, additional trees needed] Ah. It seems each of these artificial souls derive some form of control and energy from me indirectly. [You obtained a beetle commander, each tree with [insect warriors] has expanded to 5 beetles per tree.] [You leveled up. Level 122!] [Poison field upgraded] Ah man, I was hoping for some greater AoE abilities. Between all the other boosts and support I get, I have probably sufficient root strikes and root surge to probably kill 2,000 men if all die at a single root strike, and the remainder will depend on the beetle army I have. But if a large army of 10,000 comes along again, the citizens of the valley are done for. Year 74 Month 10 Traders came by, and bring news and money. Salah is winning the war against both Nung and Takde, so they may soon turn their attention back to us again. Traders came by for another load of olive oil. It seems it''s a rather popular product, that they ask the elves whether the olive oil production could be expanded, and they only say, ¡°Maybe.¡± New Freeka is growing, and a big inflow of refugees resulted in a growth to almost 3,000. Food is a problem, and so they engage in widespread hunting, but Yvon directed them towards the open fields and shrubs, where some animals spawn. ¡°We need food. Winter is here soon.¡± Jura pauses, ¡°Food?¡± ¡°Can the tree spirit help?¡± ¡°Tree spirit is not the solution to everything.¡± Jura shakes his head. Yvon and another of the senior New Freeka leaders look at each other. ¡°Surely he can do¡­ some things?¡± Jura pauses¡­. ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± ¡°Perhaps help with some¡­ fruits?¡± ¡°Fruits don''t grow in winter.¡± Lie, some fruits do grow in winter. Especially with my [winter resistance]. Perhaps some day I will even get some [Greenhouse] like ability. Sounds like a farming game then. Perhaps sprinklers too. Would I be a farmtree then? ¡°Hmm.. I will speak to the tree spirit.¡± Yvon nods, ¡°Please. If the refugee situation grows even further we will have a food crisis over winter.¡± ¡°Then why are you still accepting more?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t. I made an oath to the gods when we started this fight, before this, to accept the non-human refugees, to offer safe haven to those who seek us out.¡± ¡°Ah.. a god¡¯s oath?¡± Jura asks. ¡°Yes. To Morya.¡± ¡°Ah. Not Gaya?¡± Yvon didn¡¯t answer. And Jura takes the hint. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± ¡°So, please ask the tree spirit for help.¡± ¡°I will ask.¡± Just as Jura is about to walk away, Yvon stops him. ¡°Also¡­ can the Tree Spirit create a tree in New Freeka? We can cater an area where a quite sanctuary can be made.¡± ¡°Oh. Why?¡± ¡°The refugees have¡­ spiritual needs. A place for prayer, ceremony, and faith.¡± Jura nods. ¡°Ah I see. I will speak to the Tree Spirit.¡± It seems Yvon and team still cannot identify which tree are actually my [subsidiary trees]. [Camouflage]? Oh well. ¡°Can you let us know the tree spirits decision tomorrow?¡± ¡°I will try.¡± Later, once they left, Jura sits on a wooden stump right outside the secret hideout. ¡°What do you think, you heard what they say?¡± I pause. I suppose if we do assist, they may soon expect it annually. There must be a cost to it, so they must bear some kind of price for assistance. Power and abilities should not be given freely, as there are consequences. ¡°Potatoes. Offer them potatoes. But it comes at a price. I demand a magical item in exchange.¡± Jura pauses¡­ ¡°Ah¡­ what sort of magical item.¡± ¡°The amount of potatoes I will nourish, depends on what magical items they offer me.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°As for the tree for New Freeka, I am fine.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°How¡¯s the eidolon coming?¡± Jura stands and then suddenly, a wooden armor surrounds him, and that armor looks like a grizzly bear, his arms with claws made of wood. He takes a few steps, and his posture and gait that of a giant bear. ¡°This is my new form. [Ursa Mode].¡± ¡°Ah, so how is it?¡± ¡°Not bad,I feel stronger, faster. But without a real opponent I will not really know how well it performs.¡± ¡°Get Yvon.¡± Jura pauses. ¡°You want to show this to her?¡± ¡°It is fine. Not as if she can do anything about it.¡± Jura nods, leaves for New Freeka and inform Yvon of the decision. Later that evening, a clearing is made in New Freeka, that has been designated as space for a subsidiary tree. And indeed, overnight, a tree appeared in the middle of that space. Year 74 Month 11 The artifacts offered were¡­ uninteresting. Rings, daggers all with mild enchantments. The possessions of the refugees are¡­ not spectacular. Or perhaps they are not hungry enough to offer what is truly valuable. But they did offer quite a few, about thirty, so as a result, they received about 3,000 large potatoes, which spawned right next to their town. This level of precision, is made possible by Trevor. Other than that, this month is¡­ quiet. The cold is coming again. Winter is starting. Lausanne, now almost 6, is starting actual combat training since she really still is holding on to that hero idea, and Brislach, Wahlen respectively are old enough and yearn for social contact that they demand to move to New Freeka, even though Laufen has been a great caretaker. I guess even elves go through that teenage rebellious phases. Belle and Emile though, seem to remember the destruction a lot more vividly than the younger kids, so they are staying put. Maybe they want to do work other than doing olives. Jura shrugs, and lets them go. I give both Brislach and Wahlen a regular tree familiar, just for protection, and Trevor will help me monitor them. Elsewhere, my beetles explore a bit further, just to get a sense of what''s out there beyond the valley. Once again, made possible by Trevor and Horns. Beyond the valley, further down south is the ruins of Moton. Where I once stayed. It seems after the demonic wars it never actually rebuild. Even further south, is a region under the Nung kingdom, known as Rufas, and it is where the region¡¯s temple of Gaya lies. Rufas is also a border city with Salah, and Moton in times past has frequently changed hands between Nung and Salah. A small town with little defenses, they often just surrender when threatened. I suspect the temple of Gaya I once was, is here, but I can¡¯t be sure. Perhaps there are many, and I wonder whether the caretaker and Gewa¡¯s body is still there. Rufas is large, heavily fortified, and I have little insight to its interior, beyond a spying beetle. To the east and west are large fields, now populated with wild buffalos, goats and some animals. There are also monsters, but they do not attack the regular animals. On the eastern side, as we go further, there is the ruins of multiple different forts. Some are being rebuilt, but most remain ruins. The damage and ruins looks fairly new, and the fields are littered with the dead. After that, the eastern terrain deforms even more, and it looks as if the area has seen some really serious demonic battles. At that point, the beetle return. It seems that''s as far as they would go from home. It seems there is a range in which beetles would go, even with Horns extended range support. On the western side is first the fields, then some regrowing forests, and then some more ruins. And then, mountains. Some hot springs, then some lakes, and after that, a chain of active volcanoes. On the northern side is where the demonic rift used to be. Its still mostly barren and the beetles are frequently attacked by rather fearsome monsters that appear here. Horns advised a larger squad of beetles, should I intend to actually explore the areas closer to the demons. Year 74 Month 12 Winter. Potatoes. Beetles sleep, even Horns is operating at half strength. Winter is even colder than last year, but thankfully most of the refugees are well prepared now. With some decent housing, heat retention from thicker walls and a good stockpile of firewood, all the refugees are having a much more comfortable winter. The centaurs, over this whole year has constructed multiple large tents, with multiple layers of cloth and skin that helps slow down heat loss, and also built, with the aid of the treefolk, some drainages to help manage the rain that occurs frequently during the winter months. Potatoes, of course, as a reserve food. The treefolk apparently also have a habit of storing food underground, apparently they have a kind of magic that makes a kind of fermented vegetable. Its their version of the winter cache, using cabbages mixed with all kinds of chilli and vinegar. Oh, and during this month I gained an additional food variety. [Harvestable crops : Apples] [Winter resistance upgraded.] The essence generators extract all sorts of essences, from the surroundings. So now that my roots extend the entire valley, it seems it extracts from all the deaths in the valley. Essence generator produces, in varying quantities : Essences of seasons (Summer, Spring, Autumn and Winter)Essences of the animals that die in the valley (Bears, foxes, Deers, Birds, Insects, Spiders, Rabbits, Squirrels) (This type of essence is the most abundant)Essences of elements & weatherEssences of events, of fighting As for the material extraction from the roots, as with the various upgrades and dedicated subsidiary tree for material and mineral extraction IronCopperSmall quantities of gold and silver Year 75 Month 1 Snow. Cold, cold snow. Jura had a few sparring matches with Yvon. Yvon is stronger in pure swordfighting, due to her past experience as the right hand of Prince. But then, once Jura activates the [Ursa Form], his speed, strength and natural defenses shoots up, and Yvon is no match. ¡°Bear form? A summoner¡¯s ability? Or perhaps a beastmaster?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ I have no clue.¡± Jura¡¯s being honest. I doubt Bamboo knows that much about his abilities, too? ¡°Hmmm.¡± Other than this, the delegation from Salah has returned. One of them. And the leaders all rush to meet him. ¡°Milady, the Kingdom has agreed to a truce.¡± Everyone is happy, but then this is too easy, so they ask further. ¡°What.. what are the terms?¡± ¡°We are to take in all of the non-humans in the Kingdom. We have to pay a compensation of 10,000 gold coins a year for the next ten years.¡± Yvon pauses¡­ ¡°All?¡± ¡°Ten thousand gold coins?¡± ¡°They are extorting us, these terms.¡± Yvon pauses, ¡°Any more?¡± ¡°Your life, madam. They want your head.¡± A leyline and wines Year 75 month 2 Yvon agrees to the truce, with a few modifications. Her death comes after two years of peace. She did not see herself as being that valuable, that her life mattered more than the security and safety of the non-humans she swore an oath to protect. In fact, she felt it is a fitting way to die, a martyr''s sacrifice, a trade of her life for 2 years of truce. The second modification they proposed, is to have the gold payment reduced, paid quarterly, and the first payment commencing after a year of peace. The Salah Kingdom accepts the modified terms. Why? One, is that they still manage to get rid of all the non-humans under this truce plan, and giving this space for Yvon to integrate the non-humans is ideal. In fact, it is probably their main goal, to create a human-only environment. There is racial tension, and getting rid of these "troublesome" elements is worth it for Salah, from a unity perspective. If they want to create a united kingdom, this may be one way to do so. The loyalties of these non-humans are always suspect, even though there is no evidence showing nonhumans as more disloyal than humans. Money is hardly an issue for a wealthy nation like Salah, and perhaps there are factions within Salah who sees additional benefits of getting rid of the non humans. Salah no longer has to maintain multiple prisons, detention camps, armies and soldiers to patrol their lands. In fact, to be able to reduce their logistics load and manpowrr needs is probably what they want, so they can direct this resources to their currently ongoing conflict with the Nung and Takde. Its a concession they agree to make, to deal with what they see as a "larger" enemy. As for Yvon, the very fact that they still get to kill her, even if after 2 years, without having to resort to a war, is a net save for their military. They get to focus on other fronts, and gives them just cause. In fact, the fact that she agrees either way, is as good as an admission of guilt. So, even if this New Freeka decides to wage war someday, Salah is the one that is right, the neighbouring kingdoms less likely to come to Salah¡¯s aid, and they will be able to use overwhelming force, and even underhanded methods, without losing support of the humans Thinking it through, Yvon may have signed herself and New Freeka for a tough truce deal. But, this is a positive outcome for her, as she gets peace, and she can better ensure the safety of the nonhumans. Anyway, it is a decision Yvon makes for New Freeka, and it is probably a good decision. For me, I am initially a little peeved, but then as I ponder the issue, perhaps this will allow me the better investigate the culprits of Freeka''s destruction, and focus my vengeance. After all, if they have less reason to suspect and enter into battle with us, I can keep my abilities hidden, unknown, and I can use that as a surprise attack. If they realise someone is constantly using roots to attack, they may well chop all trees down as a defensive measure. Also, the traders also bring news of the demon king¡¯s corpse. The location has been discovered, but approaching the daemolite has proven to be exceptionally challenging, as the location¡¯s gravitational field has been disrupted, and so the entire area is floating in the sky. Add to that, the place is crawling with fire elementals. But most importantly, the traders brought something I have been trying to find for a long time. A register of recorded spirits and magical places in the region. And a rudimentary map where the nearest magical leyline is located. Leyline! I want one. The nearest one is actually near the ruins of Moton, so Horns investigates, as Jura refuses to leave the valley. The beetlesquad took about three days to get there, and to discover that it is actually¡­ a small dungeon. Dungeon eh. Conventional thinking, I¡¯ll need to break the dungeon core to get to the leyline. But I wonder whether it''s possible to hijack the leyline without having to mount an assault on the dungeon¡­ In either case, having confirmed the location, I start spawning [subsidiary trees], in a line. This process took 60 [subsidiary trees], as the gap between each tree is about one and a half kilometer, and now I have a string of subsidiary trees that form a link all the way up to the dungeon. Somehow, this reminds me of those strategy games where I sent a scout in a straight line, cutting through the fog of war... The dungeon is pouring out a tonne of monsters, mostly low level ghouls, zombies and skeletons. The beetles and Horns have to constantly fend off the group of marauding skeletons and zombies, but with a subsidiary tree nearby they are able to regenerate and hold back the horde. This is where I discover I have... a problem. My warbeetles are big, the size of rhinos, but the dungeon entrance is big enough of for only three of them side by side. And having so little space also means the beetles lose a few of their combat advantages, ie their charge attacks. They do have very strong armor, but if there are stronger monsters in the dungeon, these beetles are¡­ kinda sitting ducks. ¡°Sire, suggest we stay put and control the area for now.¡± Horns telepathically communicates. As an artificial soul linked to me, he can transmit his message to me directly, though he lacks any mouth that is capable of speech. So, even though he understands language¡­ he can only speak to me.. and the other artificial souls. ¡°We can set up defensive positions?¡± Trevor asks, also interested in this new expansion. ¡°It¡¯s a dungeon¡­¡± Meela pokes her head in, seeing what I see. It seems she is able to share my vision¡­ not sure how she is able to do that. Outside, in the open, the beetles can crush and ram the undead easily, and render them¡­ useless. But as an experiment, I sent a few beetles into the dungeon anyway, and as expected they die once they are trapped. Dungeons with their narrow passages are not the best places for oversized beetles. So¡­ I need a different strategy. [Achieved long distance connected roots. Unlocked new skill : Far-reaching roots] [Subsidiary tree has leveled up! Limit expanded to 400] Year 75 Month 3 The truce between Salah and New Freeka signed. Refugees. Expelled. More than 3,000 new refugees came this month, and New Freeka soars to 7,000 in population. Massive construction happening, but thankfully its spring, so a huge surge in new tree growth by myself and Trevor, and also the dedicated timber farms (which produce no energy, as all of its energy is used to create more wood mass) means ample supply of wood. The new people are a mix of elves, centaurs, dwarves, and some humans, as there are some families where the humans intermarried with non-humans. Mostly humanoids, as they are the most ¡°acceptable¡± to the humans, but still not enough. Yvon and her team are busy, and they build additional town expansion right next to the valley. The forest, is off limits to the new comers, as there are monsters appearing. Insect types, but they generally hunt are animals. It''s also to prevent the newbies from¡­ offending the rules that has been set up, but of course, there are those that try anyway, so¡­ that''s when the warbeetles scare the shit out of them. Anyway, back to the undead dungeon. Stalemate still ongoing. I can¡¯t get into the dungeon, but they can¡¯t get out either. Using additional [subsidiary trees], I created a defensive line outside the dungeon, and any of the undead that appear is instantly killed by Horns and team. Horns hit his level limit of 20, and I am sad. His combat and support skills are quite interesting, but nothing useful in tiny.. dungeons. ¡°How do I upgrade their level limits?¡± ¡°For who? Different unit types have different.. things.¡± Wisp bobs around. ¡°Let''s say Trevor? Trevor also has hit his limit.¡± ¡°A forest mind would require a ¡°brain¡±.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± [Unlocked special tree type. Root-Brain Complex. Requires special minerals to grow. Special minerals required are 10 x Blood Crystals, and 50 x fresh animal heads] The¡­ wha? ¡°Guys. I got a task for you.¡± I tell the elves. ¡°As you wish.¡± Jura found some of his skills upgraded recently, and strangely, it makes his behavior.. a little weird. ¡°How about me? Can I help too?¡± Lausanne asks, she follows Jura everywhere these days, he is her combat mentor after all. ¡°Uh¡­ depends whether you¡¯ll be in danger.¡± It later emerges that the blood crystals can be bought, and isn¡¯t exactly overly expensive. But Jura will have to raise some money for it, so we need to either earn it or get it via other means. The olives sold is a good sum of money but insufficient to afford blood crystals. ¡°Is there any loot from the dungeon you found?¡± ¡°Loot?¡± ¡°Things that are dropped by the monsters or creatures.¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. I can¡¯t actually see it that well. Trevor, Horns, is there?¡± My vision is mostly on things, living, things, or creatures and items made of mana. Inanimate, manaless objects appear as outlines, and¡­ frankly there¡¯s so many of these objects I can¡¯t tell if they are any different. ¡°Yes, sire. There¡¯s some of the items dropped by the zombies and skeletons. We didn¡¯t pick them up, as¡­ we don¡¯t have hands. But they look like ordinary items, sire.¡± Horns! Tell me next time! Well, I later sent Emile and Belle, with a protective group of beetles to pick up the loot. It turns out zombies, skeletons do drop some low quality loot, but, loot is still loot, and they can be sold for cash. And then I realised I asked the wrong question of the Wisp. ¡°Uh.. how do I upgrade Horns?¡± I mean, if I do want to do more things around the valley and the region, Horns is the best candidate¡­ The wisp pauses¡­. ¡°Hmmm. I don¡¯t know actually.¡± Stumped, I think this is a deliberate challenge. The system wants me to figure it out myself, so, when Horns returns to the valley, he goes into the [biolab]. Under the microscope, the warbeetle knight¡¯s body is unlike any other. The body is dry, flaky, and there is a tiny spring of mana in the middle, which I think is from artificial soul. Unlike normal souls who pour out clear mana, the mana from this spring is light blue, as if somebody mixed a flour and blue colouring into it. The body, the vessel of said blue mana is dry, and¡­ cold? [Body - mana type compatibility is low. Body absorption ratio is low] Ah, the biolab has tooltips and indicators. I focus on the spring, and another set of tootips emerge. [Mana generation ratio hampered by low synchronisation with external environment] Ah.. looks like a lot of work needed. I don¡¯t recall seeing so many tooltips, or is it because of the upgrades? Or soul forge? I think I could use a lab assistant, so i wonder whether I could fuse the biolab and an artificial soul? Ah. Maybe I should do that next¡­ Anyway, back to the body, I recall there is a freshness, a softness when I look at Meela¡¯s body. It seemed like the mana pours out of the spring, and the body laps it up. Even all the other bodies I have seen, the body laps up and absorbs all the mana it produces. Is this because I forced this creation? That the body does not absorb this foreign soul suddenly thrust into it? Ah¡­ if that''s the case, do I need to introduce a phase of introducing the artificial soul¡¯s mana to the vessel before performing the merge? [Soul forge annex added : Mana soaking facility, and compatibility tester.] [Biolab upgraded. Additional lab tools obtained] Ah. Sounds like the answer is yes. Still, I have a problem now. Horns, the body and mana has low compatibility, so how do I fix it after the fact? Is there some kind of medicine I can make? Or maybe I need to find some way to modify the body so that it absorbs and becomes more compatible with the artificial soul it houses? Ah. Never mind. At the way things are going, I will find out. I want artificial souls, and assistants. And that leyline. ¡°Trevor, how many trees are we growing this month?¡± ¡°On track for almost 2,000, sire.¡± At the current normal tree count stands at about 13,850, at the end of the month. If 10,000 can support 3 artificial souls, would 20,000 support 6? ¡°Sire¡­ we require some precious gems. Like emerald or topaz or diamonds.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ why?¡± ¡°The rootnet will hit max load at 20,000, and needs to be upgraded. There is an energy transmission capacity, and these precious gems can be used to upgrade the roots.¡± Ah. Like power cables? Damn. I have so many competing priorities! Can I mine these minerals somewhere? ¡°Are there any mines? Or locations where this is available?¡± ¡°The map says there are some abandoned mines nearer to the demon rift. No data available on the resources available or whether anyone lives there.¡± Hmmm. ¡°How much of these gems do you need?¡± ¡°10kg worth, in any mixture, sire. It is sufficient to upgrade the main 8-directional roots that form the backbone of the root net. We are already consuming copper to upgrade the existing root networks.¡± ¡°Fine¡­ lets send Horns and the beetles there.¡± ¡°But how about the dungeon?¡± Ah true. Damn it. Can I get the refugees to do it? ¡°Hey, I am still trying to get money for the blood crystals, so¡­ I am busy.¡± Jura shakes his head, and he¡¯s not keen on the dungeon, or the mines, either. He¡¯s just planning to sell all the loot. Laufen, Belle and Emile are not fighters, so they are out too. ¡°But try to buy them, like blood crystals?¡± ¡°If we produce more olive oils, maybe we can buy them?¡± ¡°I think it won¡¯t make a dent. Such gems are expensive, no?¡± As they discuss, ¡°Hey, Trevor, what¡¯s considered a precious gem?¡± ¡°Emeralds, diamonds, topaz, rubies, pearls, aquamarine, garnet, almost anything crystalline.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± I wonder how Trevor knows such things, sometimes. ¡°I leech off your knowledge, sire. When we are created, we take a snapshot of what the [soul forge] thinks is relevant to our roles, and periodically we get additional knowledge from you, and the Wisp.¡± ¡°Wait, are you saying the soul forge is¡­ sentient?¡± The wisp suddenly pops up. ¡°No. The soul forge, has a certain categorisation of information that it needs for the each kind of role, ie, combat, support, administrative, magical, social. Your memories and knowledge is also classified into such categories, and the forge will match those roles to the knowledge.¡± ¡°How about you?¡± I mean, the wisp knows shit I don¡¯t, so it must come from somewhere. ¡°I have inherited knowledge, granted to all wisps of soul trees. From the nameless mother herself.¡± The nameless mother. I wonder whether I can meet her. Maybe I should dig really deep, maybe she¡¯s hiding deep underground in the heart of the planet. Year 75 Month 4 Yvon and the leaders of New Freeka came to beg for aid. Their population now boomed to 10,000, and they have a problem feeding and housing, even with the massive building they are doing. There seems to be some observers from Salah, to ensure the truce terms are complied with. Well, their problem is multifold really. Housing, food, how to make money for their truce obligations, and how to control such a large, restless and unhappy population. As they live on the periphery of the forest, building, farming on the lands that is not yet forested, I leave it to them. As long as they do not encroach on the forest, I can allow space for Yvon¡¯s group. ¡°I offer my soul.¡± Yvon kneels, begs, really. ¡°Anything, tree spirit. At this point, you are the only one that can offer us hope.¡± ¡°No.¡± I mean, one soul, to aid so many refugees? What does she take me for, a charity? Then, her entire council of fifteen men kneels. ¡°We offer our souls as well. We have fought long and hard together, for the dream of Prince Galan and Lady Yvon¡¯s non-human state. Here we have a great chance to achieve it, and with the powers of a great tree spirit, we can achieve it.¡± ¡°16 of your souls, for more than 10,000 refugees?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Is that a good trade?¡± I ask the wisp. ¡°No idea.¡± The sixteen kneels. ¡°Everything we have to offer, and our remaining lives. Please, to house, to feed, to protect a fledging city, a great tree spirit can do more than we can.¡± Uh¡­ well, that is cause your levels are low? If one is high level enough one would get tremendously OP abilities, do they not? ¡°No. Not good enough.¡± They look at each other, and decide to go back to New Freeka. New Freeka, at 10,000 sprawls the entire southern valley, essentially blocking off access to the forests which I live in. Ah, no matter. As the [Ginseng] grows, it seems, stranger, more powerful monsters spawn in the forests. Things harder for the Beetles to defeat, on some days, larger groups of monsters. [Ginseng has reach stage 1 maturity. You may direct its next stage of growth.] Stage 2 growth choices are : Mana growth and mana pool size (Your mana will reduce by 1% for the entirety of the stage 2 growth period)physical stat growth (Tree growth reduced by 5% during the entire growth period)Grant unique skills (Stronger monsters will appear during the entire stage 2 period)(Environmental choice) Grants title [Survivor of the valley]. Title provides high-tier natural regeneration, and increased defense. [There are twenty stages to the ginseng. Each successive stage increases monster spawn, and stronger monster types, who will try to consume or destroy the ginseng tree.] Uh. Uh¡­. Is this a [protect the tree] minigame? I picked [unique skills], because why the fuck not. Year 75 Month 4 Week 3 The stalemate continues. There is a dungeon I want to invade, and yet I suck. And repeatedly attempting to charge into the dungeon seems to have created stronger zombies and undead, so if I want to get to it, I better attack with a strong force able to wipe it in one go. Meanwhile, [Far-reaching roots] increase the distance between the [subsidiary trees] further, essentially doubling it. I am now trying to explore alternative means of locating the stuff that I need to.. grow. Back at the ginseng tree, a couple of strong monsters appeared this month, they killed a few beetles before they are defeated, so I increase the beetle defending it to 50 beetles. The treefolk and centaur are relatively content, being like suburbs to the booming New Freeka. Yvon and group returns again for another round of begging, and once more, I turn them away. And yet, in New Freeka, it seems quite a few people, elves or humans or dwarves, pray to my [subsidiary tree]. And talk about their issues. Some of these refugees has taken on the role of a ¡°priest¡±, limiting and controlling the sessions each one has to talk to that subsidiary tree. Even though I do not respond. Strange, but I suppose faith is needed even when one¡¯s a refugee. Some of these humans and dwarves have a culture of praying to the deity that controls the land they live in, even though they may not be a devout believer. Its an animistic kind of approach, to worship the land, but it is charming. [Special tree unlocked : Tree of Prayers] [Tree of Prayers has a calming, relaxing effect on its surroundings. Has the ability to passively soothe and comfort. Comes with a naturally calming background music of rustling leaves and wind] Oh. This is like that time when Brislach and Wahlen play hide and seek. Year 75 Month 5 A massive tiger attacked my [ginseng tree]. It killed 30 beetles, and managed to pull the ginseng tree out of the ground. Then Trevor alerted me to the sudden attack. And I killed it with multiple root strikes. [Ginseng tree has been killed] Dammit. Well the ginseng tree is still lying on the ground, but its dead. This, fragile little thing. Well, I later had Laufen brew it into a soup, using tiger meat and ginseng. Kind of like traditional asian herbal soups. And had all Jura, Laufen, Emile and Belle eat and drink the soup. Tastes like roots. They reported feeling strange, but nothing else. Maybe not so quickly? Or the ginseng is too young? Year 75 Month 5 Week 2 Yvon comes and beg for something again. This time, for us to create grapes. The [Harvestable crops : grapes], and the idea is that they will make wine with it, to raise enough money to pay the terms of the truce. Good idea, really. So what''s the offer? ¡°My soul. I am marked for death anyway, so take my soul.¡± Soul for a farm of grapes? It''s quite a good deal. ¡°50 grapes trees.¡± ¡°Only?¡± ¡°50 confirmed grape trees, and I will use my abilities to boost a dedicated patch of land of 4 acres for grapes for the next 10 years.¡± ¡°Hmmmmmm¡­.¡± ¡°Your soul for a grape farm.¡± One of her advisors shake her head. ¡°No. Its too little.¡± ¡°How about 10 acres.¡± ¡°12 acres then. But I get 10% cut of all wine sales.¡± ¡°Okay. The deal is done. [Spiritual contract - barter] completed. The denizens of New Freeka builds the necessary grape trellis for the grapes to grow. As agreed, 50 [subsidiary trees] designated under [harvestable crops] to produce grapes, in an area 10ac wide, the rest of it just ordinary grape vines, boosted by me and Trevor¡¯s growth mojo. A wine industry in New Freeka. Fairly innovative of them, wanting to make high value items for sale. [Level up! You are now level 123] [Skill : Reinforce defensive structures obtained] Huh. How is that supposed to be a skill I learn at level 123? Sounds like crappy. Year 75 Month 6 The New Freeka peeps work fast, using the grapes produced from the [subsidiary trees]. The first batch of wines has been made, and undergoing testing and tasting. One of the senior leaders, an old man is apparently a wine connoisseur and he has skills in [winemaking], [wine-ageing] and so on. With his abilities, wines age three times as fast, and more resistant to spoilage. The [timber farm] produces a few variety of fragrant wood types, which are usable as wine kegs, and apparently can imbue additional texture and taste to the wine. Huh. I kinda feel sad that I am a tree now. When I was a programmer I did drink occasionally, to feel better about my stagnant career. Maybe I should get them to pour some on my roots. I might still taste some¡­ Though I doubt alcohol has any effect on trees? Year 75 Month 6 Week 3 Thanks to the booming New Freeka now at almost 15,000 nonhumans, and more expected, there¡¯s now a constant flow of merchants, and so, the first set of the wines are given to them free as ¡°samples¡±, for them to bring back to their hometowns and cities, hopefully entice some nobles or wealthy merchants to support the products. In either case, this burst in growth, means Jura can sell the loot collected, and the olive oil can be sold once ready. Benefits of an active market. But, we still don¡¯t have enough money for the crystals. To create the [root brain complex]. How does a Tree game or manipulate the economic system of this world anyway? ThreeTree Defense Initiative y75 m9 The month starts with rain. Rather heavy rain, though nothing damaging, as there is natural drainage within the valley itself. As the clouds dump water into the valley, the roots rejoice, the trees, all crave water, so, the roots lap it all up, absorbed by the growing number of normal trees and subsidiary trees, and it sated, for a moment, the valley¡¯s ever increasing demand for water. For New Freeka, they had to work harder. Yvon and team had to quickly repair and setup additional drainages. They expanded so quickly to accommodate the large quantities of housing, that the existing drainage is just not adequate. Flooding occurred in a few spots, but with some construction type magic, temporary drainages could be built rather quickly. The centaurs had some tents run off in the sudden downpour. Again, because one lives on hills and slopes, they are trading off flooding for mudslides and rockslides. Still a few of the refugees drowned at the sudden flash floods. Nothing like a bit of death and destruction to teach a lesson about infrastructure planning, as morbid as it sounds. And after the event, there¡¯s usually some kind of death ceremony, a burial or cremation, or for the first time, I witnessed a real oddity, the death ceremony of a treefolk, where the treefolk is cut up into many pieces¡­ and served as a kind of soup, for the kin to consume. ¡°For our loved ones live forever in us, and as a part of us. We are treefolk, and we carry the memories and lives of those who passed away before us.¡± Strange, but I suppose the ceremonial, ritualistic aspect of life is very much well preserved. Lately, I have been getting more¡­ ¡°prayers.¡± It''s a bit like the conversations I used to have in Freeka, with the elves, where they would come and sit next to me and talk. It¡¯s got to do with the [tree of prayer], and their belief that [soul trees] are a way of communion with their ancestors, or gods, or whoever they worship. So, in some societies, a [soul tree], a [shamanic totem], or a [spiritual rock] has a similar function as a church, or a temple. Like some kind of merger between druid beliefs, and conventional religion. ¡°Oh tree, oh tree, make me rich, and make me free.¡± Huh, a refugee praying for money. As if the trees have the power to grant fortune. ¡°Actually, you do have some limited power to do so.¡± The wisp interjects, and I brush him off. I¡¯m not going to make somebody rich. Else I¡¯d have people praying to me for winning lottery tickets. ¡°Oh tree, oh tree, let me be free of my stupid husband.¡± Ah¡­ one of those. Do I have powers over domestic happiness? ¡°In some ways, if you are creative, you do!¡± Damn it, Wisp. ¡°Oh tree oh tree, make us safe and stop all of this running. Let us find a home, where we can live in peace of the rest of our lives.¡± The common prayer of refugees, sick of running away, and finally finding a place to stay. I totally sympathise, I recall being evicted as a tenant and that¡¯s a horrible experience. ¡°Oh tree oh tree kill the humans. Kill those who make us go through this suffering.¡± Ah, the vengeful too. Such is the anger, from those who lost their families, or friends. Vengeance is a common prayer topic, after all, refugees all have plenty of grievances from the experience they go through. And, my [Tree of Prayer] responds to such energy, absorbing some of it and converting it into [Essence of Mercy], [Essence of Hope], [Essences of Anger] and [Essences of Vengeance], and in doing so, it also helps to reduce that anger and emotion in those who pray. That said, the rate of conversion is really low. Perhaps as it is just a prayer, the energy within that prayer is minimal. Or maybe the absorption ratio improves as I level up this skill. Who knows. Maybe I should consider merging a [Tree of Prayer] with an [Artificial soul], maybe that¡¯ll create a [Tree-priest]. This month, ths traders also bring in slightly concerning news about Salah, their ongoing wars with the Nung and Takde Kingdoms. Salah is winning, and so Nung and Takde now form a coalition, with possibly other nations that have historical grievances with Salah. Of course, in Salah¡¯s eyes, this is treated as an escalation, and Salah is now trying to get its own allies in, so there are hints of a bigger regional conflict brewing. If additional nations join into the war, New Freeka may end up being smack right into the middle of the war, instead of being on the other end of the battlefield. This is of little concern to me, if Salah gets owned in a battle, that¡¯s not my problem. Bit, this worries Yvon, so Yvon and her council scrambles to send people to all the nearby nations to declare some kind of neutrality to this conflict. New Freeka, as a young nation, still trying to comply with it¡¯s truce terms and safeguard it¡¯s new citizens, is deeply concerned with any disruption to its growing trade, and food supply. Personally, my ideal outcome is for the battles to be fought around me, without affecting me, such that I gain the souls from all this¡­ conflict. But this conflict also exposes the [ThreeTrees of Mana], as its a big blue ¡°shoot me¡± sign in the area. Its huge, its obvious, and it does nothing else. Its also quite far from me, as that is where the leyline is¡­ At this moment, I am uncertain whether anyone will react to the presence of the [ThreeTrees of Mana], perhaps the nearby nations will ignore it, perhaps they will think it¡¯s some kind of strategic asset and seize it¡­ or anything, really. So, if a conflict does happen, protecting the ThreeTree will also be something I need to do. If the nations turn hostile, defending it is my priority. I mean, theoretically speaking, the location of the ThreeTrees of Mana is already contested territory. Abandoned during the previous demonic battles, it¡¯s last owner is the kingdom of Salah, but historically that plot of land has changed owners a few times. Unlike the valley of Freeka, which is somewhat-legally, under the truce arrangement, a part of this new nation of ¡°New Freeka¡±. Even if Yvon manages to get some kind of neutrality declared for the valley, that neutrality would likely not extend to this newly claimed area of mine. In fact, it may even be seen as a hostile act from New Freeka for claiming that dungeon. So, I may have invalidated the truce already! But! I would not part with the leyline. That¡¯s fact, so if a battle does pop up, I will defend it, and unfortunately for the New Freekans, I¡¯ll have to drag them into the battle if I have to. Ah, so many moving variables though¡­ so many ¡°ifs¡±. If only i have eyes and ears into all the nearby nations... Hah. ¡°You¡¯re overthinking.¡± Meela pops up, poking her head into my thoughts. ¡°Why? I¡¯ll end up dragging the refugees into battle¡­ which is a bit too bad for them. So I should be thinking about what to do next carefully, no?¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t happen yet, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not how I see it.¡± Not planning for things is how I got into trouble the last time, I should do better, right? ¡°I think you¡¯re getting a bit too into that whole long termist tree thinking.¡± ¡°Uh, and that¡¯s wrong because?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ how about the here and now?¡± Oh come on, don¡¯t tell me that. ¡°It¡¯s reality that I have to plan a bit more into the future. I¡¯m a tree, I can¡¯t just wing it.¡± I also discover that Meela did experience some change from the additional repair from the [soul forge - black]. She gains a bit more ¡°awareness¡± of my thoughts, and to some extent, knows what I think. It¡¯s unnerving, as I don¡¯t enjoy having my mind read. But she denies it, she just says she has a very good innate sense of what my thoughts are, but she¡¯s not reading my mind. But all souls do get their minds read.. A little. According to the wisp, a soul tree can very well read and rummage through the memories of the souls that pass through it, if certain conditions and abilities are met, and this exchange is¡­ mutual. Of course, for most souls, this doesn¡¯t really matter because when they reincarnate, they forget them. Heroes however¡­ retain their memories, and if they carry knowledge of a soul tree into their next life, that makes them rather¡­ dangerous. Frankly, the mechanism is still confusing. Apparently some reincarnation gods will wipe the memories clean, but some don¡¯t. Someday if I meet Mozart again, I need to ask him about this memory wipe thing. How does it even work... Ah. ¡°Meela, so, what would you do? If this war happens, my leyline is under threat.¡± ¡°Fight them off then.¡± ¡°So you agree with me.¡± ¡°No. How does anyone know that bunch of trees is anyway related to New Freeka anyway. Most people can¡¯t even tell two trees apart!¡± Meela¡¯s spirit bobs around and twirls. ¡°So, act as if the two sides are separate unrelated camps. So find a way to delink the two, visually. If they look different, nobody¡¯s gonna suspect the two tree groups are related. Don¡¯t you have some kind of ability to make it as if they look different¡­ or you don¡¯t? Some [camouflage] or [illusion] skill? And do you have a way to remove the straight line of [subsidiary trees] that, so that it¡¯s not so.. Erm.. obvious?¡± I pause. That¡¯s a good idea. ¡°When were you this smart? You¡¯ve always given me the happy but slightly mentally retarded hero girl.¡± ¡°Uh. I¡¯m a designated reincarnated ¡°hero¡±. I get like super-boosts to my intelligence stats.¡± ¡°Really! ¡°Yes! Apparently all of us heroes get like ¡°tactical genius¡± as a perk.¡± Really, that sounds like rubbish. I don¡¯t recall them being tactically smart at all, and in fact, often rely on their cheat ability to get out of tough situations. ¡°You sure don¡¯t act like it all the time.¡± Meela pouts, ¡°Okay I lied, there¡¯s no such perk! But I mean, I can think if I want to. We¡¯re not exactly idiots.¡± ¡°Then?¡± ¡°That¡¯s me rejecting the need to work hard, and refuse to think too hard through my solutions. I live life with the pareto theory. If 20% effort is sufficient to get an 80% score, I¡¯ll do it, and leave the 80% effort for fun stuff. Anything that pops up, I wing it with my natural talent and ability.¡± Mental slap please. ¡°I mean, that¡¯s the best you can do. Cut the connection, and if they are under attack, defend it. They might not even pay attention, and the location of battle may not even be there, and you¡¯ve just prepared for nothing... So, do what you can, and then not worry about it.¡± ¡°Fair, fair. Are you still considering my offer as a secretary?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Trevor, did you catch Meela¡¯s suggestion? Are you able to alter the look of the forests around the ThreeTree of Mana?¡± ¡°Yes sire. The energy and mana from the ThreeTrees of Mana contain certain specific aesthetic variations, courtesy of the [soul forge - black], that we can apply to the florae in that locality.¡± ¡°Good, next is, how about that¡­ hiding the line of trees that link this valley to the leyline?¡± ¡°We can create [subsidiary trees] that are mostly hidden underground, like a kind of small tuberous plant, with only a small shrub appearing above. That way, while there is still a portion of trees that is above ground that can be spotted, they would not stick out as obviously, and can be easily disguised by a thick overgrowth of other shrubs and weeds. But the trade off is that they lose their [customisable branches] function, and our line of sight in that area is significantly reduced.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s worth it, I think, so do it.¡± Ah things are going smoothly! ¡°Yes sire. As you command.¡± ¡°Wisp, your turn. Are we able to merge an artificial soul with the [ThreeTrees of Mana]?¡± The logic of me doing this is simple. If it can level up, it¡¯ll be stronger, and with some sentience, that ThreeTrees can defend itself better. ¡°No. That is actually a connection with your [soul forge - black], so you cannot merge it. It¡¯s like a forge trying to forge itself.¡± That makes sense. ¡°Fine, so I need some kind of defensive unit at that location then¡­¡± And I turn to Meela. ¡°Since you have so much to say¡­ mind being some kind of defender?¡± ¡°I like talking with you. No thanks. I like being here a lot more.¡± ¡°Come on, you¡¯re the best! Besides, you can still talk to me-¡± ¡°Master.¡± Trevor and Horns both butt in. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Riders spotted on the horizon, heading towards us at speed. They will probably close in on the Treefolk village soon. They all have rather significant magical presence.¡± Ah, how strange. It¡¯s as if they are advertising they are powerful mages to everyone, so, I hover over to check it out, as they pass by some of the [subsidiary trees]. ¡°How far is it?¡± I hear them say, riding. It¡¯s a group of 5, all on horses. ¡°No idea, but its ahead.¡± ¡°The horses are exhausted. And I am out of [vitality restoration].¡± ¡°We¡¯ll arrive by nightfall. Hang in there, horses.¡± One of them pats the horse, trying to encourage them to keep riding. ¡°Should we interfere?¡± Trevor asks. ¡°Wait. Watch.¡± I think they are not hostile, at least, not yet. They soon arrive at the forest, but the treefolk was not their focus. They head straight to New Freeka, and demand to meet the leaders. Are they some kind of magical emissary? Thanks to a [subsidiary tree] right next to the meeting place, I could somewhat eavesdrop on the conversation. ¡°Hi, who are you people?¡± A man asks, one of Yvon¡¯s inner circle, and one of those involved in the dungeon raid, he is armed and stands in front of the rest of them. He¡¯s the first to appear from the leader¡¯s house. ¡°We are representatives of the King of Baroosh. We come in seek of a great healer, wizard and magician, to aid our ailing princess.¡± ¡°Oh. There¡¯s no-¡± The man was about to respond. Yvon steps ahead, signalling the man to let them keep talking. The Baroosh man, the leader of the five of them, continue. ¡°The Princess, is gravely ill, and we seek the aid of the great healer, to come to our capital and heal our Princess.¡± ¡°Yes we heard that. But why would the great Baroosh come to our town in search of such a great healer? Surely the great cities have far more talented mages, wizards and priests¡­¡± ¡°Ah¡­ I am afraid the disease our Princess has is¡­ unique. Our great oracle, has a vision, that here lies the cure, the solution to that disease.¡± ¡°I am afraid there are no such¡­ great healer here.¡± Yvon shakes her head. ¡°You may ask every one of us, if you do not take our word. You may walk and explore our town, and knock from door to door, but we know not of any great healer or cure.¡± The man pauses, perhaps thinking of some kind of retort. ¡°Hmmm¡­ Is that so¡­ never mind. May we rest in your town for a few days or weeks? Perhaps, among the refugees are some hidden genius in the art of healing.¡± Yvon smiles, ¡°Certainly, please do feel free to make use of our guesthouse.¡± Later in the guesthouse, the Baroosh men talk. Once again, courtesy to a conveniently placed [subsidiary tree], I can catch some of the conversation. ¡°Is she lying?¡± ¡°No. My [truth detection] did not trigger, nor did my [detect false statements]. They are being honest if they say there are no great healers here.¡± ¡°Hmmm. Maybe they don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Exactly. This place is a hive of refugees, so many that run here, a few thousand of them. Some of them may be hiding their talents, and the leaders know not of their talent.¡± ¡°But Salah never had a great healer either¡­¡± ¡°Indeed¡­ it is strange that the oracle guides us here.¡± ¡°You know how oracles are, they will answer your question, but it may be because our question is not correct.¡± One of the men speak, while munching on some potato salad. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a trick answer, and we need to look for something else.¡± ¡°Whatever it is, we can¡¯t go back without the healer. We¡¯ll get our heads chopped. We start our search for the healer after we rest tonight.¡± Year 75 Month 10 My ginseng tree got attacked by a flying creature. It pulled it out of the ground before a root strike struck its head. So once again, I had to restart my ginseng tree. My constant failure to cultivate and protect my ginseng tree reminds me I still have a problem with airborne monsters. Maybe I can get flying leaves as a weapon, kinda like Pokemon. Right? Or shoot seeds as a projectile, like a rapid fire machine gun in PvZ. I already have fruit bombs, so launchable fruits would turn them into fruit-artillery and fruit-flak cannons? Come on system, give me something similar or a skill like that? A fruit cannon. A seed cannon is fine too. Something to shoot at all these flying stuff that¡¯s starting to really bug me. System? Give me a skill, please? [Insect warrior variation unlocked : Web-trap Spiders] [New customisable branch option : Web-trap spider nests. Home to 3 web-building spiders.] [Web-building spiders have little direct combat abilities except for their poisonous fangs, but are able to build webbings between your trees, laced with paralysing poisons and build trapping cocoons] Uh. Not exactly what I wanted, but, I suppose a spider able to build traps is still better than nothing, so I designate one. A spider crawls out, and it¡¯s really rather tiny, about the size of a small dog. Each of the spider can build and maintain three sets of webs, so, one branch, has three spiders, and so, nine webs. The first spider quickly demonstrates it¡¯s ability, building a massive web between the branches and trees, about 10 meters across and wide, and it counts as ¡°one¡± web. For anti-air, it¡¯s not exactly ideal, after all, if a dragon or something came up, a trap like this isn¡¯t going to work, is it? Ah, a tree can¡¯t pick the insects to decide to live in it, so fine, webs and spiders. ¡°There¡¯s a spider!¡± Jura shouts, and pulls out his sword. He just came out of the hideout and is surprised to see a spider so near the main tree. I guess having a bunch of webbings right above his head kinda shocked him too. ¡°No. Stop. It¡¯s my minion.¡± ¡°...really?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°The girls are not going to like it. At least the beetles kind of look like a giant armor, but this spider looks like a fuzzy¡­ monster. And it¡¯s dark brown and black.¡± ¡°I frankly did not realise it¡¯s creepy.¡± ¡°EEP!!!¡± Belle screams when she too steps out of the hideout, and spots the spider. ¡°It¡¯s my new¡­ minions. They are¡­ my anti-air defense.¡± ¡°Can we not have them near here, at least?¡± Laufen too, comes out, after hearing Belle screams. Hmmm¡­ I mentally command the spiders to build their webs higher up, perhaps between the canopy layer of trees. That way they don¡¯t come across the refugees or elves so often, except for the ginseng tree area, which I will cover in multiple layer of webs. Just to prevent airborne monsters from pulling the tiny ginseng tree out of the ground again. With that, the spiders hide away on the tree tops, and the elves go about their way. Except Jura. ¡°Paws has been rather talkative lately, since he hit level 20 and capped out.¡± ¡°Oh, how is he?¡± A bear made of wood appears next to Jura. ¡°I am fine, master. I recently acquired this wood-form summon, which allows me to take this rather weak form, but at least I can act independently.¡± ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s been telling me about having to ¡®upgrade¡¯ as a eidolon, to unlock more powers...¡± ¡°Yes, master TreeTree.¡± Paws walk up, and stands next to the [Forge Tree], and as he does, a prompt appears. Paws, Woodbear Eidolon has reached his level cap. To upgrade (ie to Level 30), the following options are available : Blue - Armor path - 50 small copper ingots & 5 medium red rubies neededBlack - Claw path - 50 small iron ingots & 5 medium onyx needed. Ah. For artificial souls, they start off at level 20 cap, and if I have a single color soul forge, I can unlock one upgrade, ie, level 30. Each extra color increases the upgrade by one, so, if I have all the necessary resources, I can upgrade twice, to level 40. It seems, the colors of the soul forge represent something lacking in the artificial souls. Each color adds an affect, and makes a more ¡°robust¡± artificial soul. ¡°TreeTree?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid we need to acquire some resources, can you get 5 medium red rubies and 5 medium onyx, and a lot of copper ingots?¡± Jura pauses, ¡°Is this like the blood crystal thing?¡± ¡°Yes. Where are you on that, anyway?¡± Ah yes, Trevor too, needs an upgrade. All 3 of my first artificial souls have reached level cap. ¡°It¡¯s being shipped here. After the dungeon raid I¡¯ve gotten enough money to buy it, but the trader says the supplier is really far away, so it¡¯ll take some time. Maybe next month we¡¯ll get it.¡± ¡°Fine then. Are the visitors bothering you?¡± ¡°Yeah. They seem to be looking for some great healer or some great magical cure, but we don¡¯t know of any. But they are still here, claiming that their oracle never lies.¡± ¡°Should we be afraid of them?¡± Lausanne then pops out, asking the question to Jura. ¡°Well, not really. But Baroosh is one of the larger kingdoms around, at the same level as Salah, so they are a respectable force. Making allies of them would be ideal for Yvon and gang, but we really do not have healers to offer.¡± Jura¡¯s response is actually meant for the elves, but It¡¯s also an education for me, because the names of all these nations kind of slip past me. Tree uses heal Year 75 Month 11 Week 2 A great battle broke out in the conflict between Takde, Nung and Salah, and a great, cursed spell was cast. One that sacrificed the lives of 25,000 soldiers, and with it, created an exceptionally harsh winter in that area¡­ and beyond. So powerful, that spell that summons a vortex, a magical vortex of ice and frost, and then, the region transforms into a snow covered land, one of blizzards, snowstorms, and strong gusts of wind. That spell, extends to the entirety of the valley, overnight, from what is normally a light rain, into to snow and ice. Thick snow, a terrible cold snap. A few of the smaller streams froze. This stunts the growth of the regions crops, already reeling in the earlier mild winter. Everyone¡¯s prepared for winter, so a huge stockpile is already there. Even New Freeka, their efforts to vastly expand their farmlands and crop cultivation meant they are facing this intense cold with at least a few warehouses and silos full of harvested, preserved vegetables and grain. What was meant to be their solution to a migrant surge, becomes a solution for exceptionally bad winter, though I wonder how long this stockpile will last. Since it is great battle, I figured that there must be a lot of death, a lot of souls still lingering in the battlefield, so I decide to send my many [soul harvesters] there. They are like faint ghosts, and so they can travel really far, but it¡¯ll take a while for them to come back. I think, with the soul harvesters, they expand the range of my soul absorption to almost the entire continent. Which is massive. Massive! Also, the group from Baroosh expanded, after about 2 weeks. ¡°I am disappointed, apprentice.¡± A wizard steps through the portal, escorting the sick princess, and followed by a healer and a paladin. They are surprised by the sudden cold, but they come well prepared and put on thick jackets and shawls. I suppose their princess waited a bit too long. ¡°My sincere apologies, teacher. We have tried to ask every single one, and yet we could not find one that we think, has potential. That¡¯s why we asked the oracle whether the healer had moved or went away.¡± ¡°Excuses.¡± The wizard is old, he has flowing white, wrinkly hair, and a typical wizard¡¯s hat, with a pointing tip. The man bows, and doesn¡¯t respond. The princess follows behind. She¡¯s got a very faint presence, and her steps soft, light, and the healer supports her every step and movement. I also notice the healer using some kind of potion on her, at regular intervals, especially when she starts shivering. The wizard talks with the existing group for a while, and then he stops. ¡°Well, let¡¯s find that healer.¡± He casts some kind of strange magical spell, and then from a small metal case, a magical arrow appears, and it starts spinning in circles. And it keeps spinning. It even points downwards at times. The wizard then pauses, and looks at the man. The man looks equally dumbfounded. ¡°This¡­¡± The wizard seems stumped, and the paladin, steps up next to him. ¡°Wizard, what¡¯s the meaning of this.¡± ¡°This artifact is the [compass of oracles], it links and augments the oracles ability, so that we can locate whoever or whatever the oracle learns¡­¡± ¡°Get to the point, wizard. Why is it flying everywhere?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± Yet, the wizard¡¯s initial confusion turns into a strange smile. The earlier group look puzzled. ¡°Whatever. It¡¯s cold. Let¡¯s continue this conversation indoors. The princess cannot take this weather for very long.¡± The healer insists, and they retreat to the warmth of their guesthouse. ¡°So¡­ What¡¯s with this cold?¡± The healer asks, as he tends to the frail princess in the guesthouse. ¡°Aftermath of the Salah wars. Someone used a great blizzard vortex spell, with blood sacrifice¡­¡± The wizard though, seems laser focused, analysing the compass of oracles. It spins everywhere, and it might as well be absolutely confused. ¡°Any ideas, wizard?¡± One of the men finally dares to ask the wizard. ¡°Maybe, maybe the land is a nourishing factor. I will need to test it out.¡± ¡°The land? This freezing place?¡± The wizard ignores the man. And the wizard runs outside, and then starts casting a few spells, spells which I could not quite identify or observe. He did that for a good half a day, constantly casting spell after spell, though, nothing in particular seems to be happening. At this point, I¡¯m feeling a little bit¡­ defensive. A wizard comes to New Freeka, and starts using a whole bunch of spells¡­ that feels a little too close for comfort, so I keep watch. A group of high powered people in search of something, and casting weird spells? That is just ringing all the bells. ¡°That¡¯s really odd.¡± ¡°What¡¯s odd.¡± One of the men, who seems to be the wizard¡¯s apprentice of some sort, comes out to accompany his master. ¡°The readings, and compass, it all points through this entire valley, and yet I don¡¯t detect any kind of magical presence from the earth, or is it muffled? Or suppressed somehow because of this stupid blizzard effect on the weather of this entire place?¡± The apprentice shrugs, and shakes his head. ¡°I did tell you this place is¡­ rather unusual.¡± ¡°That cannot be. Magic still flows in this entire valley, and yet there is something that also envelopes this valley, like a large piece of cloth hiding furniture¡­¡± ¡°If it is so, then the healer picked the best place to hide.¡± ¡°No. I doubt the healer knows. There is more to this. Tell me, any magical structures? Is there a holy relic of artifact here?¡± ¡°You know, if you say it¡¯s the entire valley, that kind of reminds me. Some of the people here worship a tree, you know. You want to go and see it?¡± The wizard nods, ¡°At this moment, there are few other leads. Let¡¯s go.¡± So they brave the snowstorm, that¡¯s actually almost perpetual now, to go to the [Tree of Prayer], the courtyard now coated in a layer of white snow. Which, actually isn¡¯t the only color of snow, surprisingly. In some parts of the world, there¡¯s a kind of magical aberration which turns snow into different colors, like green, or blue, or yellow, or purple, anyway, I digressed. ¡°So, this is a tree they pray too.¡± The apprentice said. The wizard then casts a spell. [Detect Magic]. And nothing happens. ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± And then, the wizard pauses, and casts [Firespark] at the Prayer Tree. And it nothing happens. ¡°There¡¯s a hostile magic suppression aura here. It¡¯s present throughout the entirety of the valley, that¡¯s why a few of my spells seem to be not responding, particularly those of the probing type.¡± The wizard explains to the apprentice. ¡°But it is no denser here, so I doubt this tree is the source of it.¡± ¡°Huh, maybe that¡¯s because the tree is everywhere.¡± The apprentice shrugs. ¡°I hear the locals say the entire forest belongs to the tree that rules this valley, and entry is at our own risk.¡± The wizard smacks the apprentice. ¡°So, that sounds exactly like where a healer would hide. Did you check out the forest?¡± ¡°Yes we have, master. There¡¯s just a whole load of trees and a lot of monsters.¡± Oh. Wait. At this point, their earlier conversation about the magic suppression rings a bell. Is that me? When I leveled up and unlocked the soul forge, I did get an ability called [Low Tier Magic suppression] The wizard looks at the apprentice, shaking his head. ¡°Anyway, lets do more tests on the type of suppression here, whether it is tier-restricted¡­¡± He then casts, [Fire]. One again, nothing happens. Then, he casts [Blue-fire], and this time, a blue flameball appears in his hands. ¡°Hmm¡­ tier 4 spells are not suppressed.¡± ¡°So¡­ does this mean we can find the healer?¡± ¡°I think we already have a good clue. Whoever powerful enough to create a tier 3 suppression aura throughout this entire city is probably the one able to heal the princess, or would at least know the person that can heal the princess.¡± Yup. These guys are looking for me! Ah, so this is interesting, if that is indeed the case, I think I could use this as a bargaining chip, and so, I quickly summon Jura to explain the plan. And the next day morning, despite the snow outside, Jura and Yvon went to the guesthouse. ¡°Oh, Lady Yvon, what brings you here?¡± ¡°Ah, I have good news for you all. I think we finally discovered who the healer you were looking for.¡± ¡°Really? Have you been lying to us the past few weeks?¡± The apprentice is not happy. Yvon shakes her head. ¡°I thought you were referring to a person.¡± ¡°What?!¡± The wizard though cuts the apprentice out. ¡°Never mind that. The princess comes first. Bring us to the healer.¡± ¡°Not so fast.¡± Jura pauses. ¡°There are a few things the healer wants to know, and wants from you, before the healer is willing to have a look at your princess¡¯s condition.¡± ¡°Name them. Quickly.¡± The paladin and healer insists. ¡°The Princess¡¯s condition worsens by the day.¡± Jura hands a list I had him write, and he passes it to them. The paladin and healer look at it, and then passes to the wizard. ¡°This is extortion, isn¡¯t it?¡± Jura smiles. I could tell he is enjoying it. ¡°It¡¯s the terms the healer propose, in exchange for his aid. You can choose not to. And he did say, if he can¡¯t improve the princess¡¯s condition, he won¡¯t take payment.¡± ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll give these things. Great powers do not come cheap, after all.¡± The wizard says. ¡°Bring the healer here.¡± ¡°Good. But I am afraid you have to go to him.¡± All of the Barooshians look at each other, but then, they nod. It¡¯s not as if they have a choice. So, together with the princess, all of them venture out into the snow, and make the slow walk through New Freeka, into the forests. ¡°Where are we going?¡± They did not like walking in the snow. ¡°We¡¯ll reach there soon. Anyway, what¡¯s the princess¡¯s diseases?¡± ¡°I am afraid¡­ even I don¡¯t know. All we can do is keep supporting her body so she doesn¡¯t die.¡± The healer shakes his head. ¡°It¡¯s almost as if her body wants to kill itself.¡± And then they arrive at the main tree, where the beetles and spiders are sleeping, dormant. ¡°Eh¡­¡± ¡°Wait.¡± The wizard turns to Jura. ¡°A spirit tree?¡± It¡¯s as if he struck a realisation. ¡°Yes. This spirit tree rules over the entire valley.¡± The wizard nods, ¡°That explains why the compass is confused¡­ I am guessing this massive spirit tree extends its roots everywhere.¡± ¡°Bring the princess inside.¡± Jura says. The healer carries the princess, and Jura then stops the rest of them. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can only allow the healer into the tree from here. The rest of you must wait outside. The tree¡¯s rules.¡± The wizard pauses, looks at the paladin, and the rest of them nod. ¡°Fine. I can trust a spirit tree.¡± And so, the frail princess is escorted into the [biolab]. Once I start examining the princess using the biolab, it¡¯s immediately apparent what her problem was. As with all living beings with mana, there is a spring in their body, and in the princess¡¯s case, that spring, is almost entirely destroyed. That spring appears like a regular fountain to most, but the princess¡¯s spring is charred, dark and the structure around it has somehow turned into rubble. There¡¯s still some mana flowing out, but it¡¯s irregular, inconsistent, and at times, corrupted. And when the corrupted mana flows out, it interacts with the body and creates a rotting effect. It¡¯s as if the tap that supplies water to a body is broken, and because of that, while there is water flowing out, it is polluted water, and that polluted water ¡°poisons¡± the body. The body tries to fight back that corrupted mana, and as a result her body turns blue, kind of like a mana-gangrene. So, I look deeper. My biolab is of a higher level now, so I get more visibility, tools, and even popups to explain what I am looking at. ¡°She did something forbidden, or perhaps, not her level to do.¡± The Wisp somehow pops up. ¡°All this points to an attempt to summon a higher power.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± As I look into the spring, a small indicator appears. [Outer-shell destroyed] ¡°Huh. Outer shell destroyed?¡± This seems to mean she is like the reverse of an artificial soul, or perhaps, similar to Meela previously. A regular soul comprises of an inner and outer layer, an artificial soul only the outer layer. So, she had somehow managed to do destroy her entire outer layer? Hmmm¡­ This is really strange, and I ask Jura to ask the men what did the Princess do. ¡°The Spirit Tree wants to know what the Princess do. She has somehow destroyed a large part of her soul¡­¡± The wizard and healer seems really shocked, and they turn to each other. The healer starts first. ¡°The Princess was last spotted in the wizard¡¯s tower, what was she doing?¡± The wizard stares back. ¡°I.. I don¡¯t know. She was going through the ancient tomes and then¡­¡± At the same time, I kept looking into the Princess¡¯s body, and then I discover another thing. [Exposed to void mana] ¡°What the hell is void mana?¡± ¡°Oh, I can answer that one. It¡¯s raw mana form. Primordial mana, so to speak. It¡¯s the most powerful of mana types, but¡­ the most dangerous. The normal body of mortals is not fit to handle void mana. Even heroes can handle it in small degrees, that¡¯s why they only get the second tier form, star mana. If one distils and processes star mana further, one would then get the normal kinds of mana.¡± Heh, this sound like the big bang, and then the formation of stars, and then the heavier elements? If mana is an element that exists in the birth of the universe, it¡¯s akin to primordial quarks, and then they would form protons, neutrons, and electrons, and those would then fuse into regular atoms. ¡°This surely begs the question, why would this Princess somehow be exposed to void mana?¡± ¡°Ask them what was the tome that the princess was studying?¡± I mentally speak to Jura. The wizard pauses. ¡°I think she was looking into a tome on¡­¡± He stops. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s relevant. Can the tree heal her or not?¡± The healer and paladin turn to face the wizard. ¡°I think it is relevant. What was the Princess actually trying to do?¡± ¡°She might be looking at a tome about otherworld heroes¡­ and theories on how to summon them. It¡¯s one of the crazy tomes left by the Mad-Hero, Arsene Emir...¡± The paladin then grabs the wizards hand. ¡°What? Why is the Princess allowed to be anywhere near to a tome by the mad-hero?¡± ¡°I was doing research on it, and I didn¡¯t realise the Princess snuck in.¡± ¡°Excuses! So all this was your fault, wizard!¡± The paladin is rather mad. Well, I let the Barooshians continue their argument, as I turn my attention into figuring out what can I do about this Princess¡¯s damaged soul. The soul forge would be able to fix most of destroyed outer layer, but the exposure to void mana is going to be harder to remove. In a way, it¡¯s like Meela¡¯s [demon poison], but, only from another source, a more¡­ raw source. It took about another hour, but I¡¯ve looked at all I could, so, Jura and the healer helps to carry the Princess to the Forge Tree. She rests inside a platform inside the forge tree, and once ready, both Jura and the healer had to go out. As I attempt to repair her damaged soul, I got a prompt that some items of the Princess needs to be sacrificed. ¡°Does the Princess have any¡­ items or personal belongings that she cherishes?¡± The Paladin takes out a small hairpin, and passes to Jura, and Jura throws it into the Forge Tree. Not enough. ¡°Another one.¡± The paladin checks his backpack, and the healer checks a bag that contains the princess¡¯s belongings, and pulls out a small comb. ¡°Her mother, the Queen, gave her the comb.¡± And into the forge tree it goes. The logic of it is essentially, to repair a soul, especially one still in a bodily form, one would need to ¡°harvest¡± remnants of the person¡¯s souls, that are sometimes residing in their cherished items, to then use it and patch the soul. It¡¯s like soul-organ-transplant surgery, but with personal belongings. Unlike Meela¡¯s case, who¡¯s not constrained by a body any longer. So, the quality and relationship one has with the item, determines the value for the repair. And the comb qualifies. In fact, the comb itself is sufficient, so the hairpin flies back out. ¡°The comb itself will do.¡± And it¡¯s melted by the [soul forge], and it then fuses into the princess¡¯s body. And while a snowstorm blows outside, in the immediate vicinity of the [forge tree], multiple lightning bolts rain down on the forge tree itself, each creating a connection of lightning to a branch. ¡°This is rather scary.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything like it.¡± The men,, waiting in the snow, watching lightning strike the forge tree multiple times, whilst their princess is inside. And about an hour later, Jura and the healer goes inside the forge tree to retrieve the princess, and put her back into the [biolab] for monitoring. Under the [biolab], the spring itself has been repaired. But, an indicator still exists on top, still saying [exposed to void mana]. I¡¯m unable to remove this status, as I don¡¯t have enough power to do so. It seems that I need access to a few more soul forge color types before I can. At least I actually get to see an explanation of what it does. [Exposed to void mana - will have occasional nightmares of otherworldly horrors. Overuse of mana will result in fainting. Cannot use mana potions, as will result in a void-mana flaring, and will cause hallucinations and seizures] And indeed, it seems this is as far as I could go, so the Princess comes out of the biolab, and back to the worried Barooshians. ¡°The Spirit Tree says this is all it can do. THe princess¡¯s body should not be killing itself anymore, but she will still have nightmares, and do not give her mana potions. Overuse of mana also will cause fainting.¡± The princess¡¯s hands, and legs, once blue in color, now gradually regains some color, and she no longer feels an intense weakness and pain through her body, so much so she is actually able to talk. ¡°...food.¡± That¡¯s the first word she said. The healer and paladin quickly take out, from their pouches some kind of bread for her to eat. They seem happy, because she is visibly recovering, and so, rather than eat in the snowstorm, they walk back to the guesthouse to rest. ¡°What did you do back in the tower?¡± ¡°I¡­ I tried to summon a hero.¡± It seems the princess had not been able to hold a proper conversation, or even explain what happened because of the intense pain she was in. ¡°WHY?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I wanted a hero to be my husband. Rather than that stupid old duke.¡± Ah, at this point I stop eavesdropping. Their conversation went on about Barooshian court politics, international relations, political marriages and power balance stuff, which frankly is not my cup of tea at all. Later on, they all used some kind of portal magic to return to Baroosh. They say they will find some way to deliver the promised goods. [You leveled up! Level 124!] [Subsidiary tree limit increased to 700] [Biolab leveled up] [External Biolab unlocked. Customisable Branches can now create biolabs!] [Winter resistance upgraded] [You learned a new skill : Winter-adapted crops] Ah, so I gain crops that can grow in this stupid snowstorm. Year 75 Month 11 Week 4 Despite this horrible cold weather, the traders delivered the blood crystals. And once they did, I quickly got to it. Ah, thanks to the new leyline and soul-forge color, I also discover there¡¯s a new upgrade choice for Trevor as well. [Trevor, Forest Mind Level 20] Upgrade choices - [Blue - Root-Brain Complex. Requires special minerals to grow. Special minerals required are 10 x Blood Crystals, and 50 x fresh animal heads.] [Black - Skull Shell - Requires special minerals to upgrade. 10 x Bone of a wyvern, 1 x heart of a lion and 50 x Bones of a lizard] Huh. Oh well, let¡¯s go with the immediate upgrade. The blood crystals and the heads of the animals were put together in a pile, and then, I trigger this upgrade. A few dozen roots appear, and drill into each of the heads and then the blood crystals, creating a rather messy haze of blood in the area. They twist, they turn, they tangle, and sparks fly. It¡¯s a bit like watching a dozen snakes mate, with fireworks. And when it¡¯s done, a brainlike jumble of roots is formed. It¡¯s really just roots folded and twisted many many times until it looks like a brain. [Trevor¡¯s level limit has been increased to 30] [Trevor has gained a unique passive ability - Hive¡¯s Guardian] [Hive¡¯s guardian - gains limited control over the lower tier monsters and beasts that spawn in the valley. Does not override their natural instincts] Ah, fairly useful then. But then, as I turn back to my usual view of the valley, I noticed some changes. The interface is now more¡­ game-like? And the minimap extends further, and there¡¯s more layers to the views available. The granularity of the view is also much better, and I can see more colors. ¡°If you desire, master, I can customise the views for your viewing pleasure. Each of the trees in the valley send back a ton of data through their roots, and it¡¯s a matter of processing them into usable information. With this upgrade, my processing capacity has increased! I will be able to provide better alerts and better forecasting ability!¡± Sadly, the area of effect is centered around that new [Root-Brain complex], so the further I go, the data available shrinks. But it is still sufficient to cover the entirety of the valley. When I go as far as the ThreeTrees of Mana, the data available in that region is close to none. And still lacking in terms of defenders. Therefore, it is time to create my 2nd forest mind, one for the ThreeTree of Mana¡¯s area, which I will call the Southwest Forest. [In order to house your new forest mind, three subsidiary trees will be merged] [New Forest mind has been created, do you want to name it?] ¡°Dimitree.¡± ¡°Greetings, master.¡± Dimitree responds, with an accent. Is that intentional? Well, if it is, please continue. Russian/Ukrainian voice presets please. ¡°You¡¯re tasked to defend my connection to the leyline, and the vicinity of the Southwest Forest. Ask for help if you foresee difficulties.¡± ¡°Acknowledged.¡± Afterwards, I set up a few dozen subsidiary trees in the area, all with warbeetles, and place them under Dimitree¡¯s command. Still, because of the freaking unnatural cold, there¡¯s practically no army movement in the region. Instead, this harsh winter brings a lot of deaths to the region. Even in New Freeka where there¡¯s housing, it¡¯s insufficient protection, and the Treefolk had to construct additional barriers, and actually start a fire indoors to keep themselves comfortable. So cold. I feel like my branches are getting frostbites. ¡°It''s just your imagination, master.¡± Year 75 Month 12 The cold just gotten¡­ colder. Some parts of the terrain turn almost ice-like, as if it¡¯s an eternal winter. If such a spell is possible, and I think it is, this feels very much like it. I suppose this is how Arendelle feels when Elsa did her winter thing. I think Elsa would be a rather fascinating reincarnating hero. Nothing much happens this month, because everyone¡¯s just really trying to wait out the cold. The effect of the spell, added to the natural turn of the seasons make this so crazy cold, the elves all end up hiding in the [secret hideout], where it¡¯s warm and temperature controlled. The New Freekans, attempt to build underground structures at this time, as a way to get a bit more comfort out of this ridiculous weather. Year 76 Month 1 Well, I thought last month was cold. This month, it somehow proved me wrong, as it got even colder. There were days where all that happens was ice flying in the air, as any water freezes instantly. It even causes my tree barks, that are normally winter resistant, to feel brittle, and flaky. Since last month, myself, Trevor and Dimitree use our abilities to support the rest of the normal trees, so that the cold don¡¯t kill off the trees in the forest. They are already in some kind of ¡°winter-hibernation¡± mode, but this excessive cold would normally kill them. Even in this magical world, death by cold is still possible. It¡¯ll be bad if I lose my normal trees, so this is when that energy is consumed, from [tuberous storage], to create a warm flow of nutrients and energy, supplied to the normal trees, prevents freezing, and kept them alive. This little episode with high-tier magic also reminds me of my vulnerability to such powerful magics. If say somebody cast a [meteor] or a magic of that calibre, what countermeasures do I have? I mean, a way of saying is, if I am a tree stuck in the blast radius of the Tsar Bomba, what do I do? [Winter resistance upgraded] [Winter-resistance aura obtained. All trees connected via rootnet are more resistant to the effects of cold and ice. Beetles and webspiders also gain some winter resistance] [Warm Winter Fruit obtained. A fruit that helps to keep the body warm] Uhh¡­ that helps a bit, I suppose. With the winter. But not the tsar bomba. Or wait. Is the system saying this is the magical equivalent of a nuclear winter? ¡°This winter is unbearable. We need to do something.¡± The villagers are now trying to get Yvon to do something about the winter, but, what can they do? Good news is, there¡¯s absolutely no fighting in this sort of weather. Sort of bad news is, people are still dying. (Bad for them, not me) So, my soul realm is packed with souls, souls that are due for their reincarnation within the next 6 months, from the returned soul harvesters, and just generally, from all the death in the vicinity. And from the fragments of the souls harvested, I obtain quite a fair of interesting essences, and my first [Experience Seed], a product of the [Soul harvester]¡¯s ability. The experience seed is used to create a [Level Fruit], each seed, to create one fruit. The effect is to increase one¡¯s level by one, up to the level cap of said person. Yes. A fruit equivalent of rare candy. BUT! The creator of said level fruit (me), cannot use it. Again, it is similar to that soul contract where I take a person¡¯s level away, or where they surrender their experience to me. It¡¯ll get converted into [transferable experience], which can then be processed into [experience seeds] and [skill seeds]. In fact, even [skill essences] can be further processed into [skill seeds]. A single level isn¡¯t much, for those the lower levels. But I would imagine such an item being more useful and valuable to those at high levels, since it¡¯s harder for them to level. Year 76 Month 2 Week 1 The cold is letting up. By a tiny bit. It¡¯s still snowing every day, with some days having ice storms. Not fun. Again, I am burning through my [tuberous storage], trying to feed and support the forest such that it doesn¡¯t freeze to death. I¡¯ve actually gotten a little positive out of this. I mean, at least it¡¯s just ice, right? I can still keep the trees alive by giving them warm energy by consuming the stored energy. It¡¯s kind of like winter and summer, you can constantly add layers of clothing to keep yourself warm, but it¡¯s kinda hard to strip down to cool yourself down, when the air itself is cooking you. If say the entire air is cursed from a massive heatwave, I would need to find ways to cool down the forest, and I think the only way I know at the moment is to pull up cool water from deep beneath the ground. And there¡¯s not much of that. THere¡¯s a fair bit of thermal energy coming from deep beneath as well. This is despite I¡¯m being fire-resistant, but, drought or prolonged heatwave? I¡¯m not sure. Maybe I need to find some kind of ¡°cold-water¡± source, from far away. A massive root then supplies that cold water from there, to regulate the temperature of the valley¡¯s trees. And the opposite would be, to find a hot water source? Maybe that volcano that Horns surveyed a while might be able to supply that. ¡°All this talk about the cold¡­¡± ¡°What.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t feel it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s cause you are blob? A floating soul with no ability to sense temperature?¡± ¡°But some of the souls were telling me about how cold they felt. Or maybe that¡¯s just their final moments, carried over¡­¡± ¡°Wait. You can talk to the souls?¡± I didn¡¯t know why I had the impression that only hero-grade souls can talk, but I suppose I¡¯m wrong. ¡°Uh¡­ only some of them. There seems to be a few that still retain their ability to talk¡­ but all they do is repeat the same thing. Kinda like machines.¡± Oh. This soul thing can be¡­ confusing. Why can some talk, some can¡¯t? Anyway, New Freeka is in a state of emergency. Food supplies are running low, as they did not expect such severe weather, and much higher consumption of their stockpiles. That, led to rather ingenious solutions, as some of their farmers actually have rather interesting skills. One such ability is indoor farming, and that led to multiple greenhouse being built, and a few attempts at underground homes. Speaking of underground¡­ ¡°Dimitree, have you taken over the labyrinth?¡± The leftover labyrinth of the dungeon, now supported by roots, located in the Southwest forest. ¡°Yes. The inner labyrinth remains warm, though the entrances are covered in snow.¡± I think I could propose that as an alternative location for the refugees to live, protected from the cold. But it is too far, the journey there takes at least 2 days, maybe more in this snow. Then, there is the old tunnel, left by the giant demonic centipede. Its located quite deep underground, so as to minimise tremors and detection, but because of its relative depth, I have found little use of it. But now that I have the [root tunnels] ability, I can think about creating more feeder tunnels to connect to that big underground tunnel. ¡°Suggestion.¡± ¡°Speak, Trevor.¡± ¡°There are certain kinds of vegetation that grow in tunnels. We can grow those there, would provide additional energy output. Variants of [Subsidiary trees]. ¡°There¡¯s no sunlight in there, can the [subsidiary trees] survive?¡± ¡°Not trees¡­ more of¡­ fungi.¡± ¡°My powers extend to that of fungi?¡± ¡°Uh.. no. But if we extend our roots into the underground cave, we can create an environment for symbiotic fungus to grow, which can produce energy.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ is the output worth it?¡± ¡°No. Fungus produce miniscule amounts of energy, but it has the effect of creating the base of a ecological system that supports certain kind of farmer ants and insects.¡± Hmm. Underground fungus. But I do want ants. I think ants would be interesting warriors. ¡°Are beetles insufficient?¡± Horns then poke in. ¡°Ah¡­ that is not my point.¡± ¡°There are many kinds of beetles. I am sure you could have some kind of facility to research beetles that would help.¡± [Biolab - Beetle unit research tree obtained] [This massive tree allows research and development of various beetle types, such as flying beetles, armored beetles, poison beetles, firebeetles, waterbeetles¡­] Uh. ¡°Yes. I think beetles are better than ants.¡± I get the point, Horns. But I still want ants. ¡°No. Beetles are the best. We are already sharing the space with spiders. Please do not neglect us beetles.¡± Ants? ¡°Beetles. We have dungbeetles. We have dancing beetles. We have colorful beetles. Beetles are superior.¡± I sigh. Okay. T-ree-search Year 76 Month 2 Week 3 ¡°How long is this stupid blizzard going to last?¡± ¡°Forever, until someone manages to disable or dispel the vortex?¡± ¡°Not forever, such magics have a natural decay to them. Over time it will go away, but we are talking about years¡­¡± Troubling news, from Yvon¡¯s informants and diplomats. None, not Salah, not Nung, not Takde has claimed responsibility for using a blood sacrifice spell, and in fact, all of them are now not-so-secretly launching their own internal investigation into the cause of this catastrophe that brought severe blizzards to an area the size of a country. All three nations are affected by this massive spell, and all three capitals within range, though, Salah, being the largest of the three nations, are least affected. Well, to be honest, if that was all there is to it, its not really that troubling. I mean, a hurricane is a country sized disaster, no? Nobody jumps when a hurricane or a massive earthquake rattles the world, right? (Though I may be wrong¡­ a perpetual hurricane would be equally horrible). The troubling thing, is some of the more sophisticated intelligence claims that it is a secret demon cult at work. A cult that aims to summon, and to control the demon king. They call themselves the Circlebreakers. A demon cult, that, as the rumours start to emerge, manipulated the nations and took advantage of the massive battle to somehow sacrifice at least 25,000, to test out some kind of blood magic. I mean, it sounds bonkers. I mean, which nation would want to publicly admit it used such a drastic measure, one that involves blood sacrifice? So naturally all of them will deny involvement, even if they did do it. Besides, I presume everyone in that battlefield is dead, and any evidence they can gather by magic, is being corrupted and distorted by the presence of that blizzard magic vortex, and with each passing day, the evidence vanishes. Perhaps if some of the souls and spirits can talk, I can find out a bit more, but until then, this theory sounds absurd. So. I still think of the countries did it. Or maybe a mix. One of the countries collaborated with the cults to activate such a spell. Anyway, those are distant affairs, that unfortunately affects me. Goes to show that turtling strategy doesn¡¯t work when there are large area of effect spells and abilities. The merchants are quick to adapt, though. Money really has ways of making the world go round, even in magical worlds. This month we had the first visit of the ¡°cold-resistant caravan¡±. Essentially, they are a delegation of about a 100, with dedicated mages and special carriages that are magically reinforced to provide protection from the cold and snow weathers. Of course, the goods are expensive. They need a markup on such special services after all. Oh well. The Barooshians though, the wizard at least, came back to New Freeka. With the agreed rewards, most of them the upgrade materials I need for the root system, and also for Horns, Paws. Apparently, the wizard¡¯s punishment, for exposing the princess to forbidden magics¡­ is exile. And the delivery to New Freeka is his last task by the King. Surely, the wizard cannot take responsibility for the princess¡¯s recklessness? But such are feudal societies, you get your ass handed to you even if you don¡¯t have anything to do with it. ¡°Surely we would welcome a wizard like yourself to our town¡­¡± Yvon is quick, to bring him over to her side. He sighs, nods, reluctantly accepts Yvon¡¯s offer of hospitality. ¡°I guess I will stay for a while.¡± And they soon get him to work on some kind of anti-cold weather spell. Meanwhile, I am expanding my territory towards the volcano that Horns surveyed. Most of the beetles are inactive in this weather, and that''s a weakness with having insects. But as we approach the volcano, my subsidiary trees are slowly dying, so I could not extend them further. This is despite my own heat resistance, but the death is not due heat alone. The surroundings of the active volcano is filled with sulphur, and there are active lava flows, forming rivers in the area. And, at every eruption, a blast of energy sweeps out from the caldera, and the shockwave creates a gust of wind. All this, cumulatively, create a hostile environment for the trees. One of the external biolabs (only one so far), next to inner ring, had a menu prompt. Kind of like those alerts when I unlocked a secret mission. [Biolab research option unlocked : Volcanic adaptation. Estimated time required, 3 months. Materials needed to start research, 100 pieces of sulphur] Uh. Okay! Now I¡¯d like to check all the other kinds of environmental adaptations... That kind of put my plans to use trees to crawl into the volcank on hold. Thankfully though, the area around the volcano is still relatively warm, such that I can still deploy my beetles, and task them to venture into the volcano area to harvest the sulphurous minerals. At about the same time, I created two beetle research tree, to research winter adaptation. It¡¯s annoying to have so many of my beetles going into hibernation in this weather, and I was hoping to have some beetles which have ability to function in the cold. It is really hard to do much when my beetles spend so much time hibernating in their cosy trees. Year 76 Month 3 The nations are now starting their work on dispelling or weakening the blizzard vortex, with spring returning, the intensity of the blizzard is reducing slightly. Slightly. Because it is still snowing. And that means crops are not growing. Luckily for the New Freekans, their indoor farming experiments are working, so they now intensify their efforts to build additional indoor farms, in an effort to combat food shortages. But, the cold also means my timber farms are not as productive, so they very quickly used up the entirety of the timber farm... ¡°We¡¯ve got a problem. Food supply is low, we probably have enough for another month, and the indoor farms are not producing enough food.¡± ¡°Hunt. We hunt for the foxes and winter creatures.¡± ¡°Okay. Let''s do that, but we are talking about almost 25,000 people in New Freeka, are there sufficient meat to feed that many?¡± ¡°Maybe not, but better to have meat than not.¡± ¡°Some of our watchtowers spotted a large group of yaks, that spawned¡­ that would be ideal for us, their furs can serve as warm clothing for the men.¡± Yvon pauses, nods. ¡°Fine. Take a 50 men and go hunt.¡± The warrior nods. ¡°Still, we need other food sources, meat is good, and we still have storage¡­ perhaps the truce is suspended?¡± ¡°Huh. The hell with the truce, Lady Yvon. Salah won¡¯t be able to retaliate in such circumstances.¡± ¡°Salah may well figure out how to dispel this magic.¡± Another of Yvon¡¯s advisors chime in. ¡°Though, depending on how we word it, we can perhaps get some leeway¡­¡± Yvon ponders that for a while, ¡°Can you arrange someone to visit them to convey our intentions to suspend the truce requirements, given this¡­ disaster?¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± ¡°Back to topic. Food. Food and warm shelter. We had 68 of us die of cold last month. We need to get a solution, or something to stave this cold off until summer, hopefully we have some plants growing then.¡± The discussion is held in one of the large halls in New Freeka, all the leaders are invited. It comprises mostly of Yvon¡¯s comrades back when they were with Salah, but they have also gradually brought in the refugees to join the leadership team. After all, with 25,000, voices of rebellion and dissent will rise quickly, especially when it is cold and, people are hungry. ¡°Can we buy them?¡± ¡°The merchants do sell food, but their prices are¡­ extortionary. They know we need it.¡± ¡°Still, if we have to¡­¡± ¡°Then we will. But let that day come only when we have exhausted other means¡­ our coin is our hard earned money.¡± ¡°We should set up our own merchant corps, get out there and buy food from the unaffected nations.¡± Yvon nods, ¡°That is a good idea, though the merchant guilds won¡¯t like it that we bypass them, but they¡¯ll come around. Anyone willing to volunteer to lead this task?¡± A few men and women raise their hands, and Yvon nods. This level of eavesdropping is partly facilitated by Trevor¡¯s upgrade, which allows him to process the data coming from within the valley and New Freeka in greater detail. ¡°So, one group to hunt food, one group to buy food. Anything else? Magic?¡± ¡°Would Baroosh be able to send help using that portal magic?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ that is worth exploring.¡± Yvon nods, and assigns Eriz to the task. ¡°Alternatively, is there no magic spell that create a warm barrier to keep out such cold?¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ as far as I know, we don¡¯t have wizards at the level of entire towns here. We have been doing them at the building level¡­ but the spells expire relatively quickly.¡± Indeed, there are mages, using their spells to create fire, or generally warm up certain places. But spells like this last short periods, sustained by mana, and they do run out. The warming effects of certain skills, such as [Comfortable house] or [Slow burning fire] that some of the refugees have, last abit longer, but that does not work on a large scale and cannot house everyone. ¡°Does¡­ does the will of the forest have any way to aid us?¡± Ah yes, ¡°Will of the Forest¡±. It¡¯s one of the ways the refugees have come to refer to me, after the recent assistance of the potatoes. Apparently, those who visit the [Tree of Prayer] are those that would end up using this particular phrase. They have been seeing my presence in their sleep, of a tree that somehow appears in their nightmares, and eats them. Yvon did not respond. ¡°I mean, the Will of the Forest is the one that somehow manage to heal the princess, perhaps it has some way to aid us?¡± Yvon sighs. ¡°As you all have known, and I said this that day¡­ The Tree Spirit does not give its aid freely. There is a cost to borrowing its aid, and is there anyone willing to sacrifice their souls for it?¡± ¡°Ask the elves. The will protects them, perhaps they can figure out a way to sway his views?¡± One suggests, referring to Jura, Laufen and the elves. ¡°Or Miss Eriz? Eriz was protected by it?¡± Eriz shakes her head then. ¡°The tree has punished me for bring all of you here, back then. I doubt it would listen to me now.¡± ¡°If enough of us prayed to it, perhaps it might? That is what the churches tell their believers to do in times of hardship.¡± Ooooo¡­ the religious kind. To be honest, my ability to support the valley is also relatively limited. First of all, there is just too many of them. 25,000 New Freekans, and even with my new [winter resistant crops], I can grow about 2,500 winter-resistant potatoes a day, and that is enough to make maybe 1,300 meals per day. That still leaves a huge 23,700 guys without food. I mean, I think I am already pretty awesome to produce 2,500 potatoes per day. And add to that, fruits. I have the warming fruits and the winter resistant healing fruits, which only my main tree can produce, and I can produce about 100 each for the two kinds of fruits. That is maybe another 100. If I had the entire valley¡¯s trees, then yes, I can then tap on the normal trees to create food but now, the normal trees in the forest are consuming energy, not creating them. So yeah. This weather is horrible. ¡°Perhaps they can make use of the tunnels.¡± Trevor suggested. ¡°Maybe they can grow mushrooms in there.¡± ¡°If they have the right kind of mushrooms. And don¡¯t they need time?¡± ¡°True. Mushroom as fungi, they benefit less from your ¡°bountiful growth¡± effect.¡± Well, looks like the New Freekans are on their own. Too bad for them. Beetles near the volcano report they have collected sufficient sulphur to start the research into [volcanic adaptation], which, I do. Immediately. Thankfully research still functions under such cold. ¡°Trevor. Are there ways to research winter resistance?¡± ¡°As your forest minds, we are able to perform research with the aid of [external biolabs]. Though, our research functions are relatively limited, and a dedicated research-focused artificial soul will be needed for high-tier research.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°So if I assign you to do so, does it come at the expense of anything?¡± ¡°Yes, if you assign us to perform research on any of the external biolabs, our ability to support the valley¡¯s growth will be impaired by 10 to 20% per research topic. As you have already selected [volcanic adaptation], I am already using 15% of my available energy.¡± I see. What other research options do you have? ¡°Well¡­ you¡¯ll have to tell me. There¡¯s no list to choose from.¡± Hey, that''s not how I expect games to work. There should be clear tech trees, not I think of something and the biolabs figure it out¡­ ¡°Uh that''s how it works in real life. Inventors do that.¡± Meela chimes in. ¡°You want to volunteer? Can I fuse you to a biolab?¡± I actually know the answer already. ¡°Fine, why not you work on winter adaptation as well.¡± ¡°Sure¡­¡± Oh. My [ginseng tree] died from a pile of snow that somehow fell onto it and crushed it. Dammit. Beetle winter adaptation stage I - 2 months remain Tree volcanic adaptation stage I - 3 months remain Tree winter adaptation aura - 3 months remain Year 76 Month 3 Week 4 I had a visitor. An uninvited one. ¡°Hmm.¡± A strange man appeared in my inner courtyard one day, right in front of my original main tree. How did this guy get here? Right in front of me? ¡°Strange.¡± He holds a strange stick in his hand, and it bends towards me in a certain way. It looks like some kind of prospector¡¯s stick, or a diviner¡¯s item. Perhaps similar to the compass that the Barooshians have. He looks up, and I see he is alone, but he has a big cloak and hoody kind of set up, like an assassin. Somehow, if I had skin, I would get goosebumps, something about his presence just¡­ scares me. I get a feeling that he is perhaps a Level 100 assassin or something of that nature. I wake Jura, who¡¯s asleep at the time, and he comes out, armed and ready. ¡°Hello?¡± The assassin dude glances at Jura, and shrugs. ¡°Sorry. I think I got lost. Do you know where New Freeka is?¡± ¡°No, you didn¡¯t.¡± Jura says. ¡°No one stumbles into this inner courtyard from being ¡®lost¡¯.¡± This inner courtyard is actually specially guarded and protected, with the effect of my [illusion] and [camouflage] ability. So, walking here from being lost is close to nil, so by way of elimination, that means he is deliberately here. The inner courtyard has the [forge tree], the [root-brain complex] and the other large upgraded subsidiary trees, that is converted into housing. He glances around, looking, his eyes trying to find something. Perhaps someone other than Jura? The assassin dude smiles. ¡°Yes, you are right. I happen to be looking for¡­ heroes. Do you know of any?¡± Jura laughs, and decide to joke to lighten up the mood. ¡°None here. They¡¯re all dead. You gotta wait till the gods summon them again.¡± ¡°Well, that''s what the gods want the public to think.¡± The assassin looks at me, and the stick keeps bending in a strange way. He keeps the stick into some kind of magic pouch and takes out a different kind of item, a metal divining ball. ¡°Eh?¡± Jura exclaims, he is alert, but he too, can sense the tremendous pressure from the man before him. The metal ball doesn¡¯t react. ¡°Hmmm.. no heavenly blessing, so you certainly are not a hero¡­¡± ¡°Uh of course-¡± The assassin turns, and suddenly Jura falls to the ground. Alive, but it''s as if his leg suddenly lost strength. Two very tiny needles almost instantly pierced his legs, and it is laced with some kind of poison. But before Jura could scream, or I could do anything, the assassin is right in front of him, and taps a strange golden metal rod into his head. ¡°Sorry, this won¡¯t kill you, but it¡¯ll make you forget all about me, and this entire thing.¡± And Jura falls to the ground, unconscious, but I detect that he is still very much alive. I calculate my chances, and speculate that my chances of killing this person is slim. I feel this assassin probably could dodge my root strikes easily, so, even if I tried, I think it would take multiple shots for it to work. I would need an AoE ability to get him, or some way of slowing him down, if I want to hit him on my very first strike. The assassin then looks and walks around my main tree. ¡°Hmmm¡­ The otherworlder locator points here though¡­ meh. Too many false positives with all the things the heroes leave behind.¡± I continue watching, I suppose he might try something on Jura, but, my instincts tell me to wait. Jura¡¯s unconscious body shakes a bit, and the assassin walks over. ¡°Ah yes, it¡¯s still freezing cold.¡± He covers Jura in a thick blanket that he pulls out from his pouch. ¡°Sorry.¡± He looks around. Then he gives a big sigh. ¡°Guess he did not come here then. Dammit.¡± He lifts his fist against the sky and shakes it. And the assassin vanishes. Just like that. Without a trace, and despite me and my roots covering this entire valley, I did not pick up his presence since then. I still wonder how he just slipped in and out of the entire valley like that. ¡°Apologises master, I have no idea how he slipped past all our detection and patrols.¡± Trevor apologise, but I can¡¯t blame him. He could walk in a straight line at me and I still won¡¯t see him coming. That''s just how absurdly powerful his ability is. ¡°A skill, obviously. Very, very high leveled stealth and camouflage. But add that to our list of weaknesses.¡± I somehow suspect my own [camouflage] and [illusions] also worked on him, so he didn¡¯t suspect much. ¡°He feels like a friend, though.¡± Meela speaks. ¡°Really?¡± Year 76 Month 4 ¡°All good over here.¡± Dimitree reports explaining the status of trees in the Southwest Forest. The cold is less severe there this month, benefiting from a strong warm current. New Freeka managed to buy some food from neutral nations, so they staved off a bit of the hunger situation. And as the seasons change, a bit of the cold and snow from the bloodspell is counteracted by the natural warmth of the spring. Still snowing, so the crops are still not growing. I also, learned that actually I overestimated the refugees dietary requirements, as they actually have skills which make them better able to withstand cold and hunger. Some of them have skills like [Minimal Diet] or [High efficiency body] or [Endure hunger] which allowed them to make the most of what little food they have. Their experience being on the move, frequently with little food as well, given the survivors these skills which made them tougher. Some of the most impressive of such abilities, possessed by a refugee, [Ascetic diet], survives on one meal per week without looking worse than a normal person. In fact, if the refugees possess such abilities, my potatoes actually would be able to feed a lot more than I initially calculated. Perhaps by a multiple of 5 times. ¡°Its hard out there¡­¡± Belle sits, all snuggly in her bed. ¡°TreeTree, is there not much we can do to help them?¡± ¡°Well, there is, but let them figure it out themselves.¡± ¡°I think some of the refugees are jealous.¡± Emile explains. ¡°They wonder how we can still be so comfortable here and not extend a hand to them. They think we are being selfish¡­¡± ¡°Wahlen told me they have been getting weird stares, and some of the men actually cursed them openly¡­¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Well, I¡¯ll let it slide, but if any of them make a move, I will not hesitate to punish them. I mentally make a note to Trevor to put increased surveillance on Brislach and Wahlen, who now live in New Freeka. ¡°It is the way of the world.¡± Laufen sits with Lausanne, working on some cotton clothes. ¡°Our luck, that TreeTree watches over us.¡± ¡°Well, some of them were driven out of their homes too, so they feel that they have suffered much.¡± Belle responds, she¡¯s really cozy with a thick blanket wrapped around her. Its actually warm in the room, as the main hideout and the nearby subsidiary trees have temperature controlled spaces. Lausanne then pouts. ¡°Treetree, maybe you should help them. Give them potatoes? I think they will like potatoes.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­. I don¡¯t want to assist them so easily. Aid breeds complacency¡­¡± ¡°But they are in need. Heroes help people, no?¡± Hmmm¡­ Well, how do I tell Lausanne that I honestly do not care about the New Freekans all that much. Sure, they are useful, but¡­ thats about it. ¡°How is your practice coming, Lausanne?¡± I try to change the topic, after all she has been receiving [dream tutor] from me for quite some time. ¡°Oh it''s okay. I have been learning a lot, and those dreams where I learn strange skills is really really cool.¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t we get those dreams¡­¡± Emile and Belle complain. ¡°Because Lausanne¡¯s young mind is surprisingly receptive to it.¡± ¡°We are not old!¡± ¡°Uh¡­ I mean her mind is still growing, so the skill-dreams seem to work better.¡± Then Lausanne nods, and she runs around for a while. ¡°TreeTree¡­ are you going to help the refugees?¡± Ah dammit. I thought children easily forget the topic? Why does she recall it so well. ¡°Uhmmm, Lausanne, I cannot use my powers so easily, and there is always a cost for any other ability that I use. If the refugees ask for help, then, depends on what they offer, then I will consider it.¡± Lausanne pauses, and somehow she nods. She seems to accept that power is not something used so freely. ¡°Maybe you are right. Uncle Jura likes to say that power needs to wait for the right time.¡± Heh, that is surprisingly insightful from Jura. Perhaps that new [diplomat] job has given him new mental perspectives. ¡°They must first, help themselves.¡± A few days later, ¡°Tree spirit.¡± Meela speaks to me, her voice is serious. The Wisp is next to her, and we are in the soul realm. ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°I have a strange dream, or¡­ well, maybe its not really a dream. But like some kind of mental whisper. But I think it means something. Something¡­ important.¡± Important? What could be important. Oh well, let''s go with it. ¡°So tell me.¡± ¡°I¡­ I saw Alexis.¡± ¡°Okay. What about her?¡± ¡°She¡¯s not dead.¡± Oh. That is good I suppose. ¡°She¡­ somehow my prayers to the heroes reached her.¡± Hmm, then again, that doesn¡¯t sound good. ¡°Her body is currently consumed by demonfire, after she used [Fireform] to avoid the destruction of the demon king¡¯s core¡­ She is battling it every moment now. It seems the demonfire, when there is sufficient amounts of it, it gains some kind of consciousness.. or some kind of innate instincts ¡± ¡°Oh okay.¡± Doesn¡¯t sound good, but so? She¡¯s really far away right. ¡°And... erm¡­ I think the demonfire that consumes her body thinks that a hero is still around, and so¡­ It thinks the source of the prayer is¡­ a hero.¡± Oh no. I mean, I kind of figured that is what Meela meant. It is just, just so typical of communications to lead to such actions. ¡°She¡¯s headed this way.¡± I mean, how does a demon know where to go, but I guess there are ways for that to happen. ¡°...yeah.¡± ¡°When will she get here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Uh. ¡°What else did she say?¡± ¡°Not much¡­ She mumbled about how she is a fire elemental, since her she¡¯s stuck in her fire-body form and that firebody is controlled by the will of the demonfire¡± Well. Shit? Hmm, lets see what measures can I take against a fire-crazy demon. Spaizzer next chapter 28 march. ill try not to be late.. A valley burns Year 76 Month 4 Week 4 Fire elemental and a perpetual blizzard. Not exactly what I imagined to face, but here I am. The demon-fire Alexis arrived a lot later than expected, I initially thought she would arrive perhaps within two to three days, given the heroes overwhelming cheat powers, so I scrambled to prepare myself to face a hero, but then again, her body is controlled by demonfire, and that demonfire isn¡¯t exactly¡­ intelligent. But yes, her arrival is easy to spot, as the demonfire is a lot more flashy. Despite a snowstorm that engulfs everywhere we can see, her glowing, flaming body just shines through all that snow like a lighthouse in a storm. Her body is a huge glowing fireball shaped like a woman, she reminds me of a female version of the human torch, or perhaps phoenix, but there under all that fire is something that looks like a solid core. And, she arrives with a bang, shooting fireballs and firing beams of fire throughout the entire valley. ¡°This is the monster the tree spirit warned us about?¡± Yvon¡¯s immediate reaction is¡­ well, shock. After Meela had the revelation, I quickly cascaded the alert down to the people, that a probably powerful monster is coming our way, so that they can prepare. But I would realise all my preparation was for naught. Jura nods. ¡°Yeah. Some kind of¡­ fire-creature.¡± ¡°That is a whole lot more than just ¡°fire-beast¡±.¡± Alexis floats in the sky, surrounded by a dark, maroonish fire that rages violently. The remnants of the demon king¡¯s fire, it looks unaffected by the effects of this magical blizzard, or even if it did, whatever effect it had is probably miniscule. Yvon looks back at Jura and shakes her head. ¡°Whatever that is, it is flying. There¡¯s very few ways to engage that thing, unless it comes down to the ground. Our arrows are not going hurt it, and I doubt fireballs from our mages will either!¡± As Yvon and Jura discusses, Alexis clearly does not consider them threats, instead she still continues to shoot fireballs at the forest and blast up a whole bit of the valley, one fireball at a time. The first impact vaporises any snow or ice that is built up, and the second impact instantly sets the normal trees on fire. Indeed, given the monster is... A fire elemental, the best option is to use opposing elemental weapons, or some destroy the elemental¡¯s core. ¡°So?¡± Jura looks at Yvon, he enters into the bear-armor mode, a black-colored wood wraps his entire body, and it makes him look at a giant bear, and he leaps into combat, charges in the general direction of Alexis. The fire elemental notices, and directs the fireballs at Jura. And each time, he activates a wooden shield to parry those fireballs, the shields, are only able to absorb two fireballs, so Jura had to constantly re-activate the wood shields. ¡°Well, how are you going to hit it?¡± Yvon wonders, and activates a magical arrow. The fact that it¡¯s a fire elemental meant Yvon quickly reorganised the team she prepared for this. Not everyone is suitable to face a high-tier monster of this sort, so some of the guys retreat back to New Freeka, and set up defensive positions. Jura¡¯s bear-shaped legs contort, the wood armor twirl into a spring-like structure and propel him high into the air, close enough to come into contact with the fire elemental¡­ And he gets blasted with a point blank inferno, it exploded right in front of him, and he gets chucked super far away into the ground, the wooden armor, already black, but now charred and smoking. The impact is enough to knock Jura out, but thankfully, not kill him, as the armor took the most of the damage, as I sense Bamboo going offline. But I think he¡¯ll probably need to be in bed for a few days. ¡°Jura!¡± Yvon shouts, but she quickly turns back to face Alexis, who now notices the rest of the men, and retaliates with a few more fireballs. I activate my [wood shield] to protect them from the fireballs. ¡°Well, that went horribly well.¡± I think to myself, as I activated multiple wood shields to block the fireballs. Their effectiveness is pretty good, blocking multiple hits before getting destroyed. ¡°Master, they won¡¯t be able to harm that monster.¡± Trevor quickly summarises our problem. True, with enough wood shields I can significantly reduce the damage Alexis deals, but we can¡¯t hit or hurt it that much. And this is when I notice Horns, charge towards the monster. ¡°For the master!¡± Uh. What? ¡°I shall defeat the foe!¡± I think he somehow forgot that he can¡¯t fly, so I am not sure what possessed him to attempt such a move, and what is he attempting to do. ¡°What¡¯s he doing?¡± ¡°I think he may have some skills, master.¡± ¡°Really. Let¡¯s see it, but I think he¡¯s gonna lose.¡± Alexis is a hero, and that fire is from the demon king itself... Horns charges towards Alexis, his beetle shell coated with some kind of resin, which is actually pretty good at absorbing the fireballs. And then when he finally gets beneath her, he digs into the ground, and shoots spikes at Alexis, from his shell. [Spike-attack] ¡°Oh. I didn¡¯t know he can do that.¡± But, it¡¯s too-low-tier a skill, and the spikes burn up before they even actually harm her body. And so, Alexis lobs a few fireballs at Horns. And he would have been crispy fried beetles if not for a few [Wood shield]. ¡°Retreat, Horns. Not your match-¡± Alexis waves her hand and shoots out a continuous jet of blue fire, and it incinerates everything it is path, including the wood shield. I instantly try to activate a few more shields to protect Horns, but it¡¯s not good enough, the blue flame burns through the wood shields rather quickly, and also burns half of Horn¡¯s back body before he manages to run out of range. ¡°Master- I failed-¡± And I sense Horns going offline. He¡¯s¡­ probably not dead yet, but I¡¯ll need to repair him after this. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Hibernate mod.¡± Yvon, very smartly, chooses to retreat all the way to me. I guess the fact that she survived so long out in politics is no fluke. ¡°We¡¯re no match for this monster.¡± At this point, I know. Alexis has a fire aura that burns any lesser object that gets near her, and she almost limitless quantities of fire-type magic, and that blue flame is really powerful. ¡°Any suggestions?¡± ¡°No sire. I think our chances against is quite slim.¡± Even now, her very presence is melting all the snow into water, then steam, and then the trees are catching fire. It¡¯s ridiculous how she can be a one-person weather changer. ¡°Is there really no way we can reach her?¡± Meela sighs, she feels upset that Alexis is burning up the forest, and she has created a path of destruction that leads her right to me. [Root strike]. A root flies up to her, and it hits her. The damage is low, as the fire aura incinerates the root partially, and so reduces the impact. I thought I could do a repeat of my earlier strategy by using multiple root strikes, but then I notice that fire soon regenerates the damage. The root strike barrage would need to deliver a fatal strike, or I may just be wasting time. Meela, tries the friendship route, and so she prays, and attempts to mentally communicate with Alexis. To convince her to stop attacking it I try a few more [root strikes], just to be sure, and like the earlier ones, it does hit, but the damage I deal is not much. I throw a few fruits at her just to be sure, but they burn up midair, without achieving a thing. ¡°Yvon, can you evacuate the elves? And stay out of this.¡± This is not going to be easy, and I suspect the mages will be useless. ¡°Ah¡­ yes. Certainly.¡± Yvon quickly take the elves and run. A few fireballs go their way, but I block it with the [wood shields]. The [shield generator] trees also have been trying to block the fireballs, but not as the shield generators are independent of me, their strength is inferior, and can only block 2-3 fireballs. ¡°She¡¯s in there, and she says she¡¯s in great pain.¡± Meela actually manages to communicate. ¡°How?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a thing heroes of the same generation can do. A kind of¡­ telepathic link in short distances... Anyway¡­ she can¡¯t help us, the demonfire is too strong, and her soul is too weak to resist or take back her body.¡± ¡°Okay, no friendship-no-jutsu route.¡± Alexis burns up a few more of subsidiary trees, and sends a few fireballs direct at my main tree, and it explodes right on my trunk My historical experiences with fire has made me very resistant to them, so the fireballs don¡¯t even leave a scratch on my main body. My main body, unlike the skill extensions, enjoy the full benefit of my [Tree Heart], and this prompts Alexis to aim blue flames at me. And they don¡¯t hurt. The blue flames can¡¯t burn me either. This seems to be a stalemate. She can burn up the entire forest and I will still be standing. And I can¡¯t hurt her. This outcome is not what I want, so I need to find a different strategy. Irritated, Alexis sends out a wave of fire from her body, and pretty much burns almost all the normal trees immediately around my main tree. The subsidiary trees, forge tree and root-brain complex share quite a bit of my fire-resistance abilities, but the flame is strong enough to let Trevor experience pain. ¡°Master¡­ I don¡¯t feel so good.¡± Trevor is housed in the root-brain complex and the blue fire is slowly getting to it. It inherits a smaller % of my godly fire resistance, and would be invulnerable to most fires. Except one from a hero, or a demon king. ¡°Shut down and hibernate. Horns, you too!¡± ¡°Acknowledged.¡± Rather than lose Trevor and Horns from the constant barrage of fire, it¡¯s better to pull their artificials souls back from their bodies, and house and hibernate their souls within me. ¡°This isn¡¯t ideal.¡± I shake my head, Alexis is still blasting the forest, and I¡¯m doing my best to block as much of the fireballs as I can. Which works, and as a results, irritates the demonfire Alexis more. Meela shakes her head. ¡°Alexis¡¯s trying to take back control, but it¡¯s not working. The demonfire¡¯s will is too powerful.¡± At this point, the elves have managed to evacuate to the ¡°relative¡± safety of New Freeka, and it¡¯s just me, the spirits, and Alexis. Yvon managed to haul Jura away from the battlefield as well. It¡¯s strange, to be feeling so hot when just a bit further away, it¡¯s the cold blizzard. Too bad I can¡¯t channel the blizzard¡¯s power and direct it all at Alexis. ¡°We can¡¯t defeat her.¡± Meela sighs. ¡°All you can go is stall her, but she¡¯s free to run elsewhere.¡± I pause and I try to think. If I can¡¯t defeat her, then, I will attempt to contain her. The logic to me is simple, she can¡¯t hurt me, so if I contain her such that she can¡¯t hurt anyone else, that¡¯s a win too! Alexis lobs a few more fireballs and releases multiple fire-waves, and what is once a green valley turns into a blazing inferno, with me, the sole untouched tree in the middle, as the blue flame is strong enough to burn even those with higher fire resistances. ¡°What¡¯s your plan?¡± Meela asks. ¡°Well, remember my extremely crazy demon and fire resistance? I am going to exploit it.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°I am going to eat her.¡± [Constrict] x 30. 60 roots and vines shoot out from my main body, and attempt to reach out to Alexis¡¯ firey body. Thanks a bit to her target being me. which I suppose is due to her sensing the presence of Meela, or perhaps those fragments of heroes, she is now really close to me, trying to burn me. I¡¯m not sure whether Alexis gets the point that it¡¯s not working, but hey, if all it wants to do is keep trying, go ahead. The fjre work to a limited degree on the roots and vines. Her fire aura burns up a few strands of roots and vines, but there is enough of the constricting vines and roots to form a thick net. I had taken inspiration from Horn¡¯s body to coat the roots and vines with a layer of fire-resistant resin, and as they touch her fireform body, some of them burn. With the resin-coated fire resistant net around her, I begin to pull, and manage to grab her flame body, and pull her towards me, into me. ¡°You actually going to¡­¡± Meela looks surprised. ¡°Eat her ...¡± Yes. I am. Alexis¡¯s body seems to panic, and so released a continuous stream of blue fire, and even stronger black fires, but closer to my main body, the root and vine¡¯s fire resistance increase, so, she¡¯s trapped. Fireballs after fireballs explode as I pull her ever closer. Alexis¡¯s body now almost touches my trunk, and she releases a huge chain of fire-waves, the acts of a drowning man, flailing, in an attempt to escape, but she still could not break through her vines. However, that fire scorched the surroundings, the forge-tree and the root-brain complex burned, the ground charred black. Then, as she closed in on the trunk, the main body of my trunk open up, reveals a biolab pod. And the vines push her inside into the biolab. The demonfire attacks the biolab, and now, I feel like I¡¯m in a sauna. Or like an arctic monkey sitting inside a hot spring in winter. That doesn¡¯t stop Alexis. She keeps trying, releasing wave after wave of fire. Perhaps she thinks my resistance is due to an extreme regeneration and so I will run out of mana, or somehow she hoped that the fire will eventually get through. But it doesn¡¯t. I am kinda thankful that it¡¯s only power is fire, and so it¡¯s only response to any threat is to burn the shit out of it. I mean, if it had Alexis¡¯s brains, she¡¯d probably try lightning, or perhaps ice. So yeah, when you¡¯re a hammer, all you can do is hammer. ¡°This is insane.¡± Meela says, clearly rather amazed to see Alexis dragged into me. ¡°Well, it works.¡± And I begin the next step, trying to battle the demonfire¡¯s presence. It¡¯s strangely¡­ familiar. Like the [Fires of Baal] that used to burn on top of my trunk, the fire even feels rather pleasant. This time, I¡¯m not the same tree I used to be, and so I will defeat the demonfire myself. My mana, and I draw on all the mana I have, from the leyline, from the normal trees, from the storage, from¡­ everything, and with it, I flood Alexis¡¯s body with my mana, and, drive out the demonfire and the demonic mana that now runs through her body. It is like attempting to do a blood transfusion, to drive out the dirty demon blood and replace it with my clean blood. Unbeknownst to me at this time, from New Freeka, by putting Alexis¡¯s body into me, it seems like the entire valley¡¯s trees appear to be on fire. The heat generated from the trapped demonfire, is released through my roots, my branches, like how a kettle vents out hot steam, and throughout the valley, my branches and roots would periodically spit out the trapped demonfire. And, from afar, my main trunk is like a furnace, there¡¯s reddish glow from within, that trapped demonfire, a fire inside a paper lantern, and this lasts for weeks as I battled. Single-mindedly focused on beating the demonfire, I had no idea what happened other than my long, laborious battle for control of Alexis¡¯s body I kept at it, and continuously flooded her with my mana, and gradually, I made progress. Like my experience with the hellhounds, on how they, after I overwhelmed it¡¯s body with my mana, it transforms into a woodhound. Everything I had, I poured into Alexis¡¯s body. Though I doubt I can take ¡°control¡± of Alexis, my theory is that it¡¯s all I need to drive out the demonfire. After a week, I gained ground, and pushed the demonfire, perhaps by half. The demonfire tried, and gave it¡¯s all, releasing all the fire it could and tried to destroy me from within. After the second week, even more progress, the fire-elemental form is starting subside, like a body that¡¯s finally stopped burning. And in my biolab, I begin to see something resembling a soul again. It¡¯s black color body, a ¡°charred¡± body, is starting to emerge from what was once a body almost wholly made of fire. But that doesn¡¯t look good for Alexis, as it means she is probably going to die anyway. So, as I fought the demonfire, I also now begin to look into her body, and see a spring that¡¯s tainted red, burning. A body that¡¯s parched, cracked like a baked dirt, like a lake that is drained of water. A bloody red mana that flows out from everywhere, and my mana flowing into it, slowly pushing it out into the beyond. And after the third week, I finally drowned the demonfire with all the mana I had. I won. Year 76 Month 5 Week 3 ¡°You did it¡­¡± Meela nods. The demonfire is gone. Finally, and Alexis¡¯s got her body back. Well¡­ what¡¯s left of it. Could not have happened soon enough, as all the ejected heat from the demonfire meant the entire valley is literally like a minefield. Any second a tree would emit fire or hot steam, so all the inhabitants of the valley tried to stay as far away from trees as possible. But this meant the treefolk had to go out in the open, to New Freeka. Anyway , Alexis¡¯s body has been in the fireform for too long, and her physical body is completed burnt, and now it is crumbles right before our eyes, like a collapsing sandcastle. It is evidently not an ability that is meant to be used for so long... ¡°Help me, connect to me.¡± ¡°What¡­?¡± ¡°Please. Just do so.¡± Alexis coughs, her body, even though there¡¯s no demonfire anymore, is no use. To be honest, something strange about that request. But I did, my roots and vines enter her body and attempt to provide her with nutrients, the way a feeding tube would. But her body is a goner, unable to receive nutrients anymore. And then Alexis mumbles something¡­ a spell that I couldn¡¯t quite understand. It causes her body to crumble, then turns into a paste, and then, it¡­ mixes into the vines and roots in her body. And that vines and roots mixes with the rest of the biolab, and that pod transforms into a chrysalis of some kind. ¡°What¡­¡± [New subordinate consciousness, hamadryad Alexis detected] [Integrating¡­] [Integration failed] [Soul condition is in extreme damage. Extensive repairs required] [Attempting to repair using soul forge] [Soul forge is offline. Expected downtime 2 weeks.] [Subordinate consciousness will be put into stasis] [Alexis has died] [You gained a fragment. You have 67 fragments!] [You have gained 4 levels. You are now level 128!] [Biolab upgraded three times! Biolab resistance to attack increased. Biolab modification options increased! Soul-forge-linked abilities increased!] [Constrict upgraded! Vines now are able to drain mana and lifeforce! Vines now able to ensnare magical creatures] [Natural Mana Overwhelming upgraded!] [New tree variant obtained : Carnivorous plants] [New ability obtained : Heat transmission root systems] Year 76 Month 5 Week 3, a day later With Alexis defeated, I can finally take stock of the damage. And it¡¯s quite bad. From all the fireballs, and the inferno that raged afterwards, the valley lost about 7,600 normal trees, and about 100 of my subsidiary trees. Both the forge tree and the root tree complex is damaged by the blue flame, and need about two weeks to regenerate their damage. Horns is also in a kind of ¡®repair¡¯ mode, and is holed up in one of the beetle subsidiary trees, recuperating from the damage. Trevor is also offline, and it¡¯ll be two weeks before he¡¯s back on, so my range and detection ability is back to what it once was. The elves, and New Freeka, and most of the refugees stayed far away from the forest, and so when it finally stopped, everyone looks incredibly cautious. Of course, I went and check on the elves first, and find Laufen, Jura and gang resting in one of the rest houses. ¡°It¡¯s finally stopped.¡± Laufen looks out the window, noting that the fires had stopped for a full day. And with it, that means the snowstorm is going to return as well. From snowstorm to blazing inferno, and now back to a snowstorm again. ¡°Yeah.¡± Jura¡¯s awake, but his entire body is suffering from burns. He¡¯s recovering though, as the healers tend to his wounds. ¡°Wonder how TreeTree is doing¡­¡± ¡°The monster is inside TreeTree?¡± Belle nods, ¡°If so, do we still want to go back and stay there, if TreeTree is still there?¡± Laufen nods. ¡°I trust that TreeTree will take care of us, and keep the monster separated from us.¡± ¡°Hi.¡± I mentally speak to the elves. ¡°OH!¡± They all shout in delight! ¡°What I missed?¡± Laufen paused, and then soon elaborate how the entire valley is on fire for a good three weeks. The heat from the burning forest helps warm the entire area, but also makes it dangerous for anyone to get near the forest as there¡¯s all the periodic firebursts from my roots and trees. But other than that, all else is normal, as the refugees are still hungry and cold, so I turn my focus back to the forest. ¡°I¡¯m still around, boss.¡± Dimitree speaks, reminding me that he¡¯s spared from the damage because he is just so far away. ¡°Ah yes. Great! All well in your part of the world?¡± ¡°Yes boss. You¡¯ve been draining a lot of mana for the past three weeks, so we¡¯re on low-activity mode. Now we can get back to our usual routine again.¡± Well, that¡¯s good, so I then turn to the research trees. A few of the biolabs were damaged during the entire battle, and with me draining all the mana, and Trevor being out of commission, the research on the volcanic and winter adaptation is all suspended. Beetle winter adaptation stage I - 2 months remainTree volcanic adaptation stage I - 3 months remainTree winter adaptation aura - 3 months remain ¡°Dimitree, can you continue the research?¡± I mean, I do have another forest mind, so he can continue the research, right? ¡°Certainly. Please create a few biolabs in the Southwest Forest?¡± Ah yes, that makes sense, as the lab should be near to the Forest Mind for it to conduct research. Once Trevor wakes up, I wonder whether it''s possible to get both of them to do research. Does that speed things up? Spaizzer Anyway, some explanation of the elemental resistances. TreeTree enjoys extremely high fire and demon resistance from his 66(67) fragments of heroes that forms his "tree-heart", but the resistance does not extend 100% to his subsidiary trees, or his skills. Depending on the type of sub-trees, or skills, some of them get 75%, some get 50%, some (like the ginseng tree), gets none. There''s also a small distance modifier (ie a subsidiary tree really far away doesn''t enjoy as much resistance as a subsidiary tree right next to the main tree). There will be future skills that alter this, of course. And... indirect vore? I only realised after I finished writing, then I had to add the carnivorous plant skill. Venus flytrap incoming. Also, I''m early. Yay? I hope to do next chapter around 4th or 5th April. Thanks everyone for reading and supporting, and thanks to my new patreon, Jacques L! Hot water Year 76 Month 6 The past 2 weeks kinda zoomed by, as I focused on restoring the damage from my battle with Alexis. The valley¡¯s damage is severe, some of the blue flames continue to burn, so I had to find ways to put them out, such as throwing a pile of dirt at it. The residual fires did end up burning a few more trees, but eventually I got to them, thanks to snow. ¡°Ah, good to be awake. I¡¯m back, seems like I¡¯ve slept¡­¡± ¡°Yes Trevor. Time to fix our valley.¡± Indeed, our valley¡¯s heavily damaged by the fires, and Trevor¡¯s restoration abilities will be much needed. Trevor¡¯s presence sends an update to my entire point of view and interface, and more data floods in. He is clearly getting into it, I could sense him checking on various trees and quickly using his abilities to regenerate some of them. Well, this fixing thing will take some time, since the cold weather is making it hard for us to do much. Next, I checked on the elves. They are back now, living inside the [secret hideout] once more. I think they actually just miss the warmth of my [secret hideout], where the temperature is always constant, and there is always some fruits or potatoes to eat, and they were delighted when I told them they could return to the [secret hideout]. The girls are exceptionally happy to get their beds back, and quickly snuggled in. ¡°Ah I am so tired of this cold.¡± Belle jumps on her bed. ¡°So glad that my bed¡¯s still here!¡± ¡°The blizzards gonna just get stronger after this. I wouldn¡¯t want to be out there.¡± Emile sighs, ¡°I hope the rest of them are doing okay. I feel kinda bad hiding in comfort here.¡± ¡°That sucks. But¡­ oh well?¡± Belle shrugs. ¡°It¡¯s kinda amazing that all this is undamaged despite how crazy the fighting was.¡± That¡¯s partly because the [secret hideout] is pretty much fire resistant? Meanwhile... New Freeka¡¯s new hunter corps and merchant arms, they successfully acquired food, in exchange for furs, and wines. The underground and covered farms are also in full swing, as more and more of the refugees acquire skills necessary to manage their underground and indoor farms. But politically, things are not going so well for New Freeka. The three nations resume their mudslinging, as talks break down on who is responsible for the blood sacrifice blizzard spell. So, Salah has came up with a strange ultimatum to New Freeka. Side with the kingdom of Salah, and the truce conditions are waived. Choose not to, and bear their wrath. ¡°This is an insult.¡± The advisors say. ¡°I know, but what choice do we have? We have no military power to stand up to Salah.¡± Yvon sighs. ¡°But they expect us to forget that we were expelled from them? That we were massacred, our long escape from Salah, and the countless lives lost as they go about their bloodthirsty ways?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Our people will insist we have a bit more spine.¡± The advisor shakes his head, and try to convince the rest of the advisors. They too feel really mixed about this. ¡°Is the lives of our people less important than some principles?¡± ¡°How do we know? Salah may well be the one that cast the spell, then if we side with them, we would be wrong too!¡± ¡°If so, the answer must be to insist that Salah prove their innocence, then we stand on their side?¡± One of the advisors suggest, and it¡¯s quickly attacked by the other advisors. ¡°That still won¡¯t go down well with the people. Remember, we are expelled from Salah, many of us. Now they demand us to stand on their side? Even if they are truly innocent in terms of this accursed spell, I, and I speak for many others, cannot accept it. We¡¯d rather go to war with Salah.¡± ¡°But war, leads us to a lot more death, and that¡¯s what we¡¯re trying to avoid. We shouldn¡¯t go to war and put our people¡¯s lives on the line?¡± Another advisor says. ¡°Our people are tired, and are finally starting to rebuild their lives here. Do we want to throw them into the fire again?¡± Tough choices, for the New Freekans, so they could not come to a decision. Year 76 Month 7 ¡°Meela!¡± ¡°Alexis!¡± The two girls jump happily when Alexis¡¯s damaged soul is finally received its first layer of repairs. I had to wait for the forge tree to recover, and some of my energies to return, before I could get to fixing her and knocking her out of stasis. Like Meela, the damage her soul has taken is enormous, and it speaks of the incredible resilience of souls that after a layer of repairs, she is already able to speak. The kinds of damage is a mix between Meela¡¯s and that princess who experimented with void magic, so I am more than able to repair quite a bit of the damage her soul suffered, but there¡¯s still some which needs different colored soul forges to fix. ¡°I¡¯ll hug you if I could.¡± Alexis shrugs, her soul now appearing in my soul realm after the repairs. Meela laughs, ¡°I don¡¯t think ethereal spirits can have hugs.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I feel a lot better after the tree fixed me. None of that crazy demon voice anymore.¡± Meela¡¯s soul bobs. ¡°The demons have been reading my mind.¡± Well, that¡¯s a bombshell that came from nowhere. ¡°That means they know what I know. Of gods, of our technology, of¡­ home.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Nothing worse than the magics of this world has to offer. ¡°I doubt it¡¯s their first time.¡± Meela shrugs. ¡°Heroes has been summoned to this world time and time again, pretty sure a few times demons have captured heroes before.¡± Alexis sighs, ¡°Well, that¡¯s out. Feels good to finally say it.¡± Seems to be a sigh of relief, of a weight finally released from her shoulders. ¡°Having my brain read all the time isn¡¯t a pleasant feeling.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re¡­ sort of dead, so I doubt that¡¯s any better?¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather be dead, honestly. I¡¯m really relieved that the tree spirit is able to defeat me, I initially fear being the vehicle for more of the demon¡¯s destruction.¡± ¡°Well, luckily, I have just the set of abilities to counter you.¡± I jump in. ¡°Yes. Interesting set of¡­ operations you¡¯re starting here.¡± Alexis muses. ¡°You like it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­ not bad.¡± Alexis¡¯s spirit bobs around. ¡°See, someone appreciates it for a change.¡± Meela shrugs. ¡°Anyway, what spell did you use in the end?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ It¡¯s a reduction-to-spiritual-form spell, something I learn from being stuck in the fireform for too long, since my body is disintegrating, and then a merge-self spell.¡± ¡°Merge?¡± That¡¯s when I realised Alexis might have tried to hijack my body. ¡°Yeah. I tried to merge with you, but your soul is far too strong, and instead I got absorbed...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do that ever again.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I just wanted to still somehow live¡­¡± Anyway, I still have to figure out so alternatives, so I speak to the wisp, separately. ¡°Wisp, any way I can control what the souls do against me?¡± ¡°Well, in their soul form they have no ability to harm you, at least directly. They are after all souls that exist with your soul realm, and the soul realm is a contained ¡®other¡¯ space. Once confined and merged into a vessel, their ability to harm you depends on the vessel.¡± Hmmm¡­ lots to think about there. ¡°But, there are safeguards you can perform, such as entering into a soul contract. Such act will constrain their actions for the next 1,000 years.¡± Ah yes, I am an idiot, but I suppose I have to, if I ever want to give them a vessel. ¡°There¡¯s a vessel already developing inside the pod, which the lady Alexis used. It seems to be a woman made out of wood, but will be some time before it is ready.¡± ¡°How?¡± I mean, how¡¯d Alexis do that?¡°Her spell managed to only take control of the pod, and so she used it to become a cocoon to grow herself a new body. But because her magic is decayed, the new body that is growing is now under your control.¡± I therefore take a chance to have a look at the body she¡¯s growing, it¡¯s essentially a body made of wood. But the limps, and the joints are all made of some kind of soft vines. [Hamadryad Body - Developing]. The body is made from the nimble wood of a soul tree, and the soul that lives in this body derives energy and life support from the soul tree. So, the body will die when the soul tree does. Hmm, but at least this body aligns hers and mine, as she dies when I do. But then, she could just hop bodies, and she might still try to take over me, rather than become attached to me. For now though, she¡¯s still in my [soul realm], so I need to think of some precautions. She failed previously, but that¡¯s because her body and soul is in terrible shape. If she¡¯s in her best shape, might she succeed? ¡°Alexis.¡± I return to the two ladies, who are happily chatting away. ¡°Yes, tree spirit?¡± ¡°Do you plan to stay in this world? Or do you plan to move on.¡± The soul realm is where souls prepare for their onward reincarnation after all. If she leaves, then my fears will be less. ¡°Ah¡­ if what Meela tells me is right, I might see Nobuo in the next few weeks. They¡¯re a bit slow to catch up on such matters. I¡¯ll see what he says first, but I think I¡¯ll stay.¡± Oh. That¡¯s a disappointment. ¡°Because the price of my failed attempt to merge with your body¡­ is that my soul is now subordinated and shackled to you for a thousand years.¡± And just to be sure, I checked. [Alexis] [Status : Soul-contracted to TreeTree] Ah, so the variant of her attempt to merge with me, ends up backfiring and turning it into a soul contract. That¡¯s¡­ rather weird. So I go back and ask the wisp more questions. ¡°Can a body have two souls?¡± ¡°Maybe, but one is always the ¡®master¡¯. In your case, you¡¯re the soul tree, and you¡¯re the undisputed master of your own soul. The lady is reckless to have attempted to take over as ¡®master¡¯ of your body, after all, there is nothing in the world that can remove a soul tree able to manipulate the souls of others, from its own body.¡± ¡°Nothing?¡± ¡°Nothing. Even a god can¡¯t touch a soul tree¡¯s soul, until the soul tree dies, in which your soul then becomes any other soul. Think about it, how can a being able to repair, create, and upgrade souls, lose control over their own body to another soul? The power to manipulate souls comes from the soul tree¡¯s innate structure, and to kick you out involves tampering with that innate structure.¡± Hmmm. ¡°But you said early she could harm me?¡± ¡°Well, yes. She can cast spells at you, and physically attack you if they desire to. Both Meela and Alexis, if they are combined into a vessel, are their own persons, and they can attack you if they choose to. But chase you out of your own body is not one of the things they can ever do.¡± Ah, I misunderstood a bit. I suppose that changes the types of precautions I have to take. Hmmm... Year 76 Month 7 Week 2 Everyone is busy doing farming, especially of the underground or indoor type. Those that can¡¯t are busy hunting. It¡¯s going to enter into the really cold months soon, and if the magic behind this snowstorm does not weaken, it¡¯ll just mean colder days ahead. So, although there is the threat of a re-escalation of the war between the three kingdoms, the people of New Freeka are just single-mindedly focused on preparing for more harsh winters. It¡¯s really the only thing on most of the people¡¯s minds. On my side, I do my part by growing potatoes. I mean, I can grow a lot of potatoes, so that¡¯s what I do. And those fruits of healing and warming fruits as well, which I get the elves to store in the secret hideout. The elves, purchased vinegar from the traders, and use them to create pickled fruits, so these pickled fruits, kept in large wooden containers, are what they store for winter. It seems the effectiveness of thea healing and warming reduce by half, but in exchange we get much more longer-lasting fruits that don¡¯t rot so quickly. By now, the valley¡¯s damage from the fires are gone, but of the many trees destroyed, only 20% rejuvenated. After all, the weather is too cold for trees to grow. It seems that there is actually a few groups of wizards attempting to dispel and weaken the blizzard, after all, for some wizards, this is a chance to level up, try to do something that few other wizards have done before, at the same time earn some good brownie points with the rulers of the three kingdoms. I hope they are successful, this stupid winter has gone on for far too long. ¡°Fear not, master. The winter research is going on well, and once that is done we will be able to regrow even more trees.¡± Trevor and Dimitree both try to comfort me, but I still feel a bit annoyed. Aside from that, my soul harvesters return! I get a lot more souls, it seems the winter is really killing a lot of people, so I have enough to create one more artificial soul. The only problem is, I don¡¯t have enough power for it. Year 76 Month 8 Beetle winter adaptation stage I - completed! Tree volcanic adaptation stage I - 1 months remain Tree winter adaptation aura - 1 months remain Ah yes. My beetles can move now. With the first stage beetle winter adaptation, I notice the beetles now have some kind of internal-warming system, where there is a some kind of warm sap which gets pumped to their joints and limbs to keep it warm. However, the sap is produced only in the [subsidiary trees - beetlenests], so they have to periodically return to the trees to restock on the saps. This gives them an effective operation time in winter of about 2 hours, which isn¡¯t that great, but, at least they can move and function in winter, which is a whole lot better than them sleeping in their nests! I wonder if this gets taken to the extreme, would the beetles actually gain functional hot blood pumping hearts? ¡°Interesting stuff you have there.¡± Alexis is a lot more nosy than I expected, she¡¯s extremely interested in the kinds of research and actions I¡¯m taking, and thanks to the repairs she¡¯s gotten, she and Meela can both be nosy. Still, the fact that she tried to merge with me makes me a little defensive around her. ¡°You¡¯re feeling suspicious of me because of what I did before I died. And I can understand that, and I would like to apologise again. But, let me be useful to you, after all, there are still many ways you can use me.¡± Well, in this respect, Alexis actually wants to be useful, but Meela just¡­ seems rather happy loitering around. But you know, this little incident does make me wonder how¡­ loyal Meela would be. ¡°Paranoid.¡± Meela chimes in. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°But so long as we are in our soul form, we are stuck. Here, as souls, we have no ability to take action. But, if we are to earn your trust, you need to first invest that first leap, to let us be of assistance to you.¡± Well¡­ Alexis is right there. Ah, it¡¯s a risk I have to take, all I can do is task my artificial souls to keep an eye on them, and use the existing spells and contracts to keep them under control. But for now, I will put that idea off. The weather is experiencing some oddities. On one day, the weather suddenly got better, but then it got a lot worse the next day. I suspect it¡¯s the wizards trying to meddle with the magic of this snowstorm. The New Freekas are still busy digging in, building large storage facilities to store the hunt, and they have even started curing meats so that they can be stored for longer. To be honest, I think this blizzard¡¯s proving to be a boon for them, because they are developing more unique food storage abilities, which would last them through future hardships. Politically, they have yet to decide who to side with on the whole Salah ultimatum, and that¡¯s gotten them a rather stern warning letter from Salah, who insists that they pick a side, and do so soon. Or else. Anyway, as I turn my attention back on the elves. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Better.¡± I started work on Jura¡¯s wounds after the elves returned to the secret hideout, his wounds are mostly a whole lot of broken bones, and a bit of burn marks. Bamboo, being wooden armor that protected his body, absorbed most of the damage from the explosion, but that meant Jura still had to deal with the fall damage. ¡°Good.¡± His burns are now fully healed, but what is left is the broken bones. The bones have fused together, but are no in the healing process and will take some time before they regain their past strength. I foresee Jura should not join in any combat related activities for at least 2 months, or those repairs may break. Year 76 Month 9 Tree volcanic adaptation stage I - complete! Tree winter adaptation aura - complete! Hell yeah. My trees are growing in the muthafooking winter. With the completion of the winter adaptation aura, trees near me all gain some resistance to winter, and are now able to grow in it. This means a return of growth! This feeling of finally being able to grow after not growing for so long, kinda feels like being able to taste food after losing your taste buds for weeks. Ah, how glorious it is, to be able to grow after being stunted for so damned long. At this point I do realise that I am somewhat a growth addict. I really enjoy watching another patch of snow covered dirt have a bunch of green shoots, which then transforms into proper trees. And the central trees, those closer to me, are even able to feed energy back to me. Its kinda like being for sick for so long, that you kinda forgot how being healthy felt like, and now, woosh. Hell ya. Grow grow growwwww!!! ¡°Is the tree always like this?¡± Alexis asks. ¡°I think he¡¯s gone a little crazy.¡± Meela shrugs. Also, there is still the volcano thing. The first stage of the upgrades means my trees can now approach the volcanic area without dying, but I am still a distance away from the volcano itself. There are however,, a lake that is being warmed by the volcano¡¯s magma, and since the valley does need some hot water, I place a few subsidiary trees next to it, and activate my heat transmission system. It¡¯s essentially a kind of root system which pushes the hot water from the heated lake to the valley. [Secret hideout upgraded! Hot water now available] [Hot volcanic bath obtained!] Oh. Did I really have to go that cliched route of getting a damned onsen inside my own secret hideout? Although there is some transmission loss. It¡¯s good enough such that I could get the valley¡¯s trees a bit warmer too, so there¡¯s a bit of steam and mist now emerging in the valley, as the hot water interacts with the cold weather above it. [You¡¯ve acquired the skill : Mist] Oh. ¡°I like hot springs.¡± Alexis shrugs. ¡°Now I want a physical body.¡± ¡°Me too. I haven¡¯t had one in ages.¡± Meela also comments. ¡°Which one, the hot springs, or the body?¡± ¡°Why not both?¡± Are these two ladies going to commentate on all my actions and achievements? ¡°I find their banter amusing, master.¡± Horns too finally recovered from his injuries, and he too shares a bit of the winter upgrades, so like the other beetles, he has a sap in his body that acts as a heater. ¡°Will they be useful?¡± Anyway, the main volcano itself is still further in, and to get there I need to work on my next stage of the volcanic adaptation research, which also involves getting more materials from the volcano. Beetle winter adaptation stage II - 6 Months remaining Volcanic adaptation stage II - 8 months remaining. Requires 200 x sulphur. Tree winter adaptation stage II - 8 months remaining Ugh, I think the higher stages are going to take more time, or so I¡¯ll need to increase the number of biolabs working on them in the future. ¡°Assign me.¡± Alexis volunteers. ¡°I volunteer to do research.¡± Her dryad body is fully developed by now, and if I¡¯m not mistaken, is designed with herself as the template, and so it¡¯s going to be making her a dryad, which then undertakes research in the biolab. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± ¡°Oh come on. You can cast spells on me if you want to keep watch. I won¡¯t do strange stuff, I swear!¡± Alexis pleads. Hmm¡­ Year 76 Month 10 Oh, more growth. I love growth. This resurgence in growth is most keenly felt by the New Freekans, who are amazed to see the bigger trees sprout even in this snow, and it applies to the potatoes as well. Thanks to my newfound powers, the potatoes produced daily increased to 2,000! Double! All because of winter resistance! And I hide all my potatoes, using beetles as my carriers. There is really no need to let the New Freekas know there is a huge stockpile of potatoes underground. This makes me think of the poor chap so many years ago, that ask me for a healing fruit but I could not give him one, because I still didn¡¯t have winter adaptation back then. Ah, well. Speaking of which, when did the demon king die again? About 3 years ago? Is there going to be a 10 year gap this time? ¡°Generally 10 years.¡± ¡°Was not asking you?¡± ¡°I know, but I want to answer it.¡± I think she¡¯s a bit of a smart alec, and maybe a bit chunni. ¡°And I think its important. When I was researching the ancient text, it seems the 10 year cycle is just a rule of thumb. There has been occasions where the demons choose to delay their invasion although the supposed time is up.¡± That¡¯s a whole lot more long winded than I thought it would be. But I suppose it would be useful to know, somehow. ¡°I still don¡¯t know why though, and what exactly does the otherwordly demons want.¡± Huh. What do the demons want? Don¡¯t they just behave on instinct and act out their directive to kill all lives? ¡°I mean, so far the demons from the other worlds can¡¯t be reasoned with, so we don¡¯t actually know what they want¡­ unlike the local demons.¡± Oh there are factions in the demons too, well, when I think about it, it figures, creatures of evil are not equally evil or evil in the same way. Anyway, back to the growth thing, with the warm waters from the volcano, areas where the hot water is released turns into a bit of an oasis in the cold, and the area there is a bit more fertile. The hot water is also mineral rich, so I notice the potatoes I cultivate are a little bit larger and different in color. ¡°Actually, master, if we use the minerals extracted by our roots, and infuse them into the potatoes, we can achieve a similar effect.¡± Yes, thanks for reminding me that I have a huge pile of minerals I did not use and indirectly hinting I am a dumbass. At the same time, maybe this is why I need all these assistants, I clearly am not making the most of my resources and abilities. Research Trees Year 76 Month 10 Continued So. Now that things are returning back to normal for me, somewhat, is to focus on the volcano. The volcano clearly is a point of great interest to me, as it generates so much heat and energy, something I would need for my valley. But, the next phase involves defeating the magma monsters that spawn near the volcano, and protecting my trees. And from the initial skirmishes between the beetles and the magma monsters, they didn¡¯t do well at all. It takes about 5 beetles to beat 1 magma monster, because the magma monsters are able to burn the beetles when they get near, and the beetles attack by ramming the magma monsters with their horns. So, bad matchup, really. And that¡¯s one problem I need to fix. I can¡¯t manually go in and use root strike on the magma monsters. Okay, actually I can, but it¡¯s just that, if I do that personally then I don¡¯t have time to do other stuff, so I need the beetles or whatever solution I come up with, to be able to act somewhat autonomously. ¡°Horns, any ideas?¡± ¡°Research fire resistant protective shells, and magical horns, for more power!¡± ¡°That¡¯ll take 3 and 6 months, master.¡± Trevor giving the numbers, ¡°But that¡¯ll delay our other research on further enhancements to the tree¡¯s resistances.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± I want all the research. This feels like playing those games with huge tech trees and you just want to choose all of them available options, because in some ways, you do need them all. ¡°Recommendations?¡± ¡°We could spread out our time on both of them.¡± Trevor and Dimitree said in unison. ¡°But it¡¯ll be a 2 month delay for the other 2 projects.¡± ¡°No. I want them too.¡± So, the next step is more forest minds, but clearly I am limited in this aspect. ¡°Are you willing to consider my help, now?¡± Alexis speaks up. ¡°...¡± I¡¯ll think about it. Year 76 Month 11 Winter! Well, its rather comfortable this winter, thanks to the hot water piped from the lake, and my new winter resistance aura. The New Freekans are doing well, fortifying themselves and they did manage to build up a large stockpile of food. It seems their indecision led to Salah denouncing the truce, and now they even accuse the New Freekas of collaborating with the enemies. So, the truce is off! But, even though the truce is off, it did not descend into war directly. After all, Salah is still tied up in their conflict with Nung and Takde, and the winter also severely impairs their ability to wage any assault on New Freeka. Its actually a norm in the world, that war is declared but actual fighting does not happen until some time later, and for certain human nations, there are even rules of engagements that the rulers follow, or they find themselves having awarded cursed titles, for falling out of favor of the human war gods. Gaya, apparently, is one such god that demand certain rules of engagement. That battles are fought on open fields, each battle starts with a commander leading the charge, there is clear publicly declared casus belli behind the conflict, and that a large prayer is held before each large war. Strangely enough, despite how restrictive it sounds, Gaya as a god, participates rather directly in terms of larger conflicts, often granting commanders tremendous gifts. It is said that if heroes, the singular most powerful humans in the world failed, they would turn to the commanders of Gaya to defend the world, though, in reality, there is still a huge gap in their power. Gods in the world interact with it in a few ways, one through gifts, and there are rules around such gifts, that all gods follow, even the dark gods native to the world. Well, I partly learned this from Alexis, because Alexis¡¯s first acts when coming to this world, is actually to figure out how to go back, so she went on head on diving into books on gods, magic and all that. But of course, there are restrictions on going back, and one of those restrictions, placed by the million-headed hydra that watches over earth, is that the souls return clean. In short, they return without their powers or memories, though they may still experience dreams which reminds them of their past lives. So back to war. The New Freekas are of course annoyed by the development, but knowing that Salah¡¯s engagement won¡¯t happen so soon, they decide to fortify themselves, to prepare for the coming conflict. Despite the cold winters, New Freeka¡¯s population is a respectable 35,000, and so, they have the ability to field close to 13,000 fighters to the battle, which is a decent fighting force. Salah may easily sent 50,000, or perhaps 100,000, but they are a far larger state with more competing priorities, and an ongoing war with the Nung and Takde. So unless Salah really provokes them, they may just let this little conflict carry on for a bit more. Yvon though, is still trying to avoid war, so her negotiators now are instead focusing on who¡¯s the real culprit of the Blood Blizzard, which, increasingly, is pointing towards the acts of a terrorist group that infiltrated the senior army leadership of all three nations, in order to carry out such a large sacrifice. In short, even if they did find who was behind this, the emerging fact still points to all three nations contributing to the blood blizzard, and none of the three nations will want to implicate themselves in the spell, so¡­ the war¡¯s just going to go on. So¡­ too bad. This week, I converted one of the large [subsidiary trees] into a training room at Lausanne¡¯s requests. The weather outside is now far too cold for combat practice, so their swordfighting practice goes indoors. She¡¯s going to turn 8 soon, and despite her earlier lack of talents, she somehow managed to pick it up. Perhaps through a combination of [dream tutor] and [powerlevelling], she did acquire sufficient swordfighting skills to have simple spars with Jura. And she has also started to gain levels. There seems to be some kind of barrier from gaining levels for very young children, but this level barrier is inconsistent, and varies across races. Out of curiosity I had her dip into one of the biolabs, just to check on her. I had a theory previously that young children, where their ¡°spring¡± that connects their body to the soul, and vice versa, is not yet fully mature, then that person is unable to gain levels. I mean, prior to this I could not even have an assessment of Lausanne¡¯s estimated soul rank, but now I could. And my intuition is right. Indeed, her ¡®spring¡¯, the fountain which produces mana now has a consistent shape. This raises a big set of questions, as in, what exactly influences the size and shape of the fountain? I also have a few thoughts about this, one is whether all souls are the same, but there is some other thing which acts as the link between the soul and the body, and that then influences a person¡¯s full ¡®potential¡¯, or, if the souls are different, then there should be a way to manipulate and change the qualities a soul have. ¡°Master, your using my root-brain to augment your theories again¡­¡± Trevor grumbles. Ah yes, it seems I sometimes unknowingly tap into the processing power of the trees to think. But this has the effect of taking away processing power from Trevor, which then impairs his performance. Think of the root-brain complex as a computer processor, and if I¡¯m using it, Trevor can¡¯t. ¡°I should have more root-brains.¡± It¡¯s logical, no? I come from a world of quad cores and more. It would be fascinating if I somehow stitch all these root brains together into some kind of collective super-brain, no? [Special project unlocked] [The Grand Mind Tree - significantly boosts tree-related research output, and grants wider understanding of soul magics. Gains additional psychic-type magical abilities] [Requires 10 x root brain complexes, and 1 ton of gold and 1 ton of quartz crystals. Once all prerequisites are complete, construction will take 1.5 years] Ah. My own supercomputer. Well, kind of. ¡°Alexis, you¡¯re redundant if I get this.¡± ¡°Noooooooooooooooooooo.¡± Alexis sighs, but then she pauses, ¡°But you¡¯re not going to get it so quickly. It¡¯ll still take time. So, assign me to a biolab, please? You¡¯re going to have to wait probably 2 to 3 years before you achieve it. Maybe more.¡± She¡¯s right though. It¡¯s going to take a while. Construction of the root-brain complex itself requires 10 x Blood Crystals, and 50 x fresh animal heads, and so 10 root brains means a whole lot of blood crystals, and that means money, which we probably do not have. ¡°You¡¯re right, Alexis. But I still don¡¯t really trust you, so, I¡¯ve decided that I will merge you with a biolab someday, but you will be watched and observed.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay. I rather tinker in the biological structure of trees and beetles than being stuck in this dark and dreary place. Can¡¯t you do something about how gloomy your soul realm is? A biolab it is then.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a transit lounge for souls to reincarnate. Not helpful for it to be a pleasant place to be. I can¡¯t have too many souls not wanting to move on.¡± Well, to be fair, the souls only linger around for 6 months to a year, and after that they will move on. The soul realm, whether pleasant or not has no influence on this. I got side tracked again. I mumble to myself and resume watching Lausanne. Her body¡¯s really young, after all she¡¯s only 7 turning 8. All the dream tutor has given her a rather varied set of skills, and so she¡¯s actually pretty versatile as a person. She still wants to be a hero, but lately she¡¯s starting to understand that there¡¯s a gap between herself and the true heroes that could change the world with their power, though somedays, she still believes she can stand up there. She¡¯ll have to gain a lot more levels if she wants to. Only with levels, can she even think of standing up to a hero, who¡¯s blessed by the heavens. ¡°TreeTree, do you have powers to you know¡­ make me stronger?¡± I do. The ginseng tree, and it grants a permanent boost. But the problem is that they just keep dying, usually after their first unlock. If I grow a ginseng tree inside me, maybe that¡¯ll work. And it doesn¡¯t help that they die within two to three month¡¯s in this cold weather, so I¡¯ll have to wait till the wizards actually manage to weaken or dispel this cold weather, before resuming my replanting of my 3 ginseng trees. ¡°I do, but you¡¯ll have to wait.¡± ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll need all the help I can get!¡± Lausanne raises her hand, like hurrah. ¡°Uncle Jura says heroes are super super strong, and I¡¯ll need all the blessings the world can give me to be as strong as them.¡± Hmmm¡­ That¡¯s actually possible. Perhaps throughout the world there are various ¡®permanent¡¯ blessings, similar to ginseng trees. If a person could gather enough of them, they could be as strong as heroes. ¡°I think I should go on a journey someday, with Uncle Jura and mom. To get those blessings.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea Lausanne¡­¡± Jura¡¯s healed, but his bones still need to fully recover. So he¡¯s just doing simple exercises, and relying on Bamboo to provide training to Lausanne. Bamboo and Jura actually manage to achieve some kind of bond, and Bamboo now manifests itself as a flexible wooden arm for Jura, so Jura¡¯s back to being two-handed. Kinda like a prosthetic, but with a summon. Quite a cool outcome actually, I frankly didn¡¯t think of that. It¡¯s not as good as a real arm, of course, but as workarounds go, it¡¯s pretty good since Bamboo and Jura as a familiar has a mental link. ¡°Bamboo is due for upgrade too.¡± Yes, So is Horns. ¡°I think i¡¯ll go on a journey when I turn 15. That¡¯s when they say we¡¯re old enough to start travelling. Then Uncle Jura can go with me.¡± I nod. Lausanne talks to me a lot and that means she listens to my thoughts about the future. Strangely, I think this means I¡¯ve influenced here to think about what she wants to do, unlike the rest of them who tends to look at things at a shorter time frame. ¡°How¡¯s Brislach and Wahlen doing?¡± ¡°They¡¯re working in New Freeka. I think Brislach¡¯s working in a shop selling potato breads.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± Wasn¡¯t she doing something else. Ah well. Not everyone has ambitions of the grand kind, and that¡¯s not a fault. ¡°Wahlen¡¯s working in the treasurer¡¯s office as a administrator. He¡¯s learning how to read and write too.¡± Literacy. It¡¯s a mix and match in this world, most of them time it is taught by a village elder in the small villages, and to some extent it is a valuable skill, useful in government matters and trade. Some cultures have stronger emphasis on reading, some less. Elves surprisingly do not have much emphasis on writing and reading, as their long lives tend to mean they will pick it up over the years. They also seem to favor oral traditions, having an appointed old one in every village to remember the traditions and ceremonies. Certain subtleties that the written word cannot capture. ¡°I should learn to read and write too. A hero must be smart!¡± ¡°Knowing how to read does not make you smart, Lausanne.¡± ¡°Is it? But at least I¡¯m not stupid!¡± ¡°Not knowing how to read does not make you stupid.¡± ¡°Less stupid.¡± She mumbles. ¡°I can work if I know to how to read and write. Good for travelling.¡± ¡°Good point.¡± Writers are useful, they are often paid to write letters and messages. Some writers double up as messengers, and sort of mailmen, and this is usually a relatively good way to gain admission into a merchant association or guild. ¡°Ever thought of being a merchant? That¡¯s a good way to travel the world without involving yourself in too much fighting.¡± ¡°A hero as a merchant?¡± Lausanne slumps, but then she is actually thinking about it. ¡°Yeah. Why can¡¯t heroes be merchants?¡± She¡¯s seriously thinking about it. To be fair, I haven¡¯t heard of a merchant hero before. Their neutrality kinds of make it hard for them to play the role of a ¡®hero¡¯, which has to take a side. ¡°Lausanne, rest time¡¯s up. Practice.¡± Jura calls, and he picks up a wooden practice sword and shield. Thanks to Bamboo¡¯s augmented limb, he can now teach Lausanne the standard sword and shield method of fighting. ¡°A hero as a merchant¡­¡± It¡¯s still on her mind, but then she stands and rejoins Jura in the middle of the training-tree. Essentially, it¡¯s a large empty room in a tree. As Jura and Lausanne resume their regular practice, I then turn my attention to the volcanic area once more. Some of the magma monsters are getting a little bit aggressive and I have to periodically kill them to protect the subsidiary trees there. The volcano is an active volcano, it¡¯s caldera partly blown apart, so there¡¯s a part where there is liquid lava flowing out of it. As is the norm in the world, this leads to magma monsters spawning, and from what the beetles have seen further inside, there are larger magma monsters closer to the caldera. So far, they are territorial, so they don¡¯t seem to attack us if we do not approach. ¡°Master, it is time I get an upgrade.¡± Horns suggests. He¡¯s fully recovered now, so he is due for an upgrade, since he capped out at level 20 earlier. Bamboo too, so I took the chance to review their upgrade requirements. [Horns, Level 20 Beetle Knight] Upgrade options available : Blue - Baron Beetle - 5 x blue crystals, 30 x almost-complete skeleton of a large animalGains commander effects, which grants nearby beetle increased abilities Black - Beetle Dark Knight - 10 x obsidian rocks, 20 x large clawsGains combat skills [Bamboo, Level 20 Woodbear Eidolon] Upgrade options available : Blue - Armor path - 50 small copper ingots & 5 medium red rubies neededGains defensive abilitiesBlack - Claw path - 50 small iron ingots & 5 medium onyx needed. Gains offensive abilities [Trevor, Level 27 Forest MInd] [Will be unlocked at level 30] Black - Skull Shell - 10 x Bone of a wyvern, 1 x heart of a lion and 50 x Bones of a lizard Gains a ghostly projection All these upgrades impose a lot of resource requirements. So I¡¯ll need more resources. ¡®You require more minerals.¡¯ Dimitree chimes in, with a russian accent. It reminds me of a wraith. Or is that a terran goliath? Ah yes. ¡°You¡¯ve been taking in a bit too much of my game references.¡± ¡°Ah whatever. If I want these resources, I¡¯ll get them from New Freeka.¡± --- ¡°The tree spirit demands what?¡± The advisors look concerned, when Yvon shares my resource demands with the rest of her council. ¡°Blood crystals, gold, quartz crystals, copper and iron ingots, rubies, onyx, blue crystals.¡± Yvon repeats, but she clearly understands their concern. One of Yvon¡¯s closest advisors then clarifies, ¡°it¡¯s more of a¡­ request than a demand, right?¡± Yvon shrugs, ¡°I¡¯m not too sure if I understand the tree spirit correctly, but I think it sounds more like a demand than a¡­ request.¡± ¡°Should we?¡± One of the advisors look really worried. ¡°It feels a bit like extortion.¡± ¡°I believe most of you have seen the Tree Spirits combat abilities, and it¡¯s incredible abilities throughout this valley¡­ The recent hot water spring around the tree of prayer is a recent addition.¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard though, those goods are not regular stuff. They are jewels or crystals¡­. I mean, even the cheapest of those are the blood crystals and the quartz. The tree¡¯s asking for a lot.¡± ¡°Well, the recent burst in natural growth, and the hot water in the valley helped us alot too.¡± And it quickly seems clear that it¡¯s divided into two camps, one who thinks that my demands are reasonable given my assistance to their survival, and there¡¯s a bunch who thinks it¡¯s excessive and they should only give what they can manage. Yvon mostly stayed out of it, asking the council to decide, as her soul is contracted to me, she says she is not a ¡®neutral¡¯ party to the decision. Of course, from my point of view, I know that these people need a bit of¡­ encouragement. So I decide to withdraw all the hot water piping into the New Freeka, and so in this cold month, they had a really cold week.After that week, they met up again and agreed that it is best not to offend me, so decided to support my demands. I think between Salah and me, they¡¯ve decided to be on my good side. Year 76 Month 12 [Monsters slain. You¡¯ve gained a level. Level 129!] [You¡¯ve gained a new skill : Training Treehouse] [Training treehouse improves experience gain, skill gain chances, and reduces injuries significantly] Uh. This sounds like an extension of my training room. Seriously, this system leans heavily of the nurturing, growing side of things, but really sparingly, grants me offensive abilities. I suppose if I want to work around the tree, I need to think like the system. If I was designing a system for a tree, what would I think about? My suspicions is that a system in which a soul tree is at the center of, focuses on a few core principles. Again, this is just a theory that I have, based on what I experience so far. ¡®Grow, nurture and endure¡¯ This is the first, core principle with any tree. The logical driver behind any tree is to grow, to expand, and so, I should get a wide range of abilities that promote growth, and allow me to endure wide variety of damage, and still recover. And with it, the ability to ¡®support¡¯ young things, and also build an ecosystem with the tree as the foundation. ¡®Enhance and adapt¡¯ A tree that expands would need to adapt to various environments, and react to the challenges that are unique to this world. This is the evolutionary, research side of what I suspect is a natural inclination. If trees are unable to react in a world where magic is native, then trees would quickly go extinct. So, I believe the trees in this magical world have natural adaptation abilities superior to that of our world, and the system supports them. Then, there¡¯s the ¡®Soul abilities¡¯ which arise as a ¡®soul tree¡¯. These are not natural tree abilities, but exist because I am a soul-related kind of entity, and so the system has to grant me abilities that are natural for a soul-tree to have. Thinking along these lines, if I intend to get more offensive abilities, it would grow as a result of working towards more ¡®enhancement¡¯ and ¡®adaptation¡¯, as a result of a tree being forced to defend itself. In other words, to ¡®game¡¯ the system to give me offensive abilities, I must put myself into a situation where self-defense is a required adaptation. Now how do I go about doing that¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Never mind, I quickly upgrade that empty training room into this ¡°training treehouse¡±, so that Lausanne can benefit from it. Oh, and I begin to test out those carnivorous plants that I got. They function more like traps, really, and they spring out to eat anything about the size of wolves. Which is pretty good. But, the drawback is the digestive period is quite long, so essentially, if a huge swarm of demon hounds come along, they¡¯ll be full very quickly. So, useful under certain circumstances, but it¡¯s use in a large scale combat is probably limited. If anything, what I would need is a firebreathing tree. I mean, imagine it, if a tree can breath fire, or even poison, that would be pretty useful. And such options are indeed available on my research options. Being frustrated at how slow my research it, I eventually decide to take a chance on Alexis. ¡°If you try anything funny, I will kill you.¡± ¡°Understood, but I am soul-contracted to you, so don¡¯t worry about it. We¡¯re aligned, trust me.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t. But I¡¯ll give you the opportunity to prove me wrong.¡± I initially would have preferred Meela, but the soul-contract is an additional layer of protection I have, so after some thinking, it¡¯s actually better to use Alexis first. If Meela gone rogue, I may find that I have less means of retaliating. [Initiating soul forge] [Combining Alexis with an external biolab] [Combining¡­] A bolt of thunder strikes the forge tree, and from it, emerges a glowing blue seed, it¡¯s as large as a dog, and it floats over to the external biolab that I¡¯ve chosen, and that blue seed embeds itself in it. [Alexis has successfully merged with an external biolab!] [Alexis is now a laboratory spirit, level 1] Huh. ¡°Oh wow.¡± She mumbles, she manifests herself as a glowing blue ghost inside the laboratory. ¡°There¡¯s so much data¡­ so much¡­ data.¡± ¡°Uh.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m fine! This is amazing.¡± She seems to be looking at some kind of interface, tapping into my stored records of all the biolab scans I have done in the past, including herself. ¡°Even my own records are here. I¡¯ve never realised what you¡¯ve been looking at!¡± At this point, I decide to just observe her for a while. ¡°This is amazing.¡± The external biolab which she now possesses, and is part of her, is actually a tree with a hollow interior, filled with pods, and various equipments for testing. It has a ¡®transportation¡¯ system, in which a beetle delivers any of its required materials, for research. ¡°Your visual way of representing the soul and the body-mind connection is incredible. I¡¯ve read books on the theoretical basis of magic, and how the souls interact with the body, but this¡­ this is mindblowing. It¡¯s amazing how intuitive it is, representing it as a spring and a field which that spring nourishes. All those magical theory books make life difficult by overcomplicating the terminology and using difficult to understand words. This. This is concise!¡± Oh. Okay. She¡¯s really dived into the deep end. I honestly didn¡¯t think of it as that¡­ unique, but I suppose humans with no access to the [biolab] would find it that way. ¡°Alexis, are you okay?¡± Meela asks, sounding a bit concerned. ¡°Oh more than okay. This is amazing. This is exactly what I¡¯ve been trying to find when I was trying to research magic! You should see this.¡± ¡°You know I don¡¯t like that kind of stuff.¡± Meela shrugs. ¡°Ah yes, but I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m really fine.¡± Meela sighs, ¡°I sometimes forget how much of a nerd you can be.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Alexis floats and looks at other stuff. ¡°The representation of the demon¡¯s presence as a parched fire with a dried field is also fascinating. It seems to imply the demonic energies is antithesis to our own, and opens up so many options on how we can counteract their presence. What¡¯s this, a data set on our star mana and those floating vases pouring out star mana? Holy cow, this is like¡­ mindblowing too! What else do you have!!!¡± Alexis is constantly floating about the biolab, looking at more and more interfaces. Meela turns to me. ¡°When she reads a great book, she can¡¯t stop talking about it. I think she¡¯s in that phase again.¡± ¡°Meela! Seriously! This information can advance magic research by decades!¡± At this point, I decide to cut in. ¡°Alexis, your task is to research the beetles, and the countermeasures necessary to conquer the volcano. Don¡¯t get side tracked.¡± ¡°Ah yes, yes. But can you give me a week, let me just have a look at this huge pile of data you have. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s some other amazing stuff in here.¡± ¡°No. I will not tolerate disobedience on your first day of as a biolab spirit. Get to work.¡± She sighs, and then she nods. ¡°Okay okay. I¡¯ll do it, but give me daily free time alright. I work 8 hours a day, alright. The remaining hours are mine for rest and my own activities. I really want to look at all these data!¡± ¡°12 hours. And you will be monitored.¡± ¡°Ah fine. I know.¡± And she gained a level. Although her god¡¯s blessing is lost when she died, she still retains quite a fair bit of perks, one of which, is the experience perks. Beetle winter adaptation stage II - 4 Months remainingVolcanic adaptation stage II - 6 months remaining. Tree winter adaptation stage II - 6 months remainingBeetle volcanic battleform - 3 months remaining (may complete earlier)Beetle volcanic defensive armors- 2 months remaining (may complete earlier) On the New Freeka front, they had an envoy from Nung and Takde. It seems that Nung and Takde now wants to aid New Freeka in their ¡®resistance¡¯ against Salah, but the person sent by Nung is slimy beyond belief, so Yvon and the advisors found it hard to agree with them. There are no ¡®good guys¡¯ in this war between the 3 nations. All of them have their own goals, and all three wants a piece of each other, though Nung and Takde are now ¡®allies¡¯ as a result of their mutual enemies. Under other circumstances, they would probably attack each other. So, once again, New Freeka¡¯s council cannot decide. They don¡¯t really want to turn down their aid, but at the same time, these 2 nations aren¡¯t the most upstanding and honest of nations. Well, one of the key skills a leader needs to have, is to decide. Sometimes picking a choice is more important than evaluating which one is right. But Yvon¡¯s style seems to be more concerned on what¡¯s right. She has a need to be ¡®morally¡¯ correct, at least from her perspective, and that clouds her ability to sometimes make tough, probably cruel decisions. Ah well. Volcano Expeditions I Year 77 Month 1 A new year begins. Still as cold as ever though, not like the wizards gotten to the point of weakening it yet. There is still a fluctuation in the coldness, so I suppose whoever they sent to undo that cursed spell is still tinkering with it. That little moment with Alexis and the whole database of my past research brought up a point about my data access rules. As a tree, I share the information freely with my artificial souls, and all the biolabs, so it initially seemed natural for me to do the same. In fact, I did not even think about this data security issue until Alexis did what she did. But I guess its a bit too late now. Oh well. She¡¯s doing alright as a research spirit though. ¡°I think I¡¯m near a breakthrough.¡± Alexis mumbles. ¡°I think I¡¯ve figured this thing whole lab work thing out. All I got to do is press some buttons and the lab itself will just keep trying different combinations of materials to change stuff.¡± She¡¯s already level 10 as a lab spirit. It¡¯s rather unfair how these hero-reincarnators still retain some of their perks, even after death. Alexis floats over few beetles, each in one clear pod with a light green liquid, kind of like how most people imagine large glass preservation cylinders to look like. The lab itself does most of the work, as in, doing changes to the beetles which it experiments on, and then producing the results for Alexis to then interpret. The length of the research essentially is an automated number crunching exercise, derived from an estimate of x% likelihood of a favorable outcome divided by time taken per ¡®test¡¯ per biolab. In a way, since we¡¯re on the security topic, it¡¯s really like a machine trying to break a password by trying to key in a combination. Therefore, by adding Alexis, a sentient mind of the mix, Alexis can look at the data and make educated guesses, which narrows down the options the biolab has to crunch to, so we¡¯re more likely to make progress on a research topic. So, when a biolab is tasked to research ¡®volcanic¡¯ endurance, it¡¯ll try different combination of trees, and then see what works. As such, my own guess is that providing the correct environment, and sufficient resources would actually enhance the research output of the external biolabs. ¡°It¡¯s a lot more mechanical than I thought it would be, it¡¯s really all about looking at all the output and datasets and just deciding where to go as a next step, and the biolab just does it for you¡­ most of the time.¡± Alexis frowns. Now that she¡¯s a spirit confined in the biolab and it¡¯s immediate surroundings, people can see her, and they see her as a blue apparition which haunts the biolab. ¡°What are some of those words¡­¡± Meela frowns. ¡°Mumbo jumbo.¡± Alexis laughs. ¡°Really, just talking about research results and choosing what¡¯s more likely to work based on the testing results. I know you understand it, don¡¯t act dumb.¡± ¡°No no.¡± Meela sighs. ¡°You¡¯re just trying to avoid my fate of being made into a research spirit, aren¡¯t ya? It isn¡¯t so bad, actually. I get to float around and look outside of the tree. Have you noticed how starry it gets at night?¡± Meela didn¡¯t answer. ¡°The moons are gorgeous at night, and one of them never truly turns dark. And I think the other one¡¯s on some kind of 3 month cycle, instead of the 1 month we¡¯re so used to.¡± Well¡­ the moons are different after all. ¡°Meela, seriously. Take a leap, do something, see the world with me. Again. Don¡¯t just hide there in the comfort of TreeTree¡¯s soul realm...¡± ¡°No...¡± Alexis pauses, and she floats up to the top of the biolab tree. She sits on one of the branches, and she looks out. ¡°Well, the sunrise¡¯s going to be gorgeous.¡± There are some things I cannot see, given the limitations of my tree vision. And what I cannot see, those in my soul realm cannot see either. I too wish to see how the sun rise truly looks, instead of an augmented version pieced together by the collective data formed through Trevor and Dimitree¡¯s gathered sensors and receptors throughout the valley. Maybe I should actually have¡­ eyes. [Eye-Tree Stage I research option unlocked - 24 months needed] Whoah. I mean, the word itself kinds of scare me, and I try to image myself a tree with eyes. No matter how it still comes out as a little freaky, probably the kind of stuff that belongs in a lovecraftian epic. Heh. Why don¡¯t just give me the eye tree, but I suppose certain kinds of abilities now go through research. I mean, I¡¯m a bit confused actually, does the system actually have a way of saying what I can research, or what I can get through my skills. There¡¯s discussions that say leveling grants skills on a random basis. Essentially there¡¯s a big pool with skills in it, where skills you are more likely to get have a higher probability, and then you essentially draw. Research, is what happens when you fail to draw the skill you want, and as a consolation, you could still work towards the skill? Anyway. Mysteries of the system. For all you know, it¡¯s just one person up dare deciding what to give me, and what not to, and just rolls a die every now and then for the fun of it. Year 77 Month 2 Strangely, I think the wizards succeeded. On the eve of the 2nd month, a strange lack of cold sweeps through the land, and the cold didn¡¯t come back. ¡°It¡¯s probably just a reduction, not a complete removal.¡± Trevor spoke. ¡°We can still faintly detect the presence of the spell, just¡­ in much lesser amounts.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°Probably a reduction in the power of the spell¡¯s effects, so the valley being so far away experience a significant improvement.¡± ¡°You know, if you have some lab that focuses on magic, you could find out¡­" Alexis butts herself in. ¡°It¡¯s a biolab, with magical sensors that focuses on living things. Its not a magic lab.¡± ¡°Okay, but why not make a magic lab? It will help, since there are so many magical unknowns out there.¡± "Its not as if I desire for a magic lab, then I will get a magic lab." "Research?" Alexis taps a few screens in the biolab. Alexis floats onto the middle of the lab, and uses a skill, [Research Planner]. "We''ll need to first unlock material testing, then materials lab, then into magic-attunement, and then into magic-sensitive equipment, and then a basic magic lab. Probably about 1.5 years worth of research. But you''ll get material lab within 6 months!" I''m thinking. "What do you say? I think it''s a good idea!" I''m thinking. "After your volcano research. I want to be able to secure the volcano first." "Aww man, come on. I think magic can help you fix the volcano problem too." "No. Biological solutions first. I have Horns to help me manage the beetles if I can get those upgrades." Alexis sighs. "Okay¡­" She pouts and she goes back into her biolab-tree. Somewhat-unnervingly, this biolab-tree derives its energy from Alexis, not me, and so it gains new equipment and abilities as and when Alexis levels. Alexis is now level 14, and her most recent skill is [Probability charts], which produces an estimated likelihood of outcomes for a test, before actually going for it. In short, her skill simulates testing, a bit. Her biolab-tree has a small chamber which functions as her personal room, where there''s a bed that actually interacts with her spiritual form, so she can sleep. Actually, the entire biolab-tree seems to be able to react to her as if she of a solid, real person, and at the same time, she can switch it off, and then pass through things. Alexis goes back to her room, and decides to take a nap instead. Maybe she¡¯s not that happy with my decision. Anyway, now that the snow stopping, its a great chance for me to boost my growth! GROW! Expand! I think my tree instincts are driving me a little crazy. EXPAND!!! Yeah. So we have more trees. After losing close to 7,000 trees to Alexis, thanks to this month¡¯s returning warmth, and my newfound winter resistance, we¡¯re back up by 3,500 trees. So yes, more trees. MORE. TREES. The trees are also now starting to feed energy and resources back to the [tuberous storage]. [Tuberous storage upgraded.] [High density tubers unlocked. Tubers will be naturally upgraded] Oh. Yay? They store 2 units of energy now. Back to expanding, and food! And so, I decide to try my luck with the damned [ginseng tree], again. ¡°Alexis, can you also keep watch?¡± The ginseng tree¡¯s right next to the biolab, with a lot of beetles and web spiders protecting them. She covers her head in a pillow. ¡°Didn¡¯t hear you.¡± I know she did, and I know she will. Because her soul-contract compels her to. Anyway, New Freekans are happy. Warmth means a return to regular farming, stockpiling, and less burning through their stockpiles. Yet, it¡¯s also bittersweet, because the opportunity for Salah to now attack them is returning. The winter sort of gives New Freeka a natural ¡®terrain deterrent¡¯ from war. Even in a world of magic, not everything runs on magic, and so terrain still has huge influence on logistics, resources, and even petty things like warm clothing and all. The council decides to reject the Nung and Takde offer, as they¡¯ve decide to state that they have no claim in this war, and would prefer to stay out of it. It¡¯s a way of not pissing Salah too much, as this gesture would suggest that New Freeka is genuine in not participating in any conflict. --- ¡°If Baroosh were to endorse New Freeka¡¯s independence, do you think that¡¯ll go well?¡± One of Yvon¡¯s councillor speaks to the exiled wizard of Baroosh, they seem to be rather close acquaintances, perhaps, even friends. ¡°Knowing my king, I doubt that¡¯ll ever happen. He has never endorsed or supported any allied nations, what more one as far away as New Freeka. He is not a man of many friends, and believes each nation should stand on their own strength.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± ¡°But I suppose you could convince some of the lords to lend some assistance from their private armies. The fiefdoms themselves act mostly independently of the king, anyway¡­¡± The councillor nods, ¡°Ah. I¡¯ll need to get this message to the trading corps, let¡¯s start with a trade.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. By the way, I heard about the Tree spirits demands¡­¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s kind of extortion, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see it that way. Strangely enough, I now come to view the Tree Spirit as the guardian ¡®beast¡¯ of this valley, and supporting it is probably the best insurance you can get against Salah.¡± ¡°Really? You think the Tree spirit is willing to step in? From what I hear from Lady Yvon, the tree spirit is flighty, inconsistent, and acts rather irrationally at times.¡± ¡°Such are beings of another plane, their minds are¡­ different.¡± ¡°True. Can¡¯t expect it to think like we do.¡± ¡°And I doubt it ever will. It¡¯s concerns are different, and my view is, New Freeka best aligns itself to the tree spirit¡¯s desires. I think from the fire-demon encounter alone, the tree spirit demonstrates far greater destructive power than it usually lets on.¡± ¡°Hmmm. Some of the councillors will find that a hard pill to swallow, since we are supposed to be an independent state, not a puppet of a tree-spirit.¡± ¡°Convince them not to see it that way. Think of the tree-spirit as a potentially friendly dragon. It has it¡¯s own thing going, generally lets you do what you want, and if you make it happy enough, it can sometimes help you. Perhaps get the treefolk chieftains to speak to them, they revere the tree spirit after all, as their deity or somekind.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll just sound like preaching. The other councillors will hate it. Maybe you should speak to them.¡± ¡°You know well enough, that they look at me with the same eyes of suspicion. I am an exiled wizard from another country, what weight does my words carry?¡± The councillor sighs. ¡°There must be another way.¡± ¡°Maybe you don¡¯t actually need to give the tree spirit actual jewels, you know.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a tree spirit right¡­ perhaps all it wants is a nearby location that contains those jewels, even if it¡¯s hidden or buried under mountains of dirt and rock. Or, maybe, it doesn¡¯t even need it in the processed, polished form we are so familiar with. I highly doubt it wants it for the same reason as our nobles and royalties do. Maybe it just wants raw¡­ jewels. So be it if it¡¯s mixed with rocks and whatnot.¡± The councillor rubs her chin. ¡°That¡¯s actually a good point, and worth clarifying with the tree spirit. We¡¯ve gotten so used to Noble''s expectations to have jewels in a certain condition, that I didn¡¯t think that a tree may not need it in a similar¡­ state.¡± Certainly, raw unprocessed gems are worth far less than processed ones, which need special equipment and skilled gem craftsmen. ¡°Yes. Tell Lady Yvon, we would require more information. If we can glean an understanding of the tree spirit¡¯s intent, we can act accordingly.¡± Year 77 Month 3 "This room is awesome." Lausanne jumps. Apparently she levelled up. "Indeed." Jura nods, holding a set of wooden weapons. "The passives to your training reminds me of the effects of a skilled military drillmaster. Such rooms would be useful in any preparation for war.¡± Lausanne blocks the wooden sword, she¡¯s gradually getting better at all the combat skills that Jura is passing on to her, and Jura¡¯s complaints has been getting less. It seems the term, ¡®late bloomer¡¯ is real, or perhaps it¡¯s just the influence of [dream tutor], constantly feeding the combat-skills to her. They practice for about two hours. ¡°Alright, enough for now. How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Sore!¡± Lausanne talks about her muscles aching from all the blocking. Jura¡¯s pulling his punches, after all Lausanne¡¯s only just turned 8, so her physique isn¡¯t comparable to Jura, who had years and years of training, and has a body of an adult. Lausanne¡¯s at least 10 years away before her body could stand up to Jura at full strength. Jura passes her an ointment, made of preserved healing fruits. Laufen¡¯s experiments in preserving the healing fruits granted her some basic [ointment-making] skills, as it seems the juice from the healing fruits mix with the vinegar to form some kind of basic pain-relieving liquid. It¡¯s not a potion, though. Lausanne sits on one of the chairs in the training room, and applies the ointment to her sore joints. ¡°I expected to find you here.¡± Laufen walks through the door. ¡°Hi mom. Just finished practice¡­¡± ¡°I spoke to some of the merchants in town, and found out there¡¯s a proper [teacher] for Elvish writing. Do you want to?¡± Lausanne nods, ¡°Oh really. Good. Can he come here? This training room has training boosts, maybe I learn better here.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ask the teacher about it. Anyway, come, we need to go work on the olives, now that we¡¯re finally getting some fresh batches.¡± ¡°Aww man¡­¡± Lausanne pouts. Jura pushes her along, making hand motions, chasing her away. - Next stop, volcania. Okay I came up with that name, but the volcano area is a mouthful, so I decided on Volcania. Volcano research is complete, so I task Alexis to research more volcano-related countermeasures. Beetle winter adaptation stage II - 1 Months remaining Volcanic adaptation stage II - 3 months remaining. Tree winter adaptation stage II - 3 months remaining Beetle volcanic battleform - complete! Beetle volcanic defensive armors- complete! Beetle - anti-magma weaponry - 3 months remaining Beetle - basic magical lances - 6 months remaining With the completed research, the beetles near Volcania gained a special armor and their head changed significantly, such that it¡¯s enveloped in the new special armor. With these changes, 3 beetles could take on one magma monster. So, with the improved status, the beetles attempt to head further, closer to the volcano, and find a bit more information about the inner volcano¡­ Failed. Too many magma monsters. Undeterred, I create more subsidiary trees, all designed as beetlenests. Each beetle-nest houses 5 beetles, and with an additional 30 subsidiary trees, I send the larger beetle army into the volcano. And still failed, because there¡¯s just way too many of those magma monsters inside. Fine. If it¡¯s a game of numbers, I am a tree-spirit with the ability to spawn multiple subsidiary trees. So I spawn another 70 subsidiary trees. [Subsidiary tree limit increased to 1,500] Hell yeah. Power to the tree swarm. I¡¯m an invasive species of trees about to take over this volcano! ¡°Horns, you take command of the beetles and do some recon, alright?¡± ¡°Got it boss.¡± The next few days, Horns mounts several expeditions into the inner volcano area, only to encounter stiff resistance from large swarms of magma monsters. It seems, the inner volcano area is crawling with giant magma monsters, large enough to be buildings on their own. Magma golems. If not for their rather lack of horns, they would actually look somewhat demonic. ¡°We can¡¯t get past the magma golems, they are far too powerful.¡± ¡°I see.¡± It seems the upgrades are still insufficient to take on the larger monsters. So I will have to wait for more upgrades. "If Alexis could do some research¡­" "I am already doing them." "Ah yes." "It''ll take time, even with my skills." Well, she''s not lying, and I foresee materials to be my next bottleneck, as higher tier research requires exotic materials, which will be harder to get. An expansionary approach is necessary, at least to secure additional materials that I will need. My current [root extraction], [mineral refining], [essence harvesters], reactivated now that I no longer have to be in "winter" mode, are producing iron, copper, and a few other commonly found materials, and for essences, the common ones. The nightmare and soul harvesters brought me two [experience seeds], so I have a total of 3 now. It seems this is an incredible rarity, a gift that even kings desire. A fruit that guaranteed a level? That''s worth a ton, and I think it is something I should use to make a trade some day, for something of equally great value. "I wonder whether I can detect the demon king''s coming¡­" Alexis muses, tinkering with the lab. "You sure you don''t want magic labs? And sensors?" "You still hung up about it?" "Yes! There''s so many things I want to know. Can we reliably predict the demon king''s arrival? Is there a magical fluctuation in the world that we can pin on? What are the kinds of magic that create the demon rifts? Don''t you ask yourself those questions?" "I do, but my priority is the volcano." "Why?" "Because it is a volcano. I want to expand there, I want to gain the volcano''s powers. My instinct tells me a volcano, as a natural force of nature, is similar to a leyline." "...okay that makes sense." Alexis pauses and then floats onto some branches. Her biolab grew over the month. It added another branch which houses more pods, smaller ones, which is used to run smaller experiments, which then helps to speed up the entire research process. "I mean, that''s what I think. My gut feel is there are natural energies in the leyline, magic of the world, and perhaps I need to find ways to tap it. Gain new research. Perhaps its raw form is not so easily accessed as a leyline, but it is a kind of ''native'' leyline. So I want it, happy? Help?" "Huh." Alexis pauses, and I think she buys my explanation. "So you want some kind of permanent establishment on the volcano, which allows you to tap on its strength like some geothermal power plant?" "Yes." Well, yeah. "At least I now understand your obsession with the volcano. And I see why it takes priority over magic¡­ sensors." "Good." I am a tree spirit, and gaining more powers for my soul forge is logical, I could even say its something that drives me. [Research planning] "Ah." "I checked. Its not clear yet, I can''t see a clear path to it, but it seems having [magma tolerant roots], [tremor resistance] and [natural energy harvesters] seem like the few basic precursors to collecting energy from volcanoes. What else you need¡­ its still unclear." "That''s a good start, we can start work on that after we are able to reliably expand and hold a position on the volcano. We are in this for the long haul." "Still, you''re not worried a demon king pops up and ruin your project? I think he''s about¡­ 5, or 6 years away? The first of the rifts should open within the next few years." "I am betting on the chance that he spawns on some other continent. Demon kings don''t always appear in the same place." "Then?" "The heroes will come along and save the day. As they always do. I hope." Alexis sighs. "I guess you have a point. Even heroes just gears in this system. That just keeps churning. So much for¡­ heroes." "I think heroes are a stopgap measure, to solve the demon king problem." Well, that''s how I see it. Maybe the gods hoped some heroes become so powerful that they could beat multiple generation of demon kings, but so far, that has not happened. The best is a generation of heroes surviving 3 demon kings, according to Yvon''s knowledge of history. "Has it always been this way.?" "Ask the gods." I mean, thats really the way, right? "They don''t say shit. The reincarnation gods know nothing about the history of this world. All they know is the gods of this world ask for reincarnators, their job is to give it to them." "What''s in it for the gods. What''s their stake in keeping the world this way. Can''t gods just snap a finger and make things back?" My personal guess is, they can''t. Perhaps their abilities of intervention are¡­ limited. So they resort to heroes. "I have no idea." Year 77 Month 4 I am Level 129 a few months ago. When am I getting the next one? So, I decide to go to the volcano and [root strike] on a lot of magma monsters. And it proves to be less effective than I thought it would be. I mean, they still destroy the magma monsters in a single hit, but near a golem, it still took like easily 15 shots of the root strike to kill it. And thats way too much. I wonder whether its because my super effectiveness against demons, so I previously did not feel my root strikes were that weak, or is it these magma golems have special defenses against root strikes. Might just be a passive that goes, ''reduce damage from nature or tree based sources by 50%'' Or perhaps its some ''pierce damage reduction''. Or perhaps I am really so weak. "You know¡­ rather than constantly theorise what exactly is the problem, you could just consider to use [inspect]?" Meela suggested. "That''s what Alexis would do." I pause. I feel like an idiot. Idiotree. I mean, its seriously basic, no? Use inspect on monsters. I even have the inspect skill. Have I been a tree for too long that I forgot such basic monster hunting¡­ basics? Did I lose common sense somewhere along the way? Starsoul Year 77 Month 4 (continued) [Inspect] Dammit. The magma golems have pierce resistance, nature element reduction, and physical damage reduction. So, all those skills together mean my root strike is less effective as it would be on any other monster. Less effective, but still, 15 root strikes. Okay, actually any other monster of a similar ''tier'' would have skills and passives that provide a similar level of resistance. It''s how higher tier monsters, just like how higher level people, are exponentially stronger because the cumulative effects of stacking different abilities. So any other monster of such tier would be as difficult, in their own ways. "So..." "Research more weapons of course." "May I suggest killing the golems anyway?" Horns butts in. "You know, because they killed so many beetles, I would like to see them die." Ah. "I would like to have vengeance, master." When did he learn the concept of vengeance anyway. "You know what, yes. Let''s go hunt golem. I need the damn level." And off I went. I spent the next few days attacking every golem I see with root strikes, and then crawl up to another golem to continue. Its kinda like how a zerg base uses creep colonies to get close to the enemy, and then attacks them with then sunken colonies. And I did that, many, many times. Spawn subsidiary tree near golems, unleash a rain of root strikes, kill golems, repeat. And I see Horns crying in joy. Seriously. I think he gets enjoyment from having a bigger badass kick the butt of the badass that kicked his butt. Actually, I have no idea whether that is a cry or a shout because it just sounds really¡­ insecty. Anyway, kill golems. And after maybe about 50 golems, I level up! [You gained a level! You are now level 130] [Upgrade initiated...] The entire valley shakes, as a thunderstorm suddenly appears out of nowhere. Lightning hits each and every subsidiary tree, and each and every branch on my main tree. Is this like the starting sequence of some superhero transformation? A whole opens in the sky, and from that darkness, massive black lightning strikes my main tree. "What¡­ what is happening?" The elves seem afraid, as that massive black lightning continues to strike my main tree. "I suggest all of you leave, for a while." Indeed, they all ran as fast as they could to the town of New Freeka, and well, it seems they too can see what''s happening from their distance, because there seems to be a massive hole in the sky. "Any idea what''s going on?" I ask the rest of the souls and the wisp. "Not a clue." Alexis shakes her head. But she looks rather amazed by it. "And how are you still talking when that black thing is striking you like that?" "Uh. Good point." Am I supposed to feel pain or heat, or¡­ I don''t know¡­ anything? Lightning after lightning strikes down on the trees, but yet they don''t do any damage. It''s as if they are just making a connection. Is this the fate of trees in the storm? "Are you evolving or something?" Alexis asks. "Yeah. I think." "Ah man. Level 100?" "Ah¡­ secret." I think some things should be a secret, no? The lightning continues, and then, all of them stop. The hole in the sky widen a bit further to reveal something that looks like a rift, a small fissure in space. And a black lightning emerges, larger than any other, and it zaps my main body. [Void energy collection completed] Oh. Oh now I feel pain. It feels like every single part of my body is cracking, like a snake trying to change its skin, or a sea creature replacing its shell. The branches, barks, trunks start to swell, and the leaves all drop from my main tree, leaving me looking like a bare but bloated looking tree, all the bark expanding to reveal cracks and seams, like, stretchmarks. [Upgrading¡­] And then those cracks expand, as a new layer of skin emerges from underneath, a glossy dark colored bark. This cracking, expanding, and then the older layer falling off happened throughout my main body, and it took about 2 hours. The hole in the sky is gone, but the ground is still constantly rumbling as my body expands. I believe the same is also happening to my roots, and that causes the ground to constantly shake for those two hours. And then I''m done! [You have now transformed into the starsoul tree.] Starsoul tree able to tap and access to the wisdom of the past, from exposure to ancient bones and fossilsgains access to a special type of leaf able to collect starlight and produce star mana in small quantities (maximum amount of leaves capped), also gains access to a star mana storing organ and special star-mana abilitiesstats improved, various collection, various skills upgradedSoul management and access rights and restrictions unlocked Ah yay? Star mana. As I read that update, coming across that word, I just had to pause, and take a moment to realise what just happened. Star mana, the supercharged fuel of the heroes. And I can make them. In small quantities, perhaps incomparable to that of the heroes, like that massive amounts that Alexis used to have, a gift she now lost, since she died. An odd thing, of course, since I thought heroes can ¡®resurrect¡¯ with the right spells, but as it turns out, it¡¯s only a gift that unlocks under certain conditions, and it expires when the demon king dies. Anyway, star mana. I can make them¡­ I can make them. What does this mean? Have I taken a small step towards being a hero? One chosen by the gods to do battle with the demon king? I¡­ I can''t wrap my head around that. I am a tree, and if a demon king, if Alexis''s description of its power level is true, I am still very far away. Just because I have star mana does not make me a chosen hero. So no. I don¡¯t think so. And somehow, a part of me rejects the idea of fighting the demon king... so that is also not the path I want to go. It goes against my natural strengths as a tree. I am a tree. And a tree is a nurturing, protective force. So how do I use star mana? Do the other great spirit trees have star mana too? I think so, maybe with star mana they manage great escape feats like an entire vanishing forests. Star mana. A great power. And a secret. Year 77 Month 5 A small branch grows above me, at the very top. A few leaves of them, almost black in color, the star-leaves. They are even shaped like stars . A secret experiment in star mana gathering, and I¡¯m excited to see what I can find at the end of that path. Then, I move my attention to the research happening through the biolabs throughout the valley. ¡°Well, beetle winter adaptation is complete, but it¡¯s not cold anymore. Maybe I should direct my attention to volcano research as well, together with Alexis?¡± Right now, with Alexis, Trevor and Dimitree, we can do about 6 research topics concurrently. ¡°Hmmm¡­ indeed, volcano is the biggest priority at the moment.¡± ¡°The resistance the volcano¡¯s inner area is indeed much higher than expected, so we do need stronger, or at least, more specialised beetles to counter the stronger magma golems.¡± ¡°Giant beetles.¡± ¡°Thanks, Horns.¡± ¡°Golems are big. If beetles are big, beetles can win.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, sire. Our small size is a weakness, a large beetle may be a good solution.¡± ¡°Trevor, you¡¯re agreeing with that idea? Giant beetles?¡± ¡°I do believe Horns is right to suggest that, and he has the combat experience to support that sort of view.¡± ¡°How¡­ giant are we talking about.¡± ¡°As big as the golems.¡± ¡°Are there some biological rules in this world on the size of insects?¡± I mean, there should be a limit, right? Though I kinda felt stupid, even my current warbeetles are the size of rhinos. So actually, I think there¡¯s probably no rules on that. ¡°Uh¡­ probably if we had the right materials and components, a massive beetle would be possible.¡± ¡°Alexis, any input?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Once again she uses her [research planner], and I think I see her smirking at the corner of her face. A short moment later, she nods and she comes over to join the conversation. ¡°Presently, there are no obvious paths to beetles the size of golems.¡± ¡°Giant beetles, maybe half the size of the golems?¡± Horns sound a little sad. ¡°Ah, I wasn¡¯t finished. But beetles about half the size of golems is possible. We would need to research enhanced exoskeletons, and enhanced interior structures, and then we would be then able to research a large-beetle-pod, and then a large beetle.¡± ¡°Large beetle.¡± ¡°Not giant, but bigger than what it is now. So large¡¯s a good word.¡± Horns nods furiously. ¡°Seems like everyone¡¯s keen on the idea?¡± ¡°I still think magic is better.¡± ¡°Giant beetle.¡± ¡°Yes, sire. Giant beetle is a good path. I believe massive warbeetles can do a great deal of damage on the battlefield.¡± ¡°Very well then. Let¡¯s go with it.¡± Beetle winter adaptation stage II - completeVolcanic adaptation stage II - 1 months remaining.Tree winter adaptation stage II - 1 months remainingBeetle - anti-magma weaponry - 1 months remainingBeetle - basic magical lances - 4 months remainingEye-Tree Stage I research option unlocked - 22 months remainingEnhanced exoskeletons - 4 months remainingEnhanced interior structures - not startedLarge beetle pods - not started Well, I already have 6 concurrent research topics, but next month I can add enhanced interior structures to it once the volcanic adaptation and anti-magma weaponry complete. Anyway, with that, I then return my attention to the elves and the New Freekas. The evolution I underwent last month, that one day of a great black lightning storm fade from memory of the elves, after all, to them, it¡¯s just one of those scary days, and to them, I do not appear any different than I did before. That¡¯s because of [camouflage]. My true appearance is unseen by anyone, except the artificial souls, and Alexis. A sense of gradual normalcy is returning, now that the effect of the blood blizzard is slowly fading from the air itself. Crops massively growing throughout the farmlands, and the valley¡¯s trees are surging in number, surpassing the number of trees destroyed. For New Freeka, it is war preparation time, as Salah issued a formal war declaration, and they consider New Freeka as an enemy nation, as a result, all direct trade routes between Salah and New Freeka is cut, legally. And then posturing, nasty letters threatening, demanding the surrender of Salah. Which are all ignored. Although that is the collective decision of the senior leaders, the councillors, leaders of the standing army and the higher ranked mages, it still a stressful, highly worrying for them. The town is now fully gearing up for war, their magic builders working overtime, building massive walls and other defensive positions. Guards, on full alert, and all visitors of New Freeka thoroughly screened, as there are also fears of assassinations. "Jura, its not a good time." Jura stands in the middle of the council room, Yvon and the rest of the councillors around the table. "The tree spirit wants an update on the demanded jewels, which was agreed earlier." "We are in a state of war, Jura." A councillor stands. "And the tree spirit is your best chance of defending New Freeka successfully." Jura glares back at the councillor. "And what exactly would a tree spirit bring to the table if Salah invades with a large army?" The councillor responds. "Some trees? Potatoes? Hot water?" Yvon almost intervenes, but another councillor next to her stops her. "Fact it, the tree spirit has been making demands, and where we believe it is a mutually beneficial trade, if the circumstances allow it, we will support those demands." The councilwoman next to Yvon leans in, and whispers. "The tree spirit needs to know where we stand. Its about time we make it clear our position to its representative." Yvon sighs. "But, these are tough times. Resources, whatever we have, is all focused on our existential threat, the Salah Kingdom, who recently threatened to wipe us off the map. We need all our resources into more men, more weapons. Not the whims of a tree spirit who claims ownership over the entire valley." Jura listens and then laugh. And he laughed like a maniac. I think Jura laughed for a good three minutes before all of the councillors, all of them staring at him like he is some kind of a madman. When he stops, he looks at Yvon. "Ah Yvon, are the councillors aware of the extent of the tree spirits powers?" She paused, before responding. "I did tell them." "What did you tell them? Perhaps your knowledge too is incomplete." "Uh, tree spirit has the powers of an archdruid, many very powerful healing powers, some ability to repair soul damage, abilities to absorb fire, abilities to control beetles, abilities to create hot water, spawn various trees and use root attacks, ability to boost growth rates and spawn different types of trees." Jura nods, "Not bad, but let me ask you. How many beetles does the tree spirit control?" "300? Maybe 400?" Yvon answers. "Any other guesses?" "700?" A councillor decides to humor, and says as a joke. "As more recently advised, the actual number is about 3,000. Lead by beetleknight." The councillors all stare at each other. "Tell me, if 3,000 beetles go to war, how many men would Salah need to field?" One of the army leaders, a captain, sitting in the councilroom does some mental math. "12,000, perhaps 15,000." "Do you all believe for a moment, that New Freeka can protect itself from the tree spirit''s wrath? Should those 3,000 beetles turn against you?" The councillors look at each other. "Would 3,000 beetles be an existential threat, I wonder¡­" One of the councillors stand, "Are you threatening us?" "No. I believe from the Tree Spirit''s point of view, you all, are threatening him, by challenging his dominion over the valley. So councillor, you better retract such words, and pray the tree spirit does not hear it directly." The councillor pales, and sits. "Yvon, I believe you recall the agreement when the tree spirit consented to your new settlement in New Freeka." One of the older councillor stands, "That our presence is at the tree spirit''s grace and mercy, and we are to acknowledge the tree spirit as the rightful master of the valley. We are not to encroach on the forests more than the tree spirit allows." "It is but a phrase, no?" Another councillor, a younger one from the refugees, stands, "...such phrases exists in the founding documents of many nations. A¡­ formality to acknowledge a benefactor." "Not when the phrase refers to that of a Tree Spirit, an actual magical being who resides and controls the valley." A silence in the room as everyone stares at each other. "Back to the jewels. I have been authorised by the tree spirits, to let the council and everyone else in the room know, the jewels, are meant to fulfill the evolutionary requirements of the beetle champions, and various other beasts that live in the depths of the valley''s forests. Obtaining them will further enhance the combat abilities of the beetles." "If we get it. Can the tree spirit lend us his aid? With those 3,000 beetles?" "Yes. He is prepared to summon the 3,000 beetles, deploy whatever other beasts he can gather from the valley to do battle, and various other abilities at his disposal. But, only in a defensive battle against Salah or any other attackers, and not an offensive attack." That''s simply because it''s easier to control beetles when they are nearby, as Dimitree and Trevor can both assist in coordinating the beetles movements. "We¡­ we need some time to discuss this." "You''ve been given a week to talk it out, but the tree spirit expects a positive response." "...acknowledged." Jura walks back to the valley with an air, a kind of smugness around him. I think he is rather pleased how that went. Also, Jura understated the number. I told him 3,000, but actually, with my most recent evolution to a starsoul tree, the maximum subsidiary trees I have increased to a mind boggling 4,000. So, with 5 beetles per subsidiary tree, the actual maximum beetles I can deploy, in a 100% beetle allocation would be¡­ 20,000. But of course, I am not going to have them all beetle-trees, since I do need essence harvesters, material processors, crop producers, biolabs, homes from the elves, surveillance trees and so forth, so the actual number of ''free'' trees is about 2,500, so that still represents a massive army of 12,500 beetles. There are already about 2,000 beetles full time defending the volcanic area from the magma monsters, another 2,000 in the south forest around Dimitree and the leyline, and another 2,000 hidden throughout the valley and its forest, the actual deployable beetle force is¡­ 6,500. And I like to have some unused subsidiary tree capacity, to spawn additional subsidiary trees as and when I need to, as am emergency response to any possible changes, or to reinforce new areas when necessary, so that would mean setting aside about 400 trees. So, 4,500 beetles is the actual end number. 900 subsidiary trees. "How did the discussions go?" "I believe it will be positive, TreeTree." "Glad to hear that." "Bamboo is asking for an upgrade." "I am aware, but it needs those jewels." "Ah. Yes. I guess I have personal interest in wanting those jewels too." Jura laughs, I think he is rather happy. - Back at the meeting room... "Do you think he is lying?" "I think not." "3,000 beetles. That''s a massive number." "Indeed, my initial projections factored in 400 beetles in any defensive fight against Salah." Two army advisor''s turn to take the stand, captains, both of them. "How does this change the battle?" A councilman asks. "A warbeetle, as Jura refers to them, is actually equal to 2 elite soldiers. Salah would have to deploy specialised forces to deal with the warbeetles, as their thick armor and massive horns make them difficult to kill using regular weapons. Its possible to swarm one of the warbeetles and then attack its weakness, their joints and the gaps between their armor, if they are scattered throughout the battlefield, but at 3,000, there is a very low chance of catching any of those beetles alone." "Captain, I understand none of the technicalities of combat. What I want to know, is what does that mean in a war for us, and would the price of the jewels be worth it?" "I believe, if the numbers are true, it is our number one chance of beating Salah, multiple times. 3,000 warbeetles essentially means Salah must field at least 30,000 men, just to even hope to have a good chance of winning against the warbeetles alone." "You said 12,000-15,000 in the earlier meeting with Jura, and 2 elite soldiers in your earlier sentence." "I fudged the numbers with Jura to understate the value of the warbeetles." "Then the 2 elites?" "Salah''s conventional army composition comprises of 1 elite for every 10 regulars. 30,000 men is then reflecting 3,000 elite soldiers and 27,000 regular. Its what I would need to deploy if I am asked to defeat warbeetles of that number. And mages. At least 100 mages." Yvon pause, "Remember our first battle here against Salah? The one lead by Waysorious Moffard, the Purple Blade?" "Ah¡­ why?" "The beetles back then hides underground or in the trees. They then spring up behind enemy lines." The captains nods. "If so, that makes their defensive value even higher, and I believe there isn''t much to discuss. I strongly request the council fulfill the demands, and get assurances from Jura, and the tree spirit that those 3,000 beetles will assist us. I would pay 10 times the demanded amount to get the defensive services of 3,000 warbeetles." The councillor look at each other, before they eventually nod. The wizard of Baroosh nudges the lady next to him. "As I predicted, the Tree Spirit is truly the guardian beast of the valley." The councilwoman turns and shake her head. "Certainly, even I underestimated the number. You''re right, I should have brought it up earlier." The wizard smiles smugly. "Glad to be proven right." The councilwoman shrugs, "Ugh." Year 77 Month 6 Tree - Volcanic adaptation stage II - completeTree - winter adaptation stage II - completeBeetle - anti-magma weaponry - complete Beetle - basic magical lances - 3 months remainingEye-Tree Stage I research option unlocked - 21 months remainingEnhanced exoskeletons - 3 months remainingEnhanced interior structures - 4 months remainingLarge beetle pods - 6 months remainingBeetle - anti-magma armors stage 2 - 12 months remaining It¡¯s time for more volcano-smash. With the volcanic adaptation and anti magma weaponry, the odds of beetle vs magma monster is now 3 to 2. So, with the 2,000 beetles in the area, I attempt another round of volcano invasion. And yes, I¡¯m a little bit closer. With upgraded weaponry, we can easily take on the regular magma monsters and claim additional territory, since less beetles is needed to successfully defend one area, but I still can¡¯t hold the areas with the massive magma golems, so I have to avoid those areas, but that¡¯s about it. I¡¯m a step closer, and the trees in the volcanic area are black, reddish in hue, reflecting their adapted trunks and roots, which are highly heat resistant, and able to extract their resources from the dried magma that forms the earth around the volcano. Progress, but now consistently holding position against the magma golems will be the next hurdle for an actual ¡®volcano¡¯ base, and then to move on to finding ways to extract the energies from the lava beneath it. A part of me realises, that¡¯s probably the point I do need a magic lab of some kind, since extracting magic from lava is probably out of the scope of the biolab. Oh well. Alexis will be happy then. And, the first batch of the jewels from New Freeka arrives. And a request for a demonstration of my 3,000 beetles? Hmmm. I guess seeing is believing. Spaizzer Clarifications on labs. I spent quite a bit of time thinking about the labs, and about what they can or cannot ¡®research¡¯. So, for biolabs, their research essentially is only on physical attributes, physical properties, and biological adaptations of plants, and living things, ie, how strong their skin is, their size, shape, what they are made of, what sort of operating environment their most suited in, the ¡®range¡¯ of that operating environment (ie tolerance), the size of their horns, or roots, or leaves etc. What the biolab can¡¯t provide, are ¡®skills¡¯ and ¡®active abilities¡¯. 3rd skirmish of New Freeka Year 77 Month 7 "I got to level 20 yesterday." Jura pauses, and looks at Lausanne. Laufen''s next to him, and the little girl then says. "I got a passive ability, its called [Blessed by a Soul Tree]." The two adults glance at each other. In a way, they are now like her father and mother, and there''s a mix of pride, worry, and confusion when Lausanne says she hit level 20. Most children never level so fast, at most around level 5 to 10 at age 8, and it is most likely due to the presence of my continuing involvement, the constant essence infused [dream tutors], [powerlevelling], and most recently the upgraded [training tree]. "Well, what does it do?" "Erm¡­ it doesn''t say much, it just says I''ll get certain¡­ blessings?" "TreeTree, any idea?" Well, the first thing that is clear when she gained that ability, now I can see her much more obviously than everyone else. It''s as if she glows in my vision, she''s got a constant tooltip hovering on her, that just screams, ''look at me''. "Well, rather than conjecture, would you mind going into the biolab and we can all find out?" "Yeah. Good idea." As Lausanne walks to the biolab inside the secret hideout, Laufen and Jura both look at each other. "She''s growing very quickly." Jura said with a sigh. "I fear for her." "Me too. But I feel I should be proud. It is what Ricola would have wanted for his daughter, to be strong." Jura pauses and then he nods. "I suppose so. Ricola would want his daughter to be competent, even though he himself wasn''t much." Laufen ribs Jura. "Hey." "I mean, his talents were in being a village chieftain. Combat was never his strong point." "I suppose it''s TreeTree''s influence then." Well, I have been giving Lausanne every single combat related essence I generated through [dream tutor], so, it did, over a long period of time, give the necessary improvements in her understanding of combat tactics. Lausanne walks into the pod and the vines wrap around her body, she goes in, and I take a look. "May I?" Alexis asks, and I shake my head. "Sorry, let me have a look at it first." Alexis sulks. "Okay¡­" And well, frankly Lausanne''s body is normal. She is a regular elf after all, though I could see right next to her usual soul spring, there''s a small flower. [Blessed by a Soul Tree] [Due to long term exposure to Soul Tree''s abilities the body is naturally accepting of its influence. Grants additional compatibility with various Soul Tree abilities, spells, and skills, and so they last longer, and has stronger effects] "Oh. Sounds okay." At this point I think this isn''t much, and I can''t see anything else being different, so I let Alexis in on the view. "Hmm." She too, looks at Lausanne''s young body. Her soul spring is normal, and the water coming out of it is clear, and smooth, her body is well, normal, the shores covered in a thin layer of grass nourished by the mana from her soul spring. It looks like there is still some ways to go. "It''s generally normal." I say, "The skill isn''t much." "I think its not a bad skill." "How so?" "I think her growth rate will be even faster, since it means your training room, dream tutor and powerleveling will be more effective on her." "Oh. That''s a good point." "You have plans for her, don''t you?" "What do you mean?" "I mean, you have been investing a lot of your essences into her, more than any other elf. It feels like you want her to be something. Or are you preparing her for something?" "Huh¡­" Well, frankly, I didn''t know why either. Somehow I got sucked into the narrative that Lausanne wanted to be a hero that I just went along with it. But thinking about it, I think¡­ I think its worth trying. "Maybe a hero will be too hard, to stand at our level she would need access to a lot of star mana, gain the various divine blessings and unlock a cheat ability." Well, yeah, duh, that''s way too high a wall. Its like trying to climb Mount K2 after a successful hike up a gentle hill. I am not a fool to send Lausanne up such unreasonable¡­ walls. "But¡­ I think creating a champion is a good idea. Reach the level of the demon champions, I think that''s a realistic target. Perhaps she can get there when she''s¡­ 30? I think she needs to learn magic next, a magic lab will do so." Ah, Alexis trying to sell the magic lab idea again. To be fair I do appreciate the need for one, once we make progress with the volcano. But I''ll keep that to myself for now. "You want to be her tutor?" "I don''t mind. I think I''ll gain different skills, compared to all these research linked abilities I have now. It will help that I regain my magical abilities somewhat." And I feel a little threatened by the idea of giving Alexis magic¡­ again. She did, though it is not her, burn down slightly less than half of the valley. Oh. Volcano occupation is at a stalemate. I will attempt again, once we unlock the large beetles, twice the size of rhinos, hopefully then the odds are better. At present, it takes about 200 beetles to kill one single magma golem, and I only have 2,000 in that area. 200! And there are a lot more than 10 golems. I am hoping the odds change to about 10 or so large beetles versus 1 golem, then the chances of a successful occupation of the volcano increases. Also, back to New Freeka. They asked for a demonstration in exchange for the jewels. And well, lets just say they have never seen 3,000 beetles march out of the forest before. Year 77 Month 8 "Salah is coming. With a force of 50,000 men!" "Huh." "That is quick." Jura mused, but to be honest, I think I know why that happened, and it id also why I held my cards back. I suspect there is a mole within Yvon''s council. Or maybe close to them, there is a Salah informant. I don''t know who exactly, but among the 25 of the senior leaders, all of them are talking about the beetles. Apparently none of them could keep their mouth shut after seeing 3,000 beetles, and somehow this news got to Salah, who obviously feel highly threatened by 3,000 beetles. Maybe they now saw me as a threat they needed to crush, and crush me before I got even stronger. "Well, it could be there is just some kind of surveillance magic happening." Alexis though posits a different theory. "As far as I can tell there are no scrying countermeasures or spell barriers in New Freeka, except the forest itself which gets some scrying protection your massive [camouflage] and [mist] ability." Jura on the other hand thinks that, "I think they just wanted to fight New Freeka and this is a convenient time, since they are still in the stalemate with Nung and Takde. I doubt they know about the beetles. The traders and merchants I speak to, seem to says Salah has been itching for a fight for some time, since the blood blizzard is significantly weakened. They just want find aomeone to suffer for the punishment and misery of the blood blizzard." "50,000 men. What are our odds?" "I think we can win." Jura shrugged. "But it will be a hard fight. And it also depends on who is the general." Well, during this time Trevor pings me personally. He is my surveillance officer anyway. "I see the enemy army in the outermost tree rings. I don''t think they are suspicious, as they left the outer trees untouched. Also they have siege weapons, master." "Are you sure no suspicions? Or are they just playing the part?" "Any mages?" "Yes, sire. I counted a mage corps of at least 1,000. There are multiple individuals exhibiting a rather strong presence as well." "Okay, bring me there." "Certainly." With that, my vision zooms to the incoming army. Thanks to my wider coverage of subsidiary trees, I have trees really far away now, and Trevor even went through the process of decorating each tree such that they look like natural growths in the area. And indeed, a large army is marching, comprising mostly foot soldiers of about 40,000, some cavalry, about 2,000, and the rest being a mix of the mages, healers, siege weapon operators, and their elite forces. "New Freeka has spotted us." One commander rides up to the man that looks like the chief of this army, thanks to his elaborate armor and uniform, and a long flowing magical cape. "Good. It seems we can go with our initial plans for now. Bombard the town with our siege machines, mages, and force them out of the town, into the open where we can slaughter them." Another man rides up to the general, and the general just smiles. Heh. I have the countermeasure for that. "We spotted the beetles that Waysorious fought during the last battle." "How many?" "500, perhaps? They are really well hidden within the trees and only our rangers can spot them with any accuracy." "I recall Waysorious suspects the presence of an elvish archdruid." "You agree with that assessment, General?" Ah, the chief is a general. "Lord Rosul''s earlier expedition claims the presence of a living forest. His wizard, says there is a presence that stretches the entire valley." "I¡­ I never heard of that." The men around the general seem surprised. "Its something Lord Rosul shared only with our senior leaders, and it is why we have been treating Salah with such caution. And why there are 1,000 mages." A realisation appears on all the senior leaders around the general. Perhaps they suspected 50,000 is overkill. "Yes, now that the battle is near, it is time I tell you the actual strategy of this army." "The King and the high council suspects the presence of a magical beast, something like a great earth tiger, or a king grandbeetle, that Yvon has somehow managed to convince into an alliance. It is likely to be a defensive pact, else Yvon would be more¡­ offensive in her dealings with us. The recently observed magical phenomena in New Freeka from our spies support this. A firestorm, then countless black lightning, all points to magical beasts, of a very high tier, that likely to have experienced a high level evolution recently." A gulp. "Now now, we''re going to try to talk to it. First." It is then a ranger appears, he looks really old. "This is Master Ranger, Falklay. He''s very good with magical beasts, he has the ability [commune with magical beasts], [locate magical creatures], [beast talk-no-jutsu] and [charm magical beasts]. He''ll sneak into the forest first, and find the magical beast. Our invasion of New Freeka is only after he gives us the signal, if he can convince the magical beasts to withheld or ignore their defensive pact. Else, one of the alternatives is that we will have to bomb the shit out of the forest as well, then fight the beast. But we will weigh our chances when that happens." "Siege weapons against magical beasts?" A captain asks. "Not ideal, but if we have to fight it, we best weaken it first. High tier magical beasts are powerful, but siege weapons and magic will still hurt." "Now that we are near, what do you think, master Falklay? Confident that you will succeed?" "I think our chances are good. There are magical creatures, I sense a few in the forests, my senses tell me of a fairy of some kind or a forest sprite. Charming fairies will be a huge challenge, but I think I can succeed in convincing it to break the pact." Ooh. Ranger. Interesting¡­ "How will we know?" "Falklay will fire a flare. Green flare for go, red flare for bomb, blue flare for run." "Run?" "If the magical beast is a lot more powerful than we currently suspect, we better retreat than attempt an invasion. No point wasting our lives, right?" "What if there''s no flare?" "Then we wait. We wait for a week if we have to. Communion with magical beasts is going to take time, and we will give master Falklay the time to talk. But after 10 days, and Master Falklay is alive, we will expect a flare. If Master Falklay is dead, we will run. But that''s unlikely, right?" Master Falklay grins. His face is really wrinkly. "Run?" One of the younger captain asks. "Of course. We must know exactly what we are facing. I will take calculated risks, but magical beasts are a category of monsters that is best dealt with¡­ by powerful adventurers." The rest of the men nod, the general is a highly conservative man. - Falklay made his way towards to valley, under the cover of various stealthing abilities, such as [hidden amongst trees], and other such effects, which makes him close to invisible to other men trying to spot him¡­ except the tree itself. So, yeah, I see him sprinting, alone, into the valley, despite his age, he is still clearly a high level ranger and has the stats and abilities to back it up. And as he got closer, I noticed he would stop every now and then to use some of his abilities. ¡°Strange¡­ the reading is confused.¡± He touches the trees, some of which are subsidiary trees. As he makes his way into the valley, he comes across a few beetles. The beetles, though they spot him and attempt to attack him, he has a skill, where when he just lightly touches them, they fall into a kind of ¡®sleep¡¯. I think that¡¯s a kind of ¡®disabling¡¯ ability he has. ¡°He has an ability to make us ¡®docile¡¯.¡± Horns is shouting in my mind. ¡°We must kill him! Kill him! He is a threat! Threat!!!¡± On the other hand, I¡¯m very curious about this Falklay, and I want to see exactly what he¡¯s got. ¡°Horns, go hibernate. Beetles, retreat as well.¡± With that, the beetles quickly hide and stay out of his way¡­ which the ranger noticed. ¡°Huh. The beetles are gone. It¡¯s watching me, eh? A Kingbeetle with some kind of ¡®domain¡¯ abilities? Or a fairy with ''gladewatch''?" He says loudly. I think he wants us to know. He walks closer, his senses are sharp, and as he follows, it leads him right up to the main tree. "Huh." He looks around, wondering what he is seeing. "The beast is asleep?" And he then turns his eyes on Alexis''s biolab. He glances up and down, and then he uses an ability, [Identify] "A forest spirit¡­ of the academic kind?" His face pales somewhat. "Something''s not right¡­" [Eye of the Ranger] He looks around, and looks puzzled. Then he looks at my main tree. "It''s not a magical beast¡­" He withdraws his arrows. "Now, this is a lot more complicated." At that moment, I too use [inspect] on him, and it gets¡­ repelled. It seems he has some kind of skill protection. He lifts his bow and arrow, and aims it at the sky. It''s going to be a flare. I wonder whether he is going to bomb the forest, but then again, I have countermeasures so I wait and see. "I won''t fire that yet if I were you." Jura steps out of the main tree, ready for combat. "Oh." The ranger looks like he is about to shoot, but then decides not to. "So, who are you, and why are you here?" "Hmm." The ranger pauses. "May we settle this over a cup of tea, instead?" "Oh, tea?" A set of 4 chairs and table magically appear before the ranger, and he sits down. Then he starts to brew a pot of tea. "Yes, tea. Clearly the proper way to speak to magical beasts is invite them to tea, no?" "Magical beasts?" Jura''s turn to be confused, but somehow, he sits down on the chair. "Worry not, elf. The tea is laced with a fragrance that magical beasts will enjoy, but does nothing to us. I mean you no harm, so here, I''ll drink it. You can use [identify] and [detect poison] too, I won''t feel offended." He swaps teacups with Jura, and takes a sip. Jura laughs, "So, ranger. What magical beasts are you speaking of?" "The forest spirit there, and the beetle lord hiding somewhere in that tree." The ranger points. "And these trees right around me." He then points to the [root brain complex], and then my main tree. He then pauses and he shouts. "I know you are watching. You can join me for tea if you want! They''re good stuff, made with the tender young tea leaves collected from the Sifar mountains." "He''s dangerous, sire. We should kill him." Horns shout in my mind. "We should!" "I agree. But I have my curiosity piqued, so I will humor him and watch what happens." "I feel a bit of a headache." Alexis complains. "I think he used some kind of skill on me. Sucks when I lose some of my magic resistance¡­" Hey, you retained your overpowered ability to level, that counts right? Anyway, we focus back on the little tea party between Jura and the old ranger. Jura, actually decides to take a drink. "So, old man, what do you want?" "I work for Salah. And I am here to help with General Akbar''s destruction of New Freeka." Jura, strangely, didn''t react to the news. I think his diplomat levels has been rising and such news just doesn''t faze him anymore. "Oh. Why?" "Well, Salah and New Freeka is at war. I, am a servant of the King, a soldier of Salah, so I am here to help Salah win." "I see. And so how does that lead you to this little forest?" "Well, can you not interfere if we attack New Freeka?" "Unfortunately, no. We have an agreement with them, and they are under our protection." "Why? Perhaps there is something we, Salah, can offer you." Jura grins, "Ah¡­ well, do you know the tale of the original village of Freeka? I still remember the day, almost 7 years ago." "Hmm, has Salah transgressed Freeka in some way?" "Well, yes. Salah''s army burnt this village, killed a whole lot of elves living here, and if I remember correctly, the soldiers skewered the bodies of the dead onto this tree behind me. Those who survived fled far and wide." He pauses. "...ah. I see that''s how it is. Surely it is time for bygones to be bygones¡­" Jura''s face contorts. "I still remember the faces of those burnt the death. The screams, the shouts. The loss of the village scarred me, haunted me for years, and it is only with great blessing that I stepped out of that shadow." He sips a bit of the tea. "So I believe I am not wrong to say my grudge, rightly, runs deep." The old ranger sighs. "The acts of a vast nation like Salah cannot all be attributed to the nation. There are many actors in any country, and not all are aligned in terms of our values and principles." "You''re an old man, I''m sure you have seen many battles, and know very well, such statements does nothing to my grudge. A grudge, anger, and hatred is not something a talk can relieve. And now you, and that large army of yours are here to destroy New Freeka, does that not sound like Salah intends to repeat of that incident?" The old man pauses, and nods. "Well you are right. But, in war, there are no good sides, only victory matters." "It is as you say, only victory matters. This is not the first time Salah has tried this, and we won the previous 2 battles. Do you think you can win this one?" The old ranger nods. "Indeed, that is why 50,000 warriors are here." "Well, you''ve made your intentions clear, so, you may leave now." The old ranger grins. "Well, I am deep within enemy territory, do you think I will leave without taking out all of you?" [Root strike] That''s the moment a few root strikes surge from the ground. He dodges, and shoots a few explosive arrows, but a few wood shields block them. I follow up with a few more, as Jura, transforming into his Bamboo-armor form, gives chase. Trevor releases a poison field that covers the entire forest, and frankly, there''s no chance of him running. Unlike the assassin from before, I know exactly where he is, because his [hidden by trees] ability don''t protect him from¡­ a tree. He runs, and simultaneously fire numerous magical arrows at Jura. "General. This is Falklay. Please arrange bombing of the forest. Bomb the forest. I repeat, bomb the forest now, I am engaging with the inhabitants." He runs into some spiderwebs. "Ah dammit¡­" It seems the spiders'' [hidden presence] natural ability is a bit harder for him to detect. He cuts through the webs, but it slows him down enough for a root strike to hit him, which is parried by a small buckler shield. I suppose its magical since it actually manages to absorb the impact. "Ah, roots." He ducks from the arrows Jura shoots at him, but that gap allows Jura to catch up. "So, why not stand and fight?" "I reckon we are about the same level, but given my skill mix, I will lose." The old ranger shrugs, "So no." He smashes a potion of some kind on the floor, and it releases a bright light and then a thick smoke. A flashbang, essentially, and it stuns Jura briefly. A few arrows hit Jura''s wood armor, and the old ranger resumes fleeing. "General, where are the bombs?" He messages. "No. You do not have to worry about me. I''ll find a way out." And so the siege machines and the mages get in position, and they start to hurl rocks and spells at the forest. "They started the bombardment..." Yvon looks from the new walls they built, but as they brace for it, they notice the curvature of the projectiles drive the boulders and fireballs toward the forest. "Uh¡­" "The forest¡­" Right before the projectiles are about to make impact with the forests, my [subsidiary trees], of the hundred or so designated as [shield generators], kick in to action. Massive wood shields surround the trees, so the boulders and ordinary fireballs just collide against the shields, and leave some scratches and burns on the shields. I mean, compared the demonfire powered fireballs of Alexis, these fireballs and boulders are really basic, so, some damage is taken, but well within our limits. The army tries again, and the second, third volley of attacks similarly left only some damage on the shields. "What do you mean the bombardment is not working?" The ranger shouts through his message, as he flees. He seems to be getting caught in more spiderwebs as his concentration strays, but he is much faster than Jura, so Jura struggles to catch up. The old ranger is halfway out of the forest now, and frankly, I don''t plan to let him live. So, the moment he slows down, as a bit of spiderweb catches him, I would unleash a few root strikes at him. And it would be blocked by that small buckler, or some other leg guards that he has, or the magical chainmail he has under his shirt. Nothing fatal, but its wearing him down. Each of my root strikes are filled with paralysis and poison, and the entire forest is releasing a kind of poison, a mix of Trevor''s abilities and my [poison field]. Its nothing lethal, especially over such short periods, but every little bit of the poison and paralysis is slowing the ranger down. And he takes in some antidotes, which rejuvenates him momentarily Another volley from the siege and mages. No effect, thanks to shield generators. "General, its not working. Strong wooden barriers are blocking our attacks around the forests and those shields can take hell of a beating.." "Ahhhhh!" A slight panic in the camp, as a group of beetles, about 300, emerge behind, attacking the siege machines and mages. They manage to destroy a few siege machines, but it is a trained army, some soldiers are already onsite to protect them and so they quickly reorganise. The mages redirect their attacks on the beetles instead. Each beetle, with their thick armor and the recent volcanic adaptation (which grants tiny amounts of fire resistance) can endure 1 fireball, so the mages need 2 shots to kill them. Additional fighters rush to protect the mages and siege machines, and the numbers are sufficient to overwhelm the 300 beetles. However it is enough, as that delayed and distracted those ranged attacks, and gives Trevor and me some breathing room to regenerate some of the weaker [shield generators]. There are some variation in the enemy, siege machines operated by higher levels men, and some stronger mages, who accordingly deal more damage. Back to the old ranger, Falklay, I send more spiders after him, and he demonstrates his competence as a forest ranger, cutting through the spiders as if they were nothing. But he is increasingly exhausted, and he realises it, knows what the plan is. Every time he slows down, a root strike would appear somewhere, and I know I am gradually wearing him down. "Going somewhere so soon, old man?" Jura finally catches up again. "Tell me, those root strikes, from you?" "Ah. No." Jura attempts to slash his head off. He ducks. "That''s a shame." He somehow dodges and put some distance between himself and Jura, and throws some small knives. It hits the wooden barriers around Jura, and then explodes. "They''re not going to stop, are they?" It knocks Jura back a little. "I really hate explosive attacks. Keep getting them." He jumps and tries to close the gap with the old ranger, but the old man is still too fast. "And no, you''d be a fool to assume those root strikes will run out." He shoots a few arrows, but Jura gave me the opening I needed, two root strikes fly towards him as he tries to aim midair. He manages to react in time, but the root strikes breaks his shield buckler and armlets. "...oh dear." The old man flinches from the impact of the root strikes, and he smashes into a tree. Before he manages to recover from the impact, I quickly activate [constrict]. Vines emerge from tree he''s on and entangles his legs, and then injects a poison through his skin. "Oh no." He then realises he is done for, as the vines quickly wrap around his entire body. Jura lands right in front of him. "Well, looks like the bombardment stopped. I think they are busy now." "Kill me." The old man said, "As a soldier, this day will come eventually." "Oh? That''s not for me to decide." He stares at Jura. "You¡­ deny me this right?" "Oh come on. Your country burnt my village and you want to play honorable? Please, did you somehow think I am in charge?" "Then who is?" Jura thinks for a while. "I almost answered you there, but, that... is a secret." A root appears, with the strongest paralysis and sleep poisons I have, and stabs him right above his heart, through the damaged chainmail. With that, the poisons spread quickly, and he loses consciousness within a few seconds. - The mages and soldiers, after a long 2 hour battle, defeat the group of 300 beetles but with quite a few casualties. "General Akbar, Falklay lost consciousness." An adjutant reviews the magical artifact linked to Falklay''s arm. "What." The general is deep in thought. "Should we resume bombing?" Another of the general''s assistants ask. "My gut feels tell me it is no point. You saw those shields, they take just a little damage from regular attacks and ordinary fireballs. We''ll just wear ourselves down doing the same thing. Get the mages to group together for a [grand fireball], and fling some oil barrels into the forest." Well, that''s no good. So before that happens, I activate my attack. Multiple tunnels appear throughout their camp. It''s a function of my [root tunnel] ability, and from them, thousands of beetles stream out, horns blazing, charging into the soldiers. From above, they appear like a horde of ants that just got triggered, and a black tide sweeps out of those holes. Then, [root field], [poison field] and then [root surge]. The field of roots slow down the soldiers, the field of poison weakens them, and the sudden surge of a wide area skewering of sharp roots from beneath the ground kills hundreds of unprepared regular soldiers, while harming some of the elites. "General, we are under attack! By a massive beetle force!" "How many?" "Maybe three thousand? It''s throughout our position and I have not gotten a good count, even our lookouts are under attack and they''ve not responded-" Before he finished the sentence a root strike emerges from underneath the camp the pierces the man through the chest, splashing some of his blood onto the general''s face. The general is armored with enchanted gear and probably has numerous abilities to protect himself, so I decide to first pick off the rest of his men. It''s probably too much effort to kill the general now. He draws his sword and lifts it up, and it glows with lightning. And he then pierces the ground with it, and I feel some electrical zaps. It stings a little, maybe like a small numbness. But no matter, I have plenty more to go. Another adjutant runs over, "General, the siege machines are under heavy attack from the roots emerging from the ground, and almost all of them has been destroyed." Together with Trevor and Dimitree, we unleash multiple root strikes on various positions of the enemy army, picking on the mid-tier ''elite'' forces, who are stronger than regular soldiers, but has limited defensive abilities against multiple root strikes. "Retreat and stay away from trees!" The general shouts, with some kind of skill, carries his message to his entire army. "General, our elites are falling-" Another root strikes pierce this assistant''s legs, but fail to deliver a lethal blow. "I know, the enemy''s targeting those stronger than the beetles. This is a trap, and the longer we stay the more we are going to lose." He shouts, and activates some kind of skill. The skill spreads out to the entire army, all the soldiers, those lightly wounded and even the heavily wounded, experience a sudden rejuvenation in their energy, their bleeding stopped temporarily although the wound remains, and their steps turn into large, quick strides, unhindered by the [rooting field] or the [poison field]. They retreat. Our kills, mine, and those of the beetles combined, is probably about 3 to 4 thousand, though many, many more are injured. The beetles got most of the kills, and also suffered the most casualties, as I focused on the mid tier forces, and I think I got about 400 or so kills. Frankly if the battle went on, it''ll probably result in heavy casualties on both sides. The beetles are less effective than I expected, and that''s due to the general''s passive buffs for his entire army. They flee for as long as the general''s ability lasted, and that brought them quite far from New Freeka. And for now, the battle is over. I think the general will return with more firepower, but that is a worry for another day. [2 levels gained! You are now level 132!] [You gained a new skill : Serpentine Rootstrike] [Poison field and rooting field upgraded] [Shield generators upgraded] Oh. Best part of any battle. Spaizzer Layers description additional notes soul core the true immortal entity that gets reincarnated and lives life. artificial souls do not have this core core shell inner soul memories and very few skills are stored here, and depending on the condition of the soul, this means some ppl get reincarnated with them. most inner souls do not survive the reincarnation process, so in the case of heroes, special protective measures by the gods are necessary soul contracts are at this level. memories of spells and rituals are here. inner soul & outer soul barrier. reprsented by the soul "shell" outer soul where experience, levels gained are stored. produces life force and mana. Some rare skills are stored here. Titles are stored here as well. Also contains a blueprint of the soul spring demonic soul contracts exist at this level. heavenly blessings also exist here. level caps also eexost at this level due to restrictions in the size of the outer soul of artifical souls soul-inner body barrier. Represented by the "soul spring" takes life force and mana, and releases it into the inner body. may have certain filters or amplifiers which alter lifeforce and mana released into the inner body. Most learned abilities exist here, as something (either a brick, a runic alphabet etc etc) on the soul spring. destroying the soulspring is like sealing one''s abilities, as it means the body''s production of mana and life force slows to a trickle, and the skills learned are "disabled". inner body (mental and spiritual realm) a personal ''space''. this is the "mana pool" and the "life force" pool. its usually a mix of both, and the size of this grows together with levels, amd also the experienced gain. Some passives, curses, abilities exist in this space. gods may create special "wellsprings" that grant extra mana. certain personal tragedies and burdens, nightmares will also manifest here. familiars, summons, eidolons make a connection at this level to borrow, or share the mana and lifeforce with the host inner body and physical body barrier, represented by the "shore" absorption challenges manifest on the shore. it may suggest why certain organs are more adept than others, as it takes in more lifeforce naturally Certain skills, such as disabling abilities exist in this level. Such as disable-hands, or "chakra sealing" abilities here. Mana drain from enemies creates leaks at this level. physical body, represented by the land which borders the shore. the part which actually interacts with the outside world. experience, foods and what the person experiences in life is then absorbed here, and it is then carried by the inner body to then be absorbed by the outer soul physical damage taken here skin (physical body - external) external environment Extending vines Year 77 Month 8 Few days after the battle First things first, loot. Since the beetles did most of the fighting, New Freeka had no right to any of the loot and remains, so, the beetles collected all of the remaining armor, weapons and stuff, which is stored in my [tree-asury]. I¡¯ll trade them for something someday, though, there seem to be some magical items in there¡­ Next, is my prisoner. Frankly, I didn¡¯t think he¡¯s going to talk, and actually, I personally didn¡¯t really feel like interrogating him, which I feel is a waste of time. After all, Salah is an enemy and we¡¯re playing defense. The things he can tell me, my prediction is, will be quite worthless. So, I didn''t waste time interrogating Falklay, as my interest in him was more¡­ academic in nature. After stripping him of his remaining magical items and storing them in my [tree-asury], I turn to my main objective. Drugged with all kinds of paralysis and sleep, I put him inside a biolab where I can investigate him, and eventually, I will suck him dry with my vines and feelers. I liked to see how a high level person looked under the hood, just to compare. I have seen the heroes, Jura, Yvon, and now I have this ranger, and I wasted no time, to have a look under the hood. And there are some notable differences, mainly in where the mana and life force is strongest. The eyes, nose and ears are more pronounced than others, probably due to his need to be sensitive to his surroundings, and his soul spring, with all the stones around it, combined to create a nice fountain. Taking a good look at the fountain, there''s a kind of wooden frame around the fountain, in between the stones, and as I reach out to touch the stones, little tooltips come up, telling me what skills he has. And I try to yank the wood and stones that has this. I mean, its just something I always wanted to try, but did not do with people whom I consider my allies. I had always wondered what could happen if I took one of those rocks out. So I yank it. And it doesn''t move. Ah well. I keep trying, but instead it just hurts the ranger. It seems its magically "tied" and "intertwined" with the soul, via some kind of force. So I stop, and rest of a while. Maybe I just need more power. And after drawing a bit more mana and energy from the trees around me, I try to yank a rock on the fountain, again. It shakes, and I could tell that sense a huge amount of pain, but he remains unconscious and strapped in. Thank goodness of paralysis. The rock shakes, but then something pulls it back again. It¡¯s as if I¡¯m trying to pull a piece of metal away from a very powerful magnet. I could, a bit, but then the magnet pulls it back once my strength lets up. Uh¡­. Not working. Borrowing the root-brains for some processing power, I calculate that the amount of energy I need to break that ¡®magnetic¡¯ pull of the soul spring seems really really really high, so I decide it¡¯s probably not going to work no matter how many times I try. Maybe this is like the atomic bond of souls, that¡¯s why I need shit amount of energy to break it. ¡°It¡¯s only if you¡¯re trying to break things. Fixing things is a lot easier, since those same forces work with you.¡± The wisp, whispering his wisdom. Thanks dude. Well, I let the ranger sleep a day inside the biolab, and then I resume testing the next day. There¡¯s been quite a few other things I wanted to test, and it so happens I have a high level person who¡¯s body is suitable for it. Once again I enter the person¡¯s inner realm, and this time, I flooded the body with my mana. It¡¯s been something I¡¯m curious about since I did it with the hellhounds, and then with Alexis¡¯s body when she¡¯s contained within me. What if I did it with a living ¡®normal¡¯ person, what happens then? His body vibrates intensely, struggling in the biolab, as my mana, like a green tide, washes into the inner realm. [Specimen¡¯s compatibility with injected mana is low. Specimen body is resisting. Prolonged exposure may result in mana poisoning] Ah. Did this happen before? Anyway, I keep it up, I still want to see what happens. The body flails inside the pod, kinda like a fish struggling to escape from an octopus. [Specimen body is experiencing mana poisoning] Okay, let¡¯s see what happens when I heal him. [Mana poisoning reduces magic and ability effectiveness] Really? I try injecting his body with the healing liquids from my [healing fruit], and also the [paralysis poison]. A conundrum, I suppose, but the healing just repairs damage, but does not cure the status ailment. [Mana poison is still in effect. Specimen body¡¯s organs are starting to suffer damage]. Heal? But I notice the healing is slower. Two full days passed, as I constantly drown the ranger¡¯s body with my mana. He¡¯s not dead yet, because one of the vines continue to supply his body with nutrients and air to stay alive, so I can continue to observe what¡¯s happening. I¡¯m actually curious, does the body actually gain compatibility over time? Or does the body continue to naturally reject my mana? [Specimen body¡¯s organs are failing.] Ah. Heal? [Healing effectiveness is significantly reduced due to high levels of mana poisoning in the physical body. Specimen¡¯s body is dying.] Oh. I couldn¡¯t stop it. The decay in the body is surprisingly quick, as the mana poisoning somehow makes to body turn on itself. It¡¯s as if the body is rejecting itself, and strangely, I kept watching. A part of me was like, this is a rare opportunity to witness death under a microscope, and some. And where I paid attention to most¡­ was the soul spring. I see the land surrounding the river and lake that forms the person¡¯s mana start to break apart, as if a great earthquake is shattering them into small pieces, then the ¡®water¡¯ in that river and lake start to leak out into the nothingness, and it reveals a crumbling ¡®riverbed¡¯ of some kind, filled with unusual marks. I couldn¡¯t see much, as the crumbling went on rather quickly. I wonder is it because he is dying too quickly. But I didn¡¯t wonder long, because i had to focus. I want to see what happens to the soul spring then. As the crumbling ¡®riverbed¡¯ closes in on the soul spring, the spring starts to dry up, the height of the spring falling and eventually, stopped. Then, the rocks and the structure surrounding the soul spring start to break up too. This is something I waited for, so I reached out to it, and tried to grab hold of the rocks. As I touch them, they¡­ vanish, and poof-ed into dust. All of the rocks did. And all that¡¯s left is a bare, empty hole floating in the nothingness, as all the land and ¡®riverbed¡¯ has crumbled away, the background changed into that of a bare¡­ emptiness. In a way, it¡¯s like a black hole sitting solitary in space. Perhaps at that empty whole, there was once a star, a ¡®soul¡¯ here once. ¡°The soul has gone.¡± The wisp whispers to my imaginary ears again. ¡°I see.¡± [You¡¯ve managed to salvage some of the decaying skills! Due to the decay of death, the salvaged skills are of a lower quality than the original skills possessed] [You¡¯ve received the following, which can be used to create [seed-infused skill fruits]!] [class seed - ranger] x 3 [class seed - beast tamer] x 2 [skill seed - archery] x 2 [passive seed - spark of brilliance] x 1 Oh man. All these skill fruits are useless to me. But I guess I¡¯ll find use for them somewhere. Maybe Lausanne. [You¡¯ve witnessed death as it happens in the inner realm] [Familiar contracts upgraded - skill salvaging chance increase!] [Biolab upgraded - post-mortem equipments, death sensors, death-delaying equipment and body preservation added!] Hey. That¡¯s something good. Finally. The physical body of the ranger stops flailing, like a puppet with their strings cut off. Lifeless, the body is pale, greenish from the damage of the mana poisoning over the past few days of experimentation. I later arranged for the corpse to be burnt. Meanwhile, the victory over the Salah army had made a lot of New Freekan devotees. A few days after the victory, they held some kind of feast in the courtyard of the [tree of prayer], where the leaders of the New Freeka thanked their lucky stars and the protection of the valley¡¯s spirit for their victory. It has free food, drinks, dances and performance, some kind of prayer and worship led by the treefolk, things like that. I mean, well, I feel somewhat flattered, that the citizens think that way, but the words of the leaders do feel quite hollow. Despite all the praise of their guardian and the so called will of the valley, they somehow manage to worm in a word or two on their supposed contributions. Perhaps its a thing with politicians, even in this world. Year 77 Month 9 "Tree Spirit." Yvon speaks, it is rare for her to come alone to the main tree''s courtyard, but the fact that she did, means, probably there are changes in the way things are organised in the New Freeka council. She presents jewels, and other items I had previously requested, stored in some kind of a magical bag. "As you requested." "What is it, that you want?" Jura sneers. "For Lady Yvon herself to deliver the jewels, surely there is more to just¡­ delivery." "The freeloader!" Horns shout in my mind. Only to me, of course. Even I know that. She sighs, and nods. "It is as you say, Jura. After the victory over the Salah force, we have been receiving letters, messages, and¡­ envoys." She then shows a few of such letters, and passes them to Jura. "Some of the smaller nations nearby are greatly¡­ impressed, by our successful defense. And would like to form some ties." "Freeloader!!! And now they take credit for the beetle''s sacrifice!!!" Horns shout. He''s not too happy that beetles were the one who suffered the most casualties, as it will take a month or two to regenerate their numbers. Jura somehow seems to be synchronised with Horns, and he sneers, "Such opportunistic behavior. Only after such a grand display of power that you get offers." Yvon nods, "That''s how anyone would see it, but look from their perspective. They wouldn''t dare anger a country the size of Salah, so naturally, they would avoid any association with us. But that changes when that 50,000 army retreated. Now, we are like a new power in the region, a force able to stand up to Salah, and so, these smaller nations now view us more positively." "Us? Us? They had no casualties in combat? Put your men in combat, then you can say us!" Horns is rather grumpy I think. He''s not too fond of the New Freekans, mainly because he feels some of the dead beetles did not have to die if New Freeka lent some help. I mean, I personally think the beetles are just a self-replenishing mob, but Horns clearly cares for his hive. Jura sneers again, also somehow synchronised. "I don''t appreciate the ''we'' and ''us'' being thrown around. New Freeka did absolutely nothing. We only assisted once we found out they were first targeting the valley." Well, Jura''s hiding some details about our own chequered history with Salah there, but hey, he''s the guy with the [diplomat] job. Yvon gives out a long sigh. "...indeed. And that is why I''m here. We are in an awkward position, as New Freeka is clearly relying on TreeTree''s ability for defenses to hold Salah off, and yet to the outside world, our neighbouring nations and Salah don''t know that. They are under the impression that New Freeka is the one controlling all the¡­ forces." "Master. They are freeloaders!" Horns, I think you need to stop shouting. I get it. "Then clarify. Tell them New Freeka did nothing, and it is the valley''s protector who did." Jura retorts. "You do not want to overstate your military prowess and face the consequences later." Yvon sighs, "I wish it was so simple. But the people of New Freeka too, wants to believe that the tree spirit is on our side." "Yvon, you, of all people, should know that TreeTree cares very little of New Freeka. It''s a transactional arrangement, one out of favor. It is about time you let the people of New Freeka know as well." "I.. I can''t. I can''t snuff out their hopes like that. The tree spirit, is their newfound pride, their source of stability in this world. If I tell them that, I¡­ I am afraid a riot may break out." "Then crush it." "Permission to let them run riot. Then we may have beetles running riot too!" Horns interjects in my mind. "Even the councillors want to believe it, and they want to believe that TreeTree will protect them. It seems it is my mistake, for being vague and unclear about the real relationship of New Freeka and TreeTree." "So?" "I¡­ erm¡­ can TreeTree officially be our guardian and protector?" "Shameless!" Horns commentates "Freeloaders and these beggars want to demand our masters protection?!" Oh shush now. I''ll think about it. "What do I get in exchange?" I spoke into both their minds, and Yvon pauses. "Uh¡­ our loyalty?" "Rejected. I care not for that, and you have no way of ensuring loyalty. I demand servitude. I have need of minions to carry out my demands." "Uh¡­" "Make Jura and the elves royalty of New Freeka. Jura and Laufen will be my two spokespersons, they will play the role of as the new joint rulers of New Freeka, and the rest of you as advisors. From henceforth, the one who rules will be Jura and Laufen. All citizens of New Freeka is so acknowledge their position as your new joint monarchs. They will be the voice of my will, my elven avatars." Jura seems surprised by that, "TreeTree, that¡­" I think he didn''t expect that, but seriously, I have been wanting to give Jura direct ruling powers for some time. The arguments and issues we had with New Freeka over the past few years, especially the last few months really solidified that view, that Jura deserves a seat at the council, such that my demands are heard and known, my needs are respected and complied by these people. Unlike the treefolk, who seem perfectly content living in their small villages, or the centaurs who are similarly happy to have their hillside slopes, these New Freekans have been creating the most problems. Yvon herself too seems shocked, and her mouth just gasps, a little too dumbfounded to respond, and she takes a few deep breaths will just staring at Jura and my main tree before she finally manages to respond. "Ah¡­ we¡­ we are founded to be a council, a collective rulership, such that everyone has a say. To¡­ to return to a monarchy would be against¡­ against our founding principles. It¡­ the council and the people will not accept it." "Then be gone. New Freeka stands alone." I respond, not like I really needed them. Its really more of a mutual coexistence since they have the ability to partake in trade to acquire materials that are not available locally. "Ah. Please wait, Tree Spirit. Let me have some time to discuss this with the wider council. Such a crucial decision, I alone cannot make this decision. I will summon a meeting immediately." Jura too seems to be taken aback, "...ah, TreeTree we may need to discuss this." "Later." And then I turn to Yvon. "Go, gather your council." Ah¡­ and so Yvon runs back, leaving the jewels behind. "Horns, we got the jewels already, lets break your first level cap." "TreeTree, wait. About that proposal earlier, to make us king, are¡­ are you serious?" "Yes." Well, not really, but if New Freeka agrees to it, I don¡¯t mind at all. "Please reconsider." Jura shakes his head. ¡°It is a position I¡¯m not willing to bear, a weight I cannot carry.¡± "I must have my position heard and respected on New Freeka. Let¡¯s see what they are willing to give.¡± Jura gulps. ¡°Surely there is room to compromise with them, something that does not involve usurping the entire ruling council? Even I think that sounds a bit too much, although they¡¯ve been absolutely deadweights in the past two battles with Salah.¡± ¡°Well, I am willing to compromise, but let¡¯s see how sincere they are in their counter-proposal.¡± - Meanwhile, Yvon quickly gathers her council for an urgent meeting. ¡°The Tree Spirit wants to make Jura and Laufen monarchs? Kings?¡± Yvon gulps and nods. ¡°No absolute monarchs and kings!¡± Quite unanimous, the decision from the councillors, none of them want to have a king over their head, and New Freeka models itself after the elvish republics. ¡°Then we lose our protection. We¡¯re all on the walls when the battle happened. You¡¯ve seen the fury and damage the Tree Spirit can bring.¡± ¡°I still can¡¯t help but think this sounds a lot like a criminal gang¡¯s extortion.¡± One of them says. ¡°The tree spirit has no reason to help us, so quash that thought.¡± Yvon glares at the rest of them. ¡°But at the same time, I too, disagree with having a king over our new nation. It is not something our people wanted, and I believe most of them are happy with the way things are.¡± New Freeka organises itself into multiple districts, and each district elects 3 councilmen to the high council. So, in a way, there is a fair bit of representation by the people, which does help in making the locals feel somewhat connected to their rulers. It¡¯s a partly-democratic structure, though the title of councilmen does often seem to pass from father to son, due to the family¡¯s influence, even in such a young state. ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°So, what are we willing to give?¡± Yvon. ¡°Give?¡± ¡°Look, if we are to negotiate this with the Tree spirit, we better be prepared to offer some meaningful concessions, or give some rights away. Without the Tree Spirit¡¯s protection, New Freeka¡¯s chances of survival is rather slim. The Tree Spirit¡¯s annoyance at us was very clear in that previous meeting, I frankly do not want to have that annoyance turn into outright hostility. I hope everyone now understands why this meeting is so urgent.¡± All the councillors glance uncomfortably at each other. ¡°Unfortunately, I agree with Lady Yvon¡¯s assessment, and so¡­¡± ¡°King is totally out of the picture, the people like the leaders the way it is now. Even if the tree spirit turns against us, I think none of our people will agree to having a king.¡± ¡°If we tell them this is to secure the Tree Spirit¡¯s protection¡­¡± ¡°No. I know our chances are slim without the Tree Spirit, but we are a sovereign nation. If we agree to have someone else rule over our heads, that¡¯s against what we have fought for all this while.¡± ¡°Oh cut the political bullshit. We didn¡¯t fight a bit.¡± One councillor says. ¡°All the fighting so far has been done by the Tree Spirit¡¯s minions.¡± ¡°I meant the fighting figuratively, as in.. our struggle so far. Anyway, are you on our side or the Tree Spirit¡¯s side? You really want a king to rule over us?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. We must know what exactly we are dealing with here, and to do so, we must recognise we are very vulnerable.¡± The other councillor rebukes. It¡¯s a messy argument, with a lot of side conversations. "So, so, can we have some consensus? I believe it''s clear we will refuse having a king. But are we willing to give Jura and Laufen a seat, and accordingly, authority?" Yvon tries to steer the conversation back to the topic. These councilmen tend to go off tangent sometimes. There is an awkward look among everyone, as they shrug. It took one of the more daring councillors to finally say, "Yes.", then all the others started agreeing. "Fine, now that we agree to give them a seat, what will be their authority? Remember, it must be something concrete, with actual powers, else the Tree Spirit will not agree." "Then what are we willing to give?" "Administrator of the valley? Forest master?" "The tree spirit won''t accept that. It''s no fool. It¡¯s already master of the valley, and does not need us to grant it that sort of authority. It must come from something only we can give. Our men. Our money. Ability to directly intervene in our affairs. " "Fine, lets go about giving Jura and Laufen combined voting rights over the military, diplomatic affairs, they also get a share of our tax collection as ''tribute'', and smaller voting rights on domestic, trade, and policing." The councillors went about debating the finer points of the proposed rights and powers of Jura and Laufen, as politicians are often inclined to do. "Okay, so¡­ those are their rights and powers, but how do we give it to them without making the rest of the population feel that this is something arbitrary and without basis? As it is, some districts are already uneasy over their representation, and are demanding for more councilmen." One of the rare centaur councillors then speak up. "I believe, the treefolk worship the Tree Spirit, do they not?" The councillors, turn, mostly out of surprise. "If so, we can follow how some elven kingdoms have special positions for the senior members of the church." "Are you suggesting elevating the tree spirit to a god?" "In principle, yes. From the powers we have seen, he is might as well be a local deity. So, a spokesperson of a local deity surely can be given a formal position in the ruling council, with special rights reflecting the local deity''s influence in the area." "...ah" "There is precedent. The Dwarven Nation of Prummash far north gives the Great Forge Serpent''s chosen a special position in their advisors council." "What matters is then how we convey this decision to the people¡­" "If the tree spirit accepts it." "If it doesn''t?" "...we''ll have to figure it out." And with that, Yvon''s meeting is over, and Yvon returns to meet us, this time with 6 other councillors. "So, have you agreed?" My voice speaks into their mind. The 7 exchange glances before Yvon takes a gulp, and she steps forth. "Tree Spirit, we¡­ we are truly humbled that you''ve assisted us during the defense of New Freeka, and our words cannot describe the gratitude we have for sparing us from the bloodshed of battle." "Ah the freeloader has finally learnt gratitude, eh?" Horns seem to be happy. "Spare me the flowery words. I take you''ve decided not to accept my proposal." I¡¯ve been in enough meetings to know that what starts flowery often ends in a refusal. They pause. I wonder how I sound in their minds sometime. "Ah¡­ we¡­ we have a counterproposal. Something that would be more aligned to our own founding ideals. We would propose to create a special religious role for both Jura and Laufen, whereby the Tree Spirit is elevated to that of a local deity." Jura pauses, he seems to be thinking. "In this way, Jura and Laufen gains a position as the Voice of the Tree Spirit, which will have similar rights and authority to that of a religious leader. As the Voice, they will have significant authority, in areas of the military, diplomacy, and external trade. We also commit that our military will be split into a few divisions, with one third of it will be under the command and rule of the Voice, and to enforce the demands of the Tree Spirit, within the framework of authority that the Voice has." Ah, hmmm, a third of New Freeka¡¯s forces. ¡°They will be given a special name of your choosing, such to differentiate them for the regular military.¡± There¡¯s a silence, perhaps for a few seconds, before Yvon continues. ¡°And¡­ we will formally now set up a new institution under the Voice, and we will contribute a sizeable portion of our tax collection to this institution, which will also fund the force.¡± Oh, and tax revenues too. ¡°A third. Of all tax revenues and collections.¡± I speak into their minds, and they freeze. The 7 councillors exchange glances, and then they nod. ¡°Yes. A third.¡± ¡°Anything else?¡± At this point, New Freeka is willing to offer a third of their military, and their tax money to me, so, I¡¯m actually quite satisfied with the offer. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Yvon shakes her head. ¡°That¡¯s all we could give?¡± Well, in terms of land, I do control the valley, and that¡¯s been my right since day one. New Freeka only controls the un-forested areas further south, the large farmlands, and the town itself. ¡°Never mind.¡± An awkward silence. Perhaps they are waiting. Even Jura, he looks a bit worried. ¡°I agree to it it, in exchange for my participation in New Freeka¡¯s defense.¡± My thoughts behind this is fairly simple, I do intend to somehow rule over New Freeka eventually, but at the same time, I do realise that putting Jura, as King over New Freeka is extremely sudden, and most likely, the New Freekans themselves, the 50,000 o non-humans are going to resist it, and I would have a rebellion on hand. Not that crushing it won¡¯t be an issue, but that would delay my ability to gain the necessary resources to further upgrade the rest of my artificial souls and research. So this sort of transitory arrangement helps, and I think it will give Jura and Laufen the necessary experience needed, let them learn about managing a town, before ultimately usurping the entire New Freeka. It¡¯ll be easier to boil the frogs of New Freeka gradually, so let them get used to having Jura as a member of their ruling class, before, one day, taking over them entirely. Ruling the New Freekans by proxy isn¡¯t a bad idea anyway, at least the nitty gritty of people-management is left to the appointed proxy, and the world would look at the town, not at me directly. And really, the tax revenue will help. I can buy more jewels. And weird artifacts. I¡¯m really eager to test out that ability I gotten when I evolved to a [starsoul tree]. - A few days later Beetle - basic magical lances - completeEye-Tree Stage I research option unlocked - 18 months remainingEnhanced exoskeletons -completeEnhanced interior structures - 1 months remainingLarge beetle pods - 3 months remainingBeetle - anti-magma armors stage 2 - 9 months remainingFruit bombs - increased range and power - 3 months remainingTree - volcanic adaptation stage 3 - 18 months remaining I¡¯ll need to start working on the volcano again. The enhanced exoskeletons grants the beetles stronger, faster bodies, but at the expense of consuming some of my harvested metals and some essences, and also longer regeneration time if they die, while the beetle magical lances, even though I completed the research, is not immediately usable as I need to obtain some kind of mines, before they can be infused into the beetles themselves. Ah. So I do need a mine, preferably with one that will supply me with non-ordinary resources, such that I can further upgrade the beetles. There is a natural limit on how I can keep upgrading them with ordinary items, without giving them the ability to level via an artificial soul. Also, at the rate of my mineral harvesting from the earth, I have sufficient metals to support only 4,000 beetles with the enhanced exoskeleton. So let¡¯s recap. ¡°Guys, what are our priorities?¡± I call on my artificial souls for a meeting. ¡°Take over the volcano! Kill all the golems!¡± Horns say. He¡¯s just had his upgrade as a [Baron Beetle], increasing his level cap to 30. The upgrade grants the beetles around him extra strength, armor and speed. Still, it¡¯s not sufficient to take on the golems. They are just far too large and tough. ¡°And?¡± ¡°Locate additional minerals, resources and leylines.¡± Trevor¡¯s turn. ¡°We¡¯re actively sending some beetles to scout on the faraway locations.¡± ¡°Upgrade? Spiders, fruits, healing. All require upgrades.¡± Thanks for the reminder, Dimitree. We do need anti-air. That reminds me, where the hell did I leave that airship from Salah? ¡°Were you not working on it the last time then you broke it apart and then dumped it into your treasury? I think you got stuck when the biolab couldn¡¯t look into the materials or decipher the runes.¡± That¡¯s Trevor, digging through my memories faster than I can remember it myself. ¡°Really?¡± Was it that long ago?¡± I try to dig through my own mind¡­ Oh god, it¡¯s already 3 years ago. I think I¡¯m also getting more forgetful. ¡°Trevor, can you do me a favor and help me track all my outstanding tasks.¡± ¡°Certainly. I¡¯ll create a task manager in your interface.¡± ¡°And a calendar.¡± ¡°...will do so.¡± ¡°Then mark when the date of the 10 year anniversary from the demon king¡¯s death. I want a countdown timer in my interface. I fear I may forget, as I move onto all these lesser missions.¡± Spaizzer Oh I got more patreons! Thanks so much! To celebrate, this chapter is early (it''s not a week yet ), and I''m working on a few side stories, and will be posting them real soon! Side stories 1 – Alexis and Meela Side stories - Alexis and Meela Sometime around Year 77, Month 9. ¡°Looking at the skies again?¡± Meela¡¯s soul pops up in Alexis¡¯s mind. It seems there¡¯s a kind of shared network that exists for all the souls and artificial souls under TreeTree¡¯s care. Perhaps it¡¯s the [rootnet]¡¯s ability. ¡°I always do.¡± Alexis sits on the branch of her biolab, from the outside it looks like a very large tree, but inside it¡¯s filled with all sorts of unusual equipments. ¡°I really like the sky. It¡¯s orangey today.¡± ¡°I can somewhat imagine it. Isn¡¯t it nice, not having to run here and there, fighting all the time, just to gain levels?¡± ¡°...it¡¯s not a bad change in pace.¡± But her face is a bit sulky. ¡°But it¡¯s not enough for you, isn¡¯t it?¡± Alexis looks up, there¡¯s a small orange cloud floating overhead. ¡°...yeah.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Alexis shakes her spiritual legs. For those not attuned to magic, she¡¯ll appear as a wisp, a faint blob of blue light on top of a branch, for those with the right affinity to spiritual magic, she appears as a young girl, but ethereal, that is bonded and lives in that ¡®biolab¡¯. She is, in a way, the biolab, and this ¡®ethereal body¡¯ is just a ¡®form¡¯, a ¡®projection¡¯ from that biolab. ¡°I always thought we¡¯d survive. Like heroes in all those stories. A happy ending for all of us.¡± ¡°Eh? You¡¯re the one doing the most research and saying we¡¯d all most likely die. The rest of us were just winging it.¡± ¡°I mean, I had the data staring at me, telling me otherwise, but a part of me still, truly, believed in that fantasy, that all things will end well.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just like all of us after all.¡± Perhaps there¡¯s a smile somewhere in there. ¡°...yeah.¡± Alexis looks up again, the sun is gradually setting, and there¡¯s just a few clouds. One of the moons is already visible, it¡¯s glow is faint, but as the sky darkens, it¡¯ll get clearer, and clearer. ¡°I¡­ I thought of what I¡¯d do after the war. After the demon king.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°I¡¯d go on a holiday. A world tour, properly, this time. Not our rushed city-to-city killing big monsters kind of tour. Take the time to hike the highest mountains, and see the uncharted lands, explore the world¡­¡± ¡°That sounds like being an adventurer.¡± Alexis pauses, and blushes. ¡°Ah.. yeah. I guess it does. But here I am, stuck here serving the tree spirit as a research assistant.¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s what all of us end up doing, if we¡¯re still at home. Working in dead end jobs.¡± They both laugh. ¡°Well, that¡¯s a good point. This is a dead end job, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°One that you have to work for 1,000 years.¡± ¡°Man, that¡¯s depressing to think about. And look at me, I¡¯m this¡­ tree.¡± ¡°You should ask for a holiday. Ask for normal employment terms, leave days and sick leave.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ I highly doubt soul contracts has allowances for leave days and sick leaves.¡± Alexis laughs. ¡°Eh, I think everything can be negotiated. Perhaps some kind of arrangement can be made. Look at Yvon, she¡¯s still out and about even though there¡¯s a soul contract in her.¡± ¡°That¡¯s cause she¡¯s not dead yet!¡± ¡°Ahhhh¡­¡± Meela¡¯s probably making an embarrassed face. She doesn¡¯t comprehend soul magic all that well. ¡°Anyway. I¡¯m stuck here. And TreeTree doesn¡¯t trust me.¡± ¡°Of course he doesn¡¯t. You tried to take over his body. Now that I think of it, he¡¯s being generous to give you this ¡®dead-end¡¯ job you¡¯re complaining about.¡± ¡°It¡¯s my survival instincts!¡± ¡°Yeah yeah.¡± An awkward silence. ¡°We probably should talk about something less¡­ touchy.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°What were you thinking of doing after the war, Meela?¡± ¡°Me? I didn¡¯t think about much, but I thought I¡¯d be a princess. Have high-tea in some fancy palace, eat dessert, walk in pretty gardens and stuff.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean you have to marry some prince?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ I suppose so. I¡¯ll have first choice, won¡¯t I? I¡¯m a hero after all.¡± ¡°And doesn¡¯t that mean you have to.. You know¡­ sleep with them?¡± Meela pauses, ¡°I didn¡¯t think of that. I¡¯d pick a handsome one with no body odor then. But yeah, I¡¯d like to be a princess. This is another world, and being a princess like those fairytales would be something I¡¯d like to do.¡± ¡°But it¡¯ll be you that¡¯s rescuing the prince, because you¡¯re the hero, and he¡¯s not. He¡¯ll be the dude in distress!¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ nothing, but it¡¯s strange I guess.¡± ¡°You¡¯re kooky, Alexis.¡± ¡°Uh. You too, Meela.¡± ¡°You know, I still really like one of the princess¡¯s gowns. It¡¯s so pretty. Remember Princess Alainas of the Faroah isles? I really liked her sea-shell dress during the reception they threw for us. It really captured the essence of a mermaid.¡± ¡°All I remember is her trying to hit on Max so hard. She was really trying to give herself to him.¡± ¡°Oh I remember that. What, were you jealous? Wait. You liked Max?¡± ¡°No I didn¡¯t! But I just remembered how ridiculous the princess was.¡± Alexis shakes her head. ¡°All the touching, and flirting¡­ it¡¯s just so horrifying to watch. It¡¯s like a train crash in slow motion happening.¡± ¡°But she¡¯s really pretty. And if Max doesn¡¯t have [immunity to charms], he¡¯d fall for her.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think its the charms though.¡± Alexis shrugs. ¡°Notice how none of us ever eyed any of the good looking men or women we meet throughout our journey? I think it¡¯s the effect of the [hero] title. Until our quest is done, we won¡¯t be sidetracked by such stuff.¡± ¡°Oh man.¡± Meela sighs. ¡°Did that mean I missed all the good men that could have been in my life too?¡± ¡°Maybe. You could¡¯ve been a princess, if you¡¯re not a hero.¡± ¡°Oh well.¡± "It''s not fair¡­" Alexis sulks "Huh?" "We spent years fighting demons, hunting them throughout the world and we killed the demon king. And what did we get? No special reincarnation from the gods. No post-battle reward, to thank us for our sacrifice, those years of constant gruesome fighting. Isn''t the gods just using child soldiers in a way?" "Uh. I never thought it like that. I thought it a privilege, a responsibility for those with our gifts. And we are no longer the teens we once were." "Just a few years, Meela." "..." ¡°But we have a second chance here. We¡¯re still in this world. We can still reap the rewards of our sacrifice.¡± Meela¡¯s spirit bobs. ¡°I don¡¯t like the sound of that.¡± ¡°No. No no no. I mean¡­ I don¡¯t have to be trapped in this dead end job forever.¡± ¡°The soul contract¡¯s on you¡­¡± ¡°Maybe TreeTree can release me from it. Then we can travel the world.¡± ¡°Uh¡­we can travel the world if we wait 1,000 years. We could just go and sleep in the [soul realm], and wake up 1,000 years later.¡± ¡°You can do that, I can¡¯t. So these 1,000 years will be a lot longer for me. If I have to keep doing research for the next 1,000 years I might go mad." "Well, talk to TreeTree? A bit of honesty, and maybe you can achieve something big for him. Then he can free you from your contract." "Huh. I certainly don¡¯t plan to serve-¡± Alexis winces in pain, its an intense one and sends Alexis into a kind of fidgeting shock. ¡°Oh dear. You triggered it.¡± The pain lasted for a good 10 minutes, Meela, a floating soul, could only watch as her friend is in intense pain. ¡°Ugh man that was a bad headache. What was I saying? Where was I? What were we talking about?¡± Alexis finally recovers from the pain, and seems to be having some kind of amnesia. Meela pauses, before deciding not to remind Alexis of the discussion. ¡°Oh nothing, we were just talking about dresses. Remember Lady Alice''s silver bling dress...¡± Spaizzer heres a short story since i got more patreons. yay Side stories 2 – Lausanne Side stories ¡°Relax, and be focused.¡± TreeTree whispers into my mind. A small wolf. That¡¯s my real opponent today, and I felt a bit intimidated by idea of fighting a small wolf, as my first non-sparring opponent. But it¡¯s a monster that appears all the time in the forest, so TreeTree says, it¡¯s probably the easiest one around. Still, not easy for me. Its still bigger than me! It growls, baring its fangs At the back of my mind, I know TreeTree¡¯s watching. So is Horns, the giant fighting beetle, and maybe Jura somewhere. So I try to relax, but, it¡¯s different. There¡¯s real ¡®anger¡¯ in the wolf, a real ''presence'' of true hostility. Perhaps it¡¯s hungry. It growls again, and it changes its¡¯ posture, and it looks at me with those angry eyes. I look at the spear in my right hand, and the dagger in my left. I practiced for this. I practiced a long time for this, and so, I believe I can do it. I have in engraved in my mind thanks to so many dreams of me just swinging the spear and the dagger. No, I must do it. A hero must do, what a hero musts. The wolf charges, our eyes meet. My grip on the spear tightens, and I wait for the moment. It feels instinctive, I¡¯m one with the spear, it¡¯s a small one, so I can¡¯t use a full sized spear yet, but it¡¯s enough. The wolf enters range. And it pounces. I duck and instantly activate my ability [Powerstrike], it feels natural, like the times I practiced with Horns and Jura. The spear¡¯s tip pierces through the wolf¡¯s hide, and it whimpers in pain. Our eyes meet, as the wolf tries to take a look at the stab wound, blood splattering out. And I see the pain in the wolf¡¯s eyes. This might be the moment it dies. And it whimpers, one of sorrow. Like a dog. A part of me wavered that instant, and my spear¡¯s direction shifted slightly. It¡¯s enough to change it from a fatal strike, into one that will only leave a deep cut. The wolf falls behind me, but because it¡¯s not fatal, it manages to get up, and then run away, leaving a trail of blood dripping onto the dirt floor as it flees. And yet, I didn¡¯t give chase. I froze. My mind somehow replays that real pain in the wolf¡¯s eyes. The whimpering voice, that almost dog like sound. ¡°You¡¯re okay?¡± TreeTree whispers. ¡°I¡­ I couldn¡¯t do it.¡± A part of me curses myself then. Is this how my dreams of being a hero ends? Am I not meant to be a hero? Heroes kill monsters! ¡°The first time you draw blood says a lot.¡± Jura walks over, still holding his bow and arrow, ready if the battle went bad. ¡°How do you feel?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m disappointed. I¡¯m angry. Why couldn¡¯t I do it?¡± I look at Jura, and he smiles. His big hands holds me on my shoulders, and gives me a shake. ¡°Why are you disappointed?¡± ¡°Because heroes are supposed to slay monsters! But¡­ I failed. Didn¡¯t you tell me that some heroes started fighting monsters when they were 6 or 7? Does that mean I can¡¯t be a hero?¡± Jura shakes me again. ¡°Are heroes mindless fighting golems?¡± ¡°No¡­¡± I mean, heroes are supposed to be like gods in the battlefield, no. The power of the heavens made flesh, the fury of a hurricane made into human form. ¡°So, why are you disappointed? Is it really the right thing to feel?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°The question is this, why did you have to kill the wolf?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s a monster?¡± ¡°Why do you have to kill monsters?¡± ¡°Because monsters hurt people?¡± ¡°Did it hurt you?¡± ¡°Well, not yet.¡± ¡°So why do you have to kill it?¡± ¡°Because it could hurt me?¡± ¡°Then you¡¯ll be killing everyone.¡± ¡°It¡¯s very likely to hurt me and shows aggression? If I didn¡¯t, I would be hurt.¡± ¡°Good point, but in this case, you¡¯ve wounded it and chased it away. Is that sufficient?¡± ¡°Uncle Jura, you''re giving me the moral answer again. I can sense it when you¡¯re lying and don''t believe what you say.¡± I¡¯m young, but I know it when I hear it. Uncle Jura will kill anyone that even scratches us, maybe only TreeTree can stop him. Jura shrugs, and rubs his head. ¡°Heh. Well¡­ it¡¯s actually comes with experience, young Lausanne. When you meet more people, and meet more monsters, you will be able to better judge who do you spare, and who do you kill.¡± ¡°So that was the morally correct answer?¡± I think the standard education that all elves, all ¡®parents¡¯ try to give, is to be morally just. But I live in a world of wars, even 8 year old children like myself know the morally correct is just words. I live, in a world where might makes right. Where heroes can order nations, because their powers give them that right. Where demons can crush nations overnight, because their might is stronger. Jura pauses, kneels next to me and rubs me on the head. ¡°Yes. I have to tell you what is morally correct to do. When you deviate from them, you must be able to answer to yourself, why did you deviate from what is morally correct. I may not truly believe in them, but that is because I know what is important to me." ¡°Well, a hero should do what is morally just.¡± Do they? Maybe there are other ways of thinking. Or I am trying to take the easy way out? I sometimes think being a hero is really hard. All these types of justice, fairness, how do they think about these kind of things in the heat of battle? -- A week later, I asked TreeTree to let me fight the forest monsters again. I thought long about it. I mean, it¡¯s hard to think about it. I¡¯m only 8, and I get headaches when I think for too long, and when I do, I feel like going to the playroom and just play with my wooden toys again. ¡°So, why do you want to fight again?¡± Jura asks. Maybe a part of him wishes I stop this hero dream of mine, I sometimes still hear Uncle Jura say that when he talks with mom. ¡°I don''t know. I just want to. Maybe I will get better." "That''s not a good reason." "I just want to." I insist. "Just because you want, does not mean you can get." Uncle Jura frowns, and gives me that look when I am being a bit¡­ difficult. "Okay. But I still want to fight monsters. I want to level up, gain experience." Jura sighs, and he probably knows I''ll run to the forest myself anyway, since TreeTree''s always there looking out for us. "Fine, be careful." So I found another small wolf to fight. There are lesser animals, like those giant rats or big squirrel like stuff that live in the forest, eating whatever fruits and leaves that grow here. This time, I want to beat it, but, maybe I don''t have to kill it. Do I still get experience that way? We spot each other, and the wolf sizes me up. I think thats what its doing when it eyes seem to roam. "Hello wolf. I''d like to fight you." The wolf growls. Well, I growl back. Naturally my growl isn''t really threatening. It enters into a combat stance, so do I, my spear and dagger ready. It charges, again, same movement like the earlier wolf. Somehow the animals have movesets that we can learn. I duck. [Powerstrike]. But this time, I aim somewhere in the side. It won''t kill it instantly, but it''ll do some harm. The wolf winces in pain, and my dagger on my left hand swings in, and lands a few cuts. It swipes, and its claws manage to scratch me. "Owwwwwww!" That really, really hurt. I''m bleeding, a gash right on my left arm, from my wrist up till my elbow, and its bleeding. Pain. I feel like my entire left hand stings. Mom won''t like that. I better get back and hope it doesn''t fester. The wolf is injured too, the cuts and the stab from the spear is causing it to bleed. I think it did to me. "Lausanne, are you alright?" TreeTree speaks into my head. "Fine, bleeding. Can you help me later?" "Okay." The wolf charges, trying to take advantage of the time I am still talking to TreeTree. But my instincts, born from years of dreams, and constant practice, manage to react in time, and so, I duck, and stab the wolf again in the abdomen with my short spear. It whimpers, as it falls onto the dirt floor. And it''s voice weakens. It¡¯s defenseless, the 2nd stab drained it¡¯s strength, and it could only limp. It still looks at me. This time, it¡¯s eyes a mix of anger, and fear. ¡°Should I kill it?¡± I wonder to myself. My left hand is bleeding, blood¡¯s dripping, and yet, my grip on the dagger remains. The wolf takes two steps back, limping. ¡°Should I? It hurt me.¡± What would a hero do? Depends on which hero, isn¡¯t it? Some would kill this wounded wolf, some would spare it, if it shows no further hostility. If I were a hero, what would I do? My eyes meet with the wolf again. It growls at me as it steps back. I think I¡¯ll take it¡¯s life. I thrust my spear at the wolf. A loud clang. My spear, blocked by Jura¡¯s sword. He pushes my spear back, turns, and then shoos the wolf away, and lets the wolf slowly limp off. ¡°Lausanne.¡± He turns, and notices the bleeding on my left arm. ¡°Why¡¯d you stop me, uncle Jura?¡± Why did he block my spear? ¡°I think you¡¯re not ready to take a life yet.¡± ¡°Is it? Why?¡± ¡°Because you are not. Now don¡¯t argue with me and let¡¯s go back to TreeTree and get that gash patched up, before your mommy nags me for not looking after you.¡± I sigh. Oh well. - Stats page Lausanne Ricola, Level 20 (cumulative) Elf girl, aged 8 Elf warrior (Level 11) Skills PowerstrikeBasic evasive stepsSpear experience- mediumDagger experience - lowBasic pain enduranceImproved reaction - basicShadow Stab Villager (4 levels) Skills Disease resistance - basicCottonwork - basicOlivework - advanced General (5 levels) Skills Basic enduranceAdvanced reading and writing - common tongueBlessed by a soul tree Spaizzer Okay, next regular chapter... next week! A New Order Year 77 Month 10 Laufen, Jura, Belle, Emile, Lausanne, even Wahlen, Brislach came back. They meet in the main room in the secret hideout, seated in a circle. ¡°I called everyone here to discuss the announcement from the High Council.¡± Jura starts their meeting, the high council announced the arrangement a day ago, after formalising the necessary amendments to their rules and laws, to incorporate the existence of the new positions and institutions. ¡°How could we not?¡± Wahlen shrugs. ¡°Everyone in my workplace is talking about it, and asking me whether I get anything¡­" Jura sighs, "First of all, you might have heard the story, but let''s just go through why this is happening. TreeTree, has decided that he wants a larger role in the affairs of New Freeka, since TreeTree has been tangled in multiple battles due to New Freeka¡¯s hostile relationship with Salah, and providing free protection without compensation or representation isn¡¯t what TreeTree considers to be an ideal arrangement. This will give TreeTree the greater ability to choose the battles it fights, and avoids those it doesn''t want to participate in." "But isn''t that what¡­ tree spirits do?" Brislach asks. "Tree spirits raised by elves protect their cities and capitals? Are they not benevolent spirits of the earth that protects the inhabitants and their surroundings?" "That¡¯s a story often passed down, but the truth is not so¡­ simple. We do not know what price does the elven nations pay to their tree spirits, in order to obtain their assistance. If there are, I would think they are secrets of the kings and the royal court. Perhaps the Tree spirits of those nations owe the elves some kind of favor too. We cannot use the charity of other tree spirits as an expectation of TreeTree¡¯s demands and conduct." The other elves nod, prompting Jura to continue. "A healthy ecosystem must have everyone playing their part. A New Freeka that does not contribute back to the system is not productive to the entire valley." "Ecosystem?" "Yeah, a word from TreeTree. It means the system of how each individual and creature in the valley interacts with each other." An awkward pause. "Ah. Back to the announcement. TreeTree decided to appoint me Supreme Counsel, and Laufen as Vice Counsel, of the newly set up Valtrian order. Now, what this means is that, both of us are now part of the high council of New Freeka." "Some of them say its a power grab." Wahlen voices out the rumors from the ground. There¡¯s plenty other such thoughts and rumors passing around... "In some ways, it is." Jura nods. "Fact is, a third of all tax collected are now under our control, and so is a third of the militia. A skeleton group of administrative staff and treasury has been assigned to assist the Valtrian order as well. And that is a heavy burden we now have to bear, to fulfill TreeTree''s will¡­" Another moment of silence, as everyone digests the meaning of this change. Its big, since the 7 of them are named as the ''Selected'', special individuals that TreeTree has commanded to be specially protected. In time, this may mean having guards assigned to each of them. "Any¡­ thoughts?" Wahlen grumbles, "Uncle Jura, to be honest, I¡­ I don¡¯t really care what TreeTree wants to do. I am trying to move on, actually. We lived years under the TreeTree''s care and protection, like refugees, like war victims, and now, there is a town that springs up next to Freeka, one of nonhumans like us, that we can return and now live a life as regular people again. A life, similar to the past, before all this destruction. I even have a job now¡­ and friends!" Jura pauses, and he looks at Wahlen. "TreeTree¡­" But before Jura could continue his response, Wahlen already continued. " I understand that all this is actually possible because TreeTree¡¯s presence and protection of New Freeka. But this pronouncement does make our life a little bit more complicated.¡± "I understand. After living so long in the shadows of war, all of us would really cherish these moments of normalcy and calm¡­" "I would like to continue having anormal, like everyone else. Live a life in a town, work¡­ Being a part of the ruling elite is something that¡­ never crossed my mind." Wahlen and Brislach moved to New Freeka to work and live some time ago, and frankly, I can see why. ¡°It¡¯s disruptive for the life you¡¯ve tried to rebuild in New Freeka, but please, bear with us. There¡¯s bigger things at play here.¡± Jura nods. ¡°I¡¯ll try not to disrupt your life as much as we can., so you can still live some of that normal life. But things will change, and not everything will remain normal.¡± Wahlen sighs. ¡°I suppose that will be all I can ask.¡± It¡¯s Brislach''s turn to speak. "We¡¯re going to be special, isn¡¯t it.¡± Laufen nods. "Yes. A strange twist of fate, but we are now a special group in this valley..." Well, with some reluctance, the 7 elves accepted their fate. The announcement was rather confusing to the populace of New Freeka, but to most of them, it¡¯s something they soon forgot, since, reorganisations at the top happen frequently, and for refugees who lived through changes of power, such things are common. Every time a King changes, there¡¯s bound to be some restructuring. So, the new organisation of the season, is the Valtrian Order. That''s the name I came up with, just a combination of the words ''Valley'' and ''Tree''. A few days later, "Greetings." The exiled wizard of Baroosh visits the inner courtyard of my main tree, surprising Jura who¡¯s taking a rest, a little overwhelmed from the sudden influx of matters requiring his attention. "Ah, wizard Madeus." "I hear that you are hiring, Supreme Counsel." The wizard smiles, and bows. Jura coughs at the title and the bow, perhaps the wizard is mocking him. "Ah¡­ yes." "Well, good. Allow me to get to the point. I would like to offer my services to the Tree Spirit." Jura coughs quite hard, and I think he''s choking. After a few coughs he recovers, and looks into the wizard''s eyes. "Surely, you jest." "No. I mean it. I would like to offer my services to the Tree Spirit and the Valtrian order, and it¡¯s something I¡¯ve been thinking for days since I found about the whole Valtrian order¡¯s setup." Jura could not answer, so he just pauses. "Accepted." I didn¡¯t let Jura say more. I do have need for a mage''s services, so the fact that he comes and offers it, is very much welcome. Whether he has the right motives, that can be sorted out later. As it is, I needed someone as a counterpoint to Alexis, to share knowledge of the magicks from a different source, and Alexis, as a ¡®foreign¡¯ hero, lacks the nuts and bolts of magick, since her power over magic is likely to be innate, something of a gift arising from her cheat power. A regular mage like Madeus, would likely have a more robust understanding of basic magic, as he has to explore it in bits and pieces since young. The wizard staggers back, not spoken to me telepathically before. "Ah¡­ Apologies. It is just a surprise to hear the voice in my head¡­ so this is what Yvon and the councillors hear when they speak of the Tree Spirit." "Welcome wizard. We have much to speak about. Jura, can you please summon the captains of the existing Valtrian order. I wish to speak to them later." Jura nods, and leaves, his cape fluttering as he walks. He has a special uniform made for him, one that identify him as Supreme Counsel, and everywhere he goes, a few of the Valtrian guards would accompany him. There would be plans for a new set of uniforms for the Valtrian guards, but that is a lesser priority, so for now, their uniform remain as it was. "So, wizard. I believe your name is Madeus?" He nods. "Alright. Madeus, welcome to the team, and first of all, as a tree who doesn¡¯t get to go out much, my knowledge about the wider world is really limited. So tell me, what do you know about¡­ the wider world? And heroes. And of that void magic the Princess encountered." He pauses, and stops. "That¡¯s a lot to go through, but¡­ are you referring to my research back in Baroosh?" "That, would be a good place to start." I lead him, using the vines, to one of the subsidiary trees'' external rooms. Since some of the elves moved out, it has been repurposed into more of a study for Lausanne. She¡¯s out now, so we can use it. I¡¯m hoping to make a library here someday. "Back then, I am researching on the magics of the heroes¡­ so I collected various books and writings left by the heroes of the past. One of such items is the Mad-Hero, Arsene Emir, which¡­ obsessed on summoning more of his friends." "May I ask why?" "The King¡¯s curious about the origins of their power. By discovering how they are summoned, perhaps we could gleam a hint." "Oh?" "Kings, in the case of the High King of Baroosh, is a very old man, he is close to a 100 this year. So, he has met many generations of heroes, who went on to slay the demon kings. When he was only a teenager, he met a hero who appeared in the Baroosh, freshly summoned by the gods. Our king offered him shelter, and spoke to him at length, and came to understand that the heroes all come from another world way unlike our own. But, at the back of his mind, he really wanted to know where the heroes¡¯ power comes from, and whether, just whether, there¡¯s a way to gain that power for himself." Well, okay. The High King of Baroosh just kind of went up in the list of threats, but somehow the wizard still talks of him rather reverentially. "Well, the hero didn''t know much, only knew that each of the gods give a few heroes their blessing, and as such, that generation, there were ten of them, scattered throughout the world. Anyway, the point is, the King seen the heroes when they are freshly summoned. The hero he met then, his name is Andrei, had the power of bending earth, such that everything was drawn to him, or away from him. He could make things heavy, or light." Uh¡­ Madeus, are you going off tangent? "When the King met the last generation of heroes, he was¡­ rather disappointed. Their powers are still amazing by most measure, but yet, compared to Andrei the Earthbreaker, there was just too large a gap. So, the King wondered whether there¡¯s a mistake in the summoning of heroes." "Well, the heroes still beat the demon king, did they not?" I think heroes should be judged on whether they beat the demon king. That¡¯s their purpose, right? "The point I tried to make to my King, is there¡¯s just too many different types of heroes. Consider the story from 220 years ago, there was only a single hero summoned. And a single hero, became Emperor Taksa Moor Nungsari. That hero later is the founder of the Darmoon dynasty, which later splintered into the Takde, Nung, Salah, the now destroyed Moras and Fikris kingdoms." I think you didn¡¯t answer the question isn¡¯t it? ¡°Sounds like there¡¯s nothing much, other than history.¡± I mean, so what if? If my own experience serves as a guide, it could be their attempted ¡®extraction¡¯ of souls didn¡¯t work that well, maybe the truck that supposed to hit the bus missed and the rest of the passengers survived. "Well, yes.¡± Madeus slouches, his head downcast. ¡°My research got nowhere. It seems a lot of it is on the individuals, and some strange stroke of luck. And it¡¯s not as if the lesser number of heroes is always stronger than when more heroes are summoned. For every theory I came up with, there¡¯s always some other incident that proves otherwise.¡± ¡°Okay. So heroes are random.¡± Actually, does he know about star mana? "Yes. If there¡¯s anything that I actually did find, is that heroes are getting younger. And I have no idea why.¡± "Huh?" Okay that¡¯s absolutely a letdown. I was hoping to gain some insights into heroes and the demon king, but looks like I¡¯ll have to try elsewhere. Never mind, since he seems rather knowledgeable of history, let¡¯s try a different question. "Anyway, since we are also talking a bit about history¡­. is there a time before heroes?" The wizard sips his tea and thinks. "Uh¡­ there is supposed to be a time before heroes and demon king¡­ but it is millenniums ago and we don¡¯t have any records." "When is the first documented demon king?" "We also don''t know. There was a demon king, Demon King Amadeus, that destroyed close to 80% of the world, and with it most of the world''s written records. So the information predating Demon King Amadeus is scarce¡­ and the word of mouth stories are not reliable." "Fine, tell me about Demon King Amadeus, how did the world defeat it from such a horrible state?" "Uh¡­ the legends of that era is not very consistent, it did happen about many thousands of years ago¡­ There are a few theories¡­ the most believed one is that a group of heroes were summoned in the scattered islands, and they later defeated the Demon King." "Has any other demon king come close to that level of destruction?" "Not many, but a few notable demon kings did destroy at least a few continents each. That we know of, Amadeus is successful enough to destroy all the continents¡­" Hmmm¡­ "Why didn''t the heroes stop them?" "Again, we have very little knowledge. My own understanding is, its a case of the heroes being summoned too late, and needed time to get stronger. In quite a few cases with other demon kings, overconfident heroes tried when they are not ready and got killed." ¡°How¡¯d the world recover from something like Demon King Amadeus?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯d think there¡¯s survivors, just a lot of them in hiding. And the heroes that defeated Amadeus went out to defeat two more demon kings, so the legend goes, so that gave the world some time to recover from the extensive damage¡­ But all this is really word of mouth, since written records during the era is really really rare. We don''t really even know whether the destruction is really that extensive, since the records from that time of reconstruction is very rare.¡± "Has there ever been instances where¡­ heroes were summoned twice?" "...not that I know of, but¡­ possible?" Madeus seems totally clueless on this. Fine. "Fine. Tell me about this¡­ 10 year demon king cycle." I mean, that¡¯s something that I wonder about. Why 10 years? "Oh. We have no idea why. Perhaps its some quirk in the stars. It¡¯s not a rule though, there¡¯s been exceptions a lot of times, and we have no idea why either." Okay, not helping. Let¡¯s try other kinds of questions. "Why did the world leave all the fighting to heroes? Why not the locals? Are there nobody at the level of the heroes?" "Uh¡­ its¡­ its just the way it always has been¡­" "Really?" "But I would think it''s really really hard. Even slaying a demon champion needs very high level fighters and mages." Once again, not helping. Is there some level wall or ceiling that exists for the locals, that the world must rely on external powers? "Hmmm¡­. never mind then. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, I will borrow your knowledge of history more." "You are welcome, consider it a proof of my sincerity." Madeus nods and takes a sip from the wooden cup. "Anyway, why do you want to serve me?" "When you managed to undo the damage suffered by the princess, I realised that you must be a great and powerful being. To serve a great being is a privilege, an honor, and I hope to be part of that greatness. Maybe, the greatness would rub off a bit on me." Ah, a glory chaser. Hmmm.. I¡¯ll need to watch him a bit more carefully. "Hmmm, greatness may not be something I can offer. I can offer you fruits." Madeus laughs, as a bowl of fruits appeared before him. He smiles, grabs one, and bites. Year 77 Month 11 An envoy from Salah came, bearing strange news. One of¡­ unconditional ceasefire. A truce. Surely, such an offer soon riled up the entire high council, who are outraged, happy, greedy. Pretty much everything. It is the first time Jura seats on the high council, with his 33% voting rights on such matters, and a right to veto certain decisions. "We have the advantage, we should demand reparations from Salah!" One of the councillors said. ¡°They are afraid, now they want a truce!¡± ¡°I grow tired of war.¡± Another councillor asks, ¡°Perhaps we should just take it.¡± ¡°No! Salah has caused us a great deal of harm, we should not take it without compensation!¡± As they argue, they eventually settled into two camps, a group demanding extra compensation, another saying to accept. So, Yvon, as the chair of the high council, turns to Jura. ¡°Supreme Counsel, as representative of the Tree Spirit, would you have any words to add?¡± "Tree Spirit is of the view we should accept it. Ongoing combat is not productive for the valley, there are bigger concerns¡­¡± My first concern, is the demonic rifts. Those should start appearing very soon, as those happen well in advance of the demon king¡¯s arrival. ¡°But Salah¡¯s not exactly a trustworthy country to deal with? We could accept the truce and they¡¯ll break it!¡± ¡°So? We do not have any offensive capability at the moment. A truce is good for us, since it allows to trade with Salah.¡± With that, the truce is accepted, since Jura¡¯s voting rights meant almost all of the councillors have to oppose Jura to get anything through. Of course, this is rather shocking to Salah¡¯s envoy as well, who expected a rejection, and was rather prepared to die. Year 77 Month 12 ¡°Here¡¯s the man you asked me to find, tree spirit. I¡¯ll leave the room now.¡± Jura bows, and leaves the old man standing alone in the small room, right next to the [Tree of Prayers]. It¡¯s a ¡®special room¡¯, as it¡¯s more of a courtyard, with one tree in the middle, with sunlight coming in from above. It¡¯s winter, so there¡¯s some snow coming in. The old man, a half elf, looks around and shrugs. ¡°What¡¯s this¡­¡± And I speak into his head. ¡°Hello, Wesley.¡± He pauses, and tries to see whether there¡¯s anyone else in the room. ¡°Is this some trick? Or magic?¡± I give him some time, and after a while he stops. ¡°Fine. Who¡¯re you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m TreeTree, the Tree Spirit of the valley.¡± He rubs his chin. ¡°Huh, so there really is a tree spirit. So, what can I do for you?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like you to help conduct some¡­ ceremonies for me. Something a person like yourself, a former priest, can do.¡± ¡°What kind¡­ of ceremonies?¡± ¡°Simple ones. I have a few in mind, for the dying, for death, and for births. Laufen will assist you, but she is not fit for the role of a master of ceremonies. Are you keen?¡± The man pauses, ¡°What¡¯d I get?¡± ¡°A fair pay, accommodation. And some tea to help with the aches you have. Additional things can be discussed.¡± The man paces, and walks around the courtyard a few times, clearly this is something he¡¯s thinking much about, until he pauses and asks. ¡°Which god am I praying to?¡± ¡°None.¡± His face is that of shock¡­ ¡°So¡­ what rituals are we actually doing?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let you know, but first, are you keen?¡± - The first of the ceremonies happened a few days later, one of the older folk in New Freeka passed away. In New Freeka, the population comprises a mix of elves, dwarves, centaurs, treefolk, half-elfs, some lizardmen and quite a few more others, though elves form the bulk of them. So, there¡¯s many ways of going about the corpse, such as cremation, burial, magical deconstruction, petrification or transformation into a statue. The presence of magic adds a large variety of possible ways a corpse can be ¡®sent off¡¯. Anyway, that¡¯s just how things are elsewhere. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± An elderly woman, the deceased¡¯s wife asks, as the corpse of the old man is brought in by some of the guards on stretchers. Wesley smiles, a calm, reassuring smile from years of training as a priest, and he warmly greets the elderly woman, ¡°New Freeka¡¯s welcomed the Tree Spirit into its fold, and, this, is one of the many ways the great tree has given us his gifts.¡± It¡¯s a large open space, and there¡¯s a curved, bent tree, as if the tree grew up, then sideways. Along it¡¯s trunk, there is a large opening in it, filled with greenish liquid. Multiple flowers dot the side of that trunk. Wesley nods to the guards, and a few of the men assist to place the corpse of the old man slowly into the opening. ¡°With this, the dead will be one with the Tree Spirit, his soul on their journey to the world beyond.¡± The corpse slowly sinks into the thick greenish liquid, and for effect, the flowers around the trunk start to bloom a bit bigger, and a pleasant, calming, soothing scent is released into the room. There¡¯s even some wind and rustling sounds, to add to the moment. And when the corpse fully sinks and disappears into the green liquid, the flowers glow slightly. The family cries for a good hour, as Wesley speaks to each of the family, giving them a blessing. He then picks the flowers from the side of the trunk, and passes one to each of the family members. ¡°What happens to the body?¡± ¡°It is now with the Tree Spirit, and has found peace, at last.¡± Wesley says, and somehow, it¡¯s probably due to his past [priest] levels, it¡¯s really convincing. ¡°These flowers contain the essences of your deceased father, and they will last longer than normal flowers, but they will too fade after a year. Think it as a reminder, of he who has now left us.¡± The elderly woman nods, ¡°Is there¡­ something more permanent, perhaps a marker that we can get? To remind us of our beloved?¡± Wesley smiles, and he touches the trunk. And from the greenish liquid, a small bone floats up. He carefully picks it up with a special spoon, and places it in a ceremonial wooden bowl. ¡°Ah yes. This, is the condensed bones of your father. Keep it as you wish, or make it into something.¡± The elderly woman accepts with tears in her eyes, and after a bit more small talk, the entire family leaves. Wesley breathes a huge sigh of relief. It¡¯s the first time this ceremony is shown to the citizens of New Freeka, and even the guards themselves have not seen it. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± Wesley asks, and only Laufen remains inside the courtyard of death. There¡¯s some proposed names on the courtyard, perhaps to call it the Garden of Return, to signify one¡¯s return to the Tree Spirit. I quite like it, but I¡¯m still pondering for other names before finalising it with Wesley and Laufen, since Laufen¡¯s going to play a larger role in the ¡®rituals¡¯ and ¡®religious¡¯ aspects of the Valtrian order. ¡°Good.¡± ¡°Is that really the bone of the deceased?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Ah, good. I¡¯ve not lied then.¡± ¡°What¡¯d both of you think of the ceremony?¡± Wesley sits and smokes some kind of rolled leaves, and he nods. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ easy. I believe the tale will spread soon, and more families will ask for this ceremony.¡± ¡°Any views on how to improve it?¡± Laufen shakes her head. ¡°I like it, but let me sleep on it a little. Maybe I¡¯ll get some ideas later.¡± ¡°Me too. I¡¯m so nervous doing it for the first time, all I want to do is just get a hang of it first.¡± ¡°Very well, it¡¯s a good first time. Go get some rest.¡± The both nod and leave the courtyard, and I return into my soul realm to have a look at the results of the ceremony. ¡°The dead¡¯s soul is in good condition and a state of calm. Reincarnation to the next world is going to be quite a breeze. It¡¯s actually an interesting modification of the elven tradition of burying the dead next to the soul trees, and instead go for the route of direct absorption.¡± Well, that¡¯s fine, but my focus is on¡­ collection, so I check my log. ¡°Ah man, no ¡®seeds¡¯. Well, at least there¡¯s some essences¡­¡± This ceremony, is actually derived from that little experience I had with both Alexis and later Falklay, and that exposed tree trunk, is really a modified biolab ¡®pod¡¯. The idea I had, is really rather simple. I want more of the ¡®seeds¡¯ that came with Falklay¡¯s death, and I¡¯m really keen to try and get more of such ¡®seeds¡¯ by way of ¡®absorbing¡¯ the corpses of the dead, and the dying. By giving the citizens, the families a pleasant experience, I¡¯m hoping to get fresher ¡®dead¡¯, and with that, a higher chance of harvesting whatever I can get. A part of me feels a little tiny bit bad for desecrating the dead, but the bulk of me feels it¡¯s totally fine, since, I¡¯m playing the religious role here! And besides, they¡¯ll just end up burning the body, so that¡¯s not exactly any better than what I¡¯m doing. Well, the next ceremony is something where Laufen plays a bigger role. A birth, and babies. In some worlds, there are rituals like baptisms, or flower baths, or special chants, to bless a newborn. Children is our future. And my future. "Congratulations on the baby." Laufen bows and shakes the hand of the young mother, the father next to her watches. The little infant cradled in the mother''s arms cry a little, and the mother quickly shakes and tries to soothe the baby. "Ah¡­ what can we do for you?" "As the Vice Counsel of the Valtrian Order, I''d like to present a small present for the family, for the newborn." Laufen hands over a basket, containing a few bottles. "That bottle contains a special liquid made from the sap of the Tree Spirit, it will boost the infants strength and vitality. It¡¯ll also help with the cold weather." Made using the [Childcare corner]''s special syrup, mixed with some essences, some minerals, it should give a good boost to any weak baby, and gives a shot of ¡®warmth¡¯ to help the baby tide through winter. "That other bottle is something for the sick babies, if they have a fever or a cold, or just don''t look too well." Well, I had something given to Roma back when he was a tiny baby, so this is the same thing, bottled up. Made from [healing juice] condensed into a thick gooey sweet syrup. "That last one, is if the baby''s hungry but the mommy''s out of milk." It''s a thick preserved juice containing a mix of nutrients, meant to temporarily tide over the child''s hunger. Again, made from the [childcare corner]. "Ah¡­" The father and mother seem rather surprised, but the father seems afraid to receive, as is normal for gifts. Perhaps there¡¯s some expectation of payment, or some kind of subtle extortion, as refugees often encounter in their journeys. "It''s free, a gift with no strings, its something the Valtrian order wants to do for the children born of the valley." Laufen bows, and then she starts to walk out, she flashes a warm, motherly smile before she walks out. "Please let me know if you have any challenges with the child." Well, although Laufen''s official title is now Vice Counsel, she''s not exactly keen to participate in the political kind of activities, so, as with all quasi-religious, militant organisations, there should be someone to spearhead the public service, charitable, social elements of the organisation. Laufen''s duties are to organise the gifts for the newly born, set up a creche for young children and babies within the Valtrian Order¡¯s space, an orphanage for the orphans, and a kindergarten and combat oriented school for the older kids. Charity and such social services "soften" the image of the Valtrian order, and cultivate have a generation with favorable views of the Order. There¡¯s a lot of births, on average, about 5 to 7 per day, so Laufen¡¯s got many homes to visit. In time, Emile, Belle and the workers will also play the role of delivering these gifts, but for now, the 2 younger ladies are helping out as her assistants. Some of the parents would outright refuse the gifts, and that¡¯s fine. It¡¯s given at no compulsion, and Laufen herself would not push, after all, parents have the right to choose what they give to their infants. Gradually, though, this is helping to build a positive reputation for the Valtrian order, and build public support for this ¡®new¡¯ entity that suddenly emerged. - As part of the transition to the newly setup Valtrian order, a large patch of land around the Tree of Prayer has been transferred over, so a bit of construction work is going on to build all the facilities required, though we had to prioritise of the burial services first, which is fairly easy since it¡¯s mostly just setting up the space for the tree. Also, I¡¯d also like to have the Valtrian order earn some income independent of the tax collections, in order to fund all the other ideas I have in my head for my gradual takeover of New Freeka. One of these ideas is to set up a clinic, or a healing chamber of some kind, using the biolab, and the medical juices. With this, I could charge adventurers, soldiers and whatnot a fee for using my healing services, similar to how it is for other healers all around the world. This won¡¯t be much, but it¡¯ll help subsidise the cost of staff. Next, would be to sell some special products. I¡¯ve got some in mind, perhaps the ginseng, if I could make them of an acceptable quality, they would probably sell for a good price. And higher quality crops, directly to the market. But that would involve dedicating some of the [subsidiary trees] for that purposes. Or a special series of olive oils for ceremonial use and sale. I think that could sell, since people love ¡®enchanted¡¯ stuff. The processed, preserved healing fruits is also a potential product, but whether it¡¯s a worthwhile venture may depend on the price. I also have my ability to make wood products using my wood-shaping magic, but I think that¡¯s probably not a good use of my time unless I can make them automatically. Additionally, the beetles could go and kill monsters and bring back some loot for sale. Oh wait. My large beetle-pods are ready too. Large beetle pods - completedEnhanced interior structures - completed Fruit bombs - increased range and power - completed Eye-Tree Stage I research option unlocked - 15 months remainingBeetle - anti-magma armors stage 2 - 6 months remainingTree - volcanic adaptation stage 3 - 15 months remainingRoots - Volcanic mineral harvesting - stage 1 - 5 months remaining I had an epiphany one day, which is, there¡¯s sulfur in the volcano, shouldn¡¯t that allow me to make sulfuric acid? Would I be able to have fruits with highly corrosive acid in it? Or beetles that spit acid? A ranged unit? As a result, I just had to conduct research on the ability of my volcano-adapted subsidiary tree¡¯s roots to safely absorb sulfur through their roots. I think that would be the first step in acquiring any sort of ranged unit. So, I¡¯m going to have larger beetles, hopefully ranged beetles, and also flying beetles, acidic corrosive beetles. Plenty of variation in the beetle family. Of course, this makes Horns rather happy. I still haven¡¯t figured out how to get that step from Sulfur to acid, but I¡¯ll figure it out once we get there. Perhaps it¡¯ll be some kind of large segregated tank where the sulfur is processed. Oh well. I think I¡¯m starting to have a bit more things going on than I can handle. Ah. I think I need help. Time to create another artificial soul. Tree wants more trees Year 78 Month 1. An eruption. A fine way to start the new year, really. The damned volcano erupted and destroyed every single thing near it. Close to half of my beetles failed to escape, so they died, all buried under debris, dust, lava, rocks and well, all the other things that volcanoes tend to spit out. I mean, I sorta figured that volcanoes, especially one still pumping out lava would be somewhat dangerous, but I guess after not seeing any major eruption, I thought it¡¯s one of those ¡®stable¡¯ volcanoes. To some extent, I guess I¡¯m a little complacent there¡­ But still, why didn¡¯t my roots sense anything? Don¡¯t volcanoes have tremors or minor quakes before going off like that? Or does the magic in this world messes with such processes? Oh well, this is a minor setback, a bit of delay to my volcano expansion plans. If life went too easy, I¡¯d probably think something bad is gonna happen real soon. Probably pushes the plans back by a couple of months, to let the environment settle down and also rebuild my forces, since I do need to regenerate the beetles before attempting my assault on the magma golems, that spawn closer to the now partly exposed caldera. I¡¯m rather eager to test out the new large beetles in combat, since they are bigger, and have bigger legs and horns, to see how they perform against those golems. So, I turn my attention to the next few things I have in mind. In New Freeka, there¡¯s a massive hall with a few [external biolabs], and Jura is helping to guide the Valtrian soldiers. The hall itself is filled with animals¡­ and plants, gathered from the region, an exercise we started last month. The men were sitting idle, so, we sent them out on missions to collect different kinds of plants and animals. As many as they could find, whatever they¡¯ve not seen before, or whatever they notice that¡¯s different from New Freeka, and bring it back. Thanks to this exercise, I¡¯m now going through all the plants and animals they¡¯ve brought back. 5 biolabs, side by side, and the soldiers, under Jura¡¯s supervision, help to put all the specimens in. After the analysis, some soldiers are tasked to bring them to a patch of empty land and pass them to a different group, those with [farming] or [planting] skills, for them to plant. The intention is fairly simple, there¡¯s a lack of plant diversity in the valley, and that needs to be addressed. Secondly, I¡¯m hoping to somehow unlock more [unique trees], like the [ginseng trees], such that I can produce new items. Third, new species of crops would lead to me having more [subsidiary tree - crops] variety. And now, I have the manpower to push these guys out on a regional ¡®harvesting¡¯ mission. The process of analysing the plants took 5 days, and the animals another 4 days. The reason I asked for the animals, is actually just to throw off whoever¡¯s watching us, but it¡¯s a waste to not analyse the animals after collecting them, so after the animals were ¡®scanned¡¯ by the biolabs, they¡¯re placed in an area that¡¯s meant to be a menagerie. [New crop species unlocked - Wheat, Jackfruit, Light Corn, Blackpotato, Rye, Red hops, Blueberry, Fireberry] [New Tree type unlocked : Common herbal bushes. Bushes containing a wide variety of herbs. Herb varieties appear at random] ¡°How¡¯s the register coming along?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll take some time, Supreme Counsel.¡± The young man, a junior [herbalist] bows when responding to Jura¡¯s question. ¡°It¡¯s something the Tree Spirit wants done as soon as possible. This is a big task.¡± Well, actually Trevor and Dimitree already built a compilation of the plants we now have in the valley, and their characteristics that they can identify using the data from the biolabs. But, I had Jura hire a herbalist to start work on a physical copy of a register. Just to compare the kind of information a herbalist would normally take down, and one prepared by my tree-minds. The young man bows. ¡°I¡¯m honored, and I can tell it is an important exercise.¡± The herbalist, together with the ¡®gardeners¡¯ and other farmhands, will be the ones managing the ¡®garden¡¯ in the compound of the Valtrian order. It¡¯s one of those odd jobs. As for the animals, I¡¯ve left them to some of the rangers to care for. In the town of New Freeka, there are some rangers, and some [flock tenders] or [herders] that have some skills with animals, so they are the ones looking after the collection of animals. It¡¯s not a perfect match in terms of skill and job class, but oh well. Maybe they¡¯ll gain the class someday. Year 78 Month 2 The Valtrian Order separation exercise this month. The military force that¡¯s transferred to us is a little too large to my liking, and their competencies a bit lacking, so, like what companies do when their staff size is not optimal¡­ we have¡­ retrenchments! I kinda feel like walking up to guys and tell them, ¡°You¡¯re fired!¡± But that¡¯s not exactly a nice way to do things. Jura and the captains identified those who are not so good at their jobs, based on their performance during the collection exercise, spoke these non-performing soldiers whether they have other secondary talents they want to share, whether they want to take part in the other roles happening in the Order, or take the money and go find another job. I mean, if I¡¯m going to be hiring herbalists and all those other ¡®specialists¡¯, I need money, and money isn¡¯t free, so, gotta reshuffle them around. Priorities! One must cut away the rotting branch for a new one to grow. Of course, there is plenty of crying, plenty of anger, and plenty of cussing. Maybe some retaliation. "Ivy." "Yes, master." "Monitor those we have fired. See whether they do anything unusual. Let me know if there are any attempted retaliation, but do not interfere unless I instruct you to." "As you command." My new tree mind, and unlike Trevor or Dimitree who has responsibility to watch the valley and the forest, Ivy''s task is focused on the Valtrian Order, observing the citizens and reporting any unusual matters. I also task her to play a hidden watcher, on all financial transactions and trade transactions. Watching the movements of some 3,000 to 4,000 employees of the Valtrian Order is a laborious affair, even if there are trees everywhere, and Ivy pretty much has little capacity to do anything else A part of me feels like I have become that which I hated in my past life, the "big brother" who intrudes in on everyone''s privacy, that overly micromanaging boss that looks through everything I do with a fine-toothed comb, but¡­ this is a magical world, and I have to pick the bigger baddy here. Curbing corruption, finding traitors take priority here. Even in their somewhat-perilous situation, people will find ways to cheat, or steal, to take a little more for themselves. So, I thought I would be ready, since I know about it and know it exists. Nobody¡¯s innocent. But Ivy''s report still stunned me. The extent of it. All of the employees engage in at least one minor misconduct. It''s usually relatively small, like a coin or two per transaction, or a little slip of coin to move up the queue in the burial services. Some soldiers would steal utensils from the mess hall, and bring home for their family. Or intentionally tearing a piece of uniform so that they can use the cloth for something else. Or administrative staff stealing paper or writing equipment. I sigh. When Ivy first reported the extent of such things, I just froze. But before I could lash out in anger and kill all these people. "Were you expecting saints from these former refugees? The fact that they adapted to a new way of life so quickly is already admirable.¡± Meela sometimes dispenses a bit of wisdom. Well, true. This world has no proper regimented education system to teach a sense of ¡®morals¡¯, and parents trying to survive probably have a different set of ¡®morals¡¯ than me. If there is, there isn¡¯t enough time or stability for it to really sink in, since the world gets hammered by the demon king every now and then. If there¡¯s anywhere with a proper education system, it¡¯s probably in those cloud cities, or the moving giant-turtle islands, or the walking towers of the great deserts. I wonder how many years of formal education to the citizens of New Freeka have? Ah, some other day¡¯s worries. Ultimately, I decided to just have the worst offenders retrenched, and decide to just put up with the minor ¡®infractions¡¯ among the rest. Perhaps some day I would get a group of morally upright employees, but for now, this is the cards I have. ¡°Should I continue monitoring them, Master?¡± Ivy¡¯s not fond of the task, but she still obeys me. ¡°Well¡­ yes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s taking up most of my processing ability, master. Filtering through all the language and smalltalk is really challenging.¡± Ah. Well¡­ ¡°Fine, will it help if you restrict the scope to within our compounds and just the area around them?¡± ¡°A lesser area would mean less to monitor, yes it will help a bit. But I estimate it¡¯ll still use up 70% of my available processing power.¡± ¡°Unfortunately I¡¯ll need someone to watch these guys¡­ please bear with it. Maybe it¡¯ll get easier once you gain some levels.¡± ¡°As you command, master.¡± Year 78 Month 2 Week 3 The first large beetles emerge from their pods. The volcano kind of started to stabilise, so I send the large-volcano-adapted beetles on their first missions. This is why they are created, after all. They easily dispatch any of the lesser monsters that appear, but their first encounter with the massive magma golems is disappointing. Though they now have the size, they still lack the necessary firepower to take out the golems. At least they can take three punches from the large golems before dying, unlike regular beetles, who just get squashed underfoot. According to Jura and the data gathered from the adventurers guild in New Freeka, magma golems are considered monsters for adventurers around the level 50-60, and with suitable gear. A person with suitable skills could possibly take one out at level 40. Given that my regular beetles are a match of soldiers around level 20-30, I guess the large beetles still need a lot more upgrades to give those magma golems a good fight. Ah. Back to the research queue. Eye-Tree Stage I research option unlocked - 13 months remainingBeetle - anti-magma armors stage 2 - 4 months remainingTree - volcanic adaptation stage 3 - 13 months remainingRoots - Volcanic mineral harvesting - stage 1 - 3 months remaining Following the acquisition of the various new plant species, I had both Dimitree and Trevor attempt to use their abilities to improve the plant diversity in the valley. To some extent, the valley in both sides is largely dominated with my type of tree, though at least the ThreeTree of mana grants some visual varieties. I may need to look up some pollens and bees, and flowering plants as well. Oh well. Well, at least with the improved inflow of gems and rare crystals, I¡¯ve managed to upgrade the [rootnet] to support a larger capacity of tree-energy. The upgraded rootnet will take up to 100,000 normal trees, which also means more artificial souls. I¡¯d probably like to make some more tree-minds, to take some load off Ivy, since the task of monitoring so many people is a monumental task. ¡°TreeTree. I¡¯ve got a proposal.¡± Huh. A proposal from Alexis. ¡°Well, let¡¯s hear it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been talking to Meela, and I¡¯m thinking of using the biolab to make a body. Not a full flesh and blood kind of body since it¡¯s clearly not at that level, but, I¡¯m thinking of experimenting with Treefolk corpses, as a transition between regular sentient species, and well¡­ trees.¡± Huh. ¡°Well, my theory is that Treefolk exists as some kind of magical evolutionary-in between, between a tree, and regular humans. So, looking at treefolk is a good starting point to figure out what are the magical mechanics within their body which allows them to do what they do¡­" ¡°So you¡¯re asking for my permission to do this experiment?¡± ¡°Yes. The goal is to be able to create flexible wooden¡­ uhm¡­ armors, as a vessel for souls.¡± I think she meant robots. Huh, she wants to create a body for herself, well, there is still that dryad body that''s formed from her corpse¡­ Maybe she forgot about that already? "I am rather fond of the treefolk. They give me no trouble, have shown willingness to defend the valley when instructed, and have been polite and respectful whenever contacted." "Ah¡­ so that''s a no?" "I will ask the treefolks for their permission. Conducting autopsies on the dead should be approved by their kin." "...that makes sense." Well, Alexis seems to understand that, at least. "Ah, there is also one other thing¡­" "Huh?" "I am thinking of expanding. I''ll need space¡­ and materials¡­ and some of your beetles." "What do you mean?" "Ah, I reached level 30, and I have this new skill called [Locational Survey Tools]. It¡­ allows me to take control of a few beetles and place research equipment on them, and this will speed up research on environment-resistances. Kind of making a¡­ a research-oriented scout out of the beetle. I can operate 2 at any one time." Hmm. Actually I think that sounds a bit like the Moon Buggy, but an actual bug! Or perhaps the Mars Rover. Fascinating. She''s going into the whole science route, which makes sense as a spirit haunting a massive research biolab. Would a flying bug with this be essentially a flying science vessel? "Fine, you get 2 beetles. Let me know of the materials." Alexis claps her ghostly hands in joy. "Thank you." - The treefolk chiefs visit a few days later. Three of them, one from before, and two I have not met. It seems their number has increased over the years, as immigration brings more and more treefolks to the valley. "It is an honor to be summoned by the tree spirit..." The three treefolks prostrate before me¡­ I had forgotten that treefolks revere tree spirits. "Your presence bathes the entire valley in a warm energy, that fuels our health and gives us strength." Wait, do my powers work on treefolk? Why does he talk like it does? Holy cow, if it does that opens up a big, no, giant can of worms I need to explore. "You feel my presence?" The oldest of the treefolk, the one I met before, still prostrating on the floor, is the one to speak. "We always have, the energy and radiance through the roots, each step we take, we feel your growing dominion. Even in the depths of winter, we feel and share in the warmth through our rooted feets." Wait, is he trying to just suck up to me? Hmm¡­ Anyway, let''s get down to it. "Ah¡­ the reason I wish to speak to you, is to talk about the dead and the deceased. I''d like to first understand about cultural norm, where the body of the deceased treefolk is normally split into many parts, some as tools, some as fertiliser, and some as ornaments¡­ is this, an unbreakable rule, and is there any taboo around giving it to me for my¡­ studies?" The treefolk chieftains all share a glance, and then it is the same elder treefolk, he raises his head to respond. ¡°It¡¯s a cultural practice, most families will want to keep their deceased family members¡¯ bodies, to assimilate into their own. If you want a body¡­ we would have to provide one without any family members, as I doubt any of our own would part with it. Every bit of a treefolk should be recycled.¡± I see. Interesting. ¡°Very well then,, that will have to do. And you can stand up now, you¡¯ve prostrated long enough.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure whether Vice Counsel Laufen has relayed our message previously¡­¡± One of the other treefolk chiefs speak. ¡°Oh, what is this about?¡± ¡°It¡¯s regarding the recent gifts to the young children. While the rest of the population do benefit from it, we, the treefolk, do not really benefit from them.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± So, is this a complaint? ¡°We¡¯re wondering whether we¡­ we can get something more suited for our young saplings.¡± Oh. Customer feedback. Now why didn¡¯t Laufen tell me about it. ¡°When was this message delivered to Vice Counsel Laufen?¡± The three chieftains look at each other, ¡°Uh¡­ last week perhaps? When she came to deliver a gift for our newest sapling.¡± Speaking of Treefolk mating and childbirth, they¡¯re actually really interesting and different from the rest of the humanoid races, although they also have humanoid like appearances. There¡¯s actually a few ways treefolk mate, and it depends on the male, female, or whether the treefolk is a hermaphrodite, ie contains the mating organs of both. In short, treefolk retains their own plant-like mating systems, yet, also incorporate the mating systems of humanoids. Their available ways of mating include actually having intercourse, a form of pollen-fertilisation where the female organs open up for the male organs to fertile, or oddly, and perhaps unique to treefolk, is via third parties, usually an insect or a ¡®carrier¡¯, like a bee or a butterfly that carries the fertilised pollens from the male organs to the female, who then, if he/she judges the pollens to be suitable, then allows it to fertilise him/her. Apparently it¡¯s taboo for a treefolk to self-fertilise, for the hermaphrodites, but in times of great disaster, it is permitted to keep up the treefolk numbers. There¡¯s also another external variant of mating, in which the female organ produces ¡®empty seeds¡¯, something like an unfertilised egg, which, she can leave in a specified location for any interested male treefolk to then leave their seed. Most sub-species of treefolk are able to produce large quantities of such unfertilised eggs, and the decision to either go for an external or internal mating variant is a choice of the treefolk, whether the female wants quantity, or quality, because internally-carried treefolk will emerge much stronger, bigger, and longer lived. If the male or female is strongly magically attuned, internal mating and carrying the baby within the female also has a higher likelihood of passing off the magical talent to the child. The only plant-like reproduction system not retained by the treefolk¡­ is the grafting or cutting methods, since the soul cannot be severed in two. Only one part of the body will retain the soul, and the part without the soul will wither away without the sustenance of the soul¡¯s presence. So, given their huge variety of ways in which a baby is carried or the condition of which a new ¡®sapling¡¯ is created, I could see why the humanoid ¡®childcare¡¯ center is not suitable. I mean, I would have to figure out how to adapt- ding [New subsidiary tree type unlocked : Treefolk Incubation Pods. A subsidiary tree filled with multiple pods, used to incubate and nourish fertilised and germinating external seeds] [New subsidiary tree type unlocked : Treefolk Nursery. Makes sapling-friendly nutrient rich foods. Can also make special sap for pregnant treefolk mothers or females to boost quality and health of their fetus or eggs] Uh. Dammit. I keep forgetting how much the system likes these kind of stuff. I¡¯m even betting there¡¯s extra points because they are treefolk. Maybe I¡¯ll also get new biolab equipments when I put the treefolk under the biolab. At least I have something. ¡°Chieftains, I¡¯ll have something for you soon.¡± Spaizzer Shorter chapter as I''m out of ideas. faints Also, hope the part on treefolk-reproduction doesn''t creep you out. natural disasters happen, well.. because they do. I mean, a volcano or earthquake, or tsunami, or wildfires, well, shit like that happens, don''t they, especially when you talk about timescales of years? what is remote becomes certain over the ages. I should add a supervolcano eruption someday. There should be at least one somewhere on their world. Thanks for reading! Three names too many Year 78 Month 3 "This volcano thing is going to take a lot longer if you don''t find some other kind of powerup." "Huh." Alexis''s modified drone-beetle made the journey to the volcano. Her research tree has a root that transformed into some kind of garage like structure where the beetles are stored and modified. So, that''s the first of many bombshells. "Although your large beetles can take a few punches, the magma golems are way way stronger than your large beetles. I estimate you need at least 10 upgrades before you get anywhere near defeating then with 3 large golems. The gap is just too large. If I estimate the golems as level 60 threats, your large beetles right now are about level 35, and if each research upgrade gives 2 levels worth of strength, you would need easily 10-15 upgrades, just to be at equal rank, not considering elemental and type weaknesses." I''m sad. A tree conquering a volcano. Say it again. A tree conquers a volcano. Man, that just sounds absurd. "I recommend finding alternatives. Something to breach the weaknesses. Find an elemental type that allows a good counter. Water or cold type? Or even wind." I totally didn''t hear that. I am just too wrapped up in sadness. Maybe my approach is wrong. What if I am not looking to conquer the volcano, but¡­ absorb it? Can I terraform the volcano? Alter the surroundings? "So, as I was saying, magic would help. Think about it, a magic-casting beetles." "Huh." Oh wait, Alexis was talking. "Sorry could you repeat, I did not pay attention." She sighs. "I mean, you need magic. Or water. Acid''s not going to work on the magma golems. Its¡­ its just uh¡­ you know, science? Water. Spells." Okaaaaay. But damn, there must be other ways about it. Or would it be better to just focus on one area of the volcano, like a ¡®safe zone¡¯? "Ah. Any other observations from your probe?" The information I have is from what I can see via my subsidiary trees and maybe she sees something else. "Uh¡­ The mana density is quite high¡­ but I can''t seem to figure out what''s wrong with it. Its not a pleasant kind of mana¡­" Ah yes, mana, the weird thing that everyone''s soul produces and also produced by things like leylines and certain objects. From the bodies I have examined, there are certain ''colors'' to each mana, and it seems mine is primarily blue, which is why its the first color I unlocked. The colors, type of mana, and the quality of it have tremendous influence on the way it feels and behaves. In a way, the description by most common mages is that mana is like air. There is stale air, good air, bad air, smelly air, dry air, wet air. I wonder in this world, does mana take the form of some kind of special atom? Don''t you ever wonder what is mana at its smallest unit? And why does the soul produce it? Does the soul maintain some kind of law of energy conservation? "Hey, hey, if you want to have theoretical discussions you can do it with me." Alexis vents. "I like those kind of topics too. And seriously, do you have a problem staying focused on any particular topic? Stop hopping to other trains of thought all the time." But they all deserve to grow? These thoughts, they are worth exploring. So I do. "Focus. Back to the volcano. You need magic, and the right elements. Do you have anything? The spiders and the beetles are not ideal, obviously since they are weak to fire." Well, other than myself, I can''t think of any. "So, magic! Doesn''t have to be pure magic, but imagine beetles with a magical cannon that shoots water. Or spiders that create a freezing field. Flying beetles that releases water like the fire rescue planes. Oh wait. You might not know what that is. But you get the picture?" "Hmmm¡­" "Oh come on, you want this volcano or not. You do it your way it''s gonna take a lot longer." Ah. Alexis is pushing her magic agenda again. "Let me think about it." Year 78 Month 4 The treefolk-specific saps and nutrient foods are super popular, indeed it augments some of the key challenges treefolk face during pregnancy. The main thing is, treefolks, as the pregnancy gets more mature, ideally should stay put, their feet firmly rooted to the earth. This allows them to draw nutrients, mana from the earth to feed the growing fetus within their wooden bodies. But, being stationary for months is not feasible in an environment where non-humans, like treefolk, are consistently hunted by others, so to be safe, they had to constantly migrate and move around to evade their hunters. This leads to nutrient shortage, their bodies compensate through consuming the parent''s nutrients to feed the fetud, and so, weakens the parent. Their children are generally weaker, though the most recent few children are in much better shape. No longer having to run, and have a relatively stable valley to stay in helps a lot in the quality and overall health of the treefolk children. Perhaps more than any other race, they need stability, and a familiar environment to mature properly. "The treefolk''s loyalty is probably the highest amongst all the nonhuman races, followed by the Centaurs. If we are to admit members into the Valtrian order, we can create a special group for them." "Isn''t that species-ism? That is the root of future discord though, the other races will dislike their special privileges." "Is it not a waste to make the most of their abilities?" "If we go down the path of making the races compete with each other, that will not go well. Right now New Freeka is dominated by elves, followed by the centaurs, if they start competing, that will further entrench the existing rifts among the races." "Why do you care, master? They are disposable, are they not?" Ivy retorts, and I wonder where she gets that angry persona from. Is it from observing people for too long? "All of them are slimy, at least, the treefolks no so slimy because their material demands are different." Ivy hit level 10 a few days ago, and amusingly, her skill at level 10 is [Citizen File], using her constant monitoring of the citizens to build a "dossier" on the people. It takes effort, and a few months to do it, but Ivy''s got time. I gulp, if I could. Ivy''s right, they are disposable. In the larger scheme of things, loyal servants are more valuable anyway. I should get more loyal servants. Better a loyal servant than 100 fighters who would stab me in the back. The Valtrian order is stabilising, as the processes around the birth and death, and the quasi-military force regains some semblance of structure after my earlier retrenchment exercise. l .. The new leadership team meet in Jura''s new office in the center courtyard of Valtrian Order HQ. All rooms are covered with vines and trees, such that I can always monitor them, even the toilets. Jura, Laufen, Madeus, three captains, two herbalists, two administrators and a master of ceremonies. Three captains of the Order, the military arm shrunk to only 900 strong, each captain a leader of a group of 300. Two herbalists, they lead about 100 workers to cultivate and maintain the various herbal gardens and farms around the Valtrian order, and produce herbal medicines and ointments. Two administrators, responsible for treasury and purchases, funds, and payment of salaries, managing an administrative staff of 50. The master of ceremonies, a position I wanted to give Wesley, but he declined, claiming he isn''t interested in paperwork, so instead another priest was roped in to take the role. Somebody had to sort out the planning of the deaths, and all the paperwork around them. Almost all of them, except one administrator, are elves. I had hoped for a bit more variety in the Valtrian leadership. It''s a weekly meeting, for everyone to get updates on the plans, and matters, this is where everyone speaks to¡­ me. "The councillors are not too happy with the retrenchment exercise, Tree Spirit. Many of them complained to the councillors and demand their positions be reinstated." "Tell them that they are free to let Jura know that they can challenge a beetle to a fight. If they prove they will be more useful in battle than any of my beetles, I will give them their position back, and a small reward." The three captains glance at each other awkwardly. "In fact, please put up a notice. Let this be known." The captain that brought it up shrugs and nods. I think he regrets it. "Ah¡­." "The acquisition of more herbs and plant varieties is ongoing, and the peace accords with Salah is recently finalised. That means we will see more movement of non-combatants, especially from the various magic councils of Salah." "Watch them carefully. They will be spies. Salah will take this ''peace'' to gather information on our true depth." Well, the truth is, I would probably get Ivy to watch them too. She''s getting better at spying on people throughout New Freeka. "Would it not be New Freeka''s military to do so? They may think we are taking unnecessary action that may provoke Salah." "New Freeka''s unreliable, and the leaders are¡­ compromised. And if getting caught spying would provoke Salah, I prefer to think of if as a warning." "Compromised? Really? Who?" One of the captains ask. Jura jumped in. "Secret. But the logic is simple enough, once the leaders saw the beetles, Salah attacked..." "Ah¡­" Separately I turn to Ivy, "Do you have a file on the captains? I feel they are suspicious as well." "Yes I already have some observations... They''ve not done anything big so far, but they do have some¡­ suspicious activities One of them, from conversations gathered, have human relatives in Salah, and all three do write letters, delivered via the merchants to other countries." One drawback, the written word is a bit harder to spy on as our visual quality is a bit low-resolution. One of the reasons I wanted the Tree-Eye ability. "Can we get a copy of the letters?" "Difficult. Will need Jura to do so, but we do not have trusted agents in the merchants group, so it will be rather tough to do so discreetly." Ah, that is something we need to fix, and the fact that Ivy exists as a tree-mind means she''s my eyes and ears, but not my hands and legs. Meanwhile, the leadership continue with their discussion. Typical leadership mumbo jumbo. Funny how people in positions of power always end up having discussions about structure, and plans. "Okay, updates." Jura steers the conversation back to regular matters like finances, hiring, what''s the plan for the next week, updates from the New Freeka High Council ("NFHC"). "There is a travelling group of druids, they seek permission to go through our lands, the NFHC has agreed to grant them the right of passage and to go about their restoration work." "Huh, didn''t those nomads come here before?" "A different group. Just keep a lookout for them." "Travelling to barren lands and returning greenery, surely there are better uses of their talents." One of the captain jokes, the mood is a little bit more cordial. The earlier banter between the leaders are getting better, Jura''s diplomat class really helps putting others at ease. "All you think about is fighting, everything else is pointless to you. Maybe it''s part of their class requirement. Some jobs have certain accomplishment barriers, perhaps druids are like that." Another captain pokes his colleague. "Do mages have accomplishment quests, Madeus?" "My mage class doesn''t. Or perhaps, not yet." Jura looks at the few pieces of paper before him. "Ah I think we are straying off the agenda again. Anything else?" "We have some responses to our request to hire adventurers to bring back exotic plants, from the faraway continents. The message we got is that they will arrive in a month, and demand that their payment be ready." "Yay." I like that. The captains frown. "Is this the best use of money?" Jura grins, "Fun fact, the tree spirit gets more powerful with every new type of plant he encounters. So, it''s worth it." "Anything else?" The master of ceremonies raises his hand and nod, "I have a proposal. The Tree Spirit should have a divine title." "A divine title?" Almost everyone asks in unison. "Ah, in various sects and religions, there are often special titles to refer to the minor deities and heroes, something that cements that person as a divine being. Currently, referring to the Tree Spirit as the Tree Spirit is¡­ clunky and awkward, and makes the prayers and ceremonies a bit less¡­ proper as religions tend to be. A divine title is a gesture to recognise Tree Spirit''s special position in our society. Like how some refer to god as God." Jura scratches his chin, "Are you asking the Tree Spirit for a name or title?" "Ah, I am thinking... of having the senior leaders group together and do a study, on the proper ways to venerate the Tree Spirit. A few of the faithfuls shared their troubles, that the Tree Spirit as the Tree Spirit does not differentiate it from the many other tree spirits in the world. The masses, those who pray, must know and be assured that their prayers are going to the correct and true Tree Spirit." "Ah¡­ That''s the kind of thing only a priest will think about." "So¡­ perhaps we can spend some time to think of a name-" "Aeon." The master of ceremonies immediately kneels before the small tree in the center of the room.. "Ah, truly the Tree Spirit is divine, Tree Spirit already has a divine name. Kneel before Aeon, everyone, for we are the first to be graced by Aeon, with his divine title." The rest of them look at each other, probably wondering what the hell is this guy trying to do, but decides to go with the flow that the Master of Ceremonies created and so, kneels. Even Jura and Laufen join in. "Oh, to the great and mighty, protector and watcher of the valley, we offer our prayers and thanks to thee, o mighty and powerful, Aeon." If I could rub my head I would. But I really liked the name Aeon. I think Aeon as a name deserves to be much than just the name of a chain of supermarkets. One of the captain rub his head, "Is it pronounced like.. Aye-on? Or Aye-yon?" "I accept both pronunciations." - [Hidden Conditions checks met] [Special skill obtained - Possession of the devoted] [A special familiar contract with a chosen devoted believer. Limited to 5 at any time] Year 78 Month 5 Things are rather quiet in New Freeka and the valley, and I think that is a good thing. Alexis is right. I need a different approach if I need to hold the volcano. The inner volcano is filled with giant golems, who are clearly still leagues ahead of the large beetles. If the location is bad, the golems could easily hold off my beetle horde like a wall made of lava. So, while the various research continue, I¡¯m thinking of other methods. She''s right that beetles are a bad matchup, even if this will annoy Horns. Anyway, let¡¯s talk about New Freeka. This month I received a magical cactus, some kind of coconut variant, and a gourd shaped fruit which is often used to store foods due to its magical preservation qualities, so that goes into the biolab. [Skills acquired] [Cactus defense system] [New crop type acquired] [Milk coconut and brownwood gourds] [Subsidiary tree limit increased] Other than that, for the Valtrian order, things are pretty much the same. Training, scouting, purchasing and trading, and the birth & death rituals continue. The populace of New Freeka adapts to the new routine, and a new set of uniformed group in the town. Jura and the team decided on a dark brown color, like the tree barks, as the Valtrian Order''s "color", New Freeka uses blue. The druids came. They didn''t seem too interested in the valley, it seems the druids got some kind of messiah complex that drives them to seek out sick trees and damaged environments, so their stop in New Freeka is a really brief one, just to resupply. It''s peaceful. I even manage to successfully protect my ginseng tree and make it last past their first year. And that''s nice for a change. Year 78 Month 7 "Practice." Lausanne grumbles. As Jura now has responsibilities in Valtrian Order, the time he has for Lausanne is significantly reduced, and she often seeks him out for practice sessions, even in the quarters itself. In his place, the captains and men of the Valtrian order often become Lausanne''s sparring partners, and in a way, its good for her. Lausanne, now level 25, is actually better at the sword than a regular soldier, who''s usually only about level 20-30, but having their levels dispersed over various skills. "For a 9 year old she''s pretty much a genius." The captains lavish their praise on Lausanne, though Lausanne just shrugs. Of course, the captains don''t know is I''ve easily used 400 to 500 essences collected throughout the years, to build up her combat sense through [dream tutor], [powerlevelling], [learning aura], and most recently [training room]. "Perhaps that''s the other thing you should be doing." Alexis''s really bored these days, when she''s not using her 2 probe-beetles, she tries to make conversation with me, or everyone else. "Maybe you can train an army of super-warriors." "Heh. It''s too early to tell how far Lausanne will go. She''s currently my test subject, to see how effective the abilities are. But if it works, I¡¯ll consider it." ¡°You should train more than just Lausanne. You can then compare the differences, perhaps each of the different individuals as your test subjects. Vary them a bit, then you can see what influences their growth and whether there is an actual¡­ limit.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been thinking about this kind of thing, haven¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a research spirit floating around, stuck to my tree. What¡¯s there to do other than tinker with my lab equipment, and think about such things? Is it wrong?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ not, that¡¯s not what I meant¡­¡± ¡°Then what do you mean?¡± ¡°You know what, I think you have a point. I agree that I should have a few test subjects, to see how the training thing works, and fully explore the limits of these people.¡± Of course, that means I¡¯ll need to find ways to consolidate and upgrade all my training related skills, such that I can distribute the resources to more people, other than Lausanne alone. Part of the reason why I focused only on Lausanne, is because I have no idea how effective my abilities are, and how it actually affects Lausanne¡¯s growth, so I just went all in. The problem with [dream tutor], and [learning aura], is that the effects are really small, but they do accumulate over a long period of time. It isn¡¯t as if Lausanne becomes super amazing the next day, and I¡¯ve been using [dream tutor] on her since she¡¯s¡­ 5? Maybe 4. I forgot. ¡°Since she¡¯s got that special skill, well, use your seeds as well. I¡¯m really eager to know what they do.¡± ¡°Huh, I¡¯m confused now. Should I focus on Lausanne, or train more people?¡± ¡°Both! You can focus on Lausanne since she¡¯s got that unique skill, but you do need other people as a ¡®base case¡¯. It¡¯s really basic, you can¡¯t draw conclusions on a sample of one. More samples, more robust conclusions! So diversify! Expand your sample size!" ¡°You know, the validity of your methods are distorted by ¡®skills¡¯ and ¡®abilities¡¯.¡± ¡°Those are outliers and variables that we can adjust for. That¡¯s normal!¡± I think Alexis is talking a lot like a scientist, and I think it¡¯s part of the job. ¡°Meela, do you think she¡¯s talking like a scientist?¡± ¡°She talks like that all the time. It¡¯s normal.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°But I¡¯m not disputing the essence of your argument, and I agree with the idea of having more¡­ test subjects. Well, it¡¯s time for me to get Laufen to work on the orphanage.¡± ¡°Wait. You¡¯re experimenting with orphans?¡± Alexis didn''t like that though. ¡°Who else do I experiment on? Do you see any other young children I can run some tests on? You think the rest of the New Freekans willing to give me young children to test on?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to say that it¡¯s ethically wrong to use your abilities on young children who are unable to decide and give consent. You know what, testing on young children now feels eerily similar to trying to train orphans into war machines, so I take back my earlier statement. Please don''t test on young children.¡± ¡°This is a magical world, and frankly, I am not doing them any harm. When you feed a child a supplement, you want them to grow strong, but did the child give consent? When you force him to eat his bitter medicine, did he give consent? As long as your intent is to help them, I think it¡¯s fine. And with orphans, as the Valtrian order is the caretaker and guardian, we are empowered to make decisions on their behalf.¡± Meela tries to break up the argument by butting in. ¡°Alex think positively! Maybe TreeTree can make Batman! That¡¯ll be cool. I think a lot of superheroes are orphans or lost their parents. Superman too! So I think it¡¯s a good idea. You won¡¯t abuse them, right? Right?¡± Alexis pretty much facepalms, ¡°I don¡¯t think TreeTree knows what Batman is.¡± Uh, I do, but I keep my mouth shut. ¡°Well, no permanent pain, I suppose¡­¡± Frankly I don¡¯t know, there¡¯s no progress without pain. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Naming deficiency Year 78 Month 8 Valtrian Order¡¯s Orphanage for young children is up and running, all we needed was a building where we could build rooms, and then employ people to take care of the kids. As a rule, I insisted that the children we take in are less than 12 years old, such that. Those older are able to find work and can live on their own, in this world, for humans, 13 is quite a normal age to start holding some kind of semi-permanent job, either as an apprentice, or some kind of live-in worker, and this norm is also seen in the other non-humans. In New Freeka, connected to the orphanage large building is a few subsidiary trees, two of which are [training rooms], for teaching and sparring. There would be quite a lot of young orphans in this world, after all, with so much war and slaughter going on, it is only a norm that families are often broken. Anyway, my intention is to train these orphans, those willing, into warriors for the Valtrian Order, and so the remaining Valtrian Order soldiers are regularly coming to give the young kids some simple lessons. In a way, it acts as a ¡®feeder¡¯ into the future Valtrian order guards. For monitoring and tracking, one of the subsidiary trees is a biolab, with multiple pods. The decor is intentionally bare, and I had the herbalist use it as a ¡®medicinal¡¯ room, to mask the true intent of the pods, which is¡­ to take magical snapshots of these orphan¡¯s progress over the years. Feedback in terms of the orphanage is mixed, and even from the orphans themselves. Many of them are living in empty, abandoned homes, some taken in by the people of New Freeka. Some orphans themselves resist the structure and rules that an orphanage have, and prefer to continue living on their own. Well, my view to Laufen is, don¡¯t force the kids. If they want to live on their own and think they can and know better, go ahead. Either the world will teach them a lesson, or they will truly show their mettle. Out of the town¡¯s population of 50,000 or so elves, dwarves and centaurs, about 500-1,000 or young orphan children, but not all want to stay in this new set of quarters, so it¡¯s often the really young ones. There are also families who cannot or are unable to raise their children, so they surrender their children to the orphanage. Oh well. I¡¯m not going to be the moral police, so whatever men and women choose to do with their lives, that¡¯s their problem. I¡¯ll take the kids, and I¡¯ll use them. The good thing is, it puts some jobs on the table, as the orphanage hires a lot of workers, to cook, to care for the orphans, to teach, and some retired, elderly men also help out as trainers. The thing about old people in a world with great and frequent destruction, is often they are quite high leveled. Being on the run for decades must have given them a lot of survival related skills and actual [skills], either they are good at fighting, good at running and hiding, or good as improvising and making the most of what little they have. Ah well, I guess there has to be some truth to the old people being awesome trope after all. - ¡°Eat this.¡± Lausanne stares at the green fruit right in front of her. She picks it up with her tiny hands, and she shakes it. ¡°It does not look ripe.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not meant to be ripe. Eat it.¡± It¡¯s a green fruit, made out of the passive seed, [spark of brilliance]. It¡¯s small, the size of a grape. It¡¯s lime green, and from my point of view, it has a faint green glow to it. It¡¯s my first time creating a fruit out of the seeds. ¡°Uh¡­ okay.¡± She starts to chew on the small fruit. She walks a few steps, her mouth chewing. ¡°Okay I ate it. It tastes sour, but it¡¯s not horrible. Is this some kind of new fruit you want us to sell, TreeTree?¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s a special fruit. Just for you.¡± ¡°Huh. If it¡¯s a special fruit, shouldn¡¯t it be sweet and really yummy? It¡¯s quite sour, and I can still taste the sourness on my tongue...¡± Lausanne downs a cup of water, probably hoping to wash off the taste. ¡°Not all things in life are meant to be sweet, my dear Lausanne.¡± ¡°Is that some kind of word of wisdom I should remember?¡± ¡°Perhaps.¡± ¡°Is this why you called me here, TreeTree?¡± ¡°Not just this¡­¡± If I could smile, I would. ¡°Lausanne, would you like a special familiar contract?¡± Lausanne immediately nods, ¡°Yeah sure. Special in a good way, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± [Lausanne has accepted the special familiar contract. 50 star mana consumed. 1 star mana will be consumed per month]. Star mana. I have 300 star mana at the moment, that¡¯s the maximum number of star-mana storage organs I have, and with the current maximum number of star-leaves, I produce 30 star mana a month. ¡°Oh wow. Is this like Uncle Jura¡¯s Bamboo?¡± She activates the familiar, and then two large twisting roots emerge from her body, and they transform into a wooden sword and shield, Lausanne¡¯s current favourite fighting combination. ¡°Whoah it responded to me! Can you hear it TreeTree?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± Well, the familiar doesn¡¯t have an artificial soul, but it probably has a kind of ¡®programming¡¯ to it, like an¡­ animal?¡± ¡°Well, it just says, sword and shield mode.¡± Lausanne grins. ¡°But it¡¯s cool. I can tell it things in my head!¡± The wooden sword starts transforming into a whip. Huh. That is pretty cool. ¡°And it can change shape!¡± Lausanne tries out the whip, and it works like a rope too, allowing Lausanne to pull herself forward. ¡°I can use this to swing from branch to branch too! Like the monkeys!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let your mom see that.¡± The idea of a young little girl swinging around like Tarzan is probably going to make Laufen have a headache. ¡°Ah yes ah yes. Sorry I got excited.¡± The two roots can transform into various shapes, but there are certain limits to the size and length. ¡°It¡¯s kinda cool that they don¡¯t drain my mana as much as the normal familiar too!¡± Ah, I suppose that¡¯s the benefit, stronger, more flexible, but cost less. I suppose the star mana that I give it is supports it? ¡°Thank you, TreeTree. This is nice.¡± ¡°Good. Let me know if you get any skill notifications tomorrow.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Well, the next day, ¡°Erm¡­ I didn¡¯t get a new skill, but one of my skills transformed.¡± ¡°Oh, which one?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the [Blessed by a soul tree]. It¡¯s now [Blessed by a soul tree - advanced].¡± ¡°Huh¡­¡± Well, that¡¯s amusing. Now she¡¯s even more compatible with my abilities¡­ I hope she doesn¡¯t eventually transform into a tree. ¡°Well, the cool thing is, the roots are a bit longer and bigger now. I think it makes my familiar stronger!¡± I see, so the special familiar¡¯s effects are going to be less impressive on the other guys. Now I want to know whether I can fuse this special familiar with an artificial soul. Lausanne shows off her slightly bigger sword and shield, it¡¯s wood, of course. ¡°I¡¯m gonna go practice. Don¡¯t tell mom I¡¯m in the forest.¡± Well, Lausanne did try to be a monkey, and she¡¯s using two roots like vines, to swing herself from tree to tree. But only with the bigger trees, since the smaller trees don¡¯t have enough clearance. Oh dear, what have I done. Year 78 Month 10 Demon king preparation status check. The demon king appeared Year 70, Month 4. The demon king died about 5 years ago, around Year 73 Month 3 Week 2 Going by the 10 year gap between demon kings, that means I should have at least about 5 years left. 5 years is a good amount of time, but halfway there, it¡¯s time to discuss the matter again. ¡°So, the next demon king should be about 5 years away, we won¡¯t know for certain, but that¡¯s the approximate time range. What should we do?¡± Well, the audience is myself, my treeminds, Horns, Alexis and Meela. I¡¯ll have another discussion with the Valtrian peeps next time. ¡°It depends on the type of power the demon king has.¡± ¡°We won¡¯t know until he appears, and we¡¯d be running out of time if that¡¯s the case. What are the normal, common powers a demon king would have?¡± ¡°Extensive destruction abilities, and demonic hordes?¡± ¡°So okay, how do we prepare for that?¡± ¡°Hide? There¡¯s really no way we can fight back unless we have the powers of the heroes, and running is out of the option.¡± ¡°Agree, hide. So that means we need to figure out a way to make use of the tunnels and the abandoned dungeon as some kind of shelter, and build barricades and strong gates.¡± ¡°Uh, I think that¡¯s missing the point. TreeTree, you¡¯re massive, you can¡¯t hide.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, but it¡¯s more for everyone else around me. I think I can take whatever the demon king¡¯s horde can throw at me¡­ except the demon king himself.¡± ¡°So what are you going to do if the Demon King himself comes for you.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll think about it then. For now, let¡¯s work on the plan to hide.¡± ¡°How about the [ThreeTree of Mana]? We can¡¯t hide that.¡± It¡¯s DImitree who brings up his part of the world. ¡°If necessary, we need to build a massive wall around it, one that even the demon king can¡¯t destroy?¡± ¡°That¡¯s impossible, if there¡¯s one thing the demon king doesn¡¯t lack, it¡¯s destructive firepower.¡± ¡°The elves say there are other trees who manage to somehow make their forests disappear. How do we do that?¡± ¡°That¡¯s hiding. And well, that¡¯s a good point. If there¡¯s an ability to temporarily warp the valley into pocketspace, that¡¯ll help.¡± I¡¯ve got no skills anywhere near that level, though I suppose [secret hideout] is like a slow step on that path? Perhaps someday, I¡¯ll get the ability to create a massive secret hideout that includes myself in it. Though that¡¯s probably going to make my mind melt, because the secret hideout is inside me, but I¡¯m inside the secret hideout. So what¡¯s inside what? ¡°Can¡¯t the demon king detect such abilities? Seems kinda odd that an incredibly powerful monster like itself would allow such things to happen¡­¡± ¡°...Are demon kings¡­ sentient?¡± ¡°I have no idea. It has a certain kind of intelligence, but sentient¡­ no one has ever communicated with it.¡± - Year 78 Month 12 Winter. With volcano project hitting a slow spot, I decide to try other projects. Tapping on the Valtrian Order''s growing network of contacts, I am now aware of three faraway sites that I want to explore. Further up north, some movements of the ground revealed a previously covered massive hole, that goes really, really deep. It''s as if somebody dug a hole vertically down. It¡¯s currently spitting out many different kinds of snake-monsters and snake like creatures, which is why I suspect it is likely to contain some kind of magical source. That said, my data is quite lacking. Currently being extensively attacked by adventurers, as the snakehide seem to fetch good money, and also its a new large dungeon, so plenty of adventurers are trying to make their way down. Travel time by beetle is 2 weeks. 2nd, in one of the regions near the Nung-Salah border, there¡¯s a few dungeon-like areas. There¡¯s no detected leyline, but there are still a lot of monsters appearing in that area. As the area is rather sparsely populated and heavily damaged from all the battles, there''s not much adventurer attention compared to the snake-hole, but the presence of multiple dungeon entrances and unusual monster do hint at a dungeon. If so, I want the core. Travel time by beetles, 2 weeks. 3rd site, is a deep into one of the nearby kingdom¡¯s territories. A lake with seems to be inhabited by magical beasts and strange, unusual plants. Rumoredly, magical. 3 weeks away. My first choice is the one with the potential leyline, but that means I have to deal with the adventurers. Still, leyline is too good to miss out, so I¡¯m going to start my subsidiary-tree-expansion to that location. The dungeon-like areas, if I do attempt those, would be for the cores. It¡¯s a good reward financially, and I¡¯d like to study cores in much more detail, perhaps there are variations to cores between dungeons. If a core is sentient, or has the potential to be, I would like to attempt using an artificial-soul on one. My suspicions are they would work similar to a root-brain complex, and that would be something fun to test out. The drawback is¡­ the active warzone. Salah and New Freeka is at ¡®peace¡¯, the Nung-Takde & Salah War is still ongoing, with the situation at a stalemate. It seems they are periodically still fighting battles on a few fronts, though both sides are not trying anything bold to end the war. It¡¯s an odd state, skirmishes here and there, even though trade routes have been strangely re-opened. I¡¯d like to scout out the location, so I plan to have some beetles in the location, just to find out where these ¡®dungeons¡¯ are. As for the lake, it doesn''t seem to be that much of a problem, just far away. New types of plants is always welcome, if magical and potentially rare plants, even more, ans this seems more appropriate for a small strike force. Send the guys in, get the strange plants, and get out. Simple, suitable for a covert strike team of beetles. ¡°I want to go.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Take my probe-etle there.¡± ¡°Is that a name you came up with?¡± Sounds like something you stick up an arse. Who do they call that again¡­ is it endoscopy? Oh wait. It sounds like probiotics! The kind of weird bacteria shit those multi level marketers try to sell! ¡°It sounds better than scout beetle, doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Which one?¡± ¡°I have two probe-etles, I want to see the lake. And the giant hole in the ground.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± ¡°Yay. Meela~ Do you wanna go? You should totally consider fusing with one of the beetles, then we both can still go travel. You can be my probe''s bodyguard!¡± ¡°Wait, you can see through the probes?¡± ¡°Uh, yeah. It¡¯s called a probe, right? Of course I can see through the probe.¡± "I don''t want to be a beetle. That''s disgusting." Meela probably is frowning. "I''d rather be a tree." "I take offense to that statement." Horns chimes in. "Aww come on. We finally get to do some travelling!" "I rather like the relative peace and safety here. I might get attacked as a beetle, and people will hate me, I can''t cope with that!" "Meela that''s a lie and you know it." The two girls seem to be arguing, but it''s rather friendly kind. So I ignore them. - One of the merchants brought garlic and ginger today, apparently really popular with nobility for cooking. [Crop variety - Garlic] added. You can now produce essences of garlic and garlic flavored woods, fruits and saps. [Crop variety - Ginger] added. You can now produce essences of ginger and ginger flavored woods, fruits and saps Ooh that''s gonna stink some people. I wonder whether they have stinky fruits in this world¡­ like¡­ durians? They should, right? But you know, this recent about garlic and ginger gave me an idea. I have the ability to produce fruits, vegetables and herbs. What if I set up a market, and sell my produce? Or even better, set up a restaurant? I''m not sure how many restaurants they have in New Freeka, but certainly, if I have the ability to procure and produce unique types of vegetables and fruits, that would give me a unique selling point! I could make special ginger-ginseng soup. Or fried potatoes with garlic, herbs and spices "A restaurant? You need cooks though. A chef!" "But it could work!" "You girls know any recipes from where you are from?" All I know is how to cook instant noodles with eggs. "Uh¡­ I might. But honestly¡­" "If I get an ability to create a [Tree-kitchen] or [Res-Treerant] I''ll fuse you to it." "Does that mean I''ll be stuck in a cooking game forever?" Meela seems frightened by the prospect. Oh wait, did they not know I can reassign them, because their souls are stronger than the artificial souls? "I think a beetle is still better." "But a cooking tree sounds like an appealing idea at least. It could even end up a case where I could be the spirit that runs a hotel and restaurant. It''s like those cooking simulator games!" Meela laughs. Alexis looks a bit concerned. "Meela, are you sure you want to be a¡­" Her dreams of travelling with a beetle bodyguard fading away... "A hotelier! And master chef!" "Wait. You''re not serious." Alexis facepalms, only, she''s a spirit so all she could do was soundlessly smack herself with her ethereal hands. "Maybe one of your [subsidiary tree] with a room. I can probably acquire the job as [chef] and [innkeeper]." Alexis looks horrified. "Meela, if you fuse with a tree you can''t get job levels, job levels are for humanoids only! My skills so far are all because my creature-type is research tree spirit. So no!" "Eh. TreeTree, can you make a tree decorated with multiple hotel like rooms, kitchen, dining and cafe area?" "I¡­ I can try." Huh, true, forcefully decorating a tree such that I get a different tree type. That''s like the playroom and training room, it might just work. "Okay TreeTree, I, Meela Adams have decided on my career path! If you can make one where I get the right type, then I''ll fuse with it." "Meela, you serious?" Alexis''s flying up and down. "You won''t even know if there are tourists? We have no data on tourism and travel traffic! How do you know it''ll work out? How many people even eat out?" "What''s the worst that can happen? I''m a tree! It''s not like I''ll starve to death if the hotel and restaurant fails." "Meela!" Alexis shouts. "It''ll be fine, Alexis. Of all the options offered to me, this actually seems like fun! Chef and hotelier! That''s a whole lot more interesting than looking at a lab all day. I could even open branches! Hotel-tree branches! Getit? I could be a moving tree hotel. Or a popup store! The wandering treehotel-restaurant! Maybe even add a convenience store!" Alexis slams her head into the trunk of her biolab. It doesn''t really hurt. "If trees can move, then I could be a coconut hotel & restaurant tree by the beach!" Hey, that''s an interesting idea. Giant treants, but is actually a walking hotel. "TreeTree, can I name my hotel and restaurant? I can, right?" "Uh, sure." Hey, Meela wants to be useful, if naming rights is all she wants... "I''m gonna call the hotel, the Meela! And the restaurant, the Fried Mee! And if there''s a Cafe, it''s gonna be the Cafe Meelatte. Oh TreeTree, you should totally get coffee beans." Alexis smacks her face into the trunk, multiple times. She''s not feeling any pain, I think she''s just doing it to vent her frustration with Meela''s inane choice. "Alexis, you can name your lab too. I''ll give you an idea. You can name it, A-Lab-is. It''s like your name, but with a lab in it. Or Labalex. That''s cool too." --- Spaizzer br> AN: Meela''s been spending too much time with TreeTree. Also : no chap last week of june. im travelling! New businesses Year 79 Month 1 Roots, the subterranean network of trees. Through it, I am connected to the tens of thousands of trees within my valley, and beyond. These roots, they cover vast lands, serving as the forest¡¯s backbone, carrying information, minerals, essences, and mana. These roots, they go through many kinds of soil, so they pick up the subtle shifts of the mineral composition, and, a feature of my various subsidiary trees, act like little sensors, collecting measurements. When it rains, when it snows, when the earth shakes a little, when there¡¯s a bit of shaking, through [rootnet], the roots and the subsidiary trees all collect data. Data, which my root-brains, Trevor, Dimitree, and Ivy feed on. Vibrations, humidity, magic. Together, all these sensors form a vast array, and so, we can now triangulate the sources of tremors, and unusual magics, to determine direction. Some trees in the distance would feel it first, a tug, a pull. Then later more trees pick up on the tremor. An earthquake. A minor one. Even the volcano gives out little warning signs, the small tremors before it starts to erupt, when some part of the volcano starts to spit out lava. This ability could have saved more beetles, if we had it a bit earlier. It¡¯s Trevor¡¯s newest skill addition. [Tree-iangulation] Crunching all the data, to tell me what¡¯s happening in a distant location, without having to actually be there. ¡°If we had magic sensors¡­¡± Alexis is about to start with her usual marketing of magic labs. ¡°Let¡¯s start material labs first. I understand that¡¯s a prerequisite to the development of magic labs?¡± ¡°Ah.. erm.. Yes. We would need to have the ability to analyse materials, and develop mana-sensitive materials, then only magical labs.¡± ¡°So let¡¯s do it. What do I need to get to material labs? Once we have that I¡¯d like to analyse that dismantled airship, again.¡± ¡°What? Really?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve decided to get magic sensors. I imagine that would be very useful if we had another case of that super-blizzard.¡± Alexis nods, ¡°Ah¡­ yes¡­. So, material research first?¡± ¡°Yes. Get to it.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Alexis looks awkward, she floats around, a part of her happy, yet a part of her quite confused. ¡°...What made you change your mind?¡± ¡°Was I changing my mind? I thought I just wanted more time to mull over whether that¡¯s the right direction for us.¡± Alexis seems like she is about to bark some kind of retort, before she seems to realise ¡°...do tree spirits normally take so long to think?¡± ¡°Hmmm. No?¡± ¡°Well, it makes sense, that is a common kind of myth associated with tree-people that they tend to be sluggish and take forever to decide.¡± Alexis is talking to herself now. "It''s like that council of trees in LoTR. Took them forever to decide, didn''t they." Huh. Is she complaining that I took too long to decide? But at least I did decide, no? ¡°Ah never mind. Starting material testing and tree-lab varieties.¡± Eye-Tree Stage I research option unlocked - 2 months remaining Beetle - anti-magma armors stage 2 - completed Beetle - anti-magma armors stage 3 - 3 months remainingTree - volcanic adaptation stage 3 - 2 months remaining Roots - Volcanic mineral harvesting - stage 1 - completedRoots - Volcanic mineral harvesting - stage 2 - completed Roots - Volcanic mineral processing - stage 1 - 5 months remainingMaterials testing - stage 1 - 3 monthsTree-lab varieties - stage 1 - 12 months Research is taking longer, as earlier predicted. Magic is going to be necessary, and though I have to take precautions on who and what gets access to magic, I''m starting to lean on the side that it''s an eventual step I have to take, one way or another, I cannot face the threats this world has with one hand behind my back. A necessary risk. I will have a long conversation with both Meela and Alexis, on magic, on the sorts of magic I will give them access too, though with Meela, I have less ability to control her. My hope is, they would be able to give some contribution to the defense against the next demon king, as they have more experience in magic as heroes. Meanwhile, New Freeka¡¯s having a small boom in terms of growth. The era of peace, and the reputation of stable, secure food supplies attracts more refugees, even from the other nations, not just Salah. A busy time for the council of New Freeka, and they¡¯ve been hard at work, to expand their town premises, prepare new farmlands. More people, more food, more homes, public services need to be expanded. Of course, there''s usually a need for refugees to ''buy'' their way to ''public'' services, such as the right to use some of the new housing. At the same time, there¡¯s been more focus on security and screening, so the NFHC hired some of the laid off soldiers to work as guards. Ivy says some of the councilmen feel a need to bolster their forces, now that they are actively ¡®threatened¡¯ by the presence of the Valtrian order as a ¡®competing¡¯ political power, what more, with Jura and the Valtrian order¡¯s secure, legally protected position. A faction in the council emerged which wants to assert ''independence'' from the Order¡¯s growing influence, and this faction somehow managed to coerce Yvon, such that she voluntarily resigned from her position as the chairperson of the council. Her position has been tenuous and under scrutiny for some time, as it''s an open secret by now, that her soul is contracted to me, and that leads to a whole lot of corridor whispering and rumors about Yvon being ''compromised''. But to the layperson unfamiliar to the nuances of New Freeka politics, her statement to the public at large sounded voluntary enough. ¡®I¡¯m resigning from my post as chairperson of the New Freeka council, with immediate effect. I¡¯ve led and held this position since New Freeka¡¯s founding, and finally, after almost 5 years, I believe this fledgling nation is in safe hands, and I can finally hand the reins over to someone else, and spend time with my son.¡± How sweet. Spend time with Roma, who¡¯s now almost 6 years old. The pressure to ¡®counterbalance¡¯ Jura¡¯s growing influence meant the person holding New Freeka¡¯s chairperson role had to more than independent. In other words, against the Order, against me. Frankly, it¡¯s just silly political struggles. A large faction within the councilmen themselves understand this, after all, they know I can crush them. So they are left in this uncomfortable situation where they yearn for to be the ruling group, but acknowledge that without me, they have nothing to rule. Anyway, silly silly things, these jostling for ''authority'', as long as nothing ¡®unreasonable¡¯ happens, I¡¯ll let them be. Ivy¡¯s got all of them monitored, and retaliation won¡¯t take much time at all. ¡°Lady Yvon.¡± Jura was one of the few she met after her voluntary withdrawal. ¡°I heard the news, frankly, it¡¯s disappointing, but the Tree Spirit expected it.¡± She laughs, ¡°Hah, well, that¡¯s life.¡± Jura shrugs. ¡°So, really, retirement as a mother?¡± ¡°Why, do I not look like I have motherly desires?¡± Jura¡¯s turn to laugh, and he takes a small alcoholic beverage and offers it to Yvon. ¡°Frankly, no. You¡¯re the warrior-queen type.¡± Yvon sips on her little drink. ¡°Well, to be fair, it has some truth, I admit feeling a little jealous that Roma¡¯s a lot more attached to Eriz than me. For all these time I¡¯ve been trying to get this town in order, Eriz has been more like his mother, more than I ever have. So yes, a bit of it is a desire to make up for what I have failed to do.¡± "Really? I really didn''t see you as the actual mother type, though most of New Freeka regard you as the ''mother'' of this city." Jura laughs, he offers his small cup of alcohol and the two cups meet softly. They both take a sip. "Anyway, my time¡¯s up. And time management has never been my strong suit. There''s never enough time to do right by New Freeka, or by Roma." ¡°Time¡¯s never enough. It comes with the job. Look at me, or Laufen. Both of us are so busy these days, we only have a bit of time to spend with Lausanne and the kids. I try to make dinner happen, at least we still meet up¡­ Lausanne¡¯s been bugging me for combat practice every time we meet.¡± ¡°Oh yes I have heard a few captains sing praise of her talent. She¡¯s really good for her age. My son''s not showing any interest yet, though.¡± ¡°Well, may not be a bad thing. Laufen constantly worries she¡¯ll injure herself. At least Roma¡¯s just playing chase, or spending time with wooden toys. I just hope Lausanne doesn¡¯t find someone who doesn¡¯t know how to hold back and injure herself from practice.¡± ¡°You know, I could offer to spar with Lausanne.¡± Yvon nods. ¡°Now that I have free time.¡± Jura smiles, ¡°I would appreciate that. It will be good for her growth, that she fights someone with a different style.¡± ¡°So I take that as a yes?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. Please tell Lausanne you¡¯re her new sparring partner.¡± Yvon nods, ¡°Great!¡± Their cups are both empty. Jura leans forward. ¡°Ah, all of you, can you leave?¡± The guards nod to Jura¡¯s instruction, and so they leave, leaving Jura and Yvon alone in the room. ¡°Huh. Something important?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll cut to the chase, really. It¡¯s about Roma. Is he related to the royalty?¡± ¡°Damn. The Tree Spirit saw through that too?¡± Yvon¡¯s fist smack her other palm, and Jura just shrugs at her statement. ¡°Does the Kingdom of Salah know about it?¡± ¡°I sure hope not. We forged a fake marriage arrangement with one of Galen¡¯s knights, one of the other elves. It also helps that Roma does not manifest any of the human traits yet, so no one will know whether he¡¯s part-human until he¡¯s much older.¡± ¡°But he will, it''s only a matter of time before he asks of his own heritage. How many know of this?¡± ¡°Maybe 10?¡± ¡°That is too many. Where are the 10?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°In which case, you better start preparing Roma. If you¡¯re lucky, he gets forgotten by the Kingdom, as just one of the many bastards royalties have. If you¡¯re not, there¡¯s going to be a group out for his head.¡± ¡°Well, now that I have some free time, looks like I should get started on his practice.¡± Jura nods. ¡°You should. He needs the ability to protect himself. You¡¯re good, but you won¡¯t be able to stop all of them.¡± ¡°Can I count on you to protect him?¡± Jura pauses, and shrugs. ¡°Maybe.¡± Yvon smiles weakly. ¡°Ah well.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re going to start preparing him, then have him practice with Lausanne. I can permit access to the Training Rooms, or use the one near the Main Tree.¡± ¡°I will. Thank you.¡± ¡°Take care, Lady Yvon.¡± Yvon nods, and she leaves. The room¡¯s empty, and so Jura leans back and he speaks out loud. It¡¯s quite obvious he¡¯s talking to me. ¡°Royalty. As you predicted.¡± ¡°It¡¯s obvious, isn¡¯t it? She sent her baby so far away with protectors. If it¡¯s not royalty, I doubt she¡¯d take such precautions. It¡¯s such a¡­ cliche.¡± ¡°I thought it¡¯s just a motherly thing to do, to keep your child out of harm¡¯s way. But I¡¯m happy that she offered to practice with Lausanne. That¡¯ll really help me and Lausanne. If only the others show any interest in learning how to defend and protect themselves.¡± ¡°They¡¯ll be fine. So long as they remain in the valley, the beetles will look out for them. What do you think about her replacement?¡± ¡°Smart, but a little greedy. The position he takes isn¡¯t one he truly believes in, he¡¯s only taking it because it allows him to be in a greater role. I believe he¡¯s just saying what everyone else wants to say, but don¡¯t have the guts to say. A mouthpiece for the anti-Order faction, so he¡¯s going to try to stonewall a few of our initiatives.¡± ¡°Well, it is normal in politics. The opposing party will try their best to stop us. As long as it¡¯s not too annoying, let it be. If you run into trouble, let me know, I¡¯ll crush them.¡± Jura nods. ¡°I figured you would say that. Oh yeah, my [diplomat] and [warrior] classes merged yesterday night. It¡¯s now [Warlord].¡± ¡°Sounds like an upgrade.¡± ¡°It is. I feel stronger already. Cumulatively I¡¯m level 80! I think it¡¯s due to your influence¡± ¡°Great.¡± Well, it¡¯s good that Jura¡¯s getting even more powerful. All that [powerleveling] and [learning aura] helped, after all. He sighs, and it¡¯s a loud, long sigh. ¡°TreeTree. I think¡­ I think this is my limit.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I can feel it. Even though my classes merged, I have a sense, a feeling in my chest. That this¡­ this is as far as I can go. My body and soul is at its limit of growth.¡± ¡°Strange words. Do people not grow, gain levels, as long as they push themselves, fight monsters and gain experience?¡± ¡°Well, in theory, yes. But other than heroes, most of us plateau at some point. For those who are not so gifted, we would experience multiple plateaus. That¡¯s why I¡¯m worried for Lausanne, too. She might be doing well now, gaining levels and all, but there is a point where our body, our souls reach a ¡®plateau¡¯.¡± Well, I think Jura did mention something similar in the past, but it didn¡¯t register as something significant in my head. ¡°We are not born heroes, and so, we have a limit. They say¡­¡± I cut him off then. ¡°Rubbish. Are you sure you¡¯re not just feeling tired and start mumbling? Rather than talk about limits, take a dip in the biolab and let me have a look at what¡¯s going on. Come back to the main tree.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± Jura somewhat reluctantly put himself for examination. And first things first, I notice the arrangement of stones near and around his mana spring. The core of the soul is different from last time, I recall it looking like a few scattered mounds of rocks around the mana spring, but this time, those mounds are shaped like a proper wall around the spring, a bit more like the ranger. There¡¯s a better structure and organisation to the rocks and stones. I suppose this is what the class merger did to the layout of the rocks. Next, I looked at the mana generation, it is healthy, and quite good, doesn¡¯t look like there¡¯s any blockage or ¡®dark spots¡¯ that suck up his mana. The spring¡¯s spewing out mana very well, the supply of ¡®mana¡¯ or ¡®life force¡¯ is good. Not as much as the heroes, of course, but it¡¯s healthy for someone like Jura. Then, I look at the body, the body¡¯s healthy too. Jura¡¯s not a young man anymore, by elven years he¡¯s a middle aged man. Despite that, the body¡¯s in good shape, he¡¯s strong, he¡¯s fit. The shores on the body is taking up all the mana the body can offer, and there are no blockage to the mana flow to any part of the body. Hmm, so why would he feel like this is his limit? Is this something not on the mana? I draw on the power of my [soul forge], and channel it to my main tree¡¯s biolab pod, hoping to have a look at a bit more. With the [soul forge]¡¯s power, more data appears. First, the rate of production of mana from the spring, and then the passive mana consumed to sustain each level and skill. It¡¯s denoted as two bars, mana produced and mana consumed. ¡°Is this the mana we¡¯re familiar with, or another kind of mana?¡± Alexis asks, she¡¯s also looking Jura¡¯s body. Well, as it turns out, it sort of is, the normal kind of mana. Each person produces a certain amount of mana, but it is ¡®allocated¡¯ into two pools, ¡®active¡¯ and ¡®passive¡¯. Active goes into the person¡¯s actual mana pool that is used to cast spells and activate skills, Passive is directly consumed to sustain the body¡¯s stats, power and all the other ¡®passives¡¯. The passive, is commonly referred to as the body¡¯s vitality or life force. It is the data finally answers the question. Jura¡¯s vitality is maxed out. And his body¡¯s consumption of that vitality is also maxed out. Though nothing is ¡®wrong¡¯ with him, he is right to say something is wrong. It¡¯s like a car that¡¯s already pushed to the limit, and can go no further. A car that hit it¡¯s speed limit. ¡°Sounds simple enough, can you tweak the soul such that it produces more vitality and less mana? It sounds like he doesn¡¯t really need that much mana as a warrior. Maybe some of his skills and abilities consume them, but I think a higher level would be better. Or maybe, you could just give him an upgrade? I wonder whether you could upgrade souls.¡± ¡°It¡¯s something I want to think about. There may be other ways to go about it.¡± Tweaking the soul, well, I could, but I need to be very sure it works. The soul forge, if used incorrectly, can cause great damage. Year 79 Month 2 I finally got the skill. We needed to decorate a [subsidiary tree]¡¯s customisable rooms with beds, complete with partitions, segregated washrooms, a reception area and a dining area. [Tree Lodge] [A tree with a whole lot more space than it looks! Each tree lodge has 10 rooms, a restaurant, a cozy lounge, a reception, and a kitchen, all while looking no bigger than any other tree! Needs to hire workers to work] [Limited to 5, and each lodge must be a distance away from the other nearest lodge] Uh. Odd, it''s the first time a tree skill has a minimum distance requirement. I can¡¯t cram all the tree lodges in one place? ¡°Meela, I got the skill. I can make you a tree lodge already.¡± Well, once it¡¯s fused with Meela, the slot would free up again. Meela¡¯s her own person and she doesn¡¯t use my tree lodge slot. It¡¯s like Alexis¡¯s own independent biolab-thing, which is now a weird crazy looking tree with lots of vials, tubes and other contraptions, and strange blobs flowing up and down its side. It''s so weird that I have to use beetles to guard it. ¡°Awesome. I had ideas for names again. Want to hear it?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Hotel Treevago.¡± Hey, I know that joke. Do they all come from the same generation? Is there a kind of speed difference in time between this world and ours? Alexis facepalms. ¡°Meela, that¡¯s lame. And it sounds kind of wrong. Like a bad reproductive disease.¡± Meela laughs. ¡°I know, it¡¯s a joke. I¡¯m probably going to call it something a bit more proper. Perhaps, the Faraway Home-e.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not much better!¡± ¡°The palms, then? I think there¡¯s a luxury hotel by that name, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°The palms¡­ but we¡¯re not at the beach!¡± ¡°How about the Pinewood?¡± ¡°Oh, okay, the Pinewood sounds better.¡± Alexis puts her spiritual fingers on her chin. She''s thinking rather seriously. "Or the Oakwood. I think that sounds quite classy as a hotel." "Meela, you sure you want to be a hotel?" "Hell yeah. Alexis, stops questioning my decisions, I know what I want to do." "Ah, I know you won''t change your mind. Fine, fine. You''ll need to hire workers and you will need money. And where can you get it?" "TreeTree, can I get a loan? You''re rich, right? I''ll pay you back when I start to make money." "Okay. 30 gold for now. Consider it my investment." Alexis smacks her head. "TreeTree, you''re being awfully generous." ¡°Great, thanks TreeTree! Let¡¯s totally do this. Uh.. but wait. If the soul forge merges me with the [Tree lodge], does that mean I take the position of the current Tree Lodge? That¡¯s not a great location, I would prefer one right in New Freeka!¡± ¡°Ah¡­ hmm....¡± I mentally connect to the soul forge, and then, a little prompt appears. Alexis and the Tree-minds didn¡¯t have this issue since they are located right next to me, so after the merging is complete I can just ¡®spawn¡¯ them there. But New Freeka outside the range of the soul forge so I have to use the Carrier Drone. [Carrier Drone. After a soul is merged with an object, skill or person, it can choose to become a ¡°deployable egg¡±. The carrier drone will then carry the egg within it to the desired location, where it will spawn into the merged structure! But beware, the carrier drone is vulnerable, and destruction means death to the cargo as well.] ¡°Once again, the system to the rescue." A little too convenient, but hey, that''s life. And so, I initiate the soul forge. Meela¡¯s soul leaves my [soul realm], and into the forge, together with the [Tree Lodge], which melts into a greenish like liquid, and the soul forge then spins the two together. Meela''s soul takes the form of a white light, and together with the greenish liquid, it mixes into a mild green light. Lightning strikes at the branches of the [Forge Tree], making an electrical connection to the heavens above, and it periodical pulses, and the thickness of the lightning increases. And the spinning within the forge speeds up intensely, as more power and mana are drawn through the roots. Activating a soul forge result in a lot of mana and energy flowing through the roots, especially from the leyline, it feels like having a whole lot of water flowing, spinning around me, like I am stuck in a whirlpool. Zap! One large lightning strikes the [forge tree], and then, it¡¯s complete. The merging is done. A small greenish egg appears from the forge tree, containing a sleeping Meela as a hotel-spirit-tree. A drone beetle appears, it¡¯s body¡¯s hard shell open to reveal something resembling a small but very long limb, it lifts up that small egg, the size of a dog (it¡¯s relative), and places it in a compartment on its body, then the shell closes. ¡°Wow. It even has a little storage space.¡± I command a dozen beetles to quickly escort the drone to the marked place in New Freeka, a place Meela chose beforehand, where she wanted the ¡®hotel¡¯ to be. It''s nighttime, and Jura has already made arrangements for the beetles to enter the town premise. Once the carrier drone arrives safely, the drone beetle starts to dig itself into the ground and it starts to¡­ melt? It¡¯s melting? The body of the carrier and the egg liquefies into a greenish goo and it seeps into the ground. ¡°Whoah.¡± Alexis is quite amused by it. "Magic?" "I.. I think so?" Well, I have no idea. I don''t know how the deployment works either. It¡¯s actually an empty plot of land, owned by the Order, and now, a wall starts to appear around that plot of land. The ground starts to expand, actually, inflate upwards, but still entirely covered in earth. It¡¯s still inflating, and the inflating earth starts to take the shape of a cuboid block made of dirt and roots. It¡¯s like somebody took a hardened cube of earth filled with roots and placed it where the empty spot once was. Then suddenly, a sign appears on that large mound of earth, on the frontage that faces the town¡¯s streets. ¡°Under construction. Grand Opening in soon!¡± ¡°Meela, you there?¡± Alexis asks, a little worried. Meela''s her only friend. ¡°Yes, but I¡¯m very busy!¡± Meela replies back, ¡°I¡¯ll let you know when I¡¯m done! I got tonnes of options before this thing opens!¡± And Meela vanishes, merges into the wooden block, and she didn¡¯t speak a word for the rest of the month. The odd mound of earth, that strangely manages to remain ¡®cube-shaped¡¯ draws a whole lot of curious onlookers, but most people didn¡¯t think about it too deeply. Just one of those strange things that happen in a world with magic, ¡®oh look at that strange earth-block.¡¯. Must be some magical shit happening in the Valtrian Order, again. Compared to trees that spit fire, relatively mild as weird things go. ¡°She¡¯s busy in there." There''s some kind of noise come from that wooden block. I think it sounds a bit like construction work, but it''s a tree-structure, there would not be actual construction going on. Maybe it''s just some kind of sound effect. ¡°Running a hotel isn¡¯t going to be easy, and after lazing around for so long, it¡¯ll take some time before she gets the hang of it.¡± Awww, Alexis is worried. ¡°Hey, take your time, alright? Yell if you need help, I''ll try to help out." Meela did not reply. The noise is getting louder. Alexis sulks. ¡°Meela, you''re okay, right?" "She''s in there. I can feel it. Just give her space." "Okay¡­ Meela, let me know if you need anything alright." Meela didn¡¯t respond. But I think the message got through, she said it so many times, she''s almost nagging. -- ¡°Is it something you¡¯re working on, TreeTree?¡± Well, I told Jura to set aside that plot of land for me, but I didn¡¯t really tell him what exactly it¡¯ll be, so now that there¡¯s a cube of dirt there, he had to ask. ¡°Sort of. It¡¯s going to be a project by Meela.¡±¡°Meela? Is that the hero?¡± Oh wait, Jura didn¡¯t know about Meela¡¯s soul. Even when he¡¯s in front of Alexis¡¯s biolab, all he sees is a glowing blob, and not Alexis¡¯s ethereal form. So, he¡¯s not spoken to them at all. Come to think of it, nobody knows about Alexis and Meela''s second life as a soul. Now I hope they don''t accidentally expose themselves as former heroes. Announcement No chapters next week. Taking a break. Looking out Year 79 Month 4 Oakwood hotel is finally ready to open for business! Meela¡¯s block of wood revealed itself to be a mountain wooden-lodge-like structure, the logs that usually make up the lodge still part of a large living tree that forms Meela¡¯s combined body. She¡¯s the lodge itself, a living structure, and her present appearance, which Meela says it¡¯s a cosmetic choice. She described it as playing in a sandbox, a ¡®game¡¯ where she could choose the decor of everything... I can¡¯t help feel like it¡¯s some kind of mobile game that commuters love to play, to earn points, unlock decors... ¡°Inside, fifteen rooms!¡± Meela beamed, she takes the form of a treefolk-ish creature within the hotel, her legs constantly melding and merging with the floor itself. This treefolk-ish form somewhat resembles her human self, but her skin color and texture is that of walnut-colored wooden bark. ¡°You¡¯ve got a physical body!¡± Alexis¡¯s most impressed, probably because she unfortunately takes the form of a floating spiritual ghost who¡¯s surrounded by levitating vials, tiny petri dishes and other similar sort of lab equipment. ¡°Cool, right? I¡¯m like a treefolk, only¡­. well I can¡¯t step more than 10 feet away from the hotel..¡± Unlike Alexis, she¡¯s been flying around the entire valley, occasionally scaring some of the townspeople, who sees a glowing blob flying around. ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s a level thing, like me. I¡¯m stuck to the biolab at lower levels, but now that I¡¯m level 34, I can travel quite far ! Or ask TreeTree to help! The range limitation doesn¡¯t work if you tap into TreeTree¡¯s [soul realm]. But I¡¯m not sure whether that¡¯s because I¡¯m soul-contracted to him though...¡± It¡¯s then the wisp pulls me into the soul realm. ¡°Ah, I may have forgotten to explain this¡­. A tree spirit has the ability to ¡®share¡¯ and ¡®connect¡¯ souls together, and it¡¯s this ability that allows all the souls a platform to speak and interact, and through it, they can see what you see. The [soul realm] is that platform, and it¡¯s independent of where their physical ¡®locations¡¯ are. I believe the locals would refer to it like being in a ¡®mailing group¡¯. Well, I know they can see what I can see, but I suppose it didn''t occur to me to wonder why Alexis, Horns or Bamboo are able to share their thoughts, while they are out there travelling. I suppose it¡¯s like a video conference facility for souls. ¡°Or do you still have the skill? The ¡®[heroic meld]¡¯? Did you see your status?¡± Alexis¡¯s spiritual body floats over Meela¡¯s little wooden lodge, exploring the rooms. Meela spent a lot of time arranging the decor. It¡¯s rather... cozy? ¡°Nah, almost all my skills are gone and no longer have the [hero] job. I¡¯m level 1 all over again. All I have left is [Goddess¡¯s Blessings].¡± Meela shrugs, she''s got a wooden body to properly shrug now. ¡°I was wondering whether our circumstances would be different, but looks like Death removes all our skills.¡± ¡°Well, I really don¡¯t mind starting over. I¡¯ll get a tonne of skills running this hotel. I¡¯m gonna be awesome!¡± Meela smiles and walks around. ¡°Besides, now that I¡¯m restarting, I¡¯m better able to think through my levels and skills..¡± ¡°Good luck, Meela. Hope you don¡¯t get strange skills like [Compendium of research failures], and [emergency shutdown].¡± ¡°What were you looking at that the system made you get a skill like [emergency shutdown], were you trying to clone dinosaurs?¡± ¡°...a biolab of giant dinosaurs.¡± Alexis¡¯s not insulted, rather, she¡¯s rubbing her spiritual chin. Meela¡¯s turn to shake her new tree-head. ¡°I gave you an idea, oh no.¡± ¡°We have giant beetles. Dinosaurs are just giant lizards, or giant birds.¡± "I like that idea." I chip into the conversation. "You know what dinosaurs are?" "Uh¡­ didn¡¯t you say giant lizards or giant birds?" "Oh, yes. Yes I did say that. Never mind me, Meela, how''s the hotel?" "It''s a ''lodge'' at the moment. I think there''s going to be an upgrade at level 30. Strangely, I seem to be able to see what sort of upgrades to the lodge are available between now until level 30." "How come?¡± "I have no idea." Meela shrugs. ¡°But I need to start recruiting workers to man the kitchen, the reception and the restaurant. I¡¯m planning to hire all treefolks, to complete the ¡®feel¡¯ of the lodge. An inn by the treefolk. TreeTree, is that something you can help me with? Ask perhaps Jura or Laufen to put out a recruitment notice?¡± ¡°Sure. You¡¯ll need to give a lot more details though, like.. What¡¯s your pay and working hours like?¡± ¡°Oh. Can I talk to someone? Maybe some of the locals?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ask Jura to come see you. Also, are you still going to call yourself Meela, or you¡¯re going with another name?¡± Meela pauses, and she makes a thinking pose. ¡°Good point. Should I still call myself Meela, and would that get me in trouble?¡± ¡°Depends what you want to achieve, Meela. Do you want people to know you were once a hero? That said, I doubt everyone will associate your name to you, because well, it¡¯s really quite common to name their children after heroes. If me, I¡¯m not going to call myself Alexis, I¡¯ll go with a different name, maybe... Ritz, or Ambrose.¡± Meela claps her two wooden palms. ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea! I will call myself¡­ M. Lady M.¡± Alexis smacks her head. ¡°Meela.¡± ¡°I will be referred to as¡­ M, Alexis. You can call yourself A.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think Lady MA is a classy name? I think it is, and it fits my role as the Lady of the Hotel. Aaaaaaaaaaanyway, TreeTree, I need your help! Can I speak to Jura or the rest of the Valtrian Order? And are there any permits or permissions I need to get?¡± If I had a head to shake, I would, but I could only lightly sway my branches to indicate my lack of knowledge about New Freeka¡¯s bureaucracy. But I can give a hand, I do want to see her succeed. ¡°I¡¯ll arrange someone to meet you.¡± ¡°Great. I¡¯d like to know before I accidentally commit a crime or infraction, or have to pay¡­ unnecessary bribes.¡± ¡°Bribes?¡± ¡°Uh, it¡¯s actually common. The nobles throughout this world ask for bribes all the time. Even enforcement agents regularly ask for money. I heard from so many innkeepers and blacksmiths throughout our journey¡­¡± At this point I turn to Ivy, ¡°Any idea if it happens?¡± Well, given Ivy¡¯s earlier bombshell that everyone commits some kind of crime, I¡¯m thinking, of course bribery happens. ¡°Paying small sums of coin, to avoid complete, thorough legal enforcement? Yes. One of the more common transactions to occur is intentional understatement of tax collections, in exchange, the enforcers get paid.¡± ¡°Ah. Does that happen to our people?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve ignored it as the coins exchanged is minimal.¡± I¡¯m not shocked. I¡¯m not shocked. People here do what they got to do. That¡¯s just how it is. ¡°Uh....¡± I did recall telling Ivy to ignore most of the petty crimes, so I guess she classified this as ¡®petty¡¯. ¡°It lubricates commerce, and my calculations indicates most traders would be bankrupt if they had to comply with the actual tax rates and the full extent of the law.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a problem with the New Freekan Law, is it not?¡± ¡°Perhaps, it¡¯s heavily inspired by wherever the lawmakers are from, so the mismash of laws give rise to a whole lot of loopholes and possibilities for abuse, and is compounded by the fact that the justice system refers most rulings to the high council, of which the lawmakers themselves are the ¡®judge¡¯.¡± ¡°Ivy, has New Freeka¡¯s justice system always been so screwed up?¡± ¡°I think it functions rather well. There¡¯s a clear acknowledgement of authority that flows up to the councillors, and the people understand that, so they obey the councillor¡¯s demands and whatever the city tells the people to do. The councillor¡¯s role as the adjudicator and arbitrator of peace is incredibly important to allay the citizen¡¯s fears and address their needs, even if it often lacks ¡®justice¡¯, it is a kind of ¡®order¡¯ which the people here come to accept and respect.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t there a written document? A constitution? What were they updating when they revised it to include the Valtrian order¡± ¡°Constitutional documents only list down the major items. The ¡®key¡¯ issues and matters which the High Council want to have formally documents. But outside of that, the Councillors issue proclamations all the time, and their decisions over time get stitched together into an informal ¡®law¡¯. Furthermore, punishments for non-compliance is not specified, so that¡¯s left to the jurisdiction of councillors.¡± Ah. Whatever, I¡¯ve gotten a little sidetracked. Now to get Jura to send some people over... Year 79 Month 5 Meela eventually hired some treefolks, paid some taxes for all the necessary permits, and got started with business. I just kinda let her do her own thing then. There¡¯s really no need for me to interrupt and watch over her all the time. I feel I can trust Meela, so I¡¯m gonna let her play her sim-hotel while I do my shit. So, I turn my attention on my own priorities, my big 3 threats. Demon king, other nations, and monsters. In dealing with demons, I can fairly be confident in my own abilities. With other nations, I¡¯ll need the assistance of the people around me, so Jura¡¯s levelling challenges is something I need to find out how to help him, and with monsters¡­ well, I¡¯ll just let that be. Actually, looking at it, I¡¯ve reduced the relative threat level of monsters generally. So far, I¡¯ve not yet faced any truly difficult monsters, though we do have golems who are territorial, but as a ¡®threat¡¯, I think their territorial, ¡°camping¡± nature makes them less of a ¡®threat¡¯ than I initially expected. It¡¯s demon king and the other nations that are the most immediate threats. Looking at the ¡®other nations¡¯, I¡¯m relatively comfortable with where things are at the moment. I have a large army of beetles, and that should be able to deter the threat of any small armies. For the demon king... he¡¯s about 4 years away, and I¡¯ve asked Madeus to do more research on when the ¡®rifts¡¯ will start to appear. He says it¡¯s usually 2-3 years before the demon king itself, so I might have only another 1-2 years of ¡®peace¡¯ before we¡¯re back to war with the demons. - ¡°Master, we¡¯re at the north sinkhole.¡± Horns¡¯ delegation of beetles, Alexis¡¯s probe finally arrived. I¡¯ll soon start deploying [subsidiary trees] to the location, once they¡¯ve surveyed the area and find where exactly I need to go. The sinkhole is massive, and I really wonder how no one found it all these while, but then again, it¡¯s probably just magic. There¡¯s multiple entrances that lead down into the sinkhole, and the area around the entrance are now filled with camps. One of the larger entrances even has a small town that caters to the adventurers¡¯ needs, clearly run by opportunistic merchants trying to purchase the collected materials. Apparently, snake-skin and snake-bile has various uses, some of which can be sold for a huge amount of money. ¡°Which location should we pick? All the entrances are taken by the adventurers, and honestly, we¡¯ll attract unnecessary attention. We are after all, a delegation of beetles, and the adventurers will immediately assume we are hostile.¡± ¡°Horns, suggestions?¡± ¡°Somewhere further away. We¡¯re beetles, we don¡¯t need to use the ledges, we can climb down the vertical walls just fine.¡± ¡°Good point.¡± Alexis nods. If needed, I could use my roots to form new ¡®ledges¡¯ for the beetles to crawl down, or even the roots and vines as a kind of ¡®rope¡¯ for the beetles to climb down. So, after a bit of scouting, we pick one side of the hole where there¡¯s already some shrubs and trees. That way the beetles and trees blend in naturally. ¡°Could you spawn a biolab this far away? The sensors the probe has isn¡¯t as good as the ones on the biolab.¡± ¡°Oh, why?¡± ¡°The probe-etle can connect to it to amplify the sensors¡± ¡°Fine, the trees are some distance away. Just hold position for a day or so, spawning the roots to reach such distances takes time. So, what kind of monsters?¡± ¡°Snakes? I see snakes. And spiders. A lot of snake-like slithering monsters. There¡¯s a lot of them down there. A lot of big ones too. And colorful ones.¡± Horns, once again, with not exactly helpful descriptions. Alexis looks at them, ¡°I wonder what¡¯s attracting the adventurers...¡± ¡°The usual, I suppose? Money, glory, power. Looks like money? Anyway, I¡¯m here for power. Once I get the trees there, then we¡¯ll start exploring the sinkhole too.¡± - Meanwhile, in New Freeka... [Class seed obtained - Dark Knight x 1] [Experience seed obtained x 1] Huh! It¡¯s a joyous thing, to find an unusual seed from a death ceremony. Since this ceremony started, I¡¯ve ¡®processed¡¯ about 300 dead bodies, half of it from plain old age, the other half from injuries, fatal work accidents, murders and fights. Most of them do not produce any of such seeds, but so far, about 6 bodies, or about 0.5% seems to produce something, either a skill seed, which is the most common, or a class seed. The rarest seed, is the Experience seeds. It makes sense, since they give a level. Essences though, are a whole lot more common. Almost all dead bodies, when ¡®absorbed¡¯ produce a few essences. Usually simple essences, like essences of knife, or essences of lesser courage, or essence of water, but unlike seeds, essences are mainly used for ¡®infusions¡¯, their effects mild. ¡°Who¡¯s this half-elf man?¡± I ask the priest handling the ceremony, after all, for this dead man to give me a [dark knight] class seed, he can¡¯t be ordinary. There¡¯s a young boy, looks to be a half elf, and an old grandma next to him, attending the rites, and strangely, they don¡¯t feel like family. The man who died looks to be relatively middle aged, in his 40s, and the cause of death is a stab to the heart. ¡°A recent refugee from Nung. Got into a scuffle with some of the guards and one of the guards stabbed him to death. Came with the boy and the grandma, in the same caravan, so the old grandma and the kid came to pay respects. Apparently the kid and the man shared some kind of connection, so the kid insisted to come... That¡¯s all I know, sadly.¡± ¡°I see.¡± The priest picks up the compressed bones, and passed it to the young boy. ¡°Here, something from that man, for you.¡± The boy nods, and keeps it. ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll take good care of uncle¡¯s remains.¡± ¡°Is anyone looking after you, kid?¡± The priest smiles at the boy. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m living with that granny there... we¡¯re working for a bakery now.¡± ¡°Ivy, can I ask you to start surveillance on this young boy and the grandma? He¡¯s ticking quite a bit of the ¡®potential hero¡¯ tropes.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a bit overwhelmed at this point. There¡¯s too many newcomers to the town... I¡¯m struggling with 6,000-7,000 people simultaneously.¡± Ivy¡¯s got a massive list of people to watch, at this point, all the politicians, all the guards, and then the Valtrian Order¡¯s people. Well, I¡¯m out of artificial souls. I¡¯ve collected quite a bit of soul fragments but not enough, not yet. ¡°Ah well... drop monitoring some of the Order¡¯s people then, those who do not appear to be undertaking any high risk or suspicious¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Ah, I got quite a bit of class seeds. Ranger, archer, soldier, merchant, trader, and various other trades. So dark knight¡¯s a rather... unique class type. Classes are available only to the humanoid races, monsters or the monster-like creatures usually don¡¯t have ¡®classes¡¯ instead they have racial or type levels. A person can gain as many classes as they want, but depending on the race, only some of the benefits from the active few classes manifest. So... dark knight. ¡°What¡¯s a dark knight?¡± ¡°Oh, knights who tap on the power of darkness? Knights who fight at night? Night knights?¡± Jura shrugs and laughs. ¡°Sorry TreeTree, I¡¯ve never heard of it.¡± - Research status : Eye-Tree Stage I - completedBeetle - anti-magma armors stage 3 - completedBeetle - anti-magma armors stage 4 - 24 monthsTree - volcanic adaptation stage 3 - completedRoots - Volcanic mineral harvesting - stage 2 - completedRoots - Volcanic mineral processing - stage 1 - 1 month remainingMaterials testing - stage 1 - completedTree-lab varieties - stage 1 - 8 monthsMagically attuned materials Stage 1 - 6 months [Basic Tree-Eyes obtained. Limited to 10 ¡®selected¡¯ trees. Place on trees to obtain multidirectional vision. Can actively look through two sets of eyes at any one time, view limit can be increased with root-brain complexes.] Oh, I have Tree-Eyes, and obviously, I put one on my main tree, and save the rest. I¡¯ll need to think where to put the trees properly, since it¡¯s limited. In terms of research I¡¯ve decided to relieve Trevor from active research duties, so that brings my concurrent research topics down to 4. That¡¯s because the valley¡¯s growing, and Trevor¡¯s energy and focus is needed to manage the larger valley. The forests now extend far beyond the valley itself, and there are now multiple patches. Total number, 94,000 normal trees, some 480,000 shrubs and bushes, about 5,000 subsidiary trees, so he needs his full processing power to handle such a large valley, even with his higher levels. Next, I cycle through my domain. The volcano¡¯s activity subsided, but we¡¯re not attempting any invasion into the inner volcano for the moment. Although the beetles are tougher, thanks to more anti-magma armors, it doesn¡¯t resolve the golem problem. The golems are still too powerful, and deeper still, we spotted a larger golem. They¡¯re not ¡®aggressive¡¯ until we encroach on their area, and so, for now things remain as status quo. I do intend to have more research completed, a different army type and have more ¡®tools¡¯ at my disposal before attempting my next invasion of the volcano. Then, the ginseng plant. I¡¯m on a good streak, it¡¯s the longest continuous time I¡¯ve protected the ginseng plant, and so it¡¯s starting to attract stranger monsters. Together with a large army of beetles, both Dimitree and Trevor playing the role of the alarm and surveillance system, we¡¯ve held off many greedy, ginseng-stealing monsters. I hope I¡¯ll get something for Jura to use, since ginseng, like herbs, are supposed to be good for supplementing vitality. Between Level Seeds and Ginseng, I think I¡¯ll be able to push Jura up to the next level, but first, I need to make sure the Ginseng works. I fear that giving Jura the levels, without the vitality to support it may weaken him instead. Emile and Belle, as part of the Order¡¯s many business ventures, run the various crop factories and processors, such as the olive press, the cotton factory, the herbal juicemakers, the fermented or dried fruits and healing fruits. A plot of land near my main tree, and another near the outskirts of New Freeka¡¯s town has been converted to grow all the different kinds of crops that the Order needs to operate these business ventures. I was hoping Brislach or Wahlen can participate, but they seem content with their lives as ordinary elves living in New Freeka. Speaking of business ventures, the New Freekans for now still make the wines for export, one of their most successful ventures so far, that even Salah buys from them. Their master winemaker¡¯s apparently gained quite a few levels from this project, and is even famous regionally. It helps they have the right kind of levels and skills, since there¡¯s a farmer with skills focused on growing high quality fruits, and also infusing them with a certain kind of flavor, so together, they made wines that have interesting taste profiles. I still wonder whether Yvon thinks it¡¯s worth it to trade her soul for grapes, but hey, she¡¯s got lucky with Salah calling off the truce terms and instead offered an unconditional truce. She¡¯s supposed to die and then I can use her soul for my own schemes! Oh well. She¡¯ll die eventually. Wars, demons, diseases. Something will eventually get to all of us, and I think she¡¯ll get killed somehow. Eriz too! Eriz is still working as a ¡®maid¡¯ and ¡®minder¡¯ for Yvon, even though she¡¯s so free now that she doesn¡¯t need a ¡®minder¡¯. Yvon¡¯s routine now mostly consist of practicing, teaching Roma various things, and then sparring with Lausanne. Other than that, she¡¯s at her home in New Freeka, idle, receiving visitors, mingling in public spaces with an adoring populace, she is to some, the ¡®mother¡¯ of the nation, the de facto ¡®Queen¡¯. ¡°TreeTree, can I ask for something?¡± Lausanne drops by after her usual combat practice. Thankfully, she¡¯s gotten over her Tarzan phase, and she¡¯s not swinging from tree to tree all that often, except for ¡®practice¡¯. ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°This special familiar... is there a price I have to pay? Like... mom used to tell me, few things in the world are free... so... I¡¯m just wondering whether there¡¯s a catch.¡± ¡°Huh, why?¡± Surely it¡¯s not a statement like that, that prompts this sort of question. ¡°I see it in my dreams when I sleep these days. There are days I forget that we¡¯re separate... things. It¡¯s like... it¡¯s like it¡¯s me. Part of me. And it¡¯s strange. Some days, I know what the vines are touching, I feel it, I feel like the vines are like my fingers. It¡¯s... really really strange and a bit scary.¡± ¡°Uh...¡± Is that supposed to happen? I have no idea, I think it might be an ability that the special familiar has. Do familiars meld with their hosts? ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Lausanne. The familiar means you no harm.¡± I lied. I¡¯m not sure, but I think the familiar should not have such side effects. Alexis butts in during the conversation. ¡°And what¡¯s that familiar powered on? It feels familiar. Like... a kind of familiar mana signature...¡± ¡°Magic. My magic.¡± Alexis shrugs. ¡°Is it?¡± ¡°Okay, I believe you TreeTree... but if someday I want to remove the familiar, is that possible? Can the familiar contracts be cancelled?¡± Lausanne, of course, can¡¯t hear Alexis¡¯s voice. ¡°Yes, yes. I can take the familiar back, so don¡¯t worry. How¡¯s practice? Is Yvon a good coach?¡± Lausanne pauses, and then she flashes her usual big chubby smile. ¡°Okay TreeTree. Oh, Lady Yvon, she¡¯s good, but I think Uncle Jura¡¯s a better fighter.¡± Well, Jura did gain more levels, and his recent class-merger makes him really formidable. ¡°Oh. You don¡¯t like fighting her?¡± ¡°No, not that. I like her. I just have not gotten used to how she fights. It¡¯s... a different style. But I mean, Uncle Jura¡¯s a better fighter in a... erm.. A bigger way.¡± ¡°Well, you should get used to different styles of fighting. Heroes need to fight all sorts of monsters.¡± Lausanne nods. ¡°Oh yeah. I didn¡¯t think of that. You¡¯re right TreeTree, I should adapt to different styles!¡± She walks into the playroom now turned study room, and she grabs a small bag of wooden toys, some small kid-sized wooden swords. I think she intends to distribute them for the kids in the orphanage, now her friends. ¡°I¡¯m going to train my friends, is that okay?¡± ¡°Sure, don¡¯t go easy on them.¡± Lausanne frowns, her lips pout. ¡°Uhm, I can¡¯t. They¡¯re really weak, so I need to train them slowly. TreeTree, do you think one day you can use your powers on them too?¡± Well, Alexis did suggest a larger sample size. ¡°Maybe?¡± I¡¯ve been monitoring the orphans for some time, and all of them, so far, do not show anything... extraordinary. The regular checks using the biolab in the orphanage didn¡¯t indicate whether any of them would be special, but then again, Lausanne¡¯s not special either. So I¡¯m in a bit of a dilemma. Lausanne¡¯s where she is now, a ¡®genius¡¯ because of years of consuming essence, dream tutor and powerlevelling such that she gained knowledge. If Lausanne is ordinary, then what if the others are special? But my dilemma isn¡¯t really potential, but... maybe, I think what¡¯s really stopping me from trying is ¡®trust¡¯. For Lausanne, she has been with me since she was a baby, and that strong bond, is why I have invested in her, and she is my guinea pig. Maybe someday she¡¯ll betray me, when she finally goes and see the world. But still, it¡¯s a mutual benefit. I learn something, and Lausanne gets stronger. So, for these other kids... If I start young, and mold these children, maybe I will build such a bond with them too. Most of them. Maybe, just maybe, I could link it to the ¡®familiar¡¯ , such that all of them must take the familiar contract, and the familiars would then also help to monitor them? Act as my eyes and ears, such that I can learn more about these children, and in turn, build a stronger bond? [Skill upgraded : Symbiotic extension] [Skill learned : Minder-Familiars. Maximum Minders, 20] [Special tree type obtained : Dreamer¡¯s Treehouses] ¡°Lausanne, would you have any of your friends who would like to... have a familiar?¡± - - Seedlings Year 79 Month 6 I chose five. 5 young girls, around age 6 to 8 from the orphanage for the first batch of the minder-familiars. I''ve decided to use the minders in batches, so I can spread out my sample size over time. Why girls? No real reason for girls, it just so happens that Lausanne''s friends or playmates are mostly, mostly girls. Their reaction to having a minder-familiar contract is mostly shock, to them, all they can see is ''familiar''. The status as a ''minder'' is hidden, duh, else they probably won''t accept it. Amazing, they said. But these are young girls, their magic just starting to bubble out of their tiny souls. I had conditions, of course, things that Laufen helped me explain. Regular dips into pod. Twice a week, so I can track changes to their body, and their soul. They have to stay in a subsidiary tree I placed next to orphanage quarters. It''s got room and beds for 20 children, though they are all densely packed together like a dorm. This is because my [dream tutor] only works when they sleep either next to me, or inside ''me''. Practice. Once they accept the familiar, they will go on a structured education and training programme, so that they become competent soldiers. I have 20 slots, so I plan to split them into 4 batches, using the first 5 as a guinea pig and refine the process as I go along. There are things I want to identify, such as how does the essence use influence the creation of ''skill'' blocks in the soul realm. By looking at them frequently, I hope to gain some idea about how effective are essences, and how much do I actually need to use for it to start having an effect. For the education programme, I task Jura to appoint some of the Order¡¯s militia, to start these girls on simple exercises and drills. This world does not shy away from sending young children to fight wars, I think it''s better to train them before they get sent to their deaths. The girls take to training and education with much enthusiasm. Showing up promptly and listening to the various trainings and teachers intently. It''s a small, focused class. One teacher to five girls, and its drawn out of my personal budget. The Order''s budget allocates a discretionary sum to me, that I can do whatever I want. Anyway, the girls are really enjoying the structure, which is I find that quite strange, as I remember being a rebellious young child in my youth, but for orphans who never had structure, a welcome change of pace. - Next, following up on the hole. Further down, there¡¯s a bit of a ¡®space-warping¡¯ present, similar to almost all dungeons and to some extent, my own [secret hideout]. ¡°Dungeon?¡± Horns suggests, as the small squad of beetles venture down the hole. ¡°Magical presence is fluctuating, seems rather consistent with the presence of a dungeon core of some kind.¡± ¡°Not a leyline?¡± I ask. ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like there¡¯s magical energies of a leyline, do you detect any?¡± Well, sadly I know the answer is no. When we conquered the earlier dungeon, the presence of the leyline is clear. My roots, as magically insensitive as they are, could pick it up, because of how overwhelming the leyline¡¯s presence was, once you go underground. None of that overwhelming magical presence here... unless it¡¯s somehow magically concentrated and hidden. ¡°A core, then.¡± ¡°It¡¯s deep, I think.¡± Alexis¡¯s probe walks down the cliff walls. Some snakes and flying creatures start to engage the group of beetles, which the beetles fight off successfully. ¡°Master, are you able to place your trees on the cliffs?¡± ¡°Further up, yes. But once the dungeon¡¯s influence touches the cliff, no. There¡¯s a ¡®barrier¡¯, in which my subsidiary trees cannot pierce.¡± I can use roots though, to create a path. ¡°At this point?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s in the dungeon, already.¡± Good thing is, I can see into the dungeon, because unlike the earlier dungeon, it¡¯s not blocked. Perhaps this dungeon didn¡¯t learn that sort of ability? Or not all dungeon cores have the same kind of power? ¡°Ah, could you put a tree right at the very edge, and then lower a bunch of vines down? Something for us to grab on if we need to jump and fight.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± The beetles have no problems walking on the cliff walls that lead deep into the darkness below. The darkness itself doesn¡¯t scare them either, their vision is naturally adapted to all light levels. But fighting while trying to grip onto the walls is not so easy. ¡°...your presence is getting faint, master.¡± Horns say. ¡°Hmm... I¡¯m still connecting to my probe. Looks like my connection is stronger than yours. It¡¯s just really crazy dark down here.¡± ¡°Tell master I¡¯ll talk through you.¡± Horns say to Alexis¡¯s probe, Horns¡¯ communication is also a kind of ¡®telepathy¡¯. ¡°I know. I can still communicate, but that means you¡¯ve got to protect me.¡± Snakes. These snakes have rough scales, perhaps it helps them move and hold onto the jagged cliffs. Some of these snakes are like nagas, part-humanoid, with four or six arms, and a long slithering body that helps them navigate the cliffs. The nagas are tough opponents to fight, and easily they can take on five or six of the beetles before dying. ¡°TreeTree, your beetles are not suited for dungeon battles. They are tough, and their bodies strong, but their way of charging and fighting is not really appropriate in this environment. I would say only Horns with his skills is suited.¡± ¡°What are you telling master?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± After another 2-3 hours of descending into the abyss, they¡¯ve decided to stop and retreat, as the attacks from the snakes become relentless. ¡°Master, I suggest a full scale invasion of the hole. Maybe 5,000 beetles, and 50 of the large beetles, all of us go into the abyss and attack everything we see. The dungeon¡¯s structure is deep, and wavy further down, and there are a lot of monsters, but unlike the earlier dungeon, it¡¯s still big enough for a large amount of beetles. A large attack force will work a lot better than a small elite squad.¡± ¡°I agree with the assessment. This dungeon seems to favor large, wide caverns and hallways. Ideal situation for a large force to just march in." ¡°Very well. Let''s do it. Horns, you''re in charge." "Ayy! This beetle army is gonna kick some dungeon core backside! Beetles will be the very best!" A week later, the adventurers nearby are treated to the view of a massive army of beetles descending into the abyss. It caused a massive panic, but as the beetles did not attempt to engage the adventurers, cleverly, the adventurers took the hint and left the army of beetles alone. And Horns¡¯s suggestion is working like a charm. Within three days of the invasion, like an unstoppable tide of destruction, the beetles charge in and flood the dungeon, the army of beetles slaughter all the snakes that has the misfortune of being in its path, and cleared most of the dungeon and most importantly, reached the core. The wide layout meant a large force could penetrate all the way in, even if we were outmatched one to one. And the space allowed our superior numbers to gang up on the individually stronger snakes. The core is trying it¡¯s best to defend itself, spawning and summoning as many snake monsters as it can, but with 3,000 beetles left, and despite 2,000 beetles died fighting all the snakes and snake-like monsters, it¡¯s unable to muster an army large enough to fight back the tide of beetles. ¡°Bring it back.¡± Horns and the army arrive at the core room, and with a strong nudge from the giant beetle, the dungeon core rolls off its pedestal. And that, is how we beat the dungeon. I found it quite funny, because actually what the dungeon core needed to do, to successfully defend against our invasion, is to choke us off, but strangely, this dungeon core¡¯s design choice was wide open spaces, large openings, big walkways. Big spaces, big walls, all allows for a large force to rush in and clear everything. Perhaps it¡¯s an architect with a thing for big spaces. And why snakes? Ah, perhaps the dungeon core rolled the dice and got snakes. With that, the army of beetles return with a dungeon core, taken from its home. Strangely, without the dungeon core, the deep hole continues to spawn snakes, although to a lesser frequency. ¡°Dungeon core.¡± A large circular crystal like structure, about the size of a basketball. I recall the earlier one being larger though. Or are there many variants? Perhaps it¡¯s not something with a standard size. ¡°What are you going to do with it?¡± ¡°I would like to study it of course. But between now and when I get that magic lab, it¡¯s going to sit in my [treeasury]." ¡°...fair enough.¡± Other than that, the beetles also brought back some interesting abyss vegetation. [Tree-type obtained : Cave Trees] [Plant-type obtained : Deep Moss] [Special Tree-type obtained : Cliff Bonsai] No levels for me, sadly. Horns and Alexis did get some levels. Sucks being a bystander. Year 79 Month 7 ¡°Tree Spirit, an audience please.¡± Yvon came marching to my main tree, alone. She didn''t seem very happy. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What¡¯s your plans with the orphans? I heard from Lausanne that you¡¯ve given them familiars and started them on some kind of training.¡± ¡°It is as you heard, training. I intend to train them into warriors.¡± ¡°Warriors? Is that all there is to it? Surely there is more going on, what with the strange things you have been asking them about?" Hmm, she''s being rather aggressive. ¡°What are you alluding to? If you have something to say, get to it.¡± Yvon takes a step back, but then, she quickly adjusts her posture, such that she faces me head on, her eyes stare at my tree trunk. ¡°What I hear is, there¡¯s constant dipping into your... pool. That healing pod thing, with all of your feelers. So, I want to know, it¡¯s not just training, are you also meddling with their bodies? Are you... altering them? And are your meddling with their minds as well?¡± ¡°Meddling, yes. Altering, maybe.¡± Well, yeah. I do plan to meddle. That''s the whole point. Yvon shakes her head. ¡°That... that¡¯s not right. These are children.¡± ¡°You see to think there is a reason not to select children. Wrong. It is because they are children. Children can be easily molded, shaped. Their minds are flexible, receptive to change. And seriously, why now, Lady Yvon?¡± Yvon pauses. Maybe when Lausanne starts to tell her what I¡¯ve been doing with the 5 girls, it just flicks a switch. ¡°Why? What do you mean why? Is it not something wrong to start using children for some kind of war plot? As your future war potential?" ¡°Many nations do so, choose young children and prepare them for war, in some cases from the day they were born. What I want to do, is similar. If you ask me why, ask all the nations before, and present, why. Fighting, war. Destruction. It¡¯s a way of life in this world. Preparing these children for that way of life, so they, we, have a better chance of survival as a whole, is there a fault?¡± Yvon nods, ¡°It it your altering of their bodies and minds. Would it be something that would be irreversible? Such that they may lose their ability to have children?¡± ¡°As I currently plan it, no. And seriously, you would know better that the whole matters more than the individuals. Some must be sacrificed, and experience pain, for the whole to succeed. It is, as I said, strange, coming from you, Lady Yvon." Yvon''s face is complicated, a mix of worry, perhaps disgust, and fear. ¡°Would you deprive them of a childhood, of friends? Would you isolate them, make them... inhuman? Would this sacrifice that you ask of these young girls, would it be too much for them?" "Maybe. Maybe this burden is too much for them. To sacrifice their childhood to be my warriors, too much. But there is no one else, Yvon. These orphans yearn for a purpose in life, and I give them one. To answer a greater calling, to fight for me. For the valley. For all of us." "That..." ¡°I suddenly find it strange, that you are concerned for these young girls. I don¡¯t recall you being so caring of orphans, when you were in a position of power, so these words coming from you.... Sounds... hollow. ¡± Yvon''s eyes are a bit watery, is she trying to pull the crying lady trick? Sadly, I am a tree and such crying antics do not trigger a protective urge within me. ¡°Yes, I didn¡¯t do what I could. I had the power, yet, I was too crippled by politics, too confused by all the competing priorities. But now, I still had to speak up, I heard what Lausanne said these girls will go through, and I fear for these young souls. You send them into a life of only war." ¡°And so what? This is how the world is. Why do you want to speak up? Are you doing so to satisfy some kind of conscience that you suddenly discover you have?¡± ¡°Uhm. No. I am trying to care for these young orphans. They deserve a life better than war, now that we are at peace.¡± I think she lied. And that''s hogwash, really. ¡°Peace? You mean this peace that we have because our overwhelming might suddenly scared the shit out of our opponents? This is no true peace, Lady Yvon. It is a peace built on fear. A fear our power. And if you know better, this peace is maintained by power. Lady Yvon, if you truly care, and want to care, I would like to suggest you participate in their molding as warriors. Be their support, then. These young girls, they will need a matron to watch over them, to guide and advise them where I cannot. To be a ¡®wise elder¡¯ to these sheep, our future warriors.¡± She froze, and her eyes twitched. ¡°Again? You... you want me to be a part of it?¡± ¡°Yes. Since you suddenly have a conscience, come, join the training. Join me in shaping our future warriors. Our... future generals, our future knights. Perhaps you can then see for yourself, what I am trying to do.¡± ¡°Ahh....¡± ¡°So? Or was your earlier words just... something you wanted to get off your chest?¡± Yvon finally nods. ¡°I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯ll help you with these girls." ¡°Good. Make them strong, we will need their strength one day.¡± ---- ¡°Alexis, do you have any results from the treefolks study?¡± ¡°Ah yes. I got the dead treefolk and I¡¯m starting my investigations... so far nothing, but I¡¯m mainly interested in the kind of flexible muscle-wood that they have on their joints. Their body is fascinating under scrutiny, its both plant-like yet they also form muscle-like structures. It''s like somebody just blended a tree and a person together to create a treefolk. Replicating that muscle like structure would mean we could make stronger creatures overall." "How long so you need?" "According to [research planner], probably 12 months just to understand the treefolk''s bodily structures. There''s a lot to unpack. The treefolk''s brain is also interesting and worth another 12 to 24 months of study, and I reckon would have a benefit to your [root-brain complex]." "Are they not a communal mind structure, like forests are?" It is said that forests form an intelligence through the interconnected roots, each tree a neuron. In this world, large, ancient forests often appear to have a will of its own, and over time, this will often pools together, and creates a [spirit tree] or [soul tree]. One of the many ways tree spirits are said to come to existence, naturally. "Not exactly. Though treefolk have a head, their brains are actually distributed throughout their body, kind of like jellyfish. It''s like a neural network, but with a few large hubs in the head, the heart..." "They have a heart, yes?'' "Yes. Well, their heart is actually more like this main vessel through their body that runs from their leg to their head. In a way, its like a large muscled pipe..." "Ermmm... never mind the details." --- News for a distant land, as Nung, Takde and Salah eventually settle on a peace treaty. Though culprit of the massive blizzard still at large, the blizzard itself has been successfully dispelled, and the weather returns to normal. That said, ground zero of that spell is now a quasi-dungeon area, the presence of such blood sacrifice distorted the area such that it spawns zombies and monsters. It will take some time for the remains of such magic to decay. So, trade gets rerouted around the now cursed land, and the three nations reach a kind of awkward truce. Still, that means less [essence] for me from this battlefield. Further out, my travelling [soul harvesters] continue to bring back more souls, more [essences of death], more skill type [essences], throughout the entirety of this continent, death remains a constant thing. Many small battles, many little monster attacks, little rebellions here and there. More death, more essences. And that is good for me. One good thing about this peace, is now I get more knowledge about our neighbours. And as more and more such little snippets filter through the grapevine, I learn interesting things, like, there is a vast sacred forest on the edge of Salah''s capital, where the kings hunt. Or near one of the large cities of Nung, there is a large mountain where people claim ancient giants wander. Well, personally, I think it''s time to take the war to Salah. They may be at peace, but I still have a small score to settle. The Salah kingdom''s capital is really far away, so I have to undo my subsidiary trees that stretch to the abyss. It''s the furthest I''m going, if I measure the distance in beetle, its about 2 and a half weeks away, so I am going to need a lot of subsidiary trees to create a line that connects the entire distance. It''s a process that takes about 1,500 subsidiary trees, to create a line to bends with the terrain and eventually, the capital. I make it a point to hide the presence of the trees from plain slight, such that they appear "natural", and this endeavour took me the whole month, every day, putting a tree, altering its appearance, and then moving on. And there it is, the capital. [Skill upgraded : Local rootnet access upgraded. Longer distance between subsidiary trees unlocked] [Special trees type obtained : Root Relay Trees] [Max Quantity of Relay is Level x 5] [Root Relay are special trees with the dedicated purpose of expanding your root network. A single root Relay can create a simple root network that extends 10 x the diameter of a regular subsidiary tree. Does not have other functions. Looks like any other tree. Appearance is customisable] Year 79 Month 8 Salah''s capital. It goes by many names throughout its history, many kings have changed its name. The most recent name of the capital is Ransalah, after the King''s beloved but deceased wife, Queen Rani. Next to the capital, is a forest, Salah''s Royal Grove. In fact, most large kingdoms maintain a grove or a forest, for the purpose of having some supply of highly valuable herbs or plants, for the manufacture unique potions or medicines. Some temples, such as the temple of Gaya''s headquarters also has a large forest which it cultivates for its own use. Now that my chain of subsidiary tree has finally made the long connection needed to arrive here, I pause for a moment to take in the view. It''s a large capital, not as populous as it used to be after the non-human exodus, but still, there''s a lot of humans in this city, perhaps 400,000 to 500,000, maybe more and the city sprawls to accommodate its large population. There are two rivers that run through the river, and it merges further down, and this splits the capital into three parts. The central southern chunk, where the palace, priesthood, mages and wealthy mostly live. Infrastructure is good, the roads paved, security is top notch and patrols are regular, staffed with the best behaved men. It''s a place where, to be frank, people behaved nicely, because of the overwhelming presence of the royal guards, and the Archmagus. It''s home to the official trader''s market, though in reality it''s more of a hipster market catering to the needs of the wealthy and elite. Then there''s the east side, where the army''s main quarters are, the river ports, and the warehouses. This is also where the Royal Grove is. There''s not that many dwellings here, as space is few and far between, the Royal Grove off limits. Then the west side, a large flatland where most of the citizens reside. Sprawling, messy, and infrastructure spotty, its the definition of a large city where the plans failed to keep up with the population growth. As a result, its a space where citizens often take things into their own hands, so there are multiple enclaves where there''s some form of ''local rule''. Vibrant, energetic, and a space of constant change, the supervision from local authorities minimal, so long as the tax monies continue to flow into the right pockets. Half of the merchant corps exist here, and the true trader''s market, where the trade volumes are high, and the shouting constant. How do I know this? Well, it was not hard for Jura to ask a Salah merchant to speak of their capital at length. Apparently, the merchants are incredibly proud of the peon''s market, one of the largest markets found on in the region. It''s a nice city. A shame, really. Side story – Lausanne 3 Side Story - Lausanne 2 Some time after the orphanage started... ¡°Where¡¯s the captain? We want the captain.¡± The boys shout. ¡°They¡¯re busy today. I¡¯m here to be your practice partner.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not a soldier, you''re just a little girl, no, worse, you''re a noble.¡± The young boy accused. ¡°You¡¯re one of the nobles, and we don¡¯t want to practice with you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. And what¡¯s wrong with practicing with me?¡± She didn¡¯t understand it, she¡¯d never been a noble. Her father may have been the village chief, but he passed away and the village was destroyed. Growing up relatively sheltered from kingdoms and their societies, she¡¯s not too aware about the negative emotions associated with nobility, even though Jura and Laufen did tell her about what nobles usually did in other nations. ¡°I know you! You¡¯re a noble, and we don¡¯t want to practice with you. ¡± The young boys shouted, some of them really unhappy. The rest of the boys didn¡¯t like her too, they all looked at her with a look of disgust, which made her feel a little sad. She didn¡¯t expect this. Laufen and Jura asked her to help out at the orphanage, to help teach the other children, those about her age, be their sparring partner for a while. The captains are out on a mission. Why are they so nasty to me? I¡¯m just trying to help. She wondered, but she didn¡¯t understand their hostility. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t come here acting all high and mighty because of your mother!¡± What? Where did that come from? Why? She just couldn¡¯t answer. Isn¡¯t mom the one who sets up this orphanage? The boys start going out of the hall. Lausanne started to feel that her presence is unwanted by these boys. All she wanted to do is just practice some sword fighting, since uncle Jura¡¯s busy. He said, help out at the orphanage, practice some basic moves with the kids in the orphanage, good heroes do that sort of work all the time. And I agree, I want to be a good hero. But why do these fellow children, who are just around my age, treat me with such hostility? I didn¡¯t even say much, all I did was walk in, say I¡¯m helping out with the sword practice, and then this huge tirade of insults. One of the caretakers at the orphanage, notices the insults and rushes into the training room, the caretaker, an elderly lady walks to Lausanne and pulls her to one side of the room before it escalates into a fistfight. ¡°Forgive them, Miss Lausanne. A lot of them have a lot of animosity, a lot of anger, so when they see a young girl their age coming in to teach them, they¡­ they can¡¯t deal with it. Please, come this way with me.¡± ¡°They¡¯re really angry at me.¡± Lausanne nods, her eyes look at the wrinkled face of the elderly lady. She holds Lausanne¡¯s arms, and leans in to speak to her with a warm, grandmotherly voice. ¡°It¡¯s a complicated feeling, these boys, they¡¯ve got things to deal with inside them, and so these boys want, no, they have a need for respect and recognition, a yearning to learn ''real'' skills. So when adult soldiers come and practice with them, they feel they¡­ they are respected.¡± ¡°Hmmm... so they don¡¯t want to practice with me because I¡¯m a young girl? Even if I have real skills?¡± Lausanne sighs. There¡¯s nothing much she could do with those kids who are bigger, if they don¡¯t like her. I¡¯ll have to tell uncle Jura and mom about it later. She looks at the caretakers, most of them elderly women that mom hired to help run the orphanage. There¡¯s about 200 kids in this place, of various ages, and many of them are here because they lost both their parents, mostly during their earlier escape from the slaughter of Salah. The group earlier is around aged 9-12. She¡¯s sad, but she did promise Jura to help, so she asks for something else to do. Maybe if there are other girls? ¡°Uhm¡­ well, Uncle Jura did ask me to help out. Maybe I can play with the younger children? Any girls I can play with?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ yes, okay. Girls... girls...¡± The lady smiles, and she leads Lausanne to another room where there¡¯s about 10 to 15 young girls, probably 4 to 6 years old playing catch. It¡¯s a relatively empty room, they don¡¯t have many toys, so they mostly play with each other. ¡°Maybe you can join this group?¡± ¡°Hi.¡± Lausanne smiles, they¡¯re all younger than her, and a part of her feels happy. It¡¯s nice that I¡¯m not the youngest for a change. They smile back at her, and they welcome her into the game, ah, this group¡¯s a lot more pleasant, she thought to herself. Maybe they¡¯re too young to feel much animosity, or perhaps these group is a little sheltered. It¡¯s a simple room, a few chairs, but it¡¯s well lit by natural lighting, thanks to multiple large windows, thin streaks of sunlight filter through the leaves outside. There¡¯s a few wooden blocks here and there, but that¡¯s about all the toys they have. A small girl with a short bob-cut walks up to Lausanne, ¡°Hello, elder sister. I¡¯m Jien.¡± She¡¯s shorter than her. Lausanne smiles and give her a hug. ¡°I¡¯m Lausanne. Can I play?¡± ¡°Okay. What do you want to play? We usually play catch. Or we throw the blocks back and forth.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do that.¡± They played together for the rest of that afternoon, until it was about evening, and she learnt their names. The biggest girl there is Sammy, she¡¯s about six. She doesn¡¯t know when her birthday is because her parents both passed away when she was still a baby, and that¡¯s actually fairly common among those who live there. Because the girls don¡¯t know who¡¯s the eldest, thus, they go with the biggest. Jien is probably a year younger, like the rest of the girls, their parents died. Or maybe somehow got separated. Most of them aren¡¯t very sure whether their parents died or somehow got lost, but this detail doesn¡¯t bother them much. Lausanne felt happy after an afternoon of playtime, and felt, maybe she should help them out. I should ask TreeTree for some more wooden toys. I remember we have a lot in the playroom. - ¡°Did you practice with the other kids?¡± ¡°No mom. They didn¡¯t want to fight with a girl. They wanted the captains.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Laufen nods, she puts down the reports that the other employees prepared. She¡¯s got a lot of assistants these days, as the head of the public services. She honestly didn¡¯t like paperwork all that much, but there still needed to be reports, to tabulate spending, income and these are still made by actual administrators, or the priests. ¡°Why?¡± Laufen squats to look at Lausanne eye-to-eye. ¡°One of the ladies said it¡¯s because they want to fight with an adult.¡± Lausanne sulks. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯m not good enough.¡± Laufen gives Lausanne a hug and then starts to pat her daughter on her head. ¡°No, no. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s not like that.¡± "The ladies told me so. The boys said they want the captains." "Lausanne, my dear, they don''t mean it. I am sure they like you." Lausanne shakes her head. "Mom... They don''t." "Really?" "Really." Lausanne''s face is serious, and a bit sad. "Well, they will like you someday." Lausanne shakes her head. "Hmph." She leans in and gives her mom a kiss on the cheeks. "Good night, mom." "Sleep well, don''t let it bother you." Lausanne shakes her head. Maybe it will bother her that night. - Some time later... "Thank you for practising with me, Lady Yvon." "Welcome. I always look forward to sparring with such a talented young girl." They both give each other a quick bow, and they start their practice spars. Simple swings and strokes, moves meant to warm the body and ready for the real thing. Yvon is still leagues ahead of Lausanne in terms of skill, but Lausanne''s growth is outstanding as she is almost level 30. "How''s things?" Yvon asks casually, ducking a horizontal slash, and then parrying a follow-up horizontal slash. "TreeTree''s starting a small class of students. He calls them his chosen warriors." "Huh?" "Yeah... he says he plans to train them, and maybe give them special powers like mine some day, but before that he needs to prepare them." Yvon blocks a flurry of slashes, and retaliates with a body slam. Lausanne though activates [Evasive steps], and manages to avoid it. "He says maybe he''ll have to fix them if they''re not compatible later on. Like how he uses his powers to cure Uncle Jura''s curse..." "Really, why does TreeTree want to do something like that?" "Hmmm... he didn''t tell me a lot, but maybe, maybe he just likes us to grow? He says he wants to watch our growth closely, though, as he''ll be using some kind of ''essence'' on us though." "Essence? Isn''t that like condensed energies?" "I don''t know, Lady Yvon. But TreeTree says he has a lot of essences and some other things like his minerals and mana that he wants to use." "On the girls?" "Yeah. He told me it''ll be good for them." "Did you get those as well?" "Uh... I think so? I frequently have dreams where I am training, or where there''s someone teaching me things. And TreeTree tells me to dip into the pod every week too." "And your mom is fine with it?" "Mom thinks TreeTree knows what it''s doing. She says its how I get so good at fighting." "Wait. You are not naturally talented at fighting?" Lausanne smiles. "If you ask Uncle Jura, he''ll tell you I was absolutely horrible at it when I started. But TreeTree''s been helping me by giving me these... dreams." Lausanne blocks a few more slashes from Yvon, and tries to land a kick. "Dreams?" "Yah. It''s like I''ll take a nap at home, and TreeTree''s feelers will somehow touch my forehead, and I get the dreams." "Tell me... more." Yvon charges, and unleashes a flurry of slashes. Lausanne tries to parry them, but fails to parry a few, so she takes a hit from the wooden blade. Lausanne staggers back from the impact. It hurts but she has pain resistance. "Oh... it''s different every time. Sometimes, it''s like there''s a voice in my head, and we would talk. About things, about a topic. Sometimes its language, like I''ll get a lesson on it. Sometimes it''ll tell me about people, about places..." Yvon listens intently, they take a break. "Some dreams are really really fun. It''s like all these colors, and all these images, of really strange things, weird monsters-like things and shapes, but they don''t attack me. It''s like I''m on top of a mountain and fell down." "That''s like a vision. A.. hmm. A hallucination." "A what?" "Never mind, continue." "Oh, then like last week, I had a dream where I was fighting a giant demon. I had really strong powers, and I had to use those powers to fight the giant demon." "Fighting demons doesn''t sound like a fun dream." Yvon shakes her head, and takes a drink from her bag of water. "Anyway, continue?" Lausanne nods, and they both step back into the ring. "Well, I think TreeTree''s trying to teach me something." "Sounds like he''s making elite warriors." Lausanne smiles. "Well, he''s just helping me be a hero." Yvon frowns, Lausanne ducks, and jumps sideways to avoid a bunch of slashes. "Is it? I''m not aware he did so much to you." "Oh, he''s been fixing my body too, like repairing a bone here, a bone there. And he''s got like this thing which can help strengthen the bones and muscles too. It''s all in the green pod." "I am starting to think the green pod isn''t all that it seems..." "That pod is amazing, Lady Yvon. It sustained a hero suffering from a demonic curse." "It did?" "Did Uncle Jura not tell you? One of the previous generations of heroes was afflicted with some kind of curse, and TreeTree kept her alive until a cure was found." "Before we came..." "Yeah, yeah! I was still a tiny toddler then. But I do vaguely remember a lady constantly being in the pod." "Alright, let''s stop." They had some more basic exercises just to cool their bodies down. "How are the girls receiving this news?" "They''re excited. It''s the first time they get chosen for anything, so they are thrilled when they got the familiar contract. They''ll need to sleep in a special tree, and have regular dips in the pod. It''s like they''re going to be transformed into something amazing, so all of them really, really want it." "They should be careful. Tree Spirit probably has his own plans for them, and may not be what they think it is." Lausanne smiles, "We believe in TreeTree. He''ll help us." Yvon sighs. "I... I''ll need to speak to TreeTree." Dreams, physical alterations. Hallucinations. Need to consume strange liquids. It all sounds a bit like what tribal shamans give to their warriors to whip them into a war frenzy, or the work of some alchemist testing out strange potions. She had heard rumors of creatures that give strange mind-altering substances to enslave minions, though it didn''t seem like TreeTree is doing it, she needed to be sure. Yvon''s one of the modernist elves, who have a rather defensive, cautious view of Tree Spirits, that Tree Spirits aren''t exactly domestic animals that can be tamed, unless one happened to be a hero who focused on spirit control. The modernist elves believe the benign, friendly myth of the tree spirit is actually a unique characteristic of the Great Tree Spirits of the Elf cities, and one should not assume all wild tree spirits to be similarly benevolent. Like the dryads, faeries and other forest spirits, these avatars of nature share a common trait, that they are occasionally ephemeral, flighty, fickle, and manipulative. Though often their goals are aligned to what most elves desire, they should also be treated with caution, for the fury of a tree spirit is often not apparent, subtle. Lausanne though, didn''t think that way. To her, TreeTree is friendly and all he is trying to do, is help. In their own ways, both of them are right. Treetalks Year 79 Month 9 "Did you hear? One of the mage guild''s private gardens near the Royal Grove, was robbed last night! A lot of valuable herbs and plants were lost." "Oh? Any idea who are the culprits?" "The mages suspect a mage, so the royal guard has been deployed. But there were no traces. It''s as if the plants all just... vanished into the ground." "Can''t it be just some thief with a magical bag? Or some kind of plant-manipulation artifact?" "I think it''s just an unhappy mage taking revenge. There''s a lot of politics going on in the mage guilds. This is just a reaction to the mage''s council votes!" Ransalah. It''s a large city, and there are a lot of high leveled people around. Strong adventurers, powerful generals and mages. Their very presence permeates the air, and I occasionally pick up the effects of their skills, despite me being mostly magically-insensitive. A direct confrontation is not ideal, not with the distance penalty I suffer at long distances. This might be the first time I have ''seen'' a city, Moton and New Freeka can''t compare to the scale and sprawl of a capitol city. It''s also the first time I encounter ''enchanted'' roads. Around the capitol, these road has some kind of ''anti-vegetation'' effect, and as a result I cannot spawn my subsidiary trees near them. Even underground, the capital has a sprawling network of sewers and tunnels, and they are strangely, also, ''enchanted''. I suspect its the effect of some masonry skill, or builder''s skill which prevents decay and damage to these structures, because logically, using magic on sewers just didn''t seem to make much sense. These enchanted sewers prevent my roots from spreading that deeply, and so that greatly limits the extent of my spread. In the city, multiple structures, such as the army''s fort on the riverbank, are enchanted with strong defensive magic, which I am yet able to identify, but I presume to be a kind of ''warding'' magic. The magic on the fort walls create a forcefield that repels my presence, and prevents me from placing subsidiary trees and also stops my roots from approaching. I frankly don''t know all of these, whether its skill or magic, either. Or whether its the powers of a local Lord or King which grants such passive benefits to the city which he or she rules. These protections, magic or from skills, are clustered mostly around the old Castle, the palaces, the eight forts around the city, the mage''s main towers, the old cathedrals and temples to the gods. The usual ''places of interest''. All of these, together with the layout of the river, meant I have very little access to the inner city, where all the royals are. Still, there must be something I can do. First, is the Royal Grove, which, despite its royal status lacks magical protection. I guessed that unlike the places where the royals live, the Royal grove isn''t worth much protection. So, I extend a few subsidiary trees into the forests, and soon discover that it''s earth does have some magic. There''s also a lot of new herbs and plants that I have not seen. The royal guards and rangers, are always on the lookout, for monsters, or for thieves, but when they spot a new tree, they just go, eh. All I need to do is disguise my tree look like a small shrub, and I can slip through the patrols like nothing. The best reaction I got from a ranger, "Oh, when did this tree pop up?" And then promptly proceeds to ignore that tree. Like, not even an investigation? In fact, the most legit confrontation I gotten, is from a woodcutter. I had attempted to expand into the new part of the city, where all the regular citizens live. But the presence of a tree just stuck out like a sore thumb in the messy, dense mess that is the west side of Ransalah. So, a woodcutter came up to my tree that popped up at the edge of town, without any hesitation, chopped me down. Chop. Chop. Chop. And timberrrrr. My subsidiary tree fell just like that. I bet that woodcutter had like special [woodcutting] abilities that makes my tree''s defenses absolutely useless. Those poor subsidiary trees didn''t stand a chance. Maybe that axe is enchanted to be super effective against trees. But honestly, other than the woodcutters, no one really notices an unusual tree in a forest. I mean, I am discounting the fact that anything green just sticks out in a place filled with houses, roads and shops. Does this world not have tree-monsters? Nobody disguises themselves as a tree trunk? Does this world not have ninjas? Anyway, the Royal Grove, and, as my [subsidiary tree] connects to the other trees and the earth, I get a notification. [Gained a passive buff. Connected to an enchanted forest. Herb effectiveness increased by 50%.] Oh. Funky. Enchanted it is. "What''s your plan?" Alexis asks, she''s obviously a huge fan of seeing new places. "I''ve been there, that city. But we''ve only stayed a few days. It''s nice, looking at the city from your point of view." "Hmmm... I plan to first gradually infiltrate the capital, have trees and vines throughout the city... then, I need to find the culprits. I want to know whether the commanders that ordered the burning of the village, are they still alive?" "That''s it? If they are alive, do you plan to kill them?" "Hmmm... I guess so. I should kill them." "Is this for revenge? I mean, they burnt down the village, so its revenge, right?" ¡°Revenge, yeah, I think so.¡± Actually, that''s a good question. Why am I doing this? Am I just carrying the fury of the burning of the village of Freeka in my heart? Kind of silly that I am asking myself this now that I have made the entire journey here. I even invested all these subsidiary trees to establish a connection, a chain of trees that span a country. So, that question prompted me to think about what exactly I want to achieve, and because I could not answer the question myself, I turn to the elves. My fellow survivors, the 7 elves that suffered the consequences of the army''s brutality. "Lausanne, what would you do if you found the one responsible for killing your father?" "Slap him. A few times." "That''s it?" "That bad person, he made me grow up without a father. It is a bad thing, bad people do such bad things, to me. But, it is so long ago, I was still just a small baby, I do not know what happened. So.. somehow, I''m not really, really angry. Maybe angry, but, it''s not really, really, burn me up kind of angry, you know? I should be angry at these bad guys, because they did a bad thing, but, but it''s not in here, you know?" Lausanne points to her heart, or is it her gut? She has a point, she¡¯s a baby, she¡¯s not seen it happen, though she suffers the consequences of it. But that¡¯s been her life since. "So are you angry?" "I think I am. But not much, really. Maybe mom will be really angry. Wait. I should be angry. I am angry." "You... don''t sound that angry." "I am angry because a group of bad person did bad things to us. But, that''s it, I guess, I am angry because I should be, but not angry because I feel it like a fire in my heart." Okay, confusing. Laufen. "Laufen, what would you do if you find the man that ordered the burning of the village?" Laufen sat, and she just kept quiet for a while. "Laufen?" "I heard you, TreeTree. I... I need to think. I just did not expect such a question from you, suddenly." Oh. Laufen kept quiet for a good 15 minutes, maybe an hour? Just alone, thinking. I honestly didn''t notice the time. "Honestly, TreeTree? I don''t know what I would do. Maybe I will kill him? Or maybe not. But me... I... I think I probably won''t be able to do anything. It''s been so long, TreeTree... I. I don''t know." Laufen looks really uncomfortable, and she sits down on the large chair in her office. "They took my friends, my husband, my home, from me." "So you will retaliate?" "Yes. Maybe yes. But, but I myself, I tell Lausanne not to let it cloud and consume us, that this is a cycle, of how the world renew itself... The world is full of this, you know, killing. People always kill each other, they always find excuses to. If it¡¯s not humans, it¡¯ll be royalty, or money, or territory. We have always been killing, or getting killed. I sometimes wonder whether maybe it would be demons that got us instead, if its not the army." "I''m confused, Laufen. Why are you talking about that?" "Me too. I don''t really know what I will do. What I should do? I like to think we have all moved on, we succeeded in rebuilding our lives. A part of me takes the stand that living a good life is the best revenge. That not to be consumed by vengeance is the way to move forward with life." Laufen pauses, and takes a deep breath. "But the loss, somewhere, it still hurts. When I look at Lausanne sparring, I wonder what Ricola would have said. When we celebrate her birthdays, I wish Ricola and all others to be here." She looks really sad then. "But does my sorrow, my sadness, allow me to seek vengeance? I know, Casshern once told me that when you''ve lived through so many years of death, you learn to accept it. But I can''t. So what should I do, TreeTree? What''s the right thing to do?" She stretches. "Like I said, a part of me thinks the right thing to do, is to forgive and forget. But I don''t want them to entirely get away scott-free either. I feel like a statement needs to be made. I''m so torn between those two feelings! TreeTree? I want both. I want to let go. Only with letting go I will have inner peace. But I also want to have vengeance, a statement, some way of slapping these idiots for fighting us when their attention should be demons." Well, I can actually share that emotion. I too thought I knew, but now that I am at the point where I am able to retaliate, I actually don''t really know what I want to do with Salah. Do I proceed to slaughter the Salah Kingdom? Many of whom are similarly unaware of the evil their military commits? Or should I just focus my goal on the true culprits? But let''s say I do find the true culprits, is death the right punishment for them? "Jura, what would you do if you find the culprits behind the burning and slaughter of Freeka?" Jura leans back on his chair. "I would have the true culprit stripped naked, hung upside down in a public market, and starved, whipped and burned for a few days, but without dying, without sleep." "Huh, why?" "Because he deserves shame, and pain. For someone who crossed me personally, I feel to just let the person die is too lenient, too light. He should experience my terrible days, when I was hiding, running, my skin still scorched by the flames that engulfed the village, my feet bruised, the bottom of my skin bleeding but I had to keep running, all of us ran like crazy for days. So yeah, he should have a taste of that." "Okay..." "But you know, now that I''m the Counsel of the Valtrian Order, I can understand how it got to that point, why the military did what it did. The burning. Even if I disagree with it." "Jura?" "I mean, look, a King exercises his authority through his institutions, and his subjects. What good is a King if there are no subjects that obey his command? So, when a King gives an order, there must be a weight to it, that citizens learn to obey them. We clearly disobeyed the order, so we were punished. Sure, the punishment on us is really extreme, but then, I sometimes wonder, if the punishment is light, who would put their lives on the line and fight for the King? I have heard of death for traitors, death for those who desert the battlefield. What we did is similar, no? We refused to fight when we were clearly asked to." I think there¡¯s more to it, so I let Jura continue. ¡°Eh, it¡¯s just some things I think about, sometimes to rationalise why such a tragedy happened. It¡¯s... it¡¯s a way of coping, to try and understand why it happened. A part of me learns to come to terms with that reality, by accepting that we deserved it.¡± Well, dissecting and rationalising is a way of coping? ¡°Sometimes, maybe that¡¯s just fate. The way the gods of this world continue to play their games, and we are just puppets.¡± Jura stretches on his nice comfy seat. It¡¯s custom made, after all, he is the Counsel of the Order. He kicks his legs a bit, and then swings his two arms around. There¡¯s no one else in the room, Jura doesn¡¯t actually like having other people in the room when he¡¯s working. Besides, he¡¯s a Level 80 [Warlord], if somebody can kill him, the guards probably won¡¯t stand a chance anyway. ¡°But you know, despite all of that, I saw my friends die, so I think I really would skewer the guy. Cut him up, and hang him for all to see. But then, I¡¯ll probably look like a vengeful person, and public vengeance isn¡¯t something other elves appreciate.¡± ¡°So... will you kill him or not?¡± ¡°Oh yes, I will kill him, throw him in the gutter. Let no one remember him. And be done with it." Heh. Well, I somewhat like that, but then again, I feel death is too cheap. ¡°Doesn¡¯t death feel too cheap?¡± ¡°Life is cheap, so death should be cheap. Always has been. But I just want to settle those loose ends, and be done with it. We¡¯ve got the living to worry about, future enemies to think of, rather than enemies of our past..." "You... sure?" "No. I think I will only know what I will do when I hold the executioner''s blade, and the culprit''s head on the chopping block. Maybe those deep emotions will come back." Hmmm... somehow those answers didn¡¯t satisfy me all that much, so I end up speaking to Belle and Emile. I too ask both the girls the same question, about what they would do if they find the person who asked for the burning of New Freeka. ¡°Honestly, I kind of got over it, and accepted that the gods let it happen. Been what, 9 years?¡± Belle scratches her head. Emile similarly looks confused. ¡°I think those humans are evil, but they¡¯re mostly dead, right? Have you been thinking about it, TreeTree?¡± ¡°Eh... come on, none of you care about it anymore?¡± ¡°Uhm... Salah¡¯s so far away, and we¡¯re just regular elves, looking to lead regular elven lives. For me, I¡¯ve not thought of vengeance at all, the only thing on my mind is to return to normalcy, which we have!¡± Belle smiles, it¡¯s nighttime, and she sits on her bed. ¡°And now we have you to protect us, so that won¡¯t happen ever again. So, I won''t do a thing." Ah... ¡°I agree with Belle, I think after the first 3 years or so I stopped thinking about the slaughter. Having a job and a new town like New Freeka, we feel normal again. Well, our actions will not bring back the dead.¡± Seriously, these two girls can be a little too happy-go-lucky, even with the destruction. Well, there¡¯s Brislach and Wahlen. Wahlen sits, ¡°Erm... I would kick the guy in the groin. And publicly cane him.¡± Brislach scratches her cheeks for a while, she¡¯s a young adult now, ¡°I¡¯d have him apologise. For ordering such a hateful, horrible thing. I want a sincere, heartfelt apology. And then I will slap all of them. And yes I like Wahlen''s idea. Cane, cane them. Cane them! Use the biggest whip and cane their butts until it bleeds." Ah an apology, that¡¯s a good point. An apology, a remorseful one would be good. But if I find the guy, how do I even get an apology out of them? ¡°What would you do, TreeTree?¡± Brislach turns the question around. ¡°You were there when it happened too, you watched the village burn, you saw the rest of them die to the swords and fires, while we hid inside you.¡± ¡°I, I actually don¡¯t really know. I¡¯m still thinking what I should do.¡± I am confused now. It seems because these elves lived actual 9 years while the past few years didn''t feel all that long to me. They seem to have mostly moved on, which, I suppose makes me happy. But then... The two girls laughs, ¡°Even the wise tree spirits can feel anger and know not what to do, eh! TreeTree, what do you feel they deserve?¡± ¡°I...¡± I think I must have vengeance. But what kind of vengeance? What would satisfy this itch? This little scar in my heart? I look at Ransalah. My vision is incomplete, as my [subsidiary trees] can only see so far. The location of my trees isn''t very strategic, unlike how New Freeka is a town built around and with trees, so what I can see and hear is limited. It¡¯s been so many years, if I want to be specific about my vengeance, can I even find the person responsible? What if the guy¡¯s dead? What if, something already killed them? Where should my vengeance go, then? Feeling stumped, I focus on my usual activities. Which is, finding more types of trees to investigate. It really wasn¡¯t really hard for some beetles to sneak in using the [root tunnels], especially in poorly defended places like the mage¡¯s garden. It isn¡¯t even the garden with the most valuable herbs. The real prize, I think, are those within the usual suspects, the multiple large garden within the palace compounds, a few other gardens in the three large temple complexes, and those gardens that are actually in the mage¡¯s guild. It¡¯s not easy to infiltrate a city as a tree, what more with it¡¯s generally enchanted paved or tiled roads, and there¡¯s really very little vegetation in the town area, except for little spots, little gardens here and there. Doesn¡¯t help that because it¡¯s a city, demand for wood is high, so there¡¯s frequently a lot of workers going around the city to harvest trees. That meant, I have to frequently regenerate my [subsidiary trees], else I¡¯d lose a connection to the trees I have inside the Royal Grove. ¡°Strategies, anyone? For both the vengeance, and for the maintenance of trees.¡± I ask my artificial minds ¡°Obtain military records. Commands to burn a village should be recorded somewhere? Unless their recordkeeping is horrible.¡± Ivy''s the first to suggest the obvious. ¡°How do we do that, none of us can read, so if we do, it¡¯ll be with the help of the elves. And I predict the records will be kept in the main military installations, which are magically protected. Sending beetles there is unfeasible as well. The beetles won''t be able to beat the high level individuals in these installations." ¡°Ask?¡± Dimitree''s views are more... direct. ¡°How, and who? We have no allies in Salah.¡± ¡°The New Freekans are formerly from Salah, they must have allies. They are all migrants after all. Perhaps they even know the structure of the army, and bureaucracy inside out.¡± Ivy responds, she does know their background quite well. ¡°If so, would they not be able to know who would have ordered such an action?¡± "The fact that they don''t means its not common knowledge." Feeling like I¡¯m getting stonewalled, I speak to Jura again. Perhaps he has some ideas about the ways to proceed. Jura muses. ¡°I have an idea. Let¡¯s just ask Salah to surrender the officer responsible for the burning, We are an independent nation now, and if they see why we¡¯re not exactly favorable to them, they will appreciate that this is something they can do to repair that relationship.¡± Did his [diplomat] levels make him think of such an idea? ¡°Don''t worry about it. Let me handle it, we will send out the request, TreeTree. I¡¯ve been wanting to give the New Freeka High Council a jolt for some time¡± Year 79 Month 10 The request came from the Valtrian Order, directly from the Counsel. The letter, with the Valtrian Order''s official seal, went out to Salah''s envoys, and then to their King. The letter, which is written with unnecessary legalese and noblesse verbose, can be roughly summarised to : Dear King of Salah, On year so-and-so, one rogue platoon of the Salah''s army murdered the villagers of Freeka, and set the entire village on fire. We humbly request for the assistance of the Salah Kingdom to investigate this gruesome slaughter and turn those responsible over to New Freeka, such that these criminals may face justice for the murder. Jura, Counsel Laufen, Vice Counsel Signed and marked with their personal seal, along with the Valtrian Order¡¯s. The informal networks abuzz with chatter, trying to figure out what this letter really meant. How many people know of the burning and slaughter of Freeka? Certainly not much, evidenced by the sheer cluelessness displayed by so many. With so many deaths in the world, such things are just a footnote, not worth a mention. Why should a village be any different? Why did the Order bring this up? Is this request really something to remediate an offense of the past? Is the Order testing Salah''s resolve and sincerity for peace? Or will Salah''s refusal to assist be the precursor of future war? It is the task of various envoys and diplomats to sieve out the true intent behind a request, to separate fact from propaganda. Even among the councillors of New Freeka, there¡¯s a whole lot of guessing, and subtle questions, trying to figure out what Jura and Laufen wants. Laufen just shakes her head, smiles and says, ¡°Oh, please redirect any of your questions to Jura.¡± Jura himself just smiles as he responds to the questions from the other councillors ¡°Its something close to our hearts, we lost so many friends and family then. With justice served, we can then face the dead with peace of mind." --- Anyway, I leave that aside for now. Justice should be precise, after all. I turn to my 5 new recruits, the 5 girls, a coincidence, I swear. I gave them a special title, the Valthorn Initiates, because they will be the thorns. It''s kind of inspired by the old saying, rose among the thorns, only, these roses are going to be the thorns. A part of me feels like I have unintentionally made this into an equivalent to those game of training little shipgirls. Anyway, I am digressing. Their training is... slow. Firstly, these girls have a lot on their minds, as they have to get used to me speaking to them every now and then. The dreams via [dream tutor] that I have been giving them also made them a bit unsettled, even though its just dreams made from [essences of sword] or [essences of spear], regular common essences that I frequently collect from my [essence generators], or from [soul harvesters] and [memory collection] of the dead. It seems these 5, they see different things despite getting the same kind of essences, and their ''trainers'' are somebody they don''t know. The dreams'' lengths are also different, one girl says it felt like she''s been practicing for hours, another says hers felt like just minutes of talking. Then, is the routine. They are all excited, and eager, wholeheartedly embracing the change, but it still takes some time to get used to it, and their young bodies can''t take the sudden change, even with my biopods feeding them nutrients. The extent of the workouts and education pretty much overwhelmed them. Even stepping into the biopods is scary, their first time dipping usually accompanied with struggling against the vines and feelers. So, slow progress it is. Maybe it takes a while, like a small sapling, I cannot rush their growth. Strength comes from true understanding, and a strong foundation. It is like planting, the amount of nutrients, sunlight and water must be just right, else you would kill the plant. So maybe I need to adjust my expectations. Spaizzer Thanks for reading, and thanks for commenting. I have been getting ideas for other fics while thinking about this fic, and so sometimes I feel like taking a break to write those ideas. But then, I think about the many readers expecting to see TreeTree kick some ass, so I end up coming back to write this. Actually, that was just a rant about how I wish I struck a lottery so that I can spend more time writing all the fics I want to write. But I probably will still work, at least part time. My ideal work hours would be a 3 day work week. I find working and dealing with annoying clients, bosses and colleagues, surprisingly inspiring, writing wise. I sometimes take inspiration from my colleagues, who are occassionally brilliant and at times, evil, backstabbing sonovabeechs. I also salute the multiple hats some of my bosses have to play, mediating silly interdepartmental politics. Anyway, that was a long author note. I hope you like this story. I wrote this story with a very very rough outline of what I want to write, so there''s a huge amount of filling the blanks to get to those ''checkpoints''. Fun fact, I started writing this story after my r18 tentacle monster story got rejected. Wasteland Year 79 Month 11 A group of druids recently applied to New Freeka, they would like to open a Druid''s House in the town. From what I understand, they were invited by the councillors, perhaps in an attempt to use the druids to counter my presence. Indeed, using the druids'' power over nature is a good strategy. If I were faced with a Tree Monster, I would find ways to weaken the opponent or find a hard weakness. But it''s been a long time since I faced a druid, and my levels are much higher now. So, I really look forward to my future interaction with druids, I too want to know where I stand. The elves once spoke of a reincarnated hero, Roana, who controlled tree spirits and nature like the back of her hands. I wonder whether I would bend to her will, if a hero like that comes around. These druids, they would be a fascinating entry level test case. "Wouldn''t that mean druids are using some kind of mind control on trees?" Alexis wonders aloud. "I didn''t think of it before, but it is a kind of mind control, isn''t it? The taming of beasts by a beastmaster is similarly a kind of mind control if beasts are sentient, intelligent creatures." "Well, I wouldn''t know, but they can try using it on you, since your physical body is that of biolab, which is a tree. Then you can be a test subject, and we can find out exactly how it works." "Eek. You are right, they might! They totally could." Alexis gasps, her hands to her spiritual face. ¡°I need to gain more levels!¡± I suspect I would have some resistance to such mind control or tree control, perhaps as a function of my levels. I would think mind control has a level modifier. Ah well, still, I let the druids settle in, order both Ivy and Trevor to keep watch, and watch each other. My fear is that they may notice Ivy or Trevor''s presence, and then attempt to control them instead. These 2 are of a lower level than me, so I would think the chances of druid skills working would be higher. Other than that, Meela''s hotel seems to be doing okay. She''s gotten customers and she''s spending money on decorations and materials. A few of her hired treefolks act as her runners, they do all the buying and collecting for her. I think she mentioned she plans to add an extra wing to her lodge. Then, the Salah issue. Salah Kingdom responded with a ''holding'' letter, saying they will look into the matter, and provide an update when they have more info. Essentially, the diplomatic equivalent of ''I have no idea what you are talking about so I need time to find out.'' Which is fine, I doubt people remember things like that, especially so far away, so I focus on gathering more intelligence on the Salah Kingdom. I too need to know a bit more about Salah, its people, its structure and its defenses, should I choose to attack them. [Inspection], as a skill, doesn''t seem to reveal much of the enchanted tiles and roads, other than they have been enchanted. It seems its more tailored to monsters, so perhaps I would need either higher tier of inspection, or a more specialised inspection skill to discern the true nature of these roads. Stumped, I turn to experimentation, I found one of these enchanted roads in a quiet, less travelled part of the capitol, far from the city itself, where I could place a few subsidiary trees near the road. And I did my experiments on the road. No matter how I tried to make something grow on these tiles or rocks, the plants just wouldn¡¯t grow. I then attacked it with my roots, and, it¡¯s much, much tougher than any regular rock. It took a few hits, then it starts to crack and break. So, conclusion one, its resistant to most kinds of attack, but not indestructible. Either that or these roads have some kind of plant-source damage reduction. I would like to meet the person who build all these roads and structures. ¡°Perhaps we could talk to the locals in New Freeka. I believe one of Yvon¡¯s confidantes is a builder, of the magical kind.¡± Ah yes, the group that uses magic to build houses, perhaps they might know a bit more about these kind of enchanted roads. Maybe all these builders know one another, like some kind of builder¡¯s guild? Or perhaps, contractor¡¯s association? ¡°Must be my luck, Counsel Jura.¡± One of Yvon¡¯s followers, now also one of the councillors of New Freeka. ¡°So, what do I owe the honor of being before the few true natives of the valley?¡± Jura grins and taps on the chair, ¡°Ah, nothing too serious, I asked for you to borrow some of your... knowledge. I¡¯ve got some questions, tell me about... construction-related skills and abilities.¡± The room¡¯s empty save for the 2 of them, both seated on a chair. Jura has a pot of tea, made from my younger, tender leaves. It¡¯s still steaming, there¡¯s a small firestone under it, used to keep food warm. The councillor moves, adjusts his body slightly. He¡¯s a man of average height, but his build is bulky, stoic, but since his election to the council, he changed a builder¡¯s attire for something more formal. ¡°How strange, may I know why?¡± The councillor leans forward, he didn¡¯t touch the tea. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of building a new building, so I thought I ask an expert on what kind of crazy skills would a builder have. It would help me in assessing what I can build, and how long it takes. So, tell me about the great builders of our world." The councillor pauses, smiles a little to himself then shakes his head. ¡°Surely there''s more to it, Counsel. Well, there were no builder-heroes.¡± Jura sips on his tea. ¡°Oh, that''s something I didn''t realise, I thought there were heroes from almost all the classes. But then that''s another conversation, I want to know about builder type job classes today." ¡°Firstly, there are all kinds of builder-related job classes. There are the entry level versions of the job such as the draftspersons, the regular workman, and there are the stronger variants, the architects, the foreman, the master-builders. Their passives run the gamut from weak, to incredible. A true master-builder could turn build a house out of hay that can withstand a typhoon, a house out of wood that would never rot or spoil, a wall that can withstand a dragon¡¯s flame, and roads that could speed up the domains trade.¡± ¡°Am I right to assume the materials are the same, or do these master-builders use their skills to change the materials?¡± ¡°Yes, and no. A builder, a farmer, a blacksmith, they all have skills, and these skills influences the materials they work with, and it persists until the materials are unmade. A plank of wood processed by a master-builder, can be many times stronger than one made by a regular builder, just like a blacksmith can work with metal to make a sword multiple times stronger than the work of a regular apprentice.¡± ¡°But then what happens when the maker dies? Do these skills disappear?¡± ¡°You really are a warrior, Counsel Jura. It is basic knowledge that non-combat skills have longevity. The effect of a non-combat skill persists longer, than the burst-one off nature of active, combat skills. The great castles of yore, made by the master artisans, the effects of their skills on the shine of their walls, the foundations and strength of their ramparts, they remain till this day, with little decay, even after the death of their makers.¡± Jura rubs his chin and hair, looking a little embarrassed that the councillor called him out on his cluelessness on such things. ¡°True, else they wouldn¡¯t be handing down enchanted artifacts and heirlooms. Ah, but let''s say I want to know about roads and walls. What kind of skills you¡¯ve seen that work on walls and roads?¡± ¡°Thinking about building walls around the Order, Counsel Jura? Where do I start? Think about it, there are Kings with powers to create temporarily nigh-impervious, indestructible fortresses and walls. Kings who amplify the effect of roads on travel in their domain. Or mages who can enchant walls with defensive buffs. Highway markers that speed up travel on those who travel along them...¡± ¡°Ah fine, I¡¯m asking about builders?¡± ¡°We would have many kinds, most builders worthy of building anything more than a wooden house would gain some variant of the skills [Enduring construct] or [Low-maintenance structures], so that they last longer, and need less upkeep and repairs. I would think walls and roads would gain the effects of such skills.¡± ¡°Are there dedicated road-builders in the world? What kind of skills would they have?¡± ¡°Yes, of course there are, the world''s skills are as vast as the stars in the sky, but... I don¡¯t know their skills? I¡¯m a magic-augmented builder, I construct things using earth magic, and sadly I have not met a true road-builder." And well, that was all the councillor was willing to share and Alexis had a post mortem. ¡°A metaphor I would use, is that these passive skills are like... paint. They stay on the object until they are removed.¡± Well, Alexis is willing to share her views on such things. ¡°Usually, the benefits of such skills is that they are close to perpetual, they usually can interact and stack with other such ¡®passive¡¯ skills, and the drawbacks is that, they¡¯re not that strong.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s your take on what¡¯s happening. Why the roads resist me?" ¡°You¡¯re a pest, I suppose. I doubt the road knows how to differentiate between a tree and a weed, so it just repels all of them. Have you seen roads destroyed by roots that grow underneath them? Roots destroy buildings and roads, so, I would expect any good builder would want to prevent his things from getting destroyed..¡± ¡°Fine, let¡¯s say what you¡¯re saying is true, then how about New Freeka? Why don¡¯t the roads that are built now, in this area, ¡®reject me¡¯, if such passives are so common?¡± ¡°Maybe because you''re part of the native ecology, so the buildings built here are used to your overarching influence and do not regard you as an invader. Or maybe your main body is so overwhelmingly powerful in this area that such skills don¡¯t work in close vicinity to you. Or maybe you have some kind of ability invalidating all these skills. Frankly, could be a million things." "I learnt nothing from that conversation." Alexis chuckles, "I am glad to have wasted your time." Ah well, I turn my attention to the herbal varieties found in Salah, there¡¯s little spots of greenery throughout the city, the issue is clearly, getting there, because of all the roads and buildings that impede my progress. The Royal Grove¡¯s actually rather boring, other than being ¡®enchanted¡¯. The herb varieties are mostly common, but they are more ¡®effective¡¯. There¡¯s some herbalists and druids that regularly tend to the grove, mostly just healing sick trees and stuff like that. So, back to New Freeka. Year 79 Month 12 New Freeka¡¯s population is close to 60,000. A wave of new migrants, apparently coming from the north. There¡¯s another conflict emerging there, between two countries, and it¡¯s a plain old war, apparently over a lady. Turns out, princes from both countries fell in love with the same lady, and now they¡¯re fighting some kind of war over her. I mean, seriously. Can¡¯t they just have a duel or something? And it¡¯s winter! Why¡¯d they pick winter to fight a war anyway? ¡°It¡¯s warmer in their part of the world, a strong warm current and breeze keeps their two shore countries warm, so their winters are... pretty much feels like fall. So they can still fight.¡± ¡°Ngeh.¡± Well, food supplies are doing well. The Order¡¯s ¡®rituals¡¯ for births and deaths are becoming something of a ¡®tradition¡¯, which makes me happy, because more deaths means more essence for me to feed the 6 young girls that are now in my training regine. According to data provided by Laufen, about 2 in every 5 deaths are now taking the Order¡¯s ¡®melt-in-a-pod¡¯ method of disposing the corpse. Of course, the actual name that goes out to public is more... pleasant. Euphemisms, euphemisms. The population boom comes with it¡¯s own challenges. Clean water. Sewage. Public health. Previously, the Council¡¯s workers dug wells, and with some magical help and blacksmith tools, made pulleys and pumps that brings out water from the ground. At 60,000, even with close to 100 wells throughout the entire city, there are still long lines, and the water levels in the wells are running low, so newer wells have to be deeper. And that exposes one huge flaw in choosing this valley as a spot for a town. Water. Unlike a place with a large river, or a large lake, there are a few small streams through the valley, and unless the council is willing to dig really deep, providing clean water to 60,000 is going to be a challenge. The local builders constructed deeper and deeper wells, and also larger, deeper latrine pits. Apparently, one of the ways poop and sewage is processed in this world is via magic, and strangely, the temples of the world usually play a big part in water and sewage. One of the abilities the priesthoods and nuns learn, is an ability called [Purify] and [Cleanse], which works on people, and also works on sewage and water. So, the city actually pays priests and nuns, or those with the relevant [cleanse] skills to regularly ¡°process¡± the latrine pits. The poop gets converted, via magic, into regular dirt. Magic is amazing. The process of cleansing the latrine needs to be done quite regularly, else the poop will start to contaminate the groundwater. Again, the priests then use [cleanse] on the wells to ¡®sanitise¡¯ the water. So, there really is a thing like [purified] and [cleansed] ¡®holy water¡¯. I wonder whether they feel like a quack when they sell such things to regular citizens. In larger city, there are high level [cleaners] or [mages] who can do similar functions, or in some cases, meaning the wealthy, powerful cities, use artifacts that process or decompose sewers. In certain elven cities, their poop is usually processed by a kind of poop-eating worm, which, apparently, enjoys poop and pee as it¡¯s main food source. Centaurs and lizardmen tribes tend to spray a kind of ¡®yeast¡¯ or ¡®powder¡¯, that converts these poop and pee into fertiliser, which leads to an odd behavior of them having multiple outhouses in their farms, but strangely, these centaurs here don''t have such habits. Treefolk don¡¯t have the issue of poop or peeing, it seems their bodily wastes just... evaporates from their body, or gets discharged via their legs into the earth. The fact that magic and magical monsters exists gives a wide range of options on how to process such issues. I wonder how do large dragons deal with their poop? And do they poop midair like birds do? Anyway, enough of my constant off tangent ponderings. Population consumes resources, and also produces waste, both needs to be managed. Assimilating this growth, and managing it as part of the valley''s overall population while balancing and caring for the health of the valley''s florae is my personal duty as the Tree Guardian of the valley. With Trevor''s constant replenishment of the valley''s resources, and my powers of growth, the valley''s treecount is growing steadily. Lately, though, the growth rate is slowing again, partly because of consumption, from a larger population. I have [Timber farms], which, the Valtrian Order sells to the local businesses, who then make furniture, build houses, and other products. Increasingly, demand is starting to catch up to supply. The speed in which these timber grows is easily 10x, maybe more than that of a regular tree, as a regular seedling reaches maturity within two months, yet, there is a size limit to the farm. The idea of stone beds, or stone furniture is unappealing to the citizens, even centaurs prefer wooden furniture to stone. Perhaps there is something unappealing about purely-stone homes. Centaurs, for example, cultivate small patches of a certain grass, which, when dried, are woven into rugs and paddings, for them to lie on, and these woven rugs and carpets are a must have for any centaur dwelling. At first, I was unaware of this, but it seems as New Freeka''s "economy" and "safety" stabilised, the centaurs started yearning for little luxuries, and mixed cotton rugs and carpets start to proliferate. Which meant, a market for the [Cotton]. Sadly, Laufen says its a breakeven business, as the selling price barely covers the cost of processing and paying workers to work on the cotton, and then making the carpets. I think this cotton business needs industrialisation. There''s probably a better way to process the cotton, and I vaguely recall studies and visits to the textile museum. So, even though a machine like that must exist, and should exist, I''m no master of mechanical objects. So, I can''t recreate it. Maybe there''s some magical solution someday. Oh yes, where was I? Poop. And water. The reason I am also rambling about poop, is some of the ordinary, normal trees ''feel'' sick. My main tree, roots, and subsidiary trees are almost-immune, due to the effects of my skill, [rhizofiltration], so it doesn''t absorb all the other shit, literally, that gets dumped into the ground that contamonated the groundwater. But, my fellow normal trees, normal as they may be, are sick! And, sick trees grow slower. And some may eventually die. That is bad. Dead trees, is a big no no. I feel for my fellow trees. Year 80 Month 1 With data from the root sensors on subsidiary trees spread out throughout the valley, and also the city area, Trevor helped to map out an overlay indicating the pollution problem. I firstly need to know how bad is the poop situation. The source, is of course the city. There are multiple latrine pits, which the frequency of sanitisation by those responsible has been a bit lacking. The priests and workers are supposed to cleanse the pits once every three days, but it is an incredibly unpleasant task, so they only do it once every two weeks. That meant some of these sewage accumulated, and the extra period for it to stew in the pit meant quite a bit managed to contaminate the ground. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the [cleanse] spell is range-limited, so it didn''t cure the sewage accumulated deeper in those pits. The first issue is like I said, the priests are not doing their jobs. They generally view this duty as demeaning for these self-proclaimed servants of god, to literally [cleanse] the filth of others. Even the priests, those in the Order''s employ, abhor the task. "I hate that part of the job." A priest would routinely say. So, usually the most junior of priests, those who possess the skill, would be sent on the toilet duty. That meant the strength of the [cleanse] skills are poor, because skills scale with le els, and because of how deep and massive the latrines are, to accommodate 60,000 citizens, the skills of these low level [cleanse] just won''t do. At most, it just creates a superficial clean and dry layer on top of the rest of the sewage, deluding the priests that the job is done. But I have no cleaning skills myself, even if I do have the ability to filter such toxins and other unfavorables out. "Huh, the most senior priests on toilet duty? No, no amount of money will make that happen. We are servants of god, not the city''s sewage cleaners. The fact that we send our most junior priests to do it is good enough!" The task is seen as dirty, disgusting, and demeaning. Money won''t fix it. "Can we import the worms? Or the cleaning artifacts?" "Artifacts are ridiculously expensive. As for the worms, I will reach out to the Elven kingdoms whether they are for sale. Transporting those worms will need special arrangements, as they rarely survive outside their sewage-environment." Jura''s rather amused by the sanitation issue, he didn''t really feel it. In fact, most of the citizens are not even aware of the contamination of the groundwater, since these things reach deep, not float up above. Trevor''s map of subterranean water flow indicates the groundwater flows toward the valley, so as the latrine pits tend to be close to the forests edge, the New Freekans are lucky that their own drinking water is clean. Perhaps if somehow it stinks up the entirety of the town, then it would make them realise the gravity of the situation. Or maybe I should somehow reverse the flow of groundwater such that their wells get contaminated with poopwater? Ah, maybe I shoudn''t be so nasty. Solutions, solutions. Relying on the priests to constantly use [cleanse] on poop and sewage is not exactly what I consider a scalable and reliable solution. These priests are going to hold the skill as some kind of "ransom", eventually, if they discover what it means to the regular trees. And the idea of having an army of priests going around town sanitising all the latrine pits in a big city just feels...lame. So, I need some kind of natural solution, something I can manage. Something that I can ''create''. "Jura, are you familiar with plants that survive in sewers or other such wastelands?" "Uhmmm... no. But let me get the herbalist?" "We do not have any plants that are capable of surviving in sewers." The herbalist responds to Jura''s question. "Most plants have a natural state, and while these differs slightly, I am not aware of any plants that survive in entirely sewers. We do have plants that can somewhat tolerate sewer waters, though." Hmmm. How about algae? Fungi? There must be something that lives in sewers. I recall trees destroying sewer pipes back home because the roots are drawn to them, so the trees must have some tolerance for wastewater. I find it strange that the normal trees here are unable to process the sewage. They are native, they should be adapted to native waste from the native population. Is it because the type of toxins or minerals in the sewage? "What do large cities with their waste?" "Other than what I told you, no clue. Honestly, sewers are not something I pay attention to, and our village is so small a few pits is sufficient." Jura shrugs. He''s really quite amused by my recent fascination and questions around waste and he doesn''t really get my frustration with dying trees. Trees die all the time, they say, can never heal all of them. Which is true. But I am a tree, and it offends me that I let a fellow tree, to die from something as stupid as sewage intolerance. "Are you even sure its sewage?" Alexis shrugs. "Not a bug? Or sickness?" And that is how I ordered the beetles to gather multiple wastewater samples from all the different latrine pits. [New beetle species unlocked. Dungbeetle] "No, fuck you, TreeTree. I am not analysing poop." Alexis absolutely resist letting the poop anywhere near her. "I am. Not. Touching. Poop." "TreeTree, why are the beetles carrying poop?" The elves ask. Analysis, duh. "Can the poop not drip everywhere in the hideout?" Uh. Despite much resistance, I eventually got the poop into the biolabs, for analysis. I do feel disgusted, but only mildly. I think saving the rest of the trees to be a far larger and more important goal. I doubt my feelers and vines feel a thing when they prod and dig into the poop. Well, they do feel kinda moist and sticky. But it''s just poop. I''m pretty sure the dirt all around me was poop some point in their long, ever changing lives. [Testing in progress] I suppose faeces and poop are considered biological matter, as the biolabs run through a range of tests. It took some time to actually know what''s happening since there are so many tests to run, for so many different samples. I need a ''control'' group. "You want our poop now?" Jura, Laufen and the elves are all appalled by my request. "Yes. Fresh samples. Just to measure change in fecal composition versus that of the latrine. All of you are healthy, clearly, so your fecal matter should be, too." "Uh... how do we give it to you? Poop inside those pods?" Hmm. The pods aren''t meant for pooping. [Biolab upgraded. Biolab now has multiple extra rooms, functioning as a ''toilet'', ''bathroom'' and others for collection and harvesting of biological wastes] "Well, you poop in this place, that looks kind of like an outhouse, and the biolab will do the rest." "Ewww." The elves are generally quite disgusted, but still, they eventually did proceed to do their business in the special poophouse, designed for collection of their poop. "Why are you so disgusted? Don''t some societies use cow manure as fertiliser?" "Uh... its still poop." Anyway, poop or not, the tests must go on. And speaking of fertiliser, would minotaur poop be fertiliser too? Since they are like part cow? Or do I need some kind of bacteria to degrade the poop first? Have I seen a minotaur? Tests. We need more tests. The culprits are still unclear, of what exactly in poop that causes the trees to feel sick. Could it be some kind of disease transmitted via poop? Is it some kind of metal? Some kind of mineral, or some kind of bug? I need to get to the root of the problem. So, more tests. One of the other things I started Alexis on, since she refuses to look at poop, is to look at the filtering nature of roots instead. My body, due to [rhizofiltration] that I learned long ago, is able to filter out all these bad things, whatever they are. There should be some membrane like structure to the roots, either that, or the skill creates some kind of filtering/extracting effect. If I can do it, maybe there is some way to filter the poop, and ring-fence the latrine pits such that their contamination is contained, and perhaps in the future I would find some ways to convert these waste into something more usable, like fertiliser. As of now, the contamination is spreading, ongoing, as people continue to poop and pee every day, so the first step is of course, containment. The source of these pollutants need to be restricted. Research status : Roots - Volcanic mineral processing - stage 1 - completed Tree-lab varieties - stage 1 - completed Magically attuned materials Stage 1 - completed Beetle - anti-magma armors stage 4 - 17 months Material labs - stage 1 - 6 months Magical sensors - 6 months Normal Tree - Root filters stage 1 - 6 months Year 80 Month 2 ¡°Did somebody plant all these trees around all the outhouses? It makes it feel like I¡¯m doing my business out in the jungle or something.¡± ¡°Must be the druids.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s the tree spirit. He¡¯s a bit fond of meddling after all.¡± ¡°It¡¯s kinda creepy if you say it that way, is the tree spirit watching us take a shit?¡± ¡°Uh... I doubt tree spirits are interested in us taking our shits, though. I mean, only perverts like that kind of stuff, and we aren¡¯t exactly the most attractive old men around.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a fetish for some people? A fetish for trees?¡± ¡°Ewww.¡± ¡°Ewww.¡± Anyway, I had to implement a stopgap measure. I couldn¡¯t get the priests to do their jobs, and I¡¯m not inclined to threaten them, because it reveals a weakness about me. So, I decide to surround the most of the larger latrine pits and outhouses in New Freeka with [subsidiary trees], and use my roots to then form a subterranean wall, to block the fecal matter from leaking into the wider valley¡¯s groundwater. I can¡¯t process the shit, but I have to deal with the shit. So, blocking the shit is my temporary measure. The findings from my first round of analysis of the collected samples reveal that there¡¯s no particular culprit. The problem is, well, there¡¯s just a whole damn load of shit. There¡¯s a lot of minerals that are generally not-well accepted by trees, there¡¯s also a whole mix of fungi, bacteria, and other stuff, all of which the normal trees normally can tolerate in small quantities. Small quantities. Normally. It¡¯s not a result I wanted. ¡°Well, I suppose you could have some kind of waste-treatment plant, before it¡¯s discharged? Like, you know, split the sewage into components and treat them separately? I can¡¯t seem to recall the water treatment process though...¡± Alexis rubs her head. ¡°Never mind, focus on researching the roots. That¡¯s probably going to help minimise the damage.¡± I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s going to be something like filtering, sedimentation, adding chemicals to kill bacteria or take out certain types of metals. I also can¡¯t remember the details, its been so many years since school, and honestly, I wish I could google ¡®wastewater treatment¡¯, and find the answer. But then, even if I did, I¡¯d have to find ways to develop actual skills or tools, suitable for the growing city. For now, the poop is contained by the roots of my subsidiary trees, and because there is just a whole load of poop, even my subsidiary tree''s root filters occasionally fail and it absorbs some of the poop, and it makes the subsidiary tree weak and sickly, which Trevor or myself have to step in and use some of our tree-healing powers. Important lesson. Skills can fail. And because the roots kind of stop the poop from escaping the pits, the pits get filled up faster, so the city has to build more of these pits. Ugh. Not. Sustainable. They can''t constantly be digging new pits all the time. I need to figure out a way to decompose the poop. "You could maybe erm... separate their components? Then store them separately? I think some plants can consume or extract certain kinds of elements in the wastewater sludge." Thus, I ordered some beetles to bring back some of the trees near the sewers of on the outskirts o Salah. Salah''s got a vast network of underground sewers, some of which pipes their waste for disposal somewhere further, far from the city. There, the beetles bring back different types of plant samples, collected from near the sewer outlets, and the sewers itself. For my biolab''s analysis. I wonder whether I can make a plant able to eat poop. - Meanwhile... "I... I want to drop out." One of the girls say, she''s tired and frustrated, even if she is making progress. "It''s too hard. So much fighting and some much studying. I... I can''t. I can''t do this." "But what will you do, then?" Another of the girls ask. "We don''t get chances like this, we''re just orphans..." "Er..." The young girl doesn''t know. She only knows she didn''t actually want it as much as she did. Lausanne nods, "It''s intense. If you really want to drop out, please let Tree Spirit know. It''s fairer for everyone, so that someone else who wants it can try it out. Let''s not force yourself, I think now you know what you truly want." The young girl cries and covers her face with her palms. She doesn''t know what to do, actually. Yvon sits next to her. "I spoke with the Tree Spirit, if you drop out, you will return to being a regular orphan, so you can still stay. But you will lose the benefits you have, like the stipends you get." The girls, get some pocket money for their participation. I thought its fairer that way, since this is like an apprenticeship or internship. I thought of it as being a reward for their hard work, since their routine is literally a whole lot of combat and studies, some eat, sleep, poop and repeat. Rest days are few and far between, perhaps a day in a month. Honestly, my expectations were not very high, but I wanted dedication, and a display of effort from the girls. They need to at least, try. "Are you sure?" Yvon''s sort of their counselor. I think she''s probably suspicious of my activities, and doesn''t trust my intentions, but because of that, she''s taken a personal interest in the girls and is now quite close to the girls, acting like their mother. Or maybe Yvon''s just bored. "I... I don''t know. This is so hard. My body hurts everywhere, and I feel overwhelmed. I''m tired. I thought being a warrior, a fighter would be nice, and I''ll be those super cool adventurers who defeat monsters and all. I just didn''t expect the work to be so... so... much. I don''t even have much time to play anymore." Yvon taps her on her shoulder. "I understand, this programme is rough. I told Tree Spirit as well, that its extremely intense, but he insists on it being this way." The young girl sobs. Her friends give her a hug. "If you are sure you want to drop out, we''ll go and see the Tree Spirit." She nods. The next day, I cancel her familiar contract, and she loses her status as one of the Valthorn Initiates. I am down to 4 girls. Though she cries, I think she''ll be happier just as a regular person. Ah well. Not everyone makes the cut. This is a good thing, the future batches, the girls will now do some self-selection and only those who truly want it will participate. Year 80 Month 3 Salah has yet to provide an update on our request, though from the intel sources Jura has, it seems they are discussing it in great detail. According to the grapevine, it seems that they want to find a scapegoat for the incident, someone related but junior they can throw under the bus. If that really happens, I would be very disappointed, but for now, more intel gathering. After that string of conversations with the elves, I feel a bit magnanimous. I wonder whether I should look past this incident, and maybe, what I do next should not be out of vengeance. But I should still send a message that such actions have consequences. Even if the consequence is 10 years later. ¡°Please. Take care of my children and my wife. Protect them from the demons¡­ and these monsters too.¡± I recall feeling angry, these humans, killing the elves, when there are demons out there. Something as scary and overwhelmingly powerful like a demon king, and yet the Freeka villagers all, slaughtered and burnt alive. If I descend into a war with the Salah again, would I be doing what they did to me? Fighting amongst ourselves while a demon threat awaits? It''s not going to be long. This month, I begin to feel strange fluctuations in the star manas, and they make my leaves tingle. It''s a familiar feeling, like that strange dream I had before the previous demon king. I feel it, the looming presence of the demons. The first of the many demonic rifts will soon open. Spaizzer its chapter 50, so lets have a chapter full of shit. Druidic Conflict Year 80 Month 4 I have my first material lab. It ''deconstructs'' what I insert, into its underlying components, and the level of deconstruction is proportional to the energy supply and the level of the material lab I insert a wooden plank. First, it strips any skills out of it, and there are many skills. They appear as little blobs of light, and most of these ''skills'' appear as ''unidentified''. I know the blobs represent skills because one of those blobs is actually readable [Fine-cut wood], and so, I draw the conclusion that all the blobs are skills. Besides, what else could those formless blobs be? After that, what is left, is raw ''unskilled'' wood in the shape of an ordinary plank. The lab''s energies, slowly, breaks the wood apart, strand by strand, strip by strip. The plank peeled off, layer by layer, along the grooves of the plank. Then, the separated layers, or strips, gets further broken down, into smaller pieces, almost little specks. After that, it splits up into its constituent components, like bubbles of air, blobs of water, blobs of... unidentified things, it appears like a piece of plank is flash-dried and drained of all fluids and air bubbles, and then, one of the last components is... mana? Or maybe that life-force thing that the souls generate. First revelation of the day, unlike our world, mana actually exists as part of things, even things as simple as wood. Maybe mana replaces one of the primary fundamental forces? Or does it become an additional fundamental force? Somehow, I think I should¡¯ve known this. Anyway, the remaining strips of dried, airless, manaless specks can be further broken down. But, I need material labs of a higher level... "Well, do you want to further develop materials labs, or work towards magic labs?" "I don''t know. It''s kind of cool that it break things down to these components. And actually, I can use it to analyse the poop samples." "Ugh." Alexis rolls her eyes at the mention of poop, and she floats away, back to doing her own thing. She''s busy anyway. The materials lab takes the form of a single tree outside my inner circle of subsidiary trees, its appearance like any other, but its internal structure contains multiple little bubbles which store the separated materials. It''s power-intensive, draining quite a bit of energy from the normal trees, with each ''separation'' process. I suppose it¡¯s kinda like those labs where they spin stuff until they split apart. Anyway, back to the poop samples. I use the materials lab to test out the poop samples, and... well, the first thing that surprises me is that there¡¯s also some blobs of skills. Unidentified of course, but, seriously, who uses skills on their poop, either that, or it¡¯s... some kind of passive that gets applied? Rhetorical question. Moving on, I run the tests through few more different samples of poop, and then seriously, quite a few of them have skills. All unidentified. At this point, I¡¯m wondering whether it¡¯s unidentified because I don¡¯t know them, or whether because the amount of it is so small that I can¡¯t tell it apart. Maybe the ability to identify it because the quantity of skill is too small? The poop splits apart to more components, like water, air, and the type of ¡®materials¡¯ that make up the poop... and also... mana? Oh great. There¡¯s mana in poop too. Now that the poop has been drained, dried, and it starts to break apart and easily separate into different kinds of metals, without requiring much energy. What''s left is a collection of mostly unfamiliar metals, and some of the usual iron, copper and stuff. Is this normal? Deciding that I probably need a bit more of each type of metals to be identified, I break down more of the poop, including some fresh samples from the elves, and once I got about a handful of each ¡®unidentified¡¯ metal type, at different ratios. Next, I ask Jura for any professionals that may be able to assist on such samples. ¡°I¡¯ll probably need help identifying these metals...¡± There¡¯s about thirty small plates of different metal types on top of Jura¡¯s desks, all from splitting up the poop samples. A blacksmith, and a merchant came along. It¡¯s rather easy for Jura to ask for help, these people are here to curry favor anyway, he''s the Counsel, he could give them big deals someday. The two quickly went through the samples, easily identifying them. All of them are just some kind of local metal mineral, our world¡¯s equivalent of sand, or tin, or iron, and stuff like that. This world¡¯s metal types don¡¯t exactly match ours, since they do have iron-like things that are stronger, and also some that are weaker. Variants, but different metal types. Maybe they are alloys? ¡°Metals and elements in this world exist in a spectrum, rather than distinct types in my world... or I think they have a larger, more granular version of the periodic table?¡± Alexis is nerding out, she¡¯s paying attention to the descriptions given by the merchants and smiths, and then ask. ¡°You should buy some books, then I can explain this better." ¡°You can read?¡± ¡°Uh. Yeah? Why won''t I know how to read?¡± Wait. Did I know she can read? ¡°Ask the merchant whether anyone published any guide or summary on the metals and minerals of the world.¡± I placed an order for three different tomes on materials and resources found in the world. I wouldn''t want to make basic research from scratch, there should be some body of knowledge already in tomes and books. Back to the poop analysis, that material-breakdown of knowing what the metals are kind of did... nothing? Though the merchants are able to identify the metals, it still doesn''t give me an idea whether those metals are harmful, or beneficial to the plants, since their knowledge is more of use for trade, and metalworking. Also, I can''t rule out that there¡¯s most likely an ¡®optimal¡¯ level of each metal, and exceeding that would result in some kind of poisoning, and a deficiency may result in stunted growth and other kinds of problrm. So, there¡¯s to be more studies. More tests. I ordered the beetles to take samples of the dirt throughout the valley, around healthy trees, and around sick trees, to compare the composition of the dirt in the ground. Maybe there¡¯s some minerals appearing in different ratios which may lead to something more conclusive. ¡°Frustrating isn¡¯t it? There¡¯s no skill that just tells you what¡¯s wrong, other than something¡¯s wrong.¡± ¡°On the contrary, I feel happy that at least I need to use my head. And because of it, I¡¯m getting you, Trevor and Dimitree to run more tests.¡± ¡°Ugh, I was just thinking, wouldn¡¯t the druids know the answer?¡± ¡°Asking the druids...¡± Hmm... that¡¯s a good point. Let¡¯s use this chance to test out the druid¡¯s abilities. So, with a bit of backhanded string-pulling, Jura managed to get the newly settled in druids to pay a visit to a small patch of sick trees, somewhere on the edges of New Freeka. ¡°What do you think? I was told something¡¯s wrong with these trees, but I can¡¯t tell what.¡± There¡¯s four of them, all of them look middle-aged, dressed in robes and they kneel over the ground. They all have a wooden staff of some kind. [Natural diagnosis] A druid calls out, and his wooden stick glows. A spirit-like wisp appears and enters the ground, and then after a while it comes back out. ¡°Hmmm... the wisp tells me there seems to be groundwater contamination. The ground¡¯s concentration of metals are all too high. Particularly Whitetin and Green Iron.¡± Oh I know that- Eh?! Another of the druid touches the ground, picks up a bit of dirt and tastes it. I think he used some kind of skill there, but I couldn¡¯t quite make out what it was. He looks a bit puzzled, and then he spits. ¡°Agreed. Groundwater contamination, likely to be from the city. Counsel Jura, I suggest we move all the trees somewhere a bit further away.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you heal the trees or the ground?¡± ¡°We could, but usually the sickness will come back after about a month, unless you find a way to stop the groundwater contamination. The earth itself is contaminated, due to exposure to the city, healing the trees is just a temporary fix.¡± ¡°What do you normally do in such cases?¡± ¡°We move the trees. There¡¯s usually no way of convincing the populace from changing how they live, just for the sake of some trees.¡± The druids shrug. ¡°Trees are just... resources to most normal people.¡± Jura just nods, looking around. The druids continue to touch a few of the normal trees. ¡°So... do you want us to move the trees, Counsel?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary, though.¡± Another druid speaks up. ¡°They are just mildly sick. At least, they look better than they did a few months ago.¡± Jura shakes his head, ¡°Well, leave them here for the time being. We¡¯ll know if things get worse if they start dying. Thanks for your time, druids.¡± Jura passes the 4 druids a bit of coin to thank them for their time. As the druids and Jura walks back to New Freeka, one of them asks, ¡°Counsel, may we have an audience with the Tree Spirit? I understand you speak to it often.¡± "Oh, why?" "Erm... well, we are druids, we make it a point to meet and greet with the tree spirits of the land. Kinda comes with the job-class." "Ah... that is a druid thing, no?" The druids grin, "Yeah, kind of." ¡°I see, I¡¯ll have a word with the Tree Spirit." In the meantime, I am still trying to process what I just saw, ie, the druids actually have skills able to diagnose the problem, without the need for experimentation. And why do I not have a similar skill? I have a few theories on this, but I think I want to see what they are up to. As for the waste situation, its sort of under control. With my subsidiary trees'' roots acting as a barrier and filter, the sewage''s leakage to the greater valley is now limited. The druids clearly can identify the problem, though their solution was meh. Moving the trees is a solution, but. I don''t like being moved, and I think the trees won''t like it too. Personally, I think it¡¯s not really an issue about meeting the druids, but I had to prepare, so I called Madeus and the Order¡¯s top guys back in for explanations on the druids. ¡°I¡¯ll get straight to the point, I¡¯ve met druids, many times in fact, but I don''t know much about them. So let¡¯s start from the beginning, what do they do, what are their powers?¡± The leaders stare at each other, and they shift a little uncomfortably. One of the priests goes first, ¡°They¡¯re tree-lovers? They tend to go around healing the land after the destruction left behind by the demon king. The druids are famous as the major supporter of the Restorers.¡± ¡°They can summon trees and animals, use wood magic, earth magic, and water magic. They also usually have some animal companions as well.¡± The captain¡¯s pretty much reciting the norm, sounds like the usual myth around druids. Did the makers of this world somehow started off as dungeon masters? ¡°Anyone know the specifics of their jobs? Like... what do they do?¡± ¡°When I was a young child, a druid came and gave simple tips on farming. He tried to teach us the power to ¡°boost fertility¡± and ¡°speed growth¡±, but none of us picked it up...¡± ¡°Fine, clearly they have some ability to have earth and restoring powers. Are they like some kind of generic mage but with more of a focus on earth, wood and water?¡± I ask. Madeus nods, ¡°Close, though pure mages like myself think druids are... erm... a bit of a hack, since druids mostly borrow powers from their surroundings and neglect their own physical and mental training. So, druids pick their battlefields, such that they have more power and things to tap on, but that¡¯s kind of predictable.¡± ¡°Okay, they have some kind of connection to the surroundings too. Anyone knows the history of druids?¡± Everyone shakes their head. ¡°Some say they learnt it from trees. Some say they learnt it from treefolk.¡± ¡°Fine, how many types and groups of druids are there? Who exactly are the druids in my valley?¡± ¡°They¡¯re from the far southeast, and they are under the Hutan, one of the three largest groups of druids. The other two are the Tarimba and the Mulfic. The three druidic councils are just... well, kind of like guilds. They are separate but work together for common goals, like, restoring the land, and focused on training. The councils themselves are neutral, but their druids are free to work with any kingdom they want, though they generally speaking, most druids will avoid participating in the kingdom-wars.¡± Okay. ¡°What do they want?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, really.¡± ¡°I think they¡¯re just interested in you, Tree Spirit.¡± ¡°What do they want with me?¡± Everyone shakes their head. ¡°Trevor, Ivy, what¡¯ve you got?¡± After my discussion with them, I consented to the meeting a day later. Next day, The four druids, they came without their apprentices and assistants. They came fully in their druid-ish attire, that include some kind of headwear that resembles an antler¡¯s horns, or a wolf headdress, elaborate and fancy carved woodstaffs, armor and all the rings they can wear. ¡°Dressed for combat, druids?¡± Jura chuckles, well, Jura himself is dressed up for the purpose. Sword in hand, armor. ¡°It is but a tradition of druids, to show our best to the tree spirits, especially when we face the tree spirit¡¯s true body.¡± One of the druids say, but he looks nervous. My see-ing eye notices the subtle shaking in his hands. The four stand in the inner circle of subsidiary trees, before my main body. Jura on one side, I have Horns hidden in the corner, but I think they can sense his presence. They look around, and they sweat. They whisper a bit, so softly, or perhaps a skill, that I couldn¡¯t make out what they are saying. ¡°State your business, druids.¡± Jura prompts the guests to start. The four gave a small bow, ¡°We are druids of Hutan, one of the many caretakers of the land and those who live on it, protectors of the forests and trees, and we... em... humbly, seek an audience with the great... Tree Spirit of the valley, as we... come to seek an understanding of the needs, and wishes of the Valley and it¡¯s true guardian.¡± ¡°Flowery greeting.¡± I chuckle, they sound like they practiced it. ¡°They sound nervous.¡± Alexis whispers into my mind. ¡°Their body is tense. They might be up to something.¡± Ivy advises. The four druid¡¯s eyes start to have a green glow, and I felt my defensive instincts kick in. ¡°Tree Spirit, we come in seek of your name and hope to gain your blessing.¡± Oh well, my roots are ready to strike at any time. ¡°Oh? I¡¯m TreeTree.¡± What kind of blessing? The four druids glance at each other. I think they gulped, but I¡¯m not sure. ¡°Is that all you¡¯re here for, druids?¡± Jura sounds a bit amused. ¡°No... we¡¯d like to acquire the Tree Spirit¡¯s blessing.¡± ¡°Uh... What blessing.¡± The four druids share a glance. ¡°Surely the Tree Spirit is testing us, we mean THE blessing.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got no idea what you are talking about, so explain what this blessing is.¡± I really don¡¯t know what blessing means, yet the four druids seem to take the question a bit... negatively? They don¡¯t seem particularly keen on answering the question. One of the druids step forth, he looks to be the youngest, but his staff and headgear the most flamboyant. ¡°O great Tree Spirit, the aspect which we ask, we will give our share in return. We offer our services, and that of the druid council of Hutan which we represent. Our oath, as druidsmen, as guardians, to come to your aid, should you ever find yourself in peril.¡± ¡°Okay, but what¡¯s an aspect?¡± I wondered then. So you introduced the concept of blessing and aspect, can you explain? The first one kneels, both knees on the ground, his staff embedded in the ground. I felt a bit of magic swirl around me, it feels kind of pleasant, so I didn¡¯t feel a need to react. I later would realise this was when I made a mistake, I should have stopped them there and then. The second druid steps forth, standing next to the first. ¡°O great Tree Spirit, behold the oath of mortals and the true mother, a promise as ancient as the world. Give us your aspect, and we shall give you ours.¡± Green glowing lines start appearing throughout his entire body, and then he kneels. The green glowing lines then flows into the ground, and forms a greenish glowing circle around the four druids. It still feels rather pleasant, and then I noticed I¡¯m starting to get a little sluggish, like I¡¯m drunk. ¡°Ivy, Trevor?¡± I try to prompt my tree-minds to help, but then I notice all of them, including Alexis are in a daze. They¡¯re struggling to fight off whatever the druids are doing. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Jura and Horns notice, so they quickly jump in, attempting to break the ritual or spell, whatever that is. They¡¯re both unaffected by the effects of the ritual. Maybe because it only work on trees? They charge in, but a barrier of some kind repels them, pushing both of them far back. Despite feeling like I had too much alcohol, like a happy drunkard, I managed to collect my will together to activate my anti-magic aura, which sadly doesn¡¯t really work on that barrier or the ¡®ritual¡¯ that they are using. Still feeling dizzy, I pull my mind together and I used root strikes on the two druids. A glowing wooden shield magically appears and blocks the root strike. The third druid steps forth. ¡°O great Tree Spirit, for the land requires us, requires all of us, all of our worship and care.¡± The third and fourth druid are both covered in green lines, and this time, I notice that their familiars are out. Two massive wolves, also covered in similar green lines and a small wood-like bear appears. I¡¯m starting to shake off that drunk-feeling, just a minute into the ritual, and so I unleash more root strikes. One of the druids calls up a large half-wooden totem with a beetle-head, and it creates a shield that blocks my root strikes. Each strike, puts a crack on the totem, instead of the shield, and the totem needs about 5 to 7 hits to crack. Meanwhile, Jura¡¯s easily stronger than the two wolves, yet despite how much pain or damage they receive, they just keep getting in his way, the two wolves really determined to stop Jura from interfering with the rituals. ¡°DRUIDS! What is the meaning of this?!¡± He shouts, while trying to shake off the two wolves. The druids focus on their ritual. Two minutes into the ritual. ¡°O great tree spirit, we seek your power, to complete our oath to the true mother.¡± The fourth druid steps forth, and both of them enter into a kneeling position as well, just as the earlier two did. To protect the four druids, more familiars and creatures appear, two tiger-like creatures, a cat, and the owl. They are all large, easily the size of an elephant, their bodies covered in the green lines, and their job is to block Horns from entering the circle. The two wounded wolves, now gets backup from the tiger and the cat. Jura then unleashes some kind of sword-skill I¡¯ve not seen before, and it instantly dices up all the four animals. Yet, the druid¡¯s not done. Another wooden staff appears, this one has the head of a tortoise, and it glows. The glow restores the diced up animals, and makes them whole almost instantly. Three minutes in. The four druids are mumbling, singing some kind of hymn. Whatever ritual this is, it¡¯s really quite fast. They certainly prepared for this. The totem cracks and breaks apart, as my root strikes land a few hits. ¡®TING¡¯ It¡¯s then, I got a notification. [Four druids have each entered into a non-cancellable Druidic Aspect contract with you] [New familiar contract type obtained : Druidic Aspect Contract. Druidic Aspect contracts allow druids to use lesser versions of the master¡¯s abilities] [You¡¯ve received 8 Druid Class seeds] EH? The glowing green lines on the four druids fade, and along with it, so does the barrier. The four kneeling druids stop kneeling, and one of them almost jumping, ¡°We did it!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not over yet. We still need to run!¡± The one druid clearly realise their not out of the woods just yet, and so they quickly start to run. You four are not going anywhere! A wall of roots appear around them, and the four druids attempt to use their druid powers to interfere with the roots... but it didn¡¯t work. Not this time. But the root strikes got to the familiars and skewers all of them. Jura, charges in, He¡¯s furious, and the druids attempt to dodge. ¡°Don¡¯t kill them, yet.¡± I mentally ping him. Oh, I am gonna interrogate them before I do. Maybe I should torture them. Hang them on trees in the city for attacking me. The tip of Jura''s sword close in, now on one druid¡¯s neck. ¡°Take a step and I¡¯ll cut it off.¡± ¡°All you four wanted was this... druid-style familiar contract?¡± I ask aloud. I think I have a massive communication problem with the natives. Why do so many of my encounters with the natives end up like this? Why didn¡¯t the druids just ask nicely? Seriously. I like to think I am a reasonable person, I can be negotiated with! Right? Do I have a sticker somewhere that says, ¡®Pushover. Just take whatever you want.¡¯ written on me? Jura, his sword still at the druid¡¯s neck. ¡°Answer the Tree Spirit¡¯s question.¡± One of the druid nods. ¡°Yes. We made a contract for the Tree Spirit¡¯s power. It-¡± Sigh. ¡°I honestly didn¡¯t know what you mean by blessing. Why didn¡¯t you just have a bit more patience and explain? All of you wanted this familiar contract-like thing? This is the blessing?¡± One of the druids mumble. ¡°...yes?¡± Ugh! I¡¯m annoyed. I''m sad. I''m angry. The roots form a cage, trapping them all, thorns and barbs close in. They attempt to use their druid powers to move the roots, but its not working. The four druids, realise how much deep shit they are in, immediately all four of them kneel, no, they literally prostrate themselves on the ground. ¡°Our sincerest apologies O Great Tree Spirit! We... we thought we¡¯d never get a chance to get this close to a Tree Spirit of your level of strength! We apologies for our... recklessness. Please don¡¯t kill us!¡± ¡°What sort of stupid assumption is that?¡± ¡°Access to the true body of all the great tree spirits are heavily restricted and controlled, and here we are, four mid-ranked druids getting the chance to meet a great tree spirit, we had to jump on the chance!¡± One of them, started to justify what they did. His hands and head was on the ground, prostrating. ¡°We thought we would never get a chance!¡± ¡°Fools!¡± If I could yell like a villain, or an evil angry emperor, I would. ¡°Give me one good reason why I shouldn¡¯t kill all the four of you right now.¡± The cage''s roots closes in, the thorns on the roots make little cuts, but nothing lethal. I mean, how¡¯d they think they¡¯d get away with it? Come up to me, use this ritual-style spell, which gives them some level of protection, but do they think they can run away from me? Seriously. My roots span the valley, even if they succeed, I¡¯d still be able to kill them. They would have to knock me down for at least an hour, or two for them to even give themselves a chance. ¡°We... we really mean no harm. We really mean what we said during the ritual, we will come to your aid should you see it, us and the Hutan.¡± Rubbish, I can protect myself as it is. ¡°We... we offer you our services. We¡¯ll revoke whatever arrangements we had with the councillors! Anything!¡± ¡°I still plan to kill all of you. Not good enough.¡± One of the roots pretty much pokes the druid¡¯s skin. ¡°I... We... we can arrange the archdruids to provide you with unique items. We can arrange for you to be in contact with other spirits!¡± Oh. Other spirits. The druids pick up on my pause. ¡°There are other great tree spirits too. We... the druid council of Hutan, our senior archdruid is in contact Guardian Tree of the Elf Capital, and also the Giant Lilypod City¡¯s Spirit. If we tell them about you, we can make some arrangements for the spirits to commune.¡± Well, meeting other similar tree spirits is something I always wanted. ¡°Please, please spare our lives and forgive us.¡± ¡°I recall the four of you say you are but ordinary druids. How can you arrange for us to meet with the other spirits?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t, but our archdruids can. I... I¡¯ll do my best, no, I¡¯ll give everything to arrange for it. Please, don¡¯t kill us.¡± Hmmm... Fine. ¡°I suspend your punishment. On a few conditions! ¡°All of you will remain under house arrest in New Freeka and the valley. Make any attempt to leave, and all of you will die. If you need to, call for more druids to come assist you with all the necessary arrangements for me to communicate with the other tree spirits. If any of you try anything funny, all of you die. You all will remain in Freeka as my guarantee, until contact with the other spirits are established. If I don¡¯t have contact with the other tree spirits within a reasonable amount of time, of perhaps 3 years, all of you will die. And I want you to cooperate with me fully, and you will revoke your arrangements with the councillors. Doublecross me or attempt to use any kind of ritual or spell on me ever again, and I will not hesitate to put my roots through all of your skulls.¡± The four druids breathe a sigh of relief. ¡°Certainly, certainly.¡± ¡°Go.¡± After I let the druids go, I called for a meeting again. I wanted to know what¡¯s causing all these people to react so recklessly in front of me. ¡°Why did the meeting unfold in that manner?¡± I complained to the audience, the senior leaders of the Order, and when Jura explained how it went, Madeus pretty much facepalmed. ¡°To be fair, your main tree is really intimidating and scary. Even walking in the woods feels intimidating.¡± The priest seems able to relate to the feeling. ¡°Lausanne walks in and out without a problem.¡± ¡°Lausanne¡¯s not a good example.¡± It¡¯s the Order¡¯s Captain that offered a bit of honesty. ¡°Counsel Jura, Lady Laufen and Lausanne are natives, and so they are oblivious to its appearance, but for the rest of us, being before your main tree is like standing before a council of monsters. The presence of the various ghosts and wisps around your main body, the crackle of magic radiating from every root, branch and leaf, how the surrounding trees feel like a prison... those strange trees around you, or that few trees that look like they¡¯ve been burnt and charred by thunder... Seeing it for the first time, had nightmares. It¡¯s a place for monsters, for... gods. The druids probably panicked, overthink, and probably did what they thought they wanted to do.¡± Oh. Well, the layout of my main body is surrounded by the two tree-minds and their [root-brain complex], the soul-forge and all its extensions, the labs and pods, and then a ring of subsidiary trees, home to the beetles and spiders. The canopy is covered in webs and vines, and because of the effects of [soul forge : black], there are all the [soul collectors] floating around. And maybe Alexis¡¯s body as well, which appears like a deformed mutant tree. ¡°Fine. Next time, all meetings will be held here. Only those truly deemed worthy will face my main body.¡± I guess that¡¯s why access to a tree spirit¡¯s main body is restricted, if they are all similarly high leveled, their presence is going to be incredibly intimidating. Now I¡¯m really curious what the other tree spirits are like. Year 80 Month 5 Back to the sewage issue. Containment by way of subsidiary tree works, for now. Long term solution is still in progress. Broadly, the idea we have, is to use plants and algae to digest the sewage. I can¡¯t help but feel that I¡¯m a tree, so all solutions I develop must involve trees, kinda like how everything looks like a nail when I¡¯m a hammer. So, I let Alexis take the lead on the plant samples, so she conducts research on all the different kinds of collected plant samples. The hope is to develop some kind of poop-processing hybrid plant. There are some plants with slight tolerance, so the idea is whether that tolerance level can be amplified such that the plants are able to obtain some kind of resistance. There¡¯s promising results from algae and trees, but as with all research, more time and more samples needed. Well, it¡¯s just time. I have plenty now. Meanwhile, Trevor¡¯s in charge of the materials lab, with a focus on creating filtration systems, whereby the different ¡®elements¡¯ of the sewage is separated. Different plants have different tolerance of elements, and if there is no single sewer-eating miracle plant, then it¡¯ll have to be multiple plants working together. To do so, splitting the toxins is critical! At the same time, Jura and the Order lobbies the Council to actually build a proper sewage system. The sewage system will then connect to a sewage tunnel, and that tunnel will move all the sewage to a designated spot out of town. That spot will be where my future ¡®sewage-processing¡¯ plant be located. Jura phrased the argument to the council using ¡®pride¡¯ as the main emotional hook. I admire that. How can any self-respecting capital city still rely on primitive poopholes? Can you call yourself a developed nation? If New Freeka wants to be respected as a kingdom, it got to have a proper sewer. Think about all the adventurers it will train, all the secret passageways it will create! Sewers are a source of revenue! A source of jobs and experience for newbie adventurers! No more poopholes! More time for priests! Less regular [cleansing] needed because the poop can pile up out of town! And so the Council debates the New Freeka Subterranean Sewage Project. Year 80 Month 6 Demons. News of their presence spreads, through the merchants, through communication spells, through artifacts. Demons, humanoid demons. They are humanoid, and yet have appendages that resemble weapons. Some in the form of spears, some in the form of swords or axes. They also seem to have particularly strange behaviors, building ¡®fortresses¡¯ and ¡®camps¡¯, which, never done in recorded demon king history. ¡°The news of the multiple rifts sends all the nations into high alert. When did the rifts appear so quickly? Unlike all other occasions, the number of rifts are significantly more. ¡°TreeTree, you¡¯ll protect us, right?¡± Lausanne asks. ¡°Yes, Lausanne. But if you had to fight them, will you?¡± Lausanne pauses. She¡¯s 11 now, and it¡¯ll be another 9 years before she¡¯s mature physically. If I can, I¡¯d like her to stay out of it. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m not as strong as I¡¯d like to be, but yes, I will protect my family and friends.¡± ¡°Good.¡± I don¡¯t think she¡¯s ready yet. But sometimes, you¡¯ve got to throw them into the water. Spaizzer Thanks for reading and comments!. This chapter''s tough for me. Anyway, we''re moving into the next demon king era, so, there''s going to be more POVs from other places, whom probably won''t interact with TreeTree. Also, I want to thank gryphon or Author RJ who made this cover for me. Sphere by AuthorRJ Gryphon Skillsets Year 80 Month 7 ¡°We need to talk about defenses.¡± The council gathered in the large meeting room, some of the councillors sigh. ¡°First up, we need walls, and more soldiers.¡± ¡°We already have walls.¡± ¡°Not enough. The news coming from those near the rifts are quite concerning.¡± The meeting is led by Yvon¡¯s replacement, a guy called Arza. He¡¯s been in the job for some time now, but really, he''s just a very clever coordinator and spokesperson for his faction of councillors. The other councillors look at him quizzically. ¡°Is there something that¡¯s on your mind, council leader Arza?¡± Council-leader¡¯s an informal title, since all in the council is theoretically equal, but there¡¯s always one taking a chairing role. ¡°Yes. Demons. Our defenses are inadequate for demons, with their numbers and their strength. We need to urgently improve our defense.¡± ¡°Walls don¡¯t work against demons. They¡¯ve got crazy numbers, and they¡¯ve got those large monsters.¡± ¡°Not this time. The news coming out from the nations facing the demons is that they are like...¡± Arza pauses, and then he takes a deep breath. ¡°They are like us. They¡¯re using our tactics and strategies.¡± ¡°That¡¯s absolutely crazy. Are we talking about demons?¡± One of the councillors. ¡°In recorded history, demons have never adopted our tactics.¡± Arza nods. ¡°I think it¡¯s crazy too, but, but... it¡¯s our chance to bolster our military. We needed this excuse.¡± ¡°You mean...¡± Arza pauses, and whispers. ¡°We¡¯ve lost the druids. We¡¯ve got to find something else, and this is it.¡± ¡°Ah. Then we must!¡± ¡°We¡¯ll take this excuse to raise taxes, and train more soldiers and mages. We need the Order¡¯s money, and this is a good excuse to force them to collaborate. If they don¡¯t, we¡¯ll shame them publicly for being selfish!¡± ¡°I see!¡± ¡°But doesn¡¯t... wait. Why would that work, Council Leader Azra? The Order¡¯s strength is the Tree Spirit, no? The tiny militia and force they maintain is just nothing compared to the amount of warbeetles they can deploy.¡± ¡°Indeed, so we have more to gain! We need to use this excuse to adjust the revenue rate that the Order gets, so here¡¯s the message I want everyone to spread. ¡®The Order¡¯s not spending enough on defense! We need the money to defend the city!¡¯.¡± ¡°AH! So the idea is to make the Order seem like they are spending money on frivolous things like collecting plants and animals, gifts for babies and doing unnecessary rituals!¡± One of the councillors object, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t talk about the rituals. They¡¯re quite popular among my electorate, and many find them meaningful. Stick to the collection of plants.¡± ¡°Agree, wouldn''t this move backfire?¡± ¡°Maybe, but we must be subtle about it then. First, we need to expose how the Order spends their tax money, and then tie it to our defense needs. Show the people that they are not doing what they can to defend the city." "Uh... they have beetles, Councillor Azra." "I know, then we must explain to the people that beetles are not trustworthy! We need our own strength! The strength of our people! Inspire them not to rely on a secretive power, like a tree spirit. We don''t even know whether it will protect us when it really matters, or will it only choose those it cares about!" "Ahhhh!" "Think about it. We embed a belief innour people that we must rely on our own mortal strength, with powers within our control, ideally, with us, the councillors in charge. We represent them, whereas the Tree Spirit is unelected, and it is a magical being, not mortal, not one of us! Now we suffer the whims of a magical creature! Where is our dignity?" A murmur around the councillors, mostly in agreement. "So, we must have more walls, more soldiers, more mages. We may not be stronger than the army of beetles, but I''ll be damned if we are beggars, begging for mercy and protection from a magical creature!" "Our founding documents say they would protect us..." "Myths! Tell the tale of when the great cities who suffered the wrath of dragons who no longer wanted to protect them, tell the tale of the city who fell when the sacred beast turned on the royal family!" "Isn''t the message of that story about doing good because the royal family was evil?" "Doesn''t matter! It''s about self-reliance, strength! We were refugees, and if we fled Salah to be subservient to a magical beast, what good is there?" "Councillor Azra, is this something your faction thought up?" One centaur councillor speaks, an independent in the sense that he is unaffiliated to either the Order or the ''independence'' faction. That''s partly because his voting district also comprises the slopes of the valley, where the ''rural'' centaurs live rather happily. Azra pause, "Well, yes." "I agree on the need to bolster the city''s own strength, with more soldiers. I also agree on the need for more defensive walls. Yet, among the centaurs, treefolk, and even the lizardmen, Aeon''s presence a reassuring force. So, tone down the rhetoric, it will backfire on your faction''s election chances." "Hmph. We''ll see about that. But more importantly, glad to see you agree with our need to improve our own military prowess." The centaur shrugs. --- Meanwhile, the druids... The [Druidic Aspect] familiar is clearly a double-edged sword for the druids. On one hand, they get to store about 3-5% of my power, depending on their own level, for their own use, but, because of the link and how its magically entangled with me, I can see them clearly, wherever they go in New Freeka, kind of like how Lausanne glows like a lightbulb in my overview of the valley. In other words, I can observe them through the Aspect. The Aspect steals their experience and mana too. I did recall that the familiars take a portion of the experience too, which is why I level up when the contracted warriors die, but in the Aspect''s case, the ratio is even more skewed. I can also see their skills, and also mark 2 skills of my choice as "targeted" for collection on death. Oddly, there''s a time counter on those marked skills. I think it means it takes some time to ''mark'' the skills? So much for ''blessing''. Are the other tree spirits also secretly taking skills from their believers? After all, how would they know that their blessing is actually not free? But if so, why do the tree spirits not give it freely? [Aspect contracts are limited to Level divided by 10. You are allowed up to 13 Aspects] Ah. Limited again. Just like familiars, which I can give out about 132, since I am level 132, or the [Possession of the devoted], which I can give 5. I suppose there is an mana-maintenance cost to it, which is why these are limited. These 4 druids just used up 4 valuable slots. But they are called druidic aspects, so only druids can use them? [Druidic Aspects can be awarded to druids, herbalists, farmers and gardeners (and variants). Can also be awarded to Treefolks, with no job class requirements.] Confusing! System, you need a massive cleanup! Anyway, I did somewhat regret letting the druids go, and I do realise I am not very good at making high quality decisions when I am in a spot. The druids could read my interest in meeting the other spirits and managed to therefore save themselves. So what do I need to do? Being able to make good, high quality decisions? That''s something I need to try to do, but if I fail, what should I do then? "Honestly, I wanted to help you but their spell made me feel so drowsy and weak that I couldn''t." But hey, should I kill and drain the druids? Ah, well. I thought of looking, studying and learning from them first, since I have them under my custody. "Pods." The druids gulp. "Go in." "Are... are you planning to drown us?" "You are not making much progress on arranging the meeting. It''s almost 3 months. IN." "The archdruid is coming, he... he needs to assess the situation. Please don''t do this!" "IN." The vines and roots pull the druids inside, and all four of them are now in the biolab pods. They struggle a lot for adults, compared to my four girls, who are getting rather good and used to the biolab. One of them even say it''s quite relaxing. Under the scope, the druids body is actually rather ordinary. They have a spring like any other, and a collection of stones around the lifespring, which are the skills and levels of the druid. What''s quite unique, are the animal-head shaped stones, which are the ''link'' between the druid and their animal followers. Then, the Druidic Aspect. The Aspect takes the form of a vine-like plant, it grows and makes a space around the Spring, and its vines and roots spread around the stones, growing into the gaps between them, like a well that''s partly abandoned and now reclaimed by plants. Some of the stones around the spring have more vines around it, but most of them just have little roots at the sides, like little climber plants. The Aspect''s main body, a large central flexible ''trunk'', is like a parasitic plant living on the wellspring of his soul. On the aspect''s plant body, there are three large gourd-shaped organs, and from a little prodding it reads. Aspect''s storage organ. Stores energy from the main body. Strange. I think back to Lausanne and Jura''s souls. In Lausanne''s case, the familiar appears like a separate plant in the shape of a sunflower, growing at the side of the well, but it doesn''t have vines or feelers growing like crawlers on the well. Instead, her special familiar has a strange swirling portal. In Jura''s case, the eidolon Bamboo doesn''t even appear as a plant in Jura''s soulspring. Instead, there''s something in the shape of a Bear Statue that has a small waterspout on its mouth, and it''s located outside the Soulspring. It seems the relationship of the druid''s familiars would be similar to Bamboo, since they too appear as statues or stones? I would later discover, from the druids mouth, the druid''s familiars actually not familiars, but actual animal spirits, which have agreed to become their companions. These animal "spirits" are actually somewhat similar to artificial souls. They form from the collective energies of many animals of their kind, the remnant outer shells of animals'' souls. Druids, and beastmasters have an ability to ''separate'' the outer shells of their slain animals, through a ceremony of some kind, where the inner soul is sent forth to reincarnate, leaving the outer shell in their service. That said, it is also possible for druids, beastmasters to form lifelong bonds, a kind of ''soul contract'' whereby the animal serves them for as long as they live. These sorts of bonds are rare, but also way more powerful. It''s also why the animal companions of druids and beast trainers are usually able to independently gain levels, due to them retaining a part of their ''souls''. Back to the 4 druids, I decide to let them be. The Aspect''s presence in their soulspring is fascinating, and is something I want to watch. So, rather than let them do as they please, I task them with training my 4 Initiates and Lausanne. The 4 young girls are doing well, though I should be looking for 5 more new ''recruits'' soon. They are now about level 10, and have gained basic proficiency in the usual sword, dagger, staff and shields. They are just 6 to 8 though, so they practice with wooden weapons, and with wooden dummies in the [training room]. That forms the bulk of their combat practice, on top of spars against each other. Still, a very long way before they can enter battle. I would reckon they need to be at least 12 before they would fight any real battle. The [minder] familiar keeps me updated on their levels, the moment I focus on them, a game-like panel appears, and shows me all the skills and levels their mental state of mind, whether they are happy or sad or stressed, and also their health, whether they are hurt, or healthy. It''s helpful, and allows me to tailor my [dream tutor] and the nutrition I am feeding them, like when they are stressed or frustrated, I would have a bit of that calming fruit tea on the menu. Lately, my control of [dream tutor] improved. I still can''t control the exact specifics, but I can use the [essence of summer] in dream tutor so that they get rather pleasant ones, like beaches, warm suns. Things to help them unwind I also regularly talk to the girls, but they are young, so its usually silly things, like how far does a tree see, or how high do I go. Year 80 Month 8 More rifts spotted. Apparently there''s a few rifts near Salah but they are on the other side, so it''ll be some time before they get near me. Their army has been dispatched to deal with the demons coming out from the rifts. So far, only heroes have the power to close rifts, so, the rifts remain open, and the army stations a garrison force near the rifts to fight the demons that come out. "If only we have our star mana powers again, then we could close the rifts." Meela pops by after so long. "Do you want to go back into battle?" "Ugh, true." Meals shrugs, she''s gained a lot of levels since her hotel started operations one and a half years ago, so like Alexis predicted, her mobility increased, though she still mostly stays back in her hotel. "But maybe we can help, somehow..." "We are stuck here, what do you have in mind?" Meela''s body is like a treefolk, and frankly, it takes quite a bit of effort to figure out she''s not a treefolk. She has a dress that''s formed from wood, and for her, changing attires meant changing how the wood''s shape around her body. "Hmmm... maybe we should try to help the next generation, perhaps research? The materials lab should count for something, right?" As they discuss, I turn my attention to research. Research status : Beetle - anti-magma armors stage 4 - 10 months Material labs - stage 1 - completedMagical sensors - completedNormal Tree - Root filters stage 1 - completedMetal hyperaccumulator trees - Stage 1 - 12 monthsPhytoremediation process - basic - 12 monthsDedicated Filtering Blackwater-Plant - stage 1 - 6 months Looking at research, we had some normal trees gain filtering abilities, and this allows them to reduce the effects of the poop-contamination. But the materials lab is more of a properties kind of lab, which identifies the components, the qualities of materials and also in ''distilling'' the different types of materials. It looks like there are further upgrades, which allows me to design specific materials and forge special alloys, but that''s a whole lot further down the road. Next, is the magical sensors. The magical sensors are instantly installed on my material labs and gives me a reading of the mana flowing through the air, and the composition. Mana has many types after all. It also detects spells and area of effect skills. Together, with sensors in multiple material labs, they form an array able to triangulate sources of unusual activity, like sudden surges of energy in the air. At first, there''s a whole load of false positives. Spells are being cast daily, in eemany battles throughout the world, some not very far away. Adventurers of New Freeka constantly travel the region, slaying rogue monsters and bandits. Or priests and healers a in Madeus'' academy for the junior students. All of these false ''positives'' had to be removed. So, we had to set a very high threshold, to remove all the lesser spells from detection. My assumption is they probably won''t be much of a threat. "TreeTree, can we help the next generation of summoned heroes?" Meela asks, "Alexis has some ideas, and she thought, well, we need your help." "Hmm, honestly, I''m not sure why I should help the next group of heroes... From what I hear, heroes are pretty dangerous. They have a whole.lot of magical power and are extremely idealistic." "But isn''t protecting the world from demons aligned with yours? Protecting the valley means also protecting it from demons?" "They certainly overlap, but what are the benefits of helping the heroes?" "Uh... Protecting the valley?" "Honestly, if it''s just demons, I don''t need heroes." Alexis pauses, "True... But would you permit me and Meela to aide them?" "Hmmm..." I can''t control Meela, since she is her own independent soul, so... Frankly if she did, and its not against me, I won''t stop her. "Fine." "Great!" Year 80 Month 9 An uneventful month in the valley. Training, practice, observing the druids and citizens. Eavesdropping on conversations about battles from far away, against the demons. The humanoid demons are appearing everywhere, and the battles are getting more and more intense. Unlike all recorded history of demons, this time, the demons have brought a special item that spawns demons, and it takes the form of a camp. Larger variants have been spotted in places where towns and villages used to be. And so, it could be said that overnight, all mortal wars ended, as the focus turns to face this new era of demons. Demons used to be a ''continental'' affair. Only a few rifts would open, and when they did, it''s usually not far from each other, at least, until the demon king comes. Not anymore. And for me, the big question is, why? Why did the demons, after what seems to be years of taking the same strategies, finally trying this sort of carpet-bombing technique? Year 80 Month 10 I chose another 5 children, this time, 2 boys. Overall, due to the relative peace in New Freeka, the number of new orphans is trending downwards. Still, accidents, fights, and death is inevitable, and there''s also migrant orphans. In certain communities where there is no capacity to support another orphan, it is better to send them off to a place where they will be cared for. Anyway, the first four girls are around level 12, the highest level is level 15, with 8 levels in [soldier]. This job class thing is fascinating, and more for me to learn. As for Jura, he¡¯s still at level 80, and stuck. Well, which is why today, I harvested a 3 year old [ginseng plant], leaving 2 others to continue maturing. [3-year old magical ginseng root] [Permanently improves lifeforce (faster mana, stamina and health regeneration] ¡°So... how do we use this?¡± Jura holds the ginseng root, even though it¡¯s 3 year old, it actually looks like it¡¯s a 100 year old ginseng root from my old world. I think it¡¯s a mana, and probably my influence and bounty. ¡°Do you want me to cook it?¡± Meela offers, there¡¯s a cookhouse in her lodge. ¡°No.¡± I¡¯m trying something more direct. ¡°Please step into the soul forge.¡± ¡°Uh, okay.¡± Jura looks at the lightning-burnt tree, and then steps in. I thought about it for some time, and essentially, what I want to do, is try to inject the ginseng into his ¡®soulspring¡¯. It sounds like some kind of cultivation novel when I describe it like that. And so, I attempt to start up the soul forge, and start the merging process... I got an error message when I put the ginseng roots in. Ginseng roots needs to be further refined before can be used in the soul forge. Refining requires access to an essence concentrator. Essence concentrator? At the same time, the soul forge is still active, Jura¡¯s still inside, his body ¡®sleeping¡¯ in a special ¡®altar¡¯ within the forge-tree. And a prompt appears. Do you want to remove some of Jura¡¯s skills or job-classes? Doing so will free up lifeforce to learn other skills, or gain levels. Removed skills have a chance to be converted into skill seeds. Skill seeds made this way cannot be re-used on donor. Eh. I suddenly recalled the day, some 6 years ago, when the Wisp told me about surrendering of levels and skills. ¡°Why didn¡¯t it work when I captured the ranger?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called surrendering. If Jura¡¯s willing, you will be able to remove skills he don¡¯t want. And as I recall, you partially succeeded since you received a few skill seeds and class seeds. The conversion odds are higher if it¡¯s a voluntary surrender of the skills.¡± ¡°Huh, so surrendering skills isn¡¯t exactly all bad either.¡± Is this like pocket monster game again, where you unlearn a move, and somehow there¡¯s a chance the move you unlearned gets transformed into a TM? In a way, the soul¡¯s ability to support the person¡¯s level and skills is limited, and this ability technically... technically allows minmaxing. ¡°Can a hero surrender his hero class or blessing?¡± ¡°What comes from the gods, can only be removed by the gods.¡± Announcement Travelling. Family. Really tired. Unable to write as much as I want. T_____T Also, I''m trying to build a spreadsheet to keep track of what I want to happen in the next phase of the demonic wars, means, things like names, places, kingdoms etc, and crunch some numbers etc. I''d like to have that ready before I start the next few chapters, so Im foreseeing some delays, since I can''t work on this as much as I like. Thanks for reading! NOT A CHAPTER – NOTIFICATIONS COMPILATION – SKILLS AND LEVEL Skill CategorySkill Name and effectsDates skill learned or upgradedNotesAlexis''s Hamadryad Body[Hamadryad Body - Developing]. The body is made from the nimble wood of a soul tree, and the soul that lives in this body derives energy and life support from the soul tree. So, the body will die when the soul tree does.Year 76 Month 7 ARTIFICIAL SOUL UPGRADES[Unlocked special tree type. Root-Brain Complex. Requires special minerals to grow. Special minerals required are 10 x Blood Crystals, and 50 x fresh animal heads]Year 75 Month 3 AURA - DEMONSUPPRESSION[Obtained skill : Lesser demon suppression aura]Year 72 Month 5 AURA - MAGIC SUPPRESSION[Skill obtained : Magic suppression : All hostile magic abilities below tier 3 are absorbed]Year 74 Month 8 Week 3 AutopilotAutopilotYear 1 Month 0 BIOLAB[Secret hideout - biolab upgraded. Autopsy table and precision tools obtained. Pods increased to 10]Year 74 Month 2 Week 1 BIOLAB[Biolab leveled up] [External Biolab unlocked. Customisable Branches can now create biolabs!]Year 75 Month 11 Week 2 BIOLAB[Biolab upgraded. Additional lab tools obtained]Year 75 Month 3 BIOLAB[Biolab upgraded three times! Biolab resistance to attack increased. Biolab modification options increased! Soul-forge-linked abilities increased!]Year 76 Month 4 Week 4 BIOLAB[Biolab upgraded - post-mortem equipments, death sensors, death-delaying equipment and body preservation added!]Year 77 Month 8 BIOLAB[Biolab upgraded. Biolab now has multiple extra rooms, functioning as a ''toilet'', ''bathroom'' and others for collection and harvesting of biological wastes]Year 80 Month 1 Biolab / Secret Hideout[Secret hideout - Biolab upgraded]Year 73 Month 1 Biolab / Secret Hideout[Secret hideout - biolab, upgraded. Additional pods now available.]Year 73 Month 1 Week 3 Biolab / Secret Hideout[Secret hideout - Biolab upgraded]Year 73 Month 2 Week 4 Biolab / Secret Hideout[Secret hideout : Biolab upgraded. Pods increased to 5.]Year 73 Month 8 Week 3 Communication / Visual[Limited Telepathic Communication]Year 55From IndraCommunication / Visual[spirit vision]Year 55From IndraCommunication / Visualself awarenessYear 58, Month 1 Communication / Visual[calming voice] andYear 70 Month 8 Communication / Visual[Local rootnet access]Year 71 Month 5 Communication / Visual[Create Rootnet Node]].Year 71 Month 6 Communication / VisualLocal rootness access upgradedYear 71 Month 8 Communication / Visual[Symbiotic extension unlocked]Year 72 Month 12 Week 4 Communication / Visual[Basic Tree-Eyes obtained. Limited to 10 ¡®selected¡¯ trees. Place on trees to obtain multidirectional vision. Can actively look through two sets of eyes at any one time, view limit can be increased with root-brain complexes.]Year 79 Month 5RESEARCH SKILLCommunication / Visual[Skill upgraded : Symbiotic extension]Year 79 Month 5 CROPS & PRODUCE[Customisable branches : Harvestable Products obtained. Options are : Cotton, Maple Syrup, Oranges, Olives. Expanded options will be available with higher levels, or when new types of fruits are studied in the biolab]Year 73 Month 5 Week 2 CROPS & PRODUCE[Harvestable crops : Apples]Year 74 Month 12 CROPS & PRODUCE[Timber-farm] [Produce average quality timber, at a much faster speed]Year 74 Month 5 Week 3 CROPS & PRODUCE[Harvestable products upgraded. Papaya and grapes obtained].Year 74 Month 6 CROPS & PRODUCE[winter resistant crops]Year 75 Month 11 Week 2 CROPS & PRODUCE[Warm Winter Fruit obtained. A fruit that helps to keep the body warm]Year 76 Month 1 CROPS & PRODUCE[New crop species unlocked - Wheat, Jackfruit, Light Corn, Blackpotato, Rye, Red hops, Blueberry, Fireberry]Year 78 month 1 CROPS & PRODUCE[New Tree type unlocked : Common herbal bushes. Bushes containing a wide variety of herbs. Herb varieties appear at random]Year 78 month 1 CROPS & PRODUCE[Crop variety - Garlic] added. You can now produce essences of garlic and garlic flavored woods, fruits and saps.Year 78 Month 12 CROPS & PRODUCE[Crop variety - Ginger] added. You can now produce essences of ginger and ginger flavored woods, fruits and sapsYear 78 Month 12 CROPS & PRODUCE[Milk coconut and brownwood gourds]Year 78 Month 5 CUSTOMISABLE BRANCH[Obtained skill : Customisable branches]Year 72 Month 10 CUSTOMISABLE BRANCH[Customisable branches options expanded]Year 73 Month 2 Week 4 CUSTOMISABLE BRANCH[Customisable branch option unlocked : Shield Generator]Year 73 Month 3 Week 2 CUSTOMISABLE BRANCH[New customisable branch option : Web-trap spider nests. Home to 3 web-building spiders.]Year 75 Month 10 DEFENSIVE[Ironbark],Year 55 (estimate)not specifically mentioned, but familiars have similar skillsDEFENSIVE[Defense],Year 55 (estimate)not specifically mentioned, but familiars have similar skillsDEFENSIVE[Wood shield]Year 55 (estimate)not specifically mentioned, but familiars have similar skillsDEFENSIVE[Wood shield upgraded.Year 73 Month 2 Week 4 DEFENSIVESteelwood barrier obtained]Year 73 Month 2 Week 4 DEFENSIVE[Skill : Defensive dome obtained]Year 73 Month 3 Week 2 DEFENSIVE[Skill : Reinforce defensive structures obtained]Year 75 Month 5 DEFENSIVE[Shield generators upgraded]Year 77 Month 8 DEFENSIVE[Cactus defense system]Year 78 Month 5 ENCHANTMENT - HOLY[Obtained skill : Lesser Holy Enchantment]Year 73 Month 2 Week 1From RAJJIV NUNGENERGY STORAGE[Tree ability : create tuberous storage] One tuber for every [customisable branch]. So for a total of 40 potatoes, given that my main body grown and has 10 customisable branches now, and 30 for each of the subsidiary trees. These standard sized potatoes is also now my standard unit for energy.Year 73 Month 4 Week 2 ENERGY STORAGE[High density tubers unlocked. Tubers will be naturally upgraded]Year 77 Month 1 ENERGY STORAGE[Tuberous storage upgraded.]Year 77 Month 1 ESSENCE[Essence harvesting obtained]Year 70 Month 11 ESSENCE[Essence collection upgraded. Essence mastery and generation obtained. Customisable branch options now include "Essence generator"]Year 72 Month 12 Week 4 ESSENCE[Essence collection upgraded]Year 73 Month 12 Week 1 ESSENCE[Essence infusion unlocked. Essence-infused fruits, leaves and barks now available. Essence-infused subsidiary trees now available]Year 73 Month 12 Week 1 ESSENCE[Essence collection upgraded. Extraction rate and speed improved.]Year 73 Month 8 Week 3 ESSENCE[Memory collection] [from Soul Forge - Black] [Using the dark arts, a small % of memories of the dead will be converted into skill essences]Year 75 Month 8 FAMILIAR[Familiar Contract].Year 52 FAMILIAR[Tree Familiar abilities upgraded]Year 73 Month 3 Week 2 FAMILIAR[Familiar contracts upgraded - skill salvaging chance increase!] [You¡¯ve witnessed death as it happens in the inner realm]Year 77 Month 8 FAMILIAR[Special skill obtained - Possession of the devoted] [A special familiar contract with a chosen devoted believer. Limited to 5 at any time] [Lausanne has accepted the special familiar contract. 50 star mana consumed. 1 star mana will be consumed per month].Year 78 MOnth 4 FAMILIAR[Skill learned : Minder-Familiars. Maximum Minders, 20]Year 79 Month 5 FAMILIAR[Aspect contracts are limited to Level divided by 10. You are allowed up to 13 Aspects]Year 80 Month 4 FAMILIAR[Druidic Aspects can be awarded to druids, herbalists, farmers and gardeners (and variants). Can also be awarded to Treefolks, with no job class requirements.]Year 80 Month 4 FAMILIAR[Four druids have each entered into a non-cancellable Druidic Aspect contract with you]Year 80 Month 4 FAMILIAR[New familiar contract type obtained : Druidic Aspect Contract.Year 80 Month 4 GerminateGerminateYear 1 Month 0 Haunted Tree[haunted tree]]Year 70 Month 8 Haunted Tree[Skill : Haunted tree upgraded to haunted forests.]Year 74 Month 7 Week 4 Healing[Healing fruit]Year 56 Healing[Nourish]Year 69 Month 10 Healing[Healing powers upgraded]Year 72 Month 12 Week 4 Healing[Healing fruit upgraded]Year 72 Month 3 Healing[Healing vines upgraded]Year 72 Month 3 Healing[Solar-healing]Year 72 Month 3 Healing[Nourish upgraded.Year 72 Month 9 HealingLife support unlocked.Year 72 Month 9 HealingSuspended animation unlocked]Year 72 Month 9 HibernateHibernateYear 1 Month 0 Illusion[Camouflage & illusions upgraded]Year 70 Month 11 Illusion / Defensive[Mist]Year 76 Month 9 Inspection[inspect]Year 56 LEVELSLevel 14 (+13 level) (From Indra''s death)Year 55 LEVELSLevel 15 (+1 level)Year 56 LEVELSLevel 16 (+1 level)Year 57 Month 11 LEVELSLevel 17 (+1 levels)Year 58 Month 1 LEVELSLevel 18 (+1 level)Year 58 Month 6 LEVELSLevel 19 (+1 level)Year 58 Month 7 LEVELSLevel 20 (+1 levels)Year 59 Month 1 LEVELSLevel 23 (+3 levels)Year 59 Month 4 LEVELSLevel 35 (+12 levels) (from death of 3 familiar-contractees)Year 59 Month 9 LEVELSLevel 36 (+1 level)Year 65 Month 2 LEVELSLevel 45 (+9 levels) (from death of Andy Schulon)Year 67 Month 11 LEVELSLevel 47 (+2 levels)Year 69 Month 10 LEVELSLevel 48 (+1 level)Year 70 Month 1 LEVELSLevel 63 (+13 levels) - Destruction of Freeka VillageYear 70 Month 11 LEVELSLevel 64 (+1 level)Year 70 Month 11 (next few days) LEVELSLevel 50 (+2 level)Year 70 Month 8 LEVELSLevel 65 (+1 level)Year 71 Month 3 LEVELSLevel 66 (+1 level)Year 71 Month 4 LEVELSLevel 71 (+5 level)Year 71 Month 5 LEVELSLevel 86 (+15 levels) - Defeat of Demon Champion (assisted)Year 71 Month 8 LEVELSLevel 92 (+3 level)Year 72 Month 10 LEVELSLevel 100 (+8 levels) - defeating the demon giant centipedeYear 72 Month 12 Week 4 LEVELSLevel 87 (+1 level)Year 72 Month 3 LEVELSLevel 89 (+2 level)Year 72 Month 9 LEVELSLevel 101 (+1 level)Year 73 Month 1 Week 3 LEVELSLevel 116 (+1 level)Year 73 Month 12 Week 1 LEVELSLevel 104 (+3 level) Rajjiv Nung''s deathYear 73 Month 2 Week 1 LEVELSLevel 110 (+6 levels) vs 3 Demon ChampionYear 73 Month 2 Week 4 LEVELSLevel 114 (+4 levels) Death of Demon King Andraas + Familiar EXP of heroesYear 73 Month 3 Week 2 LEVELSLevel 115 (+1 level)Year 73 Month 7 Week 1 LEVELSLevel 117Year 74 Month 5 Week 3 LEVELSLevel 121 (+4 levels) (soul forge unlock)Year 74 Month 8 Week 3 LEVELSLevel 122 (+1 level)Year 74 Month 9 Week 3 LEVELSLevel 124 (+1 level)Year 75 Month 11 Week 2 LEVELSLevel 123 (+1 level)Year 75 Month 5 LEVELSLevel 129 (+1 level)Year 76 Month 12 LEVELSLevel 128 (+4 level) (slaying Alexis''s demon form)Year 76 Month 4 Week 4 LEVELSLevel 130 (+1 level)Year 77 Month 4 LEVELSLevel 132 (+2 level)Year 77 Month 8 MAGIC - WOOD[Bind]Year 71 Month 10 MAGIC - WOOD[Bloom]Year 71 Month 10 MAGIC - WOODWood magic & creation - A wheel pops up in my mind, at the center of it a leaf shape. There is a lot of greyed out skills and menus that grow out of that wheel.Year 71 Month 8 MaterialsRoots - Volcanic mineral harvesting - stage 2 -Year 79 Month 5RESEARCH SKILLMaterialsRoots - Volcanic mineral processing - stage 1 -Year 79 Month 5RESEARCH SKILLMaterialsMaterials testing - stage 1Year 79 Month 5RESEARCH SKILLMINERAL EXTRACTION[Mineral extraction upgraded.]Year 73 Month 8 Week 3 Offensive[Root strike].Year 70 Month 1 Offensive[constrict]Year 71 Month 2 Offensive[Root strike range extended]Year 71 Month 4 Offensive[Poison field]Year 71 Month 5 Offensive[Rooting field]Year 71 Month 5 OffensiveRoot strike range and quantity upgradedYear 71 Month 8 Offensive[Obtained skill : Super anti-demon root-strike]Year 72 Month 10 Offensive[Fruit-attack]Year 72 Month 4 Offensive[Root Surge]Year 72 Month 5 Offensive[Constrict significantly upgraded]Year 73 Month 2 Week 4 Offensive[Absorption significantly upgraded] - via vines/biolabs etcYear 73 Month 2 Week 4 OffensiveCorrosive FruitsYear 73 Month 3 Week 3 Offensive[Skill upgraded : Root surge. Covers a wider area and use limit increased]Year 74 Month 8 Week 3 Offensive[Poison field upgraded]Year 74 Month 9 Week 3 Offensive[Constrict upgraded! Vines now are able to drain mana and lifeforce! Vines now able to ensnare magical creatures]Year 76 Month 4 Week 4 OFFENSIVEFruit bombs - increased range and power - completedYear 77 Month 12RESEARCH SKILLOffensive[Poison field and rooting field upgraded]Year 77 Month 8 Offensive[You gained a new skill : Serpentine Rootstrike]Year 77 Month 8 Passive[Mineral augmentation obtained. You may use the metals obtained to strengthen your [subsidiary trees], and [insect warriors]]Year 73 Month 8 Week 3 Passive - EnvironmentTree - volcanic adaptation stage 3 -Year 79 Month 5RESEARCH SKILLPassive - Tree[Minor winter-resistance]Year 59 Month 1 Passive - TreeRhizofiltration - This is a passive skill. Will extract minerals and other items via roots, and automatically filter out negative effects in the ground.Year 71 Month 8 Passive - Tree[Winter resistance upgraded]Year 74 Month 12 Passive - Tree[Winter resistance upgraded]Year 75 Month 11 Week 2 Passive - Tree[Winter resistance upgraded]Year 76 Month 1 Passive - Tree[Winter-resistance aura obtained. All trees connected via rootnet are more resistant to the effects of cold and ice. Beetles and webspiders also gain some winter resistance]Year 76 Month 1 Passive - Tree / CONNECTION BASED[Gained a passive buff. Connected to an enchanted forest. Herb effectiveness increased by 50%.]Year 80Connected to enchanted forest in RansalahROOTS[Achieved long distance connected roots. Unlocked new skill : Far-reaching roots]Year 75 Month 2 ROOTS[New ability obtained : Heat transmission root systems]Year 76 Month 4 Week 4 ROOTS[Skill upgraded : Local rootnet access upgraded. Longer distance between subsidiary trees unlocked]Year 79 Month 7 ROOTS / SPECIAL TREE - ROOT RELAY[Special trees type obtained : Root Relay Trees] [Max Quantity of Relay is Level x 5] [Root Relay are special trees with the dedicated purpose of expanding your root network. A single root Relay can create a simple root network that extends 10 x the diameter of a regular subsidiary tree. Does not have other functions. Looks like any other tree. Appearance is customisable]Year 79 Month 7 Secret Hideout[Secret hideout]Year 69 Month 10 Secret Hideout[Secret hideout upgraded]Year 70 Month 11 Secret HideoutSecret hideout upgradedYear 71 Month 8 Secret Hideout[Skills upgraded : Secret hideout - healing chamber adaptation]Year 72 Month 10 Secret Hideout[Secret hideout upgraded. Extra rooms, special purpose rooms and hideouts unlocked. Customisable branches option now has "External room"]Year 72 Month 12 Week 4 Secret Hideout[Your following skills have been upgraded : Life support chamber]Year 72 Month 12 Week 4 Secret Hideout[Secret hideout upgraded : Childcare corner obtained] [Childcare corner produces a special infant friendly syrup, similar to baby and milk formula. Infant-syrup can be further upgraded with various kinds of materials and minerals, if available]Year 73 Month 11 Week 1 Secret Hideout[Skill upgraded - secret hideout has unlocked - Tree-asury]Year 73 Month 7 Week 1 Secret Hideout[Secret hideout upgraded! Hot water now available]Year 76 Month 9 Soul & Spirit Collection[Spirit Collection upgraded]Year 70 Month 11 Soul & Spirit Collection[Soul absorption upgraded. Soul realm unlocked]Year 72 Month 12 Week 4 Soul & Spirit Collection[Obtained passive skill : soul grading]Year 73 Month 2 Soul & Spirit Collection[Soul Tree range greatly expanded]Year 73 Month 3 Week 2 Soul & Spirit Collection[Soul forge : Blue] is active. [The power to repair, mend souls. To strip souls apart, and put them back together. The ability to add souls to your abilities, familiars, items, trees. The ability to push souls to their limits, and beyond. The ability to rank up a soul. The ability to fuse soul fragments whole, and create artificial sub-souls from ordinary soul fragments]Year 74 Month 8 Week 3 Soul & Spirit Collection[Soul forge : ForgeTree. The physical realm¡¯s link to the soul forge]Year 74 Month 8 Week 3 Soul & Spirit Collection[Soul forge annex added : Mana soaking facility, and compatibility tester.]Year 75 Month 3 Soul & Spirit Collection[Additional repairs of damaged souls now possible]Year 75 Month 8 Soul & Spirit Collection[Creation of Soul Harvesters now possible]Year 75 Month 8 Soul & Spirit Collection[Nightmare collectors] [A special ghost type that steals nightmares] Due to the presence of two colors, the following fused abilities are now available.Year 75 Month 8 Soul & Spirit Collection[Soul Forge - Black allows for the conversion of undead spirits back into regular soul, reversing the effects of necromancy, and the removal of the dark energies of a soul]Year 75 Month 8 Soul & Spirit Collection[Soul Harvesters] [Some call them the grim reaper, some refer to them as valkyries, these are travelling collectors of souls. They extend your soul harvesting reach, and can be directed to specific places, such as battlefields, graveyards to collect souls. Souls collected are of a higher chance to contain ¡°transferable experience¡±]Year 75 Month 8 SOUL CONTRACTS[Spiritual Contract - Judgement]. It¡¯s essentially a soul contract, but in the form of a judgement. Demons, devils and the dark gods get a lopsided version known as [Unfair Contracts], which is¡­ unfair, but, less robust as a result. It has also sneaky abilities like concealing terms and conditions, but all of these result a reduction of the ability grade to a lower-tier (relative, of course).Comes with Soul Forge SPECIAL - MANA[Natural Mana Overwhelming]Year 73 Month 2 Week 2used to capture woodhoundSPECIAL - MANA[Natural Mana Overwhelming upgraded!]Year 76 Month 4 Week 4 SPECIAL BUILDINGS - ROOT DUNGEON[New structure obtained : Root Dungeon]Year 75 Month 8 SPECIAL BUILDINGS - ROOT DUNGEON[Root dungeon, leftovers of a dungeon that happens to be stabilised by the roots of a tree spirit. Does not spawn monsters or loot.]Year 75 Month 8 SPECIAL PROJECTS - OUTSTANDING[The Grand Mind Tree - significantly boosts tree-related research output, and grants wider understanding of soul magics. Gains additional psychic-type magical abilities] [Requires 10 x root brain complexes, and 1 ton of gold and 1 ton of quartz crystals. Once all prerequisites are complete, construction will take 1.5 years]Year 76 Month 11OUTSTANDINGSPECIAL TREE - CLIFF BONSAI[Special Tree-type obtained : Cliff Bonsai]Year 79 Month 6 SPECIAL TREE - DREAMER''S TREEHOUSE[Special tree type obtained : Dreamer¡¯s Treehouses]Year 79 Month 5 SPECIAL TREE - GINSENG PLANT[Cultivating ginseng will slightly increase monster spawn rate]Year 73 Month 12 Week 1 SPECIAL TREE - GINSENG PLANT[Ginseng does not work on Trees]Year 73 Month 12 Week 1 SPECIAL TREE - GINSENG PLANT[Ginseng plant does not share any defensive or support buffs of the main tree.]Year 73 Month 12 Week 1 SPECIAL TREE - GINSENG PLANT[Magical ginseng plant] [Ginseng plant is limited to 3 growing plants at any one time (can be increased with level). The qualities of the ginseng depends on the age of the root, overall health throughout it¡¯s life, essences infused, mana infused, materials infused, the environment, astronomical conditions etc. Ginseng roots, when consumed, give permanent boosts to various stats, resistances, skills, mana or abilities. Permanent Effect diminishes with subsequent use.]Year 73 Month 12 Week 1 SPECIAL TREE - GINSENG PLANT[Specimen is Low-grade ginseng root, 2 years of age. No special enhancements. Provides small permanent boost to disease-resistance and stats]Year 73 Month 12 Week 1 SPECIAL TREE - TREE OF PRAYER[Special tree unlocked : Tree of Prayers] [Tree of Prayers has a calming, relaxing effect on its surroundings. Has the ability to passively soothe and comfort. Comes with a naturally calming background music of rustling leaves and wind]Year 75 Month 4 SPECIAL TREE - VOLCANIC BATH[Hot volcanic bath obtained!]Year 76 Month 9 SPECIAL TREES - THREETREE OF MANA[ThreeTrees of Mana] [Created when one subsidiary tree couldn¡¯t handle to energy of a leyline, so three of them merged. An artifact of the leyline, this structure serves as the ¡°conduit¡± of the leyline, so protect it, as it is your connection to the leyline, in place of the dungeon core. Serves no other function]Year 75 Month 8 SPECIES UPGRADE - ANCIENT SOUL TREE[You have evolved into an Ancient Soul Tree. The next evolution rank up is at Leve 130, if conditions and materials are met. You can still gain levels without ranking up.]Year 72 Month 12 Week 4 SPECIES UPGRADE - ANCIENT SOUL TREELevel 100 and the rank up brings change, and a lot of benefits. One of the key changes is a UI change, as my interfaces become much more organised, and menus expanded. There are more tooltips as well, and information about my skills improved.Year 72 Month 12 Week 4 SPECIES UPGRADE - MAGICAL TREE[You have unlocked the next species change, upgraded from spiritual tree to magical tree]Year 70 Month 11 SPECIES UPGRADE - SPIRITUAL TREEEvolved from normal tree to Spiritual TreeYear 59 Month 9 SPECIES UPGRADE - STARSOUL[You have now transformed into the starsoul tree.] able to tap and access to the wisdom of the past, from exposure to ancient bones and fossilsYear 77 Month 4 SPECIES UPGRADE - STARSOULgains access to a special type of leaf able to collect starlight and produce star mana in small quantities (maximum amount of leaves capped), also gains access to a star mana storing organ and special star-mana abilitiesYear 77 Month 4 SPECIES UPGRADE - STARSOULSoul management and access rights and restrictions unlockedYear 77 Month 4 SPECIES UPGRADE - STARSOULstats improved, various collection, various skills upgradedYear 77 Month 4 STAR MANAStar mana. I have 300 star mana at the moment, that¡¯s the maximum number of star-mana storage organs I have, and with the current maximum number of star-leaves, I produce 30 star mana a month.Year 77 Month 4 SUBORDINATE[Obtained skill : Summon insect warriors]Year 72 Month 10 SUBORDINATE[Armored beetles upgraded to warbeetles]Year 73 Month 8 Week 1 SUBORDINATE[You obtained a beetle commander, each tree with [insect warriors] has expanded to 5 beetles per tree.]Year 74 Month 9 Week 3 SUBORDINATE[Insect warrior variation unlocked : Web-trap Spiders] [Web-building spiders have little direct combat abilities except for their poisonous fangs, but are able to build webbings between your trees, laced with paralysing poisons and build trapping cocoons]Year 75 Month 10 SUBORDINATEBeetle winter adaptation stage I - completed!Year 76 Month 8RESEARCH SKILLSUBORDINATELarge beetle pods - completedYear 77 Month 12RESEARCH SKILLSUBORDINATEEnhanced interior structures - completedYear 77 Month 12RESEARCH SKILLSUBORDINATEBeetle volcanic battleform - complete!Year 77 Month 3RESEARCH SKILLSUBORDINATEBeetle volcanic defensive armors- complete!Year 77 Month 3RESEARCH SKILLSUBORDINATEBeetle - basic magical lancesYear 77 Month 9RESEARCH SKILLSUBORDINATEEnhanced exoskeletonsYear 77 Month 9RESEARCH SKILLSUBORDINATE[Carrier Drone. After a soul is merged with an object, skill or person, it can choose to become a ¡°deployable egg¡±. The carrier drone will then carry the egg within it to the desired location, where it will spawn into the merged structure! But beware, the carrier drone is vulnerable, and destruction means death to the cargo as well.]Year 79 Month 2 SUBORDINATEBeetle - anti-magma armors stage 3Year 79 Month 5RESEARCH SKILLSUBORDINATE[New beetle species unlocked. Dungbeetle]Year 80 Month 1 SUBSIDIARY TREE[Subsidiary tree limit increased to 90]Year 73 Month 10 Week 1 SUBSIDIARY TREE[Some of your stored iron materials and essence of nature has been consumed. Six inner circle subsidiary trees upgraded. They are now able to support 3 external rooms each.]Year 73 Month 10 Week 1 SUBSIDIARY TREE[Obtained Tree ability : Subsidiary Tree] (30 trees)Year 73 Month 2 Week 4 SUBSIDIARY TREE[Subsidiary tree limit increased to 40]Year 73 Month 7 Week 1 SUBSIDIARY TREE[Subsidiary tree limit increased to 60]Year 73 Month 8 Week 1 SUBSIDIARY TREE[Subsidiary tree limit increased to 120]Year 74 Month 2 Week 1 SUBSIDIARY TREE[Subsidiary tree leveled up. You can now have 180 subsidiary trees]Year 74 Month 4 Week 1 SUBSIDIARY TREE[Skill upgraded : Subsidiary tree increased to 250]Year 74 Month 8 Week 3 SUBSIDIARY TREE[Subsidiary tree limit increased to 700]Year 75 Month 11 Week 2 SUBSIDIARY TREE[Subsidiary tree limit increased to 400]Year 75 Month 2 SUBSIDIARY TREE[Subsidiary tree limit increased to 1,500]Year 77 Month 3 SUBSIDIARY TREESubsidiary Tree limit increased to 4,000 (During Starsoul evolution change)Year 77 Month 5 SUBSIDIARY TREE[Subsidiary tree limit increased to 6,000Year 78 Month 5 TRAINING TREE TYPESTraining Treehouse - Training treehouse improves experience gain, skill gain chances, and reduces injuries significantlyYear 76 Month 12 TRAINING/LEVELLING/TEACHING[You obtained Learning Aura]Year 71 Month 3 TRAINING/LEVELLING/TEACHINGDream tutor - May use dreams to learn, and to teach. Requires a collection of spirits, memories and objects to unlock more ¡°Dreams¡±. Essences can be used to bestow certain skills via dreams. Target must be sleeping for the ability to kick in. If sleep is interrupted, learning may not be effective.Year 71 Month 8 TRAINING/LEVELLING/TEACHING: [Powerleveling I]Year 72 Month 1 Week 4 TREE ABILITIES[tree-rebirth].Year 59 Month 9 TREE ABILITIES[Growth surge] [Creates patches of normal trees, shrubs and grasses. Affected by weather and seasons]Year 74 Month 6 Week 4 TREE ABILITIES / HEALING[Tree saps & extracts upgraded]Year 72 Month 10 TREE ABILITIES / HEALING[Tree extracts & saps ]Year 72 Month 9 TREE TYPE - LABS[Biolab - Beetle unit research tree obtained] [This massive tree allows research and development of various beetle types, such as flying beetles, armored beetles, poison beetles, firebeetles, waterbeetles¡­]Year 76 Month 2 Week 1 TREE TYPE - LABSMagically attuned materials Stage 1Year 79 Month 11RESEARCH SKILLTREE TYPE - LABSTree-lab varieties - stage 1Year 80 Month 3RESEARCH SKILLTREE TYPES[New tree variant obtained : Carnivorous plants]Year 76 Month 4 Week 4 TREE TYPES[New subsidiary tree type unlocked : Treefolk Incubation Pods. A subsidiary tree filled with multiple pods, used to incubate and nourish fertilised and germinating external seeds]Year 78 Month 2 Week 3 TREE TYPES[New subsidiary tree type unlocked : Treefolk Nursery. Makes sapling-friendly nutrient rich foods. Can also make special sap for pregnant treefolk mothers or females to boost quality and health of their fetus or eggs]Year 78 Month 2 Week 3 TREE TYPES[Tree Lodge] [A tree with a whole lot more space than it looks! Each tree lodge has 10 rooms, a restaurant, a cozy lounge, a reception, and a kitchen, all while looking no bigger than any other tree! Needs to hire workers to work] [Limited to 5, and each lodge must be a distance away from the other nearest lodge]Year 79 Month 2 TREE TYPES[Tree-type obtained : Cave Trees]Year 79 Month 6 TREE TYPES[Plant-type obtained : Deep Moss]Year 79 Month 6 Tree Types - Root Tunnels[New skill obtained : Root-tunnels]Year 75 Month 8 Tree Types - Root Tunnels[Root tunnels, as what the name says, are tunnels made out of roots. Good for smuggling, transporting, and various tunnel things.]Year 75 Month 8 TREE-HEART¡°[The Tree¡¯s Heart and Spirit-Lantern], this is the heart of the tree, adorned with the fragments of 67 heroes, it gives the tree 3350% increase in experience gain, 670% extra damage against midtier demons, 335% extra damage against elder demons, partial demon armor-negation, immunity to lesser demons, damage reduction against elder demons and significantly reduce damage from fire.¡±Year 72 Month 10gets stronger when there are more fragmentsWOODCRAFTINGWood creationYear 71 Month 8 WOODCRAFTING[Woodcrafting upgraded]Year 72 Month 1 Week 1 Announcement So one of the problems I ran into, is that TreeTree''s list of abilities are hard to keep track, unless you were willing to constantly go back to each and every chapter and hunt for it. (I totally concede that the system is very far from ideal) So, I started this project to build a "proper" list of skills, and when they were obtained, and also the when the levels were gained, so that I can move forward with a bit more certainty, else the house of cards gonna fall on me someday. So this is going to be a WORK IN PROGRESS, to be updated as it goes. I''m pretty sure I missed some too, since I didn''t comb through each chapter line-by-line, and instead went by -search- Some realisations... TreeTree didn''t gain levels for the past 2-3 years XD I feel TreeTree''s skills are limited. Alot of it is... upgrades. And wood magic. I think I really somehow ignored that part. Side Story – Akbar & the Demons INTERLUDES - AKBAR Sometime around Year 80, Month 9 (TreeTree-time) Every demon king is slightly different, every generation of demons, usually a variation of the previous. Scholars, inquisitors, demon-hunters have often wondered why it is so, but since these invading demons don¡¯t seem to be able to communicate, no one knows for sure. Still, the inhabitants facing the demons could still observe and make a note of how subtle differences exist. The first demon rifts reveal little hints about the characteristics of the demon king they face, and the sort of battles they will have to prepare for. Usually this meant elemental and/or monster variants, like how Andraas had earth-golems, earth centipedes and fire hounds, and as time went by, its more, larger versions of such monsters. Spotting a demon rift is something every warrior learns by experience. Seen it, and you will remember it for life. The way reality itself warps and break, a tear in reality that links to another world, it is an unforgettable sight. The portal to the demon world. ... ¡°General Akbar.¡± A human knight rides up to central camp, there''s about 5,000 soldiers here. ¡°Commander Akbar.¡± The older man emphasises. ¡°I¡¯ve been demoted, and you need to remember that. Had it been in the city, you can get in trouble.¡± The knight shrugs. ¡°You¡¯re still my General. Anyway-" Commander Akbar frowns, and gives the knight a stern look. ¡°Get to it, what''s the status? How many demons did you spot?¡± ¡°1,200. Surprisingly easy to get a count, now that they look like humans. They made something that resembles a large house or camp. Still no sight of the rift yet, I¡¯m waiting for the other scout to report back.¡± ¡°Demons, making camp.¡± Commander Akbar scratches his chin. ¡°What has the world come to, I must see this.¡± The force of 5,000 men marches towards the site of the reported demon camp, and indeed, what they saw is indeed a demon camp. "There it is, Commander." The demon camp''s surface resembles a dark reddish hue, its existence as if magic itself was forced to form the fabric. "What''s it doing?" Akbar starts counting, his eyes looking through his portable telescope, right at the demon camp. He watches intently for about 30 minutes, and then it got ¡°It¡¯s making more demons soldiers. Get the mages, I want a magical reading on this area right now.¡± Akbar¡¯s hunch was right. The camp''s location had slightly stronger natural mana and energies. There¡¯s only one decision to make. The camp had to be destroyed before they spawned more demons. They crushed the 1,200 or so demons easily. A few days later, back at the camp. ¡°The news is unsettling.¡± Akbar pored over the news coming in from all the other continents and kingdoms. Demonic news didn¡¯t have the usual diplomatic embargo and political filters, and frankly, Akbar enjoyed fighting demons. It¡¯s just plain fighting, without the bullshit of politics, or the worries over the unnecessary death of others. It allowed him to be a true military man, the only thing he had to focus on, is to crush this faceless demonic enemy. ¡°There are so many...¡± Both of his aides nodded, and they looked over a rough map of the world. It¡¯s one of Akbar¡¯s personal collections as a General. Akbar places a small red flag wherever they receive reports on rift sightings. There are multiple rifts in every large continent, and even in smaller continents. In earlier demon kings, the rifts were concentrated, most of the time, a single continent. Maybe two, at most, and even those, the bulk of it usually formed on one continent. It didn¡¯t take much for Akbar to conclude the obvious. ¡°This demon is planning to overwhelm the world with sheer numbers, by attacking everywhere simultaneously.¡± One of the aides shakes his head. ¡°But, does it matter? If they come with us with that tiny force, scattered throughout the world, they won''t be a threat! And the heroes will come around and save the world when the demon king arrives¡± Akbar frowns a little at the aide''s statement. Two knights and a mage walked into the war planning room. Akbar looked at his aides. ¡°True. But between now and the Demon King, is at least a few years. This tactic may potentially destroy the world before the heroes even appear.¡± ¡°So what, we can stop them. The quantity from the rifts reported so far has been small.¡± Akbar paused and remembers the demon champions. No reported sighting of the champions yet, though they often arrive before the King. The other aides answered before Akbar got to it. ¡°If the demons can build camps that generate more demons, their quantity won¡¯t be small for very long. How many rifts do we know nothing about? How sure are we, all these are the only rifts out there? If the rift and camp was made in a secluded area we know nothing about, they could suddenly surprise us with a large force!¡± ¡°True, true.¡± ¡°How¡¯s the analysis on the camp and the demons?¡± Akbar asks. The mage shifts uncomfortably. A soldier ran into the camp. "Gene-, sorry, Commander! The mages, they... uh... they turned into demons. We had to kill one of them." Akbar''s eyes widen and he stares, "When did this happen, and why did I not know about it?" "It just happened, General." The soldier shouts trying to catch his breath, been running. "The mages, they were just meddling with the demonic staff, and suddenly it started to absorb one of the mages! So we had to destroy the staff, and we couldn''t save the mage." Akbar stops, "You know about this?" "No, sir." The mage in the room shakes his head, but then he walks over to the soldier to talk. Before Akbar could ask more, another person comes in. He''s a mage too and he looks younger than the other mages. "General." "Commander." "We have the report you wanted." Akbar glares at the young mage, he''s unfazed. "What happened?" "Accident. It is quite unfortunate that I could not save him. But we now know that the staff seeks magic and consumes it to create demons." The two aides pause. "So, my guess is should probably seek out major magical locations and dungeons, and seek to take over them." "But how does the demons expect to beat the dungeons with their tiny force?" Dungeon, generally, have a respectable defense force, and multiple boss level creatures within their base. "Maybe not immediately, but over time their force will grow." "We must let the world know." Akbar acknowledges. "This fact, may be helpful for the other nations." "Commander, we must first report this to high command. The King will want to know before this is shared." One of the aide says. Akbar nods, but inside he just feels annoyed. Politics. He could see it coming, the King probably wanted to sell this information for money. The awkward truce with the Nung and Takde wasn''t something the King enjoyed, especially since he wanted his reign to be one of glory. - And so Akbar and his retinue, returns to the capital, Ransalah, leaving the rest of the force behind. The rest would continue to hunt demons, and look for the rift. The journey took them a few days, and soon Ransalah enters their view. The massive sprawl of the city, the faint stench of human activity, the smell of the forges and factories, it¡¯s a sign they were getting close. Even at night, one could see the dispersed glow from the city¡¯s lights. The aide cheered. "Civilization! I can''t wait for a hot bath!" The captains are relieved, one of them is from the capital, so his family is here. Akbar just sighed. As a military man, he never felt like he has a place in Ransalah. Earlier in his career, he lived fortresses and camps, and till this day, that is where he feels where he belonged. Ransalah just reminds him of all the politics of the court, unnecessary reports to various nobles who wanted to build ¡®rapport¡¯, and bureaucracy. "Don''t look so glum, Commander. Let''s have some good food. And good wine! I hear there''s quite a good vintage coming from New Freeka, something we''ve never managed to try before!" One captain nudged the aide, signalling him not to mention New Freeka. Akbar just shrugged, well, perhaps he shouldn''t be so upset. The capital does have a whole load of good eateries. "Well, let''s do that. I do miss having properly cooked food from a good chef." The group passed a damaged set of roads, some trees and shrubs. "Ah, I notified the city that we are arriving soon." The aide messaged the city using some kind of [message] spell. At this distance, the spell doesn''t cost much mana, and the message decay isn''t bad. Akbar''s mind is still occupied, occupied with the strategies of this generation¡¯s demons. What will the champions bring this time? Is the demon¡¯s plan to split the heroes? He distracts himself and looks at two rings on his fingers. One made of a greenish gold, another just regular silver. "Anyone coming to greet us?" The aide shake his head. Akbar smiled. "Best news I heard all day, then." He hated the whole greeting and welcoming ceremony, frankly, the best thing since his demotion from General. Even his aides know how much he hated it. ¡°Let¡¯s eat some good food!¡± Since they didn''t have a welcoming ceremony, that meant he also didn''t have to immediately go and face the King or the senior ministers. Not that the King is eager to see him. So, the group went for one of the many famous eateries in Ransalah, this one located on the commoner''s district. Despite being the commoners'' district, there are many such eateries, serving adventurers, or wealthy merchants, or just some young men looking to impress a woman. They had a spread of grilled meats and roasted meats, mostly from the nearby farms and also some of the edible monster meats, and a few different dishes of potatoes and yam, accompanied by wine. They have wine in regular wooden cups, though glass is available as a material, it''s far too expensive for restaurants to use regularly, given how often these glass things break when an adventurer brawl happens. Akbar, his aides and the two accompanying captains took their time and dined, their conversation began with demons, because, well, that¡¯s their job, and it was an easy thing to talk about in a dinner with colleagues. Most of them wonder when the demon champions will start appearing, demon champions are still the single-highest risk outside of the demon king, and there¡¯s usually multiple champions. In terms of actual destruction, the champions are probably ahead of the demon king. The captains joke about running if they ever seen one, and Akbar just nods, ¡°I would run too, if I see a demon champion.¡± And they all laugh. Demon champions are difficult, even a general like Akbar would need a strong mage and healer team to defeat one. But once all of them were progressively more drunk, the conversation turned to less serious topics, like how¡¯s everyone¡¯s love life, and whether Commander Akbar will ever remarry. Or other silly things, like what some of the soldiers are doing when in camp, or stupid manliness challenges. One of the aides talked about his failed dates with the local girls whenever they go on expeditions, and the rest of them just laughed, but they all also admire his guts for trying to date girls from all the various villages. As they were about to leave, two men approached Commander Akbar. "Are you Commander Akbar?" Akbar¡¯s a little tipsy, but he still manages to turn and face the two men. The two look like plain ordinary villagers, their presence honestly didn¡¯t seem anything special. One of Akbar¡¯s aides, probably more drunk than Akbar, tried to step in. "Why are you bothering our Commander?" The aide¡¯s usually a little more timid, maybe it¡¯s a alcohol-fueled machismo. "May we talk to the Commander, just for a while?" One of the men smiled, he¡¯s polite. Commander Akbar looked at them, quickly glanced through them from top to bottom. If they wanted to rob or kidnap him, they did not need to ask. Though, even while drunk, Akbar could easily fight off two men, and his [alert] passive did not trigger, so he¡¯s got a good hunch that these two men didn¡¯t mean to harm him. Besides, he''s got a [General] class, and that meant he could hold two men down, easy. The aide''s attempt to respond on Akbar¡¯s behalf, was stopped by Akbar''s hand. "Yes, let¡¯s talk. Back inside?" Akbar pointed back to the eatery. The two men nodded and they walked back, "Yes, inside is fine, but without your aides, please? Just something we want to ask you personally." Akbar smiled, "Let''s use one of the private dining rooms then. They can wait outside." "Commander, no... General Akbar." The two men sat, it''s a small room, with one round table and chairs for 6. Akbar sat opposite them. "What do you think of the demons?" Akbar chuckles, "They are bad, of course." What kind of question is that, anyway? Demons, causes tremendous destruction and death, can¡¯t be negotiated with, and doesn¡¯t have any useful functions. The only possibly positive thing about them is the daemolite, left behind when the demon kings die. "Do you think the heroes are doing a good job of fighting demons?" "...not as well as I think they should." Akbar spoke his mind, he had a hunch they were leading him somewhere, but he¡¯ll see. The two men grinned, "Great. Do you enjoy fighting demons?" Akbar paused, and stared at the two men. Enjoy fighting demons? In what sense? "I''m sorry?" "Have you ever thought of joining a cause dedicated to fighting demons?." Akbar''s stern eyes meet with two others, the room felt heavy then. "I¡¯m afraid I need a bit more than that. What exactly is your cause?" At that time, a third man appears in that small private room, he materialised from the two''s shadows. Akbar though, still didn''t react and just took a sip out of the wooden cup of water. "I was wondering when you would come out." "As expected of a [general]. Proper introductions, now. I am from the Laenza Alliance, a secret society. Allow me to do the full explanation. The Laenza Alliance¡¯s main purpose is to support the heroes in their quest to defeat the demon king, and we would like you to join us in that quest." Akbar didn¡¯t react, he just took a good look at the man. "Have we met?" "Yes. But that matters little. Our issue is the coming demonic conflict. We believe you''ve realised the gravity of the issue, and so we''d like to invite you to join us." He felt familiar, but Akbar couldn''t pin it down. Akbar sipped from the cup of water, and said. "When you say, support the heroes in the quest to defeat the demon king, what does that actually mean? You want me to put my life on the line and fight the demon king myself, together with the heroes?" "Well, no. You won¡¯t be the one¡¯s actually fighting the demon king. Ultimately, the heroes received the gods blessing, and only with the blessing, can the heroes hope to stand toe to toe with the demon king. Our presence in that fight would be unnecessary, we may even be a hindrance. I would say, we would be throwing our lives away.¡± ¡°So what do you do?¡± ¡°We, the Laenza aims to support the heroes, by, spotting them early, guide them, remove the barriers to their growth, and give them what they need to progress." "Barriers..." Akbar looks at the three Laenza men. "Politics. Bureaucracy. Think about it, these otherworldly heroes, they arrive in the world with very minimal guidance from the gods. They are lost, despite their gifts, and when they meet the locals, they need time to find their way. If it so happens they come under a nation¡¯s protection, kings and rulers often have their own political agenda. Every step of the way, they face resistance and unnecessary barriers, from locals who have no idea whether they really are heroes, to politicians and rulers who seek to manipulate them.¡± The man paused to catch his breath, and then continued. ¡°Our role, the Laenza is to offset those resistance, help them discreetly, and where we can, take them away from politics. We try to be the first, or among the first to find and contact the heroes, and to offer them assistance, guidance, training. And if the heroes need any special equipment or items, or need to get somewhere, we try our best to help them along." Akbar sighed, it suddenly occurred to him that the heroes have it rough. They start off weak at first, thrown into a world they know nothing about, they are still young and naive, and that usually makes them gullible, and nobles usually try to manipulate them. It suddenly made sense how things usually did work out for the heroes, especially if there is a secret organisation that supported them in the shadows. "So, would you be interested?" "I have the feeling that you already know I would be." The shadow man offered his hand, "We must hear it from you." Akbar nodded, and they shake hands. "Yes. Let me be a part of it." The shadow man took out a ring with a single red stone surrounded by various smaller red stones, and passed it to him. "Drop you blood in the ring''s inner stone." Akbar gently pricked his finger and a single drop of blood touched the inner stone. It glowed gently, a soft reddish hue, and then, the shadow man walked over and he too pricked his finger. A drop of his blood in the same ring. The two bloods mixed and the ring released a red flash. "The ring, its invisible to all but the rest of us who also have it. It marks the Laenza, and is how we communicate." Akbar put the ring on, and he could feel its magic mix with those of his own. The ring fitted nicely. "Intricate carvings." "Made by our magesmiths, from where we are from, Rhongo." Akbar nodded, "That is far." "The demons'' rift are everywhere. And we follow." "True." "Welcome to the Laenza. We have taken too much of your time, Commander Akbar. We will not keep your aides waiting any longer." The three give a gentle bow, and the shadow man vanished into the shadows, again. Announcement So erm... for the entirety of this demon king season, it''s going to be about 40% treetree focused, and 60% elsewhere (my current estimate). So uh.. yeah. [DELETED] Records of the Demon Castle Wars – Year 80 Month 8 Announcement Decided to DELETE this chapter. Will not be rewritten. Keeping the chapter here to keep the wonderful comments. Northern Isles Western Theatre (TreeTree is here) Eastern Theatre South Continents Others throughout the world Tree Uses Heal, Round 2 Year 80 Month 9 ¡°The fact that I¡¯m here, means it¡¯s not good news for the four of you.¡± A lady arrived in New Freeka, and quickly found the 4 druids. There¡¯s many other ladies looking like her, and she didn¡¯t emit any visible presence or magical energy, so her arrival didn¡¯t even trigger any of my sensors. A mature looking lady, in human terms, she¡¯d look like she¡¯s in her 50s, though I suspect she¡¯s probably older. Despite her diminutive size, she¡¯s petite, her very presence sends the 4 druids into a tense combat stance. ¡°The enforcer...¡± The four fumble over their staff and call out their familiars. They are right in the middle of town, and the citizens clear a space. It¡¯s common for brawls and fights to break out in town, and citizens generally know to just give way. When there are fights among adventurers or people of that level, everyone would just let them fight. ¡°I¡¯ve been busy, and I wish I could¡¯ve come sooner. But you know how it is, investigations take time... A crime would be committed months ago, and only now the sentence is meted out. Such is the speed of justice, always lacking." The lady shrugs, she¡¯s dressed in a loose fitting shirt and pants, but it¡¯s clearly woven with high quality materials. When she takes out a scythe from nowhere, all my alarm bells start to ring. She¡¯s not exactly tall, she¡¯s petite and well, probably on the older side, but the way the massive scythe swings around her, I knew she¡¯s trouble. An intense aura spreads around her. It even makes the subsidiary trees around New Freeka feel heavy. It¡¯s some kind of suppression aura. ¡°On what crimes?¡± The druids put on a brave face, they attempt to feign ignorance in the face of the lady. ¡°Oh, this trick has been done many times. But fair, the one carrying out the punishment must repeat it, just so that the offender may drill it into their souls, for their next life.¡± The lady, steps forward, one small step. Her legs are small, after all. ¡°For lying to the council, jail time. For forcing a high-tier spirit tree to a spiritual contract, the four of you have contravened one of the core tenets of the Hutan Council. And for that offense, the Hutan council has empowered me to bestow your punishment. Death.¡± The four men summon their wolves, armor and whatnot, and whatever they have, all the familiars charges at the lady. But the battle is awfully short. The lady swings her scythe, and it glows in a dark-greenish color. "[Druidhunter]." A dark wave spreads out, and the familiars of the druids all just turn into dust. Then, from the earth, four black roots emerge and stab them each in the heart, killing them instantly. She then walks up to the four impaled bodies of the druids. ¡°Children, everyone, please don¡¯t watch.¡± It is in the middle of town, and the announcement of the execution sends a lot of younger children and their parents running away. And her scythe beheads all four of them, their heads fall easily, like it¡¯s harvesting hay. She chucks their head into a gunny sack, and then into her magical pocketspace. ¡°Should we do something?¡± I wonder, and ask my tree-minds. ¡°She¡¯s scary, I suggest not.¡± Ivy said. ¡°She¡¯s got the ability to sneak in and find the druids, and then kill them. She might use it on us." Well, the lady quickly went and meet Jura. ¡°Supreme Counsel Jura, I apologise for my sudden, unannounced presence. My name is Leithia, a conducts enforcer of the Hutan Council. I¡¯ve been informed that I may be able to seek a meeting with the Tree Spirit through you?¡± No? I don¡¯t feel like I should meet her, because she''s dangerous! Jura seems unfazed though, he even manages to sit comfortably in his chair, and takes a sip from his tea. He¡¯s really into tea these days. ¡°I understand that the Spirit is probably apprehensive to meeting another druid, and that is fine. I would like, on behalf of the Hutan Council, to apologise for the acts of our rogue druids. It is a great disappointment to us as well, that our druids act in such manner in the face of a chance to get power.¡± Jura nods, and offers her tea. ¡°Well, glad to know that laws are being enforced after all.¡± ¡°Indeed, I would like to assure the Spirit that we will still fulfill it¡¯s wishes to commune with the other great tree spirits, and we are in the process of arranging that. It¡¯s not easy to convince other tree spirits to participate, and we will need specialised items to allow the tree spirit¡¯s thoughts to be transmitted. In the meantime, the council will send someone over as compensation.¡± Eh? Wait. Is there really a need for such things? Can¡¯t I just erm... chain my subsidiary trees all the way to wherever the other spirits are? Or this ¡®subsidiary tree¡¯ skill is more rare than I think? ¡°So please assist us, and manage the spirit¡¯s expectations.¡± Jura nods, ¡°I think the Tree Spirit will... give some concessions on this. Though, I¡¯m not sure for how long, I will try my best to convince him.¡± Leithia smiles back at Jura and nods a little. ¡°That¡¯s the most we can ask, for the offense the council¡¯s poorly trained druids have caused.¡± They both sip on the tea. It¡¯s an awkward silence, but Jura looks more comfortable than the lady. "Would there be anything else?" ¡°That¡¯s all we wish to say, Counsel. I¡¯ll take my leave, and will leave your town in a few days.¡± ¡°Enjoy your stay.¡± [Druidic Aspects failed to collect the chosen skills as the period of the contract is too short] [Received 24 x Essences of Druid] [Received 4 x druid class seeds [Received 1 x experience seeds] Aiks. Oh well, I will have to use the essences to teach the girls then, but 24 essences might not even lead to a single skill. Sighs. - Anyway, I¡¯m happy that the druid enforcer didn¡¯t push to see me, and so I turn my attention elsewhere. Ivy¡¯s still keeping tabs on her though, and as she said, she spent her time in town. Thankfully, she left after two days of eating and meeting. I¡¯ve decided to reward one of the girls, the one who reached level 15, by giving her a choice of the class seeds to take, and one skill seed for [archery]. The choice is actually just between [Druid] and [Ranger], since I¡¯d like to keep [Dark Knight] for later. I also have some random jobs, from the deceased, like [farmer], [merchant], [scribe] and stuff like that, but since the Valthorn Initiates is meant to be a combat unit, it¡¯ll be combat skills and jobs. They also already have [soldier], which I found quite strange, but I suppose that¡¯s the result of being trained by soldiers? The problem about the [druid] class seeds, is that, the trainers are now dead. ¡°Can¡¯t we learn from you?¡± The girls ask. Good question. If I was playing a game, I would think going to the ''source'' is a good way to truly learn a skill. But no. Druids and tree spirits understand the same kind of abilities differently. The way I sense and command trees, is different, because I am a Tree, and I have access to certain kind of senses that elves or centaurs, like these girls, do not have. So, even if our powers look and feel similar, the mechanics of how our powers work, at its core, is different. The way I command and use [Root Strike], is different from how a druid would. I can move my roots as if they were... a button I can press. For the druids, they have an incantation to call on the earth and trees to obey they commands. It''s like I am the wheels itself, whereas the druids move the wheels through a steering, that goes through the transmission. "I am afraid it would be very challenging for me to directly teach you druid magic, though I can use the [essences] I have to give you lessons, through [dream tutor]." And, the druids magic actually cover a wider scope, their field extends into earth magic, water magic, some air magic, and also some animal-mastery. Whereas mine so far is rather wood-focused, and a mix of tree abilities. In a way, they are generalists. ¡°But you are a tree, are you not superior to druids?¡± ¡°Superior¡¯s not a fair way to say things... our nature is different.¡± ¡°Why?¡± The young girls ask, perhaps to them, everyone can be placed on a spectrum from weak to strong, and that may be true from a strictly combat perspective. But there is a nuance to abilities that extend beyond pure direct combat. ¡°But why, you¡¯re a giant tree with strange powers, shouldn¡¯t you be better than them?¡± These young girls can be strangely naive. ¡°Well, there¡¯s some things you can do when you have hands, and there¡¯s some things you can do when you have roots.¡± They have job classes. I don''t. Year 80 Month 10 The Hutan Council sent a strange person to serve me. "Compensation", they said. Accompanied by a beautifully written letter. An [Arborist], by the name of Zhiga. "Uh... why did the council send you?" Jura looks, a bit puzzled. "I am here to make the Tree Spirit feel better, of course!" Zhiga smiles, he''s an old man, but there''s plenty of spring in his step. He comes with a bag of tools, like little scissors, small shovels and multiple bottles of dirt. "Uh... after the recent incident, I am afraid that the Tree Spirit is a bit reluctant to meet new people." "Nonono, totally understand. I shall remain in the city and care of the trees here." The [arborist] remains in the city, with Ivy watching his every move. The city is open to visitors, it is peacetime after all, so long as he obeys the rules, he can stay in the city. - Jura had a lot of time to think. When I offered to remove some of his skills, especially those from his earlier days that he may no longer need, he... he needed some time to think about it. His levels and skills, experience as a villager, and also a fighter. Some of those, held certain memories to him, and may have saved his life, back in the day. Some skills made the difference between victory, or death, and although they seem weak now, they have special meaning. ¡°I¡¯m not sure whether I want to remove my [villager] skills... I have like.. 15 levels in them.¡± Well, Jura¡¯s overall level is 80, and it comprised of 60 levels in warlord, being a combination of 40 levels in fighting and 20 levels in diplomacy and administration. ¡°What if there¡¯s a way for it to merge with Warlord? Maybe I will be Village Warlord?" Hmmm... If such merging is possible it would improve the organisation and presentation of his soulspring, but I¡¯m not sure whether that frees up lifeforce to support new skills and levels. Is there a way to assign a ¡®lifeforce consumption/drain¡¯ value to skills and levels, because perhaps there¡¯s some skills that use up more lifeforce than others? I would imagine these skills have a ¡®slot-value¡¯? ¡°What if some day, I¡¯ll need those villager''s skills again? When I grow older, and I can no longer fight?" Isn''t that a long way to go? ¡°Uh...¡± ¡°You said, I won¡¯t be able to relearn the skills?¡± ¡°No, I mean, I can¡¯t use the skillseeds on you, but I suppose you could learn it on your own again?¡± Jura paused, and sipped his ginger-tinged tea. ¡°Hmm. I think I¡¯m fine. TreeTree... I appreciate you trying to push me past level 80, but... I think I value my existing skills, they have meaning to me, and I¡¯m not willing to let go of them." Inwardly, I feel like sighing. I guess skills are like scars, they punctuate certain moments in a person¡¯s life. Jura knows what it means to be higher level. It means he can fight stronger monsters, do more, but he¡¯s somewhat decided there are certain things he won''t do, to get there. ¡°I can respect that, but if you ever change your mind...¡± Jura nodded, "I think rather than that, maybe let''s get back to basics, and erm.. figure out how to restore my hand?" He flexes his wooden hand, its made using his mental link with Bamboo, his ''eidolon''/familiar. It''s been wonderful since Bamboo obtained the skill, [Extended Self], which sort of functions like a power armor, and because how frequently Jura uses it, it''s really like having a hand again. The challenge about lost limbs is that, well, the soul itself loses the blueprint and memory of the limb. Essentially, when healing magic attempts to heal a person''s body, it accesses the soul''s, for a blueprint. That blueprint is then used as the basis for ''restoring'' the body. When a limb is cut off, there is a crucial period, during which the limb must be healed. After that, the soul loses the ''blueprint'' relating to that limb, and then, healing the limb becomes impossible, and what''s left is a stump. In my earlier days, I didn''t have the soul forge, when I saw Jura, he had already lost his hand. I didn''t have any ability to heal the lost arm. But, I''ve changed, and altering his soul to recreate the ''blueprint'', that''s certainly something I am now willing to try. At least, I will first need to do some... experiments. - Animals. If all souls are reincarnated, sometimes as animals, I probably should not be doing this. These poor animals could be me, in my next life. Alexis and Meela clearly felt disturbed by what I was doing, even if they understood the rationale of what I was planning to do. I had the Order gather stray animals in New Freeka, and those further out. Dogs, cats, deer, wolves, cows. Any of these stray animals that are injured, amputated, limbless. If I am to alter and recreate the limb, I need some practice. And then, I went to do my testing on these animals, using the soul forge to ''repair'' their souls. The first animal died from the magic overload instantly. A gruesome death, best not to be described. "What you are trying to do, seems to require precise tools, beyond just what the soul forge normally does." Alexis is curious, of course. I think she''s attracted to such gory things, even if she is disturbed. "I healed the princess many years ago, her soul spring wrecked. Why do you think is this different?" "The fact that you are doing experiments, tells me you know it is different. The princess''s spring is wrecked but the body is still there. It''s like her house collapsed, but the components are just a mess. I think Jura''s case, the component is lost, and you are trying to rebuild it. You need to do something in the soul, so that the left arm can regrow." "...okay." To rebuild that ''soul blueprint'', I will have to alter the form of the outer shell of the soul. "Maybe something like a massive mold? Like those casts people make?" A mold, eh? But let''s see. For the second animal, I plan to put the animal inside the mana soaking facility, wait for a day, and then start up the soul forge. I put two subsidiary trees with biolabs right next to the [Forge tree], and attempt to use the vine-tools from the [Biolab] to make the changes. The [Soul Forge] does have some default tools, but unlike the biolab pods, the array and precision of the tools are lacking. At least for the augmentation I am thinking of. During the test run, the vines from the [biolab] burns once they enter the forge tree. It''s more like... they start to darken and turn to ash. Details are a little lacking, when it comes to the [Forge Tree]. I think it looks like I have to get something with more mana resistance. Something that does not burn from mana, or allows the mana to flow around it. I have some ideas there. But I will need to buy some jewels. At the same time, I asked Jura for his oldest belongings, ideally something before he lost his hand. Like the Princess, maybe his belongings have a remnant, a shard of his soul that I can somewhat work with "I think they all burnt down during the burning... except my sword." "Your sword it is then. Give it to me." "Uh..." It''s precious. "I''ll make you a new one." The sword went into the [forge tree], and there is some ''shards'' of his being, but because he''s been using it even after the incident, the shards and fragments in there are all without his hands. "Sorry, I really have nothing else." Perhaps these items are like loose memory cards, and contact refreshes their memory to the latest version? Or do they merge? "So... my sword is gone?" Well, the sword''s still there, but in order to analyse the shard I had to break it down, and unlike people or souls, the soul forge isn''t designed to put them back together. It''s quite strange how the soul forge knows what to keep, and what to break. I mean, why is it that a person inside can survive, but a steel sword gets broken? "Uh... kind of." It''s not that great a sword anyway. It''s really just a basic steel sword, despite the fancy design. "Ah..." Jura sighs. But he understood why I did it. Even now, I have an inkling of how to do it, but I still need to test it out on animals. Year 80 Month 11 The merchants delivered a bunch of ores, containing various unprocessed jewels and metals. The idea is simple, really. Some of these metals should be able to strengthen the biolabs and their tools, via [mineral augmentation], and together with [woodshaping], I can make the tools necessary to perform more precise adjustments in the soul forge. Should. Or maybe... can I use [star mana]? Anyway, that''s also worth testing. First, the ore and jewels test. Before the second animal test, I fire up the soul forge, put the ores in, and measure how long each of the ores last before the melt into a puddle. Some will last longer, and if so... some of them should last? Nope. All of them melt, some a little bit slower than others, but all melt into a puddle. Its as if they were stripped apart, bit by bit. Or maybe I just don''t have the right kind of ore. Maybe I should use my main body? Wouldn''t that work? My main body should be more resilient than using it via subsidiary trees. But I would have to move things around. "Can I have a forge tree inside my main body?" I ask the Wisp. The [forge tree] is created to minimise the pain of using the soul forge, thats why its... outside. "You certainly could, but you will feel quite an intense pain when you use it." The forge tree receives lightning and vibrates like mad when the mana spins. "It will feel a bit like when you were evolving. And you will feel like mana-poisoned, but then again you are an evolved tree... maybe you can." "Let''s try it anyway." So, in my body, within the secret hideout I set aside a space and made it into a forge tree. It comes easily, after all, I already have the tree, and this is just internalising it. [Secret hideout modified : Internal Soulforge Chamber] And I fired the internal soul forge up. whooooooooommmmmm It spins. It''s kinda like a really bad stomach ache, the mana spinning in my metaphorical tummy. But not as bad as I thought. "Uh... you okay in there?" Alexis asks. She can''t see this part, inside here, deep inside the secret hideout. "Yeah." Using [woodcrafting], I created layers of wooden walls around the chamber, which forms a barrier, to protect myself from the swirling mana. The space here is flexible sized after all. And I fire up the soul forge, again. These protective walls, they are in a state of constant regeneration. The gathered mana, swirling, and it speeds up. As it does so, it expands and burns the protective wooden walls. At higher speeds, and at full power, it feels like I am surrounded by fire. Like I am in a sauna. But my initial theory is correct, my main body, vines and feelers are more resistant to the mana-burn, and they do last longer. Not only that, thanks to [Self-awareness], I am far more aware of what is happening. zaaaaappppppppp A lightning bolt strikes my main tree. Followed by a loud thunder. Ugh. I feel it travel down from the branch to the trunk, leaving a streak. It burns a little while, my fire resistance and healing power quickly kicks in and puts it out. The mana in the forge spins, and it speeds up. As it speeds up, it quickly takes the shape of a spinning ball. Time for another test, so I put an ore in with a feeler. The ore, starts to disintegrate into a puddle, levitating in the middle. My soft green viney feeler starts to disintegrate as well, as the swirling mana bombards it. Hmm. There must be something. Maybe just starting up the soul forge isn''t the complete process. I need to see how the [Soul Forge] does it, normally. I decide... to test it out on an animal. The animal is one of the many stray ones, a small hamster like animal. It lost its tail. This time, I observe it intently, instead of letting the ''skill'' do what it needs to do. And partly, being inside me also allows me to truly ''see'' it, perhaps through my skill [Self-awareness], since my vision of the separate [Forge Tree] isn''t as ''holistic''. And I saw it. The mana-dispensing feeler in the soul forge. The moment the animal steps into the soul forge, a small layer of mana is applied to the creature by a tiny feeler, and as the soul forge starts to spin, the body is protected by the mana, funneled by two vertical magical connections, and then... the soul is pulled out of the body. Even the tiny hamster has a soul. Were you possibly human in some previous reincarnation? Sorry I have to do this, its for... science. May your soul move to a better place, reincarnated into some other form. The soul, is in the shape of a hamster, too, it.... it doesn''t have a tail. I could see the soul, it has multiple layers, and the soul forge starts to split those up. One layer representing the spirit-body, and one multi-sub layered spirit representing the skills and outer soul. Seems like all these details are omitted when looking at the [forge tree]. With the Princess or the artificial souls. The body, is moved aside, and the two spirit layers move to the center of the soul forge. What do I do at this point? How do I recreate the ''tail''? I try to look back at all the other animals that the Order gathered, and yes, there were a few samples of this animal. Some of those animals had tails. I pull up the data, stored in my biolab, and cross-checked to the body. Ugh. Firstly, the data from my biolab is in a different format, presented in the form of the soul spring, and its extensions. This means my biolab isn''t collecting data suitable for the [soul forge]. The way things are presented and the information is different. It''s like one is an X-Ray photo, and another is a 3D MRI scan. The information is different, even if the body is the same. Still, the creature is in. No point stopping. I tried to use the data I have to ''recreate'' a tail. Using soul fragments which I have plenty of, I form it into a rudimentary shape of a tail. Ugh. My difficulty in the shaping the soul fragment into the tail is partly because my feelers only last a short while before the swirling mana burns their tip up. The soul forge spins, and another lightning falls. It feels like when I touched a light switch after a shower, only stronger, more intense, and it travels to my belly, where the soul forge is. The tail, slowly, clunkily, merges with the spirit-body, my burning feeler clumsily trying to adjust its position, and then it merges with the layered spirit. The real body, now comes back and rejoins the spirit, and then the hamster-creature is whole again. The forging complete, I put the hamster-creature back into a healing pod. And I use a healing ability. The creature''s bottom starts to heal, indeed, there is a small dot that is regenerating, and it resembles the shape of what I made. It''s somewhat mispositioned, like... the root of the tail starts a little too low. A rough tail shape appears, like an engorged balloon stuck on the creature¡¯s bottom. Then the tail expands... and explode in a massive splatter of blood. The hamster-creature died instantly. I¡¯m sorry, hamster-creature. Looking at the remains of the splattered body, the cause was simple, the tail lacked all the details of the blood vessels, muscles, bones that was needed in a real tail. All it had was a layer of skin in the shape of a tail, as a result of my poor drawing of a tail. So the healing accelerated the blood flow into that tail and so when the skin could no longer take the pressure from the blood inflow, it exploded, and the creature died of blood loss. Ugh. Looks like it¡¯s not going to be easy to ¡®rebuild¡¯ a limb, when the soul has forgotten what the limb is like. And I wouldn¡¯t want Jura to go through that sort of miserable death. The barriers? The first challenge will be to get a good soul forge level imagery of what a hand should be. I would think I can fix this by taking a good scan of Jura, again, this time in a biolab pod inside my body, using the soul forge''s power. Something of a similar resolution and detail as what I have now seen, preferably more. Maybe, create some kind of soul-forge-biopod hybrid. Maybe, if I could somehow flip the image of his existing hand, then I wouldn¡¯t have to start from scratch. Next barrier, a way to recreate that image in the soul forge, using soul forge. My expectation is that a full ¡®soul-copy¡¯ of the limb will be extremely detailed, and would need a lot of work to recreate such a thing with soul fragments. Even if I have a lot of soul fragments, my concern here is whether I have the correct tools and means to recreate it, and how long will it take? And lastly, even if I could recreate the hand in a ¡®soul form¡¯ using the soul fragments, I would need to figure out a way of accurately joining it all together, and then heal it in such a way that he would have a functional arm. I still don¡¯t know even if I created the hand correctly, whether healing would somehow ¡®regenerate¡¯ a hand with all the necessary bones, muscles, blood vessels and stuff. I have taken the assumption that magic will handle it, but I do want to minimise that risk. Lastly, what if there are things I don''t know, maybe there are other details that I can''t see because I am not using the right equipment. [Skill upgraded : Biolab healing pod] Jura thinks healing his hand is going to be easier than breaking level 80, but I think both of these challenges are equally difficult. Savepoints Year 80 Month 12 The news of demons from the distant lands trickled in. More rifts have been spotted, but the military remains fully in control and have been suppressing the demons from the rifts, though, perhaps the military is greatly downplaying the threat of the demons. So, for now, our part of the world remained safe. The reason we¡¯re all generally suspicious of the good news, is because the kingdoms are stockpiling resources, whether this is due to habit as a precaution from all prior demonic wars, or a sign of true distress, we still do not know. In past instances, trade lines get disrupted, and sources of food become unreliable, so it could be that there¡¯s really nothing, and some of these kingdoms are just being prudent, preparing for the worst. Still, it¡¯s infectious, so New Freeka¡¯s also in a mood for preparations, the council hired more soldiers, conducted extensive training for their militia and also stockpiled food. They also tried to run a campaign to smear the Order¡¯s name, especially on the way we spend money, and to some extent, it did convince the regular citizens. But, we didn¡¯t part with the Order¡¯s money. Instead, we decided to spend the money on new walls and defensive towers. This is partly because I have a good range of defensive skills, and I wanted to make use of them. We build an outer wall a short distance away from New Freeka, and it¡¯s filled with trees on both sides of the wall. The skill [Reinforce Defensive Structure] created a vine-based structural reinforcement with sharp thorns on the outside of the wall, and [carnivorous plants] and [cactus defense system] as traps. The walls are separated into segments by defensive watchtowers. Next to that, I would have [subsidiary trees] filled with beetles, and they function as ¡®watchposts¡¯ and the beetles patrolled the walls. In front of that, we placed some subsidiary trees with [shield generators], to block large projectiles. This whole thing was Trevor and Ivy¡¯s suggestion. Ivy listened in on military defensive strategies from other nations, and collated the information and put forth this suggestion. Which I think works for the large hordes. If it¡¯s going to be a large army of hounds, the wall will work swimmingly well. Still, the core issue with demons are their demonic champions. Like the massive golems, or the large centipedes, with opponents like that, these reinforced walls are not going to last very long. On that front, the plan will be anti-demon weapons. It¡¯s been something I¡¯ve been hatching since the previous battle with the champion. Magical wooden spears, filled with all the anti-demon abilities I have, also made with damage boosting essences, and all the holy-enchantments I can get from the priests and mages in New Freeka. And I will use to cap my [super anti-demon root strike]. I even managed to weave a bit of [star mana] into it, and hopefully that¡¯ll make the difference. It worked before, so, I think it¡¯ll work again. This time, I¡¯m going to stockpile a whole load of these anti-demon weapons, and store them. If the heroes are going to come around, they¡¯ll probably do crazy tricks like that again. ¡°You could make a sword like that?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The anti-demon weapons you are making. Could I get one? You did take my sword... you know.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Ah yes. I need to make a weapon for Jura. ¡°But these are wooden... spears?¡± I show him one of the spears, and well, it¡¯s massive, after all, it¡¯s made for me. They are bigger than a lance, and so it¡¯s really heavy. It works for me, because their wooden nature means my roots merge with their other end, and this is the largest size my roots can handle. The size helps, because you could fit more spells into bigger things, without having to increase the complexity of the spell or use more magically-compatible materials, which may not work with my roots. He touches them, and he looks quite impressed. ¡°So this is what Madeus and the group of priests been doing for the past week... enchanting this?¡± ¡°Yeah. I can make a wooden sword, but I doubt it can carry the same quantity of enchantments as these large multi-layered wooden uh.. Bolts.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take it. I would like it to have anti-demon effects too. I might need it.¡± Well true. Maybe I should outfit Horns, Lausanne and the rest with anti-demon weapons as well. So, I went and made wooden weapons for them. ¡°Ooooooo this is new, you didn¡¯t show me this before.¡± Meela pokes her head when I was growing wooden weapons using [woodcrafting]. ¡°I didn¡¯t?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t use it much, or if you did, I wasn¡¯t there.¡± ¡°I used it to make toys and furniture. I made Lausanne¡¯s toys with this, and the playpen is made using this.¡± ¡°Oh. True, come to think of it, that explains where a lot of your tools come from.¡± Meela stares a bit too closely at the little growing sword, and she pokes it. Now that she¡¯s got a physical body, she¡¯s frequently walking around New Freeka. So, I made more wooden weapons, swords, spears and stuff. The process of making wood-weapons is actually quite time consuming, because for them to have a comparable strength to a regular metal weapon, I actually cheat, meaning, I use irons and other metals harvested via my roots, and infuse them into the wood itself, the wood using them to form a kind of metallic ¡®frame¡¯ in their structure. But that¡¯s not enough, so I would then infuse [essences]. I have elemental essences, strength essences, life essences, and adding essences strengthens the overall weapon. The best part of essences is that they can coexist with magical enchantments, for small weapons like a sword or a spear (relatively speaking), they can take one or two enchantments, more if I embed jewels in them. But since I don¡¯t have many magical enchantments, I use the only one I have, [lesser holy enchantment]. ¡°Cool weapon.¡± Meela nods, looking at my completed wooden sword. It¡¯s almost black in color because of the essences used, in terms of sharpness and strength it¡¯s above a regular steel sword. It¡¯s no super-sword, but eh. Jura tries to swing it around, and nods. ¡°Hmmm... the weight distribution feels a little weird. Probably need a bit of getting used to. But I suppose it¡¯s good enough.¡± He still likes his own steel sword. Meela¡¯s also examining Jura¡¯s new dark-wood sword, now that it¡¯s done. ¡°Mika, you like swords?¡± Jura asks, Mika is Meela¡¯s name in New Freeka, and Jura thinks Meela¡¯s one of my artificial souls, like Horns. Meela didn¡¯t want to be known as a former hero. There¡¯s just too much baggage, so a new name. Alexis¡¯s new name is Alix, but for now, nobody can see her except myself and Meela. ¡°A bit. I think they¡¯re quite cool. I generally like things made of wood.¡± Jura nods, ¡°I see. It makes sense, treefolks like wood stuff too. But don¡¯t you find it weird, in a way. It¡¯s like an elf admiring a weapon made of elf-bones. I would be somewhat creeped out.¡± ¡°Eh, I don¡¯t see it like that. If your entire life you were brought up that this is what your species does, you wouldn¡¯t think it¡¯s strange.¡± Jura pauses, nods. ¡°I see.¡± The two chatted for a while, mostly talking about swords. ¡°TreeTree, you should fuse an artificial soul into a sword. You could make a talking-sword!¡± Meela casually said, she also takes a swing out of the new sword. It¡¯s a little too heavy for her, so after a swing or two, she gave it back to Jura. Eh. I feel like I¡¯ve had a stump rammed into me. That¡¯s... that¡¯s.... actually quite a good idea. But then the poor artificial soul is stuck in a sword, and what if he doesn¡¯t want to be in there? What if the sword breaks? But those are minor challenges. It¡¯s an idea worth exploring. It¡¯s been 2 years since I made Ivy, so I already have enough fragments for more artificial souls, just need to check whether I have enough potatopower... [59,400 normal trees. 5,630 subsidiary trees. One leyline. Currently have enough power to support a total of 11 artificial souls] Oh. There¡¯s really a lot of trees now, since... well.. It¡¯s peaceful. Now let me think... - Back to Jura¡¯s arm. Well, I had Jura sit down and go for a full scan in the biolab again, this time, specifically the one inside my body. And then, when he did, I pulled the power from the soul forge and used it to get a scan. Now that I have some idea what I need, based on my experience with the hamster-monster, I¡¯m trying to recreate that sort of data. And well, it works. But it¡¯s a far longer scan that the usual biolab, which takes about 2 hours. I had to sedate Jura and put him in sleep, since the mana from the soulforge had to ¡®scan¡¯ the arm. To use my earlier analogy, the biolab is an X-ray, and the soul-forge is an MRI, and now, the mana from the soul forge is ¡®entering¡¯ the hand to collect ¡®data¡¯ on how Jura¡¯s existing body looks like. And because it goes section by section, it took Jura the whole day. When he woke up, he was not too pleased. ¡°I was asleep for a day!¡± ¡°Sorry, didn¡¯t expect it to last so long...¡± ¡°I mean... you should tell me first, I had work back in the Order!¡± ¡°Uhm...¡± Laufen, who came to check on Jura, smiled. ¡°No worries I postponed all your meetings and briefings to tomorrow. I figured they understand that you¡¯ve got a personal life, and that involves seeing your healers. Honestly, some of those issues, I told them to deal with it themselves...¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a day.¡± I thought to myself, I sleep for weeks sometimes. and I have my 3 lovely artificial minds running things on my behalf. Looks like the Order needs to delegate more. Jura nodded, ¡°Fine, fine.¡± ¡°Let me look through the results, I¡¯ll let you know.¡± The scan is a lot more detailed than the ones from the biolab pods, but it¡¯s missing something. Maybe this too is incomplete. So I tried putting my two scans together, the one from the biolab pods and from this soul-forge powered scan. I needed some additional processing power from the root-brain complexes, so I had to temporarily tap on their root-brains for a bit more mental juice. Suddenly, a string of notifications appeared in my head. It seems there¡¯s a whole load of upgrades available for the internal soulforge chamber, but will require me to build or grow certain things. [Secret hideout : Internal Soulforge Chamber upgrades] [Upgrade - Dedicated root-brain complex - to support higher resolution data-analysis of souls & storage of scan output] Wait. This reminds me of something I didn¡¯t finish... ---- ¡°A ton of gold and a ton of quartz? And all these crystals and stuff?¡± The men looked amazed at the order. ¡°That¡¯ll cost us quite a bit of our revenue.¡± One of the treasurers said. ¡°We¡¯ll need to dig into our reserves, then...¡± The Master of Ceremonies opened his arms wide, ¡°Our reserves are meant for moments like this, when Aeon calls on us to meet his demands, do you not answer?¡± The men gulped. The treasurer shook her head, and nodded. ¡°Certainly.¡± ¡°Go, before Aeon finds us lacking.¡± Year 81 Month 1 ¡°How¡¯s the preparations?¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you not care about this anymore?¡± Jura asked, he parried a vertical slash from Lausanne and then ducked, to dodge another Initiate¡¯s horizontal slash. ¡°I can¡¯t. You know I care.¡± Yvon answered, she¡¯s sitting on a bench, watching Jura spar with Lausanne and the Initiates. ¡°Didn¡¯t see the walls?¡± Jura jumped, and he elbowed the young initiate on the chest. The initiate wore a wooden breastplate, all of them did. It makes them look a bit like a wooden knight. It cracked. The initiate is out. ¡°I did, but you know walls alone do nothing.¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t visited them?¡± Jura ducked, Lausanne momentarily vanished and emerged behind him. But Jura blocked it anyway. ¡°Good move, [Shadow stab]. But you tend to appear right behind me, it¡¯s predictable.¡± Lausanne¡¯s sword bent, and it curved towards Jura¡¯s head. He grabbed it with a reinforced wooden hand, and with a strong yank, pulled the sword out of Lausanne¡¯s hand. Lausanne protested. ¡°It¡¯s a spar!¡± ¡°You used two skills, so I retaliated.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a handicapped spar!¡± ¡°Rest. We can continue later.¡± Lausanne¡¯s still a bit upset, but she did as she was told. She¡¯s close to the initiates now. Jura walked to Yvon, and grabbed a drink from a wooden flask. ¡°Where were we? Oh yes, the walls. I thought you would have visited them. Didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I did.¡± Yvon looked at the girls. All of them are young, Lausanne¡¯s the oldest at 11. The rest is between 6 to 9. ¡°Not enough?¡± ¡°Yeah. My own sources tell me nasty things. About massive armies in the southern continent popping out of the hills, ravaging cities and setting up camps. I fear for us, whether we can survive that.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry too much. The Order¡¯s making preparations, and so is TreeTree. He¡¯s making a whole load of preparations. Even the council¡¯s busy preparing for the demons. As a whole, we¡¯re doing fine.¡± Yvon paused, breathed a long sigh. ¡°Is there something underground?¡± ¡°Oh? Is there?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know about it?¡± Yvon looks puzzled. ¡°Then... is TreeTree... doing something? All these tremors and shaking. Is it not him?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t sound like it¡¯s related to what I know, though.¡± Jura shrugged. He motioned to the initiates. ¡°Anyway, times up! Three initiates this time. Lausanne, you sit out and watch!¡± Lausanne raised a fist. More spars. The girls and Jura would spar a few times that day. The initiates benefited the most, since they lack combat experience. Lausanne, on the other hand, is starting to plateau. I¡¯m not sure how it works, but it sure seems like there is a limit how much one can gain experience from fighting the same person over and over, even if the gap is huge. Yvon asked during one of the other breaks. ¡°Do you think we can beat a demon champion?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You, and me.¡± Yvon pointed to herself. ¡°Hmm... No.¡± Jura shook his head. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Have you ever faced one in battle, Yvon?¡± ¡°...no.¡± ¡°I have. We¡¯re quite good. Both of us. But a demon champion... I don¡¯t think we are there yet. Not without TreeTree¡¯s powers.¡± ¡°How is it that TreeTree is able to defeat demons anyway? I¡¯ve never heard of a Tree Spirit that¡¯s able to defeat demons. It¡¯s... unlike their nature.¡± Jura paused. ¡°That¡¯s a question I do not ask.¡± ¡°You should. There¡¯s something, isn¡¯t it? Maybe he¡¯s some kind of unique anti-demon variant sent down by the gods?¡± ¡°This is a conversation that I don¡¯t want to have, Yvon.¡± Yvon hmphed. ¡°Fine. But you are his spokesperson, you should know.¡± "I am fine with other people having secrets, Yvon. I am not a young teenage elf who''s obsessed with everything anymore." "It''s not the same. You could lose your life." "Lives have been lost for far pettier things, Yvon. Let''s¡¯s leave it at that.¡± Yvon sulked. - Research Status: Beetle - anti-magma armors stage 4 - 4 months Metal hyperaccumulator trees - Stage 1 - 6 months Phytoremediation process - basic - 16 months Dedicated Filtering Blackwater-Plant - stage 1 - completed WIth the blackwater filtering plant research complete, I now have a specialised tree type, derived from the trees near the sewers of Ransalah. New Freeka¡¯s sewer project is still under construction, so this tree is a bit early. Thanks to the budget reallocation to the military, the New Freeka Sewer Project is now crawling, with less than half the original workforce and artisans. Meh. But I didn¡¯t want the Order to fund the project, so I deployed some of these new [Filtering Trees] near the present latrines. These trees help segregate the contaminated water, such that only filtered water passes through. Poop is generated daily. Daily. It grows. And it must have some way of being recycled or processed. Reluctant to use the Order''s funds, I decided to get the newly obtained [Dungbeetles] to dig a subterranean tunnel, to act as a ''wastetunnel'' for a designated spot, where the poop is aired and sun-dried. My hope is, the sun and air could kill or allow natural microbes to partially process the poop, and my future poop-processor trees will be able to do the rest. The [Dungbeetles] rolled the poop into balls, and over the month, they pushed massive balls of rolled-up poop to a field outside town, where they remain. It kinda resembles a futuristic art installation, a field of round balls of poop. Thankfully the rain didn''t break it up. Seems like the poopballs have some water-resistance. Or maybe I could use them as a weapon. Roll these balls of poop into the enemy, like a bowling ball. Oh well, this is a temporary measure, while research continues. - "Okay, we decided on helping the heroes... but what are we going to do? I am already eavesdropping on my guests, and it seems like the heroes are not here yet." Meela frowned, she sat on the bar in her hotel-tree, Alexis appeared as a ghost on the other seat. There''s no one else in the bar. "I¡¯ve got magic sensors, so that¡¯s going to help a bit when they do appear. I¡¯ve used what I remember of our own magic to calibrate the sensors, but they keep having false alarm, so I¡¯m still trying to tweak it...¡± ¡°But seriously, even if we do locate the next batch of heroes, then what? I¡¯m a hotel, and you are a tree-lab. What can we do? Without TreeTree, at least. He¡¯s got subsidiary trees!¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you get subsidiary trees like TreeTree? Like.. Hotel Chains?¡± ¡°Yes I can, but it¡¯s like a level 80 upgrade. I¡¯m only level 41! And even then I¡¯m limited to 2 branches initially.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty fast, considering you just started... but yeah. It is a bit risky... if the demon king pops out in another year or so, and the heroes 3 to 6 months after that... We¡¯ve only got like... 2 years to gain that 39 levels.¡± Alexis twirls a drink. It seems Meela¡¯s bar is ghost-friendly. ¡°I can make drinks and foods that makes my guests stronger. And as part of a hotel¡¯s hospitality services, I do have some healing abilities. I have a [VIP escort] unlock at level 50, but I¡¯m not sure whether that¡¯s any help to the heroes.¡± Meela looks at her upgrades. It seems she has visibility of what skills she will gain, up till level 100. Something which I have yet to figure out why, but I¡¯m guessing its part of the hero-blessings. ¡°Hmmm... fine. Let¡¯s do a recap, maybe we can figure something out. In terms of potentially useful abilities, I have [probe beetles], [magical sensors], [decipher runes], [copy biological ability], [life-scan], multiple versions of [heal].¡± Alexis said. ¡°We have a lot of healing.¡± ¡°Our physical forms are both derived from TreeTree, and TreeTree¡¯s got incredible healing powers.¡± ¡°Ngeh... You should¡¯ve taken the beetle. Or the wooden body.¡± Alexis frowned. ¡°But that [copy biological ability]... what does that do?¡± ¡°Pretty much transplant an ability native to a living thing, to another entity. But, copying is one thing, after copying I get a [ability seed]. Then I need to create a [fruit] with the [ability seed].¡± ¡°So... what can you copy?¡± ¡°Native racial abilities. Like the beetles, that would be [armored body], elves, [nature-affinity], centaurs, [centaurion endurance].¡± ¡°Cool! You can give that to the heroes!¡± ¡°You could be right, but then I just realised, the heroes don¡¯t lack overpowered abilities. They lack...¡± ¡°Experience. Knowledge. Other people to take the heat off them. True friends, not scheming nobles and greedy adventurers. People... that won¡¯t backstab them.¡± Meela sipped from her wooden cup. Alexis paused, and she looked up at the chandelier. It¡¯s weird having a magical chandelier on top of the bar, but it¡¯s one of the aesthetic options Meela has to decorate her hotel. The chandelier comprises of almost 20 little glowing lights, and multiple merchants have inquired about it, to buy it from her. Meela waited. There¡¯s no one else in the bar, but a few autonomous Tree-servants, cleaning the rest of the tables and adjusting the chairs. It¡¯s quiet, the bar¡¯s quite soundproof. ¡°You¡¯re right. They don¡¯t need more power or abilities. They need friends.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t have to be us, though. And they won¡¯t trust us just because we come from Earth, and frankly, I don¡¯t think I want to tell them that we are from Earth. Maybe... we need to narrow our scope, as it is, helping the heroes is probably out of our league.¡± Alexis tapped on the bar countertop. It¡¯s ghost-friendly. ¡°True. But we do need to find them. They will be most vulnerable at the start. It¡¯ll be horrible if...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say it.¡± Meela glared. Alexis nodded, ¡±I know.¡± ¡°Your probes, can they communicate?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll find a way.¡± ¡°But if they don¡¯t spawn in this continent...¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s out of our control. They won¡¯t be the last batch of heroes, this plan can be used for all subsequent generations, if it works.¡± Meela nodded. ¡°Ah, true. I would have more branches by then. If I have branches on different continents, they could be like assassin safe houses, like you know, that John Wick film. I''d be a brand name, like the Continental..." "That, wasn''t something I would expect you to reference, Meela." "But heroes do need a safe house of some kind. A place to keep their stuff. I''ve got a niche I can fill!" Alexis frowned. "How... how about me?" "You... you could make weapons? Or be like those skill-editing NPCs in the safe areas?" - The path to hell Year 81 Month 2 Spring began. A strange structure, spotted emerging from one of the rifts in our continent. Massive, it resembles a giant walking tortoise with a castle on its back. Any attempts to approach has been met with stiff resistance from new types of humanoid demons. "Uh... what do you think?" Jura read the circular from the merchants guild. It advised alternative routes of trade. Somehow, the merchants guild''s trade routes circular is one of the best updates on the demonic invasion. "Sounds like a champion." Meela said. "A large walking castle." "If TreeTree could walk, we''d have a Walking Tree versus Walking Castle fight." "Ugh no." I groaned. "Not keen on that." Besides, I lose a lot of power and my consciousness the moment I am no longer connected to the earth, so, not exactly keen. "But it does sound like a... champion?" "How far is it?" Meela asked. "Not far enough." Jura smiled. "According to the circular, they predict... maybe 4 months?" The merchant guild circular came with a map, and it has a shaded heatmap, resembling a hurricane path kind of map. The merchants use this information for trade-route planning, and there''s a small disclaimer saying the information is not guaranteed and demonic movements are unpredictable. The merchants guild bears no responsibility for any loss or damage arising from the use of these maps. "Should we do anything?" I asked the group present. "Against demon champions..." Madeus paused. "We would need to get the temples'' aide. Else we stand no chance." "The Gaya temple and the other large temples are already mobilising their best priests and paladins to the capitols. I doubt we would get much aid from them, their resources are limited." Wesley, the senior priest responded. "And for them to aid another... uh... faith, is weird." Yeah, we''re kinda like a faith now, with me as the ''deity''. I still found it weird, but apparently that is what the temples say, since I have rituals, priests, and a focal point. I hope I don''t get classified as a cult, though for now the temples classify the Order as a ''folk-faith.'' A kind of animistic ''religion''. "So we are on our own." "Oh well, nothing different then." I have been making my own preparations for demon champions, I just did not expect it to be... a walking castle. Madeus then went off tangent, "Ermm... if I may, Aeon? I would like to request we offer refuge." "To who?" "Uh... somebody from Baroosh got in touch with me yesterday. The demonic forces are very close to where they are, and although the army is trying their best to hold back the demons, it seemed the presence of this monster has tipped the scales in the demons'' favour." Ah Baroosh. That''s where Madeus is from. They exiled him, didn''t they? Looks like he still has some positive feelings for his former state. "Many of them are still friends. And they want a backup plan, if the Barooshian army can''t hold them back." "Jura?" I wanted to add some conditions, but I thought of asking for views. "We could accommodate, but they are guests, so they would be expected to behave themselves and follow our rules." Hmm, looks like Jura has sinilar thoughts. "Certainly, I will relay the message." Madeus nodded. "Back to us, what should we do?" "The walls are not going to hold if a massive monster like that can just... walk through it." "TreeTree, that... dungeon we attacked. Is it still there?" "Yeah." "Can we convert it into a shelter? And I recall there was a deep tunnel from the giant demonic centipede?" "The tunnel is now home to beetles and fungus, but I can make some space. The former dungeon is empty. I think there''s rats, but that shouldn¡¯t be a problem?" "Then it is decided. We need to start convert these 2 locations into fortified shelters. If we can''t fight, we need to hide." There¡¯s an uncomfortable look around the group. A realisation that this is going to be it. Demons are real. ¡°Should we tell the people?¡± Vice Counsel Laufen nodded. ¡°Yes. If this is going to be hideout, it¡¯s best if everyone knows about it.¡± ¡°Even those outside the order?¡± ¡°Yes. We¡¯re not going to pick survivors when demons come around.¡± Laufen insisted, before anyone could respond. ¡°Whoever gets to the shelters deserve a chance.¡± The group discussed other matters, usual administrative, trade and training stuff, and they left when the sun was starting to set. ¡°TreeTree. The... [secret hideout], you¡¯re not willing to let anyone go in.¡± ¡°Yes. As I said before, it¡¯s only for all of you. The most I¡¯m willing to accommodate is in the outer [subsidiary trees], and those for the people I trust.¡± It¡¯s a risk, and frankly, after what happened with the druids, I feel I should be more careful with whoever gets to come near me, what more inside me. It is unfortunate that some lives will be lost this way, but I think my own self-preservation trumps that. I can''t save everyone, and I don''t plan on trying. Laufen sighed. I¡¯m not sure whether she¡¯s happy or sad. ¡°Your [secret hideout] is probably one of the safest places this valley has, though.¡± ¡°If I still stand. But I believe the 2 options are pretty good. The tunnels don¡¯t require me, and the dungeon¡¯s been reinforced.¡± The root networks should last for at least a few months before the spatial magic starts to collapse on itself. It¡¯s probably a good idea to get the builders working on it. - One of the things when disaster happens, is that people pray. It¡¯s not my first time to receive prayers, but there is something about impending death that causes more people to pray. Some of these citizens pray to every god, even if they only profess to one, some, even pray to me. Not all behave this way, of course. Some become more devout in times of crisis, putting in a bit more offerings, going for more blessings and masses. But, this... behavior, lead to something that¡¯s new to me. Throughout New Freeka and the valley there are about 7 tree of prayers. One in the Treefolks¡¯ village, One up on the slopes of the Centaur camps, and the remaining 5 in New Freeka itself, mostly in the Order¡¯s compounds, thess function as mini-shrines. [Tree of prayer upgraded] [Tree of prayer¡¯s calming presence significantly improved. Those around more likely to express their grievances. Tree of prayer gains ability to extract some negative emotions and converts them into essence] I mostly listen, after all there¡¯s no real need to interact. I think to a certain extent, most of these citizens know what they want to do with their lives, but anxiety, fear, and worries just cloud their minds, so... they need a place to vent, to relax, to just think in peace. So, if I could talk back, that¡¯s not exactly something pleasing. Instead, the Tree of Prayer just bobs it¡¯s branches, the leaves shakes, and occasionally a small fruit will down on right on the person¡¯s lap, kinda like, hey-I-heard-you-have-a-fruit. The fruit¡¯s just a regular fruit, it¡¯s sweet, though, so... most of them eat it, some of them actually display it in their homes. Which is creepy. Anyway, the amount of too-much-information when people are poured their hearts out in their prayers and whispers is... well, immeasurable. Seriously. Elves, centaurs, treefolks, all still have their emotional problems, their professional challenges, financial and money issues. It may be a magical world, but problems are persistent across worlds. The [Tree of Prayers] have an odd side effect, which is... it remembers the prayers. Especially those who pray often, regularly over the same thing. It¡¯s an annoying side effect. Because I¡¯d suddenly remember who-and-who cheated on who-and-who and I don¡¯t need that sort of telenovella in my tree life. I tell myself that it¡¯s a public service, and it helps to keep the citizens pacified. Like my other services, the birth and death services- ¡°We should have more.¡± Ivy suggested. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°They¡¯re good intel, it helps me with my dossier.¡± Ivy¡¯s like a real spymaster now. ¡°If you could create one in Ransalah, that would be ideal.¡± ¡°...that¡¯s a great idea.¡± On the Salah side of things, they¡¯ve finally responded to Jura¡¯s letter. There was a follow up letter sent two months ago, just lightly reminding the kingdom of the official letter sent a year ago. So, it seems they picked someone to be the scapegoat. An unfortunate administrator and some of his subordinates was identified as the mastermind of the massacre, and he will be transported to New Freeka. ¡°A scapegoat.¡± ¡°Could really be him, we have to interview him to know for sure. The prisoner convoy will be escorted, and they will arrive in a month.¡± Jura shrugged. ¡°Well, let¡¯s see what comes out of this.¡± ¡°Perhaps he has a passing involvement.¡± ¡°I would think so, Salah isn¡¯t that stupid to surrender someone with totally no involvement. The point is to sacrifice the tail to spare the head, so the real mastermind of such slaughter is spared.¡± ¡°It could be it¡¯s just some Prince up there, who just goes, ¡®burn the rebels¡¯, and everyone down there just carries it out.¡± Madeus chimed in. ¡°It¡¯s very common for royalties to say things without actually thinking about the lives lost.¡± ¡°You say that like it¡¯s... an everyday thing.¡± Meela/Mika frowned. ¡°Yes, Mika. That is indeed how the kings and royalties are. Our role as their servants and subordinates is to understand our liege, and guess what they truly desire. We cannot always take the words of our King for what it is.¡± At that point, I think to myself, that sounds like insubordination or treason. ¡°After all, our King has a wish, a desire, and sometimes, the words he has cannot communicate that will, though some kings have [skills] that help with that.¡± Jura raised a hand and everyone quiet down. ¡°Let us not speculate, we will wait for whoever they sent. TreeTree, I must trouble you to help us in our interrogation. Would you happen to have those... tree saps from long ago? The ones that makes them... delirious.¡± ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll make some.¡± It wasn¡¯t hard to make different kinds of tree saps, regular plants make poisons and allergy-triggering saps all the time, so its easy peasy for a magic tree. In fact, I should totally infuse more magic into it. Anyway, back to Ivy. ¡°Ivy, you suggested to have a [tree of prayer] in Ransalah?¡± ¡°Yes master. These people seem to confess their challenges to the Tree so easily. Why go through all the trouble of spying when they are more than willing to tell a tree? There''s nothing to lose, and if anything, we gain insights into the human mind.¡± ¡°...fine. But where and how should we do it?¡± ¡°New Freeka can make a goodwill gift, since they gave this scapegoat to us. Then manipulate the officials to plant the sapling in a public park, which we can then replace with the [tree of prayer]. Call it the [New Freeka - Salah friendship tree].¡± That sounded like something politicians do back on Earth, but I think it could work. ¡°I could make a sapling-sized [tree of prayer].¡± And so, Jura arranged for a small sapling of a [tree of prayer], to be sent as a gift. It¡¯s sent, planted in a large vase so that the [tree of prayer] doesn¡¯t die, escorted by the [arborist]. Since Hutan sent a tree-caretaker, it made sense to call on his services for such transportation duties. - The merchants completed their big deal, and the demanded goods finally delivered. ¡°Good job. Now leave them here.¡± Wesley and the Master of Ceremonies pointed to a place. The workers start to unload. ¡°Just... leave them here?¡± The merchants stuttered. The Master of Ceremonies nodded, the jewels and gold unloaded. ¡°Yes.¡± Beetles start to emerge from the woods, and some start to tug at the shipment. The merchant wanted to say something and pointed to the beetles, and the Master of Ceremonies smiled. ¡°The shipment is for the Tree Spirit, and it is time for us to leave.¡± The Master of Ceremonies and a few of the Order¡¯s men start to walk. The merchants, still a bit shocked by the beetles that are pulling the shipments into the tunnels that suddenly appeared. ¡°Uhh... uhh... this is fine?¡± ¡°Have you not done business for tree spirits before?¡± Wesley grinned. ¡°Aaaa... of.. Of course I have.¡± The merchant tried to straighten himself up. Procuring the gold and hiring a large escort, only to put them in an empty spot for beetles... It¡¯s a first, for sure. After everyone leaves, the beetles continue unpacking the goods in the network of tunnels underneath my trees. I created these tunnels recently, because realising how vulnerable I am, I wanted some of the structures to be underground, and that is.. The 10 new root-brain complexes, and the Grand Mind Tree project. [Grand Mind Tree¡¯s construction has begun. 18 months to completion] Year 81 Month 3 The updates from the merchant network increases in frequency, especially from the Western Theatre head office. Two towns were lost in a month, a large army of demons escorted the walking demon castle wherever it went, and throughout the continent, the demons have been spotted in more locations. "One of our merchants were attacked. Half his convoy was destroyed, but luckily a party of riders managed to come to their aid!" "Are we not far away?" "Well... it seems the demons now have small raiding parties, targeting weak spots and gaps in the nations defenses. It''s a very... uh... kingdomish tactic." The raiding parties are 100 to 200 demons strong, populated by mounted humanoid demons on hellhounds. "Don''t Kings and many generals have some kind of [Watcher] ability?" Jura asked. "I had the impression Kings have ways of watching over their territories." "Well, yes, but such skills are not exactly... detailed." The Council deployed multiple 200 strong militia patrols, to help protect the trade routes, but honestly, I would know. My [subsidiary trees] function like my watchtowers, failing that, there''s the [rootnet] so if there is anything, I would like to think that I am the first to know the presence of demons near New Freeka. But with demons, one can never be too careful, so I spread out my beetles to a few locations around, as an additional protection force. This month, I added more to my anti-demon bolts and more weapons for the elves and the Order. In fact, this occupied most of my time, my preparations to face the demon champions. And made a whole load more bolts and weapons. [Woodcrafting upgraded] [Skill learned : Wooden Anti-demon equipment-crafting] [Essence infusion upgraded] More! More bolts. Spears. Shields. More! "What if it''s the demon king?" Jura asked. "Then we die." If I could shrug, the demon king is as close to a death sentence, isn''t it? If the heroes can die, how can we face it? I don''t think some anti-demon shield is going to survive a nuclear explosion. Anyway, demon king not here yet. So that''s not something to worry about. "Heh. I guess we will all run." "Yes. On that front, maybe we should be preparing like Madeus''s friends. Tell the Hutan council druids to grant you safe passage, as compensation. Just in case." Jura paused. "Okay." "I will be fine. I want you to take everyone as far as you can if a demon king comes our way. Arrange for some kind of teleportation..." "I''ll speak to Madeus about it..." Jura sat on his chair. "This feels... morbid." "Why? Staring death in the face sounds morbid?" "Not that. We villagers used to live and let live. Things happen, and then we react to it. For me, having to predict what might happen and then try to prevent or prepare for it..." "Unusual." "Yes. It''s a strange thing to do. Plotting and planning. The most we plan for, was when to plant our crops, and when to build houses. And even then, we defer to the wisdom of our elders or tree spirits." "It is the burden of those who lead, to see what lies ahead, and to guide them. Know that your actions will determine whether your friends and family lives, or dies." Is that me? Where did such TreeTree wisdom come from? Jura slumped on his chair. "That is a mindset I am still coming to terms with. Truly, only when faced with demons I realise how heavy this burden is." "Everyone prepares for it. This is just on a larger scale, with more players. It was once about how much stronger you can be, but now, it is about how much stronger the Order is." Jura paced the room and had a sip of ginger flavored tea. I think he prefers ginger tea over the other flavors. Meela''s been experimenting on tea flavors as a specialty drink for her morning and lunch crowds, so she has funky flavors like Garlic Tea, Herbal Mint Tea, Grape-Ginger tea. "Ahhhh." Jura stretched. It''s tiring. A knock and then a voice from outside the door. "Counsel, the suspect is awake." There is a small prison in the Order''s compound, located beneath one of the buildings. It''s lightly guarded, there''s just two beetles there. The Salah''s scapegoat. "Yes. I ordered the burning. I was the officer in charge of the military draft for that region." He said, when interrogated. He tried to put up a brave face, but it seemed like he''s hiding something. Jura looked. So did everyone else, behind the bars. The elves shared a glance, and one of them, Emile started to cry. Somehow it brought out a strange emotion in her heart. A vine administered the hallucinatory sap I''ve prepared. Jura sat, facing the officer. "I ask you again, did you order the burning of Freeka." "Yes... yes I did." He said. Something isn''t right. So he went into the biolab pod, for testing. Hmmm... His soulspring looked fine. The skills are okay... If he is lying, or being forced to, there should be something to hint at the truth. I would have to go deeper, and call on the powers of the soul forge. Knocked unconscious, a few beetles help to transport his body into the main pod in my main body. With it, I use the soul forge''s power to pry into the outer soul shell. What I saw was the usual human soul, semi-translucent, but in that soul''s head, there was a small bluish blob. As I attempted to alter or touch it, a strong force repelled me. [Blocked by Oath] Huh? It seems there''s no progress here either, and it looks like he''s not under the influence of magic. "Is he lying?" Jura asked. "I have no clue." The oath could have nothing to do with the burning. Or it could be key. It looks like I have to use other means of interrogation, so I subject him to some more hallucinogens and relaxants. With my vines wrapped around him, I use an authoritative version of my telepathic voice. "You died." I spoke to the prisoner, now in a daze because of the crazy cocktail of hallucinogens, relaxants and other stuff. "I... I have? How?" He asked, he flailed his arms. "Poison. Died in your sleep." "Ah... so that''s what they were feeding me. Why am I looking at a scary looking Tree? Is this hell?" "Yes. This is the entrance to hell. You died near a Tree Spirit, so this is where you will depart to hell." He paused, and looked confused. "I still feel... a pulse?" "What made you think hell would not have a pulse?" "Ah... so I might not be dead?" "It''s a common mistake. When you die, your soul goes to this other [soul realm], awaiting reincarnation. During that waiting time, life goes on normally." He paused. "Uh... okay." "So, please wait. There''s a long queue to enter hell, so it will take some time. Make yourself feel comfortable here." I don''t know how successful this will be, but I am going to overload his body with so much of these saps that he''s going to lose his grasp with reality. "Heh... there''s a queue to hell?" "Everyone''s a sinner. So it''s naturally the path to hell is extremely crowded, and why we have demons so often. Since we are on this topic, would you like to confess your sins?" That was a whole load of bullshit but he bought it. He paused, and he starts to break down, shouting and weeping. I am not sure whether he realised it, but I increase the dosage a bit more. He started talking about how many people he killed, the people he betrayed, the families he lost. It''s kind of like we''re having a session of [Tree of Prayer] confessions. He talked for a good one hour, alternating between breaking down, crying, and anger. But then I got what I wanted. "I... It is just fair that I died this way. I sent the army to burn the village. I mean, the Commander said that dissenters should be punished... but maybe I did go overboard. I gained levels in [Authoritarian] when I ordered all those villages burnt. I... I was drowning in joy when I gained levels. The skills were powerful too! I got a skill like [Submission], which worked so wonderfully with the commoner ladies!" Oh. I expected a scapegoat... but, color me impressed, Salah actually sent the right guy. And a scum, too. "But could you fault me? The Commander himself burned many villages to the ground when they rebelled against the King. All of us did. We did what we had to, to enforce order. Fear is key to maintaining control. It was either that or we would be chopped for punishing the villages too lightly." Hmmm... looks like maybe not. Its an institutional failure. "We burnt many villages. When there was a plague, we culled. When there was a suspected demonologist, we culled the villages. There is no time for proper justice, we lack the resources, manpower, and even if we did, there was no way of ensuring justice was properly conducted. Every kingdom did what it felt was right!" Uh... "Maybe... maybe all of us should just burn to the ground, you know?" He sat, surrounded by the vines and roots. "I... All of us are sinners. Maybe the Demon King should just crush all of us." Did I overdo the tree saps? Uh... "Say, would I be able to meet the Commander here? Or is he already on the other side? How long a backlog are we talking about?" I definitely overdid the tree saps. [Skill upgraded : Tree saps] [Skill obtained : Condensed Tree Psychedelics] [Dream tutor variant obtained. Skill: Psychedelic dreams] [Dream tutor variant obtained. Skill: Mystical dreams] Announcement span> Putting the trees, in trees :) Now I wonder whether TreeTree should go all Poppy/opium War on the other kingdoms... Anyway, lately I have been obsessed by other story ideas, so I am thinking of taking a bit time off to write out these other ideas. So uh... maybe expect a slower frequency? Escalation Year 81 Month 4 The war in the Barooshian territories deteriorated. The presence of the walking demon castle greatly hindered all attempted progress, and even with high level individuals, the demons have now deployed ''knights''. These demons have been described as elites, capable of standing up to a level 40 elite soldier toe to toe, and are described as humanoid horned demons, usually with one large unnaturally crimson wing. They have been seen wielding spears, swords, axes and many other types of melee weapons. "No rifts near our location yet." The captain elaborated. It''s a once every other day meeting, to gather data on the demons. They are coming, and well, everyone''s feeling a little tense. "That''s of no comfort. We are just waiting." Jura sighed. ¡°One of the merchants want to meet, Counsel.¡± ¡°Huh. Sure.¡± A merchant walked into Jura¡¯s office chambers. ¡°Salutations Counsel. I¡¯ll get to the point. The merchant guilds¡¯ is trying to build a coalition force to protect key trade routes, especially those that cut through the kingdoms nearest to the spotted giant demon walker. In exchange for the various nations¡¯ contributions to the force, led by a group of senior military men, the merchants guild will offer preferential prices on goods well below market rates, and also the rights of first purchases on goods passing through these routes.¡± ¡°You sure didn¡¯t mince words there.¡± Jura sat and thought for a moment. ¡°How many men are you talking about? Have you spoken to the high council?¡± ¡°Yes I have. They are keen, but only if the Order also participates. They will match every person you put in.¡± ¡°Heh, clever of them. If the Order doesn¡¯t participate then we look like scums.¡± Jura sat and twirled a wooden pen. ¡°Back to my question, how many men does the guild want?¡± ¡°Ideally, we want high level individuals. Elites, if possible. Numbers, while it does have its own quality, is not the most suitable countermeasure against a demonic force-of-nature like the giant demon walker.¡± ¡°I... I need to have some discussions. Come back in two days.¡± The merchant bowed and left. Jura turned and called in the management team. ¡°Madeus, would you be keen? I¡¯m also planning to talk to Yvon. If anything, I would like both of you to participate...¡± Madeus shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m having fun teaching the kids in the Orphanage.¡± Well, turns out Yvon also had a similar idea. ¡°The Valthorn kids need me. I¡¯m not leaving them alone with TreeTree, not without my supervision.¡± --- Also, now that we know quite certainly the Salah guy is the ¡®right¡¯ guy, I¡¯m a bit stuck with what to do. ¡°Y¡¯know, if he wasn¡¯t the right person, it¡¯s not cool to drug him and make him think he died. How did you plan on integrating or undoing the effects of such a powerful hallucination?¡± ¡°Hmmm, I had a hunch that he¡¯s hiding something.¡± ¡°He could be hiding other things.¡± ¡°Too bad, I¡¯ll just make him think it¡¯s all a dream. You know, like those exceedingly vivid dreams that you wake up from, wondering what in the world just happened.¡± ¡°That sounds like the kind of essays I used to write for school.¡± Meela grinned. When I delivered the message to the elves, that he is the right guy, Laufen stormed up and went to one of the Tree of Prayers to gather her thoughts. Somehow the reality that she faced the person who indirectly caused the death of her husband made her... angry. ¡°I want to slap him many, many times.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± So the drugged delirious prisoner is ¡®freed¡¯ from his biopod prison, and Laufen slapped him many times. In fact, the other elves joined when they saw Laufen started to slap the man. ¡°You! You evil man! Our lives lost just because you felt like it!¡± Laufen slapped. ¡°I had thought that maybe you had a vendetta, but no.¡± She slapped again. ¡°We are just.¡± Another slap. ¡°Another village to burn.¡± Another slap. The guy¡¯s delirious. The overdose of hallucinogens massively distorted his sense of reality. ¡°Is this like purgatory? Where I meet those I have sinned and answer for them?¡± He asked. Which only made Laufen even more mad. ¡°Hell yeah it is.¡± She slapped him some more. THe other elves, like Emile and Belle, both just gave him one slap. One, big fat slap. And that¡¯s it. They walked away. Because although they are angry, watching Laufen¡¯s ugly chain of slaps made them feel like they needed to be above this. ¡°All because of some stupid levels! Are our lives all so meaningless and insignificant to these nobles and lords?¡± Laufen slapped. The guy just laughed. He¡¯s lost it really. ¡°Yes, my dear. Yes. Actually, even lords and nobles are meaningless. We all die in the end. Everyone¡¯s just out for themselves and we make life difficult for everyone that is not us.¡± Laufen slapped him in between those words, so it¡¯s actually not so coherent. ¡°AGGGHHHH.¡± She slapped him a few more times, until she stopped and just sat on the ground, and she started to weep. Lausanne watched and gave her mom a hug. ¡°Mommy... it¡¯s okay... it¡¯s okay...¡± The guy¡¯s face is red and blue from all the slaps, and I think it¡¯s time to end it. So, some vines pull the guy back into the pod. ¡°I¡¯ll keep him for now.¡± Laufen still cried, so she didn¡¯t respond to my statement. Jura just watched, and he walked away. ¡°TreeTree... just kill him already. Him being insane and mocking us with that insanity just makes us feel worse.¡± Hmm. Well, I kinda figured he¡¯s gonna die anyway, but to kill him would be a waste of valuable ¡®mortals¡¯. He would join the other criminals on death row that I¡¯ve reserved for my soul-related experiments. I mean, if the justice system says who and who is to die, might as well contribute to science while dying. It¡¯s not as if the manner of death makes a difference. It¡¯s a position opposed by Meela and Alexis, of course, but they can¡¯t stop me. If I¡¯m going to figure out how to fix Jura¡¯s arms, I need more experience with all the sophisticated meddling in the [soulforge]. In the past month, in between creating more of those anti-demon bolts and weapons, I¡¯ve been experimenting with creating an ¡®arm¡¯, and indeed, the first thing I needed was to reverse-engineer the thing that ¡®protects¡¯ a body while undergoing the forge process. It seems there is a ¡®specific¡¯ frequency to the mana, kind of like a ¡®state¡¯ in which the mana is able to hold its form despite the maelstrom within the [soul forge], and mastering this process will allow my feelers to ¡®interact¡¯ with the exposed soul fragments in the soul forge. So, firstly, the process required the creation of more ¡®mana-tuning¡¯ organs. It took quite a few tries, but it¡¯s a whole lot easier once I used some of the jewels as regulators. I know this because it¡¯s part of why jewels are so commonly used in magic items, because precious gems and jewels have a kind of mana-storage, mana-stabilising quality to them. Essentially, it¡¯s like a ball of roots organised along a few jewels as nodes, with two feeler ends. Kind of like a large tuning fork, and the length-width of that fork determines the ¡®frequency¡¯ and ¡®spin¡¯. With it, I¡¯m then able to coat my feelers with an ¡®tuned mana¡¯ which protects it from the effects of the [soul forge] by about 90-95%. Pretty good, I think. Next, was to make simple ¡®organs¡¯. Using animals as my test case, I tried to make small tails, whiskers, repair ears, repair skin. Most of them failed, but I¡¯m getting better at the smaller stuff. Relatively speaking. I judge my performance by the size of the little animals¡¯ explosion when ¡®healed¡¯. Year 81 Month 5 My first encounter with this generations¡¯ demons. A pack of humanoid demon riders spotted passing through one chain of [subsidiary tree] that stretched up to the previous dungeon hole. The chain of subsidiary trees, with New Freeka Valley as the center, is kind of like a ¡®spider net¡¯. They didn¡¯t attack my trees. But I moved some beetles to the area, as I watched their actions. These demonoids are clearly more intelligent than before. There¡¯s a visible ¡®leader¡¯, giving some kind of instruction, in a language I can¡¯t fathom. They are setting up an ambush. I watched them camp there for 5 days, until a trader caravan approached the area. Well, their ambush was countered by an ambush from my beetles. IT went well. Despite their intelligence, their ability to fight is just about... average. A regular demonoid is at the same strength as a regular hellhound. Which isn¡¯t much. Their leader¡¯s much better, it took two beetles to take him down. ¡°The merchants are struggling to keep certain trade routes with the demons employing such guerilla tactics.¡± ¡°I¡¯m impressed that demons have the concept of attacking supply chains.¡± ¡°Impressed? This is horrifying. We could spot demons a mile a way thanks to their unfettered destruction! Now we can¡¯t! That¡¯s not a good thing!¡± ¡°Hmm... I think we shouldn¡¯t overreact. It seems the precautions needed will be similar to bandits, if their raiding parties are so small. A small group of adventurers would¡¯ve been able to defeat that raiding party.¡± ¡°The threat of the raiding party is small, but the thought that there¡¯s potentially sophisticated intelligence behind the demons...¡± ¡°TreeTree, you said your trees spotted them?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jura paused and sat. The captain then asked... ¡°Can we have a perimeter of trees? Would it be possible?¡± ¡°Uh... no. I can¡¯t make that many trees.¡± Four lines as it is, is almost maxed out my [subsidiary tree] quota. Unless I gain levels or the skill gets an upgrade, I don¡¯t think I can spam more [subsidiary trees]. I do have my basic tree-eye, but there¡¯s only 10 of those.. And I want to keep those for special places where I want to see things for myself- Trevor interrupted. Demons. ¡°There¡¯s more of them.¡± Trevor said to me. ¡°What?¡± ¡°A pack of 300 demons appeared. North.¡± Mostly regular demonoids, but this pack has about 10 of the ¡®captain¡¯ grade demons and 1 mounted ¡®knight. ¡°Beetles?¡± I look at the map, and Trevor points me to the nearest group of 50 or so beetles. There¡¯s another group of 30 beetles further away. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s group them together.¡± ¡°They won¡¯t make it in time to save that convoy if they do.¡± What? A convoy? Trevor changed my vision to see a convoy of 8 carriages, and about 20 merchants. ¡°Recommend we send the 50 beetles now, and hopefully the 30 beetles can join the battle midway. Or if you want to intervene directly... with root strikes.¡± ¡°Heh,¡± Well, I¡¯m itching for a fight. [Rooting field]. Roots emerge from a field of grass, and they quickly entangled the group of 300 demonoids. The leaders of the group were able to cut the roots off, and then my squad of 50 beetles arrived. Watching them fight, the beetles¡¯ charge easily destroy quite a bit of the regular demonoids. Except the Knight, it had a black sword and in a single slash, it cut one of the beetles in half. ¡°Nooooooooooooo.¡± Horns was upset. ¡°Kill that enemy.¡± The demon knight cut down a few more beetles. I recall seeing demon knights during the previous war, the ¡®demonised¡¯ humans. But this knight is pure demon, and I would say he¡¯s about level... 40? I¡¯m not too sure. Heh. No point delaying. [Serpentine Rootstrike]. Multiple roots appeared and pierced through the demons, like a multi-headed hydra. The knight dodged and cut through some of the roots, but the roots, when cut down, it instead splits into more roots, which attack the knight. The knight cuts down more roots, but it kept breaking up into more roots. And then one root speared through the knight from the back. And it turns into ash. ¡°Huh.¡± If the demons can create more knights at that level, the kingdoms are going to have a whole lot of problems. - Turns out, shit¡¯s already pretty bad. News from the Southern Continent came, and it ain¡¯t pretty down south. Another walking castle has been spotted, and they¡¯ve overran a few kingdoms. The Southern continent is essentially in a pure-war mode, every nation in the region combining their forces, where they can, to delay the demon¡¯s advance. ¡°These numbers...¡± The captain started to read out the merchants¡¯ guilds report. ¡°Are they trying to ask for help?¡± The report had a whole load of numbers on the size of the demon armies. In the southern continent, they¡¯ve spotted six different armies with at least 50,000 demons. ¡°Sounds like it. The merchants¡¯ guild can¡¯t formally request for aid, without the consent of the local kingdoms. At best, they will try to build a coalition, with the local kingdoms, but it¡¯s something they are already doing...¡± ¡°Is it normally this bad?¡± I ask the captains. They shrug. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but... it¡¯s sure messier this time around.¡± ¡°How many have been displaced?¡± Jura wondered. ¡°Are we going to get more refugees?¡± ¡°A lot. With all continents facing some demon issues, the refugees don¡¯t really have a lot of choices on where to go.¡±¡°What about the islands?¡± ¡°Hmmm... sounds like they won¡¯t be able to run away from the south that easily. So if anything we¡¯re still going to get Baroosh-ian refugees...¡± ¡°The elven kingdoms are up north, right?¡± Laufen suddenly asked. ¡°Yeah. Why¡¯d you ask?¡± ¡°If Baroosh is in trouble, how about the other elves?¡± Madeus paused. ¡°I... I believe they would not be in any better shape. The demon walker¡¯s massive size and the army¡¯s not been defeated yet.¡± ¡°We need to figure out how to hide.¡± Jura pondered. It¡¯s only 6 months into the beginning of the demons, and things are already not great. And that¡¯s how I spent more time on the underground tunnels. The farmers did already have ¡®warmed¡¯ farmhouses and underground chambers, but I didn¡¯t, and I think I may be able to do things... differently. The underground tunnels are humid, but no sunlight. Any plants that need to survive here would have to have long roots, and somehow have ¡®tubers¡¯ that store their food in the tunnels, which the refugees can use. Using [root tunnels], we built a network of tunnels, with rooms, and with some wood magic and [woodcrafting], made wooden furniture and flooring to make the rooms somewhat habitable. In the event the demons overrun the surface, though, they would need a source of food and water. It¡¯s fairly easy to create roots that store some water and food as emergency rations, since I have the [tuberous storage], which, when not storing ¡®energy¡¯, can be converted into a massive edible potato, and a high-water content potato. ¡°Preparing for the apocalypse?¡± Meela seemed quite interested in all the preparations. I think she recently added a few underground chambers to her hotel, so I think we¡¯re aligned on that part. ¡°Yeah. This demon king feels different¡± ¡°I doubt it¡¯ll be that different. Maybe it¡¯s just a change in the minions. The previous demon king we faced was a floating castle.¡± Alexis then butted in. ¡°I like all these preparations. Reminds me of the kind of nuclear bunkers we have, preparing for eventual doomsday.¡± ¡°I should add something like that to the basement of my hotel, huh?¡± ¡°Of course, if a disaster happens, a hotel must have a safe space for it¡¯s guests! It should be reinforced, and close to impenetrable.¡± Alexis laughed, and Meela nodded. ¡°True... I guess if I wanted to make a hotel like the Continental, it better be a battle-ready hotel.¡± ¡°You can start by adding a vault, a strong room, an armory...¡± Alexis rattled on a list of things to add. ¡°Uh... I think we¡¯re getting sidetracked. I¡¯m trying to make habitable hideouts for the citizens, in case things deteriorate.¡± I had to bring the conversation back on track. ¡°And if both of you want to help, help me with it.¡± Alexis stopped and thought for a moment. ¡°Hmmm... it¡¯ll need some artificial sunlight. Perhaps mana-powered lights, and then with it, grow some kind of vegetables under those lights?¡± ¡°Oh.¡± That¡¯s kinda like the greenhouse idea again, but indoors. So, we tried it out. I got Trevor and Dimitree to help, since I¡¯m really kind of tired of doing things on my own, there¡¯s just so much to do, so many things to manage. We upgraded the tunnels into canister-like compartments, each canister a self-sufficient setup, with a water storage plant, fungi and plant growing area, food storage, and wooden beds. It''s has metal-reinforced wooden pillars and walls, for additional strength and toughness. It''s kind of like segments and sections in buildings. [New skill acquired : Customisable Roots] [Customisable Roots function like the underground equivalents of your customisable branches. Each subsidiary tree now can support one customisable branch and one customisable root. Choosing the customisable roots will shrink the [Tuberous Storage] of that subsidiary tree] Oh. Cool? "How does it look?" Jura and the elves looked around at the new network of underground housing cum hideouts. "Just needs some more lights for additional brightness, but for a war-time hideout, absolutely luxurious." "The food supply may be insufficient though, since these things depend on you growing your own vegetables. But at least there is water and the potatoes on the wall are still growing..." The potatoes on a segment of the wall is still linked to the roots. It''s like the ''seed'' of the potato, so the refugees can pluck the potato and a new one will grow. "Good enough. I suppose next will be fortification and security." Alexis and Meela added. "How about air? Is there sufficient oxygen down there? Ventilation is super important in underground spaces! People could die from choking and smoke!" "Good point..." I had thought of using the plants, but the plants probably don''t produce enough oxygen. ¡°Could you use mana to create oxygen?¡± ¡°Uh... is there a spell like that?¡± [Natural Tree Ability : Water, oxygen, carbon cycle - converts water to air, or air to water. Uses mana]. Oh. That¡¯s easy. Turns out I had that ability all the while. But it doesn¡¯t solve the problem if I¡¯m not there. How do the refugees get air? ¡°Do you have plants that create air?¡± ¡°No...¡± Maybe there are, but I¡¯ll need to find them. It¡¯s Madeus that gave the solution. ¡°We¡¯ll get some ¡®Gems of breathing¡¯. Those gems can produce air at a mana cost, and with that we can breath. It doesn¡¯t require much mana, that ordinary folks with some magic should be able to operate.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite expensive.¡± Jura nodded after the Treasurer told him the expected cost. ¡°But we¡¯ll get a dozen. And the ¡®gems of sunlight¡¯ as well, if we plan to grow these plants underground.¡± Ah, turns out, there are some off-the-shelf solutions already. Alexis paused, ¡°Can you ask for some of those gems? Ask Jura to buy a bit more?¡± ¡°Our coffers are a bit low after my recent spend on the gold and jewels for the Grand Mind-Tree, so...¡± Alexis frowned. ¡°I could use some of those for research...¡± - Year 81 Month 6 The magical sensors went crazy, across my many subsidiary trees and biolabs, the array picked up multiple large surges of energy. ¡°Something¡¯s happening.¡± Alexis is the first to be disturbed by the sensor readings. The air seemed tense, and a sudden gust of wind followed. A while later, my network of roots start to detect tremors from afar, the sign of a massive explosion. ¡°Jura, any idea what¡¯s going on?¡± Jura¡¯s oblivious to it, because, well, unless you have a built in magical sensor in your body, you won¡¯t notice it. ¡°Uh...¡± It¡¯s Madeus, who ran in, along with Yvon, to the Jura¡¯s Counsel Chambers. ¡°A massive magical explosion has been detected. The demon walker was attacked with some kind of projectile weapon.¡± ¡°Oh, isn¡¯t that good news? Who did it?¡± Jura asked. ¡°The Barooshian court gathered their mages and the voluntary sacrifices of a few young men and women. It¡¯s... forbidden blood magic. And it didn¡¯t work. Instead of destroying it, the magical projectile heavily injured the demon walker, and now it marched for the Barooshian capital.¡± "Blood magic." Jura looked at Madeus suspiciously. "Baroosh has blood magic? And sacrifices?" "...there is a hidden faction in the wizarding academy studying blood magic. Secretly. But the King gave his consent to do this." "The blizzard may have links to Baroosh..." Meela said. "What''s Baroosh''s relationship with Nung, Takde and Salah." Madeus shrugged, a little bit ashamed. "Okay, I don''t know. But whatever it is, that magical disturbance came from Baroosh." The magical sensors went off again. But this time, it wasn''t from Baroosh''s general vicinity. It came from further north, from the coast. "Uh... any idea what''s going on?" We didn''t know. Until news came about a week later, that the same Blood Magic Ritual was repeated, in another kingdom south of Salah... with more sacrifice. And the worse part? The second projectile missed the demon walker, and left a crater filled with an unpleasant miasma. "Madeus... is there a cult practicing blood magic throughout the continent?" "Uh... There are all sorts of cults out there, practicing all kinds of obscure magics... No one really knows, but I would say... yes?" "The Demon walker changed direction. It... It''s now heading south." "...what." Another magical disturbance. My sensors are starting to become quite attuned to this. It''s the same country, and they did the ritual. Again. "How many times can this ritual be repeated?" "I... I don''t know?" This time, we all saw it. Because the dark purple & red magical projectile flew overhead. Even with my spiritual vision I could see it, it''s a missile made of condensed magics, sacrificed lives and just a whole load of unknown energies. "It''s from a country called Gila." The array of magical sensors could now track the movement of the magical energy. A kingdom lead by a new King? There''s little I know of them, that''s not outdated. This third blood ritual bullet exploded at the edges of Barooshian border, apparently scrying revealed half of the castle on the demon walker'' back was destroyed. The regular demons died. But it didn''t stop the Walker. Oh no, it didn''t. "Uh... It''s still headed south." "Are they planning to use this against the Demon King?" Well, it turns out Gila and Baroosh were not alone. In the Southern Continent, a few similar spells were used, to great success. They destroyed a demon walker. The Demon Walker though, now moved as fast as it could towards Gila. Devouring every single town or village in its path, and with it, a growing army of demons. "Uh... its coming here." "This is insane." Alexis screamed, she used the readings from the magical sensors, and her own sensors. "It''s pretty much a magical nuclear weapon, tuned to cause immense destruction in a narrow area." News indeed speaks of the location of the missed shot turned into a corrupted, haunted, poisoned place, where everything died and strange alien monsters emerged from it. But, despite the costs, the fact that there is a reliable weapon against these demonic walker-giants gave great hope to many kingdoms. A weapon that can fight back! So, it seems there''s widespread propaganda that the magus have discovered a potent magical spell able to defeat the demons. No longer do they have to fear the champions. "TreeTree, I hate you." Alexis said one evening, as the news that more such rituals are being used throughout the world. "Why?" "You were preparing for underground hideouts. Did you have a spirit vision or epiphany, that you somehow see this coming? Hex Bombs?" Alexis called them hex bombs, because they leave a hex on the land. "Honestly no. I was preparing for the possibility that a demon champion defeats me. But this feels too coordinated, who''s teaching the process of this rituals to all the different kingdoms? The speed this ritual spread is unreal." "The Kings won''t hear naysayers now. They all bought the story that this spell can defeat the walkers, and they have two success cases now." One in the Southern Continent, and one in the Eastern Theatre. People celebrated, ignoring the reality that there are sacrifices needed for each shot, which numbered between hundreds to thousands, less if the person is of a high magical power and level. "But one is still walking our way." After Gila''s two shots, they stopped. The Demon Walker''s wounded, with a strong hex on its body, but it is still headed this way. Deep inside, I just know that it is going to come through here. I didn''t need a messenger running inside the room, shouting. "Demon walker is headed for New Freeka... expected to be two to three weeks away. With an army of 40,000 demonoids." It''s just how it is. I am a magical tree, and somehow, I will always end up fighting demons. Which is fine. Demons are my natural enemies. I just don''t appreciate being potentially in the line of fire of a Hexbomb. Spaizzer introducing hexbombs. inspired by breath of fire taking a week off to write a harem story TreeTree vs Demon Walker Year 81 Month 6 The demonoids came over the hills, the giant walker, with the body of something resembling a mutant giant tortoise, with a castle on top. The castle consists of multiple reddish spires, with jagged edges, resembling the teeth of a monster. It wasn¡¯t hard to tell that it is approaching. The demonic army would cut down the trees in it¡¯s path, and I could feel the walker¡¯s energy, with each step, a bit more of it¡¯s energy pushed back on my ''bubble'', and cause the effective radius of my [lesser demonic suppression aura] to shrink. But whatever that was, it only worked on the outer area. At this distance, in this valley, the aura from my main body is strong, and here, it overlapped against whatever that demon walker emitted. Together, with the walker, the 50,000 or so demonoids crossed the rolling hills. By the scouts count, the army increased by 10,000, and this is due to the ¡®bases; and the ¡®walker¡¯ itself, being a mobile demon production factory. Or as Alexis called it, a ¡°hive¡±. Like a beehive that made more bees. The past 3 weeks, along the expected path of the demon army, we built a few more layers of walls, filled with traps, and places for the soldiers to retreat. And tunnels for the beetles to spring a surprise attack. Honestly, I felt confident. A defensive battle is pretty much how I can fight, and it¡¯s something that I¡¯m good at. And we have been preparing for this fight. And when the demon walker emerged, I felt ready. The demon walker¡¯s spires somewhat recovered, the damage from the blood hex magic is no longer noticeable, so we presume they have some self-healing ability. Until we saw the other side of the giant walker, where a large chunk of it¡¯s body glowed purple, as if it oozed a magical rot. This massive giant tortoise, with a big castle on it¡¯s shell stomped, and the earth shook. Luckily, the walls held. The roots and plants helped to absorb the shockwave. ¡°A zaratan.¡± Alexis¡¯s being the one with a wide general knowledge. ¡°A walking zaratan, instead of an island on it¡¯s back-¡± ROOOOOAAAAAAARRRR A loud, but deep roar shook the entire valley. "Trivia will have to wait." The demon walker roared, and that signalled the beginning of this battle. The army of demonoids charge towards the first layer of walls, into the [carnivorous plants] and [cactus defense systems]. And the sound of wood and demon colliding became the background chorus. The demons chopped the defenses down, but not before the Carnivorous Plants devoured some of the demonoids, and in doing so, gradually, but sure, reduced the number of demonoids. I reckon about 1,000 to 2,000 demonoids fell before the outermost layer is breached. Jura, Madeus and Yvon prepared on top of the 4th makeshift wall layer. ¡°Lausanne, Stay with TreeTree. This is not your battle, not yet.¡± ¡°But my level is already in the 30s! I should be out there fighting!¡± The young lady protested. She too, was armed for battle, and she had two anti-demon wooden short-spears on her back. ¡°She¡¯s right. She¡¯s a valuable battlefield asset. We need her on the field, together with the girls.¡± One of the captains said. The archers got into position. They¡¯ve been waiting for this moment. Many had a good meal last night, perhaps in preparation of death. ¡°No. Not Lausanne, and not the kids. The Valthorns stay back.¡± Jura insisted. ¡°Right, TreeTree?¡± ¡°Lausanne should be fighting, but let her take one of the flanks where it¡¯s less risky. Together with Horns. The beetles will cover her.¡± The beetles are all hidden in the tunnels. All 10,000 of them. But I can spare some to act as Lausanne¡¯s squad. The demon walker roared, and the demonoids all received a boost it. My [lesser demonic suppression] is effective, and the roar merely offsets the effects of my aura. Yvon nodded. ¡°You can¡¯t coddle her forever. Fighting demons is a regular affair, she best get some experience-¡± The giant walker had a large head, and it¡¯s head resembled part-tortoise, part-dragon, it had spikes and horns and it roared, revealing its fangs. It¡¯s a different roar, the vibration was different. And that roar sent out an energy blast. [Steelwood barrier] [Woodshield] [Shield Generators]. The Subsidiary Trees that function as shield generators create a large wall of wood, blocking the energy blast- crack The energy projectile from the blast slammed into the shields, and it crushed the first barrier and woodshield, and then cracked the last shield. ¡°Okay fine. Go. Keep yourself safe.¡± Jura sighed, turned and faced the horde of demonoids. The demon knights lead the charge against the 1st layer walls. ¡°Remember what we discussed. We¡¯ve got to take on the demon knights. TreeTree will focus on the demon walker.¡± Yvon nodded, and then shrugged. ¡°Though I would prefer to observe TreeTree in action, but I suppose we don¡¯t have a choice... Be careful of the Knights.¡± Lausanne smiled. ¡°Okay. Stay safe, everyone.¡± Jura gave Lausanne a pat on the head. ¡°You too, retreat or ask for TreeTree¡¯s help if you¡¯re in trouble. Better alive than dead.¡± An armor of wood surrounded Jura, and in his hand, a dark-brown wooden sword. There¡¯s multiple wooden spears on his back, and multiple smaller wooden stakes, enchanted to weaken demons. ¡°And Yvon, you can watch after the ¡®knights¡¯ are destroyed.¡± The demonoid horde still charged. And in one area where the density was highest, I activated [Root Surge] and skewered about 2,000 demonoids. The walker stepped closer, and the earth shook. It roared again another energy blast, this time it aimed for the 2nd layer of walls. I couldn¡¯t stop the full power of the energy projectile in time, and this time, a section of the 2nd layer walls disintegrated, and killed about 20 archers and the beetles hiding underneath. ¡°TreeTree, can you stop that blast?¡± Jura asked, while running towards the army. The archers have started their volley overhead. "I am creating shields right in front of it, to deflect and absorb the blast. That should take the heat off you. But be prepared to run if I can¡¯t stop it in time.¡± ¡°Great.¡± Jura cut down a few more demonoids in the way. He''s looking for the knights. A roar, and another energy blast, this time, I stopped it. It took 4 layers of [steelwood barriers]. A special demon, one with wings appeared, and it landed with a bang. The explosion from it¡¯s ¡®crash¡¯ crushed another section of the 2nd layer of walls. And then it stabbed the few soldiers right in front of it. ¡°Jura, there¡¯s a winged demon elite. Look out for it, it should be on your left." ¡°Aye. I don¡¯t see it.¡± Jura¡¯s deep in battle, fighting some more demonoids. The horde breached through the new gaps in the 2nd layer of defenses, like a pipe with holes. The mages conjured their fireballs and spells. And the demonoids raised a shield made of their demon-matter. Since when did the demonoids have shields? The explosions from the spells still destroyed a few demonoids, but the shields reduced the damage. Two knights close in on Jura¡¯s position. Tall, dark, and honestly quite-cool looking with that jagged-edged demonic body, one uses an axe, the other uses a spear. I should create wood knights. They look cool. Roooooaaaaaaaaar An energy blast from the walker again. My shields block it, but there¡¯s still collateral damage from some of the deflected blast, a part of the 3rd layer walls is destroyed. It''s using the blasts to open a way for the horde. These makeshift walls aren¡¯t that tough, but the 4th layer was the one we built previously. The 4th wall is tougher, and where most of the men are stationed. ¡°So, you¡¯re the demon knights.¡± Jura¡¯s deep in battle near what remains of 2nd layer walls, and his wooden sword glowed. ¡°Show me what you can do.¡± [Speed slash] Jura¡¯s sword flickered like streaks of light, and the first demon knight turned to mincemeat. ¡°Oh. Easy?¡± Jura looked at the other knight, and closed in. Indeed, the Level 80 warlord crushed the level 40-ish knight within 5 swipes. Honestly using his high-speed skill is overkill. Roooooaaaaaaaaar The walker stomped, and it interrupts the archers'' and mages'' spells. Another energy blast, and somehow I got the angle a bit wrong. The projectile deflected and made a hole in one of the valley-cliffs. The walker, it¡¯s large size meant it could easily walk over the walls, and it did so. It stepped across the 2nd layer of walls. He¡¯s entered the range where my root strikes are at full power. . Something hopped off the demon walker¡¯s back, and landed right in front of Jura. A demonoid with wings, proper demon-like horns, and a sword large enough to to cut a cow in half, he radiated a magical aura. Jura smirked. ¡°So the demons now have tiers of elite forces too, eh? TreeTree, you watching this? This the guy?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± But my focus is on the Walker. My 3 artificial minds are working really hard to help. Trevor, Dimitree and Ivy¡¯s manage the beetles, create root tunnels and help to activate all the the [subsidiary trees], [cactus defense system], [shield generators], and provide battlefield-intel to Horns who¡¯s deep in the fighting with Lausanne. It¡¯s a good thing I can delegate some of my abilities to them. Yvon landed next to Jura after killing one demon knight. ¡°Need help?¡± Jura shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know. But I¡¯ll try to handle him myself, for now. I got skills I¡¯ve been itching to test out on... something strong.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll keep the demon knights from meddling.¡± ¡°What should we call this demon?¡± Jura looked at Yvon, and the demon-elite looked quizzically back at them. It¡¯s large sword glowed red, and then black. A black flame emerged from it. Demonfire, again. How nostalgic. The walker stepped closer. A bit more. I just needed it¡¯s entire massive body entirely within range. Most of the horde of soldier-demonoids crossed the 2nd layer of defenses. Those makeshift walls really don¡¯t last very long, but it served the purpose. ¡°For TreeTree!¡± Horns mentally shouted. ¡°Battle-beetles, let¡¯s go!¡± There¡¯s no new beetle type, it¡¯s just a name Horns came up with. It¡¯s punny, he says. Wisp say their personalities take after an aspect of their creators, so I think Horns inherited a punny part of me. Beetles streamed out of the tunnels under the 2nd and 3rd layer of walls, charging into the mass of demonoids from both sides, and the entire area turns into a massive brawl. Strangely, despite the chaos of the brawl, all the demons had the sense to avoid the demon-elite and Jura, both in intense, rather high speed combat. The demon-elite or general could fly, but at that distance, neither could really hurt each other, It seemed that the demon-elite wasn¡¯t much of a spellcaster, so they went into a full melee. Jura ducked, dodged, and sidestepped the demon-elite¡¯s large bastard sword repeatedly, often narrowly avoiding mini-explosions from the sword-blast. ¡°Demon-general¡¯s a better name?¡± Jura¡¯s sword cut the demon-general¡¯s wings, but the wings regenerated. It roared in response, its mouth shot out a mini-projectile at Jura. ¡°And screw this.¡± Bamboo generated a massive wooden shield in front of Jura. The wooden shield disintegrated, but it seemed like the demon-general didn¡¯t have that many uses of that projectile, since it went back into melee.. Right above, the demon walker stepped even closer. It¡¯s feet now crossed over the 3rd layer walls easily. It roared again, this time the energy blast is aimed right at the forest, right at me. ¡°It can sense our presence, master.¡± Trevor commented. ¡°It knows of the magical energies you are radiating.¡± In my mind, I don¡¯t think so. [Steelwood barrier] x 5. Thank goodness I seem to have more than few hundred uses of these shield-skills per day. Multiple large wooden barriers once again appeared to block the energy blast. Four barriers disintegrated, but the last one held. ¡°Well, what do you know, my shields at this distance can stop that blast.¡± Below it, the beetles and the demonoids fight it out in a massive brawl. The militia and the order¡¯s soldiers keep up the volley of arrows, but in such state, there¡¯s quite a bit of friendly fire. The beetles large size don¡¯t help. The walker roared again, and... the spires on its back glowed red, another spire glowed purple. Once that started, the demonoids glowed red too, and they went into a kind of battle-frenzy, and the ¡®damage¡¯ suffered by the demonoids seemingly regenerated. ¡°Oh. That castle¡¯s an aura-machine.¡± I mentally smack myself. Of course, the castle imparts passive buffs, like me. The spires started to shoot out smaller, less powerful energy blasts. ¡°And it¡¯s equipped with laser-turrets.¡± Alexis looked in amazement. ¡°It¡¯s a walking laser tank.¡± For me, those glowing red spires reminded me of the Obelisk of Light. ¡°The blood-rituals don¡¯t look so bad now.¡± I sighed. To be fair, without the walker, I¡¯d defeat the 40,000, even 60,000 demonoids without a problem. 10,000 beetles would¡¯ve taken out 20,000 demonoids, easy. Clearly, for regular humans without special anti-demon skills and weapons, they would need to gather a large group of high level individuals. At least multiple level 80s. It really makes my multiplier against demons a great advantage. Madeus, together with the mages of New Freeka changed their targets to the giant walker, since it¡¯s hard to avoid friendly fire with the beetles fighting literally in the ¡®trenches¡¯. Lausanne¡¯s doing fine. She¡¯s got a whip-like weapon that seems to cut through the demons like they are made of paper, and only against the knights that she needed help from the beetles. ¡°We¡¯ve got them held up at the 3rd layer.¡± One of the captains said. Well, the 4th layer is the last layer of walls, and after that its New Freeka¡¯s own town walls or the forest itself. I¡¯m not keen on letting the walker anywhere near the forest, since the Treefolks¡¯ village is between me and them. The walker stepped, and kicked the 3rd layer¡¯s walls with its large feet. ¡°Oh.¡± I kind of forgot that it could just... hit things instead of using the energy blast. And it kicked again. And that segment of the walls crumbled. Most of the men had retreated to the 4th layer, it¡¯s mostly just ranged combat, except for beetles. Some of the soldier-elites also tried to fight the demonoids. By now, the demonoids thinned to about 30,000, and I¡¯ve lost about half of my beetles. Somes losses on the soldiers or the Order, mostly from the walker. But it looks like they will have to bear some more. The walker stepped through the crumbled sections. It kicked the 4th layer walls with incredible force, and then, strangely, walked past the 4th layer of walls. It walked towards me. As if it knows I¡¯m there. Waiting. ¡°Oh, it dares to approach TreeTree?¡± Alexis grinned. ¡°Even though TreeTree has anti-demon powers?¡± It roared. My wooden shields blocked the energy blast. Good. Come. ¡°Get as close as you need to. So I can shove all the roots I have through your body.¡± Hmm, let¡¯s see whether there¡¯s going to be any collateral damage. ¡°Have the Treefolks evacuated?¡± ¡°Let me check... yes.¡± Trevor said. Most of them are now in the designated ¡®safe-houses¡¯. Those that can fight are on the 4th wall, and some back at New Freeka¡¯s town walls. The demonoid army¡¯s still behind it, caught up in the brawl with the beetles, though some are trickling past the 3rd wall. Jura and the demon-general fought toe-to-toe, as Yvon focused on fighting the other demon knights that tried to come to the demon-general¡¯s aid. Jura¡¯s still has an edge, but if there¡¯s 2 of them, he¡¯ll be in trouble. He took a few hits, but thankfully the armor bore the brunt of it. Yvon on the other hand, focused on the other demon knights. At first Yvon wanted to help, but her own level is only about 60, so she changed her targets. Jura and the demon-general traded blows. The demon general leaped high up, half of it¡¯s wings torn from an earlier well-placed slash. It¡¯s large bastard sword cracked, and a massive wooden fist punched it right in the body. It staggered back, and Jura changed weapon, again. The wooden swords don¡¯t last long, but he has a whole lot stored. ¡°So, any tricks?¡± Jura¡¯s body is surrounded by Bamboo¡¯s wood-armor, and it¡¯s flexible form means it¡¯s also a weapon. ¡°Or are you just faster, stronger, and hit a whole lot harder?¡± The demon-general¡¯s staggered, even with the aura-effects from the Demon Spires. There¡¯s three wooden spears lodged in its body, the wooden spears are enchanted with holy magic and made from TreeTree¡¯s anti-demon wooden stakes. It¡¯s enchantment meant it drained some demonic energy out of the demon-general. ¡°Well, time to end this. [Speed Slash].¡± A flash of light, and the demon-general¡¯s body was cut in half, then it disintegrated. ¡°Just a faster, stronger demon knight. I¡¯d be worried if they start having actual skills.¡± Jura did a fist, and then he realised there¡¯s still a whole lot of demons to fight. ¡°Good, I¡¯m going to be fighting the demon-walker now.¡± ¡°Is this how godzilla looks like? It¡¯s massive.¡± Meela looked in amazement. ¡°Are we going to have a monster-fight now? Tree versus demon-walker.¡± Size-wise, it is larger than the earlier demon-champions. But it feels like maybe it¡¯s not as strong. Or maybe there¡¯s some trade-off. It certainly doesn¡¯t feel as threatening, despite its enormous size. A demon champion. I¡¯ve long awaited this day. The special anti-demon bolts are ready. I¡¯ve gained 20 levels and many skills since I last fought the demon champions 8 years ago, and I have more hero fragments too. I have prepared for this moment, with skills, and items. I believe I can take it, and now, to see whether I can. The giant demon walked, and now it¡¯s on the very edges of my forest. And that¡¯s as far as I¡¯m going to let it go. A wall of wood shields appear in front of it. ¡°You shall not pass!¡± Alexis shouted. Meela did a facepalm. ¡°That¡¯s lame.¡± [Super anti-demon rootstrikes] x 5. All tipped with the specially-made demon bolts. One rootstrike for one of those giant legs. The roots shoot out of the ground, a dense energy surrounds each of the bolts and the edge. And it exploded right on the legs. The demon-walker roared, and this time, it shot out a few energy blasts. I blocked three of them, but the fourth one left levelled a patch of forests, and destroyed a section of the Treefolk¡¯s village. Still, I¡¯m happy. The rootstrikes did what I expected it to do. It stopped walking, as large chunks were taken out of its 5 legs. It looked unsteady, as if it¡¯s going to crumble on it¡¯s own weight. But it didn¡¯t. It roared again, this time it turned it¡¯s head. It¡¯s not aimed at me, but at the 4th layer walls. Shit! I created the wood shields in the wrong place, and the blast vaporised a large chunk of the 4th layer walls. Some of the beetles and soldiers there were killed. ¡°TreeTree! Don¡¯t let it shoot at us!¡± Jura shouted, some of the men were buried under the rubble. Heh, all it can do now is shoot? The spires on it¡¯s back glowed and shot out red beams and it set a portion of the forest on fire. It¡¯s large head roared again, and blasted one more energy blast. My wooden shields caught the shot, but still, the impact caused the space right before the shield to burst into flames. [Constrict] Using vines, I attempt to force the head to aim only at me. [Super anti-demon root strike] x 5. More bolts, and this time, before it could release another round of energy blasts, I took out it¡¯s 5 feet. The giant crashed into the ground, and with it came a huge shockwave of smoke and dust. But it¡¯s not dead yet, the spires on it¡¯s back still shooting beams. Still, I¡¯m confident. Let¡¯s see whether it has any tricks left. [Super anti-demon root strike] x 5. More bolts. I have about 90 bolts left, and have many more super-root strikes to go. It struggled. It roared again, and more energy blasts. This time, I think it used a special attack, because it blasted through all of the defensive shields I had, and then blew up three [subsidiary trees] and then the energy blast smacked right into my main body. And I felt a chunk of my bark fall off. ¡°Oh. I¡¯m still alive.¡± Thank goodness for all the fragments. Well, let¡¯s retaliate. [Super anti-demon root strike] x 10. The hard shell around the main body shattered on impact, and a few of my roots struck whatever¡¯s inside. I think I hit something important. The ground shook, like something exploded inside of it¡¯s body.. It¡¯s head roared again, charging another energy blast. This time, because of the poor angle, the shot went wide and flew into the sky. No chances. I shot out another 10 [Super Anti-demon Root Strike], aimed at the giant head. It cracked, and then the entire head crumbled. The spires of the castle collapsed. A humanoid giant appeared in it¡¯s place. It¡¯s... body is half-hexed, as if the demon-flesh is rotting, and each step, chunks of it fall off, as if it¡¯s melting. If this is what the hexbomb does, it feels like the future¡¯s gonna be quite... grim. ¡°Uh...¡± The giant humanoid demon stepped forward, and more parts fall off. Yet, I see it struggling, as it attempted to regenerate the destroyed parts. It¡¯s an ongoing battle between the demon¡¯s regeneration and the corruption of the hexbomb. ¡°Uh...¡± It¡¯s a demon, and there¡¯s no time for caution. [Super anti-demon root strike] x 2. Two roots shoots out of the ground, and impaled the giant through it¡¯s chest and what I suspect is the head. Seriously, a humanoid demon. And then it disintegrated, along with the rest of the demon walker body. ¡°Uh... is that it?¡± ¡°The walker is down! The walker is down!¡± Alexis shouted and clapped her spirit-like hands. I mentally made a fistbump. I¡¯ve finally reached the point where I can take on a champion by myself. As the body disintegrated, the aura from the spires faded too. The elves, centaurs, treefolks and beetles who are busy fighting the regular demonoids, suddenly found their opponents become far weaker than they originally were. The energy that was resisting and offsetting my [lesser demonic suppression] gone, and now, they felt the full effect of the aura. What¡¯s left of the 20,000 or so weakened humanoid demons fell to the might of the remaining forces. Or skewered in the flood of root strikes that followed. [Level up! You are now level 137! (+5 levels)] [Skill acquired : Healing Aura] [Skill upgraded : Subsidiary Trees - 15,000. Subsidiary Trees gains a share of main body''s environmental adaptations & Auras. Only applies to Subsidiary trees within 100km of main-tree] [Skill upgraded : Woodcrafting] [Skill upgraded : Steelwood Barrier] [Skill upgraded : Root tunnels] Spaizzer Since i finished the chapter, I thought I''d update. Anyway, it''s an easy battle for treetree. And yes, this fic is now one year old. YAYYY (It''s 1 year old on RR) On hindsight, I''m amazed I actually managed to commit a whole year to one fic. It''s not perfect, and certainly there''s a lot of rewriting that can be done, but that can wait once this fic ends. Can''t keep redoing the start, I''ll never get anywhere. XD Next update, expecting around 9th Oct - 11th Oct :) Once again, thanks for reading, reviewing, commenting. Post-battle assessment Year 81 Month 6 (continued) "We lived." Yvon sat. "I thought that was... not the hardest battle I¡¯ve been in." Jura tapped her shoulder. "We still got work to do." He pointed to the many, many injured soldiers, and the dead. The energy blasts from the Demon Walker still killed many, and there was a portion of New Freeka that''s blasted wide open. A whole load of repairs to be done. "But... but... the demon walker was defeated... we deserve a celebration!" The captains said. Jura smiled, "Perhaps. Though I would give credit to TreeTree''s exceptional anti-demon weapons. The demon general would have lasted a lot longer without his demon-draining weapons." "But you would still win." Jura just smiled and looked at a young girl running over, her short hair fluttering. Lausanne ran, she''s covered in dirt, blood, and a whole load of demonic shards. Mostly unhurt. "Uncle!" She landed right in front of him. "I destroyed 87 demons!" "Good job." Jura smiled and just rubbed her head. "Hope you gain a level!" "I hope I gain many levels!" Jura smiled. "How is it, your first true battlefield experience?" "Oh it is a lot less bloody and messy than my dreams. I think TreeTree exaggerated how gory and brutal it is..." "TreeTree been giving you gory war-dreams, eh?" Jura frowned a little. Using the essences, and my own memories of wars, I could somewhat mold the general direction and types of dreams Lausanne gets. I honestly don''t know what exactly happens in the dreams, [dream tutor] is kinda like a random map generator where I put in the parameters, ingredients, and things just happen. "Yeah. I told him I wanted to feel like-" Lausanne then paused. "Oops." Yvon frowned too. "I better check what dreams the other kids are getting, it''s not good to have visions of death and destruction at that age." What, I need to start parental guidances for dreams now? Lausanne shook her head. "TreeTree is just helping, so that I know what to do when it''s the real thing." Jura sighed, "Anyway, not a good time to argue aboit it. Let''s get the wounded to the healers, those seriously wounded to the biopods, and the dead back to the morgue." There''s a lot of wounded and dead soldiers, despite my interference. About 800 soldiers, and close to 7,000 beetles still died in the fight against the demons, the soldier deaths mostly from the demon knights. But then, my new [healing aura] kicked in, and for the injured, their wounds begin to heal, even before the healers get to them. And my new aura even improves the effect of healing. ¡°New skill?¡± Jura asked, noticing the unusually quick recover of his own cuts and wounds, and those injured suddenly finding their strength returning to them. ¡°Yup.¡± The mood all round is mixed, but getting better. Some groups are upset and mourn the death of their comrades. Some are just incredibly amazed that they survived a battle against a towering giant, and of those that survived, a lot of the soldiers would gain levels from this battle. The citizens also got the signal to leave their respective bunkers and hideouts, and there is a big blast that wrecked a portion of the city. I also had to get the mages to help put out the fires, since I don''t have my own water magic. Beetles closed in on what remains of the demon walker. I had a quarantine zone established, and Madeus, our resident wizard, tasked to investigate the remains. There''s a massive rubble where the main body of the walker collapsed, and most of the demon walker''s body disintegrated into nothingness, there are still some remains. The rotting thing that is the hex. Like a sludge, it now pooled on the ground. "Aeon, can you see this?" Madeus poked it with his wooden stick. It kinda latched on, like a slimy thing. Madeus likes to refer to me as Aeon, since he feels it¡¯s inappropriate to refer to me as TreeTree. He poked it. It¡¯s not exactly... a slime, but it sure radiated a kind of energy. ¡°I don¡¯t feel too good being so close.¡± ¡°Hmm, then stay away.¡± [Inspection] A hex, made from the sacrifice of souls. Uh. Doesn¡¯t tell much, ¡°Can you do anything about it?¡± ¡°Uh...¡± Madeus tried to use some spells, the hex kind of just... stayed there. It didn¡¯t react to it. ¡°Can you blast it to smithereens or something?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Madeus did a fireball. Hex remained. It¡¯s not exactly... destroy-able. It kinda just gets splattered. ¡°So... we just leave it there?¡± I ask, this is new to me. Madeus looked at his staff, the hex damaged the wood somewhat, a section that came in contact with the hex rots. ¡°Yeah. I think it¡¯s best we just seal off this area, and let the hex dissipate naturally.¡± ¡°Uh.¡± Hmm... I¡¯m not sure whether I should get near the hex, though. Alexis¡¯s nuclear description somehow made me suspicious that this hex might be ¡®radioactive residue¡¯. But, I have to know for sure. ¡°Can you take a very small sample? Just one cup?¡± ¡°Oh. Okay.¡± I had one of the beetles carry the small wooden container. The almost-black hex-slime seemed to have a purple glow, and really, Alexis took a glance at it, shook her head. ¡°Disgusting.¡± As a precaution, I created a biolab some distance away, such that, if anything happened, such as... rotting, I could cut off the biolab and I don¡¯t suffer the consequences. ¡°This hex thing... it¡¯s created from sacrifices, eh?¡± I asked. ¡°Yeah. Blood magic¡¯s quite special in the sense that it powers itself, and lasts really long. But of course, the cost of it is... usually someone¡¯s life. It¡¯s common in the countries with extensive slavery some time ago, but it¡¯s practice and use has dwindled as the constant use of slaves is... unsustainable, and there¡¯s often a great deal of backlash from blood magic, such as the spellcasters suffering nightmares or perpetual hauntings.¡± Alexis went into full nerdy magic mode. Even Madeus didn¡¯t know that much, but it seems Alexis was a mage, and she did somehow manage to read such things. ¡°It¡¯s just bad.¡± Meela frowned her wooden eyebrows. I think they look like little stems from a flower. She''s got an actual flower on her head now, she says it helps in the whole hospitality business thing. ¡°According to our modern sensibilities.¡± Alexis frowned. ¡°But blood magic is primordial, I recall meeting a shaman on one of the islands we visited, and they used to sacrifice goats and cows to the gods, and they say they¡¯ve been doing for ages. Kind of like our ancient civilisations, Meela.¡± ¡°Which one?¡± ¡°Most of the mesoamerican ones, even now there¡¯s some ritual sacrifices that happen in many cultures. I would think there must be some parallels with how blood magic is in this world. Perhaps, they sacrifice and trade for some godly powers?¡± I take a look at the blackish hex-liquid. Godly? Certainly doesn¡¯t feel that way, but well, what do I know? ¡°How do you plan to investigate it? Biolab? Pour it into your pod and figure it out?¡± Alexis asked. ¡°Yeah. It certainly looks a bit... organic.¡± Well. Yeah. Black, hex like thing. Maybe it¡¯s like sludge, from like... a petrol spill? But there¡¯s a purple glow, so there¡¯s clearly some magic to it happening. I decided I needed more time to think about what I¡¯m going to do, so I let the specimen sit on a little storage container in that lone biolab in a corner of the valley. - Year 81 Month 7 After a brief status check, New Freeka emerged mostly... unharmed. The site of where the ¡®hex-sludge¡¯ left behind by the massive demon walker, by order of the Council and Order, is to be quarantined. So it is now surrounded by walls and guarded by beetles. If reports are true, they will spawn monsters, though so far, I¡¯ve not seen any. The ¡®sludge¡¯ kind of just pooled together into a large blackish pool, and it seems they are somewhat magically ¡®intertwined¡¯, like magnets, that they will naturally merge into one interconnected body. Not that anyone wants to get near it. It seems Madeus said he felt sick for a few days, and I had to check on him. It¡¯s not a ¡®bodily¡¯ sickness, or maybe if it is, it¡¯s not something that [healing aura] or my powers do offset. It really does give credence to the whole radiation theory that Alexis has, but the idea of doing nuclear fusion or fission with souls just... boggles my mind. ¡°I think the [tree of prayer] does relieve the symptoms a bit. I think its all the ¡®negative¡¯ energy from the blood sacrifice.¡± Madeus theorised. Again, something worth investigating. Or maybe it could just be additional placebo from the calming effects of the [Tree of Prayer]. On the political front, the defeat of the demon walker was significant, and greatly boosted the Order''s standing. Jura, is now viewed as a hero, and the soldiers, even those from the Council, now view Jura as a respectful, good man, because he fought on the front lines, unlike the Council who hid, or fled. That meant the council had to shut up on their anti-Order rhetoric, though I suspect this silence is only a temporary one. The euphoria and memories of this battle will fade, and with it, these power-hungry folks will rear their head again, someday. And the news of the victory spread quickly, drawing the attention of the guilds. ¡°The Merchant guild has determined that we are a high-priority safezone in the region, and they will send a fair bit of resources and manpower here.¡± The Order''s treasurer read out the notice. ¡°The guild plans to explore the possibility of establishing a regional trade coordination and cartography center, and also a collection of high-security storage warehouse.¡± Jura clapped his hand. ¡°I must confess I don¡¯t exactly understand what some of those words are, but sounds like a good thing.¡± The merchants¡¯ guilds are essentially like the world¡¯s shipping companies, they are the blood vessels that connect the world. So much produce and money changes hands through the guilds, that they often are able to sway kingdoms into fighting wars for them. But I wonder whether this world has protests against banks and corporations. After all, capitalism can be pretty nasty. The treasurer nodded. ¡°It is. They will be having a proper office here, and an actual [merchant prince] or [guild trader], rather than just appointed representatives. This is usually followed with the opening of a guild¡¯s marketplace and exchange, and the regional contracts department. The council will be approached to discuss the regulations on the markets, once they arrive to survey the location.¡± Jura nodded. Honestly trade is not his strongest suit, though he has improved. Laufen just smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, most of us will attend the meetings, and will let you have the summary.¡± The recent battle also made the elves think about the future of their combat forces. ¡°We need more combat experience.¡± Lausanne looked at Yvon. ¡°The demons are coming, you know it, we know it, everyone knows it. All of us, need to have experience.¡± Lausanne referred to the rest of the Valthorn, especially the 4 girls from the first batch. Yvon shook her head. ¡°I spoke with TreeTree and Jura, and we¡¯re only letting those level 20 to actually join the battle. Until then, the rest of them are staying back.¡± Only one of the girls hit level 20, so she will join the next battle, if there is one. ¡°But Lady Yvon! It doesn¡¯t make sense! We gain levels when we participate in battles, holding us back is just taking away our levels! And TreeTree needs high leveled fighters to fight the high leveled enemies." ¡°I know, but they are too young, and they are not ready. They are not you, Lausanne.¡± ¡°If they don¡¯t get chances, they will never be.¡± Lausanne¡¯s now... 12, so she''s got more opinions. ¡°I gained seven levels in that battle. Seven! I¡¯m almost level 40 now.¡± By most accounts, she¡¯d be classified as a genius. ¡°Wasn¡¯t it you that told us that during great battles, explosive levelling happens? Then why are they not given the chance?¡± Yvon sighed. ¡°I... I get your point. Let me discuss with the rest, perhaps an arrangement depending on what kind of battles. If it¡¯s a smaller scale battle, we can consider putting you and the girls on support.¡± Lausanne nodded. For me, I do need to expand the Valthorns. It is true that I can''t multi-task as well as I like, and when I end up focused on the demon walker my ability to coordinate all the other fights on ground had to be delegated to my tree-minds, and yet, I needed my skills on hand against the walker. So, I need more high level fighters. Multiple Jura and Yvons, to win such a fight consistently, with minimal casualties. Speaking of casualties... There was a funeral procession for those who fell in battle. It was something one of the officers suggested, something they had from where they came from. A practice of one of the world¡¯s southern continental religions, the Urgama, to honor the dead, and the benefits of it is that the dead¡¯s spirit apparently enchants the surviving soldiers to carry on the fight. The mechanics of how such a ¡®magic¡¯ work is interesting, and as a Soul Tree that helps the reincarnation and passing on of the fallen spirits, it¡¯s... educational. ¡°Surely they don¡¯t have time to do such processions when a demon army is on their doorstep?¡± Alexis wondered, the Southern Continent is embroiled in massive wars with the demon hordes. According to the merchants, there are 4 demon-walkers in that continent alone, and inland trade prices are sky-high. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know.¡± Well, for us, the procession went on, and... we didn¡¯t get any blessings. Or at least, nothing I can see for now. It¡¯s all business-as-usual in my soul realm too, people are dying all over the continent to the demon hordes, but thanks to the fall of the demon walker, it seemed the rate of death throughout the entire continent also somewhat dropped. I wonder whether it¡¯s a coincidence, or the walker has some kind of continental-boost ability. If it does, would the King have some kind of worldwide ability? But anyway, it¡¯s still not the end. Now that the demon-walker battle is over, I go back to making more demon-weapons, and research. The whole schtick with restoring Jura¡¯s hand is still ongoing, so... more brutal animal explosion followed, but... I¡¯m getting there. I think. I had to get some help in cleaning the room though, since... there¡¯s a lot of blood splattered everywhere. So I made a quarantine area where the specimen animals remain. And blow up. Or lately, it¡¯s more like leaking pipes. Like the tail would regrow and then somehow a hole would appear, and blood just keeps dripping out of it. And no amount of healing would fix it because it¡¯s a flaw in the ¡®soul¡¯. In a way, it¡¯s like... 3D printing. I have to set up the ¡®template¡¯ in the soul, and then the body would heal in accordance to that template. At the same time, I need to make the ¡®soul-part¡¯, using my new tools, in a 3D printing fashion, putting the bits and pieces in, piece by piece. All of this is from a sudden epiphany, when I saw a key-duplication contraption one of the New Freeka¡¯s smiths had. Essentially, I needed a tool that worked simultaneously, that reads whatever scan results I have, and reproducing it in the soul forge. Also, I needed to also build a ¡®library¡¯ of organs that I can use in the future. Kind of like playing Spores, the game. Honestly, I didn¡¯t know why it took me so long to figure shit out. Maybe there¡¯s mold in my wooden brain somewhere. Oh and on research... where was I? Research Status: Beetle - anti-magma armors stage 4 - completed Metal hyperaccumulator trees - Stage 1 - completed Phytoremediation process - basic - 10 months Ah yes. I have new accumulator trees. These Hyperaccumulators function primarily to absorb high levels of metallic content from the contaminated poop-ground, which continues to be something of a problem, even if a contained one. But I suppose it¡¯s a good time to force the council. ¡°We¡¯re having the upper hand after the recent victory. The population sees us as the protectors of the valley, and TreeTree¡¯s position is close to unassailable. And we want to use that goodwill on... sewers?¡± One of the treasurers tried to debate with Jura in the meeting room. ¡°Yes. Sewers. We need sewers.¡± ¡°Why not more seats? Have our own candidates on the council against the other group? Some of the independent leaning councillors now feel they should lean towards us, given the Order¡¯s secure position as the defenders of the valley. No political power can change that.¡± Jura frowned. Sometimes, the Order¡¯s own officers get sucked into politics. ¡°Perhaps we need more resources for the Order¡¯s military?¡± Jura frowned too. Between me and Jura, both of us generally feel that quantity is unnecessary. I¡¯ll need about three to four months to replenish the beetles, but my beetle army is tough, and for what it¡¯s worth, unlimited and expendable. The only drawback is that they can¡¯t gain levels, but who cares when I have so many of them. If anything, it¡¯s the Valthorns that need to be expanded. There¡¯s really no point throwing more fodder at a monster like the demon-general or the demon walker. - The merchants delivered the gems that provided light and other stuff meant for the hideouts, and it came with an alchemist'' contraption thing, so I requested for one of each for research, which led to an upgrade for my labs. [Biolab upgraded : Centrifuge] [Material lab upgraded : Centrifuge] These gems are essentially concentrated ¡®light¡¯, ¡®mana-sensitive rock¡¯ and ¡®mana¡¯, that, via some fluke of natural magical forces, formed into a gem. There are apparently ¡®artificial¡¯ variants as well, but these don¡¯t last as long as the naturally mined gems. This new centrifuge essentially acts as a concentrator, creating for higher concentrations and enriched versions of... Ginseng. Okay, it works for more than just ginseng. I meant things, but when I was thinking about the possible uses of this item.. Wait. If I need to concentrate ginseng, and concentrating them eventually makes them into gems, that means I should be able to use gems as [soul forge] components? But I tried that previously. When I acquired gemstones. Running the ginseng through the centrifuge I got... [Concentrated ginseng - medium quality] that takes the appearance of a brownish paste, kinda like those kind of funky paste used in exotic oriental massages. Is this it? Maybe I need to soak it in mana or something? Like how there¡¯s a layer of mana on the body? It¡¯s really not going anywhere, is it. ¡°Again?¡± Jura asked. Well, he''s busy. There¡¯s still a lot of demonic movements to keep track off. It¡¯s been a year since the rifts opened, so the demon king should appear soon. ¡°No, I just wanted to test something out...¡± Infusing ginseng into Jura¡¯s soul using the soul forge took about an hour, strangely easy [Ginseng infusion successful.] ¡°How do you feel?¡± ¡°Uh... nothing? Did you do anything?¡± Jura woke up from the quick nap. "Or maybe not yet?" "Maybe it takes a while." Year 81 Month 8 "Will the Council grant us rights to grant us refuge, rights to purchase land and build a mansion?" A royal envoy from a nearby nation of Rajahskan came, with ''gifts'', and money. They were not the only one. Well, what''s happening was quite simple. The royalties of the nearby nation, now that they realised I could fend off a Demon Walker, want to set up a refuge. Essentially, they will buy land, build a small palace where their family can hide. Although the Kings usually do not leave, there are some weird rules about King''s powers being related to being ''present'' in their Kingdoms, these Kings want to protect their offspring and successors by sending them away to a safehouse. Kind of like what Madeus'' allies did. But they want exemptions, special treatment, and the ability to ¡®rule¡¯ over their own properties. Which, is absolutely ridiculous. "It''s politically advantageous for us to accept. But if we do, we must be prepared to accept most of them, except those who have crossed us." A councillor said. A delegation from the Council, and the envoys came to present the case. The Council, being the usual politicians, would like to agree. But Jura said. "This is a decision for Aeon. It is his protection to give, not us" "I do not fancy the creation of a royal district where our laws do not apply." The idea that all these runaway princes come to my place and set up little outposts just frankly annoys me. When I imagine all these stuck up royals treating this little valley of mine as their summer palace, I just feel disgusted. ¡°No. They may come as regular guests, but they will be treated in the same manner as any other refugee in this valley. If the Council wishes to extend any privileged treatment to them, let them know that I will not recognise that privilege, and if I so desire, I will not hesitate to crush them. In this valley, they are ordinary souls, like anyone else.¡± The Councillors froze. ¡°But... but... Counsel Jura, surely Aeon can recognise the value these royals can bring?¡± Jura shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m afraid the Tree Spirit is very firm about not giving royals any privileged treatment. And if I may add, accepting royals and granting them special treatment contradicts why New Freeka exists. Do you guys really want to put up with the whims of royalty all over again? Do you not forget that it is royal conflicts that brought all of you here? They can still come, should the demons ever threaten their lands, but they will be like any other refugee.¡± One of the Councillors stared at Jura. ¡°The Tree Spirit has no concept of royalty, isn¡¯t it?¡± Jura nodded. ¡°He is aware of it, but he does not intend to recognise their power in this valley.¡± Three of the envoys, from three kingdoms were present. ¡°Surely there is something that our Kingdoms may provide, to sway the Tree Spirit¡¯s view?¡± It is one of the Order¡¯s head priests who responded. ¡°Aeon¡¯s Protection is a blessing, and one cannot haggle or bargain one¡¯s blessing, even if you are royalty. Accept, or do not. When you stand before a local deity, what is a royal?¡± I mentally cheered for the priest, good comeback. I¡¯m a bit embarrassed that they think I¡¯m some kind of deity, but I¡¯m too far into that whole religious schtick to bother correcting it now. And if I gain even more levels, I guess a deity isn¡¯t too far off anyway. The envoys frowned. One of the envoys, the one from Rajahskan then said. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that the Tree Spirit of this valley rejects our King¡¯s offer. I will relay the message and I fear he will not be pleased.¡± I told Jura then. ¡°Is that a threat? I don¡¯t like receiving threats.¡± Of course, the envoys couldn¡¯t hear this. Jura smiled at the envoy. ¡°I am afraid your King must get used to it. Aeon¡¯s under no obligation to obey a King¡¯s demands. What more one of another nation.¡± ¡°And Aeon doesn¡¯t not even heed the views of his Council?¡± The envoy retorted. ¡°Aeon was here before the Council was born, and he may remove the Council should he so pleases.¡± Jura smiled, but it was the creepy kind of smile, and the room¡¯s air suddenly felt heavy. A [Warlord]¡¯s Skill, [Heavyweight Presence]. He looked at the Councillors, and the Councillors somehow all took two steps back. The envoy too, took a step back. Then, he took a deep breath, and sighed. ¡°I see. But surely... we can still purchase property in New Freeka?¡± ¡°You may, but your property will be subject to all of New Freeka¡¯s rules and regulations. There will be no exemptions. In short, you will be like any other wealthy merchant who invests in a property in New Freeka. And know this, you will be watched.¡± The envoys traded glances. They discussed with each other a bit, but then they all decided to leave. But I could still eavesdrop on them as they walk back to their inns. ¡°Who does this Tree Spirit think it is?¡± One envoy said. ¡°Our King¡¯s adventurers can chop down a tree.¡± ¡°But your adventurers cannot slay a demon walker.¡± The envoy for another country said. ¡°Or you wouldn¡¯t be here.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± The Rajahskan envoy said, ¡°A powerful druid or monster tamer should be able to sway this Tree Spirit¡¯s mind.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t count on that. Any monster able to slay a demon walker has to be at least Level 100, and you won¡¯t find many druids or monster tamers willing to do even try taming a creature of that level. It¡¯s a life-or-death battle.¡± The Rajahskan envoy nodded. ¡°Perhaps. Maybe a heroic artifact could.¡± The two other envoys eyes lit up. ¡°Ah... that certainly changes things. Is there such an artifact?¡± The Rajahskan envoy, ¡°The Elven Kingdom¡¯s may still possess Roana¡¯s Staff. I reckon a level 80 druid wielding that can bend this Tree¡¯s will.¡± The two envoys laughed. ¡°And I thought you have such an item! That staff was destroyed long ago!¡± ¡°Is it? I had the impression it¡¯s what they used to keep the Guardian Tree of the Elven Capital under control...¡± ¡°Hah. Don¡¯t tell me you believe some of that kind of silly propaganda. It¡¯s a myth to maintain the royal family''s legitimacy.¡± The envoy frowned. ¡°Well... the King won¡¯t be pleased with this. I... I don¡¯t know how to go back.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re in the same boat. I bet the King¡¯s gonna have my head. He tends to do that when he loses his temper.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just going to fake my death. Demons killed me on the journey back. That¡¯s going to be my story.¡± The three envoys sulked together. Are there seriously no good Kings around? Or do they just die because they are too nice? Year 81 Month 9 Another demon walker has been spotted on our continent this month, and strength returned to the demonoid forces throughout the continent. Thankfully, it appeared so far south, nearer to Gila. I guess they can use their newfound sacrificial blood-magic powers, and test it out. For us, we still see small packs of roaming demonoids close to our territories, but they are easily crushed by the patrolling beetles. It¡¯s a bit annoying that we only free from demon walkers for 3 months, but then again, I¡¯m expecting the demon king within the next 6 months. Can¡¯t be helped that the ¡®escorts¡¯ will increase before the main character comes along. Let¡¯s just hope it appears on the Southern Continent, where there are now 6 demon walkers. The nations in the South managed to kill 1 using the blood magic, but it takes more than one shot to slay the demon walkers. So, it¡¯s really quite a miserable battlefield, the Southern Continent. I heard from Jura that they¡¯ve sent all sorts of requests for assistance. Ah, too bad for them, that¡¯s their problem. For now, I focus on rebuilding my stockpile of anti-demon bolts. Announcement next chapter oct 20-21 or so. thanks for reading/commenting/reviewing/rating etc. :) Treelevator? Year 81 Month 10 Winter arrived early. Apparently something to do with moon-movements, according to Madeus, every 30-32 year or so the moons change position and somehow cause this world¡¯s winter to last a month longer. Not sure how that actually works, and why, or whether its magic And fun fact about the world, nobody can agree on how many moons there are. Some say three, some say four, some say ten. The night sky, even with magic, sometimes reveal odd ¡®moons¡¯, that only appear every now and then. ¡°Ellipticals moons.¡± Alexis said, she¡¯s been sky-gazing almost every day. She¡¯s even got a telescope recently. ¡°I suspect some of them have century-long orbits.¡± ¡°That¡¯s like... crazy.¡± Meela¡¯s quite into the moon and star stuff too, but mostly for astrological sign stuff. Some of her guests enjoy that kind of service. ¡°I thought even the biggest planets from our world orbits the sun in a few years, how can something orbit a small planet so slowly?¡± ¡°Or they could just be comets. Not strange for them to mistake comets for moons. Comets have crazy orbits.¡± ¡°Could just be magic.¡± Well, that¡¯s my view. I mean, there¡¯s really no reason why the astronomical rules that apply from one world, should carry over into another world. The forces acting on interstellar objects could be different, maybe, there''s like a 5th magic force, or maybe dark matter in this world comprise of aether or star mana. You know, weird shit like that. ¡°True.¡± Alexis sighed. ¡°TreeTree, how high can you grow?¡± ¡°Uh... why?¡± And that was a weird off tangent comment. ¡°I wonder whether it¡¯s possible for you to grow until well... space. Like a space-elevator. Or maybe you could be like a super-tall viewing gallery and observation tower." ¡°That¡¯s going to be absurdly high.¡± I said. ¡°No way.¡± Well, the required height of a space-elevator is dependent on rotational spin and planetary gravity, no, unless I have some kind of magical item or object that create some kind of ¡®levitation effect¡¯ such that it functions as a counterweight... I doubt it. I recall Earth¡¯s space elevator needed to be like... 35,000km high. How could a tree ever grow that tall? Unless there''s some really wonky magic. ¡°I mean, maybe you could be like... magically super strong that you could support the weight. Maybe you could even reach like... uh... what¡¯s the word for it. Geostationary orbit?¡± Alexis mused. "Or Low Planet Orbit?" Meela shook her head. ¡°I think you should just think about using magic. Magical rockets, Alexis. Magical rockets and levitation.¡± But why would I even want to grow so tall that I reach space? Is there something to achieve there? Fruit-satellites? Or would star mana harvesting be far more efficient because of the altitude and exposure to direct star-light? Or more solar power? Seriously, growing so tall just sounds like... Jack and the beanstalk? Unless. ¡°You know, maybe ancient space elevators are how stories of world trees come around. You know, Yggdrasil supposedly connected itself to 9 worlds, and if you imagined a modern, futuristic setting, a tree-shaped space elevator would be the ¡®gate¡¯ to those other worlds.¡± Alexis said. ¡°Oh wait. Do you want me to explain what all those words are?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± And Alexis went on about space elevators, Yggdrasil, and stuff like that. I sort of recall the story. It¡¯s a fascinating thought, but I suppose there are magical... alternatives to a tree that grows into space. And why would I want to go to space? A tree cannot into space. Or can it? Anyway, enough about space, and winter, and moons. Demon battles intensified throughout the world, refugee movements increased, and news of death, destruction, glory, and victories flood the merchant channels. And that Gila country was crazy enough to actually use the blood sacrifice again And I think Gila used three rounds of that blood sacrifice ritual. Because my sensors detected three surges of magic. But it didn¡¯t kill the walker, though it did somewhat disable it. News reports two of the hex-bombs hit the walker¡¯s legs, and so the walker¡¯s unable to move. Still, that didn¡¯t bring an end to the intense fighting, as the walker did what it could, which was to spawn demonoids and flood the area with them. So, it kinda sucks, because... the walker¡¯s a walking demon-hive. It just vomits out demonoids when it doesn¡¯t move. And thanks to the merchants, there¡¯s increasing awareness that the demonic ¡®camps¡¯ are all hives as well, constantly spawning demonoids, and taking them down would be key to reducing their threat. ¡°I think they are like ants, despite looking like.. Humans.¡± Meela suddenly said, giving a cleaning analogy. ¡°How do you kill ants? Wipe out the nests, or the ants will just keep roaming the entire kitchen.¡± Turns out, she¡¯s not the only one with that idea. Jura¡¯s been asked to support a 5,000 strong force meant to take down a demon fort found in the vicinity of a neighbouring kingdom. A ¡®coalition¡¯ force, a common thing during demonic wars. I recall that Lord Rajjiv Nung was also part of a coalition force. ¡°So... are you going?¡± Yvon asked. Jura shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not keen, and I told the merchants that my place is here. Joining coalition forces are for youngsters.¡± ¡°I¡¯m starting to think you spend too much time with TreeTree, that you¡¯re getting his stationary-habits.¡± Jura didn¡¯t mind the jab. ¡°TreeTrees got a point. Staying home¡¯s nice, and I¡¯ve got better things to do. Like practice. Besides, they¡¯ve got a general, don¡¯t they? Or some of the human elites. They don¡¯t need me.¡± Yvon sneered. ¡°They¡¯ll be fine. I don¡¯t quite trust this coalition force anyway.¡± Jura felt these coalitions generally had ulterior motives, like getting a good sense of what his strengths are, and so on. I think that¡¯s his diplomatic-sense tingling. ¡°Heh.¡± Yvon¡¯s not exactly trusting of them either. ¡°Merchants probably just want to clear that base for a trade route. It is between this side of the city and the other, and they can¡¯t be using their airships all the time.¡± The coalition is partly funded by the merchants, and they will handle the logistics, supply and also provide reimbursement. Forces from various kingdoms would join, usually the lower ranked ones. Battles are a good chance to gain levels, and usually such coalition forces try not to take on challenging opponents, due to the political fallout from a failed coalition attack. Throughout the world there are multiple such coalitions, many based on century-old treaties for mutual protection, or ancient commitments with temples and religions. ¡°But they will insist on someone, and the council will look to us to volunteer someone.¡± Madeus, who¡¯s also in the meeting, responded. He¡¯s not keen either, and like Jura, he¡¯d prefer if he could just study and conduct magic research all day. ¡°I¡¯ll ask one of the captains to volunteer, then. He¡¯s about level 40s and should see more battle experience.¡± ¡°I¡¯d send Lausanne if she¡¯s a few years older.¡± Yvon shrugged. ¡°True, but she¡¯s not. So she stays. We have enough demons roaming the countryside as it is.¡± Well, Lausanne and the Valthorns are now attached to a mobile ¡®cavalry¡¯ unit. They ride beetles, in a way, as the proto-beetleknight squad, travel the countryside and hunt any demon packs that we spot. Helps that I can telepathically communicate with her over the distances, for coordination. A feature of her special-familiar contract. ¡°Maybe Roma can join if he¡¯s a bit older... depending on how long this demon king lasts...¡± Yvon shook her head. ¡°Roma doesn¡¯t seem to have inherited our combat talents. He¡¯s more... into books. Perhaps a mage.¡± Yvon¡¯s son, Roma, is about 9 now, and he seems to prefer being at home with his books. Her mom struggled to get him to practice with her, and well, there¡¯s a bit of resentment between the two. Maybe he needed a father figure. In fact, Roma¡¯s relationship with Eriz is a whole load better, and Yvon frequently had to rely on Eriz to speak to Roma. Jura nodded. It¡¯s between her and her son, not for us to intervene. ¡°Ah never mind.¡± Yvon diverted the subject. ¡°I hope the girls come back safely.¡± Lausanne lead 4 of the girls, together with a group of 100 beetles. They¡¯re headed for a 100 strong demonic raiding force. They should win relatively easily, and Horns is close behind with a force of another 100 beetles. Even though New Freeka¡¯s territory is small, my subsidiary tree network stretches far, thanks to my prior expansions, and with my newfound Aura-sharing skills, the subsidiary tree network functions like ¡®defensive¡¯ lines, a place where the intercepting troops can return, should the battle turns bad. Gradually, I am extending this network of trees further, they are after all, a great early warning system. Trees have eyes, y¡¯know. Year 81 Month 11 Wars. Wars. Wars. Battles and battles, seemingly endless ones. So much, that my soul realm is filled with the souls of the recently departed. My soul harvesters are busy, battlefield after battlefield they visit, and each trip, they bring back more souls. Even as the cold began to sweep through the continent, the demons do not stop fighting. And so, the defenders are forced into battle even when they do not wish it. ¡°I feel a little bad, being safe and warm here.¡± One of the captains joked, the other one was out, as part of the merchant coalition force. Madeus laughed, and then he sipped on his ginger tea. The group decided to have something a bit more cozy, so they brewed a few pots of fruit tea, ginger tea, garlic tea, and snacks. Mainly some fried potatoes, chips, fries. One of Meela¡¯s kitchen projects was to recreate potato fries, because part of the global-domination plans involved being a chain-restaurant, like... McDonalds. So she had to have fries. Wesley, and our priests sat around the meeting room too. ¡°Don¡¯t jinx us. Appreciate that we can still huddle around in such comfort, even when there¡¯s a demon walker around.¡± Meela¡¯s happily playing the caterer. Apparently serving food contributes to her levels as a Hotel-Tree. Jura, Laufen and Lausanne also ate the snacks. ¡°Yeah. Never know when the good times come to an end.¡± There¡¯s a nod of agreement throughout the room. I wonder whether they feel it. That the demon king is coming. I certainly think I can. The strange twitches to my star-mana leaves. The unusual fluctuations there... ¡°I¡¯m just missing good chilli sauce to go with my fries. Or ketchup, for that matter.¡± Meela whined to both me and Alexis. ¡°I need to get chillies and tomatoes.¡± Meela clearly¡¯s more focused on unlocking new recipes for her restaurant. I¡¯m starting to think she¡¯s playing hotel-tycoon or Overcooked, since the whole demon king thing is really just a ¡®distraction¡¯ for her. ¡°The council¡¯s of the view that we should be building more walls, and have the sewer project modified.¡± One of the treasurers speak to the group. Even though it¡¯s cozy, it¡¯s still a Valtrian Order meeting. ¡°Four layers of walls is insufficient?¡± ¡°Well, they thought that some of the collateral damage could be minimised, and we do have the capacity to add walls. As for the sewer project, they¡¯re now thinking of adding bunkers and hideouts to double it¡¯s function as a safe zone from the demons. Should we oppose such a motion?¡± Jura shook his head. ¡°I think it¡¯s fine. It¡¯s aligned to what we wanted, and the city should be allowed to protect itself. But it should be funded by the Council, not from the Order.¡± Most of the other meeting attendees nodded. Then went back to eating. ¡°Any other business?¡± Jura asked. Most of them had just completed regular updates and reports. Discussions on the demonic forces take up about half the time, due to the far reaching implications of the demons on trade, funding, military and infrastructure. ¡°The demon king, according to whispers among the temples, will arrive within the next 3 months.¡± A priest said. In my mind, well, that¡¯s what I think too. This meant the temples may have some kind of star-mana equipment. ¡°How reliable is this prediction?¡± Jura leaned forward. ¡°And even if so, what can we do about it?¡± One of the captains, ¡°I believe the best thing to do, Counsel, is to just keep watch. You are right to say that we have no way to stop whatever the demon king does. Be on the lookout, and move out of it¡¯s way.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Jura nodded. I think it¡¯s probably the best decision as well. ¡°I¡¯m personally more interested in when the heroes will arrive, what powers do they have, and how can we spot them. So that we can stay out of their way." "We... don''t like heroes?" Meela asked, the crowd here doesn''t know her true identity as a former reincarnated hero. "If they are not humans, I will like them." A captain said. "Else these stupid heroes will buy into the propaganda the royals feed them and treat us non-humans as enemies, once the war is over." Meela did not reply. I think she''s trying to remember what the other kings and royalties have said to her in the past. She deftly served a plate of fried potatoes to one of the priests. "Thankfully all the previous generation heroes died with the demon king." It was a priest that said it. "The post-war political jostling is usually... terrible. Heroes who see it as their duty from the gods to correct all that is wrong in this world." Meela stopped. She sighed. Yvon, who was invited for the food, nodded. "Indeed. We should do our best not to offend them, we stick out, with our presence as a non-human nation in this region. But let''s hope the gods spread out the heroes a bit, and that some of them are non-humans. If that''s the case, the heroes will balance each other out. Or maybe all of them die to the demon king." Meela sagged a little. "Never mind, never mind. Let''s just wait and see what happens..." Jura munched on a piece of bread. Year 81 Month 12 The Hutan druids responded that the meetup with the other tree spirits will be delayed because of the demons. Their efforts are dedicated to defending their areas against the demons. Ah well, I didn''t expect much from these druids anyway. I intended to reach out to these tree spirits without their intermediation anyway. I certainly would prefer to have discussions without the eavesdropping of others. Somehow, I have a gut feeling that there will be things only we, tree spirits, should know. Or should I say root-feeling? What would be a plant equivalent of gut anyway. After my recent level gains, and my recent subsidiary tree numbers, I might have just enough to extend one long chain to the Giant Lilypod City, but I would have to give up all the other subsidiary trees around, and that would leave.... The valley defenseless and without it¡¯s early warning system. Ugh. I¡¯ll wait for my next subsidiary tree upgrade then. Or maybe... I can extend half way there and see whether I gain levels killing the demons I encounter along the way. But Giant Lilypod City is way down south of my continent. Hmmm, even past that Gila country where the leg-less demon walker is. Hmmm.... Decisions. - Announcement Sorry guys, not feeling too good. Work''s been stressful, family''s been stressful, and I''m not feeling great, so a short chapter. I felt like a genius when I thought up Yggdrasil was some ancient Norse ''alien'' space elevator. Kinda like stargate, y''know. Or that space-elves where their tree leaves are also spaceports. Treelecommunications Year 82 Month 1 A new year, but same old threats. The demons found the volcano, and now we fight a three-way battle. The native golems, the demonic forces who seemed to be interested in the same mana-source in the volcano, and my beetles. This to me, is sufficient confirmation that the demons are looking for mana-rich sources, and so maybe they will look to my [ThreeTrees of Mana] soon. Without the walkers, it isn¡¯t that difficult to defend these two locations, but I am having some trouble with the demon knights, so I do need to deploy Horns, Lausanne, and the Valthorns. I mean, I could root strike the knights, and I do every now and then, to delay and postpone the battle until I can get Lausanne and gang into battle. The reasoning is really simple. I¡¯m way too high level that defeating the knights is really quite pitiful for my experience gain, even with my overpowered experience gain. It¡¯s far more fruitful to save mobs of this level to Lausanne and the budding initiates, such that they get to a level where they can be of some use against the demons. At first, they were excited. But after one full month of constant battles throughout the volcanic area against the demons, Lausanne and the initiates are beginning to realise the enormity of the task. ¡°Wars are not nice.¡± One of the young initiates, she¡¯s 8, as she sat next to Lausanne at a campsite. She sipped on a small wooden flask containing a kind of healing fluid. There¡¯s a few subsidiary trees here so they benefit from my [healing aura] and [demonic suppression aura], so it¡¯s a relatively good campsite. One of the captains, who came along nodded. ¡°Good that you realise that when you¡¯re young. It¡¯s not a nice feeling going out to fight, and realising you might not come back. We¡¯re lucky that our Tree Spirit watches over us, in this area.¡± The volcanic area¡¯s outer area is mostly conquered by my subsidiary trees by now, effectively forming a ring of trees to block out the demons. I call it, the Volcano-TreeLine. That didn¡¯t stop the demons from trying to break through, occasionally with 500-1,000 strong forces. Lausanne sighed, she massaged her left shoulder. A wooden vine surrounded her, an effect of the special tree familiar. She¡¯s level 42 from a whole month of demon-fighting, most of it from taking on a few demon knights. ¡°Doing it every day is quite different from fighting occasionally.¡± The captain smiled. ¡°You may be a genius, Lady Lausanne, but fighting daily is a reality for most common soldiers and guards in small villages.¡± There was a group of soldiers who also came along. It didn¡¯t look good to leave the fighting to young kids. She nodded. Jura did tell her stories of the past, when Freeka was still the village of Freeka, the men frequently patrolled the woods to defeat monsters. But still, nothing beats the experience of active duty, to know what it¡¯s like. ¡°If only we can stop this for good.¡± The captain smiled and patted Lausanne on her lean shoulder. ¡°Honestly, New Freeka has it good. The protection of the Aeon¡¯s beetles meant we soldiers can fight more carefully, and less frequently.¡± Lausanne twirled her right hand, and the vine formed itself into a spear. ¡°Ah, let¡¯s not have this talk.¡± She twirled her fingers again, and the spear unmade itself into a vine, and then into a wooden sword. This is one of her daily practice routines, to hone her mastery over the flexible vines from the special familiar. She would alternate the vine¡¯s forms, a spear, a sword, a whip, a lasso, a bow. The rest of the initiates watched. To them, it¡¯s a bit like a magic trick. They would rest for an hour, before continuing their journey home. Thankfully, the beetle army carried them. A few of the beetles have things resembling seats, and since each beetle is about the size of a large rhino, about 2-3 could fit on each beetle. Except for one of the centaur Valthorns. She¡¯s one of the younger Valthorns, from the 2nd batch, but centaurs tend to be bigger and larger despite having similar ages. She would gallop next to the beetles, and her stamina is pretty good. The soldiers who return to relieved family members, happy to see their family returning safe. The Valthorns would mostly be greeted by the ladies of their orphanage. The orphanage is frankly overloaded, the number of kids aged 3 to 13 is close to 1,100, and Laufen and Belle are tasked with supervising the expansion of two additional buildings. The population is generally supportive of the orphanage, so there really wasn¡¯t any challenge in terms of funding or land, though the politicians see it like a private military academy, given the extensive combat training in their curriculum, so according to my people-watcher Ivy, there are little pockets of discontent. In fact, the expansion of the orphanage meant about 30% of the Order¡¯s budget is now used to fund the charitable segment. Both the death-services, orphanage, and birth gifts all do not generate money. One of the priests suggested ¡®Tithes¡¯ or ¡®Donations¡¯, but I shot down the idea. I feel if people start giving money to priests, that¡¯s going to just send us into a downward spiral of corruption. So no, I insist on the priests being paid a salary, and no donations or tithes. Instead, the Order has to do work for money. We run a vegetable market, food market, and herbs market. ¡°Herbal soup, herbal soup.¡± Well, there¡¯s actually a lesser-variant of ginseng, grown by our herbalist. It doesn¡¯t have the full effect of the [Ginseng Plant], and this variant¡¯s boost is temporary. We thought of using the term ginseng, but then that might ruin the branding of the real ginseng plant, so decided for just plain old herbal root soup. ¡°Ginger tea, ginger tea!¡± An employee of the Order shouted. ¡°Flavored olives!¡± ¡°Oranges!¡± ¡°Cotton!! And clothes!¡± Yeah. A market. I thought of having a more upmarket feel to the premises, but somehow it just organically transformed into this chaotic mess of a market that wouldn¡¯t feel out of place in any Asian or middle eastern metropolis. I wonder whether this is what the Grand Bazaars of Baghdad would be like. I would usually tune out the shouting match in the markets. There¡¯s only so many times you can bear a middle aged lady repeatedly shouting, ¡°Potatoes for sale, Potatoes for sale.¡±. Listen to it for too long, I find that those words end up repeating in my thoughts too. Thank goodness, like the [rootnet], I can tune out all these chatter. But Ivy likes the market. She says the gossip in the markets is her top 5 ways of getting information. The things ladies share with each other while haggling over carrots and tomatoes is quite... interesting. 95% made up, by the way, but still, that 5% is worth it. Oh. And the bigger orphanage kids are usually tasked with security. If there weren¡¯t in the orphanage, they¡¯d be the ones stealing. I thought it¡¯s a good way to deter the food-thieves, and you know, it takes a thief to catch a thief. Until we got some rather interesting comments from the general populace. ¡°Why can¡¯t we just give our surplus away?¡± ¡°Can we just run charity kitchens for the poor and hungry?¡± Hmmmm... the council already does have some kind of community kitchen, a legacy of the New Freekans¡¯ origins as refugees. The generation that came and survived the move to New Freeka generally appreciate the community kitchen. ¡°Never mind.¡± I decided to just stick to the plan. - The little tree of prayer shipped to Ransalah has safely arrived and planted in a small public garden. A rarity in Ransalah, from what I hear. Sadly, because it¡¯s way too far from any of my other subsidiary trees, it is not connected by root, to the rest of the rootnet, so I can¡¯t really communicate with that tree. All I know is, it lives, and it¡¯s there in that little garden somewhere. My [rootnet] needs to get some kind of wide-area network service. I mean, do we have like 4G transmission trees? Or [Wide-Area Network]? Ah. Nothing much I could do, except to find a way to extend my roots into that area of town, so for now, I hope that [tree of prayer] is well taken care of. It¡¯ll take a few generations of rootnet upgrades before I¡¯ll get there. In a way, my network of trees is essentially a subterranean cable line, kind of like those subsea fibre optic cables that cross oceans to form my homeworld¡¯s internet. Of course, the scale of my rootnet is miniscule in comparison, but I¡¯d like to think, with all the research and advancements I¡¯m doing, I¡¯m like a precursor to DARPA, and my rootnet¡¯s like... root-arpanet? So, I¡¯m TARPA? Tree¡¯s Advanced Research Projects? Wait. Isn¡¯t that TARP? TARPANET? Never mind. That¡¯s horrible. I mentally told myself that set of names is to be forever banished from existence. Year 82 Month 2 [Demon King Sabnoc has arrived] The news came like a wave. An actual energy wave swept through the world, coming from all directions. I felt it, and I¡¯m sure everyone felt it too. But, the wave stayed, like some kind of background... disturbance. Buzzing. Like... white noise from a radio. Jura gathered all the leaders. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°We... we don¡¯t know. None of my [message] spells are working.¡± Madeus looked afraid. ¡°It seemed like the demon king has somehow managed to interrupt all long range communication spells.¡± I tried to check on my beetles. And got no response. I lost contact with all the beetles that wander too far off from my [subsidiary trees]. Immediately, I ordered all beetles to stay close to my subsidiary trees. ¡°Lausanne¡¯s out on patrol.¡± I spoke to Jura. Looks like here, near my main tree it still functions. I can¡¯t contact her. ¡°We¡¯ll have to do it the non-magical way. Couriers, messengers. Escorts.¡± Jura looked, and the captains ran out to summon as many couriers and messengers they could get. Madeus sat, there¡¯s another mage I rarely see next to him. ¡°This has never happened.¡± Well, times have changed. Certainly, this new demon king seems to try rather exotic strategies. I wonder whether he¡¯s a reincarnator. That would be something very, very scary to think about. In the past, dedicated couriers, messengers, or even scouts used to travel long distances to deliver highly classified messages, before the encrypted magical means of communication were invented by one of the heroes a few generations back. These days, diplomats and merchants take over the role of official documentations and treaties, and the magical encrypted messages are the mode of communication for discussions. Magical obsolescence, I suppose. But I suppose a return to the analogue ways has it¡¯s... interests. ¡°What do we know?¡± Jura sent out the couriers and messengers to all the nearby kingdoms, requesting for status updates. A new set of magical seals were made, to facilitate these sort of letters and messages/ The merchants was the first to quickly summarise the effects of the demon king. It seemed they managed to retain some form of communication network throughout the continent, though their intercontinental networks are now broken. ¡°Message spells are unreliable at 10km. High-tier communication spells are unreliable at 30km. Warnings on summons, magically controlled monsters have a chance to break their servant-master link at a distance of 500m to 5km, depending on the type.¡± Hmmm... all my subsidiary trees are still in contact. Rootnet is still online. ¡°Message integrity decays at 5km onwards. Merchant¡¯s guild is still experimenting with supercharging magical messages.¡± The [Message] spell is essentially the communication ¡®backbone¡¯ of the present society. War, commerce and trade all rely on it. A [message] spell is essentially a message wrapped up into a magical ¡®container¡¯, and sent like an invisible ¡®letter¡¯, where it then arrives at the other side as a letter. It is possible to ¡®secure¡¯ the ¡®packet¡¯ by way of encryption codes, and similarly, it is possible to ¡®intercept¡¯ them as they pass through. All [message] spells travel along corridors high up in the sky, known as the Aurora currents. These currents help to reduce the mana load required to travel long distances, as the Aurora currents have a positive, ¡®recharging¡¯ effect on these [message] packets. Apparently, and this is also something that is debated, the Aurora currents were created by some heroes a long time ago, to facilitate their anti-demon efforts. Some day, it¡¯s made by the gods, because why else would the currents be so convenient? It boggles the mind that a supposedly ¡®natural¡¯ phenomenon can be exploited to function as a global airborne [message] superhighway. A mage learning how to use [message] learns about the worlds¡¯ magical currents, and sends the ¡®coordinates¡¯ along the packets. The way I understood it, as Madeus explained it, is that the [message] network is essentially like a collection of email servers, with some snail mail features. For example, a mage who wants to send a [message] from New Freeka to say Ransalah, must know which ¡®current¡¯, ¡®node¡¯ and ¡®sub-node¡¯, kind of like a traditional country-state-city hierarchy common in addresses and old school mailing systems. The [message] packet itself is then wrapped with some ¡®identifiers¡¯ and ¡®locators¡¯ so that it can ¡®locate¡¯ the intended receiver. Or what most nations have, is a magical artifact that acts as an ¡®anchor¡¯ to receive the [messages], sort of like a ¡®post box¡¯. But now, this network is unusable. The chaos is perhaps similar to what happens when the internet went out. Learning the intricacies of the [message] system works, only when the system goes down, is like how people start to study the intricacies of how planes work after a flight crash occurred. A little too late. Merchants especially, scrambled to find alternatives to their usual sources. Trading prices for certain goods started to fluctuate, because the merchant¡¯s ability to obtain market price information from other cities is now gone, and a merchant¡¯s willingness to purchase local goods dropped significantly, because he¡¯s unable to guarantee his own ability to make a profit by locking in another deal in some other part of the world. ¡°How about scrying and remote viewing?¡± I observed the mages in New Freeka¡¯s mage guild, in a discussion with the local merchants. Thankfully, this newfound magical interference from the demon king didn¡¯t affect my ability to see my own trees, and I believe my own energies are repelling that interference somewhat. It really brings back memories. The guys banging on our IT admin¡¯s tables, demanding to know why are the payment systems down, and how soon we can fix it. ¡°Doesn¡¯t work either... and we do not have mages who focus on such spells.¡± ¡°Then what works? I¡¯ve got a warehouse full of goods, and I can¡¯t find out where to send them, or whether the route is even safe! There¡¯s got to be something?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid the best chance, at this point, is a messenger.¡± The mage tried to placate the angry merchant. ¡°That¡¯s too slow!¡± ¡°We¡¯re still trying...¡± Over at the military side, Jura attended a meeting with the New Freeka council, together with a lot of military guys. A strategist under the council¡¯s employ was present to give a quick briefing on the situation. ¡°One, our ability to coordinate our military with our allies is now significantly reduced. Two, our ability to locate the demon king and demon walkers, on a close to real-time basis is also almost gone. This meant the blood sacrifice spells used to bombard the demon walkers is effectively useless.¡± Ah. Shit. That is a bad thing. What use is a nuke if you don¡¯t know where to shoot it? ¡°Also linked to that second point, we¡¯ll need to rely a whole lot more on scouts to monitor the demon¡¯s movement.¡± I suppose they need to return to flares, fire-signals and stuff like that? I still haven¡¯t heard from Lausanne, so I decided to send some [subsidiary trees] towards her last known location. Spaizzer Demon King uses [global fog of war] Volcano Defense Year 82 Month 3 Silence is eerie. Without the communication networks to inform one¡¯s decisions, most travellers decided to stay put and wait. Only those truly desperate, or daring, make the journey. Throughout my network of trees, demons appeared more frequently, and in larger numbers. Given my now-smaller effective range due to the interference of the demon king, it¡¯s also harder to move my beetles from one place to another as they have to travel close to my chain of [subsidiary trees]. ¡°When is the damn messages going to get through?¡± Merchants, some of them have started drinking extensively. It seemed they are in a limbo. Some of them started to band together and just try to make the trip to the next town. A small minority just sold all their inventory and decided to just stay put. ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere. This town can defend itself against a demon walker, I¡¯ll just stay. It¡¯s a risk to go out there, you might not know if a demon walker is nearby!¡± ¡°We are merchants! We do not sit still in a place. We need to sell to make money!¡± Anyway, back to the beetles, the attacks throughout my network increased, and so, with Trevor and Dimitree¡¯s advice, I¡¯ve split my beetle force into six squads, of 1,500 each, all stationed in a different part of my network, the rest of them in New Freeka. I can¡¯t move the beetles as quickly as before, because of the longer route they now have to take, and with lesser ¡®visibility¡¯, I have lesser amount of time to ¡®plan¡¯ and ¡®respond¡¯ to any incursion. In a way, this is a hub-and-spoke strategy, mini-bases for my beetles. Frankly, I didn¡¯t see this coming. I thought demon kings were just overpowered, and have high destructive abilities. Utility or passive abilities wasn¡¯t something I expected. It really feels like there is a mind behind the demon. ¡°Would you think it¡¯s a reincarnator? A hero from your world?¡± Alexis paused. ¡°That... would be terrible, isn¡¯t it? If they brought someone from my world...¡± ¡°There¡¯s really no reason why the demon kings would change tactics this time. There has to be a trigger point. When you fought the demon king, what did you think?¡± Alexis waited, and then she responded, off tangent, but very relevant. ¡°...I wonder whether the demons accessed my memories.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°When I was trapped as a fire-demon. Whether... whether the demons looked into my mind, just like how I saw their homeworld.¡± ¡°You... you saw their homeworld?¡± ¡°I think so. I¡¯m not sure whether it¡¯s a dream or it¡¯s their home world, but after the demon walker, it brought back memories. It¡¯s a massive desert with large spires, similar to the ones on the demon walker''s back, but many, many times bigger, and more.¡± ¡°Okay, now we have two suspects. One, the demons somehow brought a reincarnator or offworlder. Two, the demons took a look at your mind and decided to copy some tactics. Or possibly both are true. Or you may have let the demons in on where you are from, and therefore they can now summon their own version of heroes.¡± Alexis¡¯s spirit body rotated and twirled in the air. She looked horrified. ¡°That... I hope not. We need to warn everyone if we are potentially dealing with an enemy reincarnator. All the nations must treat the demons as intelligent!¡± ¡°Hmm... let¡¯s not panic yet.¡± I do suspect that this generation¡¯s demons are possibly intelligent, or have some kind of thought process to their tactics, but the fact that they only have a small variety of units, seem to imply that there is some kind of ¡®migration-limit¡¯ on what they can bring to this world. Maybe the reincarnator himself isn¡¯t here in this world. ¡°We need countermeasures. We need to do something!¡± Alexis spinned. I think her spiritual body is changing color. ¡°Meeelaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.¡± Meela was happily in her inn. Now that the merchants aren¡¯t going anywhere, they need a place to stay, so her inn is full house. And many merchants are drinking their worries away. ¡°Busy, Alexis. I¡¯ve got a full house to manage.¡± Meela waved her off. ¡°This is important Meela, IMPORTANT!!!¡± ¡°After I¡¯m done with my customers... which is like, really, really much later. Later, okay?¡± ¡°Meelaaaaa!¡± Alexis pouted. In the meantime, I called Jura and Madeus to discuss the possibility of an ¡®intelligent¡¯ demon king. ¡°Demon kings are somewhat monster-like, at least in history. They seek out places with large populations, and have an ability to sense the presence of heroes. Their instincts seem to drive them towards the heroes. They have some primitive intelligence, according to statements from past heroes, but in combat, and once provoked, they are like... monsters.¡± ¡°So, how bad is it, if the demon king is intelligent, say... like an average human.¡± ¡°On the bigger scale of things, it¡¯s probably the demonic equivalent of a very very nasty undead necromancer.¡± ¡°Is that bad? It sounds bad.¡± I asked. Jura shook his head. His knowledge about such things are quite... shallow. Madeus has a better understanding on historical outbreaks. Madeus nodded. ¡°Hmmm... if the heroes can work with the kingdoms, should still be possible to defeat the demon king. After all, the demons can¡¯t level, and the lower level demons, demon walkers don¡¯t display the kind of intelligence that I would associate with ¡®sentience¡¯. So... it¡¯s likely that only the demon king is ¡®fully¡¯ intelligent.¡± "I agree with that theory." Indeed, the demon walker or the demon general did not appear to be ''intelligent'', even if they have some tactical sense. Else, they would not have walked in a straight line towards the source of the Hexbombs. If so, all the thinking must be done by the demon king, and that is inherently a weakness. Jura and Madeus looked at the map. There''s nothing on it, now that we have no data on the demons. Jura shrugged. "Nothing actually changed, isn''t it? The heroes still have a demon king to slay, it just meant the process is harder for them. For the rest of us, the demon king will continue to wreak havoc. Our preparations just need to continue." "True." Alexis on the other hand. "We need to send letters to all the kingdoms. The threat of the demons should be higher." "That achieves nothing. For kingdoms already fighting for their survival, such as those in the Southern Continents, the demons are already their number one threat. For those currently safe, all of them are preparing. By now, no one is treating the demon king lightly. I believe many other strategists and kings must have come to the same conclusion as we did, that this demon king is sentient and intelligent." Alexis pouted. "Our best course of action is hunker down and prepare for war. And pray the demon king isn''t on our continent. As for you, what have you got from all your research? Can you research how to counteract or offset this demonic interference, so that we can restore the communication with all our neighbours?" "...I will get started." - Lausanne came back at the end of the month. They have been forced into hiding, to avoid the roaming demons. With the beetles ''asleep'', they do not have the numbers to take the demons in a fight, so their progress home was super slow. Laufen was delighted to see her daughter again, and gave her a big hug. "Happy to see you too, mom." Laufen was worried sick, even if she put on a strong face in front of others. "We need to stick closer to the trees from now on." Jura was relieved, of course. Lausanne wasn''t alone, her squad had twenty others. Luckily, none of them died. Avoiding battle is a good choice. Year 82 Month 4 "When will the heroes be summoned?" "Usually 6 months to a year after the demon king." Maybe less? I hope it''s less. If the demon king is smart, he should expand as fast as he could and crush all the allied kingdoms. That way, the heroes have less support, the kingdoms stand no chance against a creature like the demon king. If he is truly intelligent, he will use this head start to cement his position. "Aeon! A demon army in the distance!" I spotted it too, they seem to employ a scorched earth strategy and are headed for the volcano. New Freeka won''t deploy itself, but I will have to defend the volcano. After the demon walker battle, I have 15,000 subsidiary trees, about a third of which are beetle-nests. Each tree, with Horn''s upgrades, is home to 5 beetles, so I have a total beetle force of 25,000. I am literally a one-tree beetle army, but I have to spread this force throughout my network. 7,000 is at home, in the valley as its defensive force, and I lost about 4,000 beetles is various smaller skirmishes in the past months. That leaves 14,000, of which spread into the six 1,500 squads, give or take a few hundred. 20,000 demons. There are already 1,500 beetles stationed in that segment of my tree network. The rest of my beetles, the 7,000 stationed at home will take about five days to get there. It''s a battle away from my main tree. Not my ideal battleground. "They... they are headed for the volcanic area??" The Order captains are surprised, of course. They presumed they would head here. "The volcano is a natural mana source. A difficult one to work with, but a mana source. We must defend it, else we will have a demon factory as our neighbour." I told the Order, and Jura relayed the message to a clearly spooked New Freekan council. The councillors are afraid, so the councillors all summon their local supporters for views. Some of them want to participate, they see why it should be defended. Some prefer to wait and hold a defensive line here, in the Valley. So, the choice is given to the councillors, and they gather support. Either send an army to fight a force near the volcano, or tolerate a demon base next to New Freeka and die eventually, anyway. In a way, it is an easier battle since it is just a large army of regular demonoids. There are no giant walkers. BUT, the flipside is my ability to intervene slightly weakened by the distance. "Jura and Yvon, I need both of you at that battle." Lausanne tapped herself. "Me too." Well, I planned on including her anyway. "And you." Laufen gave her daughter a hug. "And the Valthorns. I need every high level person I have at that battlefield. Go, and go quickly. The beetles there may not be able to hold the line for more than three days. And the demons are only two days away." In a way, this could have been prevented had I created an outer perimeter of subsidiary trees, but even that would only give me one extra day''s advance warning. Still, I made a note to further fortify the Southern forest and [ThreeTree of Mana]. Clearly that magic ley line would be a juicy target for the demons, should they discover it. To delay the demonic force while the rest of the forces get into position, I activated [rooting field] and [poison field] multiple times. Sadly, poison doesn''t work on demons, but the roots did manage to delay them. The battle began as expected, five days later on the edges of the volcanic area. I have increased the amount of [subsidiary trees] I have, so that I can keep control over the beetles, and with new [subsidiary trees], the present beetle force stood at 2,500. My 7,000 beetles are a day away, and the New Freekan army of 4,000 soldiers are two days away. The demons? 21,000 or so. The demons themselves are increasing. The demons charged, led by humanoid demons, riding on demon hounds, wielding long halberds and spears. "Fucking hell, they have cavalry." They had demon knights that rode hellhounds some time ago, a small ''elite'' brainwashed humans that chased the heroes, but this is my first time witnessing pure-demonoid cavalry as combat force. Actually, how did the demons brainwashed those humans? Could they be the source of this change in tactics too? Something isn''t right. If demon knights, brainwashed by the demons exist, that means the demon kings had always been sentient. Because you need a certain measure of intelligence to utilise ''demonic-corrupted human knights''. And the previous demon king had manticores and wyverns too. Ah, I need to come back to this thought later. Now I need to focus on the fight to defend the volcano. The demonoid riders smacked into my beetles, we are fighting defensively, using the trees as a kind of makeshift wall. Beetles can fight even when they are partly-crawling on trees, the demonoids less so. I need to delay them as long as I can, until the rest of my 7,000 beetles arrive. Utilising the beetles ability to burrow, the beetles dug numerous trenches throughout the battlefield, all meant to delay the demons. A kind of treench warfare, but these are mixed in between the layers of trees. Some of my [subsidiary trees] are [carnivorous plants], and they chomp on one or two demonoids before they needed time to recharge. Here, at this distance, the effect of my [lesser demonic suppression aura] is slightly reduced, and a defensive battle meant my beetles can still benefit from my [healing aura]. But these things merely serve to delay the inevitable. The number disadvantage was too massive, and they killed 1,500 beetles within the first few hours of skirmish. The remaining 1,000 retreated back to the last line of trees. On the positive side, half of the demonoid cavalry have been killed, and the demon army is now about 19,000 strong. "Jura, Lausanne, Yvon. Situation isn''t good. We are likely to have to fight the demons after they breached the tree-line. There are a few demon knights in the force." Indeed, the demon knights, with their various short-range weapons, made the trenches unfavorable to the beetles. A mistake, on hindsight. Silly me, thinking my beetles are the only ones who have an advantage in the trenches. The 7,000 beetles are still half a day away. The demons continued their charge, and the fighting continued into the night. "Master. Bad news, another 20,000 has been spotted in the north corridor. They are headed to the former dungeon, the naga-hole." Trevor flagged the news. In fact, by the time we spotted the demons, they were already at the dungeon''s doorsteps. "There''s nothing there?" How did the demons spawn so many demons? Don''t they need bases for this? With another battle ongoing at the volcano, I had to concede the former naga dungeon. I didn''t have enough beetles to fight two battles at the same time, so the beetles in that area retreated. Back at the volcano, my defensive line broke really quickly. There really was no way I could stop an army of 19,000 demons with only 1,000 beetle, even if I kept using my skills to thin their numbers. I had to make a call then, I retreated with the 500 surviving beetles, and joined them up with the 7,000 that arrived a little too late. The demons had breached the tree-line and entered the volcano area. "The demons are in the volcanic area." "Should we continue, then?" "Yes. We must defeat the demons before they establish a base in the volcano. We cannot let them tap into the volcano''s mana source." "The men are not keen." One of the captains said. Some of the men didn''t see why they should risk their lives protecting a volcano. "Then die when the demons come along." It really wasn''t a lie. A demonic base next to us? They could spawn more demons, more than the beetles I can field. Still, keen or not, we had to fight. I was not planning on letting the demons get too far into the volcanic area, and already I see the demons fight the native magma golems. The native magma monsters didn''t mount any extra defense, after all, they didn''t even know an army was headed their way, but the giant magma golems were more than a match for conventional demonoids. But the demons were focused. While some demonoids kept the magma golems occupied, they charged for the caldera. And I didn''t plan on letting them get there and establish a foothold. I spawned subsidiary trees, even in this hostile terrain, the army of beetles and New Freekans chased after the demons. They have one day''s head start, and the army passed by more casualties by the wayside. Some soldiers took this chance to collect any loot that the golems dropped, since the demons were not interested. As the beetles and soldiers headed up, I felt it. A surge in mana, a shiver in the magma and earth below. "Shit." I told myself, they might have already started. Demonic energy is starting to corrupt the volcano''s energies, and all the trees in the area can feel the incursion. An hour of climbing up the volcano with this army, we saw the demon''s fortress. Past a field of crushed golems and the half-skewered demonoids, right at the edge of the volcanic caldera, a fortress in the making. It¡¯s growing slowly, but it already has the shape of spires, similar to the spires of the demon walker. There it was, at the center of the under-construction fortress, a banner-like reddish object, the so called demon-rod as told by the merchant guilds. "This.... this is a terraforming army." Alexis muttered. "They plan to turn the world into the factories of their homeworld?" We could see the demonic energy leaking from the rod into the ground, and it¡¯s trying to take control of the land beneath it. But the volcano would not be tamed so easily. This scene somehow reminded me of a game I played, where the four factions used little magical rods to conquer the land, and with it, convert the neutral land into the four types of racial terrains, hell, blight, frost or bloom. "No time to waste. The fortress is not ready, and we must destroy it now." Or actually, destroy the rod first. If the rod is the source of the corruption, there''s really no need to focus on the army. In fact, I thought of cheating, so I created a few subsidiary trees as close as I could to the fortress and started unleashing [root strikes] at the rod. But it all met a barrier of some kind. And that barrier prevented my roots from approaching, and it also blocked my subsidiary tree. There were 3 demonoids standing around the rod, in a mini-circular formation. They seemed to be channel the energy from within the rod to create the fortress and the barrier protecting the rod. I need to stop them, or by tomorrow they would start to spawn demons. The barrier blocked the roots attacking the 3 demons too. Ugh. "Jura, need you to take those 3 demonoids down." "What, where?" I forgot they can''t see past walls, unlike my top-down visual through all my subsidiary trees. The demonic army form up around the fortress, and now we have a better sense of what we were up against. The demonoid army had suffered losses to get to this part, a section so close to the top of the volcano. No matter. 16,000 demons noticed our presence, and they fought hard to hold back our 7,500 beetles and 4,000 soldiers. And once again, another larger scale battle. Without a demon walker to focus on, my role in this battle is to prevent unnecessary deaths. This meant, observing the soldiers, and interfering when they are in trouble. At the same time, I also clear a path for Jura and Yvon that leads to the three channeling demons, so that they can quickly end the rod''s corrupting magics. They are my best combatants, and since there is a magical barrier, I hope they can still physically pass through the barrier. Jura quickly cut through tens of demon knights, Lausanne, Yvon and some of the captains take out a few as well. The battle lasted three hours, and the beetles finally managed to punch through the wall of demons. A path is open, Jura, Yvon and some soldiers charge in. The barrier does in let them through. Yvon rushed ahead, and with a quick slash, she slashed through the three demonic channelers. The rod was almost completed enveloped it some kind of demonic energy, and when the three demonic channelers evaporated into demon-dust, it just levitated in mid-air, un-moving. ¡°Is it done?¡± Jura asked, I sensed the corrupting influence of the demonic rod slowly subsiding. ¡°I think we need to hit it.¡± Another soldier looked and said. Apparently other countries have destroyed such rods before. "Uh..." Jura looked at it, it is surrounded by a black flame. "I am not touching that. Madeus?" "Guard it. Don''t let any of the other demons continue channeling the rod." The beetles and Order soldiers fight off the rest of the demonoids. We should not stay long, I saw a giant magma golem starting to form in the distance. The native monsters are trying to fight back, and they see both us and the demons as intruders. "TreeTree, can you move it, or knock it out? The channelers are gone, so the barrier should be down." Jura asked, Madeus was busy blasting some demons. Jura continued to cut through demonoids. The captains reorganised the men into defensive formations, the beetles doing the bulk of the fighting. I launched a few more [root strikes], and there''s no barrier blocking it. It hits through the demonic flame, my roots just lightly scathed by the black flame, and the massive banner-rod falls down. But even as it collapsed, cracked, I could sense residual demonic energies from it. The rod fell to the ground, dark energies jumped out like an arc lightning, and it tried to create more demonoids. This rod is the ¡®spawner¡¯ of the demonic hordes, isn''t it? "Destroy it!" Jura shouted. "It''s trying to spawn more demons." That¡¯s obvious enough. The demonic fortress and the spires around the soldiers started to vibrate, shake, and chunks started to collapse. By now, the demonoids have been defeated. We''re only left with the rod. But no, I don''t plan to destroy it, just yet. "Take the rod." I asked Jura, but then I realised it¡¯s massive. "What? No way. It''s still emitting that black demonflame. You need to knock it out a bit more." Ugh. That meant I am the only one that can manipulate it? A beetle approached and the flames burned the beetle. I briefly considered leaving it here, but that meant the rod will spawn more demons, and that defeats the purpose of this incursion. I decided to weaken the rod a bit more, so with some [Root strikes,] the demonic energy dissipated, and the rod itself cracked. Still, I could sense some remaining demonic energy, and that''s what I wanted. Good, I feel it would be better for me to hold onto it and subject it to some research, see what I can learn from it. If this demon king is ¡®intelligent¡¯ as I predict it is, then I need to know how I can counter him, whether I can use the energies from such rods against it. No one wants to touch the demon rod surrounded by the residual black flames, and only I had the necessary resistances. I used a bit of my vines and the black flames are unable to hurt the vines much, and I moved the rod. It takes a bit of effort to play pass-the-baton with my vines, tossing the rod from one subsidiary tree to another, all the way down from the volcano, back to New Freeka. This baton-pass took two days, for the rod to arrive back at the valley. Must look rather silly, trees passing a cracked rod, swinging it from tree to tree. It took a lot of effort to get the rod to move correctly. Wait. Why does that sound wrong? "Okay, let''s retreat before the golems respawn. There is no need to fight the natives." Meanwhile, Jura ordered the army to retreat home. I would rebuild my defenses around the volcano after this. [You gained a level. Level 138] [New Skill learned : Vine-Ropeway Network. Vine-Ropeway networks allows you to move things and people from place to place, like a cable-car or aerial gondola system. Must be part of the same connected network of vines.] [Star mana-variant : Consumes 150 star mana : Creates a star-mana vine-network that temporarily folds space and time, and open a portal between any two subsidiary trees or your main body. Allows movement of any one person, animal or thing instantaneously from any subsidiary tree to any other subsidiary. Need not be connected.] (TreeTree presently has 300 star mana, and generates 30 star mana per month) Uh. Wait. This is like that story Jura, or was it Casshern, said so long ago, of the twinned tree spirits that have a steady portal between one another. Like paired stargates. Stick it into the flame Year 82 Month 5 Two moons, high up in the sky. One blue, one white. Alexis says sometimes they change color, and apparently, the alignment of the moons influences the power of certain magics and monsters. Back home, there are stories of how some werewolves gain power from the moon, in this world, there are also certain kinds of werewolves that gain different powers, depending on which full moon in the night sky. It¡¯s certainly a fascinating mechanic to magic. There¡¯s a third moon that moves a whole lot slower, and for now, it stays out of sight. Anyway, my immediate focus was on the now-broken demonic banner-rod, and I put it inside a large lab-tree close to my main body. This is because, unlike the lab which experiments on the hexbomb''s hexsludge, which is located really far away for safety, I am a whole lot more confident fiddling with the demonic rod, thanks to all of my anti-demon resistance. In fact, it''s better for it to be nearer since the [demonic suppression aura] is stronger. There is a layer of extremely dense demon-mana swirling in the core of that rod, a crystalline object that resembles daemolite. In fact, I think it is daemolite. The dense demon-mana protected the core from the probing vines, and I am in the process of overpowering the demon-mana, by slowly draining the demon-mana. It tried to fight me. The demon-mana from the rod even attempted to latch onto my body, but as expected, my body is resistant and pushed back. I activated [natural mana overwhelming], and did what I¡¯ve done in the past, just like how I used the mana from me and all the trees to overwhelm the demon hounds, and Alexis. So, slowly, but surely, my mana begins to break into the rod, untangling it, and bit-by-bit, in slightly less than a month. And then... [Your mana has completely taken over the demonic-presence rod. Demonic rod has now transformed into The Stick of TreeTree. The Stick Of TreeTree retains the mana-conversion and assimilation abilities of the original rod, will grow trees wherever it is placed, and spread your influence.] The strange looking rod now resembles a large wooden spear, with overgrown vines all tangled up around it. The daemolite core, once purple and reddish, now entirely light-green in color. But seriously, I didn''t come up with such a name. Or maybe I did. Maybe it''s my subconscious. Decided it was a horrible name, I decided to call it the [Forest Rod] instead. I¡¯m just too embarrassed to even tell my beetles to carry the [Stick of TreeTree]. - Throughout New Freeka, news is rare. Most [message] services are not operational, and not many couriers or messengers in service, they are often employed, at great cost, to deliver the most important messages. Some merchant groups decided not to wait any longer, and instead, they spend money to hire a large escort force. It''s a well reasoned choice, since the demon king will not die until the heroes arrive. How long could they wait anyway? Messengers, couriers are escorted by riders, and armed cavalry. At this point, speed is key. "Airships. Where are the airships anyway?" "I would think they are reserved for the most important tasks, like patrolling the capitols, transporting royalty or urgent expeditions. Smaller ones are used by adventurers, but charging the daemolite¡¯s usually really... costly." I am starting to suspect the airship I downed so many years ago was somehow stolen. Or just somehow... airships just fell out of favor? Under such circumstances, I would think airships would work, unless something¡¯s interfering with that too. Throughout my network of trees, I¡¯m starting to see more ¡®travellers¡¯. Merchants, and others. A courier from Salah arrived today. Jura looked at a letter, and then casually placed it aside. ¡°They must be truly desperate, to demand that we all contribute military to their defense. What a waste of valuable couriers¡¯ time.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Well, just a strongly worded letter demanding that New Freeka provide protection to the royals of Salah, and support the continental coalition army. Salah¡¯s part of the ¡®organising¡¯ nations this time around, together with Takde and the eastern Nagra.¡± ¡°Nagra. Where¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Further east of Salah. It¡¯s a coastal nation,and it¡¯s capital is actually on a large island just off the coast of our mainland. Funny it decided to play a part...¡± ¡°Maybe demons found a way to sail across the oceans.¡± ¡°Demons can fly, though. At least, elder demons.¡± Madeus added. ¡°If one of these giant demon walkers have some kind of flying ability...¡± ¡°The previous demon king was a floating castle after all... But what¡¯s the point of the coalition army anyway, if they can¡¯t hold a candle to the demon king.¡± ¡°They can act as a big fat decoy.¡± A captain said. ¡°That¡¯s what happened to the last coalition army. A decoy to re-direct the demon king elsewhere.¡± ¡°Ignore them, then.¡± I think all these royal schemes tend to fail in the face of the demon king. Jura laughed. ¡°I¡¯ve never intended to respond. We¡¯ve got enough on our own plate.¡± Year 82 Month 6 Now that I have this... stick, suddenly, a whole load of ideas came back to my mind. Could I do what the demons did? To ¡®claim¡¯ the volcano as my own using this rod? The fact that it has that ¡®spread¡¯ my mana thing seems to suggest, yes. I can. I mean, that¡¯s how it worked in that other game I played, right? Rods spread influence, and if I have a rod, I can do it too. And after dwelling on the idea for a few days, I decided to call on my beetles, Horns, and it is time for me to try to use the demon¡¯s tactics for myself. The trees I have on the volcano has been destroyed, uprooted by the magma golems, but won¡¯t be hard for me to get back there again. 6,000 beetles, charged up the volcano. We fought golems, and giant golems along the way, and it¡¯s a little easier this time around, with [healing aura] somewhat offsetting the natural ¡®burn¡¯ damage from the volcanic environment. With stronger beetles, thanks to the upgrades, we managed to secure a one-way chain of trees up till the caldera. And there we have it. The giant magma golems. Defeating the giant golems is easy. But consistently holding on to it, while saving all the things are dying? That¡¯s harder. I had to personally intervene every time the giant golems attacked, and that made holding onto the volcano exceptionally time-consuming. That¡¯s even before the issue of the volcano¡¯s raw natural mana, which I can¡¯t seem to access. My subsidiary trees also keeps burning from the natural heat of the volcano, and that meant I had to constantly replace them. Thankfully, after the past few upgrades, they are a little bit tougher. I¡¯m hoping this [forest rod] changes that. If this works, I¡¯m going to start hunting the demons for more rods. A torrent of [root strikes] later, the golems are down, and with four beetles helped to insert the [Forest Rod] into the edge of the caldera. One of my [subsidiary trees]¡¯s vines and roots then tangled with the [Forest Rod]¡¯s growing vines, and I felt a strange sensation. I felt like I was in a hot sauna, but I¡¯m a tree. Focusing on the [forest rod], I quickly see that it¡¯s the natural mana from the volcano, and my own natural mana, mixing. I think this might work. And more of those magma golems appeared. They seemed to have been riled up by the sudden shift in mana, and we, the trees and the beetles now play defense. I suppose it¡¯s like tree versus volcano, then? And we spent five days, defending the [forest rod] while it channelled slowly. There really was no way I could speed it up, since the rod itself seemed to just work... automagically once supplied with mana. Increasing it doesn¡¯t work. Maybe it¡¯s like cooking, you can¡¯t speed up a natural process. Not too much, at least. So we endured for five days, of constant healing. all the damaged [subsidiary trees] from all the spontaneous combustion. The heat meant the trees were getting drained of all their liquids, and when they are sufficiently dry, they would just... burst into flames. That¡¯s on top of the attacks from golems. To slow down the effects of the intense heat, I tapped on the waters from the rest of my network and constantly ¡®pumped¡¯ water to the subsidiary trees on the volcano. It worked, somewhat, but instead some of the trees started to ¡®boil¡¯. Which killed them too. But we held our ground. Five days of constant fighting against golems, and I lost 4,500 beetles after 5 days. Battling in this unfavourable terrain meant their effectiveness is low, and I¡¯ve seen it first hand during the earlier battle with the demons. A beetle that was normally able to take on three, maybe four demons, can only take on one demon, because of the damage from the terrain itself. For five days, golems attacked the subsidiary trees and the makeshift walls from all sides, and I had the beetles try to do some rudimentary digging. The beetles suffered much, digging through hardened magma, and doesn¡¯t help that there¡¯s been a few... accidents. Some beetles accidentally stepped on a chunk of loose rocks and then slid to their deaths, into the molten lava lake in the center of the caldera. Or some chunks of ground suddenly erupted and a geyser of lava torched a few threes. Five days. Honestly, five days is just a blink of an eye, usually. But this long ¡®grind¡¯ of ¡®barely¡¯ defending the [forest rod] really reminds me of the early days of the [ginseng tree]. At least the rod¡¯s pretty tough, it can take a few punches. Five days. I suppose I¡¯m not as ¡®good¡¯ at ¡®corrupting¡¯ the land, since the demons were almost done in two. And five days of magma-golem genocide later, the volcano filled with the burnt trees burnt beetles, we completed the channelling of the rod. The [Forest Rod] transformed into a large tree right at the edge of the caldera. It¡¯s massive. And then, one of the longest skill notifications I have ever had. And I mean, it¡¯s really, really long. [Natural Feature - Volcano integrated. Volcano has now transformed into Verdant Volcano] [Verdant Volcano will now spawn Giant Wildbeasts instead of Magma Golems. Giant Wildbeasts and other spawned creatures will recognise your trees and subordinates as natives] [Volcanic Minerals- Passive - Must maintain connection to volcano - Subsidiary trees now share nutrients and minerals from the volcano to its surroundings. Provides significant improvement to crop output, tree growth and regeneration and crop health. Bathing and drinking volcanic waters improve overall health. Resistance to disease, plague improved for New Freeka inhabitants] [Soul Forge : Red unlocked] [Soul Forge : Red increases artificial soul level caps to Level 50] [Soul Forge : Red unlocks additional repair options, and allows the repair of souls damaged by psychic or mental attacks. Improves a soul¡¯s ability to withstand exposure to other kinds of mana and also improves skill harvesting rate] [Dream Harvester Spirits unlocked. Dream spirits harvest essences, soul fragments and occasionally, ¡®skills¡¯, from those having dreams, aspirations, and strong passions] As you have unlocked 3 Soul Forge colors, you¡¯ve gained access to the [Titan Souls]. Titans are guardian monsters, protectors of incredible power, and summons of yore. You have sufficient power to support one Titan. To create a Titan, you must have a [Titan Frame]. Titans start at level 70, and have a level limit of 150. Once destroyed, they will respawn in one year in your main tree, until deployed again. [Titan Frames] are collected when a level 150 person, or a divine hero, or a dragon (or monster of similar grade) dies in your vicinity. Trevor, Bamboo and Horns, who are now at their level 40 cap, have unlocked new upgrade options. Taking these upgrades will allow them to level up to level 50. Trevor Red - blood-path - Requires 10 rubies, and three barrels of monster blood. Bamboo Red - Flower path - Requires 10 star garnets and two boxes of red flower petals Horns Red - Scarlet Steel Beetle path - requires 1 tonne of Iron and 10 rubies. And I¡¯m not done yet. [You have gained a level! You are now Level 139] [Skill obtained : Main Body Environmental Adaptation. Your main tree body is now able to survive all environments] Metaphorically, I felt like I had to sit down and digest all that. In actual fact, that means just... doing nothing. A tree can¡¯t sit. I can move my roots to resemble sitting, but it¡¯s not sitting. Year 82 Month 7 I had a lot to think about, particularly about the nature of my new powers. Firstly, the colors of the soul forge, how many colors are there? I had earlier suspected that there are at least 5 colors, similar to how some trading card games do it, white, blue, green, red, and black. If there¡¯s 5 colors, would that imply a level limit of 70 if I have all 5 colors for my artificial souls? Or if there are more? And acquiring more colors expands the kind of souls I can create, so if 3 colors unlock Titans, what would 5 colors do? Or if there are more, what would those functions be? These are things I think I will discover in the future. Then, the Titans. Sadly, it¡¯s effects are not retrospective, so I do not benefit from Alexis¡¯s death in my hands. I wonder whether it still counts if I kill the heroes when they are weak. Does it? Or slaying dragons? And environmental adaptation. Uh... Kind of lame of a level 139 skill, since... I¡¯m here. At least if somebody used a super-blizzard, I¡¯ll be fine. Also, the rod worked. To me, this rod is a great gamechanger. I can¡¯t make the rod, but I can find more. And then I can corrupt it to expand my influence. It even helps to expand my forests. More forests is good. I like having more forests everywhere. Even now, the volcano¡¯s surface is filled with small shrubs and trees, the once ¡®violent¡¯ mana now a whole lot less ¡®hostile¡¯ to vegetation. I should have more of these rods. So it¡¯s time for me to turn the heat back on the demons. Because these rods are awesome. And for that purpose, I created a new [artificial soul]. Too bad I can¡¯t have a Titan yet, but I suppose Titans are like end-game units. Like Khaine, or the Warboss. ¡°Stratreegy, online. Awaiting your instructions, commander.¡± Damn, I love the fact that the artificial soul can leech on my memories to shape his voice and conduct. I honestly modeled him after the adjutants and advisors in all the 1990s RTS games I used to play. ¡°Good. Here¡¯s our plan. Dimitree, Trevor, your roles remain, that is defense and administration of the southwest forests, the valley, and now, also the volcano area. Ivy, your role remains to monitor the inhabitants of New Freeka. Stratreegy, your role is to be my war room, and battlefield command. Your task is to find, and hunt for these ¡®demonic rods¡¯.¡± ¡°Acknowledged.¡± ¡°As it is, our visibility and scouting range has been significantly weakened, thanks to the interference of from the Demon King, and beetles are only able to operate within a specified range of our [subsidiary trees], this will be a difficult task. But together, we will hunt down more of these rods.¡± Silence. ¡°As such, I am delegating control over 4,000 beetles and 500 unused subsidiary tree slots to you. Get me more of those rods.¡± ¡°Understood, Commander.¡± And so, I let me new artificial soul on its way. I feel a bit like the Overmind, creating new cerebrates to perform specific tasks. Helps that my special project, the [Grand Mind Tree], is going to be ready in two more months. What would I be called, then? I honestly don¡¯t want a name with a ¡®mind¡¯ in it, because I think my mind¡¯s really not all quite there. As much as I try to resist it, my mind splinters, and goes off in weird tangents. It¡¯s almost like my mind¡¯s some kind of multi-threaded computer, jumping from one train of thought to another. I wonder sometimes, whether I¡¯m still Matt. But then, a part of me just brushed that off and pushed me back to my duties, which the valley, and caring for all my trees and ¡®citizens¡¯. I do like my trees. There¡¯s so many of them now, and I consider them an extension of me. Yeah. My mind¡¯s not all there. I wonder whether the gods are playing tricks on my mind, like how they play tricks on the heroes. - How long before the heroes arrive anyway? It¡¯s already been 5 months. It seemed that the courier services are getting more and more active, with more people taking on the ¡®job¡¯ of delivering messages to nearby towns. We still haven¡¯t received any news from the other continents, but we¡¯re starting to get a better sense of what¡¯s happening on our own. The merchant¡¯s guild has finally set up something of a ¡®high-priority¡¯ courier network, using their best scouts and messengers to travel along specified routes. The good thing is, at least the demon king isn¡¯t on our continent. The bad news is, there¡¯s a lot more demon walkers. But that¡¯s a small matter. Now that I am well aware of the value of the demon-rod, I want more of it. So I need to help Stratreegy along. Jura seemed quite puzzled, but once I explained how I ¡®corrupted¡¯ the demon rod, he too, saw value in it. ¡°Yes. Preferably ones where there are known ¡®demon rods¡¯. Jura didn¡¯t want to explain too much, but said that I have uses for them. ¡°Uh...¡± The captains seemed strangely appalled. ¡°You do not have to engage. You just need to find it and report back.¡± ¡°We¡¯d rather not, Counsel. With communication lines so limited, the men would prefer to remain close to home.¡± The captains didn¡¯t like the idea of looking for demons, outside our immediate territory. I could sense their hesitation, and I decided to tap on another source of valuable talent. Adventurers. 20 gold for the first party that spots a demonic banner-rod. And indeed, that helped to mobilise the adventurers. I mean, conventional military men aren''t really looking to risk their lives unnecessarily. The idea of poking the hornet''s nest is strange to most regular forces, and only those with high levels in [scout] or [spy] or [infiltrator], would even think of risking their lives. Adventurers on the other hand are more than willing to take on danger for simple, good old moolah. I mean, at what point does money loses value anyway? In a world where monsters and demons are so insane, why should money have any value? Shouldn¡¯t ¡®protection¡¯ and ¡®safety¡¯ be more valuable? What really gives money value in a world with no certainty of value? I mean, theoretically, if you are more likely to die than ever be able to trade that gold for anything of value, the gold is essentially worthless once you stepped out of the city gates, no? Perhaps one of the gods somehow guarantee the value of gold, then? Acting as some kind of universal monetary authority? Or does the merchant¡¯s guild play that role indirectly, functioning as a de-facto reserve bank? It¡¯s a rhetorical question. I need to stop getting side-tracked. I need more rods. Maybe I can plant them at the lake. Or what if I used it on the large mound of daemolite? How do I get green, and white colored soul forges? Spaizzer Okay, Stratreegy may not be the best name. I was thinking Stratreegos (sounds a bit like Malygos, no?), or Attreela (after Attila the Hun). And yes, finally, volcano conquest, aided by a rod. TreeTree''s gonna go hunt for more... sticks. And yes, it''s a freaking long status notiication because of the multi-color interactions. Think about it, a ROD that spreads TreeTree''s SEEDs. And Titan Souls. Something of a mismash of W40k Khaine, and Aeons from Final Fantasy X, only, made from the death of heroes, or mythical monsters. Level 150 people are pretty much champions, so I included them too. :) Tree Uses Heal, Round 3 Year 82 Month 8 The fact that the rod worked made me ask more questions about the nature of these ¡®mana sources¡¯. Why were my normal [subsidiary trees] able to tap into the magical leyline, yet it didn¡¯t work on the volcano? What made the rod special? I made a few theories, but I must admit these are shaped by my experiences with my own games. The first possibility is that there are compatible and incompatible ''colors'' for mana, and so, if my base color is blue, then red is therefore an ''opposing'' color. So, I would have to go through a lot more steps and upgrades to assimilate an ''opposing'' color mana, hence the [Forest Rod]. That, of course, is just a theory. I had asked the Wisp, but the Wisp is surprisingly clueless about such things, and I suspect only other Tree Spirits may be able to answer me. The second but not mutually exclusive theory, was that there are ''tiers'' to the mana. In this theory, the dungeon core and leyline beneath constituted ¡®directly accessible'' mana, and the volcano''s natural mana constituted ''mana that required processing''. The mental model I had for this theory, similar to the oil & gas industry, which has different types of rigs and mines, like regular pumps, deep sea rigs, oil sands, or shale oil, each with different rates of recovery, at different kinds of technological difficulty. I built this theory on the knowledge that heroes and myself have ''star mana'', and the sick princess was exposed to ''void mana'', so it may not be too hard to then theorise ''star mana'' is like nuclear fuel. So, if we were to lay down the types of mana on a scale, there would be an increasing difficulty? Of course, the fact that I have the ability to produce star mana challenges this theory, like... if I can make star mana, why is the volcanic mana a challenge? Anyway... whether these are ''types'' of mana or ''tiers'' of mana, or even both, I frankly have no proof. Or maybe I¡¯m just imagining things. The rod is able to circumvent the tiers, or whether it is the colors, but other than it worked, I have little insights into the underlying mechanics of how it took the volcanic mana and made it usable to me. So, what I can do, is to keep expanding and growing, use the rods in different circumstances and then observe the outcomes. - Meanwhile, somebody important came. We knew its important, because that person came in a rare airship. Apparently, after some sniffing, daemolite-powered airships are quite sensitive to the magical interference by the demon king, and so many, many fleets has been grounded. This airship, is powered by Quantium, an expensive and rare crystal. The fact that it is deployed, meant a lot. ¡°The Kingdom of Takde summons all high level individuals to assault a demonic fortress. It¡¯s located in the ruins of a once-large city. All individuals above level 50 are invited to participate, and Takde will bear all lodging and costs.¡± The demons have managed to take down a large city, and a rod has been planted. In the ruins of a place that witnessed intense death, the rod¡¯s magical harvesting ability mixed with the residual death energy, and as a result, they started producing special kinds of demonoids. The envoy described it as an upgraded version of demon knights. Bound to the ground, without wings, but they are twice as large as any regular demonoid. The size of a troll or a large ogre, these demons are equal in strength to a regular demon knight, the equivalent of a level 30 to 35 captain. Not a problem per say, but the issue is really about numbers. This rod produced these demon ogres by the hundreds every week. ¡°Fascinating.¡± Alexis mused. ¡°It¡¯s like these rods have some kind of natural-adaptation ability to produce special kinds of units. Like an... adaptive breeder.¡± It¡¯s expected. The volcano¡¯s ¡®conversion¡¯ created special giant beasts. Looking at this sort of trend, the former snake-dungeon might be spitting out snake-demons very soon. I should look into that. ¡°But why didn¡¯t these sort of special units appear earlier?¡± I wondered. Perhaps it¡¯s a condition for unlocking the next tier units, that requires the presence of the demon king. Or like Queens in a hive, it is the demon king who introduces genetic diversity into their population? A few adventurers in New Freeka agreed to join. I had the impression adventurers avoid participating in such high profile demon-related matters unless the heroes were involved, but I suppose some people are going to bite, if the rewards are good. ¡°So... that snake-dungeon, are you just going to leave it?¡± Alexis asked. Well, no. I looked at Stratreegy¡¯s overlay, showing a large map, split into numerous hexagons. It¡¯s an overlay and presentation resembling Age of Wonders, with my main body, at the center. There¡¯s five straight lines of trees, one to the volcano, one to the south-forest, one that goes all the way to Ransalah, one that leads close to the former snake dungeon, and another one that¡¯s headed south, towards where the other demon-walker was once spotted. ¡°I¡¯m thinking.¡± It takes one beetle pod, one month to regrow one beetle. So theoretically, I can lose about 5,000 beetles per month with no real ¡®loss¡¯ to my force. I could consistently assault that location with 5,000 beetles, but it¡¯s probably better to hammer it with a larger force. Unlike the humans, or the elves, or any other nation who man their force with non-renewable lives, my beetles essentially allow me to fight the demons with their own strategy, a war of attrition. Outside of my own extremely overpowered abilities against demons, this is my second advantage against demons. ¡°How about your spiders? They¡¯ve not been seeing use. Outside making webs here.¡± ¡°They¡¯re anti-air... and are campers. They¡¯re not suitable as an invasion force. Beetles, being a mobile unit, are kind of like... cavalry.¡± ¡°Your other beetle-variants? The dungbeetles, or the spear-beetles?¡± I looked at the map again. Visibility is still crap. A comparison to age of wonders would be being able to see only one or two ''hex'' away. ¡°So... TreeTree, would you want to send anyone to join the Takde¡¯s force?¡± Jura interrupted my thoughts, the envoy met a whole load of other adventurers and fighters. ¡°No.¡± I¡¯ll deal with them separately. ¡°Get me a map of where that location is.¡± I¡¯m still very happy that I can actually ¡®see¡¯ now, instead of just ¡®spirit vision¡¯. I can read maps! Apparently Takde¡¯s airship is already filled with other adventurers the envoy picked up. It¡¯s going to be a rather massive force, and the Takde High-King intends to use a large collected group of high leveled adventurers as a sledgehammer. ¡°What about the coalition army that Salah¡¯s leading? Or was it Nagra?¡± ¡°It¡¯s participating, of course. But to minimise casualties, they need this high leveled force. Every week delay increases the demon-ogre force by a few hundred.¡± Jura explained. Alexis magically created a floating, holograph-like map. ¡°So, either strike early with a smaller force, or strike later and face a bigger standing army. Sounds like fun.¡± From Ransalah, a chain of trees up to the Takde Demon Fort wouldn¡¯t be too far. I want to see the demon-ogres for myself, whether they really are the threat that the envoys say it is. ¡°So... you¡¯re going to sweep in to save the day?¡± Alexis asked. ¡°The beetles won¡¯t get there in time. Not with that kind of distance.¡± ¡°Even with your new ability?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a pulley system based on vines, it¡¯s better for goods, and it''s not fast.¡± Pulley systems exist in this world. Many ports have engineers who design large contraptions to help with moving goods. It seemed one of the heroes, a long time ago, did manage to introduce some rudimentary container system, though the practice is competing with magical holding bags. ¡°So what¡¯s your plan? Just create a chain of trees and watch the battle?¡± Alexis didn¡¯t seem too impressed. ¡°Honestly, yes. I like seeing new types of demons. I think it¡¯s fascinating, and it gives us insights into how intelligent this demon king is.¡± Alexis frowned. The airship with the adventurers left. There¡¯s some information trading as well. - Some of the adventurers we hired did come back with some targets. And after a few battles with smaller demon bases, this is where I made a discovery. The rods must be collected, either when they are unused, or still under construction or in transport. Once fully channeled and transformed into a ¡®base¡¯, or a ¡®fort¡¯, most of that mana-corrupting ability is lost. Left untouched, the fully channeled rods can still continue to generate ¡®small¡¯ amounts of demonoids, but they lose most of their ¡®base-creation¡¯ ability. In short, a single-use item. Ugh. I had the idea of smashing some demon bases, and stealing the rods, but it makes more sense that the rods are mostly a single-use item. Back to the drawing board. Year 82 Month 9 [Completed The Grand Mind Tree project]. The grand mind tree resembles a bunch of walnuts stacked on top of each other, the entirely of the Mind Tree is wrinkly, with multiple branches twirling around. Located just next to me, the moment it¡¯s fully completed, I could see it glow a faint greenish light. And then I had a massive, massive headache. For a good... one hour. But only one hour. I''ve had worse headaches. [Mind Control resistance significantly increased. Each of your artificial minds will now act as ¡®counterchecks¡¯ against attempted mind control attacks. Mind control must now apply to more than half of your artificial minds to work.] Ah wonderful. The blockchain node approach to mind control resistance. Also, my awareness of soul matters suddenly took a giant leap. If I focus, I can now observe greater details in the folds of my [soul realm]. And most importantly, the processing power to alter souls at a fine level. It¡¯s been something that I wanted, something I figured might solve what I have been facing with Jura. After a string of successes with smaller rats and animals, I tried moving onto bigger things, and realised... I just couldn''t. I had ¡®resolution¡¯ issues. Because I couldn¡¯t create a ¡®canvass¡¯ big and detailed enough. That meant, I would work halfway and realised I couldn''t copy more. Even with a live version as a reference. It was like working with a forced 600x480 resolution when I needed ten times that. This [grand mind tree] is kind of like a massive RAM and solid state harddisk. ¡°Jura. Soul forge, now.¡± With the grand mind, I now have what I needed to create a functional copy of the ¡®hand.¡¯ He looked puzzled, but he¡¯s not one to challenge me that much. So he agreed. I had Lausanne and Laufen gather all sorts of materials, animals and place them around my main tree. With all three [soul forge : red, blue and black], I draw the mana from all over my network of trees, and they appear as three separate balls of energy, one blue, one red, and one black. This distinction is also made possible by the improved mana-manipulation ability from the [grand mind tree]. And from the [soul realm], I took a bunch of the soul fragments, and started to form the shape of a hand. Jura¡¯s now asleep inside, the vines pumped nutrients and mana. And three viney feelers, ethereal, both ¡®physical¡¯ and ¡®spiritual¡¯, reach into his body, and pulls his soul out. Just partly. It revealed an elf-shaped soul, but with one hand gone. A gap. It¡¯s rounded now, like a soul-version of a stump. Two more feelers appear and touch the other, still present hand. The Grand Mind Tree glowed, and in sync, another feeler started to work on the floating hand, formed from the broken soul fragments of the dead. With the mental processing and storage power of the grand mind tree, the necessary ¡®mental¡¯ capacity to copy all the details of his existing hand. And we started to work. Ivy and Trevor acts as my assistants. They helped maintain some of the mana flow, and regulated the [soul forge]. Cocooned in mana, it took a good four hours, and the floating hand now resembled the other, with the necessary corrections. Previously I could only do 3 hours. It had all the vessels, muscle strands and bone shapes, a perfectly flipped copy of the other hand. Then, multiple ethereal feelers appeared, and it cut into the stump on Jura¡¯s soul. It¡¯s a slow process, slowly, using the fragments of souls to create all the components, and joining the existing soul to this new hand. Bit-by-bit, vein-by-vein, bone-by-bone, strands of muscle joined their counterparts on Jura''s soul. This took another four hours, and day had now turned into night. There were people looking for Jura, but Laufen sent them off. The three glowing mana balls entered the ¡®new¡¯ hand, and then, the energies mixed and bound them together. Before I woke Jura, I checked. And double-checked. I made sure I fixed every part of the connection. Trevor and Ivy helped to check as well. Checking my own work took another two hours. I had to be sure. If I lose Jura to my own mistakes, I''m not sure how I can forgive myself. But after that, I felt I was okay. Jura''s body is stable. Gently his soul returned back to his body, and then I used the [biolab] functions to check another time. 15 minutes. He''s alright, soul spring appears stable. There''s a new section in there. I injected something, and roused him from his slumber. Jura woke up and shouted. He felt immense, immense pain. Because what was once a ¡®stump¡¯, was now something he can feel in his soul. The loss, the lack of a hand, the pain that once was, all of it returned. He shouted. But now, I can apply healing magic. With more... surgery. And I sent him back into sleep. I had to wake him to check his response. This time, with real physical feelers, inside a biopod, I cut into the physical stump on his body, and started to apply [healing]. And instead of healing back to a stump, it started to form a hand. I did it slowly, making sure the recovery of the hand didn''t cause any cuts or gaps that would leak blood. Trevor and Ivy helped monitor his vital stats. And after another two hours of slow ¡®reconstruction¡¯, Jura woke up to find that he had... both his arms. Jura was speechless when he saw his returned hand. He touched it, and he felt it. And he just stared at his ¡®new¡¯ hand for a good 15 minutes, just moving his fingers, his wrist, his muscles. I decided to just let him have his moment. He sat, and he cried for a while. ¡°TreeTree... you... fixed my hand. Only gods and their miracles can do such things. Maybe... maybe heroes too.¡± Great, I took so long to do something a hero probably could do in his sleep. ¡°I didn¡¯t know I could too. So... uh... be gentle with your new hand?¡± I wasn¡¯t sure whether everything¡¯s fine yet, even though all the stats from [biolab] are positive. ¡°Yeah.¡± He stretched it. ¡°It... It still feels kind of strange to be having my own hand, and not Bamboo¡¯s wood hand. I¡¯ll be careful.¡± When he stepped out of the biopod room, everyone gasped. Jura smiled, ¡°Hey. TreeTree made a hand.¡± - ¡°So... that tree makes you smarter?¡± Alexis asked. ¡°Is it like your brain, but... bigger?¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s just a special-tree type I have, increases research, and improves my mental resistances.¡± ¡°Huh. For something that takes up so much resources, and almost two years to grow, I expected it to be more... impressive. Like, warp space-time or something.¡± ¡°I believe there are abilities that I have yet to discover.¡± ¡°But I guess you needed it to fix Jura¡¯s hand. That¡¯s pretty good.¡± Alexis mused, and looked at the magical labs. ¡°Too bad you can¡¯t fix this magical interference. Could it create like a psychic bubble to push back the demon king¡¯s interference? You know, like erm... Professor X¡¯s ¡± ¡°Why?¡± How¡¯d that link ¡°Well, you can fix this newsless world for a change.¡± ¡°Hah.¡± I¡¯m a bit torn. Should I care about the outside world? I like just caring about growing more trees, spreading trees from place to place. I like just looking after what¡¯s mine, my forests, and my valley, the trees that I have. Wait. Was that me? But then, the world¡¯s never going to just let me be. A part of me, echoes the words of Gewa, that I have great power, and I should use it to fight the demons. The lives that could have been saved if I did something. Yet, that earlier part of me resists that notion. I wonder whether this is the ''tree'' part of me that just wants to mind my own business, and focus on just growing trees. Helping trees. Trees are my friends, my family, and they are mine, in a way these elves and humans can never be. Maybe a part of me feels that they, these trees are... me. I sometimes think about where all these come from, a yearning for self preservation? A collective instinct for self-preservation, drawn from the thoughts of all the trees? Is this world, and all these artificial minds and grand mind tree, unknowingly influencing my thought processes? Is it deliberate? Or is there something like how the gods can subtly guide one'' thoughts in a particular direction without one knowing? Again, why do my mind wander like that? I was having a discussion on the demons, was I not? "TreeTree, you... okay?" Alexis seemed puzzled. ¡°You just stopped... talking.¡± "I... have a lot on my mind." "Ah, because you actually have a mind, now." Alexis pointed to the mind tree. She laughed. "I was wondering where you did your thinking, like... is there a brain in your tree? Or are you like jellyfish and the roots in the ground function like some neural network?" "Uh." Well, I¡¯m beginning to suspect it is some kind of neural network. Or is it overstimulation from all the data coming in from all those other trees? "Never mind. I often make jokes that only I find funny." Alexis shrugged. "Yes. Back to subject. Demons." There''s a big fight with the demon ogres. The Takde''s force of 1,500 high leveled adventurers and fighters was super impressive, and it managed to crush the force at the demon city. The battle lasted for about half a day, and they were successful. Of course, I had some trees nearby to watch the action. The demon ogres are just giant versions of their own demonoid soldiers, nothing much to be afraid of, and their combat ability is less than a captain. The kingdom of Takde exaggerated the threat, but I suppose that helps to ensure a smooth defeat of the demons. The adventurers and generals did have to work a bit harder against the few demon-generals, but they still vastly outleveled most of the demons. And, as a bystander, I witnessed many high level skills used by some of the higher leveled adventurers. Yet, even the best of them are just about level 80 to 90. I suppose its a bit of a letdown, on both the adventurer and demon fronts, but hey, guess the variants the demon-rods make aren''t that overpowered, unless the source itself is powerful. Or maybe... there are more powerful variants? Maybe the demons capture a dragon cave or cemetery and start to spawn dragon-demons? That, would be a hell of a sight. Announcement sorry for the delay, life happened. Update for 28/11/2019. I''ve started advance chapters on Patreon. For $3, read one chapter/one week ahead. Regular chapters will be released on 4 Dec 2019. Why? Because I''m temporarily jobless (between jobs) XD P67 – Wintree Year 82 Month 10 After the demon base over the ruined city was destroyed, the ''captured'' souls were gradually released. The city, a field of death of many, had many wandering souls, spirits, and the rod caught on to them and leeched off their energies. I could tell, because now that my trees are nearer to this location, some of these lost souls entered my soul realm, and their condition looked pretty bad. It seemed the demonic interference also meddled with the navigational abilities of souls. Would it be like Warp Immaterium? Now corrupted by the presence of the demon king? Ah, well. [Class seeds - Knight x 6 received] [Class seeds - Paladin x 2 received] [Class seeds - Ranger x 4 received] [Class seeds - Mage x 4 received...] [Skill seeds - various classes...] The souls, as they return to the [soul realm], gave me various class and skill seeds. Many of those perished in combat, many more in the chaos after the demonic army breached the walls. These are the fragments, as they die the things that held their soul spring together starts to break apart. So, I might as well pick it up. After all, once they enter the soul realm, only the inner soul is needed for reincarnation. "It''s a horrible thing, for these souls, that even in death they have to serve the demons for a while." "Different demons, or are we talking about the same demons?" I asked Alexis. If these ''demons'' are extraplanar in nature, isn''t the term ''aliens'' more appropriate? "Yeah... but I mean, the native demons of the world are more of... djinns. Or like... dark-faeries who make unfair deals. Any resemblances on the physical appearance is coincidental, because what powers them underneath it all, is very different. These demons... are invaders.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯ve seen it. To the most of the mortals fiddling with demons, I¡¯m not sure if they know. But heh... too bad there aren¡¯t any demon-hunter classes.¡± ¡°There are. I guess you¡¯re just unlucky. But then, paladins can gain skills that boost damage against demons.¡± But if they are aliens, why do they benefit from the same ''boosts''? The skill system clearly acknowledges that they are demons. Even my own skills consider them demons. Or is this some kind of godly classification? ¡°Hmmm...¡± I wonder whether I can just plant these class and skill seeds and let them grow, so that I have more such seeds. Each of these class seeds gives one level in that class to the person that consumes the fruit made from these seeds. But second helpings do nothing. Skill seeds on the other hand, there are specific types, and generic types. Specific types will grant a skill in the type, if the person has a compatible class. Generic ones, will grant a skill from that class¡¯s pool of skills. In a way, generic ones are stronger, since it¡¯s theoretically possible to give someone one class seed, and multiple generic skill seeds to let him have multiple skills. They are seeds, right? [You can compress 10 class seeds or 10 skill seeds of the same type into a ¡®class tree¡¯ or ¡®skill tree¡¯. These class or skill trees produce 1-3 seeds every year.] Oh. It¡¯s theoretically possible to create an orchard of these class trees and skill trees? I mean, if I have a 100 paladin seeds, I can create a 100 paladins, right? Level 1, for sure, but still, a 100 paladins! What if I have crazy powerful classes like [kings] or [heroes] or [emperors]? What happens if I give a 100 people all [king] classes? Do they fight each other for a chance to be king? What if I have a 100 knight seeds, and have them fight each other to level up? That¡¯s possible, right? A survival of the fittest gauntlet to produce a strong fighter? Sounds like something out of those mobages where one fuses units together to level up. Why can¡¯t I just fuse those class seeds together? Wouldn¡¯t fusing class seeds create hybrid classes? Or this world¡¯s classes don¡¯t work like that? [Class fusion and creation requires a compatible class or creature type and the divine gift - Taskmaster, or the divine gift - Evolutionist] What. It¡¯s possible! And divine gifts?? What is that? ¡°So... are you doing anything with those class seeds?¡± Well, I¡¯m sitting on a lot of class seeds, skill seeds and experience seeds. I think I have enough experience seeds for about 20 levels now. Too bad only class and skill seeds can be multiplied, else, imagine a fruit that gives levels? That¡¯s really overpowered isn¡¯t it? But skill seeds are pretty good too, since they give new skills. If I could create a skill seed-tree that produces a strong skill every year, I could have a team of very highly-skilled fighters. ¡°Uh... nothing.¡± For the experience seeds, I¡¯d like to use it on Lausanne or Jura, or Laufen, but Lausanne continued to gain levels from all the demon fights she participated in. So there¡¯s really no need to use it now. The rest of the Valthorn Initiates too are on the lower side of the levels, so they are still able to gain levels. - ¡°Commander." A part of me feels happy every time I get called that. Really felt like the days when I am playing RTSs as a kid, only, well, I am fully immersed in it. Stratreegy has been really busy with all the demonic movements. He deployed another 3,000 beetles, and [subsidiary trees] to go with it, to hunt for more rods. He wants to get his first rod. He''s thirsty. ¡°Glory to the Countree. We will expand our reach." He even has a catchphrase, like what usually happens when a player selected a unit in an RTS. Uh. Did he just invent a new name for the state? Countree of Freeka? Does that make me the primogenitree? Count-Tree Aeon? Anyway, focus, focus. Stop getting distracted. Grand Mind Tree, if you can, help me stay on track. Demon rods, well, the issue really is intercepting the rods before they are fully deployed. Maybe someday I can get the necessary powers to make my own rods, rather than robbing the demons for their rods. "Operation Rob the Rod status update. We are pursuing a small demonic base that''s just been spotted. The beetles will attack the rod as soon as we spot it to disrupt its channelling." Well. The attack failed to secure the rod. The demons were able to protect the base until it was fully channeled, and because it was located in an open space, there was nothing slowing down the channel. The demon rod''s channel time is correlated with the ambient magic energy in the area, so using the rod in a regular plains doesn''t take very long. Ugh. Next target. "Please bestow your punishment on me for my failure, Commander." Stratreegy wasn''t happy. "Do a post mortem and tell me what you think, can improve your chances for success." "Maybe... maybe you should flip it around. Look for magical places, and lure the demon rods to them." Alexis suggested. "Genius!" I mean, why didn''t I think of it? All these minds and I can''t get a good idea? - News from the southern states of the continent. A demonic walker has been spotted swimming across the ocean. The southern naval states are forming an armada to intercept the walker before it hits land. "This means the southern continent is done for." Jura looked at the parchment. "Else, why would the walker make the journey across the ocean." "Intercepting the walker before it hits land is a good idea. The regular demonoids are unable to fight on water." "Could the demonoids be... I don''t know... walking beneath the oceans? Like that... pirate movie where the undead marched underwater?" Alexis asked. "I mean, they aren''t exactly living things, right, so... they may be able to function in water just as well as on land." That''s a good point, Alexis. So I asked Jura and the leadership team. "Uh... there have been documented records that some generations of demons were able to function underwater, or fly... But walking underwater is not something that has been observed." Madeus explained, he rummaged through a few massive tomes. "But... Aeon is right, nothing rules out that possibility that the demons could simply walk underwater." "So..." "Perhaps it is a trap? I mean, what would the naval forces be able to do? Shoot cannons and fire spells at the walker until it somehow sinks? But if it doesn''t breathe, that doesn''t change a thing, does it?" Jura thought out loud. "Whatever the outcome, I feel it doesn¡¯t change that we¡¯re going to have more demons from the south, so we need to increase our southern-sector defenses." This does mean I need to widen my net of [subsidiary trees], but I¡¯ve already deployed most of my subsidiary trees. I need my next level up. 15,000 trees is pathetic, compared to the kind of numbers the demons can put out. I¡¯d like to be a tree supercluster with billions, no, trillions of trees. I mean, if I could somehow become a massive forest that covered the entire continent, I could take on the demon king myself. I mean, I could just keep throwing beetles and trees at it until I win by attrition. That''s what ants do. That''s what invasive plants do. Outnumber and overpower. I would like to see a world where trees ruled the entire world. Where there are all kinds of trees, from the north pole to the south. Maybe trees on the moon, and other planets. Earth was once like that. If I¡¯m back home, I could solve global warming by just spawning trees everywhere. I recall reading some articles while working that a few billion trees would help fix the whole carbon dioxide emissions thing. - Anyway, I wanted to gather my thoughts. So much had happened, so many places to watch, a whole load of news from all over the world. I have had so many new skills, and faced new foes. Since the end of the year is coming, it¡¯s time for me to do a bit of a checkup. Maybe I should do such things once a decade, or maybe once every few years, since a year¡¯s really short to me. Introspection, or I suppose, intreespection is very much overdue. Wait! Didn''t I assign one of the artificial souls to keep track of things for me? ¡°TREVOR!¡± "Apologies master. I had minimised the task manager when the demon king spawned." Trevor noted. "Pulling it out now and updating. Volcano... completed. Airship... pending. Research and Upgrades.... suspended due to demon king. Mineral hunting... suspended due to poor visibility and reduced beetle range. Rune deciphering.... no progress." "Is that all?" "The task list remained what was given 5 years ago." "You didn''t add new things to it?" "..." Trevor didn''t reply, but then I think he either needs explicit instructions, or he isn''t sure what needs to be included. The artificial souls have quite a bit of ability, and they are able to make judgements in their fields of expertise. But I suppose being artificial, their ability to make judgements and self-organising doesn''t apply to all fields and all kinds of tasks. Then again, even a regular folk has different parameters for tasks. Some people are better able to judge cooking ingredient sizes than others. Trevor''s really good at forest management and he can decide on the direction of growth of plants, decide when to cull and replace normal trees that have gotten sick, or damaged due to animals or monsters. So, perhaps this issue of judgement is a matter of.... unfamiliarity? "Never mind." I wouldn''t have been able to handle that much anyway. "Where are we on the sewage issue?" "The newer hyperaccumulators trees are performing well, and we are introducing layered trees to the area. However, utilising 1,000 subsidiary trees to contain and process sewage and high magical toxin fecal matter is honestly not the best application of the subsidiary trees. I would recommend further research into the hyperaccumulator trees, as the single metal/magic type restriction on trees mean we have to utilise multiple trees adapted to different materials to remove all the toxins." "Ah. Upgrades...¡± The demon king¡¯s interference meant most of the merchant networks are down, and inter-continental traffic slowed down significantly. What this then means for me, is that I am unable to purchase the materials needed to upgrade my 3 artificial souls, without incurring significant spending, and without the usual delivery guarantee. ¡°No progress, master.¡± Of course, rare gems are rare. Even if I could mine some of the gems, it remains that there are other materials that would be located far away. ¡°Ivy, Dimitree, what else is being worked on? Anything of note?¡± ¡°Observation of the citizens in ongoing. Nothing to report.¡± Dimitree¡¯s turn. ¡°Defense is strong. Preparations and traps for the southern demonic incursions are ready.¡± Winter is coming. Year 82 Month 11 A fairly quiet month for the valley. Maybe it¡¯s the cold. During this month, Lausanne and the Valthorns spent a lot of time fighting smaller demonic incursions. It¡¯s good for their experience, and they do need it. The second strongest girl in that Valthorns is now level 18, and that¡¯s pretty decent at the age of 9. I recall Lausanne only reached level 16 at age 9. It¡¯s partly due to a mix of starting early, and being exposed to the effects of all the leveling skills. It¡¯s still a long way for them. Stratreegy¡¯s also busy extending trees to places where the demons might want to establish a base. We want to lure them there, just as the volcano did. I do hope to mount an offense against the snake dungeon and retake that location, but I¡¯m waiting for more information to come in. Not easy when the cold reduces the operating range of beetles. According to recent courier reports, another demon walker has been spotted in the south, on top of the one that¡¯s immobile. That makes 2 demon walkers on our continent. And if we add in the demon walker that¡¯s somehow swimming across the ocean like some kind of massive island-turtle, that¡¯s gonna be 3 demon walkers in the southern parts of our continent. ¡°I don¡¯t recall having that many demon-champion equivalents during the last demon king?¡± I asked Alexis. ¡°You have a point. It¡¯s likely that the demon king delegated more powers to it¡¯s walkers, rather than holding most of the power. Even the demon champions are just a wee-bit stronger than the walkers. But then again, this demon king is also harvesting energies and mana from the world itself, and it may be using that energy to create more demon walkers. If so, the demon king may be just as insane as my time.¡± ¡°Insane, eh?¡± ¡°I mean, it did blow up a massive crater, did it not? A crater that still remains today, and left all that stray daemolite embedded throughout, creating weird monsters.¡± ¡°I wonder whether the demon rods work on daemolite.¡± It¡¯s a thought, right? If these demon rods work on mana sources, would it work on the demon king¡¯s remains? ¡°I wonder what happens when your captured rods is in the demon king¡¯s crater.¡± Alexis retorted. Has the demons taken control of where the previous demon king perished? From what I understood, after the ¡®defenders¡¯ of the valley are cleared, the nearby nations usually attempt mine all the daemolite for sale, given how valuable it is. Maybe it¡¯s cleared out by now. Apparently most demon king¡¯s corpses have been cleared out due to how valuable daemolite is as a store-of-mana. Maybe it¡¯s like this world¡¯s equivalent of a super-lithium-ion battery. Year 82 Month 12 Winter¡¯s fury mixed with demonic attacks. With winter in full swing, my beetles are forced into a retreat, even with their upgrades. It¡¯s harder for the beetles to move in such cold, but at least around my trees, the effect of [heat transmission roots] meant I could keep the surroundings of New Freeka relatively warm, and the beetles can still perform optimally in the ¡®warmed¡¯ areas. Yet, this also meant I can¡¯t attack the snake-dungeon. The cold affects my beetles more than the demons. So we waited for this winter to pass. We fought mostly defensive battles where my roots provided warmth, and worked on research. Winter also meant traffic and news from the south came... really slowly. On some days during the cold winter, the sky turns really really clear. And we could see about multiple astral objects. The moons, the stars, and things that just seemed to drift in space. On days like this, my star-mana production is slightly, very very slightly, better. For the New Freekans, it is a month of preparation, hiding, and retreat. The subterranean hideouts are now popular, thanks to the presence of heated water from the volcanoes, a great way to warm up. News also slows to a crawl, thanks to the thick snow and occasional blizzards. With news being carried by physically, so almost all the towns would be in a similar state. It¡¯s only thanks to my network of roots that I can still see what¡¯s going on in my surroundings. Midway through the cold, we detected the presence of blood magic being used again. Somewhere, somebody out there is desperate enough to use blood magic, perhaps the demon king? ¡°Triangulating... Southern Continent.¡± ¡°That far?¡± The readings of the amount of sacrifice is insane. Trevor and Alexis ran through some calculations and calculated perhaps 3,000 to 5,000 was sacrificed for a spell this large. With little else to do, we spent our time theorising about the nature of blood magic. How does Blood Magic even work, really? What really is blood magic, and why is it so powerful? I mean, I can see the effects of the hex created from blood magic, even at the few locations near to me, it''s just corrupted by the hex, though it is slowly decaying. Alexis''s theory is that it really like is a nuclear weapon. The hex is a magical version of radiation. I mean, looking at the indicators high power, fallout. It feels like it. She wondered would the origins of blood magic be similar. That it''s the magical equivalent of weaponizing the... soul? Perhaps the numbers make the spell stronger, by the same principles of nuclear fusion or fission, that blood magic fuses or breaks apart the components of a soul into some kind of unstable form, and in doing so releasing all these magical energy, and the unstable soul-remnant form is what creates the ''fallout''? Given how difficult it is to access the soul, I thought it¡¯s quite unlikely that the blood magic works at that level. So, I thought maybe its really the ''blood'' that''s like some kind of superfuel, and blood magic binds the superfuel and concentrated it into a bomb. The hex is just the leftover, unexploded bomb. Essentially, what I thought happened during a blood ritual is, life-energy or mana of the ¡®sacrificed¡¯ is converted into an energy form, and that¡¯s the bomb. Kinda like when you pack a big bunch of low-quality fireworks together, and then when you blow it up, sometimes there are some of these fireworks that doesn¡¯t ignite, or old world war 2 bombs that for whatever reason, failed to detonate. When I think about it, I realise our theories are similar. Just at different levels. I just presume the blood ritual converts the energy of the living into that of a weapon. Essentially whatever that is happening at the ¡®mana pool¡¯ and ¡®body¡¯ into another form. I like Alexis''s theory, since there is an elegance to it. It''s like the blood magic version of ''breaking the atom'', and has far more consequences. Like, the realisation that there is a kind of magic or energy that fundamentally hold the souls together. A peek into the true natural ''forces'' of the world. I suppose it can be tested. If Alexis¡¯s theory is true, I should be able to witness some kind of soul-change during a blood ritual. Or perhaps detect whether there are soul-residue in the hex, which I so far did not. Perhaps it¡¯s a size thing, if Alexis¡¯s analogy of nuclear bombs is true, perhaps the soul-fission creates even smaller particles that require specialised equipment to be detected. Like... soul-quarks? Squarks? Announcement Hello all, I''m starting advance chapters. $3 for one chapter ahead per week Why?I''m moving to a different city, and where the cost of raising a family is less (hopefully), but I''m also taking a paycut. As a result of this move, I''m jobless for a month (December), and now have some time to write ahead. Since my salary''s lower, I''d like to supplement my income with patrons. So yeah. There''s 2 chapters up this month (a side story, and a regular chapter), and after this, one regular chapter per week. Chapter sizes will remain unchanged, circa 2,500-5,000, wherever I feel it''s a good place to ''end'' it. Thanks to all my dear readers for your support! Side Story – The Heroes Sometime around Year 83 Month 2 ¡°I¡¯m off, mom.¡± Lausanne walked over and gave her mum a hug. Laufen smiled and hugged her back. Lausanne¡¯s about to turn 14 years old, and she¡¯s now an active member of the regional patrols. ¡°Alright. Come home safely.¡± Laufen kissed her on her forehead. Laufen smiled, her age is starting to show, lines and all. Even elves suffer from stress and age, though at a slower pace than others. ¡°Don¡¯t stay too far from TreeTree¡¯s trees, alright?¡± ¡°Yup. Got it.¡± Lausanne nodded, but a part of her knew it¡¯s a lie. Very often, she and her patrol group had to stray from the trees, sometimes to help a stranded group of merchants, or just reach out to some refugees who¡¯s lost their way. But after their first incident of losing contact with TreeTree, they¡¯ve improved their strategy. Now their squad has three rangers, all with a focus on tracking. One of the Valthorn girls is also a ranger, a choice that they get as they progress under TreeTree''s tutelage. Lausanne grabbed a small pack of food, equipped a few wooden spears on her back, and then two wooden swords. All enchanted to be extra-effective against demons. There¡¯s some basic armlets, made to her size, and she walked to the meeting place. New Freeka¡¯s a whole lot bigger now. A lot more crowded, at least compared to a few years ago. TreeTree doesn¡¯t really feel it, to him, it¡¯s just a blip, but for Lausanne, the smell, the ambient noise, the chatter, sometimes she wished it was a bit quieter. Still, she knew that TreeTree was always watching, even if his vision is ''brief''. She could feel it, if she had his attention. It would just resonate with her special familiar. The ¡®Warden¡¯. Lausanne looked at her own status menu, and then the familiar¡¯s. It has its own mana-meter, there¡¯s a star symbol next to it. It lived in her, and it slithered out like a snake, detecting it¡¯s host''s attention on it. ¡°Routine patrols.¡± She whispered. The tree-snake nodded, and disappeared again. It has never spoken, but Lausanne believed it understood what she said. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we bump into this time.¡± ¡°Hello milady.¡± Two of the patrolmen bowed. Lausanne sighed. The captain nodded in acknowledgement. ¡°Alright, everyone¡¯s here.¡± The captain brought out a makeshift map. ¡°We¡¯re travelling a bit further today, to this section.¡± He gestured, and the rangers nodded. ¡°Our scouts this morning saw some flares out in that direction, and we¡¯d like to check it out. Counsel Jura has already stationed some beetles near to the location, but as you know, the beetles'' range is limited. As usual, we have to investigate. If we encounter any opposition, we lure whatever we face to the designated beetle hideouts, here, and here. The beetles will take care of them.¡± The captain looked around. Everyone nodded. It¡¯s a routine task, something they¡¯ve been doing since the whole communication shutdown. ¡°Well, looks like we¡¯re good. Remember, our role is minimise our fight. We scout, and we lure. Don¡¯t do anything stupid. If in doubt, check with myself or Lady Lausanne.¡± She mentally sighed, but in New Freeka, Lausanne¡¯s has many titles. Some refer to her as the Princess, some as the Avatar of the Tree Spirit. Things she never really noticed until recently, as she approached the teen years. Lausanne looked around the patrol group. There¡¯s four other Valthorn Initiates, and about twenty patrolmen, a mix of soldiers and rangers. Most of the soldiers also have movement-assistance skills, due to the mobility-focus of the squad. A young Valthorn Initiate came over and sat next to Lausanne. ¡°Lady Lausanne, what do you plan to teach us today?¡± Lausanne rubbed her chin, her role is part-tutor as well. She didn''t really have a ''tutor-plan'' in mind. ¡°Some sword-spear forms, perhaps. If we encounter demons. Anything you¡¯d like to see, Ssaera?¡± ¡°Erm... can we see your Warden in action?¡± Lausanne shrugged. She tried not to rely on the warden too much. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s move out.¡± A convoy of beetles helped transport them to the designated starting area. There¡¯s a bunch of beetles that functions as ¡®buses¡¯, they move at regular intervals along the 5 chain of trees. It conserves the patrol group''s energy, and the beetles are plenty fast. They arrived at the nearest location about an hour later. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s stop here.¡± The captain tapped the beetle on the head twice, and the beetle obediently moved to the side, then stopped. ¡°Don¡¯t forget anything, especially your supplies. You may never know if we¡¯re cut off again.¡± Well, nobody¡¯s going to make that mistake. Everyone had enough rations for a week. And the Warden can even create [healing fruits], just like TreeTree. ¡°Alright.¡± The beetle moved away, and continued it¡¯s route. It''s headed for the next waypoint. There was another tree, in the next hill. Lausanne looked around, it¡¯s hilly, and there¡¯s a whole bunch of bushes and grass. The past demon invasions left some damage to the area, but things regrow quickly. ¡°Let¡¯s move out.¡± One of the soldiers walked next to Lausanne, ¡°Milady, what do you think we¡¯re getting this time?¡± ¡°Refugees?¡± Nine out of ten ¡®sightings¡¯ have been refugees. No merchant¡¯s going to travel without escort in this environment. Unless they were extremely desperate. They walked past animal corpses, and some debris. There¡¯s also some damage on the ground, from normal monsters. ¡°It¡¯s quite quiet, for a sighting.¡± One ranger said, but Lausanne knew their scouts are rarely wrong about sightings. ¡°I hope it¡¯s just a dud.¡± Ssaera and the Valthorns sometimes caught up to Lausanne, and they would try to chat. ¡°Lady Lausanne, what kind of dreams do you get?¡± ¡°Huh, the [dream tutor]?" The Valthorns look to Lausanne as an ''idol'', thanks to her high level, special familiar and position as the ''first'' Valthorn. ¡°Yeah. Does Aeon give you more... erm... scary ones?¡± Ssaera asked sheepishly. They wanted to know more, about what they could do better to be like her. Lausanne looked at the 10 year old girl. ¡°Sometimes.¡± Lausanne did recall the war-dreams were especially gruesome. She vomited after she woke up from that one. ¡°Often? Do... funny people appear in your dreams?¡± ¡°Sometimes? It¡¯s usually someone to teach me how to fight.¡± A streak of light in the sky. And everyone knew. They stopped their conversation and focused. ¡°Magic?¡± They increased their pace and headed in that direction. A few more flashes of light. ¡°Somebody¡¯s using quite a bit of magic. And... demons?¡± As they approached closer and closer, they could hear it. In the faint distance, the sounds of demons. When they arrived, they saw three young persons, one boy and two girls, about Lausanne''s age. Humans. And around them, a whole lot of destroyed demons. But the battle was not yet over. There were five demon knights. It seemed they¡¯ve only managed to defeat the regular demons. ¡°Should we help?¡± They looked at the three, and they looked tired, weak. Not injured, though. They were on a hill, and the three were down below in a small valley. - ¡°I¡¯m out of mana.¡± Mirei looked at her two friends. Her two friends¡¯ weren¡¯t much better. Harris shook his head. ¡°I''m almost out of mana too.¡± ¡°How¡¯d they find us so quickly?¡± Becky sighed, and a floating shield appeared. ¡°We need rest, we can¡¯t even choose our level 10 perks like this!¡± The demon knights closed in. Mirei looked again. It was a tactical mistake to use her powers so quickly on the regular demon army. The demon knights wanted to drain them out. Inexperience. Harris lifted his wooden shield. He wished he had something more sturdy, but after being popped in the middle of nowhere, this was all he could make with his newfound knowledge of shields. ¡°I can¡¯t block all of them.¡± Mirei sighed. They were backed into a corner. They¡¯re too green to take on demon knights, and she hoped her friends would do better. Her fists were both charged with lightning, but she knew that it¡¯s not enough. Becky¡¯s back faced hers, and she had a magical sword in her hand. A summoned weapon. Becky¡¯s probably in the best shape. The five demon knights however, didn¡¯t move. They turned. And they saw a girl about their age. She was surrounded by vines, dark-greenish vines. ¡°Uh. Is that a bad guy?¡± Harris asked, ¡°Because we¡¯re dead if she is.¡± Harris¡¯s had a skill [Battlesense], and he knew the odds. And those vines moved incredibly quickly, to them, they saw it almost instantly impaled the three demon knights, destroying them instantly. The two moved to engage, and a wooden snake chewed off it¡¯s head, it¡¯s fangs sunk into the body of the demon knight. One left. And she threw a wooden spear. It struck the demon knight¡¯s shield, but then the girl took the chance to impale the last demon knight with another spear. It died then. ¡°Adventurers?¡± Lausanne asked. ¡°Are you alright?¡± More soldiers came down the hill. Harris wondered whether they saw the battle the entire time, but was just relieved to be saved. ¡°Yeah. Thanks. We... uh... tried to bite more than we can chew.¡± Mirei and Becky was absolutely relieved, and at the same time, impressed. But they were so exhausted that they just sat and took a short shut-eye. Harris smiled at his two friends, and then turned to face Lausanne. ¡°How¡¯d you beat the five demon knights so easily?¡± Lausanne shrugged. One of Warden¡¯s unique abilities is a the ability to use variants or lesser versions of TreeTree¡¯s skills. That meant, she could use [anti-demon strikes], and a smaller [anti-demon aura]. With those two skills, taking down a few demons knights isn¡¯t exactly difficult. ¡°Apologies for my two friends, mages. We¡¯ve been fighting and running for the past... 8 hours. They¡¯re so tired their mana isn¡¯t even regenerating anymore.¡± The Captain nodded. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not a safe place here. They can rest elsewhere. Where are you three headed?¡± ¡°Uhm... we don¡¯t know.¡± Harris rubbed his head. ¡°We¡¯re still trying to get directions, can we go to wherever you are?¡± The Captain looked at Lausanne. ¡°Milady, your decision?¡± Lausanne looked at the three, all of them about the same age as her. Maybe younger. ¡°Very well, let¡¯s take them back to New Freeka.¡± Harris bowed. ¡°Thank you.¡± The two mages were still too exhausted, but found some energy to walk back after some rations. They made the journey back to the Tree-line, and the convoy of beetles was their ride home. ¡°So, what happened back there?¡± The Captain asked. Harris seemed to be the leader of the three, the two mages napped on the beetle¡¯s seats. ¡°Uhm...¡± Harris looked a whole lot better after some food and water. Fighting for so long was exhausting, and they looked visibly green at it. ¡°I don¡¯t know where to start, honestly.¡± ¡°Well, whatever you are comfortable talking about.¡± The Captain smiled. The beetle ride was one hour after all. ¡°Uh... let¡¯s just say, we got lost and somehow we found ourselves being chased by demons. We fought where we could, but the three of us are just level one. I mean, I think I¡¯m level 14 now, but before that rest I was still just level 5.¡± ¡°You had a lot of skills for a level 5 person.¡± The captain smiled. ¡°Uh... it¡¯s a bloodline thing.¡± ¡°Ah. The gifted children. Milady Lausanne¡¯s here also one of those gifted children.¡± The Captain grinned, and Lausanne just glared. ¡°Well, that vine-strike thing was impressive, and I felt like they froze in place. So uh... where we heading? And what are these... giant beetles?¡± ¡°New Freeka, and transportation.¡± The Captain laughed. ¡°Impressive, right? Most refugees are extremely excited when they see one of these. Merchants less so, some of them say the giant elephants, or the sandbeasts are more impressive as transports. But whatever, we have giant beetles.¡± Harris nodded. ¡°Indeed. It¡¯s my first time seeing such... obedient beetles. Do you control them?¡± The captain shook his head. ¡°Nah. Aeon does.¡± ¡°Aeon?¡± Harris asked. ¡°Our city¡¯s guardian spirit.¡± ¡°Nice.¡± Harris nodded and he looked at Lausanne. Lausanne talking to the younger Valthorns, who are extremely impressed by her display of the Warden¡¯s abilities. Soon, they arrived at New Freeka, and passed by the five layers of walls that now encircle the entire city. ¡°This is impressive.¡± Harris looked, the two girls still asleep. They¡¯ve really drained their energies for the battle. Harris, being the physical combatant, less so. The Captain nodded. ¡°Indeed. Even during the last demon walker¡¯s attack, they only got as far as the fourth wall before Aeon destroyed it. I know, because I was on the walls.¡± He pointed to one part of the wall. ¡°I was there.¡± One of the soldiers tapped the captain on the shoulder. ¡°Alright captain, don¡¯t have to talk about the same story to every single refugee.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help it!¡± ¡°We were there too, but we were right in the trenches, with the other beetles.¡± Harris looked at the captain and the soldiers. ¡°So... is every city in the world like this?¡± Everyone instantly shook their head. The Captain even sniggered, as if they said something ridiculous. ¡°All this is possible because we have a guardian spirit. Without it, this valley would be uninhabited. Many of us are refugees from other cities that were attacked by demons.¡± ¡°Hmmm...¡± Harris soaked in this knowledge. He looked at Lausanne again, who¡¯s not really talking. She seemed more interested in something else. But Harris wanted to talk to her, at least, to learn about her powers. ¡°So uh... do you guys have any money?¡± The Captain asked. ¡°If you do, I¡¯d recommend the Oakwood, it¡¯s the fanciest inn we have in New Freeka. Otherwise, you can head to Inn Street, there¡¯s a few good ones like Roommies, and The Paul House.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Harris tapped at his menu. He smiled. He did have some cash. ¡°Yeah. Is there an... uh... adventurer¡¯s guild?¡± ¡°Yup, right next to the Council offices. Oh yea, one more thing, we¡¯re from the Valtrian Order, we¡¯re sort of an independent arm of the city, but New Freeka has it¡¯s own militia and guards, so don¡¯t mix us up. You can identify us by our armband.¡± Harris nodded. He looked at his two sleeping friends. He tapped both of them. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s time to wake up.¡± The beetle stopped right outside the city gates. There was a tree-woman waiting. ¡°Eh, Lady Mika, what brings you here?¡± The Captain asked. ¡°Your... guests. They¡¯re with me.¡± Meela flashed a wide, hospitable smile. It''s something practiced over the years. ¡°Ah.¡± The Captain tapped Harris on his shoulders. ¡°You¡¯re in luck. The Oakwood boss is already here.¡± Lausanne hopped off the beetle with the rest of the Valthorns, and headed back to the Order¡¯s HQ. As for Meela, she looked at the three visibly human heroes. ¡°Hello.¡± She extended her wooden hand. ¡°Come, all of you must be hungry, poor, and extremely confused. And probably a whole load of questions.¡± Harris looked at her, and noticed she looked like a very high quality wooden carving of a young girl. ¡°What, don¡¯t trust me?¡± Harris nodded. ¡°There¡¯s probably no one you can trust if you can¡¯t trust me. Especially if you are... heroes.¡± Meela whispered to Harris¡¯s ear, and his eyes immediately opened wide. ¡°There are ears everywhere, best to come with me.¡± Those words made Harris nod, and they followed her to a large opulent wooden lodge, that looked like a hybrid between a tree and a hotel. Two treefolks, they waited at the lobby, and worked for Meela immediately passed them their keys, and there was proper food waiting for them in a quiet, private dining room. Harris, Becky and Mirei sat, and it was... food from home. A burger. ¡°Sit. Eat. Leave us.¡± Meela motioned to the attendants, and the doors were closed. She snapped a finger, activated a few skills. [High Security Room], [Private Quarters]. ¡°Alright, here, there¡¯s just the three of you, and me. My name is Mika. Speak freely. You three are the reincarnated, summoned heroes?¡± Harris stared at Meela. Becky ate a bite of the burger, and nodded. ¡°Yes. We are. How¡¯d you know.¡± ¡°I received the notification that heroes have arrived. And then I saw the three of you travelling on Aeon¡¯s beetles. And your clothes.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°So, let¡¯s talk.¡± P68- Host Year 83 Month 1 At the end of the first month, the heroes, long awaited, finally arrived. I had a brief vision, like I always did. Twelve streaks of light, split into four groups of three, and then each landed at a different part of the world. This is important, because that meant the heroes are in smaller groups of three, and are scattered. A vague reddish hand appeared in that same vision, it tried to swipe at the streaks of light. But another hand stopped it. That was when I woke from the vision. [Twelve reincarnators have arrived]. "I wonder where they are." Alexis wondered. ¡°I hope they don¡¯t make the same mistakes we did.¡± She got the same ping as I did. ¡°And TreeTree, why do you get... the notification?¡± ¡°I have no idea. I do see a vision.¡± Hmm, is she wondering why I know about the heroes? Well, I suspect it¡¯s because I came from their world, too. ¡°Maybe TreeTree¡¯s like some kind of super-entity that¡¯s why the gods send the ping to him too.¡± Meela came to the rescue, she got the notice as well, that¡¯s why she came over. Her hotel/inn can run itself quite well, she hired quite a few treefolk to work for her. I wonder how many will survive this time. The world¡¯s in a shittier state than it was. "TreeTree, I have a request." Meela said. "I know you didn''t have a good impression of us heroes, so, let me deal with the next generation of heroes. If they ever swing our way." "Hmm?" "I assure you that I won''t bring you any harm. The heroes need to be educated in the ways of the world, and both myself and Alexis have seen more of the world, without the distorted lenses as a hero. We should be the best placed to advise the next generation, so they do not walk the mistakes we did." Meela sounded like she''s begging. "Fine. But keep me updated." "Sure." "You know where they are?" "No. But I will tell you if I do." Other than the return of the reincarnators, another month of mostly defensive battles. Quiet. The southern parts, where it is warm, are battling demons daily. Up where we are, where the winter is relatively mild, we focused efforts on research and making more anti-demon weapons. I am also gradually extending my trees to where the legless walker is. But I am taking it slow, as the terrain is unfamiliar, and there¡¯s demons walking all over the place, so I have to clear out the area before expanding. Year 83 Month 2 ¡°They¡¯re with me.¡± Meela said, a week or so after that announcement. ¡°Huh?¡± Honestly it felt like just yesterday that I had that conversation with Meela. ¡°Three heroes. Reincarnators. They arrived somewhere near our borders. They¡¯ve just been summoned and are still getting used to their new powers. One of your patrols picked them up.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take care of them, don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Meela assured. ¡°It¡¯s only been a week since they arrived. They¡¯re still a bit confused and lost, but they¡¯ve managed to survive thanks to their special powers. ¡± At this point, I remember my titan souls, and I think, well, since they are so vulnerable, they could ¡®die¡¯ around me easily, isn¡¯t it? [Divine : Moratorium on Hero Killing. In Force until Demon King¡¯s death. Those who murder a hero before the demon king¡¯s death will receive a divine curse, and be marked as a ¡®hero-killer¡¯, inviting the wrath of other heroes.] The fuck?! Hmm. Looks like the gods already thought about it. ¡°So, what did you talk to them about?¡± ¡°I gave them an overview of the world, what they are facing, and... what the previous heroes did, without telling them I was a hero. I think they bought it, they are just... 13-year olds after all. Unlike me or Alexis.¡± Thinking about it, if they arrived at age 13, and it¡¯s been close to 13 to 14 years, does that make them pretty much 26 year olds? ¡°Well, that¡¯s good. Hope they don¡¯t put New Freeka in danger again. Do you feel old talking to them, since you are their... senior?¡± ¡°Honestly, yes. I feel a bit afraid. Of course, we can¡¯t be older than you, TreeTree. You must be centuries old now, or millennia?¡± I¡¯m not answering that. Meela continued anyway. ¡°But yeah. They¡¯re still in a state of panic, and they are just relieved that we are here to give them some... cover. The two girls are just sleeping in for days, and just exploring New Freeka¡¯s markets and shops.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a holiday, though.¡± Alexis popped in. ¡°They need to start levelling soon. The demon king won¡¯t wait for them, and TreeTree, you need to make preparations. The demon king can sense us, and they will send men after the three heroes.¡± ¡°I know I know, Alexis, but I think taking care of their mental state is important too. We made that mistake of rushing from battle to battle, and that made us fight each other, remember?¡± Alexis sulked. ¡°They need experience, and they need it soon. We do not need to nanny them. They need to level up and gain full access to their star mana and heroic tier skills as soon as possible. And find some items of the right tier.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah! Items! TreeTree, erm... can I get some of your anti-demon weapons? The one that Lausanne has? And a wooden anti-demon shield too.¡± ¡°Only the normal ones. And they¡¯ll need to buy it like anyone else.¡± There are the regular-series wooden weapons that are distributed to the patrol force, so I think that¡¯s fine. ¡°I¡¯ll pay for it then.¡± I soon learned, thanks to Ivy¡¯s updates, that the three heroes in New Freeka are, Harris, the [Shield Guardian], Becky the [Horde Summoner] and Mirei the [Lightning Guardmage]. Of course, I took some time to watch them, as they walked around New Freeka. ¡°Well, today I¡¯m taking you to some of the bars and restaurants, and have some local food. You may be on a mission, but if you feel overwhelmed, don¡¯t hesitate to demand a break. You only live once, even in a magical world like this. Revival magic only works if one of you is a hero-grade specialist-healer, and it must be used within the same day. So if you feel your team is moving too fast, say it. Honesty matters.¡± ¡°How do you know all this, Mistress Mika?¡± Mirei seemed impressed. ¡°I worked with the heroes. The last generation of heroes at least. All of them died in their final battle, but they told me to help where I can.¡± Meela pulled off the act swimmingly. It¡¯s part of her skill, as the proprietress of the hotel, she¡¯s got superb acting skills. In many ways, working as a hotelier really made her more... mature. It¡¯s something I don¡¯t realise, of course, because to me, the months just flip by so quickly, but Meela¡¯s hotel has been open for the past 4 years, since year 79. So she¡¯s had a lot of experience dealing with people, and customers. I suppose it¡¯s strange for them to change, when I¡¯m the one still being the same. 4 years is long for them, but not for me. They stopped at a restaurant with an alfresco frontage. Meela¡¯s restaurants was one of the first to feature al-fresco dining, but soon, many other restaurants caught on. The waiter bowed and quickly let Meela and the three humans in. ¡°Right this way, Lady Mika.¡± Meela, as the owner of the best hotel in town, is pretty much a local ¡®tycoon¡¯, a respected member of the hospitality industry. She¡¯s apparently even the chairwoman of the local innkeeper¡¯s guild. Things I forget, of course, since I¡¯m focused on my own things. Maybe if Alexis wasn¡¯t so... rebellious, maybe... Ah. Never mind. They sat and had a cup of local tea with milk. And some snacks. ¡°So, I¡¯ve arranged for some anti-demon weapons, that should be your starting equipment. You will outgrow them quite quickly, with experience multipliers from your blessings.¡± Harris sighed. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m a bit... uh... how do I say this... intimidated by what we went through. Why can¡¯t people like Lausanne fight the demon king, we saw her crush the demon knights like nothing.¡± Meela shook her head. ¡°Lausanne¡¯s impressive, but she doesn¡¯t have the special gifts. Heroes are needed, because of the cheat-skills. It¡¯s also important that you think about the cheat skills that you have, and figure out how to maximise it. The last demon king was a giant castle that had a few forms, lastly, an exploding demon-crystal.¡± ¡°We¡¯re here. And you¡¯re talking about something like that. I don¡¯t see how we can face something like that.¡± Meela smiled and sipped her tea. ¡°Baby steps. You must first be able to take on demon knights, like Lausanne.¡± ¡°Can she accompany us? I mean... I¡¯d feel much safer if she¡¯s with us.¡± Becky said. ¡°Even if she does, she can only stay with you for a short while. With the blessings, you will gain levels very, very quickly. When the last generation fought the demon king, all of them were at least level 100. Lady Lausanne, if I¡¯m not mistaken, is only around level 40 to 50.¡± ¡°We¡¯re level 10 or so. We need a babysitter.¡± Harris said, and he ate a cookie. Meela asked for some local potato slices, with olives. Meela nodded. ¡°I can have a skill that can give you a [Bodyguard], but I feel that will hobble your growth. You must realise that leveling and experience is scaled to difficulty.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we like... uh... have some practice first?¡± Mirei asked. ¡°I mean, if you see those RPG games, we usually have ¡®tutorial¡¯ or ¡®practice¡¯ stages so that we get a good hang of how things work. I mean...¡± Meela sipped her tea, and thought for a moment. At this point, I had a hunch Meela¡¯s going to ask me for something. And she did. She telepathically pinged me. ¡°TreeTree, can we borrow the Order¡¯s Training Rooms? I¡¯ll have the Captains and Yvon spar with them. Madeus too, if he is willing.¡± ¡°Hmmm... When are they leaving New Freeka?¡± ¡°When they are ready. The faster we can get them up to speed, the faster they will leave.¡± Meela insisted, and well, she has a good point. ¡°Fine. Only the one in the Order Quarters.¡± Meela then turned to the three heroes. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve arranged for the three of you to use the Valtrian Order¡¯s Training Rooms. That will be a suitable practice session, for you to know your limits. Unfortunately, you can only use them for a few days, and after that, it¡¯s out to the field as an adventurer, or join the patrols.¡± ¡°Huh, so short...¡± The three looked reluctant, but soon accepted that it was better than nothing, and then they walked back to the hotel. ¡°So, do you want to watch some practice today?¡± ¡°Oh, can we?¡± ¡°Magic or swordfighting?¡± ¡°Uh... magic?¡± The two girls said together. Meela brought them to one of New Freeka¡¯s magic academies. The Council runs one academy, as part of the mage¡¯s guild, and the Order runs another one, led by Madeus. There¡¯s also a third independent academy, but it¡¯s mainly for merchants, smiths and others, as it¡¯s more of a craft-focused magic academy. They watched some children practice some basic magic. Both of them though, instantly learned a spell. ¡°Oh. That¡¯s... that¡¯s easy.¡± Meela shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s your advantage. You won¡¯t learn much from the children if it comes to you so easily.¡± Meela led them to the back area of the guild, and there¡¯s multiple sparring areas, for mage-adventurers to practice. ¡°Go, participate. You might gain some levels.¡± And they did. ¡°How many levels can we gain like this?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Depends on the system.¡± ¡°I was wondering, why doesn¡¯t the gods just give us all our levels from the start. Then we don¡¯t have to struggle like this.¡± Harris watched, and asked Meela. ¡°I don¡¯t know that too, you can ask them the next time you see them. I guess it¡¯s some restriction on the gods, that anyone new starts from level 1.¡± The heroes practiced a few times, the two girls were visibly outclassed, even with their overpowered abilities, but with each battle, they improved, very quickly. According to Alexis, it¡¯s a gift. Heroes, when they start out, have a special blessing, on top of their overpowered ability. I don¡¯t recall seeing these blessings in their soul spring, but then again, maybe I¡¯m not able to see divine items. The blessings do a whole lot of things, like improve their rate of experience gain, the ability to choose the ¡®direction¡¯ of the skill growth, meaning heroes can actually select what kind of skills they want to learn, a natural affinity to combat, enhanced recovery rates. And, there¡¯s usually a few ¡®gates¡¯, which unlocks star mana at different amounts. At level 100, that¡¯s when their entire mana pool is converted into star mana, which means, they have way more star mana than I have. Like.... easily 10 to 50 times more. Meela then brought the three heroes to one of the Order¡¯s militia practice yards. And where the soldiers practice. SImilarly, they also had a few spars. ¡°Why are you bringing them to all these places?¡± I mentally asked Meela. ¡°Yeah. They can gain levels from practice, and it¡¯s a safe way to gain these early levels. I¡¯ll ask Jura for permission to include them in a few patrol missions, so they can fight some demons. I¡¯ll send my [bodyguard] with them, just to be safe.¡± Well, more spars. Meela then led them back to the hotel to rest, and the next day, they were at the [Training Rooms]. ¡°We¡¯re fighting Lausanne?¡± The three looked surprised. ¡°Yeah. I asked whether she¡¯s willing to spar, and she said sure.¡± ¡°Does she know?¡± ¡°Nope. It¡¯s my first time watching Lausanne in action too.¡± Meela smiled. ¡°Uh... I don¡¯t think we can take her alone. Unless she¡¯s fighting handicapped.¡± Becky said, and Lausanne obviously heard it. ¡°I won¡¯t be using my familiar. Don¡¯t worry. And we¡¯re just using wooden swords.¡± ¡°But you whooped the demons with those wooden swords!¡± Harris seemed visibly panicked. Meela clapped. ¡°Oh come on. Just fight. If you can¡¯t face Lausanne, you¡¯ll have trouble facing demon walkers and the demon generals.¡± Meela¡¯s pep talk worked, and they started to spar. Indeed, they¡¯ve seemed to have gained levels from yesterday¡¯s spar, and their performance was much better than before. But, the heroes aren¡¯t good at ¡®sparring¡¯, in the sense that they can¡¯t seem to control their powers. It¡¯s 100% on all the time, so, Mirei accidentally loosed a lightning blast and it hit the Training Room walls. Thankfully, no damage. The training room is exceptionally sturdy. Still, as one who watched their fights yesterday and today, their progress is unnatural. It¡¯s like there¡¯s a genius that guided their growth, they instinctively knew what to do to improve. For now, Lausanne¡¯s still better, but I would think within a month they would be able to stand toe-to-toe with her, without her familiar powers. All of them took turns to spar over the course of the next week, and for Lausanne, who¡¯s usual sparring partners are Yvon and Jura, this was a welcome change. In fact, Lausanne had her first loss on their last day. Their exceptional growth was very humbling for Lausanne, even if it was just a sparring match without Lausanne¡¯s full skillset. After the week was over, and their ¡®time¡¯ was up, Lausanne came back to me. ¡°TreeTree, who are those people? They... they make me feel like I¡¯m stupid.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I mean... I took so many years of practice to get to this point, but they just got from newbies to be able to do that in a week.¡± Well, it¡¯s all relative, isn¡¯t it? To the other Valthorns, Lausanne¡¯s an exceptional fighter. But as with all things, there is always a higher mountain out there. ¡°They¡¯re the gifted ones, blessed by the gods themselves. Don¡¯t hold onto your defeat too hard.¡± ¡°Are they heroes?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± I know the truth, but I¡¯m not sure whether I should tell her. Lausanne paused. She¡¯s in my [secret hideout], her home. She sat in bed, and looked at the wooden spear next to her bed. ¡°Is this what heroes need to be able to do? I suddenly feel like... I¡¯m not good enough.¡± Hmm. She¡¯s 14, and feeling demotivated and discouraged? Should I inject her with some [psychedelic dreams]? Is this puberty? Or teen angst? Should I give her a pep talk? Or should I ask Laufen to do it? Maybe I should ask her mom to talk to her first. And indeed, Laufen came into her room and sat next to her bed. ¡°Hi darling.¡± Laufen smiled, and patted her leg. ¡°I heard you lost.¡± ¡°Losing¡¯s fine. But it¡¯s just that... I don¡¯t know... erm... facing genius.¡± Laufen moved herself a little closer. ¡°Every now and then the gods create people who are so exceptionally good, that they blow the rest of us out of the water. There are those born with a [unique ability] or [unique skill] since birth. These are champions.¡± ¡°I want to be a hero, mom. I just feel like... suddenly... that dream feels very very far away.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Laufen gave her daughter a hug. I felt a bit guilty spying, but then again, I do want to check on Lausanne¡¯s mental state. ¡°It¡¯s a privilege, that you could even attempt to dream such a dream. I wouldn¡¯t have dreamed of what we have today, my dear.¡± ¡°Mom. That¡¯s not helping.¡± Lausanne still sulked. Laufen just hugged. ¡°Think of it as a challenge, then. No great things are achieved without great obstacles.¡± ¡°But then why the heroes get such great powers?¡± ¡°They have the burden of defeating the demon king. Would you want that burden?¡± Lausanne sulked. Year 83 Month 3 The heroes, annoyingly, made Meela¡¯s Oakwood Hotel their base of operations. At least, they are now participating in the Order¡¯s patrols, and are helping to defeat demons that they encounter, and within a month, they have gained about 30 levels, so they are now about level 35 to 40 and seemed to have unlocked their first quarter of [star mana]. This means they can now stand toe-to-toe with multiple demon knights, just like Lausanne. What seemed crazy to them a month ago, is now something they can do. ¡°The first 50 levels are easy.¡± Alexis explained. ¡°We got it within a month too. It¡¯s the grind up to level 100 that took a whole lot longer, and past level 80, we only seemed to gain levels when we fought champion-level monsters.¡± ¡°Good thing is, I think they will leave New Freeka soon.¡± Meela, their de-facto ¡®nanny¡¯, said. ¡°Thanks TreeTree. I¡¯m happy to have helped them get on their feet. After this, they must find other places to go, other monsters to fight. I told them about the demon walkers, and that they need to start attempting to fight them.¡± ¡°Can they? I would recommend level 50 before trying the walker. At least they get their 2nd quarter of the [star mana].¡± It¡¯s mostly a conversation between Alexis and Meela, both of whom have differing views of what¡¯s the ¡®optimal¡¯ strategy for heroes. ¡°At the rate they are going, they will encounter demons and level up along the way. And all of them has summoned units. I think the gods gave them all a mini-army like ability.¡± I didn¡¯t watch their battles, especially those that happened with the patrols. So this really piqued my attention. ¡°Explain.¡± ¡°Yeah. Harris has a defense aura, and can summon ¡®living armors, with massive shields¡¯. Mirei has lightning elementals, and thunderstorm rods. Becky has like... an squadron of magical knights.¡± This means something. Did the gods intentionally delay the summoning of the heroes, so that they know what they are facing? And then, they ¡®tailor¡¯ the gifts to the heroes based on what they see the demons are doing? What if the demons know this too? I didn¡¯t see how the previous heroes¡¯ abilities were tailored to the demon king at all. Or it¡¯s just a coincidence, that this roster of abilities lean towards the heroes being a ¡®one-man-army¡¯? In any case, after a week or more of fighting, the 3 heroes eventually decided to make a move for the next town. As advised by Meela, they are going to head south, towards the ¡®stationary¡¯ walker. - The heroes took one of the beetles to head south. A magical ball appeared in front of them. ¡°Hi guys. Everyone alive?¡± A voice came out of the ball. The 3 heroes jumped, but then nodded. ¡°Astra, is that you?¡± ¡°Yeah it¡¯s me alright. Sorry it took so long. I had to reach my Level 30 perk to unlock the [Hero-Chat] communication ability. Everyone here?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± It seemed that they could see each other¡¯s faces in the magical ball, but my ¡®spirit vision¡¯ is able to only see the presence of a pure-white magical orb, and not what¡¯s on it. Kinda like an overexposed camera facing a television. It¡¯s all white to me. But at least I could still ¡®hear¡¯ the message. ¡°Good. How¡¯s everyone? I¡¯ll start. We had a rough first month, we got ambushed by multiple demon groups, but luckily a group of knights helped us out. We¡¯re based in one of the kingdom¡¯s in the far south.¡± ¡°South?¡± Harris asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t the South in very bad shape?¡± ¡°Not gonna lie, it totally is, it is. The Southern Continents¡¯ entire northern half was, and still is, lost to the demons, and the far-southern kingdoms, thankfully, through luck and some good strategies, managed to keep the demons away, however barely. The Kings are super relieved to see us. We¡¯re trying to gain levels as fast as we can, and thankfully we met some locals who are very willing to help us.¡± This ¡®Astra¡¯ person explained. ¡°Your story sounds similar. We got saved by the locals too.¡± Another voice. ¡°Totally not what I expected. If I see the gods again, I¡¯m gonna give them a piece of my mind for dropping us in the middle of nowhere.¡± Harris and Mirei nodded. ¡°Yeah. We also got saved by the locals.¡± ¡°Hmm... we¡¯re in the east, and we¡¯re quite lucky. We didn¡¯t see many demons, and we fought whatever we could. We¡¯re now based in one of the towns. There are some helpful locals as well.¡± ¡°Ah shit. This skill drains my star mana faster than pokemon go does. My star mana is running out. Alright, we¡¯ll catch up again once my star-mana recovers. Sorry!¡± Astra complained. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Good to know everyone¡¯s alive.¡± Someone said. ¡°Yeah.¡± And the magical orb vanished. And the three of them shared glances, while still riding the beetle. ¡°That¡¯s like... a skype group-video conference call.¡± ¡°Who uses skype these days?¡± Becky looked puzzled. ¡°My dad does.¡± Mirei shrugged. ¡°For work.¡± For me, this meant the hero''s star mana is able to overcome the demon king¡¯s magical interference. Blessed Splinter (p69) Year 83 Month 4 I am so glad they are gone. The heroes headed south, and I think they passed by some other cities. I think they will probably reach the demon walker in the next month, or maybe the month after, depending on which route they take. I felt like I was on edge whenever they are doing something in the city. Or maybe it¡¯s that subtle ¡®presence¡¯ they have, the ¡®heroes¡¯ aura or whatever. I got a sense that it¡¯s a subtle aura the gods gave them albeit bundled up in the [blessing] that they have. So, with them gone, I focused my attention back on New Freeka and those under my care. ¡°TreeTree, do you have any special powers you can give me?¡± Lausanne sat. She¡¯s done with another round of practice with the rest of the Valthorns. Still, even though the heroes left, the heroes left a mark on her mind. She¡¯s too young the last time the heroes came, but this time, she¡¯s old enough to even spar with them. ¡°You already have some, no?¡± Well, the [possession of the devoted] is a special skill, no? It gives her that weird whip like ability, and she¡¯s already got exceptional resonance to my own abilities. Hmm, but what would I have to do? Let¡¯s say if the heroes survive and they start having political ideas, like Alexis, what would I do? Clearly not everyone will agree with them, and the divine moratorium on their death is lifted. A super-condensed version of [dream tutor] and a whole bunch of level and skill seeds? What else? Physical enhancements? Soul modification? I could probably do some physical enhancements, and give her a super strong does of [dream tutor], but skill seeds... does she want some special class? [Dark Knight], perhaps? Would that be enough to even stand up to a hero? ¡°Lausanne, what¡¯s your class at this point?¡± ¡°Main class, [Elven Swordfighter], secondary class, [Villager]. I¡¯m Level 31 at my main class, Level 8 villager. Total level 47.¡± ¡°Hmmm. I thought you broke level 50?¡± This ¡®segregated¡¯ and ¡®accumulated¡¯ class level system that humanoids have still feel a bit like a cheat, but on the flipside, ¡®creatures¡¯ like myself have way higher base stats and gain more of such stats per level than humanoids. ¡°Not yet.¡± Lausanne sulked. ¡°Is that why I lost?¡± But before I could answer, she answered herself. ¡°No. They improved so fast. Higher levels doesn¡¯t change that. It would be a matter of time, unless I could improve just as fast as them.¡± Hmm, I would need to have some kind of ¡®anti-hero¡¯ countermeasures. ¡°So uh... do you have any kind of fruit that can make me smarter? So that I can level up faster? Or just as fast as the heroes?¡± How would I do that, Lausanne? Maybe not make you smarter... but the process of gaining levels is essentially these ¡®experience¡¯ are absorbed via the soul. Experience is in the ¡®outer soul¡¯, and the blessings act as a modifier on the... The soulspring is the ¡®gatekeeper¡¯ of levels. It would make sense, therefore, that any ¡®experience¡¯ multipliers, such as the [divine blessings], to exist as a layer outside the soul. So, if I were to make a super-leveling follower, I would have to somehow influence the soulspring. ¡°Might be possible, Lausanne, but not something I can do now.¡± If I can create the effects of [training room], [dream tutor], [powerlevelling], [learning aura] or even my very own [hero fragments], as a part of Lausanne¡¯s soul spring, then she could level up faster. But would the soul spring affect natural ability? It seems quite pre-deterministic if that¡¯s the case, that the fate of these young infants has been decided at the start of their lives? I feel that must not be true, because there are tales in this world of young men and women of modest upbringings and station rising into greatness. One would then argue that perhaps these young men already had the seed in them. Those who never had the seed would never do something like it. ¡°You may have to wait.¡± ¡°They would get so much better than me already!¡± Lausanne sulked, but she sighed. ¡°But then again, they are blessed by the gods to be heroes. I¡¯m just an ordinary girl.¡± ¡°Still on that subject?¡± Jura walked in. He smiled at some of the young Valthorns and motioned for them to spar with him. He¡¯s careful with his new hand, even though its been months. He is gradually testing it out more, though. Like, using skills to parry with his repaired hand, and test the strength of the bones, joints. ¡°Yea, Uncle Jura. I¡¯m asking TreeTree whether he can help me cheat the level system, like the heroes.¡± Hmmm... would I be able to modify the familiar to create this effect, if I am unable to alter the soul directly? Perhaps this is a ¡®stopgap¡¯ measure? [Learned Familiar type : Studious Spirits] [Studious Spirits loses almost all familiar abilities except Wood Shield. In exchange, the host¡¯s experience gain is doubled. Skills and levels gained since acquiring Studious Spirit are more likely to be transferred to the grantor on death of host] Okay! That works too. But clearly Lausanne won¡¯t benefit from this, since she already has one familiar spirit contract, and strangely, although one can get multiple familiars, each from a different ¡®givers¡¯, you can¡¯t get multiple from the same ¡®giver¡¯. I wonder why. Could Meela give a familiar as she¡¯s a ¡®tree¡¯ like me? Even if she is a hospitality-focused one. My thoughts strayed abit, then Jura, Lausanne started to spar again. Yvon¡¯s playing the role of a ¡®teacher¡¯ for some more ¡®Valthorns¡¯, but my 20 [Minder-Familiar] slots are full. It¡¯s a half-yearly thing where I select new ¡®students¡¯ to receive the ¡®Minders¡¯, but now that I have this ¡®leveling familiar¡¯, I wonder how I should organise the Valthorns? Should the Minders be a lower tier? Lausanne ducked and went close to all out, stopping short of using her special familiar. Jura outclassed her, of course. Even Yvon outclassed Lausanne, though the gap between them is a lot smaller. But the Studious Spirits clearly has no limitation. Is it because I allocate a portion of my ¡®mind¡¯ to oversee the [Minder-Familiars], so the 20 minders are essentially a limitation of my ability to simultaneously track my young Valthorns? In such case, wouldn¡¯t the Minders be inferior? Curious, I had the Valthorns spar with one of the Captains who possessed a regular familiar, and fight entirely using the familiar¡¯s abilities. I wanted to hear from them, on what they thought. ¡°Isn¡¯t it about the same?¡± The Valthorns and Captain asked. Turns out they have no ¡®insight¡¯ that the Minder-Familiars are ¡®different¡¯. They fought, and the abilities are similar, and the regular familiar is no weaker than the minder-familiar, though the minder-familiar is more in-tune with the host, so it¡¯s response time isn¡¯t that different. Fair, I suppose if the Minder¡¯s task is to observe, doesn¡¯t make sense for those being watched to know they are being watched. Alright then, at least I can easily swap them for a ¡®regular¡¯ familiar, since they don¡¯t know any better. ¡°Are you planning to give us better familiars? Like Lady Lausanne¡¯s?¡± The Valthorns sound quite excited. Uh. I have ¡®druidic aspects¡¯, and Jura has Bamboo, the Artificial Soul-Eidolon. And now this [Studious Spirit]. Only the Artificial Soul and the [Possession Of the Devoted] is a clear upgrade. The rest are just a question of what¡¯s being traded off. ¡°I have a familiar type that increases your levelling, but you lose almost all familiar abilities.¡± ¡°OH I wouldn¡¯t want that!¡± One of the Valthorns shook her head vigorously. ¡°I like eating fruits from the familiar. I¡¯ll never go hungry ever again!¡± Ah, this young girl was one of those who suffered through a period of starvation during the refugee-runs, so the concept of having a magical companion who made food is like... heavenly. ¡°If you have a familiar type that focuses on producing food and water, we¡¯d have to worry a lot less about supply chains.¡± Jura casually just remarked. ¡°Just one-or-two guys focused on making food, and we¡¯ll be able to send a small squad anywhere around the region quickly.¡± ¡°What if they die or get targeted?¡± ¡°It¡¯s an alternative, and it is a compromise for speed and range. Hauling food using conventional [holding bags] is possible too, but more ¡®expensive¡¯. Doesn¡¯t help that [holding bags] food feels kind of stale, even if its mostly preserved.¡± Jura and Lausanne spar again. Lausanne¡¯s using a stick this time. She said she had to try something different. I think she even asked Madeus to give her magic lessons. Though I can give her a [mage] class seeds if she ever needs it, I wonder if multi-classing too much is a good idea. I recall some game designs intentionally ¡®hinders¡¯ or ¡®scales¡¯ multiclassing such that they become ¡®jack-of-all-trades¡¯, and the gains of multi-classing are often less than the benefits of a focused class. ¡°I didn¡¯t feel any drawbacks from multi-classing I think.¡± Alexis wondered. ¡°But then, I don¡¯t do Player, not I mean, People-versus-People, so I really don¡¯t know how I stack up against another person at the same level, but with a more focused class. Demon-hunting heroes are essentially a People-versus-Environment setup.¡± Alexis intentionally avoided the word player. ¡°Oh yes. Before my diplomat and fighter class merged into warlord, I do feel weaker. A consolidated class is easily better, with benefits from both.¡± ¡°If the multi-classing is within the same category of classes, it¡¯s usually not a problem. Mages are known to take multiple related magic types, with little to no drawback versus a focused mage. In fact,as our magic levels are ¡®gated¡¯, where we need to perform certain feats to progress, taking multiple classes is how we make progress.¡± Ah yes, Madeus and magic¡¯s weird requirement for ¡®feats¡¯ or ¡®accomplishments¡¯ to pass a certain level barrier. ¡°I don¡¯t have that.¡± Alexis retorted to me. ¡°I was an [archmage] and a [pyromancer], which later merged into [arch-firemage]. I still kept a few other classes!¡± I sort of mentally rolled my eyes. I don¡¯t have actual eyes to roll, of course. Even my [tree-eyes] can¡¯t physically ¡®roll¡¯. I mean, we all know heroes work differently. It¡¯s quite clear by now. "Which class should I take, TreeTree?" Lausanne asked. She wanted to add more learning into her time, so she wants the [dream tutor] to be something new. Yet, she is unsure of what other class she should take. As it is, she''s a combat, melee focused unit. Should she get some range, or maybe she should head for the spell-sword kind of route? Enchanted blades & Magical Sword Attacks? Year 83 Month 5 "I hope they remember what I told them." Meela sat and enjoyed a cup of wine. Alexis sat next to her. I think they both are quite high leveled by now, Meela¡¯s in the level 60s or so, and she¡¯s waiting to get some kind of [branch-hotel] ability. In here, Alexis can somehow take up a form that can enjoy a wine. "Well, you did what you could." Alexis sighed. "If only some of us survived to fight with them." "Heroes don''t get summoned until all the previous ones die." "Is that really a rule, or just a heavenly preference?" Alexis sipped on the wine. For Meela, wine tastes kind of funny, because she¡¯s also a tree like me. Drinking wine doesn¡¯t give her the same effects. So, her preferred drink is strangely, a grape-flavoured cordial made of condensed nutrient-stuff. Meela shrugged at the question. ¡°Well, if they are careful, they¡¯ll be able to hide from the demon king for a while...¡± One of the key lessons Alexis wanted Meela to share, was that the demon king can sense their presence, and the stronger they get, the easier it is for the demon king to find them. It¡¯s like a fire in the darkness. A stronger fire burns brighter. And easier to see. ¡°Think they¡¯ll come back?¡± ¡°Honestly?¡± Meela paused, and sipped on her nutrient cordial. ¡°They will.¡± Alexis sighed. ¡°I see us in them. We were just as desperate and lost as they were, the burdens on them so heavy that they will look for anyone, anything to help them, and if they could find a safe harbor like TreeTree, they will.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t tell them anything about TreeTree.¡± Meela stopped. ¡°You know TreeTree won¡¯t agree to help them.¡± ¡°They¡¯re stuck in between a rock and a hard place. And TreeTree¡¯s just concerned with this... valley.¡± Huh. But then, I like only paying attention to my things, and things related to my things. The Demon King, is one of my top 3 threats. Other kingdoms, Other Monsters, and Demons. All of them are threats, because they threaten the existence of this valley, and they are often destructive to me, the trees, and the valley around me. ¡°You know he¡¯s listening, right?¡± Meela shrugged, and she sipped on her cordial again. ¡°But then again, he¡¯s not exactly bothered by what we say about him. Look at the New Freekans. So many of them say weird stuff about Aeon all the time. Nothing happened.¡± ¡°As someone who¡¯s mostly tree, I think he¡¯s still thinking whether he should do anything.¡± Meela finished the cordial and she walked over to the sink. ¡°I mean, I sort-of can understand his slow-response, now that I am a tree-hotel. We get assaulted with so much ¡®sensory¡¯ information from all over our tree, and in his case, his network of trees, that we need a lot of time to just take it all in.¡± ¡°But he fights battles surprisingly well for someone that lives life on a different time scale.¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably an emergency reaction. It¡¯s like how some of us can enter into ¡®bullet-time¡¯, and fight things differently.¡± Alexis frowned, ¡°Hmm, that implies that if TreeTree fights too long, he¡¯ll need to ¡®rest¡¯ like the rest of us.¡± ¡°Why not? A tree is still a living being, and energy fluctuates. But what¡¯s long to him, is probably extremely long to us.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it be the other way round, that someone who lives on a ¡®longer¡¯ time scale should consume more energy to focus on a ¡®short¡¯ battle? But then again, he does have a ¡®mind¡¯ now, maybe that helps.¡± I wonder what they are on about. - ¡°Mission accomplished, Supreme Leader.¡± Stratreegy managed to capture a [demon rod]! But Supreme Leader makes me feel like some hermit kingdom¡¯s dictator. The ¡®luring¡¯ tactic worked, we located a force of demons headed for the [ThreeTrees of Mana], and after we have confirmed the existence of the demon rod, Stratreegy led the fight. It was a fairly easy battle. The demons were only 5,000 strong, and the South Forest has more than that in beetles alone. Added to it, it¡¯s a defensive battle, so we crushed them easily, and took a rod. Another one week to convert it into [Forest Rod], and now I have a ¡®tree-creating¡¯ item. Now, I need to think about where to use it. With winter over, and the snake-dungeon now spitting out more demons, I gather the beetles from across my valley. I probably won¡¯t use the demon rod on the snake dungeon though, I don¡¯t quite fancy having snakes, and I recall the residual mana in that location is quite weak. So, I would rather save it for something that is more likely able to unlock the next [Soul Forge] color. Still. Time to crush the annoying nest of ¡®demon-insects¡¯ in my neighbourhood. Pests. - The battle was relatively brief. Lausanne, Horns and Jura, accompanied by 8,000 beetles, led the charge into the snake-hole-turned-demon-base. Unlike the dungeon, this demonic base didn¡¯t block my [subsidiary trees], and as such, I could still use the beetles even within the dungeon. It was one of my concerns, that the [demon rods] could possibly enhance the effects of the demon king¡¯s magical interference. But happy to see this is not the case. Anyway, Lausanne spoke of two demon ¡®generals¡¯ defending the demon rod after the battle, she gained a level after Jura and Lausanne defeated them. The rod itself apparently transformed into a large nest-like structure, which crumbled under the attack of giant beetles. Year 83 Month 6 While no actual news arrived on our shores, I have a sense there¡¯s been a lot of fighting. My [soul realm] collected a whole load of souls, and they seemed to come from all directions. Even my wandering [soul harvesters], seem to bring back souls from far away. I¡¯ve not heard of the heroes, nor do I care all that much, but I wonder whether this is linked to them. And then refugees. By the thousands, they came from north and south. Trevor and Stratreegy detected them as they approached the outer ring of [subsidiary trees]. Curious, I had my assistants zoom in and try to pick out what¡¯s the cause. ¡°There¡¯s two walkers.¡± That was the gist of the chatter amongst the escaped refugees, many of whom soldiers themselves. It seemed the walkers aren¡¯t headed my way, so that¡¯s a relief. It seemed that two walkers had somehow managed to move into position together, the 2nd one being from the south. It landed on some poor unsuspecting village and then started to wreck chaos. The other one came from the north, headed south. Are they planning to ¡®meet¡¯ with the third immovable demon-walker? What¡¯s the point of two walkers in the same place? Still, it¡¯s amusing, and I would like to see a battle of walkers and heroes. ¡°Would you have problems with two walkers?¡± I asked Alexis and Meela. ¡°When we were in our level 100s? I can probably take on one single-handedly, but when I was level 90 and our heavenly forms needed channeling? That¡¯s a bit harder. But then, it¡¯s hard to say... there¡¯s so many things to consider. For example, I think ¡®piercing¡¯ magic works better than ¡®explosive¡¯ ones with the walkers, so there may be an issue of compatibility.¡± Sometimes Alexis gets really long winded, and I¡¯m quite certain it¡¯s her [laboratory spirit] doing the talking. I thought we handled the walker quite easily, but then again, I do have anti-demon boosts. Apparently, not all the heroes¡¯s conventional abilities include an anti-demon boost. This meant a [paladin] hero with ¡°anti-demon abilities¡± far stronger than a generic archmage with no specific ¡°anti-demon ability¡±. Except their [star mana], which star mana by nature are especially effective against demons. ¡°I recall all of you struggled against 3 champions and had to come to me.¡± 10 years ago is but a short while ago, though ancient to them. ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± Meela looked awkwardly, and it was Alexis who responded. ¡°We were in our level 90s, and uh... we were just coming to grasp with our [star mana] and [heavenly form]... Unlike you, somehow the gods didn¡¯t give all of us anti-demon blessings. Only paladins, healers, and some of the sword-mages. Regular mages like me get supersized mana pools, high tier spells, multi-elemental enchantments and that sort of stuff. And supersized [star mana].¡± ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t they?¡± Again, another nonsensical idea. If the heroes are created to fight demons, why wouldn¡¯t the gods give them anti-demon blessings, such a thing does after all exist. ¡°How would I know? Maybe they thought it wouldn¡¯t be necessary since the [star mana] was so damned good at killing demons? Besides, those anti-demon blessings don¡¯t work against the demon king itself that much.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t?¡± I thought they did. I survived a demon king thanks to them! Do the ¡®fragments¡¯ manifest differently from blessings? I pull out my [Tree Heart]¡¯s status again, just to reread the narration. [The Tree¡¯s Heart and Spirit-Lantern] [this is the heart of the tree, adorned with the fragments of 67 heroes, it gives the tree 3350% increase in experience gain, 670% extra damage against midtier demons, 335% extra damage against elder demons, significant demon armor-negation, immunity to lesser demons, significant damage reduction against elder demons and immunity from all lesser forms of fire, and significantly reduced damage from higher form of fires.] ¡°Meela, Alexis, when your friend died. Did you get a... fragment? Or a ¡®blessing¡¯?¡± Meela nodded. ¡°We did. All of us received a fragment. It¡¯s called [Baton of the Fallen]. It boosts our experience gain, blessings against lesser and mid-tier demons, some demonic resistance and other stuff like that. I lost it though. We lost it.¡± Was it not effective? Or do they not ¡®know¡¯ whether it¡¯s effective or not because they¡¯ve not seen it¡¯s effects. When they fought the demon king, that fragment has always been with them, and... they probably have one fragment? Maybe the effects were too miniscule for them to realise? Or is it because the demon king is perhaps... an otherworldly ¡®divine¡¯ being, perhaps something of a... demonic-half god? Therefore [star mana] is the only ¡®true¡¯ counter for the demon king? All these stat boosts negate only an ¡®aspect¡¯ of it¡¯s power? ¡°Why did you ask, and uh... how did you know there¡¯s a fragment?¡± Alexis suddenly probed. ¡°That¡¯s not something anyone knows, except for heroes.¡± ¡°Uh... a hero told me once? But I didn¡¯t know what it did.¡± Alexis paused, thought for a while, and I witnessed her eyes change, as if something dawned on her. ¡°TreeTree, how did you get those... heroic fragments? You know... the ones in your [treeheart], the ones you showed us so many years ago.¡± Did she figure it out? What should I say? ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just get them.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Alexis asked, her voice seemed almost angry. Meela seem puzzled. ¡°Alexis, what¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°It¡¯s so painfully obvious now. I cannot believe how I have been so blind. You, TreeTree, have heroic fragments. You clearly don¡¯t like heroes. Hero fragments are the shattered remains of a soul. TreeTree, has a [soul forge]. Did you steal fragments from us through your [soul forge]? You ¡®cut¡¯ into our souls and take it out of us, a bit of us, didn¡¯t you? Or a [familiar].¡± Uh. What? ¡°That time when Meela¡¯s in your [biopod], you took a ¡®fragment¡¯ from her, did you? And the same when I was here. Or that [familiar] of yours! That¡¯s a thing to steal hero [fragments], right? That¡¯s why you insisted on all of us taking a [familiar]!¡± Huh?! Meela rubbed her chin. ¡°I don¡¯t think so though... I don¡¯t feel a thing.¡± ¡°Of course you don¡¯t feel a thing! It probably happened after we died.¡± ¡°Timeline doesn¡¯t line up. TreeTree didn¡¯t have a [soul forge] until later?¡± Meela retorted. ¡°Then it must be the [familiars].¡± Alexis mused. ¡°The [familiars] are scavengers, like vultures that wait for us to die and then pick on our soul fragments!¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe it! It all makes sense now!¡± Alexis shouted. ¡°That¡¯s why you asked Meela to offer your familiars to the three new heroes!¡± Which all of them accepted. ¡°You¡¯ve planned this all along!¡± ¡°Look. You¡¯re a smart girl, think about it for a moment.It¡¯s not as if you actually lost anything. You died. Your attachment to your body and whatever fragments stop there. It¡¯s like your corpse, after it¡¯s buried in the ground, some worms come and eat your dead body. It¡¯s just nature, naturally consuming and assimilating the deceased! Do you curse the worms for eating the bodies buried in the ground? I am a [soul tree]. My job is to recycle the souls and spirits of the world, and reality is, you, as a person who died, are part of that cycle.¡± Oh. Did I just make it worse? ¡°Ugh! Oh my god I cannot believe that I am soul-contracted with someone who¡¯s been collecting our fragments! I want out. I want to break this contra-¡± And Alexis screamed in pain, as the [soul contract] acted on her mind. Meela sighed, Alexis¡¯s screaming slowly faded into the background. She seems calm, but she¡¯s thinking, and she asked. ¡°TreeTree, did you steal or take fragments from us... through those... familiars?¡± ¡°No. I can assure you I did not steal them via familiars or any other methods.¡± I want to keep my presence as also a re-incarnator a secret. No one should know. ¡°I received them, only after your death, as part of my duties as a [soul tree]. But I did not ¡®steal¡¯ or ¡®take¡¯ them.¡± Meela paused and sat on a chair. ¡°TreeTree...¡± The screaming stopped, as the [soul contract] put Alexis¡¯s mind to ¡®sleep¡¯. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you are malicious. .¡± Meela sat. ¡°Alexis might be right, that the kind of magic you have, this... [soul magic] isn¡¯t something we can comprehend.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll.... I¡¯ll talk to Alexis.¡± Meela sighed. ¡°I need to think about this. I guess, I guess both of us has never really come to terms about how different you are as a soul tree... Alexis, and myself... there are concepts about this world that we still have not accepted.¡± Huh. ¡°I think... It¡¯s probably like I died and somebody took over my online identity and sold it. Sure, I didn¡¯t ¡®lose¡¯ anything, but a part of me doesn¡¯t feel right. Like the ¡®dead¡¯ has been desecrated.¡± Uh... There is reincarnation? You have a new body, and if you always hold onto your previous bodies, then eventually you will need to care for so many ¡®previous¡¯ bodies. There¡¯s a time to move on. ¡°I... uh... give me some time. I... I need to check on Alexis.¡± Alexis is in deep slumber. She¡¯ll probably wake up in a day or two. Hmmm. Looks like I must revisit my assessment of Alexis and Meela. Should I still keep them around? Perhaps not. How do I split without making them enemies? They are former heroes, and they know a lot about me. If they want to harm me, a stationary tree, there is a lot they can do. Should I just... kill them? I don¡¯t think I can keep one and kill the other, and Alexis¡¯s value to me is clearly not there anymore. I mentally sighed. I could probably banish Alexis as she is [soul contracted] to me, but Meela as an ¡®independent¡¯ soul, even if I destroy her present body, she can still manifest in this world as another entity, find another body. If I were to kill both of them now, Meela would find another body, and I would just make her an enemy. If I could just ¡®wipe¡¯ their minds, or send both of them into the reincarnation cycle on another world, that would be great. But alas. There are no ¡®clean¡¯ divorces... Announcement Thanks for reading. If you want more, there''s one extra chapter at my patreon :) Chopped Off (P70) Year 83 Month 7 Alexis somehow fell back into ¡®moments¡¯ of that mental breakdown constantly. It seemed that whatever she realised really ¡®possessed¡¯ her, and it would trigger the [soul contract] almost every other day, even if she woke up. Since Alexis had entered into this state, Meela closed her Oakwood Hotel, to spend more time with her. "Why does she keep relapsing into that screaming fit?" "I... I don¡¯t know. Something kept triggering the [soul contract]" "Stop it?" "I can''t. I don¡¯t know how to." Hmm. This seems to be a mechanics of the [soul contract], so I attempted to- ------------ [Assessing Soul Contract detailed menu] [Master : TreeTree. Servant : Alexis] [Current security setting : Intention to break contract and related causes are purged from memory (default)] [Other security settings possible : Notify Master of rebellious intentionsWarn servantSuppress/Confuse rebellious intentions with other thoughtsPersonality mind-wipe (Levels and skills will be lost. Chance of possible ¡®soul-crash¡¯) Do nothingYou may also change the ¡®memory purge¡¯ period and targeting conditions. Warning. Skill-Conflict detected. Alexis, [Laboratory Spirit] possessed the skill [Discovery Log]. Discovery Log records and collates all findings and important facts to produce hypotheses. [Discovery Log] is in conflict with [Soul Contract]¡¯s purging attempt. Conflict is overwhelming servant¡¯s mental & memory faculties. Skill modification not available. Do you want to remove Alexis¡¯s skill, [Discovery Log], or suppress the memory purge? ---------- ¡°Oh.¡± A fix is possible, but let¡¯s talk to Meela. I¡¯m not too keen on keeping Alexis anymore, temporary solutions are just unnecessary band aid. But before that, I took some time to look at the other items in this [Soul Contract]¡¯s menu, such as the option to [undo form], and this will be useful for Eriz and Yvon¡¯s future role as my servant. Next time, I should mind-wipe Yvon and Eriz, since as a newly-dead souls their level must be level 1 anyway. Then I don¡¯t have to deal with this... loyalty issue. ¡°TreeTree, this can¡¯t continue.¡± Meela said, she pleaded. Obviously she didn¡¯t know I have an idea how to fix her. ¡°I... I can¡¯t see her like that. I know we died before and all, but Alexis like that, is a fate worse than death. The moment she sees you, this happens.¡± Alexis screamed again. The conflict of skill and soul contract is clearly causing some kind of malfunction, and her tree-lab main-body transformed into this ¡®haunted-tree¡¯ like thing, the ¡®relapse¡¯ and ¡®pain¡¯ clearly affecting her presence. It is indeed unpleasant to have her like this around, and that ¡®negative¡¯ energy also affects the nearby trees. Meela said. ¡°Can I take her place?¡± ¡°What? No.¡± That¡¯s worse. If Meela¡¯s the one soul-contracted, and Alexis is free, Alexis will be vengeful. She¡¯s clearly shown the ¡®potential¡¯ for retaliation, and I¡¯m not giving her ¡®just-cause¡¯, however flimsy. "Then... what can I do to spare her from this pain?¡± ¡°Meela, will you hold it against me if I were to banish her, and return her to the reincarnation cycle? The gods of reincarnation will deal with what happens next.¡± ¡°You mean... kill her? But... why? Can¡¯t you just free her?¡± ¡°She clearly has the means and motives to harm me. She has attempted that before. I cannot, in good conscience, free a person who has a high possibility of hurting me and my valley some time in the future.¡± ¡°I... I will stop her.¡± Meela said. ¡°TreeTree, I offer to [soul contract] myself to you, in exchange for Alexis¡¯s freedom. And, I commit, as part of the contract and without reservation, to stop her from ever attempting to hurt you and this valley.¡± ¡°Alexis will not accept that.¡± ¡°She will. And if you free both of us, I will guide her away from you. TreeTree, there¡¯s really no need to kill her. The world needs us. Me, and her. And you too. Together, we can do so much to reduce the destruction caused by the demon king. We can help the heroes, and help to break this ¡®cycle¡¯. That¡¯s good for you too, if the threat of demons is reduced.¡± ¡°That¡¯s...¡± It feels a bit like blackmail. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to blackmail you.¡± Meela said. I suddenly felt like she¡¯s probably using a [skill] to negotiate with me. Is it her hotel-manager skill? ¡°And yes, I am using a skill. It¡¯s called [sense intent].¡± Now that¡¯s not exactly fair, is it? ¡°The best outcome is all three of us to split up, you do your thing, we do ours. I will find a way to compensate you in the future, for all the troubles you have gone through to protect both of us. It¡¯s probably clearer for you to kill Alexis, but please don¡¯t. The long term benefits of retaining her as a force against demons outweighs the risk, and I will stop her. I am willing to enter into any kind of contract with you to prove that I will stop her from trying to retaliate against you.¡± Sigh. ¡°Undo her [research tree], and seed her into a wooden body or a seed, or a beetle, and put it in my body. I... I can arrange to move my hotel out. I have a special one-off skill to move my body. Please, TreeTree. The world needs people like Alexis. This demon king cycle isn¡¯t going to stop itself.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t release the contract.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t release her [soul contract] because it¡¯s my only way to prevent her from ever harming me. And, I will need you to be in a [contract] as well, to agree to stop her. If you agree, then I will let you both go away and roam, under the conditions of the [soul contract].¡± I have very little faith in the promises of these heroes, so I think it¡¯s best to bind both of them. I considered my options, in the ¡®long run¡¯. One. Kill both Alexis and Meela. Pros - I won¡¯t have to deal with them for a while. Cons - I have significant uncertainty about the mechanics of this reincarnation system. I am unable to conclude whether killing them actually sends them to another world, or, they will somehow ¡®reincarnate¡¯ and come back into this world. Particularly Meela, since her god told her to stick around for a thousand years or so. If so, I may end up having to deal with two former heroes in the future. Two. Free Alexis, but Contract with Meela. Pros - Meela¡¯s more trustworthy, and Alexis¡¯s the one with a desire to escape. Con - Alexis clearly isn¡¯t going to let that slide, and her being free, would mean she can acquire all the means necessary to retaliate. Rejected. Three. Free both of them. Pros - honestly none. Cons - Alexis is clearly suspicious of me, and this ¡®fragment¡¯ thing seems to have somehow ¡®cemented¡¯ her perception, even despite the restrictions of the [soul contract]. My act of goodwill may not be reciprocated, and the long-run risks outweigh it. Rejected. Four. Free them, but hold them onto contract. The contract is my insurance. Clearly it¡¯s good at knocking them out, like what it did to Alexis, and I do realise I can ¡®make¡¯ her experience a headache if I so desire. Considering the ability to trigger a mindwipe, I could trigger that at the very end of their soul contract. ¡°If you do that, when we die, we will both come back to you. Do you really... uhm, want to see us again?¡± ¡°Yes. That¡¯s the point. Only you can stop her, that¡¯s why you need to be in a [contract]. If you somehow move on and reincarnate, while leaving her here in this world with me, I will kill her so that she moves on too. So. It¡¯s best that no matter what happens, the fates of you two are intertwined like married trees, forever.¡± Meela paused. ¡°That... makes sense. Not the deal I would hope for, but... but yes. Fine. I, Meela Adams, agree to be [soul contracted] to TreeTree and vow to stop Alexis from ever attempting to harm TreeTree and the valley.¡± The contract sealed. I also insisted that they never speak of my fragments ever, ever again. And I unmade Alexis¡¯s form as a soul fused into research tree. This strips her of all her levels and experience, and she¡¯s back to a glowing soul in my [soul realm]. Then, with [soul forge], I fused her into a small beetle. Then a beetle moves that small sleeping beetle to Meela¡¯s hotel lodge. I chose a beetle because... it¡¯s a choice between beetles and spiders. I didn¡¯t want to give her that dryad body, that¡¯s mine. I recall that there is a ¡®restriction¡¯ or ¡®cooldown¡¯ for re-fusing souls into new body forms, but it seems heroes and former heroes are not subject to such restriction. ¡°Thank you, TreeTree.¡± Meela¡¯s Oakwood hotel started to change shape into a gigantic peashooter, and it shot out an absolutely massive seed-like thing, containing a ¡®disassembled hotel¡¯. ¡°This peashooter is able to send us anywhere around the world, so we¡¯ll be on another continent, and we will not bother you anymore.¡± ¡°Where?¡± ¡°The North!¡± Meela said. ¡°Where it¡¯s cold!¡± ¡°Is this the best time to do it, with the demons everywhere?¡± ¡°I... I know a place. We¡¯ll be fine. See you, someday. I¡¯ll handle Alexis.¡± In a flash, the peashooter expanded and then shot the massive ¡®seed¡¯ across the skies. Then the peashooter ¡®decayed¡¯ and ¡®withered¡¯, it¡¯s purpose fulfilled. They¡¯re gone now. Is that the best way to separate? Will I regret this decision someday? [Alexis¡¯s experience as research tree has been converted into experience, similar skill seeds and class seeds] [You received Class Seeds - Magic Researcher x 4, Pyromancer x 2, Schemer x 4] [You received Skill seeds - Magic Researcher x 11, Pyromancer x 5, Schemer x 10] [You gained one level. You are now level 140!] [You gained a passive skill - Forest of Giants] [Forest of Giants causes the trees around your main body to experience significant growth, resulting in the creation of a valley of gigantic trees. Their size will be equal to your own. Produces giant-timber] [You have gained a new skill - Giant Attendant Trees x 100] [Giant Attendant Trees are supersized version of Subsidiary trees, with 10 times the [customisable branch] space, and 10 times the [customisable roots] space. They also have a root-network that is 10 times larger, and also expand the communication range by 10 times. They also retain a larger % of the main tree¡¯s auras and passive, but this is capped at a max of 50% of the main body¡¯s aura and passives.] Wow. Well, at least she gave me a farewell gift. - With that over, I turn my focus on the southern walker. The heroes should be there soon, but it seems they took the scenic route, fighting demons after demons, helping town after town with their demon problems. That¡¯s fine, that¡¯s what heroes do, but I think something¡¯s messing with them. Still, my trees are not far behind. I have a vested interest in following them. After all, if they die, and my trees are nearby, I get a [Titan Soul]! And I can¡¯t wait to try one. Too bad I didn¡¯t get it when I unmade Alexis, but meh. The southern areas of the continent¡¯s ravaged, it bears the mark of many battles fought, some between kingdoms, and lately, against the demons. The Gila Kingdom¡¯s recent use of [hexbombs] meant quite a few ¡®impassable¡¯ terrain, thanks to the corruption of the hex. I wonder if hexbombs get used too often, will this world end up like kind of nuclear wasteland, ala fallout? I mean... the hex spawns alien-ish monsters, hostile to everything. The heroes didn¡¯t look like they plan to attack just yet. - Lausanne received something from me this month. I had an idea while working on the [soul contract], that, I wanted her to have a special [weapon]. All heroes have special weapons. Thor has Mjollnir, Iron Man has his suit, and Captain America has his shield. So, I made a wooden staff with the largest gem I have in it, and I fused an [artificial soul] into it. Jura has Bamboo, so, I thought Lausanne should get one. ¡°This is Thorny. It¡¯s a level 1 [living staff]. If you practice with it, it will get stronger.¡± I wasn¡¯t very creative with names. Lausanne looked at it, and twirled the staff around. To me, it didn¡¯t look any different from another staff, the fusing somehow made the large gem melt into the entirety of the spear, but Lausanne could feel it. I sometimes forget they aren¡¯t used to voices other than my own. I chose a staff, because it seemed to be a common equipment for druids, since she took the [druid] class fruit recently. ¡®Compatibility¡¯ with the [possession of the devoted]. Maybe she¡¯ll do something cool with it. I would still want to provide more ¡®training¡¯ but I think I would need more... powerful [dream tutors]. Maybe it could be like... another world-in-another world. Or a ¡®VR¡¯ experience via dreams? Year 83 Month 8 The heroes defeated the walker. A hard fought battle, with plenty of deaths from the coalition army. But a victory nonetheless. Also, this is when I realised all the heroes have some kind of summoned army. Perhaps it''s the theme this round, maybe the gods are like the designers for Magic the Gathering where they design ¡®block-mechanics¡¯ and all the heroes of that ¡®block¡¯ share the same mechanics. Or are they just rolling the wheel, like how I rolled mine? - A few days later, after that walker was slain, the two other walkers, one of which swam across the seas... combined. Like fucking Voltron. And then I detected it. ¡°Magical bombardment detected!¡± Trevor literally shouted. ¡°Coordinating [magic sensors] and [shield generators]. The magical projectile flew overhead. It wasn¡¯t aimed at us. So two walkers combined into a long-range magical artillery cannon. A stationary bombardment weapon. It¡¯s like the Big Bertha from Total Annihilations! It shot again. ¡°Can we stop it?¡± I asked the artificial souls. ¡°We need more subsidiary trees in that direction, so that we can ¡®triangulate¡¯ the magical signatures and coordinate the shields to intercept accordingly.¡± It shot again. ¡°What the hell is that flying overhead?¡± Some civilians finally noticed as the magical projectiles flew past, like a giant comet glowing in the sky. If you ask me, it feels like the demons are now able to retaliate against the ¡®blood ritual¡¯. Then it stopped. Three shots, and the combined ¡®demonic supercannon¡¯ seemed to be ¡®recharging¡¯. I wonder whether it is recharging, or it¡¯s just waiting for new targets. ¡°What if that thing fires at us?¡± Jura asked, worried. ¡°We can stop it. Thankfully the projectile isn¡¯t very fast, and I can detect it coming.¡± Despite this, I created more subsidiary trees in that direction, and a few [giant attendant trees]. The giant attendant trees can act as a ¡®shield¡¯, after all they share a lot of my toughness and auras. Better safe than sorry. ¡°I... I¡¯ll get the men to expand the underground hideouts and sewers.¡± Jura breathed a sigh of relief, but there is an undercurrent of concern. It didn¡¯t fire for a week, and we traced the arc of the magical projectile, to find that it was aimed at Gila. Half of their capital city has been vaporised by the projectiles. Two days later, another city in Gila retaliated with one big [blood ritual], and it sacrificed 1,000 souls for it. It hit, but the demonic supercannon created a massive wall out of demonic flesh that blocked most of the damage. Is this it? I can¡¯t help but feel like this is the beginning of a ¡®thermonuclear war¡¯. The ¡®threat¡¯ of mutually assured destruction to maintain a fragile peace doesn¡¯t work here,if one side is a race of trigger happy demon. The heroes, as I follow them, changed their targets for the demonic supercannon. They would have to backtrack, since the Demonic Supercannon is located a distance away, to the north. For me, if two walkers can do this, why isn¡¯t the demon king bombarding the world to death? Can¡¯t it do that? Surely, with the demon king¡¯s ability which is supposedly one order of magnitude higher, it can shoot projectiles like that all the time. What¡¯s stopping it? A lack of... imagination? A lack of bullets? Does it need to tap into some kind of magical leyline to power the supercannons beyond what they are normally able to do? Oh well. Or maybe it¡¯s some strange systemic limitations that are imposed? I sometimes feel the system¡¯s rules don¡¯t really apply all that well for those in the higher rungs of power. I wonder whether it¡¯s like my home world, where money allows one to get away with rules that those with limited resources can¡¯t. After some thinking, I felt it won¡¯t go anywhere unless I could interview the demon king, so I stopped thinking about it. - Closer to home, I focused on Lausanne, the Valthorns and the Valtrian Order. Meela¡¯s Oakwood hotel is gone, and that left a ¡®gap¡¯ in the hospitality business. Eager to fill it, I created an artificial soul and merged it with the Tree Lodge to create a similar thing. Still, the gap is far too huge compared to Meela¡¯s level 70+ hotel. Oh, I called my new artificial soul, Treeveller. Travellers, Treeveller. And the business is called Pine Lodge. It had complaints on the first day. ¡°Who¡¯s this pathetic person running this pathetic establishment!¡± Well, I had to intervene, and quickly re-hire the treefolks that Meela used to employ, and pay them slightly more to make up for the ¡®gap¡¯ she left behind. It¡¯ll take some time before Treeveller even becomes a decent inn-manager, but, a business is a business. ¡°We need a chef! Lady Mika used to cook great vegetarian dishes!¡± ¡°Uh...¡± Well, in a roundabout way, it was Emile who volunteered to cook for the kitchen. She didn¡¯t have any [chef] classes, but I have [chef] and [cook] class seeds from the many many dead people¡¯s souls I collected over the decades. I¡¯ll also need a [barkeeper], but that¡¯s for later. - ¡°Aeon.¡± A group of fifteen children stand around a circle, around a [tree of prayer] in Jura¡¯s courtyard. An old lady leads them, she¡¯s one of the caretakers of the orphans. There has been more... refugees this month. Even though the heroes have been out helping to squash the demons, there are still way too many demons crawling around the continent. The demonic supercannon really messed up a lot of defensive strategies, as armies need to split into smaller detachments to avoid total loss. Yet, with the [message] network down, this means the separated armies need to rely on old school means of communicating. By couriers, or riders. It¡¯s a strangely effective strategy. Split up the large armies, and with the communications down, pick on whichever force that¡¯s lost. Anyway, the old lady bowed. The fifteen children followed. ¡°This is Aeon¡¯s many, many bodies. He is everywhere in the valley, and he watches over us. Are you ready, to be the next batch of Valthorn Initiates?¡± The fifteen children, aged 6 to 10 nodded. ¡°Good. You will receive a familiar from Aeon, this is a test, if Aeon sees you worthy for the first step.¡± All of them get a familiar. It really wasn''t a test, but nobody needs to know that. These children are young, and the intention is for them to be forged in the flames of battle. This is because I decided to expand the Valthorns significantly, and expanded it to a group of 100. The minder''s use is rather limited, and yes, it is useful for me to observe the levels and skills they acquire, but I will use the minders on people that are more ''sensitive'' and with special gifts. In short, the regular kids will become regular warriors with familiars, though they will have the Valthorn title, and the truly talented will be observed using the minders. The fifteen children walk back happy. For many of them, this is a great gift, and they are eager to test it out. So far, I have not lost any of the Valthorns in battle, but I believe... some of them will die over the next few years. It¡¯s just inevitable. Target Practice Year 83 Month 9 The supercannon fired multiple times, and I believe the shots were aimed at the heroes, or at least, it tried to shoot them the moment the demons found them. Many times, the network of magical sensors pick up the surge of the magical projectile, and after we concluded it wasn¡¯t going to land anywhere near us, we let it zip by. This, naturally, is a problem for the heroes. The heroes want to fight the demons, and they do as much as they can to fight the demons. They, and their ¡®summoned¡¯ magical army go out of their way to stop as many demons as they can. Yet, fighting demons personally also meant they reveal their own presence to the supercannon. The supercannon clearly has no concern for friendly fire and would not hesitate to annihilate any demons present in the area to get a shot at the heroes. That said, the heroes does have some measures to protect themselves. Harris, the shield-hero, have a massive absorption shield, and he is able to absorb one shot from the supercannon. Based on the current firing patterns, the supercannons can fire 3 long-range shots consecutively every 5-6 days, so after the shots, the heroes actually have a short window in which they can advance as fast as they can, or fight as much as they can, since the threat of the supercannon didn¡¯t hang over their heads after every volley. The supercannon, is also a huge demon factory, and the nearest subsidiary tree near that area saw thousands to tens of thousands of demonoids sent in all directions. It¡¯s just a lucky thing that the supercannon usually won¡¯t target conventional targets, since they seemed focused on the heroes... or anyone that invoked a [blood ritual] against it. Or so I thought. Middle of the month, multiple smaller battles happened throughout the valley. Some of these demons attempted to attack the volcano, some attempted to re-take the former snake dungeon, some attempted to just.. Well, punch through my line of trees. It¡¯s good combat practice for the Valthorns, and with the expanded ¡®operating range¡¯ around the [Giant Attendant Trees], I¡¯m able to use these giant trees like ¡®regional hubs¡¯ for my beetles to operate it. ¡°Well, at least TreeTree sees things my way.¡± Lausanne said. She¡¯s been out fighting, and I think she¡¯s using the fighting to work through her frustrations about levelling, and how insanely overpowered the heroes are. ¡°Some of these girls are too young to be fighting.¡± A captain complained. ¡°We¡¯re babysitters!¡± ¡°Experience counts. Age shouldn¡¯t stop them from seeing the demon war for what it is.¡± Lausanne shrugged. ¡°You watch them!¡± The captain complained. Lausanne nodded, and she played ¡®protector¡¯ of the young Valthorn convoys. Each ¡®squadron¡¯ of 100 soldiers play nanny to a group of 5 Valthorns, excluding Lausanne and the first generation Valthorns, who are considered regular soldiers. There is usually a small beetle force of 1,500 that acts as the ¡®bulk¡¯ of any combat force. The general consensus on the accepted age for a person to start fighting in this world, is about 14, but children younger than that have played ¡®support¡¯ roles, such as food handlers, helpers at healer-tents, tending to animals and stuff. I mean, if one reaches age 14, they must have survived at least one demon king era, right? Children mature quickly in the face of death and destruction, though not by choice. And then, we felt it. A shot from the demonic supercannon, and this time, it¡¯s aimed right at me. Ah well. I¡¯ve been waiting for this moment. I wanted to know how my shields stack up. [Steelwood Barrier] x 5. Five large wooden shields manifested midair, supported by roots appearing from the ground, And the magical projectile smashed through four of them. ¡°Oh.¡± It¡¯s more of an ¡®Oh¡¯ of relief, really. Honestly, this meant if the actual bullet hit my main boy, it probably won¡¯t cause much damage thanks to all my perks. But the rest of the subsidiary trees and New Freeka itself will suffer damage. It¡¯s not really me that needs protecting from demons, but the valley. My fellow lovely, lovely trees and flowers, plants, herbs and crops. Biodiversity of the valley is fragile, it must be so, so, gently preserved. This valley is our prized garden, and we are it¡¯s gardeners and protectors. Ain¡¯t no nasty demon gonna step on my field of herbs or crops. It fired again. Trevor quickly calculated it¡¯s trajectory and alerts me to be ready. Just as before, five [steelwood barrier] blocks it successfully. And we blocked the third shot too. The [Steelwood Barrier] is clearly a league above the previous wood shields, so that''s a plus point. Next time if a demon walker comes close I can have this right in it¡¯s face. Maybe I can use it as a weapon? ¡°Should we retaliate, Commander?¡± Stratreegy asked. ¡°How?¡± ¡°Tree-line. Or perhaps invent a weapon similar to the one used by Lady Meela.¡± ¡°Oh. A peashooter?¡± ¡°Indeed. The strategic advantages of a weapon like that can¡¯t be understated. It¡¯s capable of massive long range. We could build a massive wooden bullet enchanted with anti-demon magic as a projectile. Would be extremely beneficial with the Commander''s superior anti-demon powers.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Well, are there... naturally occurring versions of the peashooter for my research, since the system isn¡¯t so willing to give it to me? Maybe some other time. I¡¯ll need adventurers to get them, but with the demons running amok, most of them now find a ¡®safe¡¯ base of operations and work from there. I hope the merchant networks get restored soon, all my artificial minds have pending upgrades. Even with the merchant guild¡¯s regional coordination center being here, trade routes are still unstable, and that means total value of trades is still way lower than pre-demon king. - ¡°TreeTree! I got an idea!¡± Lausanne came to me one day. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Can you animate wooden stuff for us to practice combat with? I was thinking like... you know... moving wooden figures shaped like monsters, or other humans, and we get to fully simulate all kinds of situations. If you can add weather effects that would be even better!¡± Where¡¯d she get that idea? That sounds like the kind of training room Kung Fu Panda has. But... ¡°Oh... should be possible?¡± ¡°I saw a bunch of fighters out in the barracks using these wooden dummies as practice. I¡¯ve got no idea why, but I thought with your power, you could create a totally awesome version of those dummies!¡± ¡°I... I could.¡± Well, that¡¯s certainly worth exploring. I mean, it is a natural extension of the current training rooms. ¡°Yeah. I think it¡¯ll be a good experience for the younger kids to practice with dummies their own size, and gradually work up to larger and full sized dummies! I mean, we¡¯re small!¡± Lausanne¡¯s not exactly small anymore. She¡¯s 14, and at this age she¡¯s about 85-90% of her full height. ¡°But think of it, if you could animate dummies that resemble all sorts of monsters, we could get similar combat experience before we even face the real thing! So the room should have like... dummies for kids!¡± That¡¯s a good point. ¡°It¡¯s totally going to be great. It¡¯s like your [dream tutor]! But because its real, we could build what Uncle Jura calls muscle-memory!¡± ¡°So... essentially is wooden dummies resembling all kinds of monsters as practice.¡± Essentially a ¡®VR¡¯ for battle. Or like... Matrix¡¯s dojo? But fine, but the amount of variation is beyond what I think a regular [training room] can provide, so I decided to make an [artificial soul] merged with a [training tree], to form a [Tree of Learning]. ¡°I¡¯m your Treeiner, let us begin practice.¡± A wooden dummy appeared and he can speak. He bowed to Lausanne like a kung-fu master. He¡¯s literally a wooden avatar that represented the merged Tree. He¡¯s level one, of course, but yes, I decided Treeiner sounds like a good name for a trainer. I was contemplating between Treeiner, or Treetor, or Practreece. But I suppose if I have multiple Tree of Learning, I can use all of those names. Should a basic Valtrian version of the ¡®Boot Camp¡¯ be called Root Camp? I digressed. The death of all the mortals in the region to the demons meant that I have a large supply of soul fragments to make artificial souls, and the Volcano also happens to help expand by artificial-soul capacity since it too, supplies a kind of ¡®power¡¯. Lausanne looked impressed, and happily started. So, she and the young kids busy with their newfound practice-toy, kinda like how athletes go hyper over their new practice equipment, I leave them alone. Not that I have much of a choice. Because the damned supercannon fired 3 shots at me again. Like, I have the wonderful honor of taking so many shots. Am I like, firing practice? A wooden dummy for the demon supercannon to practice their aim? ¡°Any ideas on how do we convert that energy from the shot into something usable? Can we have magic-absorbent wooden shields?¡± I mean, it is energy in some form.... No answer. Ah well. I blocked all of the shots, of course, but one of them blew up extremely close to New Freeka, which freaked everyone out. That¡¯s good. Everyone should be reminded of their mortality, every now and then. Year 83 Month 10 The supercannon decided to change target. I wonder if it''s because it presumed I died, or, it just found something better to shoot at. I mean, how does the demon even know whether it hit or not, right? It¡¯s not like there are eyes on the projectile... right? My own suspicions are they have ¡®spotter¡¯ demons, but with my expanded trees and network, I don¡¯t think so. There¡¯s not a single demon within 50 miles of me. So, they decided to shoot... at Ransalah. And the capital of Takde. And also the capital of Barsoom to the north. It wasn¡¯t hard to calculate, since the energy-signatures ¡®movement¡¯ gives a direction, and the travel of the magical projectile is something that can be pinpointed by using an array of magical sensors, then triangulating the route based on the time-gap different sensors detect the same energy signature. But this raises a question. How does the demon even know about the concept of ¡®capitals¡¯? Do they go by ¡®population-density¡¯? Or do they have some kind of ¡®scanning¡¯ mechanism which allows them to spot where exactly are the big cities? I had the impression it can detect ¡®heroes¡¯, and the concept of a ¡®retaliation¡¯ could be easily understood, but if can deliberately target capitals, it meant the demons can understand the concept of what is a ¡®human-capital¡¯, being the political ¡®constructs¡¯ that they are, therefore is sentient and intelligent. Or maybe it¡¯s simpler? ¡°Maybe it just detects the presence of a [King]?¡± Jura¡¯s idea is that well, [King]¡¯s actually have an aura-thing that spans their domain. A demon in that domain, should be able to sense where the king is, if it has the right kind of... sensors. If Alexis¡¯s previous theory was that the demon king could sense heroes, what¡¯s stopping them from looking for kings? ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean the King can never run away or flee?¡± ¡°I think... they can turn their ¡®presence¡¯ off and on?¡± I think it¡¯s both. News, about the attack, traveled quickly. I happen to have the benefit of having a front row seat of the destruction. Ransalah¡¯s main palace suffered a massive explosion that vaporized the entire royal palace. The King and the royal family... is dead. Even from the [subsidiary tree] that I have in the Ransalah¡¯s Forest Reserve, which is luckily spared from the projectile, I could vaguely see the destruction of Ransalah¡¯s royal-district. A very, very precise shot from the demon supercannon. Seems like Jura¡¯s idea that it detects a ¡®King¡¯ has merit. This precision doesn¡¯t make sense without it. The news eventually arrived via courier and got to Yvon two weeks later, and as expected, she took this news the hardest. In that, she was most... conflicted. The King, then the Prince, was the one that killed her previous benefactor... and Roma¡¯s father. Eriz and Roma, and the former councillors that formed her inner circle quickly met up in her house to discuss the events. ¡°The King is dead? You are certain about this?¡± Yvon asked, and all of them, the ¡®first-generation¡¯ founders of New Freeka, in a sense, gathered. The first generation are refugees from a civil war, after all. They lost. ¡°Yes, Lady Yvon. I double, no, I confirmed with at least ten other sources. The blast from the demon somehow managed to break through all the magical barriers protecting the palace and destroyed the palace. Even the royal chambers, with it¡¯s ancient magics, did not last.¡± ¡°But Aeon just blocked a few of those shots...¡± ¡°Perhaps those ancient magics have eroded... But regardless, what matters is that the King, and the immediate family that lived in the royal palace is dead. Even the King¡¯s four sons, their bodies have been found charred and burnt. The King¡¯s own body was founded half-vaporised, his head and left hand partly protected by the protective magic of the royal crown and the ring of the hero¡¯s throne.¡± Two of the other men and women squirmed at the description. The others let out a bit of a sigh. Some just kept their mouth shut, and looked at Yvon. ¡°So, Lady Yvon, there will be a war soon, perhaps not an outright war because of concerns over the demon king...¡± ¡°For the Throne of Salah.¡± Yvon sighed. ¡°My duties and commitment is here, I am after all bound to Aeon under contract.¡± ¡°Pretenders to the throne will emerge. And Roma, as the child of Prince Galan, has a claim.¡± Yvon sighed. ¡°All of you knew too...¡± ¡°We always did. I¡¯m sure many back in Ransalah knows too. The pretenders will come for his life, whether he likes it or not. He¡¯s only 10, and may not be ready for such conflicts, but yet, the blood of the kings run through him. And that means responsibility, Lady Yvon. A duty to the old throne to claim his birthright.¡± ¡°I cannot leave. And here, Roma is safe. Aeon¡¯s eyes and ears watches over all of us. No one will be able to attempt to take his life.¡± ¡°Lady Yvon, if I may... can you convince Aeon to support Roma¡¯s claim?¡± ¡°That is absurd.¡± Yvon shook her head. ¡°Why would a tree spirit even bother with the royal affairs of another kingdom! Aeon has shown no respect or regard for the thrones of mortal men. It is but a flimsy thing to him.¡± ¡°But he can be bargained with. A deal can be struck. Just as you did.¡± ¡°Only when it is aligned to Aeon¡¯s goals, whatever ephemeral and random that goal may be. And Roma may not want to be king. We should ask him.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid his reluctance will earn him support. Many of the old court prefers a puppet on the throne, someone who would just delegate the duties of a king to the royal court. He cannot avoid this fight, lady Yvon. It is infinitely better to take this fight on our terms, with a base of support that¡¯s unshakeable. Aeon, as a great spirit of the land, is clearly one support the citizens of Salah will respect and fear.¡± They met in Yvon¡¯s house, and there was tea on the table. Some ginger biscuits too, made from the Order¡¯s herbal gardens. Yvon looked at the rest of the men. ¡°We owe it to the humans, our human friends who supported Prince Galan¡¯s fight back then. There are many who are forced to kowtow to the new King of Salah. This is our chance to pay them back. If not for Roma or yourself, do it for Prince Galan. Prince Galan who would¡¯ve been a better king than his brother.¡± Yvon¡¯s fingers were shaking. ¡°I... My contract with Aeon is unshakeable. But Roma is free.¡± ¡°There are many who would see you return. Those of us who can return to support Roma¡¯s claim will do so.¡± ¡°There are also many who would kill me and Roma without blinking an eye. And there would be those who rally against us, the other pretenders will claim Roma¡¯s a New Freekan and no longer has a claim on the throne.¡± ¡°No matter the naysayers. The blood doesn¡¯t lie, and the Crown of Salah is a magical artifact from the first Kings, and it will recognise any man who is a legitimate heir. If Roma has the [pretender to the throne of Salah] title, he has a right to the throne.¡± Roma came in with Eriz. One of the councillors asked. ¡°So, my dear Roma. Did you get a notification about your class?¡± Roma looked puzzled at the gathered group. ¡°What... what¡¯s this mommy?¡± Yvon sighed. ¡°Roma, there¡¯s a long and difficult conversation I need to have with you.¡± The others let Yvon and Roma had a bit of personal space, as Yvon explained to Roma, who his father actually was, and what¡¯s happening in Salah. Roma seemed to take it quite well but perhaps he¡¯s just too stunned to even react in any way. At ten years old, maybe that¡¯s a good reaction. And when the conversation was over, Roma just ran out of the house. Okay. Yvon walked out to the living room again, and looked at her compatriots. ¡°Didn¡¯t go well?¡± ¡°He said he needed some time to think.¡± ¡°I see. I was thinking... Lady Yvon, how close are you to Lausanne?¡± ¡°Quite... close?¡± ¡°Lady Lausanne¡¯s an amazing fighter, and if I may... she has all that is needed to be a valuable protector of Roma. Could you... convince her to go with Roma?¡± Yvon shook her head. ¡°No. Roma has his own friends...¡± Takde and Barsoom, strangely, didn¡¯t suffer that badly. The news from couriers relayed that Takde¡¯s royal castle had an ancient magical circle that activated just in time, and it¡¯s actually strong enough to absorb the magical attack. Barsoom on the other hand, also had similar magical protections, and had so much reinforcement from Barsoom¡¯s own council of archmages that the blast was deflected to somewhere else. I suppose not all kingdoms are that helpless against demons. Else a society like this wouldn¡¯t have survived all that long. Still, the blast, and the wars, meant refugee season again. There¡¯s a whole load of refugees, and thanks to the fear of the demon blasts, they travel in smaller packs, away from the heroes. Even some of Ransalah¡¯s citizens are running, because well... if even the King with all his protections can¡¯t protect himself, how could a regular citizen hope to even survive such a blast? New Freeka¡¯s already massively populated, and the poop-issue is only thankfully under control due to my recent advancements in filtration and metallic concentration trees. 110,000 now after all the massive waves of immigration, comprising of about 50% elves, 20% dwarves, 10% centaurs, 5% humans, 5% treefolk, and 10% others such as beastmen, lizardmen, garudas or harpy-likes. Anyway, with the [great attendant tree], this skill significantly improves my force-projection abilities outside my immediate range. These Great Trees essentially function as mini-mes, with 50% of my abilities. 50% is still plenty, because with a few [great attendant trees], and with some support of higher leveled fighters, I think I could take on the supercannon. In a way, it¡¯s like a ¡®carrier¡¯ battlegroup. It¡¯s just so overpowered, because I could lose the great attendant trees, without much risk. I can just add more! Since the heroes are headed that way, I could strike at the supercannon at the same time, and that would improve my chances. So, I map a path of [subsidiary trees] to execute that plan. - Meanwhile, further south, the heroes are now making their way back. Their path will likely bring them through New Freeka. ¡°Say, do you think these trees belong to Aeon?¡± Becky asked, she looked at one of my [subsidiary trees] that was on a hill. There¡¯s some bushes and other plants nearby. ¡°I don¡¯t think so? It looks quite different.¡± Ah, my intendent camouflage of tailoring the ¡®types¡¯ and ¡®species¡¯ of my subsidiary trees paid off! ¡°Doesn¡¯t make sense that these trees somehow survive though...¡± ¡°There¡¯s trees everywhere. You underestimate how resilient nature is at reclaiming wastelands.¡± ¡°True, true.¡± And the the [hero-chat] popped up again. ¡°Hi guys!¡± Astra¡¯s voice boomed. ¡°I¡¯ve got a task for you all of you!¡± ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve gotten my level 90 perk! And it¡¯s a [telecommunications tower]!¡± ¡°Oh wow. That¡¯s fast. We haven¡¯t reached level 90 yet, although we fought a demon walker!¡± Harris frowned. ¡°Anyway, so what¡¯s the task? Does it help us against the demons?¡± ¡°Yes. Yes it does! So anyway, this world used to rely extensively on a kind of magical [messaging] system, something like SMS in our world, at least, before the internet took over. So, so, the demon king arrived, and that messed up the entire [messaging] network.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just [messaging], isn¡¯t it? What¡¯s the big deal?¡± Harris frowned. ¡°The guys I met all use couriers and scouts to deliver letters.¡± ¡°It fucking matters, Harris. Instantaneous communication means real time targeting of spells, real time military coordination and cross-continental trade. It means you can find out where the demons are instantly by just asking! So, so, my level 90 perk allows me to build [telecommunication towers], and this will restore the [messaging] function within the area. All these [telecommunication towers] are magically linked so this will also allow the nations to talk to each other again.¡± ¡°Oh. I don¡¯t see the awesomeness, but sure. If it helps us against the demons...¡± ¡°So, the task is, I¡¯m going to send you five [deployment gems], via [hero cloudtrading]. These things will expand into the [telco towers]. But, catch is, you need to find a place that has some protection, perhaps a city with strong magical protection, or some ancient defensive matrixes left behind by the previous generations of heroes. If the towers go down, the [message] function goes down with it.¡± ¡°Uh... Can¡¯t the tower just stay with us permanently? I could protect it?¡± Harris didn¡¯t seem keen. ¡°Well, how about the rest of the world, then? The range of each of these [towers] isn¡¯t that big. At most, one or two countries. We need to spread it as much as we can. If you can find places with some kind of magical supply, or leyline, even better, because the magical energies will amplify the [telco tower]¡¯s range.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not good. The demons want those kind of spots too.¡± Becky responded. Astra just chuckled. ¡°Well, if you guys get your level 90 perks, you¡¯ll get some kind of structure too. I think Helen¡¯s level 90 perk is a [healing tower] that also has a garrisoned army of magical knights.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying, we need to get our level 90 perks, then use our [towers] to protect your [telco tower]?¡± ¡°Yup. That¡¯s part of the strategy we are going for. Like Gerrard¡¯s level 90 tower is a cannon tower that shoots stuff at any demons in range.¡± Then, 5 gems appeared next to Becky. ¡°One last thing, it¡¯s activated via star-mana. Alright, gotta go. Got a battle coming up in a few hours.¡± And [hero-chat] disappeared. ¡°Level 90 perks?¡± Harris looked around. They were camped near one of my subsidiary trees. ¡°I wonder why our levelling is slower... We seem to be fighting just as much as them.¡± Becky asked, they munched over some barbequed rabbits. ¡°It¡¯s just a few levels. We¡¯re already in our level 80s!¡± Mirei shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t think about it too much. Maybe they kill more demon generals than we did.¡± ¡°I guess.¡± Becky stretched and yawned. ¡°Well, I for one, am very much look forward to going back to New Freeka. I can¡¯t wait to see Lady Mika again, there¡¯s so much I want to ask her!¡± Harris smiled. ¡°Yeah. And proper beds! I will kill a thousand demons for a proper bed right now.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± - Spaizzer Happy New Year guys. Stories on WN are not by me [NOT A CHAPTER] Spaizzer Essentially, what happened is that I''ve come to know that my work''s being published on webnovel without my consent or approval. Both Tree Reincarnation and Tree of Aeons on webnovel are not posted by myself. I''ve reported the two fics and sent in a mail via the DMCA thing, but I''ve not gotten a response from WN. If any of you are free, or happen to have a WN account, I''d be really grateful if you could help to report the fics, or post a comment to say it''s a stolen fic. Thank you Dark Thoughts Year 83 Month 11 ¡°They want us to host their families...¡± ¡°I recall we have answered that request before.¡± Jura frowned. ¡°They are welcome as regular guests, but no special treatment. That means no ¡®special area¡¯ where existing New Freekan law does not apply to them.¡± ¡°I understand, this time, it¡¯s temporary, Counsel Jura. We can have a small area set up for all these royals outside New Freeka, a temporary camp for them. The royals will handle their own camps... It¡¯s a united request from the envoys of the five countries. The heroes will destroy the demonic monster soon, and the royals will return back to their respective homes...¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid that still sounds like they want their own enclave. Honestly, it sounds like a no. But for you, I will consult Aeon for his views.¡± Jura answered to the councillor. ¡°I have informed them that in no way this way affect New Freeka or Aeon¡¯s sovereignty over this valley. The royals acknowledge they are here as guests... it¡¯s just that they want to continue their life of privilege...¡± Jura sighed. This was the 2nd time they asked. Or maybe it was the 3rd. Perhaps there are more instances where the request went through other channels. ¡°TreeTree, what¡¯s your view?¡± ¡°They are guests, nothing more. Follow the rules and they can stay. Behave improperly and they will feel my wrath. Whatever privilege granted is in a personal capacity, but not by law.¡± The politics behind this request is frankly rather simple. Not all capitals have the kind of magical protection that some kingdoms do. Some of the older kingdoms like Barsoom have a wealth of inherited artifacts from heroes of a different era, and those artifacts power various shields and barrier magic. Survival. It strikes fear into the hearts of royals. The thought of dying in your own palace from a magical projectile from far away. Maybe it¡¯s like us, someday, we will die to an asteroid we can do nothing about. ¡°They are willing over backwards for your protection, TreeTree.¡± Jura explained. ¡°Some of them are already here, secretly. I hear one of the young princes of Rajahskan is already living with one of the merchants here. ¡®Smuggled¡¯, I hear, since it doesn¡¯t sound good to some nobles if the Princes are seen fleeing.¡± Well, Ivy told me about some strange foreigners, escorted by a small group of knights. But I suppose they didn¡¯t seem ¡®dangerous¡¯ to warrant any action. ¡°Indeed. No unusual behavior detected, other than complaining about everything to the merchant. But it seems the prince¡¯s minders are managing him. They have all been advised to remain within their respective premises.¡± Well, I did say they could come if they could behave themselves. ¡°They?¡± Ivy then responded. ¡°There is also a Princess and Prince from one of the Nung houses.¡± Ah, Nung. That country¡¯s got a few ¡®sub-kingdoms¡¯ within a ¡®kingdom¡¯. Weird practice. Not too interested to find out more. Jura frowned. ¡°Looks like some of the earlier messages from the envoys have gotten out.¡± ¡°Who else?¡± ¡°A few princes and princesses, a Queen from one of the city states down south...¡± Jura explained. ¡°Some Lords, Ladies and Dukes too. It¡¯s quite a big list, apparently.¡± Okay. I¡¯m not exactly keen on hosting a ¡®royal¡¯ or ¡®elite¡¯ party, but my word is law, and I have said they are permitted to visit, so long as they do not do anything funny. ¡°Trevor, hand over some of your tasks to Stratreegy. Stratreegy, we can hold off on the rod for now, since we already have one [Forest Rod]. Trevor, I want you to help Ivy with observation of the royals. I do not intend to have these royals prance about my valley like they own it.¡± ¡°Acknowledged.¡± ¡°So...?¡± Jura was oblivious about my conversation with Ivy and Trevor. ¡°Do you think we should set up a special quarter for them? Some of the Councillors think that is a good choice.¡± ¡°That is special treatment. Let them find their own accommodation. I am not creating a special district, or allowing to have a special tent area just for royals. And there¡¯s probably going to be a fight. They stay among us, and if they act up, I want the Order on them.¡± It was then that there¡¯s a knock on the door. ¡°Counsel Jura, may I come in?¡± It¡¯s Madeus. ¡°Sure.¡± Madeus looked uneasy. ¡°Counsel Jura... I received a request from royal court of Barsoom.¡± Jura frowned. He knew where this was going. ¡°Oh? They survived the attack, I recall?¡± ¡°Indeed, but the ancient shield matrix of the grand palace will not be recharged within a week, it takes at least 2 months for that matrix to come up again. The royals now fear a second strike...¡± ¡°And they would like to be here...¡± ¡°It is as you say, Counsel. They... wish to hide it out until the heroes slay the demons.¡± I am not quite keen on being the ¡®swiss alpine hideout¡¯ or the ¡®nuclear bunker¡¯ of the rich and powerful. Seriously. But then again, I also believe in the ¡®free movement¡¯ of living beings. After all, what are boundaries in nature? Animals roam the terrain all the time, and do lions bother about little rats moving into their realm? Do trees and forests care which animals hunt in their woods? So if these people come over like any other, I don¡¯t believe in stopping them. I just won¡¯t go out of my way to help. ¡°Yes, temporary. Barsoom is greatly indebted after what we did for the young Princess a few years back, and they would like to offer various perks if we do protect them.¡± ¡°No special treatment, Madeus. If we take from Barsoom and do not take from the others, I do not think that is a fair trade. Nor is New Freeka in any kind of diplomatic arrangement with Barsoom, whether as an ally, or in a mutual defense pact.¡± Jura answered. ¡°I believe TreeTree has similar views, but I¡¯m afraid you will have to accommodate the Barsoom royals in your own quarters, or with any of your merchant friends. Or the hotels...¡± Madeus sighed. ¡°Ah... I was hoping to use the Order¡¯s guesthouses... with Oakwood Hotel gone, there¡¯s really no place fit for royals in this town.¡± ¡°That would be us taking sides, Madeus. The councillors will use this against us, I am sure you understand.¡± Madeus was silent for a moment, then he nodded. ¡°I... I will relay the message.¡± He left. Jura sighed. ¡°I think Madeus got offered an amnesty of some kind. I think. But I do agree with your position. New Freeka¡¯s position as a uniquely neutral place is made possible thanks to you, TreeTree. So the Order cannot be seen as taking sides, especially with a party that¡¯s not formally allied with us. But perhaps, TreeTree, if any of this nations do want an alliance or treaty of some kind, would you consider it?¡± ¡°I would, but truly, it¡¯s all about the terms.¡± ¡°With all the royals coming over, it might be a good time to talk about what would be a dealbreaker, and what¡¯s a must have.¡± Jura asked, and then took out a notebook. ¡°I am certain discussion about alliances would come up, and I¡¯d have to do some... sensing of what the other kingdoms are willing to give.¡± ¡°I will refuse any alliance requiring me personally, to protect their lands. And I will not take part in any offensive war between kingdoms.¡± Hmm.. Actually, is that wise? Maybe I should ask the question to Jura instead. ¡°No. Ignore that. I do not want to be dragged into any conflict with other nations, or between nations. What kind of treaty will allow that?¡± Jura tapped on the notebook. ¡°Well, that rules out any ¡®alliance¡¯, or ¡®mutual defense pact¡¯, since being in a group means there are countries which are outside of a group, and a conflict will emerge one way or another, which, inevitably, you will get involved.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll just have to survive on our own, like we always have.¡± Jura smiled and happily sipped on his hot tea. There¡¯s a cold wind blowing outside. Once again, winter comes far too quickly. ¡°Honestly, I like it that way too.¡± Hmm... that didn¡¯t sound right. I do think making connections and alliances are a good thing, but I think my issue essentially is that... these nations... I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever be able to ¡®rely¡¯ on them. There¡¯s something about alliances with nations that feel... fickle. These nations, with their millions of citizens and changing leaders, can I make a deal with them that would last hundreds of years? After all, it¡¯d be a major waste of my personal time and energy if I ally with a nation that probably lasts only 10 years. I think I would prefer individual deals, with powerful individuals who can hold up their end of the bargain, than with nations as a whole and the political complexity that entails. Perhaps I should seek out other ¡®spirits¡¯, and make alliances with them instead? At the very least, as fellow long-lived beings, our arrangements would last... longer. Does that make me ¡®speciesist?¡± Or spiritist? Ah, I should really extend my trees to the Lilypod city... then I can talk to another spirit. Maybe other spirits have experiences on this matter? Is there some ancient alliance of ancient spirits I can apply to? --- ¡°There are murmurs of unhappiness in the ground.¡± Trevor and Ivy reported. ¡°Oh? So quickly?¡± ¡°These royals didn¡¯t take long to make their displeasure apparent to their hosts, and their hosts are rattled and are now pressuring the councillors to do more to appease them.¡± Ngeh. "Like what?" "One of them wants to go hunting in the woods... and are requesting the councillors to permit them access." Hmm. How should I handle this? Perhaps this is a good time to send some fear into the royals, else they would constantly badger them. "Well, if that Prince is up for it, let him into the woods. Let''s see how he likes... ghosts." - The heroes finally arrived. ¡°What? How¡¯d a hotel like Oakwood just... vanish?¡± Harris grumbled. ¡°And why are all the hotels so full?¡± ¡°You must be new here.¡± The innkeeper responded. ¡°New Freeka¡¯s the safest place in all of the central continent! Aeon, our great protector, blocked many, many shots from the vile, monstrous demons! Naturally, those who can afford it, want to be here! It¡¯s safe, there¡¯s secure food sources!¡± ¡°No wonder you look rich.¡± Becky frowned. ¡°This is ridiculous.¡± ¡°Ah... a safety premium is naturally to be expected. Did you think safety comes free?¡± The innkeeper laughed. Eh, I don¡¯t recall charging that sort of taxes, but I guess I could consider it. A protection fee. But that makes me like those cheap gangsters that extorted money. But then again, that¡¯s what the government does, right? It¡¯s only ¡®who¡¯ and ¡®how the ¡®protection¡¯ is charged. If I am the local government, then do I have that right? ¡°Do we have to camp in this place?¡± ¡°Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan. This sucks. I was sooooooo looking forward to meeting Lady Mika again. It¡¯s so strange that she just... vanished.¡± Mirei kicked a pebble on the floor. There¡¯s a lot of roots on the ground, and they formed into ¡®steps¡¯. ¡°If you miss her so much, I hear she left some notes for the hospitality guild and the Valtrian Order. And the adventurers¡¯ guild. Maybe you can check with them whether she left anything for you?¡± Harris nodded. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s check with the adventurer¡¯s guild first...¡± Indeed. Meela left them a note. I wonder what it says. ¡°Huh, she had to move north because of some personal commitments...¡± ¡°Really? So sudden? And how does she even move north with so many demons? Did she mean north of this continent, or north... where?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. She didn¡¯t say. But she did leave some instructions.¡± The 3 heroes walked to one of the Treefolk¡¯s wooden homes. ¡°Ah, you must be the chaps Lady Mika asked me to host. Come in, come in.¡± An aged treefolk female greeted them. She was one of Meela¡¯s former employees. She let them into her house, a small place in one quiet corner of New Freeka¡¯s bustling town. ¡°Sorry for bothering you...¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Lady Mika left a bit of money for all the trouble. And here¡¯s a box of things she wanted me to leave for you...¡± A wooden box. It¡¯s small, probably no bigger than a shoebox. ¡°Oooo... fancy amulet!¡± Becky opened. ¡°And books?¡± They opened it and started reading. And I cursed internally. I can¡¯t read with [spirit vision]. - They rested for a day. They went to the market the next day. ¡°Where do we even start?¡± Becky looked a bit lost. ¡°The merchants selling ores and stuff, at least.¡± Harris pointed and they walked over, glancing at the things. ¡°Crystals, right?¡± Mirei seemed equally puzzled. The merchant said the price and the three heroes glanced at each other. ¡°Discount?¡± They haggled. And eventually they bought some. And then they went to one of the many blacksmiths and forges. And rented one of furnaces. They spent a good four-five hours in there, seemingly trying to work at the crystal and use their star-mana. I overheard them complain about how tiring it was, and eventually they emerged with a small crystal dagger. They admired their hard work for a bit, and then concluded that they all need to spend more time on their work. Then, we all sensed it. A shot from the demonic supercannon. At me. At them. They ran out of the furnace, but they were too slow. But I wasn¡¯t taking chances. 5 [steelwood barriers] emerged midair, suspended and supported by roots and vines. And it absorbed the shot easily, crushing the first 4 barriers as expected. Then the demonic supercannon fired again. And I blocked. And another shot. I blocked it too. I wasn¡¯t going to let the shot ruin my beautiful, growing valley of giant trees. Then, it was quiet. Harris, Becky and Mirei all shared glances. ¡°First time?¡± Some passerby asked, he¡¯s probably oblivious they are heroes. Then again, it¡¯s not like they publicly declare they are heroes. The three didn¡¯t reply. ¡°Yeah. Those loud booms are scary, but it happened a few times already.¡± The pedestrian shrugged. ¡°Anyway, don¡¯t block the road?¡± The three quickly shuffled out of the way. The three of them look at each other. ¡°Guess we know where to put our first tower.¡± ¡°Agree.¡± The three walked to the Valtrian Order¡¯s premises... and they bumped into Lausanne. ¡°Oh Lady Lausanne, nice to see you again.¡± Lausanne was similarly equipped for war. Her new living weapon now about level 15 or so. Lausanne just nodded. ¡°Hi. Rematch?¡± ¡°Ah... not today. We¡¯d like to meet Counsel Jura. We were told that Counsel Jura can assist us if we want to place an object in New Freeka...¡± ¡°By who?¡± Lausanne led them to Jura¡¯s main office. ¡°Oh... Lady Mika.¡± And they are in Jura¡¯s room. ¡°Pleased to meet you, Counsel Jura.¡± The three bowed. ¡°We¡¯re the summoned heroes... from the other world. We¡¯d like the Order and Aeon¡¯s permission to deploy a magical artifact, a tower that restores [message] to the region...¡± ¡°Can I see the artifact?¡± Becky walked over and passed the small gem to Jura. Jura looked at it, and then placed it into a circular bowl that¡¯s actually connected to [magic lab] for analysis. [Analysing...] The analysis wasn¡¯t very useful, since my [magic lab] didn¡¯t seem to be able to look very deeply into the composition of the item. Indeed, it looks to be magically linked to the heroes, in from what little I could see, the heroes can take down the towers once they don¡¯t need it. It¡¯s... surprisingly similar to a [subsidiary tree] in theory. In short, my understanding seems to be that, the heroes have these ¡®towers¡¯, they act as ¡®extensions¡¯ of themselves, and like [subsidiary trees], these towers function primarily to ¡®create¡¯ a magical lighthouse for [message] spells. ¡°What else does it do, other that restore [message]? Does it allow you to filter through the messages?¡± Jura asked. If we are to depend on the heroes¡¯ infrastructure for communication, does that not mean we owe them? Is that why there¡¯s all these concerns over network infrastructure providers. Then again, it¡¯s a short-term thing. While I could use my network of [subsidiary trees] to monitor my domain, restoring the [message] network means a return of the trade routes, which is important to get the materials needed for my subordinates¡¯ upgrades. ¡°Aeon¡¯s agreeable, but only until the death of the demon king. After that, he may decide to destroy the tower.¡± ¡°That¡¯s acceptable to us. Can Aeon shield it from the demon¡¯s attacks?¡± ¡°He... will try.¡± ¡°Good enough. Where should we put it?¡± ¡°In the town square.¡± The telco tower deployed, it¡¯s a white crystalline tower about four stories high and shone like with a faint white glow that¡¯s unmistakable, visible even in my own [spirit vision]... And it was then it occurred to me. Did the demons have some kind of [spirit vision], but tuned to heroes instead? Perhaps it¡¯s like how vision is different for animals and humans, because of the spectrum we see. The heroes sent a message to Astra as a test and they left two days later. Year 83 Month 12 Despite the raging winter, the heroes still pressed on. Together with their summoned armies, they mounted an attack on the supercannon. And the supercannon annihilated their summoned armies easily. They were then forced to retreat. At this point, I¡¯m tempted to ask... how¡¯d they think it¡¯d go? It¡¯s winter, where, strangely, demons suffer none of the challenges of winter, and yet the mortal defenders of the world suffer all of it. Cold, slower response times, and well, their summoned units are immune to cold, but seriously, did they think that cannon that shoots across the continent can¡¯t aim at their armies? ¡°That was stupid.¡± The three looked at each other. ¡°I know, but you said we should.¡± ¡°I blame all the people we¡¯ve been meeting, telling us we should kill the demon beast as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Why¡¯d we do it?¡± ¡°Because we all somehow agreed to?¡± The advantages of a summoned army is that well, once your mana returns, you can just summon more. And that¡¯s what they did to hold the ¡®chasing¡¯ demons back. There were plenty. Demonic generals or elites wielding massive axes. It¡¯s the best opponent, because they can gain levels from them. If I were the demon king, what would I have done? In a way, I should ignore the heroes? And just keep attacking all the kingdoms with conventional demonoids, such that the heroes gradually lose the ability to find any kind of shelter, food source, learning, or support and healing? Or is better to concentrate all my energies and create super-demons, and just attack once. When the heroes are low leveled, and kill them all? One super-demon, and that¡¯s it. No subordinates or walkers, since they gain levels by killing them. Why give them the chance to gain levels? Wallflower Year 83 Month 12 (continued) While the heroes decided to rethink their strategy, here in New Freeka, we had to fend off the little swarms of demons sent to ¡®surround¡¯ the heroes. And I spent quite a bit of time tinkering with the heroes¡¯ tower. As I kept poking, and trying to figure out what it is, I got a good update. [Biolab, material lab and magic lab upgraded. Field equipments obtained. You are now able to perform investigations of objects using field equipments. Full analysis requires more comprehensive equipment] There is a layer of somewhat-divine magic protecting it, so I reckon it¡¯ll take more than one hit of the demon¡¯s supercannon to be destroyed. Certainly not as fragile as they said it was. Or maybe it¡¯s just fragile to certain kinds of demonic energies or heroes¡¯ star mana. That same divine magic also shields it from me attempting to make ¡®changes¡¯ or ¡®convert¡¯ or ¡®claim¡¯ the tower. Yet, it¡¯s a ¡®change¡¯ barrier. That meant, I could look into it, but not change a thing. And look, I did. There was a lot to see, about how it weaves magic and mana into a structure like that, how it draws mana from the ambient surrounding and the connection, however wireless it is, to it¡¯s ¡®creator¡¯. Unlike my [subsidiary trees] which form a linked network, all connected by roots, these towers are independent, freestanding structure yet have a ¡®connection¡¯. And it¡¯s more complex than just some kind of ¡®wifi¡¯. It¡¯s almost like... they are ¡®entangled¡¯ in some surreal way. As if it¡¯s resonating with something else far away, and yet... it emits or absorbs nothing through the air. Stumped. I observed, and looked for days. It¡¯s as if I¡¯ve invented a bow, and right here is an interstellar rail gun. How do I even replicate such a thing? How did the heroes even come up with such a thing? It certainly feels like impossible that young kids would know how these things are, so... are the gods creating such objects and skills, and ¡®implementing¡¯ or ¡®executing¡¯ them via the heroes? Or is this a system thing, where¡¯s there is like a ¡®drawer¡¯ or ¡®library¡¯ of hero-grade skills that they get access to? Stumped again, I looked at other parts of the tower, my vines growing around the base. I attempt to use my vines and what powers I have, and even my long forgotten [inspection] ability. Perhaps the resonance is how it communicates with other towers, but the means which it acted as a conduit or ¡®router¡¯ for messages is something less ¡®sophisticated¡¯. Or not. At this point, can I just build a massive X-Ray or MRI scanner around the tower so I can see what¡¯s inside? - ¡°Mom, Uncle Jura. I¡¯ve got to go.¡± ¡°TreeTree says no.¡± ¡°I know he said that... but, but I want to go. I believe it¡¯s good for my own growth, to see how I fare. I want to know where I am.¡± ¡°You know where you are, you¡¯re here!¡± Laufen was furious, and worried. ¡°Your place is here.¡± ¡°I know my place is here. But... I.. erm.. I want to measure my strength. I won¡¯t die. Trust me, mom.¡± Well, the heroes, utilising the now-restored [message] network, requested for help. And they asked for Lausanne to help with the attack on the demon supercannon. Not just her, of course. A lot more than her. ¡°You¡¯re not a hero, Lausanne.¡± Laufen held her daughter. ¡°Don¡¯t do this.¡± ¡°But...¡± Lausanne sulked. ¡°I want to go, mom. Please.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°I¡¯m 14 and almost level 60. I can help.¡± ¡°Men higher level than you have tried fighting demon champions, and died.¡± ¡°They... they don¡¯t have TreeTree¡¯s powers. Or Thorny.¡± She pointed to the wooden staff on her belt. ¡°We can do it.¡± Laufen sighed. ¡°TreeTree, can you talk some sense into my daughter?¡± In my mind, should I let Lausanne go? Though I spent a lot of effort in grooming and training Lausanne, ultimately, should she be able to decide how she wants to wield that power. Lausanne¡¯s turn to retaliate. Maybe she¡¯s 14 and having a teenage rebellious age? Oh I sound like my mom, my mom used to tell me I¡¯m rebellious. I think what Laufen is afraid of is death. With a few well placed giant attendant trees, I think I can ensure Lausanne¡¯s survival. So, if I can do so, would it be a good idea for her to join the battle? Maybe... maybe it¡¯s a good lesson in the brutality and the high levels that the heroes walk. A dose of reality. And I could use the chance to attack the demon supercannon with some of the roots, masked as coming from her... I should let her earn her right to participate. Rather than just say yes. ¡°Lausanne, there are a lot of demons coming from that direction. Among them, probably a few demon generals. If you take down 3, I think you can take part. And, I want you to restrict your familiar use to only two abilities.¡± Laufen sighed. ¡°TreeTree, what?¡± ¡°It¡¯s training. If she can take on a few more demon generals, then she earned her right to participate. If she can¡¯t handle the generals, she shouldn¡¯t bother trying.¡± ¡°Yes! So... I¡¯ll go hunt some demons!¡± Laufen shook her head. ¡°I... I wasn¡¯t expecting that.¡± Jura shrugged, ¡°I like that though. Want me to go with her?¡± ¡°She can go with the initiates.¡± ¡°Someone¡¯s gonna have to babysit the rest of the initiates...¡± Well, eventually, Yvon wanted to go. The mission was simple. Between us and the demon supercannon, there¡¯s about ten to fifteen groups of demons, led by the knights and generals. With an attendant tree in place, a beetle force will engage the demons, and Lausanne can then challenge the knights and generals. Yvon, and a group of other captains will help out. She went all out. I guess a part of her wants to know that the gap between herself and the heroes isn¡¯t that big? A path that¡¯s honestly going to fail. Even Jura can¡¯t keep up with the heroes, though he could probably give them a bit of trouble. Still, it¡¯s winter, and it¡¯s hard to get the beetles to operate effectively far from the attendant trees, even with the [winter adaptations] and the giant trees warming the environment with the [heat transmission roots]. So, Lausanne complained and grumbled, but nothing much she could do. She can¡¯t take on an entire army herself, nor does she have a summoned army at her beck and call. Year 84 Month 1 The presence of royalty, many living in the homes of the wealthy merchants here, made the political environment a little bit touchy. Mainly because the councillors each sought out the royals for some ¡®shoulder-rubbing¡¯, or as the euphemism goes, ¡®building relationships¡¯. It¡¯s a sensible thing from their perspective, since royals by nature have strong skills. A prince or a princess could bestow ¡®royal¡¯ privileges, blessings and rights, improve or upgrade classes, and even create ¡®gifts¡¯ using their powers as royals. There are also certain ¡®unique classes¡¯ that only royals with the right skills can grant. Like one prince I observed had the ability to create a custom ¡®diplomatic gift¡¯ out of midair, which was given to the princess of another country. And it¡¯s a permanent item too. It¡¯s like the prince skipped the entire ¡®creation¡¯ process, activates skill and the system gives him an item. It¡¯s not totally strange, of course. Apparently some merchants and bankers can create small quantities of gold, some smiths and makers can create materials too. In a way, it¡¯s like how I create ¡®timber¡¯ and ¡®fruits¡¯. It¡¯s different derivations of the same kind of ¡®mana/system to item¡¯ process. If I can create wooden items, why can¡¯t princes? Maybe heroes can make hero-items too! So, with the councillors spending a bit more time trying to ¡®manage¡¯ or ¡®please¡¯ these visiting royals, that meant conflict. Even between councillors as they ¡®serve¡¯ different groups. Some of them rather silly, like competition of the best seats or rooms in New Freeka¡¯s restaurants, or who managed to book out the entire bar or tavern for their respective entourage. It¡¯s like billionaires trying to one-up one another in a ski-town. Silly, so I don¡¯t interfere with this. The more annoying ones, are the horny ones, or those with a fetish. There¡¯s an old duke or something who seemed to enjoy picking on young elven ladies and so, I sent a group of beetles into his temporary residence. It scared him. But the councillor who¡¯s supposedly his ¡®buddy¡¯ quickly came and complained to Jura. And I sent beetles and spiders into his house too. After that incident, I decided it¡¯s probably best to amplify my show of force, to remind these royals that they are... ¡®visitors¡¯. So, we had more beetles around New Freeka. The locals are clearly not too bothered by the presence, but for the ¡®foreigners¡¯, it was a threat. I intended it to be a threat. The councillors, bore the brunt of the complaints. ¡°What are all these monsters roaming around your town!¡± ¡°They are Aeon¡¯s servants, and they execute his will. Please don¡¯t say too much! Aeon listens!¡± The councillors quickly tried to manage some of the more belligerent royals or nobles. ¡°So what if he listens?¡± It turns out, among the royals, many truly, truly believed that I¡¯m actually just a puppet, a beast used by the council, controlled by some great item or equipment. The idea of an existence above the royal class is... alien to them. Except heroes, who are ¡®divine¡¯, those the only ones royals view as ¡®equals¡¯. Generally, of course. And I suppose in the history of this world, existences like myself are not common, or perhaps even if they did exist, they may not have the same ¡®mindset¡¯ as I do. Perhaps they are slumbering giants, a sleeping mountain. Or they are giant tortoises, the zaratans, although they carry massive cities on their backs, the zaratans are treated just like the captains of a cruise ship. The rulers of the cities still rule, and their rule is supreme. So, feeling a bit annoyed at all the murmurs and chattering, one massive projectile from the demon supercannon came. And this time, I intentionally blocked it just enough that it smacked right into the [telco tower]. The telco tower¡¯s fine, of course. I calculated it just enough that it won¡¯t be destroyed. But I wanted to borrow the attack to weaken the divine protections, so I could look a bit more into it. And at the same time, scare the councillors and royals. The earth shook, and I had a wooden barrier created around it such that the blast radius was limited to the town square. Beetles, my vines and roots had cleared the square of all citizens. Jura was quick to figure out what I was doing. ¡°TreeTree, that was intentional?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jura laughed, and then went out to make an announcement to the council. ¡°Aeon would like to remind that he finds the conduct of the visitors appalling, and he is tempted to not stop the next projectile from the demons. He would like to recommend the visitors are brought to the blast site for a tour.¡± The councillors roared in protest. ¡°Is he threatening us?¡± Jura just smiled. ¡°Yes. He is. What are you going to do about it?¡± One councillor sat. ¡°Oh. Nothing.¡± I think it¡¯s just a people thing, that after living in comfort for a while, they forget that there¡¯s still a war and demons shooting bullets everywhere. Especially for some of these nobles who don¡¯t seem like they¡¯ve ever seen war, even though it¡¯s just so common. Or maybe they are just desensitized to war and death, since it¡¯s so common. Huh. Since war and death is bound to happen, might as well have my share of fun, go on a power trip and all since we are all going to die. I felt like I suddenly understood some of these royals. Sure, yes, we are going to die. We know that. So why can¡¯t I do things my way? If the meaning of life is me just... hiding away like this, why bother? Are these royals nihilists? Or is it some other word? - Lausanne spent time trying to hunt for more demon generals. The winter¡¯s gradually clearing, and at certain parts of the region where it¡¯s warmer, she finally took down one demon general herself. Still, the goal was three, so she had to hunt for 2 more. And later in the month she took down another one, bringing her total kills to 2. Meanwhile, the heroes are out gathering a strike force, again. Similar to what that other kingdom did, the strike force is meant to be an elite force, to help punch a path through to the demon supercannon, so that they can attack it directly. As it is, they could already punch a way through, but between the summoned army and their OP skills used to get through the chaff, they don¡¯t have much star mana left to actually take on the main body of the demon supercannon. - ¡°I heard that you might be King.¡± ¡°Where¡¯d you hear that?¡± Roma asked. He¡¯s a quiet, studious young boy. Despite Yvon¡¯s attempts to train him in fighting, his interests are more into magic, and well, reading. Although he is healthy, and fit, physical combat wasn¡¯t his thing. He didn¡¯t inherit Yvon or Prince Galan¡¯s talent in fighting. ¡°The others were talking. I even heard one of the actual princes said it when one of their servants came to buy some bread.¡± The black-haired baker boy said. He had a small knife at the side. Roma sighed. ¡°Mom told me about it, but I can¡¯t accept it yet. Some of her friends asked whether I want to travel to Ransalah... What do you think? Should I be King?¡± ¡°I think you¡¯d make a good King.¡± The baker boy said. ¡°Then I can be your King¡¯s Guard.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t even fight.¡± Roma laughed. ¡°Well, you¡¯ve never ruled.¡± The baker boy ribbed Roma. ¡°Besides, all I need is your mom to teach me some tricks. I heard she¡¯s really good.¡± ¡°We might die.¡± ¡°Or you¡¯ll just be working as one of the employees of the Valtrian Order, and I¡¯ll just be an ordinary baker. Why live, if not for honor and glory?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been reading too much of your uncle¡¯s writings.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been reading too much.¡± Salah is now ruled by a regent. One surviving archduke took the position of regent, to govern the state of Salah. Apparently, it is quite normal for the succession wars to only commence after the demon king is slain, and if a King falls without an appointed successor, a proper ¡®contest¡¯ for the right of the throne will start when the demon king is slain, something the regent will announce. After all, it is hard to properly choose a king in a time of chaos. At least, that¡¯s the ¡®principle¡¯ of such a rule. I suppose Kings do die quite often when the demon king is around, so there¡¯s already a cultural norm for it. In theory, that meant Roma has time to prepare. That also meant everyone else has time to prepare. In practice, whoever the ruling regent prefers has tremendous advantages, since this is the time where all the ¡®things¡¯ and ¡®pieces¡¯ can be put in place. Still, the regents will obey the norm, because to some extent, obeying the norms is what allows the [heir] to convert their class to [king]. Weird system rules like that, or so it is believed. Or maybe just nobody tested whether that ¡®norm¡¯ is actually a requirement of the title [king], or whether it¡¯s just a product of whether the citizens of the kingdom acknowledge the [heir] as the true [king]. Things I learn from eavesdropping on Yvon¡¯s conversations with her advisors. Year 84 Month 2 Lausanne finally killed two more demon generals, so her total kills is 4. And she gained some levels while she was at it. ¡°Can I go now? Please?¡± Laufen was similarly reluctant, but then privately, I told Laufen I¡¯ll look after her. With my assurance, Laufen agreed. If it goes well, I¡¯ll even get some experience out of playing a small part. And I was getting quite annoyed with all the shots fired at me. I wonder whether I could so like some kind of kung-fu stunt where an attack is deflected back at the demon. Like how so many manga main characters are able to do to show off their insane overpoweredness. In honesty, the heroes were just about ¡®ready¡¯ with their force too, and they were already prepared to strike the demon-supercannon, with or without Lausanne. So, Lausanne¡¯s arrival at the battlefield was just on time. Just to be sure, I placed a few [giant attendant trees] in the vicity, as a ¡®retreat-point¡¯ for Lausanne. And the battle against the supercannon went well, all things considered. The heroes successfully destroyed the supercannon with their [star mana] abilities, but the cost was... a whole load of deaths, mainly from the adventurers and military leaders that decided to take part in the attack. Lausanne returned from the battle, bloody, and there was a look of despair on her face. I was there, and perhaps there was something about watching the demon supercannon¡¯s explosions incinerate people up close that just... uh... feels brutal. It wasn¡¯t the first time she¡¯s seen death. She had seen death when she fought the demon walker. It was, as expected, the despair of realising how high the mountain is. Laufen, of course, gave her daughter a hug. ¡°It¡¯s okay. You¡¯re blessed by TreeTree, he¡¯s just one tree spirit, but the heroes, they are blessed by all the gods.¡± Lausanne, of course, instantly perked up. ¡°Mom! You¡¯re a genius!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Aeon¡¯s blessings alone is not enough for me to be a hero!¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I will visit other spirits like TreeTree, and get their blessings. If I can get multiple blessings, I will be as strong as them!¡± Spaizzer i am takinh one week off next week. Explore-a-tree Year 84 Month 3 With the demonic supercannon down, the royals and nobles quickly made their way home. Truth be told, I think that¡¯s a bit premature. The supercannon is but one of many demon walkers that are on the continent, and the demon king seems to be summoning more and more of them. There are now supercannons on all continents. The heroes too, after defeating the supercannon and gaining levels, expanded the network of [telecommunication trees]. Indeed, all of them acquired level 90 [towers]. At this point, I honestly don¡¯t see anything other that the demon king himself making a dent at the heroes progress, so I feel the demon king¡¯s stay in the world would last no longer than 1 year. The restoration of the [messaging] network also brought a return of intercontinental news and trade, something we really sorely, sorely needed. The first thing I did, of course, is order all my upgrade materials I needed. Lausanne¡¯s Living Weapon, Thorny, reached level 20 and is level capped until I get the materials needed to upgrade him. Then, there¡¯s also the issue of Lausanne¡¯s new bright idea. She wanted to visit other tree spirits and well, things like it. Perhaps, it¡¯s similar to the old elven pilgrims that used to visit the great elf tree-guardians, even if just to acknowledge their role in the protection of the elven capital. ¡°Travelling in this environment is quite difficult, and... we would need you here for defense.¡± Jura explained his views. He was fine with it, but he preferred if Lausanne waited till after the demon king was slain. Elves live for many many years, and Lausanne could always compare herself to future heroes. Lausanne, of course, agreed. She¡¯s smart, and she¡¯s patient. There¡¯s also much about the outside world she didn¡¯t know about, so she agreed, on the condition that Jura, and everyone else included her on trips to nearby kingdoms, if they ever go on those visits. She had to learn how to conduct herself in foreign lands, after all. In principle, I agree with Lausanne¡¯s idea, and I would even like to tag along such that I can also communicate with the other spirits. In short, Lausanne¡¯s going to be my envoy to the spirits. I too, have much to learn about the spirits of this world, my experience has solely been through my own lenses, and what little I learnt from the dead. - The destruction of the demon supercannon also brought about a period of rejuvenation. Throughout the areas where my [subsidiary trees] and [giant attendant trees] are, trees are starting to regrow, and that makes me happy. It¡¯s nice to see little trees starting to pop up next to my bigger trees, or a little field of flowers or grass. I get significant enjoyment from having new grasses or trees join my network of trees. Increasingly, it¡¯s the tree part of me that finds joy in this. Or perhaps it¡¯s just Trevor and gang¡¯s enjoyment? The refugee situation temporarily subsided now that [message] and the demon supercannon¡¯s death spreads. There¡¯s something about uncertainty that adds to that fear, so with open communications restored, those living in different places no longer live in darkness. It¡¯s just a thing about knowledge, that allows people to make better decisions. All in all, with the royals and nobles making their way out. Year 84 Month 4 The heroes are out hunting for the other demon bases. There are many throughout the continent, but at least, they know where to look for them. Benefits of real time communication. For me, I turn my focus to further studies of the telco tower. I¡¯m not getting much insights into how it stays ¡®synchronised¡¯ with the other towers, but with the help of more lab equipment around the tower and ¡®attempting¡¯ to intercept magical [messages], over time I¡¯m starting to figure out what¡¯s happening. The [Telco Tower] has multiple components to it. The other parts is a form of ¡®demonic barrier¡¯ which creates a ¡®safe zone¡¯ for messages going to the sender, and from the sender. These repels the effects of the Demon King¡¯s global ability. Secondly, is a kind of ¡®repeater¡¯, where the Telco Tower receives a message, and sends it to someone else but within the same ¡®tower-range¡¯. For longer range and continental messages, that goes through the somewhat quantum-entangled communications that exist between the towers. Of all of those, I decided to focus on the ¡®aura¡¯ repelling the demon king. It¡¯s the easiest for me to study, and in many ways, similar to my [lesser demonic suppression aura]. I reckon the similarities would help me in understanding what exactly is happening. And my suspicions were rewarded, because after some poking and thinking... I had a notification. [Demonic Ability Reduction Aura - lesser obtained] Yay! Feeling a bit accomplished, I went back to the hex wasteland. Apparently, the heroes have been sending a whole load of messages, to all the kings and leaders they could contact, to stop using the [hexbomb]. Because it made their work a lot harder, since it would disrupt their travel paths. I thought heroes would have some resistance, but maybe it¡¯s just caution on their part. The hex has been a significant stumbling block in my research, mainly because the [hex] is the ¡®byproduct¡¯ of some kind of ¡®magical ritual¡¯, and it¡¯s like I am trying to guesstimate what exactly happened in the ritual to know what ¡®created¡¯ a nasty side effect like hex. It¡¯s as if someone gave me a piece of plastic, asked me how was that plastic made, and which process gave the plastic the qualities it possessed. So, I do want to observe a [blood ritual] for myself. If the ¡®nuclear fusion¡¯ theory has any relevance, the blood ritual should be some kind of incomplete process that ¡®created¡¯ this... monstrosity. In my mind, I have a clear, obvious reason for researching the hex. In my mind, I cannot help but suspect that one day, some country is going to think I am no better than the demon king and use this same hexbomb against me. This horrid poison that corrupts the land just offends the trees and vegetation in every way possible, even more that the magically tainted poop. So much so that I get ¡®feelings of anger¡¯ through the [rootnet]. If a forest could react in anger to a factory spewing poison into it¡¯s lands, I guess that¡¯s how it feels. Even though it repulses me, I steeled myself and placed one [subsidiary tree] right into a pool of hex. It was a risk, but somehow... I felt like I had to reach into it. And then I felt my mind assaulted and overwhelmed by strange, twisted emotions and memories. Death. Pain. Suffering. Love. Hope. It lasted for a good two hours, a short flicker of a moment for me, my various [root brain complexes] and [The Grand Mind Tree] all instantly kicked in and ¡®worked¡¯ hard to allay those invading memories and emotions. It¡¯s not all bad, but it¡¯s all kinds of emotions, both positive and negative, warped in some way or form, or joined together. At the same time, I witnessed by [subsidiary tree] rot from the root upwards, it¡¯s bark and trunk turning brittle before breaking up by bits and pieces. It took a while, and after that 2 hours, and I¡¯ve regained emotional control, I soon used the root brains and mind tree to ¡®invade¡¯ into the subsidiary tree. It was too late. The [subsidiary tree] was dead, it crumbled and turned into dust. Yet, it was not all wasted. The hex, as we seen it, shrunk a little bit. Ah. Typical of blood rituals. It¡¯s essentially an emotion-memory conversion into power, and so ¡®fixing¡¯ the hex meant ¡®facing¡¯ those emotions head on and unwinding them. But that still doesn¡¯t answer the ¡®underlying¡¯ force. Is it still some kind of soul mechanism? Or does emotions and memories have their own power? I suppose the true way to ¡®fix¡¯ the hex is to connect a root to it and run it through the root minds and [the grand mind tree]? - ¡°So, did you ask your mom?¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°About teaching me how to fight.¡± Roma frowned. ¡°You should stick to baking.¡± ¡°Easy for you to say.¡± The black haired boy responded. ¡°I only have my granny to look after me.¡± ¡°I only have my mom.¡± ¡°And her army of loyalists and servants.¡± The black haired boy was sharp, and there is indeed an army of loyalist. Even now, there¡¯s 2 ¡®guards¡¯ tasked to watch after Roma. Roma sighed. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll ask her to teach you something.¡± ¡°Yay! I can¡¯t wait to hit someone with one of the long hard breads!¡± Roma facepalmed, and the black-haired boy laughed. Indeed, Roma later did go see Yvon. ¡°Mom... I got a request... It¡¯s got nothing to do with books or magic.¡± Yvon probably looks puzzled, because it¡¯s quite rare for Roma to have requests outside those topics. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I... I have a friend. He... wants to learn how to fight, so uh... could you... um... teaching him?¡± Roma asked awkwardly, and Yvon looked at her son. He twiddled his fingers even though he¡¯s already in his teens, and Yvon nodded. ¡°I won¡¯t have much time to teach him, with my duties at the Valthorn kids, but sure. Maybe he can start joining us for a few rounds of basic spars, I have open sessions with the newer Initiates.¡± - News from the distant continents come in, and the Demon King is on the move. It seems the heroes are quite successful in defeating the demon walkers and the demon supercannons, if they have an ability similar to Meela and Alexis¡¯s Star Mana-form. I reckon that¡¯s probably a standard loadout for a hero. The heroes are now trying to gather up somewhere, and take down the rest of the demonic walkers. There are many, after all, this demon king was really fond of walkers, and so far, the heroes are successful, so much so that almost every 3-4 days we have news that another walker or supercanno has been destroyed. The heroes by now have moved out of my tree¡¯s observational range, and so any news about their movement is via [message]. A part of me thinks, well, this is too easy. There must be something. Is this it? Really? Is this the slow end of the demon king? The demon king that peaked early and then ended, because it tried to attack all the continents at once? I don¡¯t think so. There must a trick. The demon king has been wandering continents to continents doing something. There must be a trap waiting for the heroes, there¡¯s no reason for demon king to just hang around and idle when the heroes are still gaining strength. The heroes must be expecting it too, things have been going a bit too easy for them now that they¡¯ve unlocked star mana. Oh well, let¡¯s just watch the show. ¡°Where has the demon king gone? Would anyone have any idea now that the message network is restored? Can we find out about all historical sightings of the demon king?¡± Jura¡¯s getting better at guessing what I¡¯m trying to do, and he vaguely sounded like he sensed my concern. ¡°I¡¯ll send out a request to the merchant¡¯s and mage¡¯s guilds.¡± Still, once I acquired the [demon ability reduction aura], that had an instant benefit, because that aura pushes back against the demon¡¯s interference, doing so expands the field of the beetle¡¯s range. After all, the beetles, being a form of ¡®summoned¡¯ creature, have little ¡®resistance¡¯ against demonic interference. In fact, I wonder whether there¡¯s an [insect tamer] or [insect master] that will someday come up to me and ¡®mind control¡¯ one of my mindless beetles. Year 84 Month 5 Treeiner leveled up quickly, and gained some rather cool abilities. Like his level 10 ability literally distorts his training room into a larger one. I wonder what his higher tier abilities will be, a ¡®practice dungeon¡¯ would be quite cool. That¡¯d make him his own little dungeon core, isn¡¯t it? A dungeon of our own for practice would be fantastic, since the Valthorn kids have expanded, and we¡¯re short of ¡®nannies¡¯ to look after them, and it didn¡¯t feel quite right to let their older, earlier students to look after them, with their limited life experience. Even if the first generation of Valthorns, the first 9, are now all above level 20, Lausanne being the exceptional one crossing level 60, but her leveling is stagnating. She complains about it sometimes, and it¡¯s also partly why she wants to find other ways of growing. Her living weapon is also level capped at level 20, and the cool thing about Thorny is that well, it literally gives her a barb armor. Still, it''s nothing compared to the kind of star-mana weapons the hero wields. Lausanne was super proud of Thorny before this, but after the supercannon battle she¡¯s been working really hard. Apparently their star-mana weapons literally slice through high tier demons like a hot knife through butter. Things that she needed a full powered strike to kill can be easily cut through. I think it¡¯s the level difference, they are after all in the level 80s to 90s, Lausanne¡¯s just 60, and the gap of 10 levels is extremely big. Like how 30 levels meant I could tank a demon walker a lot more comfortably than before. Maybe if Thorny had the anti-demon abilities like I did, he¡¯d cut through the demons like water too! Anyway, Lausanne¡¯s daily affairs consist of training, helping and guiding all the younger initiates who look up to her. We¡¯ve had to build a dedicated compound for the Valthorns, on top of the existing orphanage. With my new [Giant Attendant Trees], it really opened up the possibility of ¡®subsidiary cities¡¯ or ¡®suburbs¡¯. Maybe that¡¯s something I should do. With that in mind, I made an announcement to the Valthorns, to find places suitable for an extra town. Perhaps somewhere close to a mine where I can do some mining using my deep roots. Or somewhere with mana. Or should I just ask them to settle down in the southwest forests, with my ThreeTrees of mana. With the valley itself restricted, the forest now littered with the giant trees, New Freeka¡¯s expansion is forced towards the open plains, where all the enemy armies like to march. New segments of town, new walls are built, as the city expands to accommodate more and more refugees and new citizens. According to Ivy¡¯s census data, she counted about 72,000 people living in New Freeka¡¯s borders. Clearly a bit too cramped for some of them. Yet, the demons¡¯ continued presence meant the lack of space in New Freeka is a small bother. Out in other cities, there are constant issues of food shortages, so much so New Freeka have been sending food aid to the nearby kingdoms. It¡¯s a move by the Council, of course, since the Council¡¯s past efforts of building wineries, underground heated farms, underground silos, and our most recent underground self-sufficient hideouts meant a surplus of food even for the large number. The council like allies, and well, I don¡¯t blame them. I want my own allies too. I need to visit the giant lilypod. So, I undid all the trees that I no longer needed, and continued my long chain of trees towards it. I stopped previously when the heroes started their attack on the wounded demon walker. It would take me a month or two to get there. But if Lausanne wants to talk to another Tree Spirit, maybe I should do the introductions. - Side story – heroes This was some time ago... Around Year 83, Month 8 Harris, Becky and Mirei wasn¡¯t having a good time. If anything, the past few months has been absolutely terrible. With demons crawling all over the continent, there was no journey that was ever safe. Almost every night, when they camped outside, they would be attacked. At first, it was stressful, but now, all 3 of them are now around Level 60. Thankfully, Becky¡¯s class as a [summoner] meant she has a magical guard that kept watch, while all of them rested and slept. ¡°I wish we had nice beds.¡± Mirei¡¯s number one complaint, almost every other night, was the lack of comfortable beds. Coming from another world, the significant decline in mattress quality was really getting to her. ¡°It¡¯s absurd that the people in this world accept this bullshit.¡± They sat around a makeshift campfire. A lightning elemental was helping to barbeque the roasted meat. ¡°Let it go. At least we¡¯re not hungry.¡± Harris nodded. They didn¡¯t like being hungry. They were hungry on some days, when they went through areas that are so devastated there was absolutely nothing to harvest or hunt. ¡°Anyway, it should be any time now.¡± The two girls came and sat on the logs next to him. They were friends, after all. And the magical orb appeared again. [Hero Chat]. ¡°Hey guys. Everyone okay?¡± Astra asked from the other side of the screen. They could hold the chat for about one hour, so that meant they could really catch up. ¡°Oh hey Harris, are you guys going to challenge the demon walker?¡± Harris nodded. ¡°We¡¯re supposed to rendezvous with an army from Salah. Apparently it¡¯s part of the coalition army from this continent. But my scouts tell me things aren¡¯t great, the terrain around the demon walker has been absolutely wrecked by all the [blood rituals] that were used against it, so approaching it isn¡¯t that straight-forward.¡± Harris''s summoned force is essentially an elite army in itself Another voice came out. Harris identified her as Helen, and she¡¯s in the north. ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re trying to convince the locals to stop using the [blood magic], because it¡¯s making our attempts to approach the demons a lot harder. A few routes have been made unusable because of the [blood magic] used to bombard it. But it¡¯s quite hard to get that message across, because the guys that fire the damned [blood magic] are not here anymore! It doesn''t help that the Kings used some kind of [charisma] or [charm] skill to convince all these guys to sacrifice themselves, and these guys have far too large an ego to accept that their decisions are wrong.¡± Mirei looked and pointed. She noticed Helen¡¯s background wasn¡¯t... outdoors. ¡°Are you guys in an inn?¡± Helen laughed at the question. ¡°Hell Yeah! Check out my lovely bed! I can¡¯t freaking stand camping outside. Thankfully we found a small town with an inn! That¡¯s still standing! You cannot believe how few and rare independent inns are in this world, since all these traveler¡¯s inns are absolutely defenseless!¡± It was laughter all the heroes shared, but all of them felt bittersweet. The pain of lacking proper rest and sleep is apparent to all 12 of them, even if the magic and drive from the god¡¯s blessing did constantly spur them on. ¡°Alright, alright. We got 50 minutes left. Let¡¯s start the recap. I¡¯ve recently hit level 60 too, and I¡¯ve unlocked an [avatar].¡± Astra was the one said. ¡°It lets me create three ¡®copies¡¯ of myself that I can send elsewhere to do things, and it can cast all the spells I can, except those using [star mana].¡± ¡°We¡¯re all multi-unit heroes, aren¡¯t we?¡± Everyone had a summon or ¡®companion¡¯ force of some kind. Harris had ¡®scouts¡¯ and ¡®living armors¡¯, Becky as a pure [summoner] had the most expansive force. She could single-handedly summon 1,500 ¡®magical soldiers¡¯ to battle if she expended all her star mana. ¡°Fitting, since we are facing a ¡®war¡¯. Anyone else not level 60 yet? Any interesting skills? Any new demon-units we should be afraid of?¡± ¡°I fought the demon-general you mentioned. Not as hard as I was made to believe.¡± ¡°The locals generally exaggerate their strength. I reckon it¡¯s a level 50 threat.¡± Harris frowned. They haven¡¯t been having easy fights. Were they doing something wrong? ¡°Huh. Only one?¡± They fought a battle with 6 demon generals. "Yup!" ¡°Uh... anyone have any clue where the demon king is?¡± ¡°Quite sure it¡¯s in the Southern Continent.¡± Astra responded. ¡°But I think it hasn¡¯t moved at all since it came to this world. I think it¡¯s... churning out walkers.¡± ¡°Oh. Does that mean all of us need to head to the south?¡± ¡°Eventually, yes. Once we can get past the walkers on our continent... But who knows, maybe the demon king will move. I heard they say the demon king moves from.place to place for previous generations.¡± "Uh... that''s a future thing. Let''s focus. So... on the walkers...¡± Everyone looked worried. At this point they have not fought anything that powerful. ¡°Any tips for facing the walker?¡± Harris asked.. ¡°Anyone fought one since last week? There¡¯s one near you, Astra?¡± ¡°We¡¯re hoping you¡¯d set the example, Harris. We do have plenty of walkers down here in the south, but somehow, they travel in pairs, so we have not yet attempted to fight them. You¡¯re facing one along, and that¡¯s probably the easiest fight available.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Mirei called out. ¡°Why do we have to be first?¡± Awkward silence. Harris frowned. Becky sighed. All of them received overpowered abilities and blessings from the gods, and here they are, arguing who should face the demon walkers first. ¡°Never mind, never mind. Time to share some knowledge.¡± Astra needed to save time. ¡°Did you know some kings have a [protective presence] ability that allows the use of [message] spells in their domain?¡± One of the other heroes on the Eastern continent spoke. ¡°But it only works for [messages] within the domain. I think there should be other kings or leaders with similar powers.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Harris wasn¡¯t that interested, but he wondered whether that¡¯s how Aeon looked after his own domain, but that didn¡¯t seem to be the case. ¡°Astra, what¡¯s the range of your [avatars]?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Becky¡¯s squadrons can¡¯t stray more than 10 miles from her. What¡¯s yours?¡± ¡°I... I haven¡¯t tested.¡± Astra flushed, and he wrote it down somewhere. ¡°I¡¯ll get to it.¡± ¡°My [birdmen raiders] have a range of about twice that.¡± Another one spoke, Simone. ¡°I suppose the range depends on the unit type.¡± ¡°Makes sense.¡± ¡°We should test it.¡± Harris said. ¡°We should be careful. The Demon King knows where we are.¡± ¡°How does your source know that? I¡¯m starting to suspect that source of yours... is a former hero.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not human. She can¡¯t be.¡± ¡°Is that a rule?¡± ¡°We¡¯re all human, right? And the previous generation was all human too. It should be a rule. Why else did the gods pick us?¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t think it¡¯s a rule. I need to check the records.¡± One voice spoke. ¡°The locals say there are non-human heroes. Long, long time ago.¡± Astra cut the discussion off. ¡°Alright, we need to save time. Have you guys thought about the walkers? What¡¯s your strategy?¡± ¡°Destroy the aura spires, chop the head off, and aim for the humanoid core. Beware of energy blasts and beams from spires and heads.¡± ¡°How do you know that?¡± ¡°Uh... previous records? Apparently the city we started in defeated a walker before.¡± ¡°What?! You guys totally lucked out with your start point. We¡¯re clueless about demon walkers. Let us know after you fought it okay?¡± Astra asked. Becky and Mirei looked at each other. There was a subtle bitterness in that statement and they all felt it. They didn¡¯t feel like they had a good time fighting through demons. The [Hero call] ended shortly after. "Y''know, this hero thing isn''t as nice as the gods put it." Becky sighed, she ate one of the barbequed meat from the lightning elemental. It wasn''t that great. The lightning elemental had no taste buds, and no sense of smell to estimate how cooked the meat was. Harris too chewed on a rather burnt meat, and said rather bluntly. "The gods screwed up and we, the earth-ers are the emergency response team." "I expected to be a princess. Instead I¡¯m a demon hunter. Not the fairy tale I was hoping for." Becky ranted. "But someone''s got to do it, and it sure looks like we are the only ones anywhere equipped to deal with it." "I was told the food is exotic." Mirei sighed. But exotic also meant... weird and often, untasty. All of them collectively sighed. A part of them tempted by the rewards, they felt like hamsters chasing after dangled food. "So... should we still attempt to fight the walker?" That question made all of them pause. They reflected on the damage demons have caused the lands they have seen. "We have to." Mirei said, her mind filled with the scenes she witnessed. All the deaths and destruction. The crying and weeping. "We should." Harris shook his head. "Lady Mika said it in very clear terms that we can die. We are sure about this?" "Yes." Harris nodded. He felt it too, like a calling, to fight the demon walker. It''s almost as if he is being summoned to it. - An army came, 10,000 strong. Not much, but it was all the coalition could spare, with multiple other battles happening throughout the continent. A group of 30 rode forth to meet with the 3 of them. ¡°The heroes?¡± An older looking man asked. Harris nodded. ¡°Yes. We... we are the reincarnated ones.¡± He wasn¡¯t sure whether he deserved the ¡®hero¡¯ title just yet. ¡°Great.¡± The older man dismounted, and walked towards them. He offered a handshake, and Harris took it. ¡°I¡¯m Commander Akbar, and I¡¯m here on behalf of the coalition force. It¡¯s a small army, but even this took a whole load of persuasion.¡± Akbar shook both Becky and Mirei¡¯s hands. ¡°I was told the three of you plan to attack the walker, and relieve the pressure on Gila.¡± ¡°Indeed, but... we¡¯re not sure how.¡± "Our intel said the demon walkers have projectile attacks from its main head, and lesser beam weapons from some of the spires. The army will split into smaller forces and attack the demon walker from all sides, this way the ''head'' can only aim at one group at a time. An elite force will stay with you and cut a path for you to get close. Can you disable the head? Once you do ,we can start channelling the longer-time spells like our [siege fireballs], since our mages are relieved from shielding duties " Harris nodded. He had a massive shield ability. It should do. "Sounds like a lot of people are going to die." "Or do you want to... tunnel?" Akbar asked. Harris paused. "What?" Akbar brought a group of thirty humans, they looked very much like miners, they had large pickaxes and shovels. "Oh." They suddenly got it. Akbar''s battle at New Freeka really seared into his mind, and he thought of emulating the tunnels used by the giant beetles. "This..." All three heroes nodded. It was far less risky since it was not an open confrontation, but that is hinged on the demon walker being unable to detect their presence. "It''s worth a try, don''t you think?" Harris, Mirei and Becky nodded. Treemeet Year 84 Month 6 ¡°Master, right now on your dashboard, there¡¯s the following outstanding items. One, extending to Giant Lilypod city. Two, finding a new location to set up a second town. Third, finding more magical leylines for more soul-forge upgrades. Four, acquire research and upgrade materials for us. Five, demonic research and telco tower further research. Six, blood ritual observation and related hex research. Seven, prepare for demon king surprises. Eight, work on Jura¡¯s soul vitality and level cap. Nine, research potential anti-demonic objects to create super-anti demonic weapons. Ten, upgrading the faeces, refuse processing and absorption. Eleven....¡± Trevor went on. But I had gotten it. I had a lot on my big wooden plate, and well, I tend to forget things a lot. Even though trees are supposed to remember things, because of how they are ¡®burned¡¯ into our tree rings. So, let¡¯s go back on the list. I¡¯m working on the extension to the Giant Lilypod city, and well, I should be there in one month. After that, I¡¯m hoping to establish some means of contact, if we are able to ¡®telepathically¡¯ connect, if not, I might try to connect my roots directly. Would that be too risky? What if it¡¯s more powerful than me and the energy in it¡¯s roots attempt to take over me instead? A direct root connection is after all a two-way exchange of information, magic and nutrients... it¡¯s almost as if two trees are ¡®married¡¯. Thinking about it, I decided I probably should not connect my roots directly. But then again, my roots are everywhere. Even treefolks have been somewhat connected to me, their roots frequently touching and making contact. It¡¯s only thanks to my [rootnet] that so far, I¡¯ve not been massively disturbed. Perhaps, a fellow tree spirit of that level can overpower and brute force through my [rootnet]¡¯s defenses. And what do I even say to a fellow tree spirit? Like... hi? Feeling a little bit concerned about my competence at communicating, I asked Jura. ¡°Jura, do we have historical records of past encounters with great spirits? Can I have their stories?¡± ¡°Oh... we¡¯ll need to ask the various guilds, but sure.¡± Jura nodded. ¡°Is something happening? Last month was about demon king¡¯s movement, and this month ancient spirits...¡± ¡°I just have some... thoughts.¡± Jura nodded. ¡°It¡¯s costing us a bit of money to do these sort of searches, since there¡¯s no central library where all these things are stored.¡± And that¡¯s a problem, isn¡¯t it? Wikipedia¡¯s awesome. This world needs a wikipedia. Maybe I can set up a large network of trees that function as terminals for people to upload information. I¡¯d call them... treeminals. Wait. Sounds too much like criminals. Intreeface? No, sounds too much like In Tree¡¯s Face. Or maybe, Wikitree? Treewiki? Eeek. Never mind. I¡¯m getting distracted. I need a 101 on how to communicate with other spirits. - Second, was the location expansion. Some of them didn¡¯t get the idea of why I wanted to search for potentially habitable locations, but it was quite obvious to the more clever ones. ¡°Aeon¡¯s looking to germinate?¡± ¡°Will there be a second Aeon?¡± ¡°Can Tree Spirits multiply? Is Aeon making a special tree?¡± Okay. I think they misunderstood. I have giant trees, why don¡¯t they ask whether those are my babies? I even have subsidiary trees, or do they think those are just ¡®normal trees¡¯. Or is it the way I asked? There¡¯s actually a few places, a bit further, that¡¯s in sort-of no-mans land thanks to the fall of some cities to the demons. After all, if demons happen every 10 years, your continent isn¡¯t going to be densely populated all the time. There¡¯s going to be large patches where the fires have burned for so long, for so much, that 10 years won¡¯t reverse that kind of damage. It¡¯ll take a lot longer than that. Far north, there¡¯s another valley where there¡¯s a river running through it, and some metals in the gentle, rolling hills. A rather pleasant valley, but uninhabited. There¡¯s also a few others, but I like this valley the most, so I decided to also stretch a few trees there, and then placed one [giant attendant tree] in it. Over time, I would like this to be like the Valthorn¡¯s actual ¡®academy¡¯, the Root Camp, where young Valthorns learn their roots. These [giant attendant trees] are wonderful in their own way, their large number of [customisable rooms] meant one giant tree could house easily 100 people, and another giant tree could be converted into barracks and all the other things the Valthorns need. I recall having trading cards where massive trees were the superstructures and skyscrapers of the world, and these giant trees are my closest attempt at them. Perhaps, one day these giant trees could even be ancients, like in Warcraft, and fight wars on my behalf. Maybe I should get some Treefolks into the Valthorns too. Speaking of Treefolks... my research into their fallen was quite insightful. They are built just like any normal ¡®flexible¡¯ limb, just that their texture is woody, and their organs are distributed. They do have organs, and their means of absorbing nutrients via their rooted form is a very fancy thing. But, the younger treefolks, those who benefited from my special saps and ¡®milk¡¯, are growing up and now we are able to get a clearer comparison of those who went for the longer ¡®pregnancy¡¯ versus those who went for the shorter ¡®external¡¯ gestation period. The saps close the gaps by close to 50-60%, so the saps significantly improve the treefolk¡¯s reproduction, because now the ¡®drawbacks¡¯ of the high-volume external gestation is reduced. Of course, the whole point of looking into them was to find out how to ¡®develop¡¯ flexible wooden parts. Yet, I believe Meela¡¯s tree-form was a lot more interesting, in that Meela¡¯s treeform resembled a quasi-liquid thing with a wooden layer, whereas the treefolks have more distinct ¡®muscles¡¯. What I¡¯d like to do is incorporate these muscles and stuff into the giant trees, and essentially build my own ¡®treant¡¯. With an artificial soul in it, I could probably get a super-tank. Which reminds me... what happens if I fuse an artificial soul with a giant tree? Do they become mini-versions of me? Anyway, back to the list. The leylines... well, I think the nearest one to me is where the demon supercannon was, but the heroes had already placed a telco tower there after they defeated the demon. Maybe the Giant Lilypod¡¯s spirit will know more. Research and upgrades are on the way! The merchants need some time before things get back to ¡®business as usual¡¯. The presence of demons and demon kings are still quite disruptive, and the long period of when businesses essentially were ¡®dead¡¯ meant alot of merchants ran into financial problems. Ah, the realities of business. I suppose it¡¯s harder to be a billionaire in a world where the demon king might just wipe you out every 10 years. Businesses need long periods of growth, stability! Unless one¡¯s a war merchant. There should be bankers or war merchants, right? I don¡¯t believe a world like this doesn¡¯t have it¡¯s Rothschild¡¯s equivalent. ¡°Are there... merchants who fund wars?¡± Jura scratched his chin, ¡°Uh... yeah? But usually they are a nobility as well...¡± Yup. This world is fucked. Year 84 Month 7 ¡°Pleased to meet you, Lady Lausanne, the Chosen of Aeon.¡± The baker boy bowed. He wasn¡¯t good at it. Lausanne didn¡¯t react. She merely got into position, and lifted her sparring short-spear, Thorny¡¯s on her back. She¡¯s getting taller. ¡°Come.¡± They were sparring. The baker boy nodded, and attacked with a wooden sword. He swung with all his might, but then somehow his leg got tangled with Lausanne¡¯s spear and he fell flat into the soft wooden floor. Lausanne shrugged. ¡°Again?¡± The baker boy got up and nodded. ¡°Yes.¡± And he was easily defeated. Multiple times. ¡°Alright. Time¡¯s up.¡± Lausanne said, and then walked away to spar with the next person. There¡¯s many more to train. Then Jura walked in. ¡°Everyone, we¡¯ve got new instructions from Aeon. We¡¯re forming a squad. Lausanne, pick 50. We¡¯re going on a trip. Everyone pack up enough supplies for 2 weeks.¡± ¡°Where are we going?¡± ¡°Aeon¡¯s instructions is to head to a giant tree grove located at one of the northwestern valleys. There¡¯s accommodation, but we will camp out there.¡± ¡°That¡¯s...¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you further details. Later. Aeon did tell me a bit.¡± In public, both Jura and Lausanne referred to me as Aeon, because well, it¡¯s just my ¡®public¡¯ and ¡®divine¡¯ name. All of them were given about two hours to pack for 2 weeks, and off they went. As Valthorns, they are all expected to be deployed as soon as they can. The Valthorn quarters are now vacant, and the baker boy is left with the rest who wasn¡¯t selected. A young girl, about the baker boy¡¯s age came up. ¡°Hi, I saw you just now. Let¡¯s practice!¡± The baker boy nodded. ¡°Okay.¡± He wasn¡¯t that good, but he¡¯s improving. Roma walked in a bit later with Yvon. ¡°Oh, where¡¯d everyone go?¡± Yvon asked, and one of the older caretakers explained Jura¡¯s instructions. ¡°Oh, mom, this is the friend I¡¯m talking about. Nero. Meet my mom, Mom, meet Nero.¡± ¡°Hello, Nero.¡± Yvon smiled at the baker boy, he¡¯s slightly taller than Roma. ¡°Finally I get to meet the boy that¡¯s been making my son gain all that weight.¡± ¡°Uh...¡± ¡°I¡¯m kidding. Alright. Come, let¡¯s practice. Let¡¯s see whether you can learn some combat skills.¡± - It¡¯s quite therapeutic to use my ¡®bloom¡¯, and create new patches of trees. Vast barren, destroyed lands, and with a bit of tender loving care from me and my artificial minds, transformed into scenic watering holes and oases. As my network of trees stretch further, I¡¯m now exposed to slightly different climates as well. Further to the south, the air is hotter, drier, and so my trees have to adapt. They share a portion of my environmental adaptations, so they won¡¯t die, just not functioning at 100%. It¡¯s interesting to see the subtle changes in vegetation further south, and I wonder whether there¡¯s been any proper studies into the effects of magic, and the multiple-moons, on this world¡¯s plants. Warmer, warmer. Another tree, another tree, and every other day I cross a chain of hills, on the way to meet another spirit. But it seemed that we met a lot earlier. < A visitor from afar , yet so familiar > Huh? There are voices. Not one, but many. It¡¯s as if it¡¯s a choir in the background, with one person occasionally taking the lead. The sudden presence of that voice jolted me from my usual daze. I feel like I¡¯m in a trance when I¡¯m expanding my presence and network, so, that voice really knocked me out. < He brings the greening of the lands , and yet also it¡¯s destruction > Wait, I¡¯m about 2-3 days away from Giant Lilypod. Is this the voice of the Giant Lilypod? Who am I talking to? < One of us , one of many > Is that the Giant Lilypod? I attempt to respond. > Hello! < < The words of mortals , and he speaks like one > I paused. Maybe I should speak the same way. > I come in peace < < Peace is but one of many states. But it is welcome > What? > I am Aeon, A Tree Spirit. I greet thee < I tried to respond, but it¡¯s hard to even speak the way they do. They clearly understand the language differently. I hope, if anything, that I do not offend them. < A greeting like a mortal. Strange, but we accept. Greetings, Aeon. > I didn¡¯t know what to say. Is this how the others are when they speak to me? < We are the Lilies of the Lake, We are one and We are many > So... the Giant Lilypod City is a hivemind? I kept on my journey. I want to physically see their body, how they are like, how they look like. < Come , the world is for all of us > It seems the Lilies have a larger telepathic communication range than I do, since it picked up my presence long before I did, is it because it¡¯s a hive mind? < Tell us of the world outside the lake > It talked while I kept up my network of trees. > It is big and there are monsters everywhere < > And there are demons < Well, I thought of testing it¡¯s knowledge of demons. < ... > I heard a long droning sound in my head, and I had to forcefully cut it off using my [grand mind tree]. It went on for quite a while, and it lingered. > Heroes have appeared to fight them < < ... > The droning continued, and then faded. I wonder what¡¯s on such a hive mind¡¯s mind, and clearly, I fail to understand it. ¡®Perhaps it is like us, master. Only that they all get to speak.¡¯ < A Medicine That May Kill , A Choice of Desperation > I¡¯m starting to suspect I¡¯ll struggle to get along with this fellow.... Tree spirit. Or tree spirits? > How should I refer to you < < We are Lilies , We are many > That¡¯s... > Hello Lilies < < Hello... Aeon> It sounded like those two words really took a lot of out of them. Perhaps they are not used to this sort of interaction? And silence. I was quite comfortable with the silence, and clearly, so was Lilies. It seemed both of us being... plants, silence didn¡¯t make us uncomfortable. In fact, it was quite... relaxing < You sought us out , why? > > My... disciple needs your blessing < I wasn¡¯t sure how to refer to Lausanne. Is she my minion, or is she a disciple? Or is she... a personal representative? What would she call herself in reference to me? Is she a subordinate then? Or just an employee? < A blessing from us? > > Yes < < Strange. > Is it strange? > Why? < Do people not get blessings from their tree spirits? < Bless? Why? > > Why? < What. Trees don¡¯t give blessings? < Seems the mortal minds have tainted the thoughts > I am starting to think I made a wrong decision of talking to this tree spirit. Or even attempting to get close. Their lake is still far away, and yet it already knows I am here? It must have something similar to subsidiary trees. < Nature¡¯s cycles of life comes and goes. Individuals are but specks, motes on a sunbeam, so long as the whole continues to grow. Like leaves, shed them when they are no longer needed. Focus on the whole, the... ¡®ecosystem¡¯. To focus on individuals, a single tree, is but a mortals¡¯ way > > Then grant your familiar to this one, as part of a whole < < He who wishes to taste the highest fruits must make the climb, the gates are open > It took another few more days, and I eventually reached the edge of the lake. And I had to see it for myself, so I used one of my few physical eyes. The lake was vast, and it stretched really far. And the Giant Lilypod is essentially a city around a massive moat, the lake itself. There¡¯s a ¡®bridge¡¯ that connected the shore to the main city, but the city is actually all built on massive, like... multiple-building-sized giant water lily leaves. The largest of those leaves are larger than city blocks, and there are smaller but still giant lily-pads that acted as a landbridge, and visually, these lily-pads closer to shore are more... thorny, as if they are ready to spring a trap at any time. < Welcome, Aeon from afar. This is Lake Lilypod, and the mortal city of Giant Lilypod stands on my 26,485 lily pads. Home to 615,000. > Each lily pads acted as it¡¯s own ¡®district¡¯, and together they form the city. There are three landbridges, formed by the lily pads, and it¡¯s clearly fortified. The humans that live here also build massive forts around the entrances of all 3 bridges. At 26,000 lily pads, I¡¯m inclined to think that it¡¯s probably it¡¯s version of the [subsidiary tree]? > What do you do, when the demons come for you? < < Like fire, a cycle of destruction and rebirth. Let it be > Heh. Well, from what I can see, it looks like this spirit is more than happy to let the lily pads burn? > How many years have you been here? < It didn¡¯t answer me. Maybe it¡¯s sensitive. We didn¡¯t speak for days, as I went about my other tasks. - Madeus and a few others were gathered, Lausanne was there too, since I think it¡¯d be relevant to her. The history of the Giant Lilypod city in it¡¯s initial stages is lacking, but it is said that the city and the lake is greatly intertwined. The lilies that blossomed in the lake had been attacked by demons many times, and often, the lilies would be destroyed. Some of the lilies, those further inland, are about to close and ¡®submerge¡¯ to hide-away from the demons. This is of course, aided by the fact that the demons can¡¯t seem to walk in water, and the waters of the lake are filled with monstrous vines and floating things. There are also giant fish and other lake-monsters living in there that would attack any demon that goes into the water. So essentially, they hide, and the massive lake act as a giant moat, because these stupid demons are not well adapted to underwater combat. The massive lilies are also extremely resilient and so they can take multiple hits and bombardments, they have to be, because the city is built on it. Even if the lilies are destroyed, because the core body of the lily is underwater and probably a large network of tubers and roots that¡¯s not exactly destroyed, it can just regenerate after every destruction. It¡¯s literally a water-weed, that waits for the demonic ¡®disaster¡¯ to go away. Of course, I wonder what level it is. No one knows, and apparently, no one knows whether the Lilies can communicate. The druids apparently has attempted to communicate, but they can¡¯t even reach it, other than ¡®sensing¡¯ that it briefly exists. So, hiding it¡¯s main body is a smart thing. Maybe I should do that too. Of course, this also exposed one of the druid¡¯s lies. They can¡¯t communicate with other tree spirits and yet promise such a thing to me? Or is it just Lilies that is being unnaturally shy? Or maybe it does communicate, but it just does so very, very selectively? After that conversation about the history of that city, Lausanne came and asked me about it. ¡°TreeTree, do you think I should go to Giant Lilypod City? Nobody has even found how to communicate with the spirit yet.¡± ¡°Probably... not. Let¡¯s see whether there are other spirits we can communicate with.¡± The next one would be the elven capital¡¯s tree spirit. I think that one is probably younger that the Lilies, but it also has a few hundred years of history to it. ¡°But you won¡¯t mind waiting, right?¡± Lausanne nodded. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I want to learn more about travelling, before making the journey. I feel like all my life I¡¯ve been here, mom says I need more... uh.. Life experience. I¡¯m too young in her eyes.¡± ¡°Moms will always view you are their children. It is just the way they are. Talk to her and convince her otherwise.¡± Spaizzer Sorry for the delay. Was too tired last night. Pulp Fiction Year 84 Month 8 While Jura¡¯s network was trying to gather information about the demon king¡¯s whereabouts, well, we found out what the trap was. It¡¯s tough trying to filter through crap and false-positives, so much so that by the time any ¡®good¡¯ information is obtained, it¡¯s often no longer useful. This is one of those times. The demon king has been visiting the sites of the previous demon kings. The places of their death and destruction, and tapped into the remaining energies to create a massive demon monster that¡¯s stronger than the super cannon. We know this, because on the eastern continent was where one demon king died perhaps 50-60 years ago, the location of Astaroth. Of course, at this point, I wonder if there is a ¡®limit¡¯. The world must have seen countless demon kings, so by sheer number and a long history, there should be some demon king¡¯s destruction in almost every location at some point of this world¡¯s life. So... perhaps the residual magics get fully decayed and the demon king cannot tap into that energy? Or only if there¡¯s remaining daemolite? Is it looking for daemolite? The new monster, well, apparently, resembled Astaroth. That said, very few descriptions of Astaroth¡¯s appearance remain, so it could well be a corrupted version of the story. The new monster, at least, doesn¡¯t seem to have a long range weapon. Instead, it was just a gargantuan creature that seemed to excel in short-range bursts, and well, it wrecked a few nations in it¡¯s immediate surroundings. Naturally, this means the demon king is headed for the other demon king¡¯s deathland. This conjecture immediately caused panic, because there¡¯s actually a rather massive mining operation in the area to get at the daemolite. Mining daemolite suddenly doesn¡¯t seem that ¡®profitable¡¯ now that the demon king¡¯s eyes is on it too. Hazard pay only goes so far. - > Are you there? < < Always > > Do you speak to the mortals? < < A foolish endeavour. > My knowledge of the world is indeed lacking, and very much, what I know is shaped by what I can see, and what I can ¡®infer¡¯ from observing the mortals. But I do agree that my ¡®viewpoints¡¯ are colored greatly by these mortals that I mingle with. It¡¯s been something on my mind for a while, and I do sense the growing influence of the network of trees. Every day I feel like I¡¯m switching between... myself, and a tree. > I am... a young tree. I want to learn more < < Age is but the passing of time. For immortals, another day. Speak of where is lacking. > Is there really a me? Am I really an individual person, or am I conflating the previous me, the once human me, the one that is both a soul, and also a mammalian homo sapien¡¯s needs and desires? Is there really a ¡®me¡¯, that is independent of our bodies? After all, our souls are plugged into the bodies we inhabit, we share and feel the desires, needs, the bodily ¡®wants¡¯ of that body. Now that I am a tree, naturally I will change. But is this change a new me, since I have lost my human body so many years ago? Am I still the same person as I am? What should I do with this... ¡®aspect¡¯ that thinks, behaves, and has the desires of a tree? Is it me? Is my yearning for a social circle a relic of my once mortal, humanoid, clanning and family oriented society, something that is ingrained in my human genetic code? < We are what we are. > > What if we once were something else? < < Like rings on a tree, we are the product of cumulative experience. Why cling onto the past? That something else will never return. The future and the big picture, remains > I¡¯m confused. But I do feel like I¡¯m struggling a bit with an identity crisis. What should I be? What... am I? Am I just a talking, thinking magical soultree, bane of all demons? Is there something more to me? That past history of mine, however short it now feels? Am I more TreeTree, or more Matt? - Locally, the demons are on a ¡®retreat¡¯, and a sense of normalcy returns for the inhabitants of the region. This, of course, ignores the fact that the demon king has somehow made a ¡®mini-demon king¡¯. It¡¯s a stupid decision by the demon king, if I was in charge, I would¡¯ve absorbed the energy from the previous demon kings and make myself stronger, rather than create new minions. But maybe there¡¯s some physical or magical limitation. It¡¯s like letting the heroes get a ¡®trial¡¯ run before actually fighting the real thing. How is that a good idea? Anyway, it¡¯s just like a regular citizen giving opinions on world matters, these to some extent, are matters beyond one man¡¯s control. Focusing back on what I can do, trade and research! Trade routes restored, and the materials necessary for research gradually returned. Research Status: Phytoremediation process - advanced (mineral concentration) - 12 months First things first, I resumed research for upgrades to the faeces-processing plant. Reason being... well, my previous solution could be better. Also, currently all the metals are absorbed by dedicated ¡®trees¡¯ that function as a sponge for specific types of metals or toxin, so it¡¯s mixed with that tree. The next step would be therefore, to then specifically expel these collected metals into some kind of usable form. Then, I¡¯ve been thinking about what I¡¯ve been facing, and what my artificial souls said. About a counterattack, and also the strange magics from the [telco tower], and so, a bit more on the flexible branches needed to have a kind of tree-catapult. The lattice is derived from the tower, with the way it¡¯s magic is twisted and intertwined to form a layered structure which results in greater endurance. Ultraflexible compression branches - 24 monthsLatticeworks - 12 months And on top of that, the hex¡¯s ability to influence my mental state was something worth researching, as it¡¯s possible to design or construct specialised ¡®artificial minds¡¯, or at least, develop routines that are suited for absorbing these hexes. Still, as a field of research, it overlaps quite a bit with me absorbing shit. Just emotional shit. Magical residue filtration - basic 1 - 12 months I still have one spare [forest rod] that I¡¯ve not used, and that¡¯s something I want to find a place to plant. One spot that I am aware of, is the location of the demonic supercannon, and also where the heroes¡¯ telco tower is. Once the demon king is dead I¡¯m going to attack the telco tower and replace it with my rod. That¡¯s a backup plan, of course. I¡¯m sure there are others.... > Lilies, are there... magical spots that you know off? < It took one day for it to reply. < ... yes > > Would you tell me? < Two days later, all I got was < No > > Why? < Another day later, < Stranger > Ah. Dammit. Still, time to capitalise on the return of magical communications! So, I ask Jura, to gather information about other magical sites, other than the places of former demon king. I don¡¯t want anything to do with the demon king at the moment. Of course, this meant dungeons... or holy sites. Yet, I¡¯m feeling a bit ¡®meh¡¯ with all these info networks because they don¡¯t seem to be generating good information. Seriously, I wonder whether I¡¯m giving Jura¡¯s contacts too much work, or they are just that crappy. Maybe the adventurers¡¯ guild would be better, perhaps a list of all dungeons on the continent? - ¡°We¡¯d like to set up a small ¡®adventurer¡¯ group.¡± Lausanne told the older elves gathered. ¡°Right now, the Valthorns are advancing quite quickly, and many of us are gaining levels. Aeon¡¯s intent is that the Valthorns are a special elite force, and so, we need experience against other kind of foes, not just demons.¡± It was something Lausanne suggested one day, after fighting extensively with her dedicated Training Artificial soul, Treeiner. It¡¯s true that Treeiner could simulate all sorts of combat situations, but the levelling effect from that may not be superior to actual combat experience. Even if I have supplemented that with realistic [dream tutors], there¡¯s still a gap. They needed to fight real enemies, to put all that ¡®training¡¯ into reality. ¡°So, I¡¯d like to lead the first squad. I¡¯ve already gotten five others that are at least level 25 to join.¡± Lausanne¡¯s intent is of course, to hit as many birds with one stone. She¡¯s often bound to New Freeka, so being an adventurer allows her to travel to fight other monsters, encounter other spirits, and also, a high ranking adventurer is allowed entrance to many cities. It¡¯s a formalised recognition of her ¡®levels¡¯. In the long run, Lausanne¡¯s intention is to use a high ranking to earn access to all the other great ¡®spirit¡¯ cities. Jura just nodded. This was something Lausanne had already discussed with Jura beforehand. It was really for the wider Valtrian Order leadership team. In practice, Lausanne could do whatever she wanted and she¡¯d get away with it. ¡°My intention, is that if it works, these five that are with me, will go on to lead their own adventurer squads.¡± ¡°The political aspect is going to be touchy, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± Madeus asked Jura. ¡°I thought there are some restrictions about quasi-military institutions setting up or sponsoring adventurers?¡± ¡°Just formalities, really.¡± Jura said. ¡°The squad can still function as a team of adventurers, and the team needs to be briefed about which country are going to accept recognition as adventurers, given their connections with the Valtrian Order.¡± ¡°The mages¡¯ guilds won¡¯t share high tier resources and knowledge to politically connected adventurers.¡± ¡°They never shared anything to anyone from outside their hometown anyway.¡± One captain opined. ¡°We¡¯d have to open up access to our dungeons to the foreign adventurers as well, then?¡± Madeus then asked. ¡°We don¡¯t have any, but yes. It¡¯s something I¡¯ll have to handle through the Council.¡± Jura said. ¡°There will be some opposition, but given that Aeon is also supporting this, they probably won¡¯t ask too much.¡± As a policy, my beetles mostly focus on demons. If there are life threatening emergencies, then only my beetles will intervene against the native monsters. This is partly to maintain some semblance of work for the adventurers¡¯ guild. But then again, my beetles also have a limited range thanks to the demon king, so there are threats that need specialised help of adventurers. The merchants¡¯ guild regional coordination center also is a big source of escort work for them. After a bit of back and forth about the political impact, which Lausanne just had to endure, eventually all of them agreed to it. ¡°Well, agreed then. Perhaps we can meet with the guildmaster of the local chapter to take this further?¡± Well, the next day, a middle aged man came to the Valtrian Order¡¯s offices. ¡°Counsel.¡± The man tipped his hat, placed it on a hat-hanger and then sat on the chair, his arms wide and posture slightly slouched. There¡¯s only Jura and him in the room. Jura smiled, ¡°I see you¡¯re already comfortable, Garrosh. Wine?¡± Jura offered. ¡°I had a special blend made, mixed with our special herbs.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Garrosh took a glass and sipped on it. ¡°Could use some with the stupid shit that goes on.¡± ¡°People problems are like that.¡± Jura had a sip too. ¡°Lausanne spoke to you?¡± ¡°She did.¡± Garrosh finished the glass, then he leaned forward. ¡°And I told her I¡¯ll think about it.¡± ¡°The answer has to be a yes, you know.¡± Jura offered another glass. ¡°And I¡¯ll lose my job if I don¡¯t.¡± Garrosh took a second glass. ¡°Well, in terms of pure combat competence, Lausanne¡¯s up there, probably close to the best of my adventurers. But the regional adventurers¡¯ guild are going to kick up a fuss.¡± ¡°But you will ignore them.¡± Jura just smiled. Garrosh laughed. ¡°Damn right. I¡¯ve always wanted to meet Aeon. So that¡¯s my price. Bring me into the deep woods, past the strange magics that swirl around it.¡± Jura finished his own glass. ¡°I see you¡¯ve attempted to find Aeon.¡± Garrosh took the role of the guildmaster about two years ago, and well, despite being mostly a guildmaster, he¡¯s quite obediently stuck to the rules of New Freeka. Still, he occasionally did try to sneak into the woods. Jura just looked at his glass, and then back at him. ¡°I¡¯m still an adventurer at heart, and you know I¡¯ve been itching to see it ever since I came to this place. The stories I heard from the older folks, before the deep forests were wrapped in a thick mist really, really interest me.¡± Ever since the druids did what they did, my inner body is always shielded with [mist], [haunted forests]. It¡¯d be a disaster to me if a druid could somewhat get his way to my main body and attempt another ritual. I was prepared for this. Ivy and Jura have both vetted Garrosh¡¯s intentions, and so, I¡¯m quite comfortable with him coming to my main body. I also have other preparations in place, if Garrosh ever tries anything. But it didn¡¯t need to come to that. The very journey through the woods, with all the ghosts and soul harvesters roaming about was enough to intimidate him, and he froze when he saw my main body. ¡°This... this is it?¡± Well, I¡¯m massive. As a tree, I tower high up above the rest of the valley, and due to my [camouflage] and [mist] skills, that envelops the entire forest of trees that I am unseen. Lately, I also have other giant trees in the forest, which help act as a ¡®distraction¡¯ and ¡®diversion¡¯. He froze, and he stared at me. ¡°Well?¡± Jura nodded. He¡¯s used to the sight. ¡°I... I will go now.¡± The middle aged guildmaster said. ¡°Hello Garrosh.¡± I decided to speak directly into this head. Somehow, that caused his legs to buckle, but he quickly regained his composure. ¡°....Aeon?¡± He asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I... I... I will go now.¡± Jura happily escorted him away, and apparently, he spent that day sleeping. ¡°Why do they react like that?¡± ¡°Hmm... I think your voice has gotten more... ¡®complicated¡¯ recently. It¡¯s almost as if you are multiple people talking at the same time, and there¡¯s a greater ¡®pressure¡¯ in your voice.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I clearly wasn¡¯t aware of what my voice sounds like when I telepathically speak to people. I mean, it¡¯s not as if telepathy has an echo. How do you even ¡®record¡¯ telepathy? Would that be possible, or is that like ¡®copying¡¯ memories? It¡¯s like trying to replay a thought, isn¡¯t it? - Year 84 Month 9 A string of battles break out across the continents. The demon king has landed on our shores! It¡¯s probably headed for the former demon king¡¯s place, and so... that¡¯s not good news. And apparently one group of heroes attempted to fight the demon animated from Astaroth¡¯s residual energies. They won. But a heavy price was paid. [Pooja Pooran died. You received one hero fragment. You now have 68 fragments.]. - I¡¯ve been observing the Giant Lilypod City from the shore, after all, my trees can¡¯t grow underwater, or at least, not yet. Perhaps some day I¡¯ll have submersible trees, or seaweeds, something of a thought for the later days. I¡¯m particularly fascinated by the structure of the Giant Lily pads themselves, how these massive things manage to even stay afloat, or what¡¯s supporting them from beneath? Or is it magic? < A long history > Well, it seemed Lilies clearly noticed I¡¯m watching. < For millennia we stood. Multiple destruction seen. Death, and rebirth. The eternal cycle, the great wheel of life. Even this form, is not our first. > I decided to leave and ponder on that statement. I kept watching. How do the citizens even build things on the lily pads? The Lily pads are clearly quite thick, so thick that the citizens must be able to drill or hammer some foundation into it, to support the tall stone and wooden structures, the highest of them are at least ten stories tall. The lilies themselves are not entirely stationary, they drift a little, and so the bridge that connects the various lily pads are usually based on some kind of magical string or ropes which can somewhat stretch. The dark, murky waters, are they magical? Or are there monsters lurking in them? Despite it being a lake, there¡¯s very little ¡®fishery¡¯ activity going on, though I do notice some people fishing. Curious, I put another tree closer to the entrance, on the lake¡¯s shore. Perhaps some of the travellers or passersby would somehow reveal something. > Is there something in the lake? < I tried my luck, the Lilies are quite secretive in a way, or maybe I haven¡¯t figured out the trick to communicate with them properly. It¡¯s really a communication gap. < Death > What. < But in death, life > Okay. That was two days later. I realised I didn¡¯t plan my meeting with another tree spirit well enough. What should I ask it? Or them? - Lausanne and gang finally had their first few ¡®adventurer¡¯ missions, hunting some monster wolves and stuff. The ¡®retreat¡¯ of the demons meant the return of native monsters, and they really don¡¯t get along. If I were to put the world into factions, I¡¯d probably make it into a ¡®three-kingdoms¡¯ kind of situation. The demons, the living mortals, and the monsters, all with their own ¡®gods. Fun, for them, because for one, they get to wear adventurer gear and not in the usual Valtrian colors. In fact, Lausanne had so much fun she came home and talked for hours about it to her mom. Perhaps it was that whole ¡®field-trip¡¯ kind of effect. Just a group of young kids on an adventure, without adult supervision! In a way, it¡¯s rare for Lausanne to go so far without a captain, or Yvon, or any of the older Valtrian Order people around. Even if she did outrank them in many ways, it¡¯s still having an ¡®adult¡¯ around. Laufen just patted her on the head and looked really amused at her daughter. - The demon king is getting nearer to Takde and Nung, and that meant a round of fleeing. It¡¯s hilarious, really. The kingdoms should all just set up some kind of massive teleportation array between continents so that they can play hide and seek with the demons. The death of that one hero though, quickly spread, and it becomes chatter in the bars and inns. ¡°One hero died?¡± ¡°Does this mean this generation¡¯s heroes are weak?¡± ¡°But many of them died before!¡± I mean, many don¡¯t really know how many heroes there are. They don¡¯t get ¡®fragments¡¯ to track, and the past heroes didn¡¯t really talk that much with the natives, so eavesdropping on the chatter is amusing. ¡°I wish more of them die!¡± ¡°After the demon king is killed!¡± ¡°When the demon king is killed!¡± These kind of chatter would probably make Meela or Alexis feel depressed, but hey, that¡¯s what happens when one is reincarnated as the pawn of the gods. Some of them, are making the journey to me, again. Sigh. I wonder how Meela and Alexis are doing. Extratreerestials Year 84 Month 10 Battles. It was inevitable that a battle would break out now that the demon king is on this continent. The demon king generated lesser demons like a zerg hive, it¡¯s minions gushed out in all directions. The nearby kingdoms attempted to defend and delay the inevitable, creating large armies to fight. Yet, the demon king itself also has the ability to fire projectiles like the supercannon, so that curtailed any attempt to form up into a larger force. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t seem trigger happy. So, this month, my beetles and gang faced multiple medium scale battles, at about 5,000 to 10,000 demons. Since it was going to be a battle of attrition, we mostly fought a defensive battle, concentrating my forces around my larger [giant attendant trees]. This made the most of the aura effects, and helped minimise casualties. My beetles need a few months to replenish itself, so it¡¯s entirely possible for the demons to overwhelm my surroundings if I lose too many beetles. Still, we have communication channels, so Jura has been really busy, coordinating with other nearby kingdoms to fight defensive battles together. Lausanne, was unhappy, though. ¡°Why¡¯d the demon king have to spoil my adventurer fun!¡± ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous with the demon king on our continent!¡± ¡°But it was fine just a month ago!¡± Well, it¡¯s hard to explain the erratic behavior of the demon king. Or maybe it just ¡®seems¡¯ erratic from our point of view. We, after all, do not understand or appreciate it¡¯s thought processes. Still, more defensive battles, and despite racking up kills, I don¡¯t seem to be gaining levels. Which is really quite sad. The demon king, of course, is headed for the site of the previous demon king, and will probably attempt to summon something similar to the previous demon king, if the news of the Astaroth copy is to be believed. So, we¡¯re going to have a mini-rerun of the previous demon king on our hands. Something that perhaps I have to deal with. Since I can handle a demon walker, I suppose in some ways, this is a good test of my own strength. Will I stand up to a ¡®mini-demon king¡¯? There¡¯s time to prepare. And so I intensify all my anti-demon preparations by stockpiling my anti-demon bolts and weapons. Yet, there¡¯s quite a bit of apathy amongst the general populace. To them, all this news is just like regular citizens watching a news channel on the television, talking about some virus or war in some faraway place. There¡¯s no personal relationship, so most of these regular folks don¡¯t feel a thing and they don¡¯t react to it. If I¡¯m not a tree who regularly have to move my beetles to face these forces, perhaps I¡¯d be like that too. Not my problem. Someone else will handle it. How do I get proactive people? Is there a way to let these people imagine they have control over things? It¡¯s clear by now that a part of it comes from the influence of the ¡®classes¡¯ and ¡®levels¡¯, that people of a certain class have their mindsets influenced by the constraints and scope of those classes. So, if I want ¡®proactive¡¯, I need to give these people the right kinds of classes, which then shapes how they think. And so, I get the feeling like... I need to ¡®shape¡¯ my minions more actively, on top of helping them with levelling. So, I decided to grant some of my lesser grade classes more freely, and also even grant some of the Valthorns the [Knight] classes. The intention is quite simple, that is, if I have a larger population, I could then make a general assessment of the mindsets of those possessing different classes, and see whether there¡¯s any differences. I could run them through ¡®standardised¡¯ tests in [dream tutor], and evaluate their performance. If the class really influences thoughts, then it should be something exhibited throughout the population, and not just individuals. So, on top of expanding the Valthorns previously to some 500 kids, I¡¯ve segregated the newer pool of 300 kids into 3 groups. One with [Knight] class, about 100 of them, one with [Ranger] class, about 150 of them, and another 50 kids with [Druid] classes. If there is some kind of ¡®uniformity¡¯ of thought processes, I think this is large enough to tell. Then, the issue that emerged was... we didn¡¯t have enough knights to properly ¡®train¡¯ the knights. ¡°Get me some.¡± I told Jura that, and so he had to put up a banner and notification hiring ¡®Knight Trainers¡¯. Strangely, knights tend to be a ¡®human¡¯ kind of role, so it made some of the New Freeka council peeps look and ask questions. But they don¡¯t dare to touch us. Some of the royals though, saw this is an opportune to curry favor with us, so a few royal families quickly offered their Knights. Strange how even if I tried to avoid these royal politics, they always happen. ¡°So... which royal family do you want to pick? Quite a few volunteered their best knights. I even heard about some of them.¡± As a Tree, I just want to grow. Why does everything have to do with people jostling for power? Sigh. ¡°How many can we afford?¡± ¡°Probably 5.¡± ¡°Then pick one from the 5 nearest kingdoms. Use the proximity as a basis. Publish and let the kingdoms know about how we chose the 5 too, just so that we don¡¯t seem like we¡¯re intentionally sidelining the others.¡± ¡°Sure. They will ask for favors from us for this.¡± ¡°Let it be clear to them that I will not owe them favors.¡± ¡°They will make me owe them favors.¡± Jura frowned. ¡°Maybe we should¡¯ve made it anonymous.¡± ¡°That won¡¯t work. Everyone knows we¡¯re the only institution with Knights in New Freeka. The council has some knights, but not to the point where they need... knight-trainers. They¡¯ll be able to trace it from us.¡± ¡°Ah well.¡± I sighed. I spent a day or two mulling over it, and decided it¡¯s still better to get the knight-trainers. It¡¯s good to get insights from other nations¡¯ military, there should be good points we can learn. - > The demons come for you. Their king is here. < I attempted, out of goodwill, to warn Lilies. Perhaps I hoped to learn something from the interaction, I speculated that it, with it¡¯s long age, must have encountered many demon kings in the past, and yet it survived, just like I did. < The bringer of otherworldly destruction. > Does it care, or does it not care? That¡¯s like a statement of fact. < Let it come > > Do you not fear it? < < Like fire, it is fearsome, but the rain will come > > What if the rain doesn¡¯t? < < Then it is so. > Uh... What should I say? > The demons would rule the world then? < < It would not be the first time, nor the last. > Oh. Oh shit. Did Lilies just said that the demons actually won before? Wait, that doesn¡¯t make sense. These demons are clearly out to destroy the world. If they did, and the world we live in managed to recover, that meant they didn¡¯t totally destroy it. So... What do they want? > What do they want? < < We do not ask why the fire burns, but only know that the fire burns. > > How did the world recover? < < As it always had, with a little divine touch > Uh. Meddling gods? If they have powers beyond summoning gods, then why don¡¯t they use it? Well, we had a short break, and what followed the break was a bit more fighting. A large demonic army actually headed for Lake Lilypod and the Giant Lilypod City, and fighting of course, broke out. But the army mostly retreated back into the city itself, and then the lilies that connected the shore to the rest of the floating city just... submerged, forming a moat. There was a walker too! Where did the walker even come from? Did the demon king just make it? Then massive lily bulbs appeared on the shoreline, and it fired.... Seeds? The bulbs are like... turrets! Cool! > Interesting defensive system. < < Pests > > Why do you bother defending them, if you say they are fire that burns? > < Life is meant to be a struggle, but if it is time to die, so be it. > So be it indeed. It¡¯s like a quasi-religious view of the world, like, ¡®believe in God, but tie your camel.¡¯ The walker fired a shot at the city now floating on the lake. The city is drifting away, further and further. One of the lily pads flip up, together with all the buildings in it, and the shot destroyed the entire lilypad. I think all the people on it died as well. But one lilypad for the safety of the other 26,000, I suppose that¡¯s a trade. The walker fired again. And again, Lilies sacrificed another lily pad to act as a shield. And this dance continued for a good hour, Lilies sacrificing about 30 lilypads and probably a few thousand lives, but by then, the rest of the lilypad was now far away in the middle of the massive lake. At this distance, some of the shots were starting to miss, and just splash in the water. Yet the demon walker did not step into the waters. They aren¡¯t afraid of water, are they? The demon king crossed the seas, after all, and so did one of the walkers. So why isn¡¯t this demon walker entering the water? Is there something in the water? I decided to use a bit more of my spiritual vision, and well, the dark, murky waters are filled with... floating roots. A lot of them, so much so that they pretty much block out everything. It¡¯s like using an x-ray, trying to locate a small fishbone when there¡¯s a whole bunch of other larger bones. It¡¯s possible, but hard. The demon walker, realising that the Giant Lilypod is now pretty much a massive island floating in the middle of the lake, far enough that it¡¯s attacks are missing, stopped. And then it moved away. > May I offer some... assistance? < < All yours, as the mortals say > They are clearly eavesdropping on the mortals too. Otherwise it would not have known how to speak like them. There¡¯s a walker after all. Experience! I like experience. A distant proxy battle, by way of [Giant Attendant Trees], and so, I spawned 3 of them on the shores. They emerged from the ground with a massive rumble and shake, the ground cracked, and then three giant trees emerged. > An interesting power, similar to our giant lilies < And root strikes! The walker, realising that it¡¯s foe is now the three trees, turned and started to shoot. At this distance, the Giant Attendant Trees only have 30% of my strength, but I believe that¡¯s good enough. It attacked. My beetles emerged from the giant trees, fresh, newly spawned beetles. Only 1,500 beetles, but enough to distract and delay the regular demons, such that the walker¡¯s attention is focused on the three giant trees. It attacks. I use my wood shields. But at this distance, so far away, the 6 wooden shields I created crumbled easily, and then the blast itself made a big hole in one of the giant trees. But the giant tree didn¡¯t fall. I can still sense it, alive. The walker¡¯s hammered by root strikes. At this distance, it¡¯s not as effective as before. Darn. It scratched, and there are small wounds here and there. I move on to use my [super anti-demon root strikes]. Even at this distance, they work a bit better, but not enough. The demon walker¡¯s still really quite tough. It fired another shot, and I activated 15 wooden shields this time, and well, it went through almost all of them. But it still blocked the shot. Ngeh. It shot again. And this time, I couldn¡¯t stop it in time, and it broke one of the giant trees. I felt the pain. We felt the pain. I unleashed all the attacks I have in my reservoir, using up all my root strikes. It thrusted into the bottom of the walker like a constant barrage, its demonic shell cracked, and then in it¡¯s dying breath, it shot out another attack. That second strike destroyed another giant tree. I felt that again. And somehow I felt really... mad. It¡¯s like a part of me was cut off. And I didn¡¯t like that at all. But by now I was out of root strikes, and it would take a day or two for it to recover. Still, I was pissed, and I wasn¡¯t going to let the demon walker go. So, my vines and roots appeared, entangling it. It wasn¡¯t dead yet. But I wasn¡¯t going to let it run away from me. No. It killed two of my giant trees. Two of... me. I used my other skills. Everything else that I have. [Fruit attacks], [Poison field], [Corrosive fruits], [Tree saps], [Constrict], and [Natural Mana overwhelming]. And I pulled the demon walker down to the ground. It was weak. Our attacks made it weak. I spawned two more giant trees in place of where the two others fell, and they added strength to the roots that pulled the demon walker down. It collapsed. Alive, but grounded, it¡¯s mouth and other orifices tied up, tangled by roots. Like a parasite we feasted on the demonic walker. We drained, and we pushed our mana in. It struggled. By now, the battlefield¡¯s remaining demonoids crushed in the onslaught of root strikes. There was a few demon knights. They hacked at the trees and the roots. They did a bit of damage, but the regeneration of the giant trees were faster. As long as the demon walker fell, we could take a few hits. It struggled on the ground, it¡¯s wounds not recovering thanks to the interference of natural mana. At times, it seemed like it¡¯s strength recovered slightly, or the effects of our constrict skill faded. But [constrict] was a skill that was meant to last long, and if I wanted, I could keep using it perpetually. For days. It attempted to struggle. THe demon knights attempted to hack away the vines. Then my skills returned. And I cleared the battlefield of the lesser demons, whatever balance on the demon walker. If this was next to me, it¡¯d already be dead. But such are the perils of fighting at 30% strength. I drew on the mana from wherever I could, and channeled it there, the giant attendant tree acting like my regional power station. Mana weakens it. The demon walker attempts to resist, and I could sense it functions on demonic mana, or whatever that dried up husk of a lake is. Perhaps I could call it ¡®desert mana¡¯, to our natural ¡®water mana¡¯? The mana inside fought against the mana we intentionally poured in. Whatever. I wanted it dead. We wanted it dead. We pummelled it again, and it turned weak. A day. Two days. It never really died. It still lived. Cursed distances, my roots not working as well. A few more days, and my arsenal of skills refreshed itself. And we repeated that. Each time, the demon walker edged weaker, it¡¯s cracked skin starting to give way to our natural mana. The vines started to make ¡®roots¡¯ into the skin of the walker. Everytime it struggled, we unleashed our root strikes, and then finally, after two weeks, we broke through the head, and cracked the demon walker¡¯s inner structure. It was almost there, dying. Our vines reached into it. So did our mana. We ran out of root strikes again. So the vines, the branches, they extended like feelers, like a parasite finding the innards of the creature. Like a hollowed log, infested by algae and mushrooms. [Natural mana overwhelming is capturing... assimilating a demon walker]. [Assimilating...] Oh. [Assimilation successful]. [Obtained Massive Woodwalker Shell] [Massive Woodwalker Shell is inactive, as it requires a titan soul, or 5 artificial soul, a powerful mobile energy supply, a mobile root-mind complex and a mobile high density energy storage]. [Low quality energy supply and storage will limit power and performance of the MWS.] [Titan Frame Type : Wood-Walker unlocked. Future titan souls may select walker variants] [Creation of WoodWalker Titan Frames require construction of Titan¡¯s Chambers, a special construction project] [You gained two level. You are now level 142] [Natural mana overwhelming upgraded] Only two levels? What¡¯s left, is now a verdant monstrosity, once a demonic giant that¡¯s now covered in vines, leaves, moss and all other sorts of vegetation. As if an ancient machine was left to the effects of nature for a long period of time, and now the trees have ¡®reclaimed¡¯ them, ¡®assimilated¡¯ them, like those ancient temples where the roots are in every part of the structure. But... there¡¯s no mind to it. I have this... thing, but I can¡¯t use it.Unless I get those ¡®mobile energy supply¡¯ and energy storage. So, it is time to turn to my trusty lab! Commence research! Additional Research added : Super-Storage Potatoes (¡°SSP¡±) - stage 1 - 12 months.Massive leaf-power generation array - stage 1 - 16 months. I think it¡¯ll probably look like an oversized Venusaur if there¡¯s a big bunch of trees on it¡¯s back, with some potatoes. Or would it look more like bulbasaur? Spaizzer panics Treeending Year 84 Month 11 The heroes have been busy fighting smaller battles, and yet, they have been unable to stop the demon king from going where it needs to go. Which is the site of the previous, most recent demon king¡¯s death. It¡¯s probably a problem for everyone. I also reckon, logically, that if the demon king intends to somehow tap into whatever¡¯s left, this next one is going to be way stronger than the one they faced on the Eastern Continent. But probably not at the level of the demon king. For the group of heroes that are here, it¡¯s probably a tense time. What if the demon king aimed for them? Can they fight it? Already, four other walkers have been spotted throughout the continent, and the brief peace we had before once again shattered. It¡¯s... just annoying. I just want to grow. Can I create a massive wall somewhere that all these demons cannot go? Or maybe just go live on the moon or something, where there¡¯s no demons to bother me. Yeah, live on the moon. What would it be like, to live on the moon? Can I be the moon-tree? Or tree-moon? If I terraform one of the moons into a land covered in trees, would it look green, and yellow when I change their leave colors from so far away? Which moon should I live on? For a short while I entertained the idea of living on another object where there are no demons and no... monsters. Just... trees. And maybe animals to help the ecosystem get going. It¡¯ll be like those sci-fi movies where some guys travel to some faraway planet there¡¯s home to ravenous trees. A tree can dream, right? - ¡°I want to fight monsters!¡± Lausanne protested. ¡°I¡¯m so sick of demons.¡± ¡°I lost count how many times you¡¯ve said it.¡± One of the other Valthorns sighed. To them, it was one of Lausanne¡¯s teenage frustrations. She sulked in a corner. The other Valthorns practiced, in between the regular battles. Some Valthorns took the chance to just catch up on sleep and rest, since they¡¯ve been deployed periodically to fight the demons. The knight-trainers from the nearby kingdoms arrived too, and they started to train the junior Valthorns in basic knight stances and moves. It¡¯s rather simple stuff, like... stand in a knightly manner, how to hold your sword, but I suppose one needs foundations. ¡°Come, let¡¯s spar!¡± Nero was one of them who regularly sparred with the Valthorns, thanks to Yvon¡¯s meddling. He wasn¡¯t at Lausanne¡¯s level, but he was at least competent enough to spar with the newbies and the later initiates. He would regularly get beaten up, of course, but he seemed to be taking the pain better. ¡°What level are you, Lady Lausanne?¡± Someone sat next to her and asked. I think it was one of the adventurers. ¡°Level 65.¡± There was an awkward silence. It¡¯s highly unusual for someone of that age to reach that level in combat. There has been cases of high levels, but usually in more menial roles, perhaps farmer, or herder or rancher. Of course, that¡¯s due to all the training and leveling aura effects that I have. I have 4 dedicated training skills, one dedicated Treeiner, and a bunch of other practice things. Thinking about it, it didn¡¯t feel that cheating. The heroes get close to level 100 within 2 years. Lausanne started training when she¡¯s... 6? And now she¡¯s already 14 turning 15. 9 years for 65 levels, versus 2 years for a 100 levels, I think heroes are still at least 7 times faster, ignoring the fact that the higher levels are harder! Man, that makes my hero fragments super overpowered. I should think about weaponizing or ¡®sharing¡¯ these shards someday. I wonder whether it¡¯s possible to ¡®lend¡¯ the effects onto an item or as a ¡®blessing¡¯, such that they gain it¡¯s effects? [The first 100 fragments cannot be given away]. ¡°What.¡± I wondered to myself. Why such a restriction? What¡¯s the first 100 fragments for? No answer. It seemed like this wasn¡¯t something the system was willing to tell, yet. Fine, can I set up a proxy, such that the effects of the fragments are shared, even if the actual fragment remains physically with me? A ¡®cloud aura server¡¯, with my trees acting as my transmitters. No answer. Does that mean it¡¯s impossible, or it¡¯s possible? Yeah. Why should a benefit be solely hoarded by me anyway? ¡°TreeTree. I¡¯m sick of demons.¡± Lausanne protested and decided to have some pastries. ¡°I know.¡± She decided to eat some cake. I miss cake. I would like to have a nice coffee cake. I miss coffee cakes. I asked some of the servants to mix coffee powder into some fertiliser, and pour it around me instead. At least I can somewhat ¡®taste¡¯ it, but It¡¯s just different. Really sucks not having a taste bud. Wait. There are those giant insect-eating bugs that resemble lips and mouths. Can I evolve those and make them have taste buds? Then I can still taste food! ¡°TreeTree, why did you ask the servants to pour coffee?¡± It was strangely Laufen who breached to topic. ¡°Coffee... is beneficial to trees.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of such a thing.¡± ¡°Only ancient, ancient trees like myself.¡± I lied. ¡°Only those who have lived the aeons would desire the taste of things.¡± ¡°Ah. Then would you like tea as well? Or chocolate?¡± ¡°Yes. That would be great. Pour it into the small hole next to the tree of prayers.¡± I should first evolve my roots to have taste receptors. Now I just need to block out the taste of... dirt. Year 84 Month 12 < Do not fear the outworlders > < Fear them > Huh? Lilies¡¯ randomly had a statement. > Am I... talking to the same person? < < A mass, a hive, are many, made of many, and many minds make many different ways. A nation is one being, and one being is a nation. Only a nation, can comprehend another > What? < We are many. And we have many ways. We are aggressive. We are passive. We are quiet. We are loud. We are everything, and we are nothing. > Oh. In short... because Lilies is like a choir... there¡¯s bits of it that has... different personalities? And each of them does things differently? > Is there one in charge? < < Yes and no > I... decided not to think about it. It¡¯s like I¡¯m talking to a bunch of schoolkids and each of them have a word to say. Apparently the heroes had a skirmish with the demon king. Somehow, they managed to escape the fight itself. But it was quite... uh... stupid of them. 3 against the demon king? What were they thinking? At least none of them died. Meanwhile, the other heroes in the other continents are still ¡®clearing¡¯ their respective continents of the demons, and apparently, making some plans. Are they coming? As winter sets in, I sensed unusual energies coming from the heroes¡¯ tower. I didn¡¯t know what it is, and I tried to get the labs to scan, but the energy fluctuated slightly, and then... was back to normal again. It felt like star mana, but without any detailed results, I wasn¡¯t sure. - This winter, we¡¯ve managed to get a bit more evergreen plants to grow. Some traders managed to bring in winter-resistant plants from faraway lands, and that made me very happy. It¡¯s nice to have fellow winter-friendly trees. Down far south, near the Lake Lilypod, the Lake itself is a source of warmth, and it doesn¡¯t freeze over. The unmoving giant tree-walker, sprawled over the ground, now overgrown with trees. It¡¯s warmer here. South is nearer to where the sun is after all, and some simple astronomical rules still apply, even if there are more moons to complicate the water-level movements. ¡°The giant walker just... died.¡± A trader mentioned, walking past the giant thing. To them, it¡¯s dead. The difference between a dead giant walker and a giant walker infested with vines and trees, in practice, is really still a dead, unmoving thing. ¡°The King ordered that no one approach the walker though.¡± The King referred to the ¡®elected¡¯ ruler of the Giant Lilypod City, truly, just the ruler of the humans. I suspect Lilies is in communication with him to some degree, but then, it¡¯s probably a secret it doesn¡¯t want to share. A few carts filled with corpses move past. And later, they dumped all the corpses into the lake. ¡°It¡¯s really quite fast that the walker is covered in trees, though.¡± A trader said. They were just walking past my [giant attendant trees]. ¡°And these massive trees, they just... appeared.¡± ¡°Must be the Lilypod magic.¡± ¡°Really, you think so?¡± ¡°All tree spirits have the ¡®bloom¡¯ effect. It¡¯s like... a fact.¡± One other trader said. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of a tree spirit without having some kind of supergrowing ability.¡± ¡°Why would the Giant Lilypod do such a thing?¡± ¡°Maybe the giant walker¡¯s like... super fertile or something? It does have a lot of magic in it.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I think this trader just says ¡®really¡¯ all the time. ¡°I¡¯m guessing. I¡¯m guessing!¡± The trader laughed. A bunch of adventurers quickly pushed them on. ¡°Good sirs, please, let¡¯s get moving.¡± ¡°Ah, yes yes.¡± Escorts are still needed after all. Demons aren¡¯t over yet. Huh. I would like to visit a floating city for a change. I wonder it¡¯ll be more like Venice, or whether it¡¯ll be like those floating markets of Southeast Asia? Or is it more like living in some kind of floating oil rig? - The demons kept up their attacks, but without the walkers, the regular armies aren¡¯t really much of a problem. ¡°That¡¯s the 30th Demon Elite I killed.¡± Lausanne complained. ¡°And no levels this time!¡± Jura laughed. ¡°Maybe... you should let them do the fighting. You just help when they really can¡¯t do it.¡± There was a bunch of other Valthorns, the strongest of them in their level 30s, a pretty good level for their age. Almost-genius, even. ¡°Uh... okay.¡± Lausanne realised she just said something that wasn¡¯t going to go her way. ¡°Try to play a [leader] role then, instead of the vanguard. Maybe you can get some kind of leadership class.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t I just ask TreeTree for it?¡± ¡°Stop asking TreeTree for everything, Lausanne. A good champion doesn¡¯t depend on handouts.¡± ¡°But heroes got their powers handed to them on a silver platter!¡± Jura paused. ¡°True, but still, if you depend on someone else¡¯s power, it means you are not there yet!¡± With how cold winter is, everyone¡¯s practicing indoors. We have plenty of space. - Stratreegos found a magic spot. A large, dark cave was located on one of the mountains. It¡¯s further west, even further from the volcano. There were monstrous bats, large crab-monsters. I sighed. Probably a ¡®black¡¯ element location again. I honestly don¡¯t understand why my soul forge is blue. I¡¯m a tree, shouldn¡¯t I be green? But magic does what magic does, it is what it is. Is black, red and blue magic more common in this world? Should I still take it though, since I have one forest rod. But with the heroes¡¯ power growing so quickly, their summoned armies already sweeping through many parts of the continent, destroying demons in the process, the odds of me locating a demon rod for ¡®capture¡¯ is slim. Already, more rumors and news comes from the land beyond. That the heroes are able to call on units that are like... superunits, able to take on a demon walker single handedly. That meant they could now attack the demonic forces on multiple fronts, expanding their force projection ability to counter the demon¡¯s reach. Have they passed level 100? It sounds like some of them did. If so, the odds of a final battle with the demon king is soon. I want a superunit too. It¡¯s quite unfair that I have to get a heroic soul to summon a titan, and they can do it with... level 100. The gods really loaded the die with them. - Year 85 Month 1 A new year begins. It¡¯s almost 3 years since the demon king has arrived, by my own clock, year 82 Month 2. This war has gone on for far too long. Everywhere, it¡¯s weariness. A sense of exhaustion in the people. Rumors of frustrations among the many kings and queens. What¡¯s taking the heroes so long to just get to it. Even me, I¡¯m just tired of demons. For the past 3, no 4 years I¡¯ve been battling demons throughout my domain. But there is also rising hope. It¡¯s going to end soon. The question that happens, inevitably, is when, and where it¡¯s going to end. And for most of the kings, how to avoid being... collateral damage in the cataclysmic battle that occurs. The question of ¡®where¡¯, is most certainly our current continent. The demon king is finally at the site of Demon King, and predictably, consistent with the Astaroth incident, it summoned a demon. A demon shaped like a large airship. It didn¡¯t seem like the demon king was intent on going anywhere else. It wasn¡¯t moving, and instead, it stopped, and released a massive energy blast that incinerated the surroundings of the former site, what was once a crater, turned into a larger one. And we all felt it. A strong energy that pushed back against my auras. A kind of energy so ¡®dry¡¯, that I felt like it¡¯s attempting to strip my mana away from me. The tower vibrated, it¡¯s divine energies triggered to create a shield, and even then it felt the tower pull, no, demand energy from the surroundings to reinforce itself. So strange. But it was a taunt. Thanks to that unidirectional wave, we all know where the demon king is. Like a blazing fire, all we have to do is follow the warmth. It calls out to them. The demon king and the image of the previous one. I can almost feel the words that it meant, through that wave. Come, heroes. Time to settle this fight. - That energy wave triggered magical defensive spells, like how lightning sometimes triggered alarms. Even in New Freeka, some simple enchantments, like door reinforcement spells, or enchanted weapons made unusual sounds and had strange shapes appear on them. And the hex? The residual hex that¡¯s now pooled together, cordoned away from the general masses? They reacted strongly to the wave. It wasn¡¯t absorbing it, but it didn¡¯t like it at all, and a strange, purple-ish glow appeared over them. So, it was time to bunker up or run away. Some of them choose to travel further away from it. It¡¯s a sensible choice. The demon king is taunting the heroes to go to it, but at the same time, it¡¯s a signal to everyone else to run away. Which many did. For those that didn¡¯t, or couldn¡¯t, we bunkered up. The sewers and underground tunnels project thankfully completed, the citizens started stocking up designated storage areas in the underground tunnels. The tunnels go quite deep into the ground, after all, the demon kings clearly have incredible destructive power, and shallow, near-surface tunnels are still going to get destroyed easily. I¡¯ve also restocked my constantly growing arsenal of anti-demon wooden bolts. If it ever comes down to a fight, I¡¯m not going to go down easily. I hope I don¡¯t get involved. But a part of me knew that¡¯s wishful thinking. It¡¯s on this continent after all. In the long eternity of time, one day, I will have to face the demon king. Whether by chance or by intention. Heroes and the Final Boss Fight ¡°8 yes, 3 no. So it¡¯s time.¡± It was Astra who said it, announcing the decision of the vote to the group. ¡°Are you sure? Are we sure?¡± One of the heroes asked. ¡°We can¡¯t hold this on forever. We¡¯ve all voted yes. Let¡¯s go with it.¡± A quiet silence. Although the heroes¡¯ power is incredible, they all felt it. The gnawing sense that the power is biting into their minds, the stronger it gets, the more it compels them to just go at the demons. It¡¯s almost like a bloodlust. They all looked like they haven¡¯t slept in months. Eyebags and all. ¡°Was it always like this?¡± ¡°I... I don¡¯t think so. No records I checked had it. But then again... very few heroes took... 3 years to slay the demon king. Mostly because the battles are all confined on the same continent, so... it just tends to end rather quickly.¡± All of them didn¡¯t sleep well. At night, they all get nightmares. It wasn¡¯t like this before, but it started a month, no, two months ago. At first it was mild, but lately it¡¯s more and more gruesome. Death. Destruction. Were they going insane? ¡°But we¡¯re just walking into the demon king¡¯s trap. It wants us to go! We must hold on till the time is right.¡± ¡°When is the time right? We are all about level 100 plus now. Astra is even level 120! We can¡¯t wait forever. We¡¯ve discussed this many times, and it¡¯s time. It¡¯s waiting for us, and I think we should take up the challenge.¡± Some of them kept the thoughts to themselves. Harris too, had nightmares. So much death. The slaughter of cities. The sacking of so many kingdoms to the demonic hordes. But why? Why? ¡°So. The plan is, using the existing tower network, I¡¯ll do a [mass recall], and that will teleport everyone of us to one of the towers. Harris, Mirei, Becky, let us know which tower is the best. I¡¯m guessing the demon king knows and can sense us, based on how their walkers and supercannons behaved, so honestly, the nearest tower would be the best.¡± ¡°The nearest tower is not functioning. It¡¯s too near and the demonic wave it emits has shredded the tower.¡± Mirei explained. ¡°There¡¯s a tower near Nung¡¯s capital. We¡¯ll use that.¡± ¡°Alright. Will you all be there?¡± ¡°We¡¯re somewhere north, but we are headed down.¡± ¡°Before that. Harris... we heard you attempted to fight the demon king? You didn¡¯t tell us about that in our previous call.¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s more like... it.. Uh... erm...¡± Mirei, Becky and Harris looked at each other, wondering who should explain. ¡°So?¡± One of them were impatient. Truth be told, all of them were edgy, the lack of sleep and nightmares made everyone rough. Already, there were dissatisfaction with each other. Harris heard that even the previous heroes had conflicts, people after all never worked together perfectly. ¡°We kind of just... found it. It attacked us, and we fled as fast as we could.¡± ¡°How strong is it?¡± ¡°Strong enough.¡± Harris didn¡¯t want to say too much. ¡°Didn¡¯t try to fight it?¡± One of them asked. ¡°Who knows, you could win? So far all the demons we¡¯ve faced were talked about as incredibly powerful, but now our summons can take them on! Maybe this demon king¡¯s a chump too.¡± Two heroes looked at each other. Victor, and Gustav, they were both there when Pooja died. It was an accident, in a way. They made a mistake, and Pooja was in the wrong position. They wanted to say something, but somehow both didn¡¯t say it. ¡°No. We... we thought we should do it all together.¡± Harris said. ¡°Heh. As expected.¡± One of them sneered. It¡¯s been 2 years since they all arrived, and few friendships stay the same in that time. ¡°So... we all teleport to the location?¡± One of the other heroes stepped in. ¡°Yes.¡± Astra, sensing the moment. ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°No.¡± - Harris sighed to himself. They all just happened to be in the same bus, somehow. There¡¯s a camaderie, at least, with Becky and Mirei, as the three of them travelled together, and fought many battles together. But none of that with the other 9, no.. 8 heroes. They were not close to Pooja, and honestly, when Pooja died, the three of them... didn¡¯t really feel anything. No, actually, all they felt was a very very strong desire for revenge. To get back at the demons. ¡°We need to think. Tea?¡± Mirei asked. ¡°Yeah. I need that tea now.¡± All three of them huddled together. Some dried tea leaves, and they made a brew. Ginger flavoured, somehow. There¡¯s some ginger leaves mixed in. They all had a sip of the New Freekan tea leaves. And felt their anger, their... craving to fight subside a little. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s discuss what we heard.¡± ¡°All of them are going to port in, and we¡¯re going to fight the demon king. Absolutely a trap.¡± Becky said, taking another sip. The smell of the ginger is in the air. ¡°Astra has a point, we can¡¯t avoid this forever. Even if it¡¯s a trap, they don¡¯t seem to be in any state to resist the... effects of our powers. Even this tea¡¯s effectiveness weakens with each level we gain.¡± Harris sighed again. Somewhere, a squad of heavily armed shields are fighting demons. He can feel it. ¡°And Astra¡¯s mind-link will help.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve never tested it. We¡¯re placing too much trust on a skill that supposedly will make us work seamlessly.¡± ¡°They seem to believe the skill will do what it says it does.¡± ¡°And no evidence so far refutes that. So, I reckon it will help.¡± Harris, Becky and Mirei shared a glance. A lightning elemental was roasting a few chunks of meat. The lightning helped to char the skin a bit, giving it a bit of a crisp. A metallic suit of armor chopped some vegetables, and a small goblin-ish creature is peeling some meat of some shellfish. There¡¯s a camp behind them. They¡¯ve been using their summons for all sort of chores, such as carrying camp-gear. All powered by star mana. Star mana¡¯s an amazing thing. It lasts long, and just a bit could sustain their summons for almost a week, longer for their smaller, menial summons. ¡°So we¡¯re still going with the plan, then.¡± Mirei said softly. ¡°It¡¯s our best shot. Even with all these random factors remaining, and the rest of them clearly can¡¯t wait any more. Any longer we¡¯d probably fight each other. At least we can finish whatever we were brought to this world for.¡± Harris sighed. He was explaining it more for himself. He¡¯s hardly convinced it was the best idea, but in the end he still voted for it. It¡¯s like being forced to swallow a bitter pill to not die. Becky refilled her cup of tea. ¡°Well. Harris is right. It is our best shot.¡± Harris finished his meal, and then took out what resembled a forge. Two lightning elementals and a fire elemental helped him with his forging. Truth was, Harris scouted the demon king. Whatever Lady Mika left behind, made him wonder whether there¡¯s a trap. The previous group of heroes fell for it, and here they are, walking right into it. So Harris, without telling the other 3 groups, decided to scout the demon king out. He prepared beforehand, a special teleportation scroll, some backup abilities with both Becky and Mirei, a ¡®lightning-powered¡¯ temporary recall, and a ¡®lightningspeed¡¯ boost. And high powered summons as backup. Perhaps they could buy time. The demon king took the shape of a massive spider with four circular ring on top, forming something resembling a verandah, and at intervals, the verandah functioned as a demonic summoning portal, it forcefully opened a massive rift, and each time, one more demon walker emerged. Next to it was a large floating castle filled with jagged spires, it radiated a reddish glow. He could feel its power grow, and then ebb. Then he noticed that its synchronised with the gate on the demon king. It¡¯s acting as a power generator to summon more demons. Instead of relying on leylines and magic spots.. It decided to tap on whatever¡¯s left on the previous demon kings. Yet, Harris watched a bit too long, and the demon walkers started firing. He fled. As fast as he could. He wasn¡¯t mad. There were at least 2 million demons in that massive valley. At least thirty walkers. It was going to be a massive battle at scale. And... flyers. There were creatures that resembled... wyverns. It turned out... sure, they were gaining levels, but it was going to be a race. If these 2 million demons went out in all directions, how long would it take for them to stop it? Could they gain levels fast enough that they could beat back the horde of demons that ravaged the world? And yet, Harris didn¡¯t feel guilty not sharing this information with the rest of them. And honestly, he didn¡¯t know why his two friends didn¡¯t either. - Astra looked at the map. It¡¯s laid out on a large table, and it marked where the towers are located. ¡°Something doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± ¡°What?¡± Naya looked bored. ¡°Why are you studying the maps they sent you? All we got to do is teleport there, and do what we gotta do. We¡¯ve got super-summons now, and the demons are still giving us the same kind of opponents.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you underestimating the demon king?¡± ¡°And the gods are underestimating me.¡± Naya said. Astra could only roll his eyes. Astra looked at the map again. He roughly measured the distance between where the demon king is, and the nearest tower. Why such a large distance? What is the demon king planning? Harris met it, yet... Why did he not say much? Did he have something to hide? ¡°I can¡¯t wait.¡± Naya said. ¡°After this is all over, I¡¯ll get to live life as an emperor with a massive harem.¡± Astra didn¡¯t reply. There really was no need to. ¡°Go sleep.¡± Astra didn¡¯t. Naya slept. Feeling like he wasn¡¯t going anywhere, he went for a walk, and found Gerrard on a hill. It wasn¡¯t hard spotting him. Gerrard nodded at him. ¡°Heya. Not sleeping yet?¡± ¡°I could ask you the same question.¡± Astra noticed a mug and a few barrels of beer by the side. They were all schoolkids when they got here, but it¡¯s been 2 years, and well, everyone had different ways of coping with the... nightmares. In Gerrard¡¯s case, it was... beer. They were underaged, after all, but who¡¯s going to stop heroes with super-growth spells from buying beer? He was through a barrel, sadly that¡¯s what he needed to get drunk, since as a hero, he had some poison resistance, and he had a summon that collected his ¡®beer¡¯ from the nearby towns. Helped that some of his summons are gladiators which can speak a few words. ¡°Hmm. Are you here to make sure I fix my guys¡¯ weapons?¡± There was a gladius at the side, made from a mix of regular metal and star mana. Something they made in their free time. Gerrard had the benefit of having equippable summons. His ¡®elite¡¯ star-mana gladiators could will items he made, and the level 100 super-summons, the super ¡°We¡¯ve passed that stage.¡± Astra grinned, there was a small magical staff at his side. It was weird, that all heroes gained a ¡®crafting¡¯ option together with star mana, and that crafting option seemed exceptionally personal, in the sense that none can make something like someone else. It was through a mix of star mana and their personal ¡®will¡¯ that these ¡®hero-artifacts¡¯ were made. Maybe there were crafter-heroes in past generations, people, no.. heroes who could recreate other heroic artifacts. ¡°So... why are you here?¡± Gerrard stood. They exchanged a look. ¡°You voted no.¡± The voting results were public. There was no use hiding who voted what. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because I felt like it.¡± Astra glared. Gerrard met the glare, and after 5 seconds decided to look away. ¡°You¡¯re lying.¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t you tell me the truth? The demon king¡¯s not far away. We should go in with our eyes wide open.¡± Gerrard looked disgusted. ¡°Must everything be the demon king? Every time I get drunk, the only thing on my mind is, why is everyone just talking about the demons all the freaking time?¡± ¡°Because that¡¯s why we are here.¡± ¡°Fucking twisted logic you got there. Why did we accept this task so wholeheartedly anyway? It¡¯s not as if demons did anything to us.¡± ¡°But they did so much to the land?¡± ¡°How do you even know if they are real? If any of this is... real?¡± ¡°It feels like it, and that¡¯s good enough. Real or not, the wrongs must be righted.¡± ¡°Again with that twisted logic. But you know, I had to vote no. Even if I knew all of you would have voted yes.¡± ¡°Then tell me, why.¡± ¡°Because Naya¡¯s overconfident in his skills, you are overconfident in your skills. Almost everyone is overconfident in their own abilities. We¡¯re going to go and fight the demon, and we¡¯ll realise how inadequate we were all these while.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve reached level 100.¡± ¡°So? Is there a rule somewhere that the demon king is a level 100 threat? Why not level 200? How do we even know level 100 is enough? Because it¡¯s 3 digits instead of two? Because of a feeling you all feel, and that nagging, screaming pain every time you sleep?¡± Astra paused, and suddenly, yeah. Why did they feel it is... enough? Just because the demon walkers are now ¡®easy¡¯, does that mean they are ready for the next level, the king itself? What if the gap between the king and walkers is massive, as it should be? Yet, that moment of discomfort and insecurity didn¡¯t last, like a candle in the wind, it went poof. ¡°There¡¯s 11 of us.¡± ¡°And the demon king¡¯s predecessors has clearly killed many of them.¡± ¡°And there were survivors. Many kingdoms have a hero in their lineage. No glory without some sacrifice. Don¡¯t you want to be King?¡± Gerrard looked disgusted. ¡°That¡¯s what we are, eh? We come here, defeat a demon king, and then go on and make a fuckton of babies and leave our magical weapons for them.¡± ¡°Well...¡± Astra wanted to say yes. But he knew better. ¡°Our alliance lasts up till we kill the demon king. We¡¯re not friends after that.¡± Astra shrugged. It¡¯s really optimistic to expect 12 kids in the same bus to somehow stick together for two to three years. ¡°That¡¯s all we need.¡± - A week later, they all teleported to the site. It¡¯s a secluded tower located on a mountain, there were subtle mana flows in the ground that helped amplify the tower¡¯s energies. Astra was first to arrive, and he activated the [global recall]. That brought the rest of them there. ¡°It¡¯s much stronger here... it¡¯s presence.¡± The heroes looked at each other. For those located on different continents, it was the first time they met face-to-face since that day on the bus, or that moment with the gods. But they were referring to the ¡®taunt¡¯ that the demon king emitted. It¡¯s constant... aura. Harris, Becky and Mirei looked at them. ¡°Welcome to the central continent.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah. We are going for the demon king immediately?¡± Naya shrugged. Some of them nodded. A few looked uncertain. Astra, who was level 125, took the lead. ¡°Let¡¯s go. There¡¯s really no point delaying this entire thing. Can you three lead the way?¡± ¡°Sure, but do you guys need to call on your summoned armies? Or they can appear at any second?¡± Gustav and Lombard both nodded. ¡°AH, my powers need a bit time to appear, and I have artilery forces, I will need to position my bombardment units at a distance.¡± Harris took out the map again, there was a red star showing where the demon king is, and a big red ring around it. ¡°What¡¯s the red ring?¡± ¡°The demon king¡¯s army.¡± ¡°Ah. Fodder for us.¡± Harris winced at the word, but didn¡¯t say a thing. He pointed to a chain of hills and slopes further out. ¡°What¡¯s the range of your artillery? Is this place far enough?¡± ¡°How far is that? I mean... uh...¡± Lombard looked at the map. He had an issue translating distances on maps into ¡®range¡¯. In practice, he used his own forces to ¡®sense¡¯ where it is, and he had ¡®spotter units¡¯ which helped his artillery units find targets. Harris didn¡¯t know how to explain distances too, not in this world where kilometers and all didn¡¯t really mean much. They didn¡¯t have measurement tools. What was one day¡¯s horse ride away, and was it even universal? Different horses travel different speeds, whatmore for those with riding skills. ¡°Never mind, use the demon king¡¯s aura as a gauge?¡± Astra intervened. ¡°Let¡¯s move. Feel free to break off to set up your forces.¡± Gustav the golem-master and Lombard the cannoneer nodded. ¡°Sure.¡± It wasn¡¯t hard to find a demon king that¡¯s actively transmitting it¡¯s presence to the heroes. And stranger still, that none of the kingdoms attempted to hex-bomb the demon king. In fact, the hexbombs mostly stopped once the heroes got their groove going. After all, why sacrifice lives when the heroes¡¯ summoned units can fight walkers for you? The demon king warped the terrain with it right in the middle. It¡¯s large, massive legs embedded into the ground, drawing mana and energy from the planet. In a way, it resembled an extremely large oil rig that pulled that mana, and then used it to produce walker after walker. The floating castle next to it, also generated mana and ¡®fed¡¯ it to the king. When the heroes first saw what they were up against, it was a mixed reaction. Those overconfident ones merely grinned. ¡°Ah, no matter how many of these fodders they make, it¡¯s not going to stop us.¡± Some felt this validated their choice, that, it was time to fight the demon king anyway. Delaying it was not going to solve the problem. And those who voted no, in their minds, this was the moment that made them feel like it was always inevitable. It¡¯s either they fight the demons, or the demons destroy the world. It was a game, isn¡¯t it? ¡°It¡¯s waiting for us. Let''s not keep it waiting.¡± Astra nodded, and he triggered the star mana forms. Around him, phantoms started appearing and they charged into the horde of demons before them. Astra¡¯s body itself coated by a white sheen, as if he was a divine being here to bestow divine retribution. Thousands, tens of thousands of phantoms appeared. A one-man army, and it ripped through the regular demonoids like paper. The walkers, some 150 of them towered across the battlefield, and they started shooting their energy blasts. They were always in position, and the quiet skies was ripped by the thundering shots. Each of the heroes summoned their forces. Tens of thousands of summoned creatures, almost a hundred thousand summoned creatures magically appeared from portals, as if it was a scene from Endgame. One of them, of course, had to quip. ¡°We¡¯re in the endgame now. And this is our final battle with Thanos.¡± ¡°I hope not, I don¡¯t want one of us to die.¡± ¡°If only one of us die, that¡¯s a win.¡± Gustav summoned massive golems, fifteen of them, each as large as a walker, and with powers no inferior to it. Magical, yet mechanical constructs, they resembled giant-sized Antman fighting the massive leviathans when they wrestled the walkers. Lombard had self-propelling railguns in the distance, and they matched the walker¡¯s energy blasts. Each hero brought their own ¡®type¡¯ of special armies. Harris had walking shield generators that deflected energy blasts, protecting summoned units from the enemies. For close to two hours, the entire crater was engulfed in battles, as demons and the summoned creatures clashed. Still, the demonoids were never able to hold back the heroes¡¯ forces, even if they thinned them greatly. Even if giant demonic wyverns ripped the summoned railguns to shreds, there were always more summoned units. Yet, the demon king remained unmoved in the middle. All it did was concentrating it¡¯s power on it¡¯s ¡®throne¡¯, it¡¯s massive legs unmoving, above, it¡¯s massive gate-like horns, eight of them, a rift right in the middle of that cavity. As they got nearer, they changed targets, and they started to attack the demon king¡¯s massive body. Those attacks met a massive energy barrier, the railgun bolts vibrated and rippled on the barrier like a rock that dropped into a lake. Their summoned units gradually gained an upper hand. The overconfident heroes started to feel vindicated. The demon king¡¯s army was nothing much after all, not much before 11 heroes and their combined armies, complete with all the stacking auras each of them had! Yet, the demon king didn¡¯t move. Nor did the ¡®shadow¡¯ of the former demon king. The rift changed color. The heroes attacked, again, at the barrier. The barrier held on, but it was cracking. Small holes started to emerge, and some summoned units got close to the demon king¡¯s legs. They attacked. The rift turned red. Naya, the archmage with an army of summoned water and ice elementals attacked, raining ice on the battlefield. He too was enveloped in a sheen of white-bluish light, his magical longstaff had a dark blue crystal. The demon king¡¯s army was down to half, and almost all the demon walkers, elites and generals were down. The fodder, surprisingly lasted longer, because there¡¯s just so many of them. But they are fodder. Truly, only the demon king itself mattered. The rift turned a darker red, almost maroon. ¡°Is it going to fire?¡± Harris looked, a massive ice blast finally cracked the barrier. The heroes¡¯ units were cut down to less than a quarter now, but it was now between them and the King. This was why they saved star mana. The gigantic golems attacked the unmoving demon king, it¡¯s massive body resembled a castle that didn¡¯t move despite the attacks. That¡¯s not to say the golems attack were ineffective. They worked, there were small wounds and scars where the golems attacked. It¡¯s just that the demon king was a monstrous thing, a city in a creature. From a distance, it¡¯s present form resembled a massive spider with super thick legs, and another upside-down spider on the top, it¡¯s legs represented the ¡®horns¡¯ that created the rift. The heroes attacked. Their summoned creatures damaged the demon king. But it¡¯s too slow. The rift turned purple. Then, in a short flash, it shot out a thick purple beam, that cut a massive gash in the ground, and all the way till the horizon, destroying everything in it¡¯s path. And one hero stood in it¡¯s path, her body burning from it¡¯s purple flames, and then she felt into the gash below. She died, and all her summoned units vanished with it. All the heroes felt a surge of anger, as they lobbed more attacks. There was no need The rift is grey again. This time, the floating castle moved to attack, firing smaller red beams from it¡¯s many spires. ¡°Who was that?¡± Harris shouted. They were all spread out in the battlefield, their forces made everything messy. Astra checked his status. He was like the chat administrator who could see who went offline. ¡°...Simone.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Those from the same place felt some loss. For the rest of them, it was... just a name. The demon king was before them, and now this... thing was attacking them. It tore through the stronger summoned units easily. ¡°Focus on the demon king, there¡¯s still 10 of us, and that rift takes forever to charge. We can win this.¡± The rift turned orange. ¡°You fucking jinx of a mouth.¡± Naya cursed, as he lobbed spell after spell at the demon king¡¯s body. The demon king¡¯s body had cracks, but it¡¯s like ants making microscopic cuts on a giant elephant. Sure, there are cuts, but it¡¯s going to take a while for it to take down the giant. ¡°Get rid of the floating castle!¡± Spells flew, golems, railguns and lightning blasts zapped the floating castle. Slightly smaller than the demon king, and clearly less sturdy, each attack made it wobble in midair, and the red beams tend to lose it¡¯s path. The rift was still orange, but it was getting darker. More cracks appeared throughout the massive body of the demon king. Even the gargantuan golems looked like little children trying to fight with an adult. Some of the heroes concentrated fire on the floating castle. A shadow of the former demon king, it was hardly as strong. No, it was perhaps only a quarter of it¡¯s stats, and so, the hits got to it easily, and the floating castle crumbled then crashed into the ground below, exposing a round red crystal. ¡°Uh....¡± The rift was red. Harris instantly felt danger, and quickly activated all the summoned shields he could gather. ¡°Watch out for that thing!¡± He shouted. The red crystal vibrated. A golem lifted it up. And flung it as far as it could. The rift was dark red. ¡°The fuck, why is the color changing so quickly?¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t a final boss without some asspull, y¡¯know. This is probably one of it.¡± A golem punched one of the legs, and the leg finally, after receiving so much damage from the army of summons around it, finally collapsed. The rift was still dark red. And then, it released a shockwave of that dark red energy, scorching through most of the summoned units, destroying them instantly. It also destroyed many of the lesser demons, but by now, there were no demon walkers left. The wave smacked right into the heroes¡¯ protective items and shields, but one of the heroes was too near, and couldn¡¯t react to it time. The wave burned him. And he flailed like a man on fire, the reddish fire got past whatever protection he had. Naya attempted an iceblast to negate the fire, but it didn¡¯t work. It seemed like the fire found a life of it¡¯s own, somehow it wouldn¡¯t subside. ¡°Healer!¡± Despite the massive distance, healing was still entirely possible. The healing-dedicated hero still has a tremendous cast range, and could instantly activate healing. The fire didn¡¯t go away, but the wounds recovered instantly. Yet, the rift was still red, and then a second blast went out. The healer had to put up a shield. The burning hero was still too close, and the second blast turned him into ash. ¡°Fuck!¡± The healer cursed, and the earth rumbled. The demon king was finally moving! Even if one of it¡¯s legs was broken, it still had 7 other legs, and the two red energy waves incinerated most of the summoned units. So, the battlefield was quite clean. Just the surviving 9 heroes, one demon king, and some of their summons. ¡°Anyone have summons left?¡± Astra asked through their live chat. At this distance, it wasn¡¯t hard to maintain some kind of VC function. ¡°Or should we focus on defense?¡± ¡°I still have star mana, but I think we should restrict summons to higher tier ones. Those can take one shot!¡± Two gigantic golems remained, but the red flames enveloped them, and they slowly ¡®melted¡¯ them. Some gladiators too were around, they had the benefit of having star-mana artifacts that allowed them to tank the wave. The demon king moved rather slowly, it was pulling out it¡¯s massive legs embedded deep into the ground. Each leg left a deep hole, and as it lifted it¡¯s body up to walk, they saw something resembling a mouth for the first time. Located at the bottom of it¡¯s body, it looked like the central part of an octopus, only made with demonic-matter, and it glowed in various colors. And there were smaller mouths. They were open. ¡°SHIELDS!¡± They all felt it, and all the mouths spat out a red fire, coating everything beneath the demon king in an inferno. This time, the already damaged golems crumbled and turned back into... nothing. ¡°We need to skip our summons!¡± ¡°But then what¡¯s the point of all our army skills?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just to get to this point!¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s fucked!¡± Well, except for the ranged magical railguns who, thankfully, was out of range of the initial blasts. Two survived, and they could continue bombardment. Still, the damage it dealt was miniscule. Well, the demon king did take damage from the earlier attacks, and throughout it¡¯s massive body there were wounds and scars. ¡°Concentrated attack! Use star mana forms!¡± Harris yelled out. In his mind, he wondered why did the notes talked about using star-mana forms to fight the demon king. ¡°Let¡¯s get on it¡¯s body, there should be ¡®cores¡¯ we can attack, rather than try to take on the entire structure!¡± ¡°Good point!¡± Naya waved his wand and an icesheet levitated him up. The demon king¡¯s many mouths opened, and this time, they lobbed small energy blasts, in the millions. They rained down on the heroes below, attempting to delay the heroes from approaching it¡¯s main body. ¡°Did this demon king take notes from bullet hell or something?¡± Layers on layers of ice shield appeared, blocking the little blasts. ¡°We made a mistake, we should have just gone for the main body right away!¡± ¡°What, and get caught by the red wave? We didn¡¯t even know it could do that!¡± All the heroes had activated their defensive abilities. The overconfidence from the early stage had faded. They witnessed two of them die, maybe they¡¯d be next. There was no time to be reckless and hold back some abilities in reserve. Still, the rain of energy bullets did not deter the heroes at all, and very quickly, all of them were on the demon king¡¯s main body. There were no lesser demons, but parts of the demon king that attacked them. Throughout its body, spires transformed into tentacles or beam-towers, attacking the invading heroes. The heroes spread out, looking for ¡®cores¡¯ or ¡®hearts¡¯. Things that powered the demon king. They hacked at everything that looked like it could hold something like that, their star-mana powered abilities, now at close range, easily cut through any defenses the demon king had. Even while the massive monster moved. They had to be wary. The rift was now orange again, and gradually, it turned reddish. And the massive size of the demon king meant they could be hacking and attacking nothing for hours. Their strongest area spells lacked the ¡®focused¡¯ damage needed to cut through the demon king¡¯s defenses. One hero summoned her elites to help out, and well, the elites were useless. Unless they had equipment made or infused with star mana, the damage they deal was close to nothing. ¡°We need to split up!¡± The demon king suddenly stopped, and it.... Jabbed one of it¡¯s large legs into the ground. The heroes braced for the sudden shaking and collapse of the demon king¡¯s body to the ground, they had magic to keep them steady and floating. Then it did so again. A second leg pierced the ground. ¡°Why is it doing that? How far have we moved?¡± The heroes suddenly realised they were no longer in the crater. The demon king had moved a good distance during the 30-40 minutes they were attacking it¡¯s body. It¡¯s massive size and magic meant they hardly felt the move. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± It was that very moment, through the entirety of the world... all the demonoids shook... and disintegrated into small ashlike particles. Then the ashes started moving, as if swept by a wind, all towards the demon king. They moved intensely, and throughout the world, a strong, hurricane-like wind wrecked, damaged and killed many, as this ¡®wind¡¯ carried all these ashes to the demon king. ¡°It¡¯s the transformation! All boss fights must have another form! This must be it!¡± The heroes didn¡¯t realise the issue. ¡°Stop it!¡± Astra yelled. ¡°We must find the source before this transformation completes!¡± ¡°HOW?¡± The heroes were attacking the demon king¡¯s body as much as they can. Some of the concentrated their attacks on the center, believed that the demon king would have it¡¯s ¡®core¡¯ in the center. Harris paused and took a sip from a flask. He closed his eyes momentarily, willing his body and soul to sense the demon king. The demon king could sense them, and they could sense the demon king. Lady Mika¡¯s notes were clear on that. Maybe they had to ¡®find¡¯ it using that sense. And indeed, he did. ¡°There¡¯s four cores!¡± He pointed them out and quickly rushed to the one nearest to him. The heroes managed to destroy three cores, and even so it took them two hours. Way longer than they liked, despite how strong their star-mana was. There were just too many tentacles, monsters and spires in the way. Two hours never felt so long. The ashes all arrived, and then the body itself also turned into ash. ¡°Quick! Find the core. Attack it when it¡¯s ash form!¡± They did find it. And they attacked it with all their might. The ash was too thick. After all, it was a mass made from all the demons generated throughout the world. The ash formed together into a large sphere, it floated in the sky as if there was a dark moon, it¡¯s massive size turned day into night. The heroes attacked relently, hoping to interfere with it¡¯s transformation. The sphere split into ten smaller spheres, and nine of the spheres transformed into humanoid-shaped warriors. The heroes wondered why their attacks failed to stop the transformation, The last sphere transformed into a grotesque massive demon rod. It was as large as a tower. And it then jammed deep into the ground. ¡°Uh?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t stop!¡± Astra yelled, there were 9 of them, and 9 ¡®demons¡¯. ¡°That rod must be the core!¡± What they saw then, the very earth itself transformed into an unnatural terrain. The demon rod is a scaled up, demon-king version of the demon rod. They also saw something... strange. Spirits. Of their two fallen comrades, bound by the demon king rod. It... siphoned energy from the two glowing white spirits, and it pulsed. With each pulse, the demon rod gains power, and spreads it¡¯s influence further. The heroes didn¡¯t have to ask much. They understood it by seeing. They had to stop it. The demon king wanted their souls for energy. And the 9 demons stood in their way. Oddly sized just like them, they resembled... humans? All of them had two hands, two legs, one head all in human-like ways. And each of them held a different weapon. They were grey, unlike the usual reddish brown the demonoids had. The heroes attacked. There¡¯s not much to talk, even if they looked human. And these 9 demons matched the heroes for it. At first. They felt the presence of the demon king spread further and further in the ground, and simultaneously, the environment around them started burning with a black fire. Demon fire. They¡¯ve seen this. They were briefed of it. The 9 demons kept up. Somehow the star mana wasn¡¯t as effective on them as before... as if they were made of something... else. The heroes, exhausted from their earlier long battles, found themselves digging as deep as they could to stand up to them. Some of the heroes did better. Those proficient in close combat, like Gerrard, was the first to stab his star mana sword through one of the demons, and the demon turned into ash. 8 left. And then one of the demons stabbed it¡¯s rapier into Naya¡¯s chest, and instantly, Naya started to turn into... ash. 8 of them left. The 8 grey ashdemons seemed to take their attacks as if they were just regular adventurers. A part of them wanted to ask.. .how? But the adrenaline and exhaustion meant they just kept fighting. The heroes were leading. Those focused on close combat, Gerrard and Harris, started gaining an edge. They defeated five, and lost Helen, Gustav and Lombard. Only five of them left. Harris, Gerrard, Astra, Mirei and Becky. And 3 ashdemons left. The ashdemons¡¯ power waned, and that¡¯s when they realised the demon king couldn¡¯t keep maintaining them forever. They killed the 3 ashdemons, and turned their focus on the massive rod. They had to break it. They all felt it, the scream and wailing of their comrades being ¡®drained¡¯, unable to move on. The earth itself tried to resist the demonic influence, but powered by the heroes¡¯ star mana, the earth couldn¡¯t hold it back. The corruption had spread as far as their eyes could see, maybe even further. Maybe even some of the cities would have seen the demon flames, because... the entire skyline was just... black fire. The battle against the ashdemon took too long. Three hours, maybe four. The sky was already dark, but because the demon fire was everywhere, they didn¡¯t realise it. They pulled their power together, exhausted as they were. They didn¡¯t know how much star mana they used, and by now, it felt like they¡¯ve went past their reserve and some. They didn¡¯t even know how they managed to use that last attack and destroyed the demon king rod. [Demon King Sabnoc has been slain]. But the corruption... was not going away. And the corruption had spread almost half of the entire central continent, with it, that half rendered nigh inhabitable. New Freeka was well within the range of the spread. Calamitree Spaizzer One of Two Chapters this week Year 85 Month 1 It was coming. We could feel it in our roots, our trunks, our bodies. Every bit of us, we felt it. As if the earth itself cried out for help, and none of us could do anything. There was a tide out there, in that distance, and it came so quickly. So, so very quickly. All at once, the soul realm was flooded with deaths. Something had spread throughout the continent, and deaths. I could almost feel it, the entirety of Nung burned up and destroyed. Barsoom, gone in a flash. It happened so quickly, as the earth itself rotted and turned into this... demonic thing. Our extended subsidiary trees felt it first, it¡¯s presence rushing in, and rather quickly, those distant subsidiary trees burned almost instantly in the dark demonic flames. The giant attendant trees too, started to burn, but they are stronger, and they share more of our powers, and so... they never truly burned. Instead, they resembled my past, when I was a small stump, engulfed in a black flame, but not dead. It spread quickly, and it¡¯s amazing how quickly it did. But we had no time to think about that, because we felt death everywhere, and we felt like pebbles on the beach, watching a tsunami come in. All we could do, is stand our ground and face it. ¡°Everyone, the best place now, is to get as near me as possible. Into the woods.¡± We spoke to the elves and everyone, and they ran as fast as they could. One-by-one, I lose my link to my faraway trees nearest to the demon king. It¡¯s as if I was playing Stellaris and some unknown extradimensional disaster started swallowing up all my stars. And it happened so quickly. We had maybe... half and hour at the rate the corruption was expanding. That was our guess. Maybe it would slow down because of the ¡®area¡¯ covered increases squared the further the corruption goes, and so the same energy wouldn¡¯t be able to corrupt as ¡®many¡¯ places? And it was coming through the ground. ¡°Don¡¯t go underground.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°No. The best place now is above ground, and watch for things coming from beneath?¡± ¡°What¡¯s even happening?¡± One of them asked, but Jura¡¯s trained enough that he doesn¡¯t question me all that much. Batch-by-batch my trees disappear in a flash, but indeed... it was slightly slowing? But not by much. The fires and the corruption burned so quickly, that I hardly got a view of what¡¯s going on. I placed a large ¡®wall¡¯ of subsidiary trees and giant attendant trees as it approaches, I wanted to see how they performed. It¡¯s literally like the earth itself was... rotting and burning simultaneously, and the wall held just a short second before it too overwhelmed my trees and burnt them. ¡°Shit.¡± There was a whole load of madness and chaos, as some people did as they are told, but some didn¡¯t. They ran for the woods. I hoped that having a huge number of trees mutually reinforcing the aura would somehow slow it down or stop it alltogether. I tried again, it was getting much, much closer. The demon¡¯s presence was like a wave, it pushed closer and closer. It¡¯s still not in the valley yet, but maybe... 10 minutes to impact. ¡°Tell everyone to prepare for fire and and the earth cracking.¡± Those who managed to run into the woods did so, and we mentally braced for impact. The trees lasted longer. They didn¡¯t burn as quickly. 5 minutes. The trees right outside the valley burned. We could see it coming. A black tide and a sky filled with black flames. It¡¯s coming into contact to my own roots now. And it... didn¡¯t burn much. I pushed my mana into the ground, into my roots to strengthen them, and tried to hold it. Like a rock in a river, this foul energy attempted to sweep me off, attacking my mana-strengthened roots. At first, I managed to hold on. New Freeka was still fine, for now. But the waves kept coming. 20 minutes, the dark energies from somewhere kept up it¡¯s pressure on my roots, and it even spiked and ebbed in waves. We are now like an island in a sea of corruption, and this tide threatened to sink us as well. The wave was relentless, and gradually, my mana started to wane. A crack appeared, and with it, a huge crack appeared in New Freeka, and fire shot out of the ground. Some of the houses caught on fire, and some of the citizens died there and then. It was screaming. For many of them, it¡¯s a sudden change, because a while ago it¡¯s still clear skies and a sunny day. I tried to pull as much mana as I can, hoping to resist it, but the corruption was strong, and constant. Even so far away, another crack appeared, and this time it torched our underground sewers. I think it got a few more people who didn¡¯t listen to instruction, but I didn¡¯t have time to focus. ¡°TreeTree!¡± Jura shouted. ¡°We¡¯re trying to hold it back.¡± This is our immediate vicinity, and the demon king¡¯s corruption is still so strong? How? No time to theorize, though. We focused our efforts on stopping the corrupting energy. Feels a bit like a wooden dam that¡¯s cracking. And more cracks, and another part of New Freeka burns. Then the corrupting energy surged. It hit the ¡®wall¡¯ like a massive wrecking ball, and in an instant, one third of New Freeka was in flames. There was screaming and shouting everywhere. ¡°TreeTree, what¡¯s going on!¡± ¡°Demon king.¡± That¡¯s all I could answer as I tried to push back at the energy. Why did it surge so quickly? I didn¡¯t even have time to see what happened to all the elves. The corrupting energy surged again, and more, no, it burned more of New Freeka. People were running, and the edges of my forest were in flames. Demonic flames. ¡°This isn¡¯t working, TreeTree!¡± I felt the demonic corrupting energy surge in again. Do I try to hold back and let it smack into the forest? What worked? Me? Should I do it again, like with Alexis? But... this energy is the demon king¡¯s very own energy. It¡¯s unmistakable. Can I do it? ¡°Treetree!¡± ¡°Aeon!¡± I hear faint chatter, and we feel the pain coming through the network. So many trees are burning. So many, many trees. What if? We feel the call for aid from all the trees. Screaming, wailing, if trees could scream we would be deaf. No. While we kept up the wall of mana to hold the corruption at bay, we intentionally let some of it in, and using mana, we guided it to... me. The demonic energies attacked my main body, but unlike the other trees, I can take it. And I kept holding on for an hour... two... Three... Four... And after a while, all I saw was just... darkness. I felt demonic energy and mana, and it burned. My roots, my trunk, I feel... pain. Pain. The valley... was sinking. The corruption, taking the form of the demon king¡¯s mana was unable to break through our walls, except at the funnels where the corruption was instead drawn to me. So, it went under, around, and over, and the entirety of the valley started to sink. I didn¡¯t know how long that was, because the pain from the demon king¡¯s corrupting mana messed with my already distorted sense of time. I wasn¡¯t even sure I was awake the entire time, in between feeling like I was like a chicken roasted over an open fire. Pain. The valley was submerged now, a shell made of distorted, demonic-mana tainted rock now surrounded the valley like an egg with a broken shell right on top, that barely lets some sun in. Or a snowglobe, only... our walls are made of demonic rock. I didn¡¯t know what happened to the elves, or New Freeka. But I reckon nothing much is left. I felt my soul realm get ¡®flooded¡¯ with souls, and at the same time, a whole bunch of other notifications came in. [Connection to Verdant Volcano lost...] [Connection to ThreeTree of Mana lost...] [Connection to Dimitree lost] Pain. I lost the trees that linked me to the volcano and the magical leyline. It¡¯s just so painful. Pain. I feel the mana overwhelm me at times, and my entire main tree is burning. Yet, I know that the other trees in the valley are still somewhat safe. I can hear them. Black flames danced across my body, my leaves now a mix of green and black. ¡°TreeTree!¡± Who¡¯s that? ¡°TreeTree!¡± I¡¯ve got no ability to respond, but should be one of the elves. Pain. It¡¯s just... madness. The pressure from the demon¡¯s mana increased, and I felt the walls and roots buckle a little. I try to push it back, and relieve the pressure by drawing it more to me. I can barely see, but we are submerged. It¡¯s as if the entire terrain around us had somehow partly turned into sludge. Or was it because we are resisting, that¡¯s why it turned out that way? The pressure kept on, and I felt I was burning. But I think the valley is safe. I know it is. [Curse : Demonic Mana Contamination] [You have absorbed too much demonic mana, and you are now ¡®cursed¡¯. Your ability to remain conscious is now significantly impaired, and you will feel pain constantly.] The fuck is that. The mana pressure surged.... And then stopped. [Demon King Sabnoc has been slain.] [You received 6 fragments. You have a total of 74 fragments.] I felt like I needed less mana to push back against the corruption, but it still overwhelmed me. My entire body is still on fire. It¡¯s like I am the unlimited charcoal of the flame. My entire body is probably charred black now. The fire of the demon king clearly isn¡¯t just fire. Else I¡¯d be immune to it? The pain came, and went. And came again. The demon king¡¯s dead. But I¡¯m still in... pain. And after a while, I felt myself lose consciousness. One Year Later, Year 86 When I woke up, I noticed the time on my record has changed by a year. I was asleep for a year, and I am still burning. The demon king¡¯s corruption is still around us, and the pain is still there. In fact, I was jolted awake by the pain. What¡¯s happening? Is everyone okay? Are my fellow trees alive? I can¡¯t sense a thing, the demonic flames and it¡¯s corruption has numbed all my senses. Even if I attempted to see, all I feel is... fire. It¡¯s like I started all over again, so many years ago. When I had no... senses. It¡¯s just... numb. I checked my notifications. There¡¯s clearly a lot of it that I¡¯ve missed when I was... asleep. [Eriz, Brislach, Wahlen, Emile, Belle, and 170 other familiar-users have died. You gained 3 levels. You are now level 145] [As Eriz is under soul contract, you received an assignable soul. Soul Forge is down] [Skill learned from Emile¡¯s death - Basic Tea Making] [Skill learned from Wahlen¡¯s death - Basic Administration and Recordkeeping] [Skill learned from a fallen Valthorn Initiate - Pain Endurance] [The skill Hibernate has been significantly upgraded to Regenerating Sleep.] [The skill Haunted Forests significantly upgraded to a unique Skill : Forest of Ghostfire] [The skill Natural Mana Overwhelming upgraded.] ¡°Oh...¡± I felt a twang of sadness for their death. But then again, that meant Jura, Laufen and Lausanne are still alive? What¡¯s happening out there? I couldn¡¯t see a thing, even if I could feel like I¡¯m still holding back a barrier of demonic mana, and I¡¯m still drawing the demonic energies from outside. I could still access my soul realm, at least. ¡°Eriz?¡± In the dark, large extradimensional space filled with many little floating lights, this is the place where the dead goes to move on. A small light floats and approaches. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°The valley sunk and this black wall appeared and trapped the entire valley. Almost everyone died... I was killed by a stray fire from one of the cracks in the floor.¡± ¡°Do you know what else?¡± ¡°No... I died quite quickly.¡± Ngeh. I went back to my notifications, there¡¯s still a lot to go through. A year just zoomed by. There¡¯s a whole bunch of skill seeds and class seeds I received from all the people that died throughout the world. There¡¯s so many skill seeds I could probably give ten thousand people and still have leftovers. From my soul realm alone there¡¯s.... Perhaps... 800,000 little lights. And there¡¯s probably more that already moved on to their next life. So many died? ¡°Trevor? Ivy? Stratreegos? Treeiner? Horns?¡± Silence. [Unable to establish connection to Trevor or Ivy or Stratreegos or Horns. Treeiner has been destroyed. Stratreegos has been destroyed.] [Treeiner¡¯s remains are pending collection. Do you wish to collect it?] [Stratreegos¡¯s remains are pending collection. Do you wish to collect it?] Yes. [Your skill : Learning Aura significantly upgraded to Genius Aura] [Your skill : Dream Tutor significantly upgraded to Dream Academy] [Your skill : Powerlevelling upgraded.] [You gained a skill : Instant Battlefield Root Tunnels] That sounds like Trevor, Ivy, and Horns are still alive. That¡¯s good. And then I felt the pain again. The surging, surging pain. Why is it still so strong even when the demon king has fallen? Does his corruption take a mind of it¡¯s own? I couldn¡¯t resist the pain, and it made me lose consciousness... again. Side Story – The Fall It was a sudden day. TreeTree started screaming in their heads that something was happening, and they had to be prepared. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± One of the Valthorns asked Lausanne. ¡°Why do we all hear Aeon¡¯s voice?¡± ¡°Something bad is coming! Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go.¡± Lausanne snapped. They¡¯ve never had Aeon suddenly warn them in this manner. Not... ever. ¡°To the woods!¡± Everyone fled, but it was a mess. The planned underground bunkers were not good places, but not everyone got the message, so some of them still ran for the bunkers. Some wondered whether it was a false alarm, like that time when the demon supercannon attacked. Some just shrugged it off. ¡°Nothing to worry about, Aeon will take care of it.¡± For the first time, sadly, Aeon¡¯s powers were not enough. The sky darkened almost instantly, as the ¡®shockwave¡¯ of the demon king¡¯s corrupting mana flooded the distant skies. The first wave came, and they felt the entirety of the valley shake like never before. Roots started popping out of the floor, and so did cracks. It¡¯s as if the roots were fighting the earth itself, trying to hold the ground together despite the earth trying to break apart. Then came the flames. The cracks started to spit out weird, blackish things that spawned strange demon-like creatures. ¡°Demons!¡± It was a battle now, but the ground was shaking uncontrollably. ¡°Where¡¯d they come from?¡± Roots started emerging to impale the demons, and often swallowing them altogether. No one was free to answer. Lausanne activated her special familiar, and used the vine whips to quickly move, avoiding the cracking earth below. Luckily, her mom was usually found in the [secret hideout], so she figured her mom was safe. The ground shook, and they saw the skies turn red, and then black. Black flames filled the distant skies, and the trees in the horizon burned. It wasn¡¯t hard to figure out that the demon king did something. But they can only hope to survive it. Another crack, this time, right across New Freeka, and a jet of black flames shot out, burning through multiple houses and people. The fires emitted were unnatural, a mix of black and red. People burned, and Lausanne had never seen so much death in her life. But she didn¡¯t panic. Somehow, somewhere, something drove her to run, using her vines to pull as many as she could out to safety. Buildings started collapsing, the outer walls fell. Houses burned. Another crack. A streak of fire emerged. They ran for the woods. Another massive crack appeared in the ground, and black fires emerged from the gap. Roots appeared to try and pull the cracks back together, but the roots too got burned. Still, more roots appeared to take it¡¯s place. All she could hear was shouts, screams and cries for help. She tried. Beetles appeared, and they moved on their own, carrying as many as they could towards the deep forests. ¡°Lady Lausanne, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re safe.¡± Madeus appeared, he levitated in the air using some kind of magic. He created shields and they worked somewhat to redirect the flames. ¡°What¡¯s Aeon doing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s fighting this demonic energy.¡± Throughout the valley there were many cracks and also many roots appearing. ¡°We don¡¯t have much time, the area closest to Aeon is the safest. We must go quickly.¡± He levitated and also attempted to carry a few others with him, dodging jets of fire that emerged. ¡°Did you see Uncle Jura?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid not, but I think he should be fine.¡± Madeus said. ¡°I must go.¡± Lausanne nodded, and sidestepped a fire jet. She created a wood shield to block a black fire. The shield disintegrated almost instantly, but it did block it. People were running, but the cracks were getting bigger, especially in New Freeka¡¯s outer districts. Even the Valtrian Order¡¯s headquarters were not spared, as everything just went up in flames. The hotel was partially burning too. Few things lasted long against the flames, but Lausanne noticed quite a number of trees that seemed to resist the fire a lot better. kraaaaaaaaaaark Another rift appeared from another direction, and then they noticed it. The valley was starting to sink, and New Freeka was torn apart. So many fled. A part of the dirt started to move, turning into a kind of sludge that swept through New Freeka. It was as if the land around the valley turned into a mudslide, and the roots appeared, attempting to hold the mudslide back. So, the mud moved upwards, and the roots followed. ¡°What...¡± Lausanne ran. Whatever this was, this wasn¡¯t something for them. It was then, she saw it. Six massive streaks of dark energy appeared, as if pulled by something towards... Aeon. The streaks torched all the trees in it¡¯s path, but left those out of it¡¯s way untouched. It broke the illusion that hid Aeon from everyone¡¯s view, and they saw it, a massive, towering tree that almost pierced the sky go up in flames. Multiple black fire danced and raged, hopping from branch to branch. Aeon¡¯s [Camouflage] had broken. Those six streaks turned into rivers of dark energy, they seemed to flow towards Aeon¡¯s now revealed position, and Aeon¡¯s body burned, but it did not crumble. The cracking.... Stopped. Aeon had drawn in the energy to itself, and instead, a massive black pyre emerged like a tornado, and it surrounded Aeon¡¯s main body, cutting it off from everyone. ¡°Uh.¡± Lausanne stopped, not sure whether to go towards Aeon, or not. The black flame is clearly some kind of demonic energy, and it didn¡¯t look safe. They were now... trapped. The sludge had somehow formed into a cocoon that wrapped the entire valley, held back by massive walls of roots. There was a very small hole at the top, at let in some light, but it was right above the pyre, because the wall of roots were clearly centered around Aeon. New Freeka... was gone. Those who managed to fled and somehow gotten to an area where there¡¯s no... dark mana, temporarily survived. But things looked bleak. What about food? Lausanne looked around. She still had her familiar, that meant she could still create fruits and use some plant-growth abilities. Maybe it won¡¯t be that bad. ¡°TreeTree.¡± She tried to mentally call out. Nothing. She looked around. This... wasn¡¯t going to end soon. The sludge is still struggling against the roots, but at least the roots looked like they will hold. The tremors stopped, and there were no new big rifts, just smaller cracks here and there. The survivors gathered into groups, only about 5,000 left from what was a city of almost 100,000. Most of the Valtrian order and Valthorns died today. So few, and because of how the circumstances favored those with levels, it is indeed the higher leveled that survived, mostly. Jura, Madeus, Yvon, herself all made it. Mom too, who happened to be somewhere near uncle Jura. ¡°What now?¡± The survivors gathered, some of them naturally approached Lausanne as a contact point. ¡°I can¡¯t reach Aeon.¡± Lausanne looked at the 5,000 survivors. It was too sudden, too abrupt. A mud-tsunami and a firestorm later, here they are. What¡¯s left. The survivors could walk abit now, the tremors mostly stopped. ¡°[Message] is down.¡± A surviving mage complained. ¡°The tower¡¯s been destroyed.¡± The mud-sludge and firestorm took down the heroes¡¯ communication tower. The sky¡¯s dark. Everything¡¯s dark. Their source of light now, was that little hole right on top, or the dancing black flames that enveloped Aeon¡¯s body. ¡°How do we get out?¡± ¡°Should we even get out?¡± ¡°Aeon¡¯s holding this place together, I doubt outside.... Will be any better.¡± Lausanne ran, and saw a few others. ¡°MOM!¡± Lausanne and Laufen had a hug. ¡°Glad you¡¯re safe.¡± ¡°Yeah...¡± Jura was next to her. He looked like he was covered in dust and ash. ¡°Well... Aeon¡¯s not responding, we¡¯re trapped here, and we have some food from our familiars. Not that bad.¡± ¡°Not that bad. Let¡¯s get organised and see whether we can salvage any of the houses! Aeon¡¯s hideouts are all inaccessible.¡± Spaizzer And there we go, the second part. Passing Time Another Year Later, Year 87 When I woke up, another year had passed. I had no idea what¡¯s happening, other than my mana was still pushing back against the corruption, but... it was easier for me to maintain it. Easier, and yet the pain was here. Constant, even, and it struggles. I could feel the demonic power was having a ¡®dip¡¯, a temporary one, that¡¯s why I could be conscious. Why did I sleep from the pain? Does this pain restrict me so? Or is it the curse? I could feel the demon¡¯s fire swirl and turn around me, and I could now vaguely, just very vaguely, sense that there¡¯s... something outside, no... around me. Something beyond the flame. Is this the valley? It should be. Why are my senses so confused? There¡¯s solid rock around us, held back by my roots. Funny, it¡¯s like molten lava that has now solidified¡¯, and the demonic mana is slightly less intense. Still very strong, but slowly it is subsiding. This demonic mana will take some time to decay. Maybe... ten years? Maybe twenty? Clearly it is dissipating, very slowly. Unable to do much, and all my energy is still concentrated on maintaining my barrier and ¡®dispersing¡¯ the absorbed demonic energy, I fall back to sleep. - I was in a dark place, it was massive and dark. It resembled my soul realm, and that was when I saw a young boy. He sat on a chair, and he looked like he was... part demon? Am I in the soul realm? I didn¡¯t have this ability back when I went into long periods of sleep, so... is this new? ¡°Where am I?¡± He asked, noticing that I appeared. ¡°Who are you? Why do you look like a... tree? What are you? Have I gone crazy that I¡¯m talking to a tree?¡± Another girl appeared. She too looked like she was corrupted, her lower half was part demon. The two kids looked at themselves, and then they looked at each other. ¡°What have you done?¡± ¡°Me?¡± The other asked. ¡°Couldn¡¯t be!¡± ¡°Then who?¡± ¡°Uh...¡± Both of them turn to face me. ¡°Oh my god a talking tree monster. We¡¯re doomed!¡± They tried to fight and move, but couldn¡¯t. ¡°I don¡¯t even know who you are.¡± The two kids looked at each other, they kept flailing but then they stopped. ¡°Eh... we are the heroes.¡± ¡°Well, looks like both of you died. What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Simone.¡± The girl said. ¡°Victor.¡± The boy said. It was then both of them suddenly shouted as if they¡¯ve gone crazy, and then an eerie voice emerged. It was a ragged, twisted voice. ¡°WHO?¡± It asked, it came from both of them, as if both of them were mind-controlled. I didn¡¯t reply, if I could have guessed, it must be the demon king, or maybe some kind of demon. ¡°ARE. YOU?¡± I thought for a moment, wondering whether I should reply. ¡°Are you the demon king Sabnoc?¡± I asked. It died, right, but let¡¯s ask. Maybe demon kings have souls too. ¡°YES.¡± It said, but then a while later. ¡°NO. SABNOC. DEAD.¡± Then both of them suddenly shouted again for a period of time, and then, all at once, they both stopped. They were both back to their human self. ¡°Ouch...¡± ¡°It looks like both of you are sharing a body with some kind of demon.¡± ¡°We know.¡± Simone looked at Victor, and they stared at each other. ¡°It¡¯s reading our minds. It¡¯s going through our... memories.¡± ¡°Well, now we know why the demons are getting smarter each round.¡± I mean, if it¡¯s reading their minds, they are reading it for a reason, right? Simone and Victor¡¯s face paled. ¡°Well, if it could read your minds, surely you could do the reverse?¡± I wondered. How did these two even get here? Is it because their souls are still embedded in the demonic corruption somewhere, that¡¯s why? The heroes didn¡¯t do a complete job and left this part hanging? Is that why the demonic corruption is still strong and is able to keep up it¡¯s pressure? ¡°Uh....¡± Victor nodded. ¡°We must try, then. What are we.... and what are you?¡± ¡°I am a tree and I believe the two of you are some kind of trapped, corrupted soul. Your appearance as part-demon is probably the demon king¡¯s attempt to corrupt you. I say, it¡¯s probably successful.¡± ¡°And... where are we?¡± ¡°If my understanding is correct, you two died, and somehow, your soul drifted here. Either that, you two are somehow trapped in the demonic flesh and because I¡¯m ¡®linked¡¯ to the demonic mana, you are able to see me and vice versa.¡± The two started wailing and crying, and screaming. They seemed to be unable to accept that they died. But, that¡¯s strange, they seemed perfectly able to accept it earlier. ¡°NOOOOOOOOOO~¡± ¡°Uh... Do you vaguely recall anything?¡± I asked, they were still screaming. ¡°Like.. how?¡± Victor was sobbing, and it was Simone who somehow calmed down a bit and responded. ¡°We... I.. we were fighting the demon king, and there was this bright flash of light and... that¡¯s all I remember before I was stuck in this dark, disgusting place where I don¡¯t feel things, and where I want to sleep but I can¡¯t freaking sleep.¡± ¡°But... I don¡¯t get it. Why are we able to be here if we are dead?¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you two listening? You are both dead. This is probably some kind of... shared spiritual realm.¡± I wasn¡¯t going to be blunt and say it¡¯s my soul realm, because it¡¯s not, but then again, even if I knew the answer, I wasn¡¯t going to tell them anything. They share a ¡®mind¡¯ with the demon. ¡°Only the two of us? Everyone else survived?¡± I paused. ¡°Hmmm.... I don¡¯t know?¡± Well, they are partly possessed by the demon king, how secure is any information that¡¯s shared with them anyway? ¡°Can you help us?¡± Simone asked. ¡°I would very much like to get out of this... place.¡± Hmm. I don¡¯t think so. I don¡¯t have any access to the outside world, the demonic fire pretty much meant I¡¯m trapped in a prison of flame. Even if that doesn¡¯t make much sense. But... I think I have access to my own soul realm. I get a sense that this space is a pocket dimension of it¡¯s own, and I could sense the other pockets of space. - The soul realm. Funny I haven¡¯t spent much time exploring this space, but now I have all the time to do so. I vaguely recall my soul forge is down, and for what it¡¯s worth, my consciousness is stuck inside myself, an ¡®asleep¡¯ state. In a way, this is kind of like a reverse of my dream-related abilities, where I¡¯m the one in a ¡®dream¡¯ state. Am I dreaming, or because I am unconscious, my psyche retreats to this place? I can¡¯t tell the difference, honestly. Anyway, what am I even thinking. There¡¯s little blobs of light, floating on many little places. A wisp waits. ¡°Matt.¡± ¡°Hi.¡± I too, take the shape of a little blob of light. ¡°Wisp?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°So.... what¡¯s happening here?¡± ¡°You¡¯re unconscious, and you¡¯re stuck in this mind-dream-soul realm limbo. Time moves differently here, as you surely already know.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°So, until your body somehow snaps itself out of the pain and suffering it¡¯s going through...¡± ¡°I¡¯m stuck here.¡± Well, I kinda knew that. How could the soul interact outside the body anyway? Unless my [soul forge] is somehow operating, but it¡¯s not. I recall one of the notifications said it¡¯s offline. Dead, floating souls, little blobs of light. They float past me, and they just wander. These are those who died recently, waiting for the time to reincarnate. ¡°It¡¯s going to take a while.¡± The wisp said. ¡°Too many people died so quickly that it¡¯s backlogged.¡± ¡°It¡¯s backlogged? For real?¡± I thought that was a joke. ¡°Of course. And you¡¯re probably the only somewhat-surviving soul tree in this half of the continent.¡± ¡°Tell me something, how do YOU know?¡± At this point, how does the wisp even know what¡¯s happening outside of me. Doesn¡¯t the wisp stay inside me? ¡°The soul harvesters and dream harvesters can travel vast distances, and pass through most objects and barriers. Occasionally, they also bring back fragments of memories, and you too, can view those memories. And well, if souls from far away are coming here, that can only mean there¡¯s no other soul tree left.¡± And the wisp shake little, and little, smaller blobs of light appeared. They resembled tiny televisions and they showed what the dead saw in their last days. Strange demons. Monsters. Fires from all places. Burning. Destruction. It was common for all of it. It was like watching little birds and ducks get lathered in a layer of oil, and then being burnt to death. It¡¯s like a magical version of the Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez oil spills, only, well, if you didn¡¯t die in the first wave, the monsters that spawned from the sludge would eventually get to you. But I honestly didn¡¯t feel much for their deaths. Instead, I felt a twang of sorrow when I saw vast... empty spaces. And burning trees. Ahhh, what sorrow, that trees burn so easily. If I could, I should find ways to introduce fire resistant trees to the entire world. Why should trees be relegated to background features anyway? Why are we just features of the environment, things used to describe places! We are trees, the precursor of civilisation. Without plants, without trees, there would be no food, no agriculture, and without agriculture, there would be no large civilisation! It is because humanity discovered farming that there¡¯s civilisation, why are trees treated with such disrespect! Ah! I¡¯m getting carried away. Okay, let¡¯s do some thinking. I can still think in this soul realm, so that¡¯s not a bad thing. I¡¯m trapped in my own body, because there¡¯s a massive infernal pyre outside that burns and scorches everything. It¡¯s only thanks to my levels and my high amounts of hero fragments that I can endure it. That means, if I have higher levels, or more hero fragments, I will eventually escape this demonic prison, or at least, pierce a ¡®hole¡¯ through it. And this demonic flame should decay over time, like it did with my first experience. What else can I do? Are there any skills I can use on myself in this ¡®subsconscious¡¯ state? My body is obviously on [autopilot], and like before, actively managing the demonic mana such that I can survive it. Can I do it myself? Can I force myself to ¡®wake¡¯ instead of being stuck in this soul realm? - Year 88 The answer was mixed. I could somewhat remain awake, like a dreaming man forcing himself awake, but the pain was so overwhelming that I ended up losing consciousness just as quickly. It¡¯s only during ¡®ebbs¡¯ of the demonic energy that I could maintain some semblance of consciousness. If I force myself to be awake when the demonic energy is at it¡¯s peak, I feel like I¡¯m being operated on while lucid. It¡¯s insanely painful. So much so that [autopilot] quickly kicks in and knocks me back into the soul realm. But I kept trying. I don¡¯t believe that I need to rely on [autopilot] to manage the pain. So I drift back and forth, either experiencing intense pain, or in my soul realm. If this system works the way I think it does, only through constantly enduring and ¡®managing¡¯ this pain, I will gain a skill. And when I gain a skill, I¡¯ll be able to break through this demonic fire. - ¡°You guys are still here.¡± It¡¯s been a year since I last went back to this ¡®space¡¯. I had thought the demons would¡¯ve eaten the entirety of their soul already. Simone and Victor didn¡¯t look pleased. ¡°Well, what brings you back?¡± Their bodies look about the same, but I noticed a small part of their hands exhibiting more demonic features. Honestly, I was just ¡®checking¡¯ whether anything changed. ¡°What do you think? How much time has passed?¡± They asked. ¡°A year?¡± ¡°Oh. Sure doesn¡¯t feel like it. It feels way longer with how much pain we¡¯re in.¡± They don¡¯t look too good. The demonic corruption for other parts of their bodies looked to be growing. Then the demon took over again. ¡°GROOOOOWWWWW.¡± The two of them couldn¡¯t move, though, so I wasn¡¯t afraid. ¡°Uh, yeah. Grow.¡± The demon made a scary sound, but I know very well this is a spiritual plane of some kind, so I¡¯m not afraid of it. Come on, it¡¯s like watching a scary monster behind a secure panel. Scary, sure, but it can¡¯t hurt me. Not here. ¡°CONQUER!¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°ADAPT!¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°WE. LEARN.¡± ¡°No shit, demon.¡± And then it stopped, and back to Simone and Victor, again. They rubbed their heads. ¡°Oh man, it¡¯s been repeating the same thing so many times. Conquer! Adapt! Learn!¡± ¡°Do you feel like you¡¯ve been captured by some kind of alien monster species who¡¯s out to assimilate you?¡± I mean, I wonder how it¡¯s like to be ¡®possessed¡¯. Is it like me, who¡¯s trapped in a pyre? ¡°If you happen to either be referred to the Borg or the Zerg, yes, it does feel like that.¡± Victor shrugged, one of his demonic arms rubbing his chin. There¡¯s small demonic spots appearing on his face, which he can¡¯t do shit about. ¡°I see. But that¡¯s not helpful. How does it feel like?¡± ¡°Like uh... you lose control over your limbs every now and then? Like having a seizure? I... I don¡¯t really know how to describe it.¡± - Year 89 Another fucking year passed. It¡¯s been four years already since I¡¯ve entered this ¡®low-activity¡¯ mode. Four years! This is a whole lot longer than my previous time, but then again, this corruption is probably ¡®active¡¯, and has a set command, as if it¡¯s like a... computer virus that has some kind of execution hierarchy. Is it the mind that possessed the heroes that allows it so? This year, I¡¯ve been partially able to maintain and resist the pain for longer. I stayed awake for close to two whole days, and on average, I¡¯ve been able to force myself to regain consciousness about once every 2 months. I kept poking at the flames, and I gradually am able to comprehend what it feels like. Ever touched a switch when wet? Well, it feels like a super-intense version of being electrocuted. Perhaps comparable to what someone who just got struck by lightning feels like. And it¡¯s constant. Well, not constant-constant, but constant, wavelike, with peaks and lows. That¡¯s why I can be awake longer during the lows. I hope to be able to gain a skill to withstand the peaks. But it¡¯s been so long, and still without the skill, it¡¯s hard. Or maybe I¡¯m just doing it wrong. Maybe there¡¯s a trick to this whole demonic corruption thing. I mean, I think it¡¯s a disease, but at the same time, it also behaves like... a liquid. Or a sludge. How is my autopilot handling it? Maybe it¡¯s not doing it as well as it should... [Autopilot is configured to absorb demonic mana and attempt to filter it. Failing which, it is then expelled via all bodily extremities. Bodily extremities therefore experienced damage.]. Uh. So wait, it¡¯s trying to absorb the demonic mana, and then it¡¯s expelling it, via my barks, branches and leaves? Is that why all of it is burning? Is that the right thing to do? [Autopilot is configured to protect the soul from damage.] Huh. Okay. That¡¯s logical. It¡¯s like saving the heart and letting everything else burn. Or where a seed is encased with a disposable shell, or trees that have thick barks that insulate the core from the fires outside. I suppose that¡¯s what my body¡¯s been naturally doing since the very first fires. What else? Maybe I need to spin it, like some mangas have stories where the Qi needs to be made to move in a certain manner such that it gains strength, so perhaps there are ways to spin the demonic mana in a way that causes it to weaken? Or maybe there¡¯s a way to cause it to move slower, such that my body doesn¡¯t burn. All things I need to explore... once I¡¯m awake. Spaizzer Covid19 and baby has been massively disruptive. :S Side Story – Heroes and their new world 6 months after the death of the demon king (around Year 85 Month 7 or 8) The terrain was wrecked. Almost everywhere the demon king¡¯s corruption touched turned into this twisted terrain, where firestorms were a regular affair, and the earth itself constantly shifted. Strange monsters also appeared, not quite like the usual demons, but not quite like monsters either. As if it¡¯s an odd mix of the two. The terrain¡¯s unstable energies also meant all communication spells were still jammed, despite the rest of the world no longer requiring the towers. It was an odd thing about this location, but not uncommon. There are other spots in the world where gravity and magic is inconsistent, volatile. The only difference was the size of the instability was... well... Half a continent. Still, it was not a total loss. Some cities had ancient heroic defenses that never triggered until that very day, and it is those cities that survived. But it would be a reasonable thing to say that 90% of all living beings died within the demon king¡¯s corruption, and of the surviving 10%, another 8% died within six months due to lack of food, monsters, and supplies. 2% left. Harris, Becky and Mirei stood at the edge of one such surviving city. The heroes didn''t stay together after the demon king had fallen. Gerrard, relieved of the task to slay the demon king, wanted to just find a few barrels of booze and drown himself in it. Maybe find a lady or two to accompany him as well. Astra, well, he seemed like he had other things to do, so he left for another continent. This part of the terrain used to be more... demonic, but the three of them worked with some surviving druids and mages, they were able to channel and amplify a mix of the earth¡¯s energy, and also their own star mana to push the corruption back. It would have been easier if they were druids themselves, but their skills were for war, not healing. ¡°Too bad none of us are druids, maybe we could¡¯ve fixed this easily.¡± ¡°It¡¯s kinda like an infection, the body must fight it. All we¡¯re doing is augmenting it, making it stronger with our star mana. Kind of like an IV injection.¡± ¡°Do you even know what an IV injection means?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but its what all the medical shows like to talk about.¡± Becky shrugged. All they knew about medicine was what they learned in their years of schooling, and then all the sitcoms and dramas they followed. But they could see for themselves that their star mana wasn¡¯t ideal either. There was always something that seemed to push back against the star mana. Maybe it was just the demon¡¯s energies, since the star mana was super effective, naturally the demonic resists something that is effective from them. It was slow, hard, tiring work. It took a lot of their massive star mana to ¡®undo¡¯ the demon king¡¯s corruption. It¡¯s so massive, the extent of the devastation. Still, it made the three of them feel a bit better. Unlike Astra and Gerrard, they came to this continent, and most of what was destroyed, they¡¯ve seen and visited them. Becky even had attachments for certain places she visited, and it made her sad to watch them destroyed, or turned into this corrupted... place. The druid that aided them was a middle aged man, who truly enjoyed restoring the terrain back to some semblance of normalcy. The journey was hard on the druids, the heroes were young and they had skills that made them strong. ¡°Let¡¯s rest.¡± He said, exhausted from using his druidic powers. ¡°I¡¯ve used up my [mend earth], [land restoration], and I don¡¯t think I can take more of that... hero-mana.¡± The heroes nodded. Using star mana on the druids strained their bodies, star mana was strong, kind of like an extremely powerful chemical, and the body suffers from it. Overdose knocks them out. But it was way more effective that using mend earth and land restoration, and so the druids did it. There were a few other druids too, but they were far younger and less skilled than the middle aged man. It was hard, and the odd monsters were tough for the druids. ¡°This corruption is unreal.¡± One young druid said, but then, he had said it so many times. The other druids just shrugged. ¡°When are we going to reach the border...¡± ¡°A few more days, I hope.¡± The druids talked. The heroes could just sigh. Harris wondered whether they would¡¯ve been able to stop the demonic rod if they were faster. Still, the corruption was so thick, trade and communications with the outside world was almost totally cutoff. The druids hoped to cut a ¡®road¡¯ through the corrupted lands, as that could restore some of that trade and communication. There were some cities that survived, though they are all in a perilous state when the heroes found them. The three heroes looked at each other and sighed. All was not well. One of the main things they discovered was their blessings changed. Their blessings were weaker, now just regular blessings of gods, not whatever it initially was, and their star mana pool was no longer growing, and it took far longer to regenerate. And their skills, especially those classified as [divine] changed. Instead, all of them were replaced as a [heroic] skill. So, that meant Astra¡¯s Global Chat ability changed into limited uses. What¡¯s the point of such a change? They sometimes wondered. Harris recalled the conversation on the day all their skills changed. Exactly 3 months after the demon king died. ¡°The gods never truly intended to give us this power forever.¡± Mirei sighed. ¡°Maybe it costs them something to summon us and maintain this power. Now that we¡¯ve done what we needed, they tossed us out, like trash.¡± Becky had a sip of tea, and just mused. ¡°What was given freely, can be freely taken away. We¡¯ve always been... pawns.¡± Mirei looked at Becky. ¡°I feel cheated.¡± ¡°All of us do.¡± ¡°The gods never intended for us to survive till the next demon king? Or will they return the divine power to us when the next demon king comes?¡± That was a few months ago, and in 3 months since then, they¡¯ve managed to purify quite a large area. There¡¯s a whole lot more to go. - Two year after the demon king has fallen, around Year 87 Harris was alone. Becky and Mirei got tired, and they all wanted to do something else. Both of them had left for another continent. Mirei said she wanted a holiday, and she said she would be back, but until now, she¡¯s still away. Harris didn¡¯t feel it was necessary to call her back. The process of detoxifying the terrain was hard, laborious work. He had to constantly infuse his star mana into the druids, such that the druid¡¯s could then mix that star mana into their ¡®natural healing¡¯ abilities. Hard work, and he could see why they weren¡¯t keen on constantly doing it, what more when the gods just took away their divine powers. They felt cheated, and both the girls wanted to just enjoy themselves. All of them did. So, the progress of detoxifying slowed. Only Harris was working on it. Even he slowed down significantly, only the prospect of claiming additional territory spurring him on. Last time, he would¡¯ve been worried if they separated, but now, after the levels they gained slaying the demon king, some twenty odd levels, he wasn¡¯t worried. They kept their levels, and they are still leagues above any regular human. He didn¡¯t even know if there are other people in the high 100s of levels. And he had the shards of the fallen. 7 of them. [Heroic Fragments. Blessings of the Fallen Heroes]. ¡°Archduke Harris, the new group of druids have arrived.¡± A druid knelt on the grass. Harris frowned, and wished he had some tea. A King saw it fit to award Harris with the ¡®Archduke¡¯ title, and concurrently granted him dominion over the territory he reclaimed from the demonic corruption. ¡°Rise.¡± There were about a hundred druids behind the first druid, they were on their knees before high nobility too. Many of them came from far away, from the other continents to do the laborious task of healing the world. ¡°All of you are here for the quest?¡± ¡°Yes, Archduke.¡± This was a game of some kind. After the heroes were done, the druids had their quest. ¡°Good. Accepted. I¡¯ll grant all of you a bit of my hero mana, maybe in the next few days. My attendants will call for you.¡± The gods gave druids the quest to heal the world. Healers. Restorers. Druids, shamans and spiritualists of all sorts, many had received a ¡®quest¡¯ from their own systems, to aid in the fixing of the world. All of them had rewards. Fix the world, and gain a blessing of some kind. Or a special skill. If heroes were the white-blood cells, the super T-cells of the world, these druids were the platelets. The corrupted terrain, vast and unforgiving, still remains incredibly hostile, comparable to a hex-wasteland. The demonic hybrids still roamed the vast expanse, some larger and more fearsome. It seemed that when enough of them spawned, they agglomerated into a larger beast, and it kept on, until the corrupted wasteland even had ¡®walker¡¯ tier creatures. So, it was his personal reputation as a hero that the druids came here instead. He could guarantee their safety. ¡®Serve Archduke Harris the First, Reclaimer of the Accursed Lands.¡¯ Yet, at the same time, he had to admit it made him happy. He felt like he was someone, after all the demon king fighting and all. He was finally a person that people respected and feared. Women came for him, many gorgeous ladies that Harris could only fantasize about as a young teenager back home. Money, good food, all seemed to just flow in, and many of the surviving kingdoms now wanted his protection. The things they were willing to do, the harem that he now personally had, he tried at first, to not let it go to his head. But how could he? His heart wasn¡¯t as strong as he thought it was. When women were willing to throw themselves at him, he discovered he was human after all. Now that his friends had left, no one was around to check on his own personal moral compass. And to some extent, he got lazy and exhausted, just like his friends. Harris noticed he had given himself excuses. He would still go and reclaim the lands, but he was increasingly less keen on it, and he took breaks, every now and then. To spend time with his growing harem, and to enjoy the luxuries from reclaiming a land. He even had a new class, on top of his original class, the [Defender Hero]. [Noble]. And, if he wanted, the system allowed him to exchange some levels in [hero], for [ruler]. One level for five levels, at least, for the first thirty [Noble] levels. So he did. He gave up 10 levels of hero, and instead he got 50 levels of [Noble]. This was fine, Harris told himself. The gods had abandoned him. So did his friends. What¡¯s wrong with him indulging a bit? This is the reward after the victory, no? This was what the gods promised. - Gerrard had always been drinking. Somehow, his [heroic body] meant he could enjoy the benefits of being drunk, without ever suffering from the medical and health issues that over consuming alcohol usually brings. In fact, if he ever felt too tipsy, all he needed to do was activate [rejuvenate], and he would be as good as new again. But he enjoyed the state of being ¡®drunk¡¯. It gave him, if anything, a clarity similar to what he used to have before. When he was still just a normal person. Which is insane, because here is a debaucherous man who¡¯s favourite hangout is sleazy brothels where the scent of aphrodisiacs, alcohol and drugs is the only thing one can smell. In between rounds of drinking he would often laugh at how insane it was, that here, he, once a good student, a law-abiding young teenager who loved playing with toy trains even when he was already in his early teens, turned into this. He cursed the gods. It was when he had a damned good wine that was imported from far away that he realised this whole thing was fucked up. Or maybe he was granted a blessing by the gods of wine and alcohol, if there was such a thing as a Bacchus of Dionysus equivalent in the world. Today, he found that wine again. That special ginger-mixed herbal liqueur. The merchant was grinning, and he tossed a small pouch of gold and gems over. The merchant gladly passed it to one of the two ladies next to him. ¡°Should I open it?¡± A voluptuous lady next to him asked, she was half undressed anyway. She held the bottle up, she wondered what¡¯s so great about the herbal liqueur. ¡°Or should I order something more expensive?¡± ¡°No. This is mine. Only mine. You two drink something else.¡± He inspected it. It was a very old liqueur, made around three hundred years ago, mixed with the leaves and fruits of an ancient grove. That grove was destroyed during one of the demon king¡¯s battles a hundred or so years ago, so the legend goes. He opened it gently, and poured himself a small sip. And when he drank it, he felt it again. Clarity. That annoying haze suddenly pushed aside. And he could hear the voice in the drink again. A gentle one. As if his grandmother was talking to him. He was quite sure it was the Earth Mother itself that was talking to him. - Rings on a tree Year 90 Ugh. My attempts to manipulate demonic mana and energy have been mostly ineffective. I¡¯ve been too used to just ¡®flooding¡¯ any demonic creatures I met, without actually being focused and specific about it. I tried all sort of manga-inspired moves. I attempted to ¡®spin¡¯ the demonic mana, and instead all it did was cause the fires around me to spin into a tornado, kind of like a whirlpool made of fire. I tried to concentrate the demonic energy, but all that did was cause one particular branch where it was concentrated on to just explode violently once it past a certain breaking point, and I experienced a pain so intense I instantly lost consciousness. I also tried to push and pull it back, taichi-style, into the outer valley. That just made the ¡®demonic mana¡¯ move faster through the designated ¡®channels¡¯ and just did nothing else. I then also tried to force it underground, into the depth of the ground below. Nothing happened other than some shaking and tremors. All in, not very successful. So, I spend time in my soul realm. - The soul realm has always been this flexible space, a pocket dimension for the departed to rest and recuperate for their onward reincarnation. The cycle must continue, and the pieces will be replenished for the next bout. The number of souls have dwindled quite a bit, the backlog starting to clear out. Many have left to go into this unknown other world, this plane where they would go to be further reincarnated. Maybe they have to roll the wheel like I do. Or maybe they get lucky and don¡¯t. I think it¡¯s quite boring in the soul realm, and if I¡¯m trying to fall asleep, it¡¯s quite easy. All I need to do is count all the little souls that pop up. pop pop Kind of like counting sheep, but only wisp-like souls instead. I mean, if souls are still appearing, logically that meant there are people still dying, which also means, there are survivors. Else everyone would have died instantly and no souls would pop up after that. Since I have nothing else to do, I theorised that the presence of survivors was due to a few reasons. One, is that there are people who have skills to protect themselves and others in such situations. Perhaps the heroes, since it seemed like 5 of them survived. Or there may be crouching tigers and hidden dragons, hidden experts who have laid low but now, in such situations used their powers to protect themselves. Two, are the existence of ancient artifacts and formations. Similar to the heroes¡¯ magical protections, past heroes could have set up ancient formations, or made powerful artifacts that trigger under such serious events. Surely, there are some who are paranoid about demon kings and have made ancient preparations for such things, especially heroes who survived their first demon king. Three, is perhaps divine interference. Given that the heroes are summoned by gods, and these gods do have some leeway in interfering with the world, maybe they would step in, for such exceptional circumstances. Four, is luck and terrain. Perhaps the terrain¡¯s curvature, or the presence of other natural energy sources that ¡®repels¡¯ the demon king¡¯s corruption. What else... high-levelled individuals, ancient magical formations, divine intervention, luck and terrain... or.. Perhaps, most unlikely, is demonic selection. Some kinds of people have skills that allow them to resist demons? Unlikely. Anyway, I went back to looking at the little bobbing, floating souls. I poked some of them. I¡¯m bored. They flicker a bit. Like little fairy lights being disturbed. Or like little fireflies. I should have fireflies on my actual tree. They would look pretty cool. I remember this photo of a swamp where there¡¯s a bunch of fireflies. It¡¯s both beautiful and creepy. I think that¡¯s a look I should aspire to. I could even use fireflies to talk, you know, kinda like a massive LED board if I could control the fireflies and control which firefly lights up. Of course, that also depends on them understanding the language. But yeah, fireflies as a board of LEDs is entirely workable. I should do that once I wake up. I want fireflies now. I should find some in a swamp or a bog somewhere. Once I get out of this rotten demonic bog thing. Seriously. Year 91 The fires are still pretty bad. And I¡¯m still thinking what the hell to do to get myself out of this situation. But because I don¡¯t seem to be making much progress, I¡¯ve decided to disturb the souls in my soul realm more. But then I had an epiphany one random day. Why do I even need fireflies? I was able to somewhat manipulate the fires by moving the demonic energy within the body, guiding it in a certain manner. So... could I move the demonic flames to make letters and signs? To tell those outside that I¡¯m okay? But! Is anyone watching? Would anyone know what I¡¯m saying, and I don¡¯t understand the languages of the world! So, if I were to use the demon flames as a ¡®screen¡¯, I could probably show... shapes? Would shapes work? I wish I taught the elves some basic morse code or binary language signalling. Maybe I should still try it. - The deaths in the continent have slowed to a trickle. There are still deaths, of course, but I¡¯m starting to wonder where they come from, and so I¡¯ve been poking them more. Maybe some of them can talk, like how Meela was able to talk. Most of them can¡¯t. Most. Actually close to all. I think Meela being an ex-hero, and Eriz being a contracted soul is different. I kept trying to interact with most of them. And I would say, 1 in 100,000 do not respond. Maybe higher, I wasn¡¯t really keeping track, but eventually one did say something. ¡°DIE!¡± ¡°Oh, you can talk.¡± ¡°I. DIE!¡± ¡°Yes. Yes you died.¡± It sounded like Meela when she first came. When her soul was damaged, she too spoke in short words and sentences. Maybe most regular souls just suffer far more extensive damage, except those that somehow die close to me. Isn¡¯t it? But darn! That meant I missed the boat on all the souls that died right immediately after the demonic corruption! Maybe those could talk! But oh well, I was asleep anyway. ¡°Where did you die?¡± ¡°MORKAN.¡± Where in the fuck is that? Morkan? ¡°How?¡± ¡°MONSTER!¡± ¡°What level are you when you died?¡± ¡°54!¡± ¡°Oh, pretty high. What kind of monster?¡± ¡°DEMON THING!¡± Helpful. Yes. Very helpful. Maybe I could fix you. But I have no access to my soul forge. Darn it. What else, what else. Anyway, a couple of months later, another soul could talk! Yay! ¡°DEATH.¡± ¡°Hi, little soul. Who might you be?¡± ¡°ADAM.¡± ¡°Hi, Adam. Where are you from, where did you die?¡± ¡°PURKAI. PURKAI.¡± ¡°No idea where that is. Cause of death?¡± ¡°MONSTER. DEMON THING.¡± ¡°Okay, another one for the checklist. What does this monster look like?¡± ¡°DEMON. HORN. ANIMAL.¡± Alright. It¡¯s a demon, it has horns, and probably look like an animal. A demonic unicorn, a black unicorn perhaps, or a bicorn? Or maybe it¡¯s just a demonic cow? ¡°Alright, how many horns?¡± ¡°TWO.¡± Okay, bicorn or cow. I went on and asked a bunch of questions about the monster, so it¡¯s sort of a horned monster with two horns, spiky body, and resembles a cow more than a horse. So, it¡¯s stocky. Things I do to entertain myself in the incredible idleness of... being in a coma. It¡¯s pretty much a tree-coma, if such a thing were to exist. A state where the mind and the body is disconnected, because the body¡¯s in incredible pain. Why doesn''t it rain? Can rain put out the fire? I mean, if it rains, maybe the fire wouldn¡¯t be that strong, then maybe I¡¯ll be able to regenerate faster. It¡¯s not going to rain, is it? I don¡¯t recall it raining for a few years now. I wonder how the elves are doing, at least those surviving. Year 92 Well, it¡¯s still pretty quiet. Nothing much is happening, other than me constantly attempting to endure the pain, and practice with the demonic flames. I sort of think I am getting the hang of it. I think, anyway. Year 93 Time just feels... like a rubber band. At the rate this is going, I think the next demon king is going to appear soon. I wonder whether the world can take something like this again. [Ivy was destroyed] [Treeveller was destroyed] [You gained 1 level. Level 146] [You gained Ivy¡¯s skill - Surveillance State] [Surveillance State allows monitoring of multiple individuals simultaneously, and allows playback of all recorded interactions. Also automatically ranks individuals in accordance to a perceived threat level.] Oh. That sucks. Ivy¡¯s been so helpful in keeping track of all the bad people that came to New Freeka, but I do recall the skills are not perfect, in the sense that they can be bypassed. Like that druid from Hutan that managed to elude our detection until it¡¯s in New Freeka. Or that assassin fellow, I suppose a key thing I need to remember, is that skills are all fallible. They are offset, and beaten by skills of other people, and so, I must always consider the possibility that there are always people who have the right skillset, that happens to counter what skills we have. Like this stupid demon king. I have tremendous anti-demon resistances, and yet I¡¯m still in this immense pain. Pain. Some days, I feel the pain and I wake up to see fire. I attempt to move the fire aside, and attempt to look past the fire, and all I see is just more... fire. What¡¯s happening out there? Ivy¡¯s dead. I wonder what destroyed her after so long. Monsters? Or just other things? Have the monsters or the survivors turned on each other? How are they going to cope with the next demon king? I kinda miss my fellow minds. It¡¯s nice having their gorgeous overlays. I think my supermind project is still around? I don¡¯t recall seeing a notification it was destroyed. I wonder whether all my orchards are still around too. I can¡¯t sense any of them. It doesn¡¯t make sense. Why does the demonic fire burn all my contact points to the outside world? There must be something I can do. I don¡¯t like being trapped. It¡¯s annoying. Like, I¡¯m a tree! I¡¯m meant to feel the earth, taste the air, absorb the water. Fire¡¯s part of the renewal cycle of trees, no, like some countries and places have regular fires that help refresh the landscape. A tree can survive fire. No, it can thrive and coexist with fire. I already have fire resistance. What more do I need to reach the point where I can endure this fire? Or is it not actually fire? I mean, what if... uhm... let¡¯s see. What if this corruption is just pure mana, and the fire is something of a reaction? Kind of like a lightning strike. The lightning creates the fire, and it is not as if the fire itself that burns me. Is that possible? Perhaps the demonic corruption has a low burning point, so it always tend to flare up, but it isn¡¯t actually fire. Maybe it¡¯s like... oil? Coming back to my whole Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon comparison, if this entire demonic corruption is just a massive magical oil sludge, and because magical oil and tree equals a recipe for easily combustible fire, therefore it becomes this way? Hmmm... Wait, are demons actually just... cars? Like some kind of steampunk, magical demon-oil powered creatures? And the people of this world are powered by water? That¡¯s why their demonic bodies are so ¡®dry¡¯? I should see whether I could test that concept, whether it has any actual basis. - I went and checked on the two heroic ¡®shadows¡¯. And they were almost entirely demon now. 80%, I¡¯d say. ¡°Help.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t even free myself.¡± ¡°Help us.¡± Simone said, her body entirely demon, what¡¯s left is her head and her neck, and strangely one of her arms. ¡°I can¡¯t. Not in this state.¡± ¡°WHAT. STATE?¡± They both asked together, and I knew it was the demon now. It¡¯s presence was unmistakable. ¡°You sound smart. You should figure it out.¡± The two flailed like mad men, but they couldn¡¯t reach me like two angry people on an internet video call. There¡¯s no saving them. Not in this state. And maybe, not me. - Year 94. Nothing much happened. But the demon king should emerge soon. Year 95 [The demon King Iblis has descended.] About two, no, three months later, I felt it. An incredibly intense surge of mana and energy from a hexbomb, but... way, way stronger. I wonder how many people were sacrificed this time. One hundred thousand? One Million? And then. [The demon King Iblis has been destroyed] [The Hero Astra has been excommunicated.] [Astra is now a Fallen Hero]. [Killing of a fallen hero grants special blessings and gifts.] [Killing Astra will not create a hero fragment] What. What the fuck is happening out there? Treerapeutics Year 96 Another year passed, and finally, I got something. Dammit. I¡¯ve been fighting the pain for so long! [Skill : Pain Endurance upgraded!] And that was when I realised I could stay awake a little bit longer. But the fires still remain, my body can endure the pain, but it still remains that my senses are still gone. ¡°Fire.¡± I thought to myself. If this is oil, maybe I could... be like a refinery. Have a designated flareoff location, instead of it burning my entire body? So I tried that. I tried to push all the demonic energy to the very top of my tree. In a way, such that it only burns the top off. I have no senses, but my body is still mine, and so my branches now burn a lot more. Along my trunk, there¡¯s still a few large lines of demonic flames, the ¡®tunnels¡¯ used to carry the demonic corruption sucked in from the surroundings, and that tunnel is charred. I kept it up, and gradually, gradually.... Over a period of 6 months, I¡¯ve gradually concentrated the demonic corruption such that the fires are just on the very top of my head. I imagine myself to look a little like Hades from Hercules, with fiery hair. Only, well, I¡¯m a tree, he¡¯s a god. - The two heroes were still somehow holding on. Their face was half human, half demon. I somehow expected both of them to give in already. I would have. I think. Or maybe not. I did last in this world until now. Maybe I¡¯d also stay around. ¡°How are you guys doing?¡± ¡°Could be better.¡± Simone responded. ¡°We¡¯re getting the hang of it. Maybe we can fight back soon.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Well, that¡¯s unexpected, but I suppose heroes are special. ¡°LIES.¡± They both said simultaneously. And then they were back to their human self again. ¡°Why are you doing this, actually? I¡¯ve never had a conversation with a demon before. Tell me more about yourself.¡± I mean, it¡¯s true. No one ever had a conversation with a demon to find out what their motives are, what they are trying to achieve, or whether it¡¯s something more fundamental. ¡°I think it¡¯s just an animal.¡± Victor was the one who responded. ¡°We just feel... strong emotions. Like, a need. To grow. To find. To conquer. To.... have things. To seize things. To... multiply.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I thought that was quite strange. It¡¯s recent behavior clearly suggest it¡¯s somewhat intelligent, I mean, the demon-king especially, so if it¡¯s really strange to be told that it¡¯s actually, well... just a beast. Feral. ¡°Is it... local?¡± ¡°I... I think it¡¯s from another planet. Another... world. We see visions of this vast wasteland quite like our current decimated terrain. Areas filled with spires and craggs, that seem to spawn more of those monsters. It¡¯s so big, yet so... broken.¡± Victor said. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I... don¡¯t know. It just... craves. It has something it wants.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s recent behavior has been intelligent. The humanoid demons, what¡¯s the deal with that?¡± I suspect whatever possessed these two heroes may not be truly intelligent, that¡¯s why they just feel it¡¯s craving. If I may, maybe this is just a ¡®program¡¯ or ¡®software¡¯ the demons have. Maybe demons have artificial souls too, and the demon king is the only truly sentient one that it sends over. Victor didn¡¯t reply. Neither did Simone. A while later, the demon came again. ¡°WHAT. ARE. YOU?¡± ¡°Tree.¡± I responded. I was going to be factual about it. ¡°Who are you?¡± They both muttered something incomprehensible. ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t get that. So I¡¯ll call you demon for now.¡± ¡°CONSUME!¡± Okay, I understood that word. ¡°Where are you from?¡± I have the golden opportunity to have a conversation with a lesser demon-alien. Why not take it? ¡°HOME.¡± ¡°Why did you come here?¡± ¡°ORDER...¡± They both muttered, and then a long pause later. ¡°MOTHER. EARTH MOTHER...¡± I paused. Mother? Earth mother? Hmm. I don¡¯t think the demon is referring to earth itself, it¡¯s merely copying and reading the two¡¯s memories to find a comparable word. The demon responds to some kind of order, so they are compelled to invade our world. ¡°Why? What does Mother want?¡± I feel a bit corny saying that. It almost feels like I¡¯m talking about how Sephiroth kept talking about Jenova. It was so corny. Mother here, mother there. Especially Advent Children. I hope it doesn¡¯t even repeat the same kind of corny motivations. ¡°CONQUER!¡± I mentally sighed in relief. Thank goodness. ¡°Why do you want to conquer our world? What¡¯s here that mother want?¡± The two pause. ¡°CONQUER!¡± Ah. For conquest. I guess this is all I can squeeze out of a demonic artificial intelligence. Maybe a demon king would offer a proper conversation. Year 97 [You gained a level. You are now level 147] [You gained a passive skill : Demonic Energy Transmission] ¡°What in the fuck is that.¡± Well I got the answer soon enough. The demonic corruption that¡¯s being sucked in through my roots, well, there¡¯s now a dedicated pipe-like root that now covers it, essentially reducing the damage from the rest of my body. It still hurts like hell, like being electrocuted, but, less. And more specific. I¡¯m starting to stay conscious longer. I could stay awake for two-three days straight for a month. The demonic energy is still strong, even with my new skills. But, every small step counts. Every level counts too. [Demonic energy is interfering with all telepathic and magical abilities. Most non-core functions are disabled.] ¡°Shit.¡± I have so many heroic shards. Tell me why can¡¯t my heroic shards offset the demonic energy? I mean, can I use my heroic shards as some kind of cleaning device? But maybe I can just wait this out. If more heroes die, I would get heroic shards, and that will make my anti-demonic powers stronger, and that will eventually break me through. So wait. A tree can wait. Year 98 Despite the demonic interference, I still sensed huge magical energies flying around. I couldn¡¯t pin their location, other than a vague general direction. It¡¯s one of the few things I can still sense. Is it something about blood magic that makes it so... detectable? Year 99 Well, not exactly how I was expecting to spend the year before I turn 100 in this world. Quiet, and in the silence of my own world. I wonder why I¡¯ve not gone crazy, honestly. Its¡¯s like... cabin fever. But I suppose it¡¯s quite silly for a tree to have cabin fever, right, since I mean... I am part of nature itself, and my nature is to stay still. I could totally imagine the heroes to feel claustrophobic, restless, because well, they are trapped. But to be still, and to be here, is exactly where I want to be. The two heroes are still somehow hanging on. Not much deterioration to their state. ¡°Is the demon keeping you around intentionally?¡± ¡° I think so. It wants you. Not us.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± I mean, owh. So the demon intelligence is intelligent enough to keep the two heroes around, because thats the only way it can interact with someone it doesn¡¯t have some sort of mind control over. Well... suddenly I feel like I walked into a trap visiting them. ¡°It sees you as some kind of ally.¡± ¡°Ally? Why so?¡± Huh. Now that is even more unexpected. ¡°I don¡¯t know. We don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Well, let me know if you find out. Happy to see the two of you holding up.¡± Victor shrugged. ¡°Now that it isn¡¯t actively trying to take over us, we¡¯re getting quite bored trapped in this stinking little place. It¡¯s even feeding us things to tell you.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s listening.¡± ¡°Of course it is. I thought you figured it out already.¡± ¡°Just wanted a confirmation.¡± ¡°Heh.¡± ¡°So, what does it want to tell me, that it doesn¡¯t want to tell me itself.¡± Well, if the demon wants to talk to me, and wants to show me something, then well, let¡¯s see it. ¡°It¡¯s actually quite strange. It¡¯s just showing us scenes of some kind of animals, that resemble goats, dogs, apes and elephants. So many different kinds of animals.¡± ¡°Well, they should have your memories of animals?¡± I mean, the demon read their minds, surely the topic of animals must¡¯ve been covered somewhere. ¡°This world has cows, dogs, goats.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure if some of my terms will make sense, but it¡¯s a timelapse-like thing, if you understand me. The demon¡¯s letting us see scenes of creatures changing over time, slowly, and then some kind of red lightning struck, and then the earth around it cracked, changed, and then those creatures warped into the demons. It¡¯s like watching evolution happen, and then something disastrous happened and they turned into this demon. And then the demons were sent into this portal, here. To fight,¡± ¡°It¡¯s giving you the history of demons? Why would it do that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know?¡± Victor shrugged. At that moment, I felt like I¡¯ve been given a monumental task. The heroes don¡¯t know why, but me, a tree, why would I get a history lesson? There must be something about that history, isn¡¯t it? That red lightning reeks of divine intervention. Between Lilies¡¯ history and the demons, I think I sort of have enough to piece together what¡¯s actually happening. The gods are behind everything. Maybe there¡¯s two factions of gods, or they are just the same faction toying with us, or something, but the gods are behind this. What do they want? No, what do the demons want? Are they... pawns of the gods as well? Sacrificial lambs forced to play the role of a NPC in this world? Even if that is true, what can I do about it? Year 100 Ah. I finally made it to a hundred years! [Title : Centurion obtained] Oh okay. I made it to a century old. The title does mostly nothing anyway. Quite a letdown, maybe I should throw a party of some kind, to celebrate that I¡¯ve survived a hundred years in this new world. Seriously. But then I would reveal my otherworldly origins, and attract all sorts of people. And I¡¯m trapped. If there was a time for a sad smiley, this would be it. I guess I should reflect a bit on my first hundred years, even if I¡¯m in such a terrible state. The first 60 or so years was just me... well, doing nothing. I couldn¡¯t do much. Then I moved to that Gaya temple¡¯s compound, and after that the move to Freeka, that little elf village, where I am till this very day. Come to think of it, it¡¯s probably the 2nd time Freeka was destroyed since I came. The people of this world are quite hardy, able to rebuild after so many disasters. The next town should probably be called Neo Freeka. I mean, once I¡¯m out of this quagmire, I should propose the next town to be called Neo Freeka, but then that would also probably reveal my otherworldly origins. Ah, naming matters for later. The people of the world are hardy. So many species still survive despite constant world-ending level disasters, I suppose they must have patrons that watch over them in difficult times. Gods. But difficult times also create high level characters. I believe that to be a law. So... Where are all these high level characters hiding? Is there some ¡®elevated¡¯ world where all these high level people ascend to, like some cultivation fics with different tiered worlds? Year 101 If I had dogs every year, this year I would have dalmations. Maybe 101 decorated hellhounds. Woodhounds. I¡¯m pretty sure it died. There¡¯s no way it survived this. I would have all 101 of them, all with flowers. 101 years, I mean, if there¡¯s a time for a tutorial, well, 101 is a good time to start. Like come on, Basics of Isekai-ing to Another Magical World As A Tree 101. Probably given by a lecturer or some sort, explaining things that are too freaking boring to understand but ultimately useful someday later on. But nope. Nothing. Like come on, give me a hand here, system! I wanna get out! Like, uh... give me some regeneration skills. Or some skill that bypasses the pain. No? No? - Bored out of my mind, and I went into that part of my soul realm that¡¯s linked to the two trapped part-demon heroes again. ¡°I¡¯m back. I¡¯m bored out of my mind. How are you two holding up?¡± The two look the same as last time. ¡°We¡¯re part demons, all things considered, we¡¯re doing alright.¡± ¡°So, now that it knows you are from another world, with your otherworldly heroic origins, what are the demons going to do with it?¡± I asked. ¡°Nothing much. It¡¯s still processing, and I think it¡¯s having difficulty transmitting the information back to it¡¯s... homeworld. So in a way, the information is stuck with us, or whatever that¡¯s possessing us.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a hive mind? I had the impression the demons are a hivemind of some kind.¡± ¡°Uh... it¡¯s complicated from what we¡¯ve seen. It¡¯s like a tier-ed intellectual system. All levels are capable of intellectual thought, but less so at the lesser levels. And despite that, there is an overarching command that it obeys without objection.¡± ¡°And it¡¯s telling all of this because?¡± ¡°Look, Mister Weird Person who looks like a tree. I don¡¯t know anymore! It doesn¡¯t want to tell us and yet it¡¯s still showing us all these, about them... It¡¯s random, and it¡¯s making us confused!¡± The look of confusion on the faces of the heroes seems to suggest it¡¯s true. The demons don¡¯t seem able to manipulate emotions just yet. ¡°Look, I wish it could just show it to you directly instead of using the both of us as connectors. We don¡¯t understand why it¡¯s telling us about itself, and we honestly don¡¯t really care. We¡¯re just ordinary kids on a bus that somehow got into the wrong place, at the wrong time, and now we¡¯re going through this fucked up nightmare of fighting demons, watching the world burn, and now being consumed by a demonic mind of some kind.¡± Okay. They¡¯re snapping. ¡°Not only that, we¡¯re only here because this damned demon wants us to somehow relay messages to you, and so it¡¯s keeping us barely alive in this pathetic, miserable state. And then, you, of all people, only drop by once every few years! So we just spent days, the two of us, just in this miserable state, being bombarded with demonic imagery and scenes.¡± True. ¡°So, I¡¯m sorry if I can¡¯t freaking answer your questions, because I don¡¯t fucking remember what it showed me for the past few years, other than what it repeats all the damned time! Have you ever been watched television, the same damned series, perhaps few hundred times, no, make that a few thousand times? Well, we both have, and it sucks. It fucking sucks. Even if it¡¯s awesome on the first watch, by the 1,000th time, it all sucks. I am sick of it, and it there was dialogue I¡¯d be able to repeat the words, word by word.¡± I¡¯m confused. He said he didn¡¯t remember, but he also said he was watching something so many times. ¡°Fuck you, Tree Creature. But I¡¯ll tell you everything just to get this damned demon to show me something else for a fucking change.¡± The Victor guy went for an hour about demonic... society? There¡¯s a kind of hierarchy, and there is this... mother at the top. The mother makes a decision, and they follow. They¡¯re sent into this portal, and then they are here. And he talked about their world. Dry. Filled with smoke and fog. Spires. Craggs. Creatures that emerge out of weird spawning pools. All kinds of spawning pools. And stars. Scenes of multiple massive spires shooting some kind of beam, and created the rift. Well, demon origin story. Now, what should I do about it? Leak out some kind of speculative story of it¡¯s origins? What if I end up empowering the demonic cults? Would that make things worse? What if this is what the demon¡¯s trying to do? It wants me to spread this knowledge. And what good does that do to me? Would the world start suspecting and looking for a demon sympathiser? Spaizzer covid19 driving me insane~ Eminent Domain Year 102 Nothing of significance happened. I met the two heroes, they seemed bored, and well, the demon didn¡¯t show them anything new either. I¡¯m still trying to fix my shit, and improve my pain endurance even more. Year 103 Would the next demon king pop out around now? I mean... no? I sensed some magic flying here and there, but I have no clue what else. Year 104 I had a dream. Usually dreams are divine or oracular in nature, since they often foretold or spoke of divine intervention, so this one was strange. There¡¯s like... 5 asteroids, bright red. They crashed on the world. And... that¡¯s it. But it felt different. I wasn¡¯t quite sure what. - ¡°Still nothing?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± The two bored heroes responded. ¡°Same imagery.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Based on when the previous demon king battle happened, the demon king should appear again in another year, and so the world should be facing demonic attacks already. But there¡¯s 5 heroes remaining, I suppose they should be doing alright. Even if one of those heroes was somehow expelled. I¡¯m sure they are doing fine. Year 105 This year is the year the demon king is supposed to descend. After all, it¡¯s been 10 years, and so, in the 2nd half of the year. It did. [Demon King Phenex has descended] I wonder what happened this time.. Year 106 4 months after the demon king descended, I felt it again. A huge, huuuuuge surge of magic, so overwhelming that it¡¯s disgusting. Even when my limbs are torched and burnt I could feel it. It even resonates with my very soul. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s blood magic. There¡¯s something really sickening about this magic that makes me feel like puking, if I could. A tree can¡¯t puke, sadly. I felt whatever it was headed towards its intended target. Like how you could feel the sun even with your eyes closed, I could feel it move, the change in it¡¯s angle. But the demon king lived. [The Excommunicated Hero, Astra has died] Huh. That... was not expected. Indeed, not expected at all. About one to two days later, the demonic corruption around me started behaving erratically. As if supercharged, I felt the demonic corruption surge through my body, my roots. I felt it push strongly against the root-walls of my valley. I felt cracks in my root-walls. More cracks. Here. There. The demonic sludged that stabilised over the past 20 years suddenly started moving, flowing, and it pushed against my root-walls. More cracks! I feel like I¡¯m trying to use sandbags to hold back a tsunami, and there are pockets where the levee broke. The demonic corruption rushed in, together with the sludge. And then.... All at once, it stopped.The sludge stopped. [Madeus has died] [Yvon has died] [34 other familiar-users have died] [You gained two levels. You are now level 149] [Skill : Pain endurance upgraded!] [Obtained new skill : Root Fortress] [Obtained Yvon¡¯s soul] [Obtained 7 experience seeds] And on top of that, I received a long string of notifications about class seeds and skill seeds. From the many that died, there¡¯s [wizard], [swordmage], [brawler], [druid], [knight] and a whole list of many other classes. I felt... sad. What happened out there. ¡°Monsters.¡± A voice. I recognise that voice. ¡°Yvon?¡± I turn to face a glowing blob. It is in fact, Yvon. ¡°Hi.¡± I said. I mean, I kind of miss talking to someone that¡¯s not a demon. ¡°Happy to see you, Aeon. We... really could¡¯ve used your help.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you can see, but I¡¯m stuck in this state holding back the demonic energy.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what we thought too. You look like... a tree. This is the ¡®soul¡¯ realm that Jura told me about? He said that you have this ¡®space¡¯ where it¡¯s where the dead linger.¡± ¡°I am a tree, why wouldn¡¯t I look like a tree.¡± ¡°Mistress Yvon!¡± Eriz¡¯s soul detected her previous mistress¡¯s soul. ¡°Oh no. You died...¡± ¡°Well... it was inevitable. Things were looking really bleak for us. We have barely enough food and water, and every time we lose someone with familiars, a bit of our food supply goes along with it.¡± I¡¯m very curious what¡¯s been happening outside. ¡°Stop. You two can catch up later. Tell me about what happened outside.¡± ¡°Uh... well, we¡¯re in this valley where your roots are holding up the hardened sludge. But, every now and then cracks in the sludge appeared, and those cracks would spit out demonic hybrid monsters. They attacked us almost every other day.¡± Yvon paused a bit. ¡°And well, what happened was, a huge crack happened, and sludge flowed in. On top of that, larger monsters came in and attacked us, so well... I died killing a few. Many of us did.¡± ¡°Any idea what happened to the outside world?¡± ¡°We have no contact. The demonic sludge causes magic to decay, so all our attempts to communicate with the outside world has been unsuccessful. Our attempts to use other means of communication, like... climbing up that hole on top of you, have been unsuccessful as well. So, I have no idea.¡± ¡°Darn.¡± I sighed. ¡°Well, the demon king appeared again. And it somehow amplified the effects of the corruption temporarily.¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± Yvon cursed. ¡°That explains it.¡± ¡°How many of you are left? I¡¯m blind at the moment, the demonic corruption robbed me of all my senses.¡± ¡°About... 3,000? Maybe less after today. Perhaps about 200 died today.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not... bad?¡± ¡°We''re at a higher level now. Many of us leveled tremendously over the past 20 years to survive this. But things are still bleak, with food in short supply, and our equipment limited. At least, none of us were dying to the demons for a while... Until today.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I mean, I felt kind of sad. ¡°What about the forest? The trees?¡± ¡°Uh... oh. Erm... Quite a bit of the giant trees are still there. Some of the weird trees are still there. We managed to locate a few surviving flower-bushes and herbal spots, so that¡¯s our spices. We also found quite a bit of potato buried, so we¡¯re also eating that...¡± ¡°What about water?¡± ¡°A few of our druids are able to use their mana to create water. So... that¡¯s our water supply.¡± ¡°I see. Let me think.¡± I let Yvon and Eriz catch up a bit. They spoke about Roma, and generally about life in their new environment. It¡¯s been a long time since they last met, almost 20 years, and so they have much to talk about. But I have a new skill. [Root Fortress]. So, when I was awake again, I quickly activated [Root Fortress], and felt, for a brief moment, all the roots strengthen. It¡¯s like a sonar pulse, and at that moment I knew exactly how many trees survived, as I felt the effects of my skill spread throughout the valley. And I stayed awake, longer. I think it¡¯s my two new levels. Now, if only I could get more levels. ¡°I can see why you can¡¯t help us now.¡± Yvon¡¯s blob of light sighed. I briefly explained my situation of being trapped in this demonfire. ¡°You¡¯re not even awake most of the time...¡± ¡°Not exactly ideal, but I hope I¡¯ll be able to break free of it soon. Tell me about who¡¯s left.¡± Lausanne, Laufen, Roma, Jura lived. Two of the Valtrian Order¡¯s captains survived too. One of the herbalists and quite a big chunk of the druid-in-training Valthorns also survived, by sheer coincidence that they were foraging in the forest during that time. It¡¯s a day they remember, the day when the Valley sank. - At the later part of the year, the demon king was slain. [Demon King Phenex was defeated] [Becky has died. You received one fragment] Oh wow. Only one hero died. [You gained 3 levels. You are now level 152.] [Skill upgraded : Demonic Energy Transmission] [Skill upgraded : Subsidiary Trees - 100,000. Giant Attendant Trees - 1,000] [Level 150 crossed. You may select a DOMAIN] [Domain are your focus on the path of divinity, and will impact future domain choices. The first choice is your primary domain. Choice of domain greatly influences type of future skills learned] [Choices are : ] [Domain of Nature] [Domain of Spirit] [Domain of Astral] Holy... This is probably the first time I recall ever being offered a choice in what I want for a skill. Like... domain? It sounds very much like what kind of god or deity I want to be. Is this like Age of Mythology where I get to choose which patron god I get to pray to, and so have different kinds of perks? How do I decide? Nature, Spirit, and Astral. Nature sounds like I am headed to more tree-like powers. Spirit sounds like I get even more soul and spirit related perks. Astral... What does astral mean again? Ah stars. So... more star mana powers? From what I know of star-mana, it¡¯s super effective against the demons, which is why the heroes get it, so going into the Astral path may be the most effective way of getting myself out of this mess. But then, I¡¯m not keen on that at all. I think it conflicts with my sense of self. I¡¯m a tree. I would like that being a tree is my identity. Well, I was a human, but by now I¡¯ve lived so long that my life as a tree has far exceeded that of my human life. Even if it feels brief, because I spend so much of it sleeping. How about spirit, then? Should I go into the entire path of spirits? Ghost, souls and all. Well... I haven¡¯t actually found much joy in it. There¡¯s nothing like watching a barren field being brought back to life. An empty plain transformed into a verdant forest. A volcano calmed into an oasis of giant life. I think I like trees, flowers, bushes and all of that. So nature is more in tune with me. I think I¡¯d be a fool if I chose Astral because it¡¯s going to get me out of this shit. I¡¯ll get out of this eventually, with levels, and with more hero fragments. So I should play the long game. Choose something that I will like. So, I thought about it for a day or two, then selected. [Domain of Nature selected] In an instant, I felt a spark, and felt something rush to every tip of me. Every burned branch, every charred root. [Domain Ability : Roots of Life. So long as you are rooted to the ground, the ground will nourish you, heal you and debuff negative statuses and effects. Strength of domain ability proportionate to amount of roots connected to the ground.] [One domain ability is unlocked every 10 levels. Next domain ability at level 160. Next sub-domain focus at level 200] [Demonic Curse is suppressed by your Domain Ability. Effect of demonic curse is reduced] My roots started to heal, even as the demonfire burned. It healed faster than it could burn, and within minutes, the demonic corruption was confined into the dedicated ¡®tunnels¡¯ used to expel the absorbed demonic energy. So, even though the top of my body, the very tip of the branches are now emitting demonic flames, the branches themselves are no longer burning. I¡¯ve become... an oil refinery that flares up. Okay that was lame. Maybe Hades, then? About one day after the healing, I saw my valley once more. Then, I felt the reconnection of everything in the valley. All my fellow surviving trees, flowers, bushes, herbal plants and roots. My brethren. It feels me with joy to hear them all again, their ambient voices in the background. I felt my energy flowing back to them, and theirs back to me. I surveyed my valley. Oh how terrible it looked. My roots were holding back the demonic sludge from the back, the roots hardened. There¡¯s still a few large ¡®tunnels¡¯ of demonic energies, but now, with my new [Domain], I could forcefully suppress those flames into smaller, much smaller ones. It¡¯s like a gas stove, and with my new powers I turned the knob, and the fires shrunk. [Reconnecting to Trevor] ¡°...mAsTeR?¡± A familiar voice. ¡°Yes, Trevor.¡± I felt what amounts to joy and relief, and immediately after that, the overlay returned to me. Things are dire. About 20,000 or so trees are left in the area protected by my wall of roots. There¡¯s also about 1,000 or so natural giant trees, and about 50 or 60 subsidiary trees that survived. The grand mind tree is damaged, and will need some materials to repair. Most other structures are gone. New Freeka is gone too. I mean, I knew that, but seeing it again really hammered that reality in. What was once New Freeka''s was replaced with blocks of demonic sludge, by now mostly hardened. But there are gaps in those sludge, and the demonic hybrids would emerge from them. ¡°Welcome back, master.¡± Trevor quickly found back his composure. ¡°You¡¯ve been away for 21 years.¡± ¡°I know. What happened?¡± ¡°The valley has been attacked by demonic creatures. Without access to you, master, we were unable to use your delegated abilities, and can only activate our own abilities. As such, our attempts at defending the valley have met with mixed results. We attempted to aid the survivors where we can, but with our limited skillsets, we couldn¡¯t do much. And after ten or so years, our functions and awareness began to decay. Until... today.¡± ¡°I see.¡± That¡¯s when I finally zoomed back on the survivors. I hardly recognise them now, it has been so long, but then Trevor''s overlay started to populate my vision with whatever data that he collected so far. And I saw Jura, Laufen and Lausanne. It¡¯s been so long. ¡°Glad to see the three of you alive.¡± They were clearly observing the changes in the valley, and when my telepathic voice reached them, all of them froze. Jura immediately knelt on the floor. Laufen just stoned, and Lausanne made a fistpump. ¡°OH YEAH. I KNEW IT WAS TREETREE.¡± She said. ¡°I KNEW IT.¡± Laufen and Jura both seemed unable to say a word. Lausanne... well. She wasn¡¯t young anymore. She looks like an adult. She¡¯s... 37? Oh my. She isn''t a young teenager anymore, even if she spent twenty years holed up in this valley. They all look really skinny, like they¡¯ve not been eating well. In fact, they all look malnourished. At that moment, I suddenly remembered that Jura had some villager skills that were useful for such situations. Skills he didn¡¯t let me remove because it¡¯s nostalgia. Looks like he was right, he would¡¯ve died without those skills, with how this environment seems to lack sufficient meat sources. All they have been eating are fruits, vegetables, leaves. ¡°All of you look like shit.¡± They didn¡¯t answer. Well, except Lausanne. ¡°Of course we do. We¡¯re not exactly having a feast here! Now get us out of this valley!¡± ¡°Easier said than done, Lausanne.¡± I attempted to look further, beyond the valley, and couldn¡¯t do so because all my subsidiary trees outside this cocoon were all destroyed. Maybe those further away survived, because I didn¡¯t get a notification for Dimitree, or those that guarded the volcano, or those near Lilies too, but that¡¯s for another day. I would need to reclaim the terrain from the demons in order to see further, but for now, let¡¯s get the house in order. I focused back on the valley. 3,000 or so survivors. Quite a bit of treefolks, some centaurs, some lizardpeople, some dwarves too, and the rest, elves. Trevor was already busy at work, quickly reconnecting me to all the surviving trees in the valley. I felt their voice return, and at the same time, their power. The valley¡¯s root walls hardened, and in an instant, a bit more life returned to the land. The sickly looking trees, deprived of sunlight started to sprout more green leaves. I used my roots to force the hole on top of our valley to open up, and bit by bit, a little more sunlight came in. Well, not exactly sunlight. It¡¯s a stormy firestorm out there. ¡°Oh wow.¡± The survivors admired the sunhole expanding overhead. It wasn¡¯t sunlight, but finally, a bigger view of the sky. They¡¯ve been missing the skies. ¡°Bad news is, whatever happened, happened to probably most of this continent.¡± I said to Jura, Lausanne and Laufen. The survivors have gathered up, and heard their announcement. ¡°TreeTree... it¡¯s so weird to hear your voice after so long.¡± Lausanne said. ¡°I¡¯ve grown up now. I¡¯m also level 80 now.¡± ¡°...yes.¡± And I haven¡¯t quite come to terms with that. She still feels like a young 16 year old girl last I saw her. This isn¡¯t quite right. I feel like I¡¯ve woken up from a 20 year coma to discover the world has changed and I¡¯m still that same old fart. I will need some time to adjust to this new reality. They all look really skinny. Jura looked haggard. Famine in this environment has been exceptionally hard. Sucks even more that the demons are not edible. Unlike monsters, some of which are edible. Wait. Level 80? That means she¡¯s capped out like Jura? ¡°Is that your cap?¡± ¡°...yes.¡± She said. ¡°How many of you hit your level caps?¡± ¡°Me. Uncle Jura, there... uh... Nero¡¯s close, like level 70ish. And uh... Roma¡¯s level 70ish too.¡± Well. In fact, about 50 of them are at level 70 to 80, which is exceptionally high level for a band of survivors. ¡°But in terms of class, I think mine, Uncle Jura¡¯s and the captains have the best skills, since we have the familiars for extra power.¡± That explained how they managed to stop the deaths after a while. With 50 level 70 to 80, they could take on most high level creatures. Even with just ordinary [Knight] or [Soldier] class, that¡¯s a very good place to be. Twenty years. I kinda feel like I just had a manga powerup timeskip. Only, well, it¡¯s these elves that had a big powerup. ¡°If all of you are so strong, why don¡¯t you break out of this place?¡± ¡°Uh... the demons are strong, and there¡¯s a lot of them. Like... every wave is a few hundred of them.¡± Lausanne said. ¡°And that hole was our only exit. None of us wanted to break through the roots because we don¡¯t want more monsters coming in if we fail.¡± She pointed at the hole. Wave? And then I felt it too. There was a crack in my wall of roots, and monsters emerged from it. 500. I was more than happy to unleash fury after being asleep for so long. A huge wave of root strikes, and all of the monsters crumbled. ¡°Where¡¯s horns?¡± ¡°Horns is in stasis, master.¡± Trevor advised. ¡°What?¡± And I saw him in one of the surviving subsidiary trees in the valley, his body severed in half, and he¡¯s left with his head. The subsidiary tree¡¯s energies kept him alive and maintained him, but there wasn¡¯t enough to heal him. ¡°I couldn¡¯t communicate with the survivors to get their druids to help.¡± Trevor apologised. ¡°I see.¡± I took a mental deep breath. It was time to rebuild. Putreed Year 106 later half. Rebuilding. There is much to do. I have a mission, and I want to return the forest to the continent. This devastation is foreign, alien, and it is my task to restore it. Or at least, that''s what the trees are telling me. A tree spirit''s role, along with many other similar creatures, are the world''s fixers and balancers, the guys that clean up the court after a game, the cleaners and repairmen. I can feel the call of duty. A duty to the world, to fix it. To restore it to nature. I wonder whether that is an effect of the Domain. I mean, just as I gain power over a domain, does it mean I also inherit some responsibilities to that Domain? It¡¯s strange, but I believe that the power imposes this sense of duty. I reckon the heroes and the other tree spirits of this level feel it too, that they have a calling. Why else would they go about their ways so single-mindedly? I wonder what kind of duty I would have, had I chosen Spirit or Astral? A duty to ensure the proper transmission of the dead? A duty to the stars? Or does Astral imply a more anti-demonic role, that I would have to play a bigger role in fighting demons? Questions, of course. Stupid world. There needs to be a guidebook somewhere. And the wisp is gone. ¡®Wisp?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t find him anywhere. No answer from him either. I wanted to start using Eriz and Yvon too, but that¡¯s stuck because the Soul Forge is out of commission. [Soul Forge requires a power source. Due to the effects of the weakened curse, and reduced sunlight, the minimum normal tree required to power the soul forge is calculated to be 100,000] ¡°So... what¡¯s going to happen?¡± Lausanne asked a few days after my awakening. I was still coming to terms with my new power, and the realisation that, well, there¡¯s this duty thing nagging me at the back of my head. With power, comes responsibility. Just as the energy of the earth nourishes me, and breaks me free of this, it also imposes its desires on me? I wondered if I went down the Spirit Path, maybe I don¡¯t even need other trees to power a soul forge. Oh well. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Lausanne. I¡¯ve been asleep.¡± I need to rebuild my knowledge of the world. 20 years may mean a lot has changed, at least, that¡¯s how it was in my world. In 20 years we went from clunky landlines to smartphones, I wonder what the surviving heroes brought to this world? ¡°That¡¯s... true. But we¡¯re trapped in this place for 20 years too. So we¡¯re not much help.¡± ¡°Well, I suppose first things first, we need to get ourselves out of this hole. This isn¡¯t a good place to be, and we need contact with the outside world.¡± ¡°How¡¯d you plan to do that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I mean, I really don¡¯t. I need to see what works, and what doesn¡¯t. I have some idea of what already worked, in the sense that my roots did manage to block out demonic corruption, so I wonder whether it¡¯s possible to push back at the corruption with more roots. Kind of like using my roots as the blade of the bulldozer, and pushing the corruption back. I¡¯ve also needed to examine my own state, like, my [curse] is suppressed by my roots of life, but what does suppressed actually mean, like, I am going to experience some kind of degradation, or will the curse flare up? But the survivors, they felt a sense of calmness that¡¯s been away for a long time. It seemed the entire beetle army had vanished after Horns was in stasis, so they didn¡¯t have help from the beetles either. Now, the horde of beetles returned, no longer in hibernation. Horns still needed a lot of healing. It¡¯ll take a few months to rebuild his damaged body, but it wouldn¡¯t be a problem. The demons came again. More of them. The demons now felt the full brunt of my stronger [demonic suppression aura], no longer hindered by the curse. And they crumbled quickly. These strange, hybrid things. Some are less susceptible to the aura¡¯s effects, but with the beetles back in large numbers, it wasn¡¯t much. We only had to focus on the larger creatures that had the strength of a demon general or so. I could now house the survivors in [secret hideout] and the various subsidiary tree¡¯s [external rooms] and [tree lodges]. A much welcome change from their basic homes, and also, I have beds! Beds that are stored in my [secret hideout], and various other supplies previously stockpiled in there are now available again. Still, among the survivors, some of them resisted. ¡°We can take care of ourselves. We did so for 20 years!¡± It¡¯s understandable. For me, these 20 years feel like a dream, it passed by so quickly, maybe it feels just like 2, 3 weeks, a month of solitude and confinement for me. But for these guys, they lived 20 years out here, fighting the demons all the time. Life has been miserable for the past 20 years, but they¡¯ve made it through without me. Why do they need me? Most were more than happy to return to the comfort of proper beds and a safe environment. ¡°Tell me all you know about the monsters you¡¯ve been fighting over the past 20 years. What abilities do they have, what they are like, when they appear, any weaknesses?¡± Those who frequently led the fights, Lausanne, Jura, the captains and many others all gathered around, and all talked about what they experienced. Like the demonic creatures are like half-demon, half-monster, and so the larger monsters have two hearts, one demonic, one monster, and they have to take both of them down to kill it, else they would regenerate. These demons also retained the ability to agglomerate themselves and form a larger creature, something less powerful than a walker, but it¡¯s probably due to size limitations within the valley itself. They have mini-projectile energy blasts, also similar to walkers, and the more humanoid forms tend to have crude weapons. They have no tactics, other than a strange ability to sense and track them. Stealth abilities are not effective. They have heads, but their heads are actually just decorations. Chopping their heads off does nothing, because the heart is the engine of the monster. The parts that resemble a head are nothing more than an arm. The eyes on the monster are also similarly useless, and blinding those eyes merely disables the beam abilities. In short, the parts that resemble a regular monster are there because the ¡®template¡¯ requires those sorts of appendages and parts, but they are not critical to the monster¡¯s ¡®life¡¯. If it has one. Other than that, they¡¯ve mostly taken life day by day. Living in the moment. Monsters. Unlike demons, their corpses linger around a bit longer, but entirely inedible because it''s innards are contaminated with demonic juices. Demonic bodies decay significantly faster than monsters, so it''s quite difficult to harvest any of its body parts for materials or equipment. The monsters have large spikes, horns, and also tentacle-like features. Had it not decay and could be preserved, maybe they could be made into strong weapons. But like wood, these ''organic'' materials need treatment to last, or they decay quickly, and no one had enough time or survived demons to even research it. Well, except these guys. One of the surviving warleaders, out of sheer boredom trapped in a valley, soaked the small remains of a demon in olive oil. And noticed it didn''t decay. Preserved demonic appendages in olive oil. ¡°Fascinating thing.¡± I observed the specimens shown by that 70-year old elf. They do have a surplus of olive oil, since some of the olive shrubs survived. They cook with it, season their vegetables with it, preserve chunks of fruits with it, and this one elf had the inspiration to preserve demonic remains. My inner biolab got to work quickly. [Preserved Demonic Parts - olive oil used to significantly slow and stop the decay of demonic matter] ¡°Yeah. I thought it¡¯s interesting, but I only worked with small parts of the demon.¡± ¡°Did you gain a class for it?¡± I reckon there should be [fermenter] or [preserver] or something like that. ¡°I didn¡¯t, ¡®cause I¡¯m already capped out at level 60 [soldier] and level 20 [villager].¡± Ah. ¡°A shame. I would¡¯ve liked a bigger sample. To observe demons in their native state without decay.¡± I did recall having captured hellhounds, and those were very interesting. But here I have other demonic specimens, and these are even half-demonic hybrids. So they had a lot of value to be understood. Even the survivors are very interesting. It seemed 20 years of solitary confinement had also changed their physical appearances. Their ordinarily fair, pinkish skin have now turned almost grey. I wonder whether it¡¯s Vitamin D deficiency, perhaps elves, creatures of the forest, need more sunlight than others, so lacking sunlight their skin loses much of their color? The treefolk seemed to suffer the effects of being trapped in the valley a little harder than the rest. The treefolks at first glance seem the same, but they remarked their bodies feel weaker, more sickly, and the effects of little-to-no sunlight was especially pronounced on the quality of their inner structures. They were more prone to fall sick, and a few have died from sickness. Some of the centaurs suffered from muscular degradation, they were used to having large areas to roam, like horses, so confinement into a valley meant their lower bodyparts became weak. Those with certain unique skills like [tiptop condition] or [peak performance] were able to remain physically fit, but for the rest of them, they had to resort to all kinds of exercises to maintain their health. The dwarves, well, they seemed perfectly fine. Apparently, being in a valley trapped underground isn¡¯t something uncommon for dwarves, who remarked it sounded quite like being trapped in a mining accident. A few of them even had skills that made surviving in such an environment comfortable. Like I think one dwarf probably had some kind of ale-making ability that he''s not sharing with others. But oh well. It¡¯s something to examine, for sure, but I want to get out. My duty calls to me And I have to work with some of the survivors that are still a bit skeptical of me, some of them wonder whether the flames on my head are signs of demonic influence, and they don¡¯t buy my [curse] explanation all that easily. Still, they are obeying my requests but they are guarded. I could hear their conversations. They must have forgotten I could do so since for them, the memories of twenty years ago are probably hazy. So, after a bit of information gathering, I decided to try pushing back at the sludge. It''s a strange thing, this sludge. It has all hardened now, and yet monsters can spawn in them. How? The sludge itself creates them? Anyway, I pushed. At one corner, furthest away from where the survivors made their home, I pushed. The corruption from outside is strong, but now that I am awake, I like to think I am stronger. At least, in this area. The pushing worked. I pushed back at hardened sludge, and it buckled. It bent. And I kept pushing. Each time I pushed, my roots moved in to form a protective barrier. The protective barrier didn''t work on every time though, the roots sometimes would run into an aquifer or something, and it would squeeze out a bit of water, and those leaked through the gaps in the root. "Uh... water?" The survivors were watching with great interest, from the safety of their treehouses. Well, it made sense that there are pockets of water in the ground. I mean, I am sure rain or precipitation or condensation continued even if the demon king corrupted the land. I pushed, and my ability [root tunnels] triggered to form a wall. But they are unfortunately porous and water could leak through. "Aeon, please stop." One of the survivors said. "The water is still coming in." Ah. The water is still leaking through the root walls. Why? Maybe I should push upwards instead? So, I started to push my roots upward and outward, in a way, like a stadium with movable roofs. It was already partly open from my earlier efforts, but I stopped midway as I realised more of the firestorm was getting into the valley. ¡°Maybe just one side, Aeon.¡± Lausanne remarked. ¡°Would it be possible for a tunnel or path that leads up to the surface?¡± Indeed. That¡¯s what I tried over the next few days. Strategically, a tunnel would be better. Far easier to defend if anything massive comes around, rather than an open path. The sludge becomes a natural wall that hides this valley. I should keep that strategic advantage. So a tunnel. A second attempt. Hopefully I don¡¯t bump into pools of water trapped underground. I pushed upwards this time, again, from where the previous tunnel started. Unlucky! There was more water, the tunnel ran into a pool of water, and the water rushed down the tunnel like rainwater in a storm drain, and it spilled into that segment of the valley. ¡°Well, at least we¡¯re not there.¡± Some of the elves, well, if the makeshift houses were there, they¡¯d be in trouble. Eventually, the flow of water from whatever pool I bumped into slowed down significantly. There¡¯s small trickles of water that seeped through the tunnel walls, and those trickles turned into a small stream of water down the tunnel and into the valley. Unlike the first surge, it¡¯s just a small trickle, so, no big waves there. I pushed on. We¡¯re quite deep, and so I had to keep pushing. The angle couldn¡¯t be too steep or it¡¯s useless as a path. It took a few weeks of constantly pushing, dealing with the monsters that appeared from the sludge, and eventually the tunnel was done. A reinforced path to the surface. Year 107 The surface was hellish. More monsters roamed on this strange, apocalyptic land. Jura and the group that went out and explored it the first time remarked it resembled nothing. It¡¯s just as strange as a place that¡¯s been thoroughly corrupted by hex. The surface was not empty. There were many different demonic monsters that roamed the terrain, some of which they¡¯ve met in their twenty years of battle. And there were stationary monsters. That was what they assumed at first. Stationary monsters that looked every bit like a monster, and they didn¡¯t move. But they attacked things that approached them, or emitted poison. This was entirely new to the elves, because, well, these monsters couldn¡¯t move, and they were stuck underground. There wasn¡¯t a way for the two groups to ever meet. Until now. But, on closer observation, they noticed some of these monsters had branches. Like trees. They thought they were horns at first, like how antler horns resembled some branches. It was reddish leaves on one subtype of demonic hybrids that finally made some of them go ¡®aha!¡¯. Hybrid demon-plants. If there are hybrid animals and monsters, surely there are hybrid plants! This fact was extremely interesting to me, and I had a million and one questions. Like, why did they exist? Magic? Divine powers? If divine creation was the answer, why were they created as hybrids and not pure monsters or trees? Or did it mean the influence of the terrain was able to interfere with the process of divine creation? Or are these creatures products of the demonic corruption, that the demonic corruption borrows from the land and thus created these hybrids? Then, there¡¯s the question of whether they are ¡®trees¡¯, in the sense that, can I, with my powers as a Tree Spirit, hold any influence, communicate and control them? Are these tree-like demonic things, actually trees? I thought they might be part-tree, just like how the demonic creatures that attacked the valley were part-monster. And how did they exist? How are they powered? Do they produce seeds or fruits? Any chance those are edible, or poisonous thus can be weaponised? Do they have abilities or powers, like certain species of trees? Can they be made into items like how certain trees are harvested for timber. Is this their ideal environment? Do they respond well to different environments? What do they consume? Do they need sunlight? Do they need water? Is that why there¡¯s puddles and pools of water underground? Do they have roots? I don¡¯t recall encountering any, but is that because their roots are shallow? ¡°Master.¡± Trevor¡¯s voice broke through my deep contemplation. ¡°A decision. The survivors have been waiting.¡± I didn¡¯t realise it, but I spent a month just studying the few demonic samples brought back by the scouts. It was just that fascinating to me. ¡°Waiting for what?¡± ¡°They are asking whether you can start creating trees on the surface.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Oh, they wanted somewhere to stay outside the valley. Somewhere... safe.¡± ¡°When did I agree to this?¡± ¡°No, you didn¡¯t. I recall Master ignored them the first time when you were studying the demonic specimens.¡± ¡°I did?¡± I didn¡¯t even realise that they were talking to me. When did it happen? That¡¯s strange. Did I somehow ignore everything when I focused on the demonic tree samples? ¡°Yes.¡± Trevor said quite matter-of-factly. The hybrid tree samples were too fascinating. Or did I somehow tune them out? ¡°I don¡¯t recall even having the conversation.... Never mind.¡± The terrain and the demonic corruption takes the form of a sludge. The demonic energy that passes through the sludge, kind of like a current of electricity travelling through a conductive liquid. It passed through it, and also radiated it like a radioactive material. According to the elves, some of them with the gift of darksight can see a faint glow in the sludge. So, the process of clearing the land means either removing and pushing away the sludge, or neutralising the sludge. What I have been doing so far is well, a mix. By pushing it away with my roots like a natural bulldozer, and at the same time, my main body acts as a filter and cleaner, using my roots to absorb the demonic sludge, and the volatile, combustible mana that comes with it. It¡¯s slow. Because I¡¯m the bottleneck. Back to the oil pollution analogy, there¡¯s a limit of how much ¡®oil¡¯ I can process per day, and against the constantly expanding oil, I feel like I¡¯m in a game of candy crush fighting against a field of ever expanding chocolate. Or like Alpha Centauri where the native vegetation is encroaching on my forests. Come to think of it, this is very much like Alpha Centauri. Alien creatures attacking what it perceives as enemies? The only difference is well, we¡¯re the natives, and they are the aliens. Are the demons colonists? I¡¯ve gotten sidetracked again. Oil analogy. I have a processing rate, and the terrain itself imposes a minimum on me to ¡®process¡¯, else the root walls won¡¯t hold. Every time the strength of the root walls increase, I need to process less, because the walls can hold back more of the corrupting demon mana and sludge. The walls are like an oil silo, then, and it has a capacity. So, can I increase my processing capacity now that I¡¯m back to consciousness? Can my [Giant Attendant Trees] play that role to a lesser capacity? I would have to design the Giant Attendant Tree¡¯s available [customisable rooms] specifically for the function, to have much higher self-healing ability, and demonic absorbent abilities. - The two heroes are still there. ¡°Hi.¡± ¡°Oh. You¡¯re back. You must be bored to come and find us again.¡± ¡°Well, yes. I¡¯m free now.¡± After I said that, I instantly regretted it. ¡°Oh, nice. Can you help us?¡± ¡°Not sure. I don¡¯t even know where you are?¡± ¡°I think I do.¡± Simone said. ¡°There¡¯s a red crystal like thing somewhere near the demon king site. I think we¡¯re there. Or at least, our souls are imprisoned there. Free us.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Fuck. Did I just get myself into a quest? ¡°No.¡± I felt a massive headache (ahem, I don¡¯t have a head, but yeah) then, like something trying to force me to say yes. I resisted. Fuck this. It¡¯s probably divine in nature, because the calling of duty generally radiates from my roots. ¡°Why not?¡± They asked. That pain was getting stronger, but I pulled the energy from within me to resist it. I even pulled the energy from the nearby trees and the earth. [Domain has resisted divine influence.] ¡°I¡¯m no hero.¡± And fuck, did the gods just tried to mind-control me? Since when did the gods directly attempt to influence things? I thought they¡¯re not supposed to do that. Spaizzer I''m feeling tired and lazy. :S Part TIme Year 108 The important equation is how much demonic sludge we can process, versus how much demonic sludge is expanding in the area. As long as my processing rate is higher than the sludge, we¡¯re taking back territory from the hybrid demons. We¡¯re doing so, very very carefully. Because well, we lost a few people when some of the demonic monsters exploded. The forest of demon trees have a few types, and these demontrees actually feed and help sustain the firestorm, because we¡¯ve discovered some of them spit out some kind of flammable gas, that gets ignited super easily. Another kind of tree is just perpetually smoking, and it constantly released dark smoke like an ancient superpolluting smokestack. The smoke-trees create so much smoke that it creates a perpetual layer of dark smog that hangs over the entire area, and causes the lack of sunlight. The exploding gas trees added to the mess, and created areas where these gas might just suddenly ignite and blow up, and yet those trees are quite resistant to the effects of the explosion. Not a pleasant environment to be in. So, slow and steady. Thanks to the microclimate generated by these kinds of demonic trees, the weather is perpetually hot and stormy. The effects of the seasons was subdued. We reclaimed the area immediately around our valley and the hole, mostly by me pushing back at the sludge. It¡¯s a long process, one week I could clear and clean the area the size of a football field, but the speed slows the further away it is, because a larger area means an increase in the overall root surface area with the demonic sludge, so it takes up more of my demonic sludge processing ability. In order for the expansion to continue, it is paramount. Crucial. That the giant attendant trees are able to add to the demonic sludge processing capacity. Else, the rate of expansion will stop the moment once I hit the sludge processing limit. Unless my roots get stronger. It¡¯s just the math of the matter. - During this time, the survivors also brought back a lot more of the demon tree specimens back to me. It¡¯s a slow process, and my ability to assist is limited because the demonic sludge essentially blocked my roots from interfering. I have to reclaim the territory from the demons for my abilities to work in that area. It¡¯s quite difficult to bring the specimens back, of course. They are after all spawned of demonic matter and the survivors abhorred the idea initially. But I just convinced a few of them to play a part, and that¡¯s all I needed. The survivors are not all uniform, some are more cooperative than the others. I studied them like an obsessed scientist. I wanted to know everything about them, and I wished I had a soul forge to look at them in far greater detail. For now, I will have to make do with analysing them with my [biolab], and hope to understand these demonic plants. Firstly, like the demonic hound, it¡¯s inner structure is dry. And instead of a spring, there is a barren one. When I look at the structure of the plant specimens, it has odd flames throughout the entire space. Every now and then, there would be flares. How does it get the skill? Is that like some kind of basic racial or species ability, if it doesn¡¯t have a soulspring and the stones that signify the skills around it? Clearly, this exposed one flaw of my understanding of the soul system. Sure, if you gain levels, the skills you gained are around the soul spring. But for these demons, they don¡¯t seem to be gaining levels, and they also don¡¯t seem to have a soul. They resembled automatons, machines, and yet they are not. So, where are the skills? Or is it something elsewhere. Or if they are some extraterrestrials like the earth heroes, then they must have a mind somewhere that helps them to do things. Or is it biological, in the sense that their abilities are not born out of skill, but out of their physical design? Again, the flaw of my understanding is quite obvious. My [biolab] allowed me to look at their inner structure, if they have one. This worked well with the natives of this world, since they have souls. But with demons, they don¡¯t seem to have one, and using this [biolab] to examine them, in hindsight, is clearly an incomplete picture of the whole story. But! I do know that when I flooded their bodies with my mana, like with the demon walker, and prior to that, with the hellhounds and Alexis, I was able to take control of them. So, it¡¯s either this ¡®soul¡¯ thing existed as a higher-order control system, and the demon¡¯s base structure is on a lower tier... or something. Which I don¡¯t know what. I need a living specimen. These dead demonic trees are not good enough. But the survivors are not able to capture a demon while alive. They do not have the strength to do so, and its too high risk for them. "You could dig and reclaim the area around a demon tree and then uh, capture it that way?" Lausanne suggested. In short, encircle-and-siege. Which is exactly what I did. Over 20 years these demon trees have massively proliferated and they occupy huge chunks of the terrain. And it wasn''t hard to find many of these demontrees near our valley. It took a bit of time, but essentially I would go around the target, and then once I trapped it, I would spawn a [giant attendant tree] next to it, and pull the targeted demontree into the [biolab] inside my tree. And soon I had live specimens in my labs. - The survivors have been trying to message any nearby civilisations, but they had no idea who survived, so all their messages so far bounced. They wanted to try cities that are further away too, but those weren¡¯t getting anywhere thanks to the interference from the demonic sludge. The survivors were in a meeting. ¡°We know which direction the demon king came from.¡± One survivor presented, and he pointed. ¡°So, logically, if we head the other direction we will eventually find lands untouched by the corruption. I don¡¯t believe the demon king destroyed the entire world.¡± ¡°Why not? We don¡¯t know whether anything survived!¡± Of course, I do. 5 heroes survived that demon king, and went on to beat the next 2 demon kings too! Surely there are survivors. ¡°Still, I propose a squad of us go on an expedition.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t even get far without losing people, and you want an expedition?¡± ¡°Yes! I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯re not at the center of things, so we must be closer to the edge. And beyond the edge must be normalcy! Don¡¯t you all want that?¡± ¡°Hmm... that¡¯s true.¡± Lausanne nodded. ¡°I agree with it.¡± Jura shook his head. ¡°I prefer we play it safe, ask Aeon to clear a path for us towards that direction.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll take too long.¡± Lausanne said. And some of the other survivors agreed. ¡°We need to get in touch with civilisation as fast as we can. If it¡¯s up to Aeon, it¡¯ll be years before we get there. You know it¡¯s true, Uncle.¡± ¡°But it is safe. Think about it, you want to face all the monsters out there? We¡¯ve seen so many.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve faced them before.¡± A survivor said. He too was one of the capped out fighters. Level 75. ¡°And we¡¯re high level, we can survive this.¡± ¡°Have you guys actually thought this through? Where are you going to live? What are you going to eat? The terrain is not what it was.¡± ¡°Better than being trapped in here for the past 20 years, Jura. Some of us have decided we want to see civilisation again. It¡¯s worth a shot.¡± Jura frowned. Lausanne agreed with that group. ¡°Uncle. He¡¯s right. We can¡¯t stay here forever, and fact is, we need to rebuild the lines of communication. Get help. Find some people who¡¯d be able to get us out of this mess. The town is no more, and the people deserve better.¡± ¡°At what risk? You can¡¯t protect all of them.¡± ¡°But staying here as it is isn¡¯t a way to live. We¡¯ve been here for decades!¡± ¡°Aeon¡¯s getting there.¡± ¡°Aeon¡¯s going to take forever.¡± A survivor said. ¡°No disrespect, but Aeon works on different timescales. We¡¯d be having kids before we are out of this place. It¡¯s been more than 2 years since Aeon woke up and we¡¯re still just clearing up the surrounding area.¡± ¡°We¡¯re making slow, defensible progress. We can protect this place.¡± ¡°It¡¯s too slow. 2 years, Jura. For some of the centaurs and dwarves, it¡¯s a big chunk of their lives. I know it means less to the elves. But they¡¯ve already spent 20 years here, and another 2 years since. Let us go.¡± Jura frowned. This was a common issue, in the fact that people of different life expectancies had different perceptions of the value of time. Like, 2 years for an elf that could live to 500 to 800 years is different from a centaur or dwarf that usually lived up to 150 to 200. Jura wasn¡¯t too happy, but the survivors were split. Those too afraid to take the risk and are willing to stay here, and those who believe it¡¯s worth a shot. To get back their normal lives by making a trek across the hostile terrain, with their warriors protecting them. So, Jura walked away. ¡°A small group is easier to protect. We have enough preserved food and our familiars can continue to produce fruits.¡± One of the survivors said. Lausanne nodded. She asked for some beetles to accompany them, but the demonic sludge¡¯s interference meant their operating range was limited. Go further and they¡¯ll just shut down. A day after they had that discussion, Lausanne came and talked to me. ¡°Aeon.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± I was still studying the demonic trees at that time. ¡°I¡¯m going to leave the valley.¡± ¡°I know.¡± I was still processing the matter. I didn¡¯t know how to react. I mean, I just woke up. Okay, just is relative, because to me, it felt like I just woke up, but the survivors have a point, it is 2 years for them. 2 wasted years, in a way. For 2 years, the world zoomed past them, and I can see why they want to rejoin society again. ¡°Are you... mad, Aeon?¡± She asked. ¡°You used to call me... TreeTree.¡± I¡¯m not sure what made me say that. ¡°Ah... I¡¯m already 39, Aeon.¡± She looked a bit embarrassed. ¡°It¡¯s... been a long time.¡± For me, I felt awkward. In my mind, she¡¯s still a child. I felt like it was yesterday that I saw her as a teenager, and now, at 39, she¡¯s pretty much an elven adult. I can¡¯t accept that. No, I must accept that. People change. Everyone changes. It¡¯s foolish of me to expect anyone to stay the same for years, or what more decades. ¡°We¡¯re always here, master.¡± Trevor added. ¡°We have gained levels, but we are the same.¡± Well, except them. And my fellow trees, who are as eternal as I am. ¡°Well, this was something I¡¯ve been hoping to do, and I¡¯ve waited years for it.¡± She said. ¡°Remember when I used to say I wanted to visit the other spirits.¡± Ah, yes. It was just yesterday for me. Really. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t want it anymore.¡± ¡°Huh? ¡°I had so many years to think about stuff.¡± Lausanne went. This was... nostalgic. I recall my earlier days in Freeka, when it was a small village, when the elves used to always sit down next to me and talk about their affairs. About how they felt, about life in general. How Casshern used to make comments about the younger elves, or even Laufen then, about her worries of childbirth Lausanne paused a moment, she was in my secret hideout, the place that was once her old room. Nothing changed in the room, but she has. She touched the things that she once used. ¡°22 years, Aeon. In that long period of time, I felt broken. I felt robbed of my opportunity to travel the world. I was angry, Aeon. Angry. So mad that the world did this, that our world, this stupid stupid world, would be so self-destructive. That demons constantly came for us, and for what? We don¡¯t even know why we are here, serving as fodders and decorations for the heroes and demons¡¯ eternal conflict. It didn¡¯t make sense.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t.¡± ¡°But, there wasn¡¯t much I could do about the demons and heroes. Not with my powers. So after my anger, I grieved for my lost time. I felt sad. I felt lost. I wondered what the purpose of living was, Aeon. Have you ever felt like that? Wondering why do you even exist in the world, like... why was I born into this world? I wanted reason, I wanted to know. I wanted to see a bigger picture.¡± Well... honestly, for me, it¡¯s an accident. One that I accepted quite willingly, which is extremely strange in hindsight. How did I accept it so easily? ¡°Maybe it¡¯s different for you, because you¡¯re this great tree spirit that¡¯s always been here. But for me, I felt lost. I have this... power. Your gift. But why? Why did the fates conspire for me to receive such gifts and power? And yet, it¡¯s insufficient in the face of such great evils. So, I wallowed in that misery for a few years, every day just fighting the damned demonic monsters that came for our lives.¡± Okay... ¡°But I eventually moved past that grief, and into acceptance. I¡¯ve accepted that I¡¯ve lost 22 years being here in the valley. So I spent time just honing my skills. Even if our levels are capped out, it¡¯s still possible to upgrade our skills to be stronger versions. And then, now my goal is different. I just want to see the world, and appreciate what¡¯s out there. I mean... I¡¯ve accepted that I¡¯m not a hero.¡± What. Okay, how is that related. ¡°Surviving this disaster, then hitting my level cap. I realised that I wasn¡¯t meant to be a hero, and that well, life¡¯s not that great. You know, before this whole thing, I used to think I was special. I mean, mom told me I was special, and everyone treated me like I was special because I had your special powers, and I even believed I was special. But I¡¯ve come to accept that I am not that special. Special, but not much.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s not a bad place to be.¡± ¡°Yeah. It isn¡¯t. I wanted more at a point, but I believe it¡¯s not really what I actually want. So... Aeon. Uhm, TreeTree. I will leave with the group that wants to make the journey. I had to have this conversation with you, because I recalled how well you treated me, and all these special powers and blessings you¡¯ve given me. I¡¯m leaving, and I want to thank you.¡± Huh. ¡°Thank you, Aeon. For all you¡¯ve done for me so far. But it is time I go out there, and find my own place in the world. It may not be much, but I¡¯d like to think I¡¯m like a bird. Finally freed of this cage, I should try to fly away. Maybe I might return, or maybe I may just drop by, but I have to take this chance.¡± I felt... betrayed. And yet I felt that feeling of betrayal was wrong. I am a tree, and it is normal that animals occasionally stop by, and maybe in the larger scheme of things, everyone¡¯s just a transient contact for the tree. She waited. I didn¡¯t know how to feel. Is this reality for a tree? It didn¡¯t feel that long ago that I thought she was going to be loyal to me! This is betrayal! BETRAYAL! Or is it? I mean, why do I feel like I own her? I don¡¯t. Even if I helped her, and watched her grow up, does that mean I own her? Am I like a parent that watched a child grow up and now that the child has grown up, the parent refused to let go? Am I like that? But if I lose even her, then who can I trust? I felt frustrated. And it was then some quotes from my human days came. If you love someone, set them free. So corny, and yet something tells me this is the truth. Strange. I have trust issues, clearly. Is that why my relationships as Matt failed? How do I trust her? ¡°Aeon?¡± She asked. I think she waited for half an hour already. I inwardly sighed. I shouldn¡¯t be like this. Is this me being upset and possessive? I¡¯m a freaking tree damned it. Shouldn¡¯t I be more magnanimous? What would Treebeard do? What would Grandmother Willow do? ¡°Ah. Go, Lausanne. It is fine.¡± Even though I said those words, I felt difficult. I didn¡¯t quite accept that time moved so slowly for the rest of them, and so quickly for me. It¡¯s strange and uncomfortable to think others have far different expectations of the world and their life, and that I can¡¯t expect loyalty from them. At least, not on a longer term. Is this why Lilies is a lot more ¡®big-picture¡¯ about things? They aren¡¯t attached to individuals, and maybe because it''s like that whole elf thing in Lord of The Rings, we are doomed to watch those we love grow old and die before us? Is this our fate for living so long? ¡°Are you sure, Aeon?¡± Lausanne asked. No, I¡¯m not sure. Why can¡¯t I let go? I don¡¯t own her! I¡¯m not even her parents, but then, I have showered her with powers and care. Is it because my investment, my sunk cost, that I care that now she¡¯s pulling away? If so, I should¡¯ve seen it coming. So I decided to speak to Laufen, her mom. Twenty years have passed, but she aged only slightly. ¡°Lausanne is finally leaving.¡± ¡°Yes, Aeon. It¡¯s something I¡¯ve always expected to happen. I remember they used to say, that young adult elves have a calling to see the world, to see more of it. It¡¯s something they must do to get out of their system. I remember I used to do it, then I met Ricola and settled down.¡± Oh. An elven thing. Is it like humans back home, where parents kick their children out once they turn 21? ¡°I hear human adults have that too, though like us, it is stronger in some than the rest.¡± ¡°And you are not sad or worried, or well, disappointed?¡± ¡°Children must grow up, and Lausanne has been talking of this day for many years. Trapped in this valley for so long, it is quite a waste for her. Besides, how would she find a mate if she doesn¡¯t visit the other elven cities! I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll still be worried sick, though.¡± Trapped? But they are here with me! Okay, that¡¯s a fairly selfish and ignorant statement. I¡¯m a tree. I¡¯m a freaking 100 year old tree. I should act like one. Lausanne was still in her room. I decided to just calm myself down, and well, do some breathing exercise. For a tree, that meant actually taking in the air and well, making oxygen, I suppose. I have to let her go, or do I force her to stay? ¡°Would you ever consider staying?¡± Lausanne paused, well, very briefly. ¡°Maybe after I¡¯m done?¡± Multreetasking Year 109 Just like that, she¡¯s gone. A group of 400 of them went on a quest, to find the nearest surviving civilisation. They packed up after months of preparing, and finally set out when the weather¡¯s slightly less hostile. I don¡¯t know when I¡¯ll see her again, or ever. I recalled those who left me usually died. But oh well. A choice has been made, and she has to live with it. I don¡¯t know what lies out there, but maybe she will reach the edge way faster than I am. I¡¯m constrained by the terrain, I can¡¯t move forward without clearing the demonic corruption that contaminated my path. I tried slowly, and worked to upgrade my [giant attendant trees], so that they can help absorb and process the demonic corruption. It¡¯s a very long process, and not very successful, so I went back to researching the demonic trees. I had two main ideas of getting myself out of this place, they overlap in a way. One, is what I was doing presently. Disperse and process the demonic mana using my super high demonic resistance. Problem is, this hinged on me having a high level, high natural healing, and demonic resistance from my hero shards, which is unique to my main body, and the benefits are only partly shared by my other trees. I wanted to upgrade the various healing and endurance abilities of my subordinate trees such that they have higher demonic resistance, better base healing and toughness such that they can play my current role to a lesser extent. To use an analogy, it¡¯s as if me, and my other trees are made of water, and the demonic corruption is fire. Right now, my other trees can¡¯t withstand the fire so they just burn down before putting out any of the water. I have a finite number of water I can produce, and the water I produced is used to fight the fires, kind of like what a fireman does facing a wildfire. If I have more water than fire at the boundary, I can expand that boundary. If not, my boundary shrinks. It¡¯s quite like fighting a perpetually growing wildfire, come to think of it. So, I must have stronger, tougher trees, that can also produce that ¡®water¡¯, to help fight the fire. This restores the land to what it was, too. The other area of focus was something a little more inspired by my recent fascination with these demonic hybrid plants. That is if I could not expand the safe areas and recover the corrupted lands, could I coexist with it? Such that my trees and roots, all gain an ability to grow on these corrupted lands, instead of being blocked by it. It¡¯s a difficult endeavour, and my initial attempts at studying the live demon-trees are quite good. I would need to figure out how to either be able to control the demonic trees, or assimilate some of their natural attributes and qualities, which can then allow me to enhance my existing trees to better operate in the demonic terrain. Going back to that earlier analogy, instead of looking at fire as the problem, I¡¯m attempting to create plants that can operate in fire, or absorb fire, instead of fighting it. Far harder than it sounds, since well, I¡¯m essentially attempting to graft demonic biology onto my trees. But I think it¡¯s possible. The fact that hybrids can exist means I can create hybrids. Certainly possible in theory. This idea, of course, is hugely opposed by the trees in the valley. They abhor it. I can sense their rejection of the idea, and that earlier duty to just restore the land to what it was before. Duty. Responsibility. The more it is imposed on me, the more I resist it. Or is this just me, after I woke up? I recall being sucked in by the powers and influences of my fellow trees? Did the domain make me more aware of all these influences, and yet, at the same time, attempts to influence me? So strange. It is a duty. Restore and clear the world of demonic corruption. Which I did. I mean, I resist the thought of being told to do things, but I understand the principles of it, and so I did it anyway. I suppose I¡¯m like a petulant child that hates to be told to do something, but knows that it needs to be done, so I did it. How immature. I¡¯m a hundred year old tree, now¡¯s not the time to mentally regress and act like a child. There¡¯s now a sizable area that¡¯s been cleared of demonic influence around my valley, so much so that some of the survivors are now moving outside to live there. Once the corruption was cleared, the weather too quickly returned to normal. It seemed the corruption and the demonic vegetation does generate a microclimate, as predicted. It¡¯s about as large as the former territory of New Freeka, so, a semblance of normalcy has returned to the area. Still, the corruption stretched far and wide, and there¡¯s more demonic monsters to attend to. Every day we would be attacked, and our beetles would be at the forefront of the battle. Luckily, Horns is back in business after a few months of recovery. And he¡¯s been incredibly chirpy. ¡°It¡¯s totally awesome.¡± Horn said. ¡°All I do all day is fight all these demons! I can¡¯t level up anymore, but still, it¡¯s awesome! I love fighting!¡± I didn¡¯t realise I created a combat maniac in Horns. ¡°Master, perhaps more Artificial Souls will help with the reclamation of the corrupted lands. We do produce some mana, or if some of us are dedicated mana-producing trees...¡± I have been drawing mana from all the normal trees anyway, but they are not as effective against the demonic corruption as my own. I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s because my mana has anti-demonic properties. What I do need, is a massive mana cauldron. I pulled the mana to my main body, and attempted to mix it. Maybe I could infuse the anti-demon qualities into the mana generated by normal trees. It was sufficient, previously, because I had the advantage. With the demon walkers, with Alexis, I could constantly draw on more trees to overwhelm whatever creature. But the changed terrain limited the number of trees, and cut off my connection to the volcano and the leyline, two of my bigger sources of mana. Now, I need to squeeze a bit more efficiency and performance out of every drop of mana. To do more, with less. Thankfully, I¡¯ve also been able to get my soul forge back online, now that the surrounding area has been cleared of demonic corruption and replaced with a thick forest. And so, I experimented with mana in my main body, just like how I used to do it with my soul forge. I added star mana to the mix too. I still only have 300 star mana, but mixing star mana, my own mana and the mana produced by the normal trees, the effectiveness of pushing back the demonic energy increased by a few multiples. Good enough to keep the expansion going. We have not heard anything from the group that left, but it¡¯s fine. I think it¡¯ll be years before we get news from them. Food-wise, as the forest starts to reclaim the land, the gods started to work their magic and regular monsters and animals started appearing again. I mean, it¡¯s really just divine spawning ability. And with regular monsters and animals, meat started to return to the survivors¡¯ diet. A welcome relief, really, and the remaining survivors now look a lot better. Although I felt sad that so many decided that they had enough of being here for 20+ years, I suppose I should then focus on those who remained instead. After all, although 400 left, 3,000 still remained! That¡¯s a big amount of people who decided to stick with me rather than go away. With meat, proper lodging, and a bit more space and time for activities, the survivors are of course, much happier. ¡°Well... why didn¡¯t you leave, Laufen? Go with your daughter?¡± I asked Laufen one day. ¡°Nah. I¡¯m too old for that.¡± ¡°As an elf, you still look really young. Elven agelessness is amazing. You should be able to go.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll just hold Lausanne back from her adventure. It¡¯s her coming-of-age moment, me as her mom, I should just stay out of her way. She¡¯ll hate me if I tagged along. Besides, I am really quite content being protected and safe!¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°It¡¯s better for her that I stay here, where I am safe. It¡¯ll put her at ease that her mom is under your protection. She wouldn¡¯t have made the decision to go if you weren¡¯t around.¡± Hmm, true. I suppose I¡¯ve become the safe harbour for her to come back to. There are few children among the survivors. The young that grew up didn¡¯t think of having kids, not in this hostile environment. Some did, of course. Perhaps an accident, or perhaps they didn¡¯t care, but the more rational of them chose not to. It¡¯s a tough choice. I imagine it¡¯s like, well, how would you even know if you and your family would even have food, or proper shelter. But I guess that¡¯s also partly due to elves, centaurs being more rational than humans, who would just fuck and get pregnant regardless of the situation. It¡¯s more draining on their body, perhaps? Many are now finally considering it, convinced by the recent 3 years of safety, comfort, stability, and many approached me for advice on whether they should have kids. I have yet to study the effects of pregnancy between different types of species. Would I then be the first pregnancy doctor? I mean, surely the effects of childbirth of different species are worth studying, and there¡¯s probably no world-wide compilation of various herbal and traditional remedies and therapies. I digressed. But I said sure. I would support and feed their young should they fail to. It¡¯s not much anyway. - ¡°Are you here to gloat?¡± The two heroes asked. ¡°Not really. I came to talk, as usual. With the demon, if possible.¡± ¡°WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT?¡± They instantly turned to the demonic voice. ¡°Tell me something. What would make you stop coming to our world?¡± ¡°GOD. MOTHER. PLANET. STOP. THEM.¡± ¡°Stop the gods. Kill the gods. Sounds impossible to me.¡± I shrugged. And I¡¯m a tree, killing the gods doesn''t sound like something I can do. ¡°Then why do you come every 10 years?¡± ¡°ANCIENT. MAGIC. RULES.¡± Oh. Okay. There¡¯s a magical rule behind it? Well, I don¡¯t even know whether the words of this demon can be trusted. It could¡¯ve lied to me. I mean, we must assume a demon or evil creature has no incentive to tell the truth, but let¡¯s consider that if it spoke the truths, there are some key points. There¡¯s an ancient magical rule that clearly whatever god or thing that controls these demons have to follow. I could therefore surmise that this ancient magic exists above the gods, and so, the gods of this world are not entirely omnipotent or omniscient, and it may actually be possible to stop them. Next, is that they conflate the god with mother, and planet. Their homeworld¡¯s god is probably some kind of earth-god, then? Something like a nativist conscience like the will of a groupmind like Alpha Centauri again? Or perhaps, it is a tree mind taken to the extreme? A global network of trees that function as a planetary scale neural network and brain? Or are those spires some kind of artificial intelligence and they are collectively a super-AI, and the demon kings sent to us are their version of Terminators? Or more fantasy-aligned, just an evil sleeping god and the demons are it¡¯s worshippers? ¡°What rules?¡± ¡°ANCIENT.¡± ¡°Why? Who?¡± ¡°ANCIENT.¡± ¡°Who is GOD?¡± ¡°GOD. MOTHER. PLANET.¡± If I had the power, I really should catch a demon king and try to talk to it. I feel like I¡¯m talking to some rudimentary chatbot from the earlier years of my life. I¡¯m stuck in some kind of conversation loop despite trying to ask more. This is probably the lowest level answer they can give. With that, the demonic voice fades and the two of the trapped heroes return. ¡°Well, did you learn anything?¡± The two heroes looked quite annoyed. ¡°We didn¡¯t, and honestly, it really does sound like some kind of computer program. It¡¯s really simplistic in it¡¯s logic, once you get it.¡± ¡°So you understand the demon, now?¡± I asked the hero. ¡°To some extent. It just wants to grow, and build, and do whatever it¡¯s mother asked of it.¡± ¡°Mother, not god?¡± ¡°It feels like a mother, rather than a god. It nagged.¡± I smiled, and probably would¡¯ve chuckled if I could. ¡°You¡¯re not going to help free us?¡± Simone asked. ¡°...maybe?¡± I thought long and hard about this, even though I rejected the divine mission. I didn¡¯t want the gods to start having influence over me. But should I still help them, then? ¡°I probably can¡¯t free you.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± I probably could guide the few surviving heroes to them, to help free them. But I chose not to reveal this to them. The demon is always listening, and I wonder what it would do with such knowledge. Yeah. I probably could get the other heroes to free them, rather than me doing it personally. They are mobile and would have the right skills for it. The heroes have everyone reason to help their fellow friends, don¡¯t they? - As the year approached its end, I had a small breakthrough with my demonic tree research. [Skill : Hybrid-botany] [Able to communicate and cultivate hybrid trees] Hell yeah. And I tried it out. Even though it¡¯s supposed to be winter, the localised effects caused by the demonic trees meant it¡¯s an exceptionally warm winter. So warm that it¡¯s probably like spring. Well, all I got was spam. It¡¯s nostalgic. Like when I had [rootnet] for the first time and all the grass and trees started giving me weird shit. It¡¯ll take some time before I understand these demonic trees. - ¡°Is our combat ability significantly impacted by Lausanne¡¯s departure?¡± ¡°With you back... no.¡± Jura said. ¡°Lausanne is strong, but there are a lot of us who are level 80. Me, Nero, one of the captains, there¡¯s easily 15 people left who are now level 75 to level 80 who can play her role to a lesser degree. Her key advantage is that her special familiar has a lesser version of your power, so without you, her aura was key in reducing our casualties.¡± Hmm... ¡°Everyone¡¯s replaceable, I suppose.¡± Jura laughed out of nowhere. ¡°I mean, that¡¯s how it always has been, right? That¡¯s why so many kings raise so many different children. You never know which one turns out a little crazy.¡± It¡¯s risk management not to put all your eggs in one basket. But even for people? ¡°I suppose if you could give your special familiar to more of us, that would really help us. I guess the Valthorns were a step in that direction, until that day came.¡± You know, maybe the Kings had the right idea. I focused too much on developing Lausanne, and I lost track that Lausanne was also partly meant to be my first try at doing this at a larger scale. I¡¯m a tree, and my domain is nature. Grow, strengthen, cultivate. I should now use what I¡¯ve learned from all these years to massively expand that programme. If I am to rebuild, I should do some things differently, and some things, bigger and better. I had Jura, Lausanne and a few others as my ¡®elite¡¯ then. In hindsight, I should¡¯ve thought on a larger scale. Like any nation or even a large company, talent scouting, hiring, development and retention is an ongoing affair, constantly expanding to meet future needs. I somehow got sucked into the minutiae and messed up on the bigger picture. I need a proper process for this, and on a larger scale, some dropouts and loss like Lausanne¡¯s departure is just part of the natural attrition of any large body of people. Scale. What else should I do on a larger scale? Spaizzer Thank you for reading my work. Times are tough, and I hope my work gives you some joy. :) Centreenial Plans Year 110 Another year. Time passed really quickly these days. I think it¡¯s the effect of the curse. Even if I¡¯m awake, I feel as if it¡¯s not totally gone. It¡¯s somewhat like nursing a mild headache, and I never quite feel like I¡¯m at my 100% state. I suppose this is what a [curse] feels like, and that¡¯s why Jura never quite performed at his best when he had the curse. I wonder whether that princess I saved last time, the one that still had a bit of the curse left, is she still alive? Maybe she died, since Baroosh was destroyed. She too had a curse, and so did Meela, at least, until that hero removed it. Curses can be removed, and they can also heal naturally. So, my curse is one of overexposure to demonic mana. It¡¯s honestly very similar to the princess who had overexposure to void mana. Therefore, treating the curse is likely to be similar to the princess. In the case of the Princess, her soul spring was wrecked, destroyed by the exposure to void mana, and so she was dying. In my case... My soul spring is not destroyed, so I was able to survive those 20+ years. But perhaps it is damaged, and if damaged, I would have to find out how to mend my own soul spring. All this is conjecture, I don¡¯t even know if my soul spring is even damaged yet. After a while, my musings led me nowhere, and I attempted to find out. I mean, I¡¯ve never seen my own soul spring. It¡¯s kind of like asking a doctor to self-diagnose. Not exactly possible to be objective about it, and I may have certain bias too! But oh well, I need to know whether something¡¯s wrong with me, and how do I fix this curse! I thought at lengths about whether it¡¯s possible to build a soul forge that is aimed at me, while being powered by me. If the soul is the engine of the individual, then like a car engine, I must be able to add sensors, readings, thermometers and all, and from that, a sense of what¡¯s happening. ¡°That analogy may not be the most suitable one, master.¡± Trevor commented. ¡°It¡¯s more of the driver trying to figure out what¡¯s wrong with the driver. If I may, it is similar to trying to figure out whether the driver is sick from the way he is driving.¡± ¡°Uh.¡± That¡¯s... how¡¯d he do that? Was he using my memories? ¡°Yes, master. We have access to your memories.¡± Still, I tried. I did something similar to a meditative state, trying to feel my own body, and be one with myself. It¡¯s like Buddha meditating under a Bodhi tree, only, well, I¡¯m the tree. And my senses are once again, assaulted by the demonic mana. After all, the edges of my network of roots and trees, are a constant battlefield, where the mixed mana produced by me, and my fellow trees, face-off against the demonic mana. ¡°Not working.¡± I mused to myself after about one month of constant meditation. In hindsight, it¡¯s obvious. I wasn¡¯t able to meditate myself out of the curse, so why would it work now? ¡°Any suggestions, Trevor?¡± ¡°Before you go there, master, I would like to remind you of the things you wanted to do last year and the years before. Which is to work on expanding your mana pool, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of your mana, your experiments on the hybrid demon trees, and also, developing even more Lausanne-class individuals.¡± Once again my scatterbrain reared it¡¯s head. ¡°May I add, master, you have yet to decide on a vocation for your two contracted souls, Yvon and Eriz. You backed away from turning them into Mana Farms.¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t the most effective use of their skills.¡± I had a lot of thinking to do. I mean, this [soul contract] should be extremely overpowered since the person retained their memories. Even if they died, I could reuse their souls constantly. An individual who gained a tonne of experience, and therefore could retry different things at each life would be super powerful. That is after all what makes reincarnators like myself, or even heroes, super powerful, because their existing body of knowledge is brought over to their next life! So, as I wondered what happened as my soul contractors died, then it appeared. The dreaded notification. [No penalty for first death. For subsequent deaths, one year time-penalty will be imposed, and doubled with each subsequent death. One-third of all memories are wiped with each death after this first. No penalty on reassignment, as not considered as death] Ah. The system isn¡¯t stupid after all. So, in a way, it¡¯s best to use their living knowledge and match it to somewhere where they could be most useful. So, Eriz, the maid that¡¯s responsible for caring for Roma all these while, I assigned her to a Subsidiary Tree that¡¯s focused as a childcare area, and she took the form of a [Nursery Tree]. I wanted someone dedicated to look after the new children that the survivors will have, and feed them supplements to make strong, high potential individuals to support my future Lausanne-class project. Yes. Lausanne-class is a name for an individual at that grade. I imagine the Lausanne class to be something like the Corvette-class, and I would like to eventually reach Battleships and Aircraft Carriers. As for Yvon, I fused her into one of the [Training Trees], creating a different version of Treeiner. This is because she did have a long stint serving in the Valthorns as their guide and trainer, and she has good combat skills that I wanted her to pass on to the next generation. Though we didn¡¯t agree with each other, she has some wisdom and knowledge of the world that would definitely contribute to a more holistic education and training for the next batch. ¡°I won¡¯t have to care for people for a long time.¡± They both said, noting that the population of young children is extremely small. The survivors are almost all adults now. It¡¯s been 20 years, and there¡¯s no immigration from abroad to fix the lopsided population pyramid. ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± I would think they need some time to get used to their new bodies and their newfound abilities. I want to monitor what they can do. I had initially just let Meela and Alexis somewhat free reign, and I must admit my awareness of what Meela did was close to none. ¡°You can provide training to the existing people, consider it as a gym.¡± ¡°How about me? It¡¯ll be some time before any of them have kids.¡± Eriz mentally responded. She found her new body awkward. All of them did, since they were far too used to humanoid forms. ¡°Create supplements for the new moms. I¡¯m sure they need to boost their body to take on the load of having children.¡± ¡°These two... trees are Yvon and Eriz?¡± Jura seemed extremely perplexed when I informed him of what I did. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know you could do that...¡± Jura seemed to think about it at length. ¡°Lady Mika was one.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± After a while. ¡°So if... If I were to have a soul contract with you, and I died, you could in practice, make me into a tree?¡± ¡°...yes.¡± He paused, and then of course, he quickly told Laufen about this, and soon the entire group of survivors knew about it. And then some interesting comments emerged. ¡°Well, I know the elves used to say that when we die we return to the trees, but I didn¡¯t expect it to be a literal statement. I always imagined it was more of a figure of speech.¡± ¡°What did they give for that?¡± Jura asked later that day. ¡°For Eriz, it was a punishment for luring an army here. For Yvon, she traded her soul for a patch of grapes and blessings on the land for her winery project.¡± ¡°Really. Was I there when that happened?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I recall Jura was in the same room. He was quiet for a moment. ¡°Lausanne got one?¡± ¡°No.¡± Jura breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°I trust her.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. I... I don¡¯t think we want to be turned into trees, like... literally.¡± Is it? It¡¯s not that bad. Yvon¡¯s Training Tree has a humanoid shaped tutor that is able to verbally communicate once she gains a few levels. For now, as a level 1 training tree, she¡¯s just like a combat dummy that¡¯s unable to talk. Eriz, I¡¯m not sure whether she will eventually gain the ability to talk, but I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she could. What¡¯s so bad about trees? Trees don¡¯t really need to eat, we can generally regenerate almost all our body parts, and well, we can keep growing! What¡¯s not to like? "Did you offer it to Lausanne?" "No. Why?" "Ah... am I right to say this is more of a punishment than a reward?" "You could say that. I have rarely offered the soul contract." Jura looked relieved, and then he changed the topic. ¡°Good, good. So... children. That¡¯s the plan for them?¡± ¡°Yes. We will have more children, and they need to grow up strong. I hope to make them as strong as Lausanne, if not more.¡± ¡°Ah. Planning for the long term.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Then Jura spoke about some other priorities, such as weapons for the survivors. Over the past few years, as the responsibilities for defense shifted to my army of beetles, the survivors were able to take a break from combat. Still, it didn¡¯t escape anyone¡¯s notice that they all needed anti-demon weapons, and that was something Lausanne had requested from me before she left. All her spears were damaged or broken over the decades. I dedicated some time to equip the remaining survivors with anti-demon weapons. Over the past few years the repairs to the general environment has been ongoing, this meant things like farms, houses, outhouses, gardens. Things that, well, generally contribute to happiness. Some even asked for the [Tree of Prayers]. Which I gladly made one, again. I went back to the next topic on Trevor¡¯s list. ¡°Hybrid demon trees.¡± I have a dilemma with them. If I were to be seen and known that I have some limited ability to control these demonic trees, would the outsiders suddenly suspect that I too, might be a demon? After all, I already have demonfire on the top of my branches like Hades, it wouldn¡¯t be a stretch for these narrow minded natives to suspect that I am perhaps a demon, and that would make me a target of the world¡¯s temples and kingdoms. Yet, understanding, and controlling them is key to my attempts of breaking out of this place. If I could break them free of the demon¡¯s controls, I would be able to accelerate my expansion. And I don¡¯t trust any of the survivors to not leak this fact to the outside world, and that¡¯s not because I doubt them. This world clearly has mind controlling and mind reading magic. The fact that the demons were able to access the heroes¡¯ memories are obvious enough. So, some things must be kept absolutely secret. Just like the fact that I am also an Earther. My newfound abilities over the [hybrid-botany] meant I could vaguely, very vaguely, influence them. It¡¯s not yet outright controlled, like with the regular trees. We speak different languages, and I¡¯m just a beginner in their language. I will need more time with them. Secretly. ¡°Mana.¡± Trevor read out the list. ¡°Mana processing, mana efficiency, Mana allocation.¡± Yes. Mana. That juice that powers all the living beings of this world. That involved working on the Giant Attendant Trees to create super-mana farms. ¡°List of repairs. Grand MindTree.¡± Trevor went onto the next item. ¡°We¡¯ll need resources for this, master. Which we do not have.¡± I wonder whether I could configure the grand mind tree into a diagnostic programme to check me, since it did have the ability to reduce the effects of any mind control on me, so it should have some kind of scanning ability to identify what the curse did to me. ¡°Inventory items. Forest Rod.¡± I wanted to keep the forest rod for any magical leyline I found, in order to get access to other kinds of soul forge colors. Though I believe they would¡¯ve been extremely useful in converting this general area back to normal, I still think the forest rod¡¯s unique ability to capture special magical locations should not be wasted on just any regular sludge and corruption. Well, unless I find the main source or node of this corruption, then I would want to use the rod. I mean, I¡¯d risk it for the chance to convert the entire corrupted continent into my domain. THat¡¯ll just be awesome. ¡°Preparations for the next demon king?¡± Trevor asked. ¡°Would that be something of concern?¡±¡°Yes. We have to be prepared.¡± Though, if something like this happened again, what could I have done differently? Well... I honestly have no answer to this. If this corruption happened again, what could have I done? As the year drifted ever closer to it¡¯s end, a group of survivors returned. About 30 of them. Their return was met with a massive celebration. ¡°Aeon.¡± The leader of the returned survivors spoke. ¡°There is civilization out there. After 4 months of travelling we finally got out of the corrupted area, and made contact with a kingdom. Only our continent suffered significant damage from the corruption, and many are amazed that a pocket of us survived in the middle of the Rottedlands.¡± ¡°Rottedlands?¡± Jura and the rest of the survivors asked. They were very interested in the outside world. ¡°Yes. The outsiders refer to the entirety of the corruption as the Rottedlands. Well, it differs by region, but most call it the Rottedlands, or the Blightlands. Many that we¡¯ve met are interested in forming diplomatic relationships with us, but the terrain is too hostile unless the group is at least level 50 and above, and has the ability to create our own food and filter water, since there¡¯s nothing to harvest for a whole two months, and there¡¯s no clean water anywhere in the entirety of the Rottedlands.¡± ¡°How many did we lose?¡± A Remainer asked. ¡°Of the 400, we lost 100 on the journey out. We lost 20 on our way back, even after we came with better equipment and supplies.¡± ¡°How¡¯s Lausanne?¡± Laufen asked. ¡°Lausanne is fine. She and a small group of the younger ones are on a journey to the other cities and kingdoms. But more importantly, we have a map.¡± The returned men unfurled a massive map that indicated the edges of the Rottedlands, and as Jura described it to me, it seemed Lilies was so far away that she wasn¡¯t harmed. But my other forest and the Verdant Volcano were both in the range of the Rottedlands, were they destroyed? I only lost connection, but I didn¡¯t get a message that Dimitree was destroyed. How about the Verdant Volcano. The map was important for a few reasons. One, it showed us the shortest path to civilization. Where the edges of the Rottedlands and where Freeka once was. Next, well, who we want to form any sort of diplomatic relationship with. As it is, it¡¯s a large distance, and I may be open one path out of the Rottedlands. Maybe a few more once I get stronger. On the flipside, I may also not open a path, such that the Rottedland formed a natural moat or barrier. After all, having to go through these Rottedlands would greatly discourage any attempts at invading us. So who and how we expose and declare our presence is important. And I need to balance this with other aspects of my long term plans. The demon king incident is my first, but certainly won¡¯t be the last one I face. If I will live for hundreds of thousands of years, as great old trees often do, then I must consider the plans to prevent such events over the longer period. Sure, the first time isn''t really my fault, but if I let it happen to me more than a few times, that is entirely on me. The heroes and the demon king are part of a continuous cycle, and therefore are a predictable, preventable crisis. What could I do? Find ways to let them fight it out elsewhere far from civilisation and nature? How can I prevent them from destroying all the gains made by the jungles and forests? All the destroyed natural habitats? That involves knowing, no, influencing where the demon king and heroes appear. That''s... unlikely. Or should I aid the heroes such that they kill the demon king as soon as possible? I have hesitated in participating in this conflict, but as I predicted previously, it comes for me whether I like it or not. Or could I... kill the demon king myself? How did the demon kings die so quickly? Is there some trick? I clearly need to investigate this hex power and see whether I could make a safer version for myself? Like Clean Nuclear! So... how should we approach the future? It comes for us. Hex. And I will need to gather power to slay the demon king myself. Only with power, we can preserve nature. Without power, nature will just remain a setting for their conflict. Tangled Webs Year 111 ¡°I didn¡¯t think that the great protector of New Freeka lived.¡± Harris said, as he arrived at the edges of my restored valley. He came with a group one hundred strong. ¡°The rumors of the survivors are true after all. Good decision, Commander.¡± A commander bowed next to him. They saw the field of normal green trees. ¡°Indeed. I wonder where they have hidden the past twenty years.¡± ¡°Perhaps they were biding their time.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s stop, we¡¯re in their territory now.¡± Harris said. ¡°Yes, your Highness.¡± They nodded, and the group of hundred moved nimbly, they were clearly well trained and of a decent level. They didn¡¯t look like guards, and they were armed with clearly magical star mana-enchanted weapons. Jura went to meet them. Jura, along with one hundred other survivors. ¡°Stop. Who goes there.¡± Jura and all were well-armed, but their equipment paled in comparison. In a straight fight, they would¡¯ve lost easily. Still, they were alerted to these visitors, and they moved quickly. ¡°This is the entourage of his Holiness, the Emperor Harris the First, Slayer of the Demon King, Supreme Ruler of the Harisan Empire, and you stand before the Emperor himself. It would be wise to kneel, peasant.¡± One of the men said, he leaped ahead with his armor gleaming. Clearly showing off his enchanted gear. Jura shrugged. He hasn¡¯t lost his distaste for royals. ¡°Greetings, Emperor Harris. You walk on the blessed lands of Aeon the Ageless, the great Tree Spirit and Defender of the Valley. We, the believers of the true spirit of the land, kneel before no King or Royal.¡± The man was quickly offended and wanted to attack, but then Harris stepped in. ¡°Greetings. Pardon my entourage, their zeal to glorify my name is but a minor crime. Truly, does Aeon still live?¡± Jura shrugged. ¡°We¡¯ve never doubted him. But it seemed that the outsiders have.¡± Harris laughed. He¡¯s no longer a child now, a man in his late thirties, yet the glow of his heroic presence was unmistakable. He was equipped, from head to toe for war, every item he wielded radiated enormous amounts of star mana. It would not be out of place, if anyone assumed he was preparing to face the demon king. ¡°What brings you here, Emperor?¡± ¡°Watch your words.¡± One of Harris¡¯s lackeys interrupted. Jura ignored it. Harris took a step forward. ¡°I stayed very briefly in New Freeka, before my fateful battle with the demon king. I still remember the great tree spirit¡¯s massive wooden shields that blocked out the demon¡¯s attack. In hindsight, I should¡¯ve predicted that the Tree Spirit lived. I still have his familiar, after all.¡± Some of the lackeys were like, woah and wow. Goodness, the hero surrounded himself with sycophants? ¡°Anyway, may I speak to the Tree Spirit? I have much to discuss with a being of such great power.¡± Jura paused, but I think he knew he wanted me to tell him what to do. I mentally agreed, and Jura looked at Harris. ¡°Certainly, but the Tree Spirit would not have all of you armed, and only you alone.¡± The lackeys were about to say something ridiculous again. ¡°If there are any accommodations or rest stops for my group to rest, that will be sufficient. Perhaps a hotel, if such institutions survived. It¡¯s fine for me to meet the Tree Spirit myself.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, 20 years without customers has been extremely hard on our hotels, so none of them remained.¡± Jura joked. ¡°Let¡¯s come this way.¡± Jura led them into one of the tunnels, and from there, they arrived in the submerged valley. They looked quite surprised to see a massive tree with a burning top that¡¯s hidden underneath. ¡°How did we miss this?¡± Harris said quietly. But before the sycophants could answer, he cut them off. ¡°Rhetorical question.¡± Jura and the survivors watched the group carefully, and soon, they saw the beetles. But right before one of the sycophants wanted to attack the beetle, Harris stopped it. ¡°Idiot. Can you use your brain and think why is there a beetle here? It must be the Tree¡¯s servants. I see they haven¡¯t changed much.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Jura asked. ¡°You¡¯ve seen them?¡± ¡°Yes. I have. Twenty over years ago.¡± He said. ¡°So... where can I meet the Tree?¡± ¡°Ah, right this way. Could you request your men to wait over at that area?¡± Jura pointed to a resting area that¡¯s made last year. There¡¯s a lot of wooden furniture, a small blossoming collection of fruit juice stalls, and some barbeque stalls that roast the local meats, kind of like an al-fresco foodcourt. Harris nodded, and the men obeyed. Only Jura and Harris walked to one of the larger Giant Attendant Trees, that¡¯s been converted to a meeting room. He sat alone inside. ¡°Aeon will speak to you here.¡± Jura nodded, and he shut the door. Inside the Giant Attendant Tree, there¡¯s only him. He looked around, as if he was waiting for something. ¡°Hmmm...¡± ¡°Hello, Harris.¡± I said. ¡°Ah. Makes sense that a tree spirit is telepathic. The last time we met, all I got was a notification about the familiar, when Lady Mika spoke. Greetings, Aeon. Much has changed.¡± ¡°I was told you sought us out, once you found out of our existence.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Harris sat. ¡°Let me cut to the chase, Aeon. We are four years away from the next demon king, maybe five years if we are lucky. I¡¯m trying to gather a force to defeat the next demon king as soon as it spawns, and your defensive abilities are something that¡¯s quite firmly etched in my mind. Would you help me?¡± ¡°Interesting offer, but I suppose you did not forget that I¡¯m an immobile tree?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. But, we could make artifacts that could temporarily store some of your abilities, as a single use skill. With a bit of star mana, and some special crystals, we could create a spell-matrix that could store some of your shields. In fact, I¡¯d also like to store that demonic suppression aura of yours. It would prove incredibly helpful in a battle against the demon king, at least it would help to weaken the lackeys for the rest of us.¡± Hmmm. Well, it seemed all the survivors are making plans for the demon king, so that¡¯s an encouraging sign. Certainly it is aligned to my own goals, so in this case, I should cooperate. ¡°Agreed. But I will demand some of those spell-matrices for my own use.¡± Harris laughed. ¡°That¡¯s quick. I expected a Tree to take a longer time to deliberate such things. There¡¯s also another matter...¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Twenty over years ago, New Freeka played host to many... refugees. Royalty of many families. And you might remember many kingdoms were destroyed, essentially beheaded, because the demons possessed powerful ranged weapons.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°Well... may I ask you to offer the same protection to my offsprings?¡± ¡°I find that hard to believe, hero. You have star mana and the ability to create powerful magical defenses. Certainly your capital has been enchanted many times to prepare for such an event.¡± ¡°Yes it has. But the children are fools. They squabble with each other over petty goals, and trigger their star mana artifacts too easily, exhausting them. Artifacts meant for greater dangers.¡± He said, sighing. A cup of tea appeared next to him. He sipped. ¡°And damn, I missed this tea so much.¡± He drank another sip. ¡°Seriously. This damned world is trying to kill us.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Who? ¡°They got Becky. Ah. It¡¯s the tea that makes me feel upset.¡± Harris sighed. ¡°The demons. They killed her a few years ago. Even though we fought together. Well, maybe except Gerrard who¡¯s too busy getting drunk and hiding in strange places throughout the world.¡± The human hero looked sad, confused, and tired all at the same time. I wonder whether the tea was alcoholic, because I was damn sure it wasn¡¯t. It¡¯s just a bit of hospitality. ¡°Fuck the gods, y¡¯know. This fucking game is just engineered to kill us. We¡¯re leader-heroes. We have armies of magical summons, and the gods just fucking turn it around and spawn super-demons where our army of magical summons are just fodder, and wide swathes of my army-boosting abilities are just absolutely useless. They made this game and tie one of our hands right behind our backs.¡± Why is he ranting? ¡°Ah. It¡¯s just so nostalgic to come back to the first place where we were saved. Dammit. I suddenly feel like I¡¯m a young teen again.¡± I checked whether any of my [Tree of Prayers] or [psychedelics] were active. Nope. I think he¡¯s just having all these things pent up. ¡°Fuck it. I mean.¡± He took a deep breath. ¡°I mean... yeah. Stupid kids. Would you protect them? They¡¯re still my children, but damn if they are not idiots. I don¡¯t remember being so idiotic as a young teenager.¡± ¡°When you look back, every generation has always thought the younger generation were idiots.¡± Harris paused. ¡°Well. Yeah. But still, they are MY idiots. And that annoys me. This fucking world is out to kill us. Me, Mirei, Gerrard. Just three of us left. I just hope my stupid kids don¡¯t get involved.¡± ¡°How many kids do you have?¡± ¡°Uh...¡± I think he blushed. ¡°I think about twenty six. The youngest one is... one. Two of my wives are pregnant.¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say about that. Wait. He¡¯s only in his thirties, maybe he¡¯s just going to turn 40 soon. Doesn¡¯t that mean he has at least one baby a year? ¡°Well. Ahm.¡± He finished the tea. ¡°Can I have more?¡± A small vine produced hot water, and another added crumpled, dried powder into the cup. ¡°You¡¯ve been productive.¡± ¡°Ah. Yes. So uh...¡± ¡°You¡¯re asking me to offer protection to a very, very large number of people.¡± Harris frowned. ¡°Yes...¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t get it. You don¡¯t trust your own magic, and you prefer to trust me?¡± I was skeptical. Extremely. This sounds like a royal asking for protection again. ¡°I thought long and hard about it. So long as I live, I am certain my family will survive. My star mana, my heroic powers means I will still be able to protect them with my powers. I¡¯ve tried my best, to store my powers in spell-matrices and all that, but artifacts able to store hero-grade powers are few and far between, and very often, usable only once, sometimes twice. Unlike other generations of heroes, our powers are mostly summons, and creatures, and that doesn¡¯t extend to grand magical formations. We could still do them to a far lesser degree, but it''s not the same as what a ritual-focused hero or what a pure enchanter hero could achieve. When we level, our hero grade skills are given, and it¡¯s not like we can force those skills into something they are not. For example, Mirei has extremely powerful lightning abilities, but none of those are a usable shield of any kind. Strange to say this, we are constrained by the scope of our gifts. Our talents for skills outside our designated hero class is ordinary, and if we want more, we have to trade our hero levels for them.¡± He paused. ¡°And so, if something falls outside our rather specialised scope, we have to then turn to native experts for aid. My life is unfortunately fragile, weak, and I am a marked man, hunted by future demon kings. I will fail eventually.¡± ¡°Before that, tell me how did you survive two demon kings?¡± ¡°Oh. The first one... Astra.¡± Harris took a deep breath. ¡°He did a cursed ritual, melding blood magic, star mana and the magic of the land. And whatever he did, well, it blew up the demon king. When the second demon king came along, he tried the same thing, but something happened and he died. That meant me, Becky, Mirei and Gerrard gathered together to face the demon king when we found out it was headed towards the Northern Isles. And although Astra died, whatever it used weakened that 2nd demon king significantly. Yet, we still lost Becky.¡± Ah. So whatever that hero did worked. Only, the price was too high to pay for it to be done more than once? ¡°The next demon king, we won¡¯t be so lucky.¡± Harris seemed to be waiting for a response from me, but I didn¡¯t reply. ¡°So, my family. My luck will run out eventually. I intend to still protect them, and existences like yourselves is an insurance I hope I never have to use.¡± ¡°Decades ago, though to me it feels just days ago, I told the royals then that they are free to seek refuge in my lands. I intend to maintain that principle, and so, your offsprings are free to seek refuge in my land. But like then, no special privileges.¡± Is this the fate of people like me, repeating the same sentences over and over again? I feel like a broken record, and it should fucking annoy me. I should outsource it to an artificial soul, or train a bunch of people to repeat my principles. Kinda like a call center, or a visitor center that repeat the rules to a bunch of unruly tourists. It¡¯ll be even better if they get to do it with the same lack of enthusiasm and boredness. Yeah. I should outsource and automate it. It¡¯ll be the first treetree service and call center. Or maybe an artificial mind, tasked to repeat the same responses many, many times. ¡°Hmm... not what I hoped it¡¯ll be, but that will do.¡± Harris frowned. ¡°So... where have you been hiding for the past 2 decades?¡± Me? ¡°I was asleep.¡± He laughed. ¡°Ah. And the survivors, they somehow made do in this... sunken valley?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Never mind. Back to what I initially came for, once I return I will begin commissioning the construction of the spell-storage gems, and I will have them delivered. Let me know once you¡¯ve finished infusing your skills in them.¡± ¡°How?¡± I mean, I¡¯ve never seen such an item, I doubt they come with easily-understood manuals, and even if they did, they are usually made for humanoids, not trees. ¡°Good point. I¡¯ll come over with it.¡± At this point, I remember the two heroes that are trapped. I pondered whether to let Harris know about them, and I considered the consequences, whether he would doubt or suspect that I have anything to do with it. Then I decided, it was probably best if I told him anyway. Maybe heroes get special rewards for freeing their friends¡¯ souls. ¡°Harris. When I was asleep, I saw your friends.¡± ¡°My friends?¡± ¡°Simone and Victor. Their souls were captured by the demon king, and they are being corrupted.¡± Harris¡¯s face paled instantly. ¡°What?! Where? How? How do you know?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know much, and I saw it in... a dream, but they are likely to be near where you all fought the demon king. Look for a red crystal, and break it.¡± He paused, and he paced the room in circles. ¡°I swore we cleared out the field in an attempt to clean up the corruption, but then again... it could be hidden underground. I must let Mirei and Gerrard know if this is true. It explains the weird dreams we¡¯ve been having. They must have been trying to speak to us but couldn¡¯t get through.¡± Outside, Harris¡¯s entourage was getting restless. It¡¯s been almost two hours. ¡°I¡¯m not able to free them, but maybe you could.¡± Honestly, there really was no way I could reach the demon king¡¯s site, with all the sludge and corruption between us and them. Harris nodded. ¡°On this matter, I will handle it. I will be in touch.¡± And with that, Harris and his entourage left. There wasn¡¯t much he could do about the [message] system¡¯s failure in this area, because the magical interference came from the vast fields of sludge, and the hero with the communication tower ability died a few years ago. Theoretically, if I clear out enough of the sludge, magical interference and decay will drop and the [messaging] system will restore itself. I suppose on top of behaving like a polluting oil, it also emits some kind of magical wave that causes magic to break down over time. Very similar to hex, really. ¡°He was here before, TreeTree?¡± Jura asked. ¡°Yeah. You don¡¯t recognise him?¡± ¡°He said he was mostly with Lady Mika, so he didn¡¯t really particularly stick in my mind.¡± Jura said. ¡°It¡¯s hard to recognise people I¡¯ve met twenty years ago. He doesn¡¯t even look the same.¡± ¡°He looks largely the same to my spirit vision. But his glow is larger than before, I suppose it¡¯s the levels. He¡¯s not exactly hiding his presence. Or maybe he can¡¯t, he doesn¡¯t have the right skills.¡± ¡°Ah well. Thankfully his entourage were well behaved once he was out of sight. They¡¯re just putting up a show when he is around. Interestingly, they don¡¯t like each other all that much. I think they all work for different people.¡± ¡°His different wives, perhaps.¡± I mentally chuckled. Is this the logical outcome of a harem? I mean, sure, the harem can get along, but once everyone has their own children with the same father, it¡¯s just a source of conflict isn¡¯t it? Every mother wants to protect her own offspring, and so they compete for attention. Human nature makes it so that it is hard to be fair, and be seen and perceived as fair. Even if he acted fairly, it may appear as favoritism. Jura laughed too. ¡°Well, that¡¯s why I¡¯m single. I spend too much time practicing.¡± - My efforts to mix normal mana and star mana did help to improve its efficiency, but I still haven¡¯t gotten a skill for it. Thanks to that, we¡¯ve managed to expand the forest to cover a long strip of land that leads to one of the nearby towns. I¡¯ve decided to still leave a large patch of unconverted sludge between my forest and the town, just as a moat, but this entire process meant they only had to travel about 1 month through the sludge, and they¡¯ll arrive at the edges of that long forest. Viewed from above, it¡¯s like the forest extended one long ass vine to reach for the town. Meanwhile, my research on the demonic hybrids also made some progress. I¡¯ve gained some more understanding of their nature, such as their bodies actually absorb ambient energies and convert it to their demonic mana. In a way, it¡¯s... air-powered. They don¡¯t need sunlight, but they do need some water, and they absorb it from the air, which is why they can exist in multiple forms and colors. They also have like some kind of water-vision, which means they will often target non-native animals, like elves or humans, or even ordinary wildlife which has far higher water content than the demonic hybrids. Are these demons like... some kind of reimagination of animals in a post-water scarcity world? Mars in it¡¯s dying days? I¡¯ve yet to connect to the wider network of these hybrid trees, fearing that they may overwhelm me. So far, all my attempted connections have been with standalone hybrid trees that have been isolated. They respond well to demonic mana, but when flooded with my normal mana they just freeze and enter hibernation. Still, I persisted, and I carved a segment where I experiment more on them. Maybe these hybrid trees can act as a first line of filter, such that they ¡®weaken¡¯ the demonic energy¡¯s pressure at the edges. Something like an absorbent or suspension, having a transitory species of trees that can act as a medium between the two varying ecologies. Maybe I can engineer something. A new plant species that straddle the two worlds. At that very thought, I felt a huge repulsion, of disgust from the rest of my network of trees. These feelings, they come from the native trees, and they despised that thought. Hah! Natives. I¡¯m a foreigner, outworlder too! Why do you not reject me then? Besides, plants certainly evolve in my world, these hybrids are clearly an adaptation, an evolution in this world. Why exclude these newcomers? Spaizzer Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy the chapter :) Expanding Frontier Year 112 At first I left a gap of Rottedlands between the wider uncorrupted world and my recovered areas, as I expanded. Beneath all the once corrupted lands were normal lands, and some of them had minerals, or had geological features that were once hidden by the sludge. Clearing the land meant all these were revealed, and the new trees used to clear these spaces discovered the higher concentration of certain minerals when their roots extended into the ground. Some of these were common minerals, like regular iron, or copper. Some areas were just certain types of soil that were suitable for making pottery or clay. I¡¯d imagine these resources would be suitable for construction or allow the creation of certain industries. Though our population is still only about 3,000ish, if the refugees come along, I would see this amount increase over time. There will be refugees. ¡°How would they get past the Rottedlands?¡± Jura asked. ¡°Good... point.¡± That was when I realised my idea of creating a moat was quite stupid. Sure, the moat makes it harder for enemies to come in, and it also helped to thin any army¡¯s numbers by having to fight the demons, but, it almost completely denied the refugees or anyone who wanted to live in my domain. And that meant I would forever have a far smaller army to work with. Refugees in this world are mostly escapees of war, though they are desperate and may have levels, they are mostly unarmed and would not survive a whole month through the Rottedlands. Since any army that wants a piece of me would march through the Rottedlands anyway, with all the necessary logistics to survive the journey, I decided to make smaller paths to the outside world, which would then be fortified with walls, various tree-defenses, and a huge bunch of beetles. That way, prospective refugees can still get a safe path in. I can¡¯t do the same things as expect a better result. An expansionary approach is something I didn¡¯t try, though I am fond of the turtling concept. In fact, maybe that¡¯s why I¡¯m even a tree. A tree by nature is a immobile, but perhaps I should embrace rapid expansion of weeds. ¡°We¡¯re already drawing attention.¡± A few of the survivors said. ¡°Aeon¡¯s expansion has made our lands very attractive.¡± ¡°There¡¯s so few of us. We can¡¯t hold off those lands.¡± Jura shook his head. ¡°Aeon has decided to hold on to those lands. Anyone who wants it will have to go through his army.¡± In fact, a nearby kingdom officially launched an invasion force of 30,000. They would cut across the small strip of Rottedlands and then start to settle in reclaimed areas closest to their kingdom. It wasn¡¯t much of a battle. By the time that army did cross the Rottedlands, they lost about 2,000 people. They gained levels, though. When they emerged from the Rottedlands, Jura helped make an announcement that they are invading my lands. Of course, they ignored it. Then, they were attacked by hidden beetles, scattered across the newly made forests. There were some high leveled individuals in there, perhaps around level 50 to 80, and for those, I dealt with them personally. Mostly by just harassing them with [serpentine rootstrike], and a volley of poisonous fruits from everywhere. Didn¡¯t take long for the 30,000 to become only 20,000, and then deciding that it¡¯s better to just run away, since they soon realised the army of beetles is a lot bigger than they were prepared for. I have 100,000 subsidiary trees, and that meant if I ever max out on beetles, that¡¯s a total of 500,000 beetles. 500,000 beetles that regenerate 100,000 beetles per month. It¡¯s just... I could zerg-rush the nearest kingdoms. How many kingdoms can fight off 100,000 beetles each month anyway? Of course, I can¡¯t practically max out beetles, since I have some dedicated for other roles, like housing, like training areas, or some as defenses. There¡¯s also the issue of levels. I mean, if someone kills 100,000 beetles, I¡¯m damned sure the system¡¯s going to give him some super beetle-immunity, or beetle resistance, or beetle-slayer abilities. In fact, this very issue is why it¡¯s better to have a diversified army, because if at any time your opponent ever gains a skill advantage, it applies over the entirety of the army. Imagine if a [general] had [beetle slayer general] or something like that. That would mean my beetles are effectively useless. Or maybe some mage gets [Bugspray] or something. Ugh. After that defeat, there was no more invasion for the rest of the year. I count that as a yay, because obviously now the other kingdoms realised it ain¡¯t easy trying to take land away from a tree. Trade and commerce is gradually returning, and so the survivors reorganised themselves as a new administrative body for the entire land, once again, with me as the spiritual leader. There¡¯s no large scale refugee movement yet, not with the land being relatively peaceful. The demonic rifts have yet to reopen, and the hybrids of the Rottedlands don¡¯t seem to stray far from their native environment. ¡°Any opinions?¡± Jura went and met Yvon in her training tree. Yvon gained a wooden form that can talk and communicate with people, but unlike Meela or Alexis, her wooden body remained stuck in her tree. Quite strange, and I reckon the heroes just have special treatment. ¡°Strategically, Aeon should communicate with all the nearby kingdoms for alliances, and since the land is unoccupied, perhaps he could arrange some kind of lease or vassalage system. Maybe work with some unhappy nobles in the kingdoms who¡¯d be happy to defect over to Aeon¡¯s side, since Aeon would probably allow for a wider range of flexibility than some insecure King. In short, an arrangement similar to New Freeka, but open to the rest of them.¡± ¡°There¡¯s going to be conflict.¡± Jura shook his head. ¡°You¡¯ve seen how sensitive Aeon is with certain matters.¡± ¡°It can be managed. I personally have begun to realise it¡¯s a question of distance. Aeon cares a lot less about what the kingdoms do, when they are far away. I suggest declaring this entire valley some kind of Holy Land. Then all the cities that spring out around the valley to be the Holy Land¡¯s Defender Nations.¡± Jura just paused, and stared at Yvon¡¯s wooden face. ¡°Seriously.¡± ¡°It¡¯s what the human kingdoms did a long time ago. The lesser human vassal nations around the main human country were referred to as the Paladin Kingdoms, the capital was the Sacred City of the Hero King.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°History¡¯s interesting. It tells us what has been done before, and what we can do again.¡± Yvon nodded. ¡°I would definitely recommend this strategy to Aeon. Lesser nations under one Spiritual Protector. Aeon¡¯s already worshipped back in the days of New Freeka, a returning deity surely can sway the minds of many. He should very much take advantage of his past reputation, and his now-public relationship with the hero.¡± The hero, Harris. Ah yes. Harris¡¯s visit was widely publicized. The affairs of Harris, the Harem Hero Emperor was tabloid fodder. They speculated whether there¡¯s a woman waiting for him at my place, or perhaps an illegitimate child. Harris has quite a special position according to the merchants, as he built his empire by reclaiming vast amounts of Rottedlands. In fact, his entire territory sits on reclaimed Rottedlands, with his army of summoned knights to patrol and fight off any monsters. Each time one of his many women has a child, he would reclaim more land, which would be awarded to that newly born child, though still managed by the crown. I can¡¯t help but mentally laugh at the idea. I mean, he¡¯s like totally living the life of many isekai main characters, and the consequences of that sort of lifestyle, such that he has to reclaim land to secure the future of each of his many children. As it turned out, heroes¡¯ children actually do not inherit any of their father or mother¡¯s special blessings, so their children are absolutely ordinary, except for their special station in life. Of course, their special station in life means they get the best trainers, teachers, equipment and gear, which, if they use it properly, that¡¯ll be good. But his oldest child, a teenager at 17 years old, is rumored to be arrogant, abuses his status as the prince and like his father, a womaniser. I mean, he had fun during the years having so many women, so now he has to deal with the consequences of having so many women, right? Once he passes away some day in the future, maybe his kids will squabble and a war will break out among their children over the land. Since all the children all receive special star-mana weapons, extra enchantments and stuff, surely there will be perceived inequality and there will be war. I¡¯ve seen it in telenovela, or even business empires! In a way, maybe Yvon is right. I am in the unique position of being a nigh-immortal tree, surely any empire I build will last longer than one of human heroes. It¡¯s a norm that few empires survive their founders. I spent some time thinking about it, and I think it¡¯s a good idea, and totally worth trying. Let¡¯s try an expansionary strategy, and I do like the idea that this entire valley is sacred land. The survivors grouped together and split the territories around us into ten parcels, for now, with more to come as I expand further, and a declaration was made. Ten parcels of land awaiting for settlement, a constitution drafted, with terms closing resembling that of the old New Freeka, but with some modifications. A map was made, areas marked as ¡®protected¡¯ territories, where no large scale settlement or logging can be made, and areas where the settlers can build their own homes. Each of the ten parcels were to determine their own rulers or governors, but they would have to operate under my umbrella, provide a contribution to the overall military and magic defense, and accept instructions that I may periodically bestow. In short, I¡¯ve become the tooltip or foreign monarch that¡¯s now going to handout duties to my new vassals. Kind of like Tropico. Then, with the aid of some merchants, an invitation was made to everyone on the entirety of our continent. Though I suppose the message first got to the rich and powerful, eventually it¡¯ll spread to the common folk. Come. Join the Rottedlands Restoration Effort! Open up New Lands! Rebuild the Lost Cities of the past! Be part of Aeon¡¯s Domain. Aeon¡¯s Frontier! Be, a pioneer! Ten largely self-governing parcels for the taking! Come! And I waited. Of course, this decision rather surprised Yvon and Jura, both didn¡¯t think I would do something like that. I know. I probably wouldn¡¯t. But my old strategy was not working, I want to grow! If it didn¡¯t work, I can just crush them with my army of 500,000 beetles! With that settled, I moved on to other matters. Harris was supposed to return with a bunch of artifacts that could store my skills, but he didn¡¯t come this year. A messenger came and notified us that procurement of the necessary materials took far longer than expected. And Eriz¡¯s transformation into a [nursery tree] was quite interesting, and fascinating. She¡¯s essentially a large tree that¡¯s like a childcare center, and like Yvon, she too can take the form of a tree person. Interestingly, she can make multiple copies of herself within the childcare center, and her mind somehow allows her to do all the things together. A part of her tree is able to produce all sorts of milk and saps to feed the young children, some even directly via vines that are shaped like milk bottles, or for the centaurs, udders, or for the treefolk, thick sap-like drops. It¡¯s really cool, and she gained level quite quickly. ¡°It¡¯s quite surreal to still see you, mom.¡± Roma said to Yvon, he sat inside her tree, practicing. ¡°I mourn your death, and yet, here you are.¡± She tapped Roma on the head. ¡°Well, looks like fate has other plans for me.¡± ¡°More like Aeon had other plans for you. And I¡¯m not quite sure if I like it.¡± She shrugged. - As the year slowly reached it¡¯s end, after all that fighting and expanding, I got something I wanted. [You have gained a level. You are now level 153] [Your skill - Natural Mana Overwhelming has been upgraded]. I hoped for a new skill, but it seemed the system was more keen on just upgrading my skills. Still, it made it easier for my mana to push back and put out the demonic mana. Next year, I would be closing in on the volcano and the Southwest Forest. I¡¯d hope to see how the rod and Dimitree¡¯s artificial mind is holding up. I had the notification that I lost my connection to Dimitree, but not one that indicated that he died. Perhaps, with the use of the magical leyline, he was able to use it¡¯s mana to push back against the demonic corruption. That would be great, since I wouldn¡¯t have to rebuild that entire Southwest forest. I would like to start reconnecting with the Lilies again. I have a lot of questions, and I think only great old beings like them can answer it. Oh. Naming! ¡°So, we need to brainstorm a name for our new city.¡± The survivors reconvened. Apparently it was an important matter, because they didn¡¯t know how to describe themselves, and they didn¡¯t want to use the name of New Freeka, which was destroyed. The conversation went somewhat like this. ¡°Neo Freeka.¡± ¡°Too similar to the old name.¡± ¡°Freekabaru.¡± ¡°Eww.¡± ¡°Free-la?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°AeonFreeka?¡± ¡°Sounds too much like a bad nickname.¡± ¡°Aeonland?¡± ¡°No!¡± After days, and I think weeks of numerous meetings, no one could settle on a name, because everyone wanted something else, and in the end, they voted as a whole, to force me to name the area. I didn¡¯t have a good name either. NewNewFreeka? Nope. EvenBetterFreeka? Freeka 3.0? Nope. In the end, because we are deep in the Rottedlands, I decided something that opposed the meaning of ¡®Rotted¡¯. Freshka. Yes. The City of Freshka. I felt numerous facepalms in the entirety of the valley, as if a million dreams were silenced and crushed all at once. I thought I was quite clever, but everyone else didn¡¯t. But, they reluctantly accepted my proposed name. Because Freshka is Fresher! Fresh! Like new, but Fresh! It¡¯s like a bad cringey commercial. If Meela was here she¡¯d say my naming sense is atrocious. Freshka! The good thing is, it¡¯s just going to be the name of the new city that¡¯s going to be built at a new location, quite a distance from the valley. I mean, now that large areas are back to their normal, forested ways, not everyone wants to live near a giant flaming tree anymore. So, they found a place where there¡¯s a river, a nice slightly sloped flatland to start their new city. 3,000 people made the move there. The second new capital of the other restored lands. The other being Harris¡¯s empire, of course, which is on the other side of the continent. If the entire Rottedlands was an apple, his empire would be shaped like a bite into the apple. Should I call the general area Freshlands, then? Freshans. Freeshkans. Freeshans don¡¯t sound that bad either. Plant Fossils Year 113 Time is running out, and Harris¡¯s panic reflected that. ¡°Only 10?¡± I asked, I looked at the 10 crystalline objects. ¡°It¡¯s a lot harder to obtain spell crystals at the necessary quality and purity. These 10 spell-matrices are able to store one skill or ability, which can be reused up to 3 times each.¡± ¡°That¡¯s only 30 uses.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a lot better than nothing.¡± Harris nodded. ¡°If I manage to get more, I certainly will bring them over, but rather than wait, I thought of just testing these 10 out now.¡± ¡°True. Never know if they might fail.¡± Harris was alone in the valley, his army of entourage was not allowed in, and so they made themselves comfortable in the new city of Freshka. I looked at the 10 items, and asked. ¡°So, you¡¯ll give me some of them?¡± He paused, and he rubbed his head. ¡°I know I agreed to give it to you, but, uh... it¡¯ll affect my survival chances. Can I just give you one, first? And if I live, I¡¯ll give you 5 of these spell matrices.¡± ¡°Will they break after they are used?¡± I sort of think they wouldn¡¯t because they look incredibly well made, and the material¡¯s gorgeous. I¡¯d imagine these things to fetch an incredibly high price if one were to even try doing it. ¡°Uh, they shouldn¡¯t. They need to have the skills re-inserted again. They just become empty. You can try it out, though, uh... there¡¯s a recharge time before they can start receiving skills again.¡± It wasn¡¯t hard to input a skill into the crystal. All I had to do was think of the skill I wanted to use, and then sort of ¡®will¡¯ it into the gem. I got it after like, twenty tries. So, all 10 gems now have [Steelwood Barrier], and he kept 9 of it. They had a faint greenish glow. ¡°Partly why it took me so long, is because, I wanted a gem that essentially replicates all the effects of a skill, not just store the skill. There are plenty of spell-matrices out there that stores just the skill, but those lose the passive effects and other caster-specific qualities that make the spell or skill strong. After all, I¡¯m quite certain your strength comes from a lot more than just the skill alone.¡± I didn¡¯t have to reply. Harris probably noticed my reluctance as he quickly changed the topic to something else. ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t tell you, but we found the red crystal that was mentioned. It was indeed hidden under a massive pile of sludge. And we broke it.¡± Oh. I haven¡¯t checked on the two heroes in a while. Indeed, I couldn¡¯t access that area anymore. ¡°We?¡± ¡°Gerrard and Mirei found some time out of their busy schedule to visit. They should be on their way here.¡± Two more heroes? I wasn¡¯t prepared for that. ¡°Why are they coming here?¡± ¡°Nothing much, just to meet up and discuss some things in your presence. Gerrard seemed to have something that he says will be valuable to you, and us.¡± ¡°Me?¡± What could a hero say that could be of use to me? Harris took some time to stay in the new buildings in Freshka, as the rest of the heroes arrived a few days later. They look different and in Mirei¡¯s case, she¡¯s grown a lot taller. Gerrard was lean, tanned and had shoulder-length hair. They both have aged, and now look like actual adults. ¡°So, this is where the tree is?¡± Gerrard asked. Mirei nodded. ¡°Yeah. We got lucky when we started out around here, and we got our basic combat training here. At least, well, when it was here.¡± ¡°I see.¡± They soon approached Freshka, and regrouped with Harris. After a bit of chitchat and catchup, they came to see me. Gerrard seemed quite interested. ¡°It¡¯s really, really big.¡± ¡°I had the impression that all tree spirits are large.¡± Mirei said. ¡°Or is this one of your half-drunk statements?¡± ¡°Not at all. I might be half-drunk most of the time, but tree spirits do go through regular growth periods! I¡¯ve met small tree spirits before.¡± Gerrard looked quite relaxed around me. Harris took out the spell-matrices and showed it to the other 2. Mirei ooohed. ¡°I¡¯m still working on spell-matrices that are able to absorb and temporarily recreate the anti-demon aura. It¡¯s a lot harder than I thought.¡± ¡°I could upgrade your familiars to special familiars, it comes with the demonic aura after a few levels.¡± I spoke, as I recall Lausanne did have a lesser version of the aura. ¡°It¡¯s not as strong as mine.¡± They agreed, and so I upgraded it. For Mirei and Harris, it seemed the levels that the existing familiars carried over to the new star-mana powered familiars, and they unlocked the lesser demonic suppression aura instantly. For Gerrard, this was the first time he received the familiar but he didn¡¯t seem entirely surprised by it. ¡°Fascinating, isn¡¯t it?¡± Harris said. ¡°Not bad.¡± Gerrard said. ¡°So... you said there¡¯s something you wanted to share?¡± Gerrard nodded and opened his bag. He took out a strange item, it resembled a really, really dried piece of wood. ¡°Yes. I also have a gift for Aeon, actually.¡± He placed the dried piece of wood on the table, and the moment I touched it, I felt a notification in my head. [You¡¯ve received a fragment of the ancient tree that was destroyed thousands of years ago.] That very moment, I felt happy. It was a joy that came from the entirety of my network, like, all my trees felt happy to be touched by that... fragment. I couldn¡¯t respond for a while, as I had to manage a rush of emotions that went through my head. Thoughts too. There are objects that can do this to me in the world! Is it because my [Grand mind Tree] still needed repairs? The three heroes waited for a while for my response, and they just talked among themselves. ¡°Aeon?¡± Harris asked. Gerrard looked at Harris and Mirei, and then just sat down. ¡°It¡¯ll take a while. I gave this same thing to a few other spirits and they all froze. Or, didn¡¯t respond to me for at least a day. Maybe we can go have a drink, first.¡± The heroes chatted among themselves again, and then they left. [You¡¯ve analysed the ancient tree¡¯s fragment. You gained a level. You are now level 154.] [Skill : Subsidiary tree upgraded. 200,000 Trees!] [Skill : Woodshaping significantly upgraded] Then, I started to see... visions. It felt like I was watching television, as scene after scene flickered before me. Memories of the ancient tree, engraved it it¡¯s body. Like how a tree recorded what it suffered through in the rings of it¡¯s trunk, the fragment contained its ancient memories. A vision. Vast expanse of forests, jungles. Sea. Monsters. Dragons. Humans. Elves. Small towns and some cities. Then a falling red star. Then it was an... emotion. Not a scene, but a feeling of instability, of falling. Like I was pulled out by something, and then started falling. Then demons. Demons everywhere. I see visions of... dragons- Then it ended, so very quickly. No. More? I tried to access it again, but it felt like a teaser trailer that was too short. I accessed the shard again, but all it did was play the same scenes in repeat. ¡°I need more.¡± I spoke to the three heroes, who are relaxing in Freshka. That feeling, like, I was robbed of knowledge, of knowing some but not enough. I needed more. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s the last one I have. I¡¯ve given out every shard I have to other tree spirits. You¡¯ll have to get it from them.¡± Gerrard shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know there was a tree spirit here, so I only kept one.¡± ¡°How many did you have? How many have you given out?¡± I asked, my entire being trying to hold back a sense of need and desperation that comes from the rest of me. Like, is this a kind of mind control? I need that [grand mind tree] repaired as soon as possible! ¡°Uh... I had 3. One to you, one to Lilies, and another one to the Frozen Tree in the Northern Isles.¡± Lilies had one. Maybe I can negotiate directly with Lilies for a loan. I don¡¯t really need to keep the fragment, just analyse it to get a more coherent picture of the past. Wait. Why am I going down this train of thought again? Harris ribbed Gerrard. ¡°So, uh, wait. What were you trying to do?¡± ¡°Oh. You know I¡¯ve been going around making all sorts of herbal liqueur? I found that collecting those from ancient tree spirits, or powerful tree spirits can produce a high quality herbal liqueur with strong suppression qualities. So, I set out creating uh... a blended herbal liqueur. I¡¯ve collected about 7 tree spirit herbs, leaves and barks.¡± Mirei just smacked her palm to her face. ¡°Oh. So all this just to fulfill your alcohol desires?¡± ¡°Look. Don¡¯t judge me and my hobbies. Harris has his harem, you have your ballroom and fancy otome-game politics, leave me as the hermit eccentric brewer of strange drinks.¡± Gerrard got quite defensive. ¡°I even gained levels with it.¡± ¡°What?!¡± They both paused. ¡°I haven¡¯t gained a level since we fought the demon king!¡± ¡°The system¡¯s busted, we all know that. But it turned out you can actually gain levels from doing non-fighting things.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t match my experience.¡± Harris frowned. ¡°I¡¯ve been clearing up large areas of land and all, not a single level.¡± Mirei nodded too. ¡°Which class did you gain a level in? Your [hero] class, or something else?¡± ¡°No, not [hero]. My [Master Brewer] class. Collecting unusual and rare items, and brewing with them did gain me levels. ANYWAY!¡± Gerrard shouted. ¡°Aeon, right? Uh... I want your herbs, leaves and a bit of your bark.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± He gave me a level, that¡¯s fair, I suppose. I¡¯ve made herbal drinks and tea all the time anyway. Herbal alcoholic drinks, well, I sort of mentally smacked myself there. Why didn¡¯t I think of that? Or wait, maybe the wineries did create herbal versions of the wine. ¡°But I want the other piece, the one with that Frozen Tree. Tell them it¡¯s a loan, you can return it to them after I¡¯m done analysing them.¡± ¡°Uh...¡± Gerrard seemed even more defensive. ¡°A gift given to a tree spirit is never asked back. I won¡¯t do that, I¡¯ll lose my supply of magical frozen herbal leaves! Hmm... How do I negotiate this? Maybe I should do so directly. ¡°Then bring a small sapling of mine to it. Place it near to it.¡± A small [tree of prayer], a messenger from me. I would have to find a way to communicate with my other trees that are outside the network. Could I have roots that cross the ocean? But the chance to communicate with another tree spirit! ¡°That... that I can do.¡± Gerrard promised, and he looked at the small bag of leaves, bark and roots with great interest. He took a small piece of root out and smelled it. He licked a bit. The other two heroes looked at him and their faces were just plain disgusted. ¡°You lick your materials?¡± ¡°I got to know how they taste. My tongue has a special skill, [Brewer¡¯s Taste Buds], which lets me know how well it¡¯ll go together with the rest of my brew! Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll clean it up.¡± ¡°Eww.¡± ¡°You guys don¡¯t know how hard it is to get an audience with tree spirits. So far, this tree fragment has been my most successful method to get new herbal materials!¡± ¡°Where did you even get such a thing? I don¡¯t imagine you would end up checking every single fragment of wood you encounter.¡± Harris asked. ¡°It was in a random abandoned temple on the Shaffar coast of the western continent, I was led there by a druid who spoke of a dead religion of some kind, in my quest to find rare herbal ingredients for my herbal alcohol!¡± At this point, I intervened. ¡°Never mind. Are there more?¡± ¡°Uh... I took everything. Unless I missed it, which I could have because honestly I didn¡¯t pay those fragments much attention. They look like half-rotten wood, not exactly something my eyes are drawn to.¡± Half-rotten wood! ¡°Let¡¯s change the topic.¡± Mirei shrugged. ¡°Harris said Aeon has some rather interesting... weapons.¡± It was then that Harris brought out some of the wooden spears and swords. ¡°Yes. These are the anti-demon weapons, and I¡¯m wondering if we, the 3 of us, together with Aeon¡¯s wooden weapons as the chassis. I¡¯d like to explore that possibility, together.¡± Harris didn¡¯t mention this the last time we met, but heroic grade anti-demon weapons, but the thought of it makes sense. The weapons they create using the rare materials from this world are strong, but not specifically anti-demons. So, the three heroes spent days with me. I used wood forming magic to form wooden weapons infused with my anti-demon powers, and the three heroes added their enchantments. Later on, they formed the wooden weapons together with me, as I shaped the wood into it¡¯s weapon shape, their star-mana joined in and helped. It was a long process, but the heroes clearly fear for their lives. I could sense all 3 of them have lingering, deep-seated memories of their many battles with different demon kings, and it reflected the sudden focus they have. After two weeks, they all had wooden weapons they were satisfied with, but yet they still fear whether it is enough. As Mirei put it, they are summoner-heroes, and yet the world forces them to still play the role of a combat-focused hero, so they had to resort to such preparations. ¡°We can¡¯t do this forever.¡± Gerrard looked at his curved wooden blade, infused with a mix of wood and heroic energy. He sounded a bit dejected. They left all the rejected ones behind for me, which are all incredibly powerful items in their own way, but just not to the level they need. I intend to later spend some time to further analyse them, and see whether I can use my own star mana to similar effects. ¡°No we can¡¯t. But we must try.¡± ¡°Age catches up to us, even if magic keeps us young for now. Killing the demon king is just... temporary. If there¡¯s some way we can just seal the demon king, I wonder whether that would stop the demon king from repeating.¡± He said, and then he had a headache immediately. He quickly opened a gourd next to him, and drank from it. ¡°We can¡¯t even seal a demon walker.¡± Mirei laughed. They left a few days after. Seal the demon king. Would that actually stop the cycle? - My prior year¡¯s effort to market myself as fresh land for refugees, unhappy nobles and all that brought a huge amount of people. There were fights, naturally, among refugees squabbling over the best spots, but the space was large enough that they dispersed over the 10 sectors. Even then, fighting was going to happen, and this time, I¡¯m staying out of it. I will work with whoever their chosen ruler and, and so long as they operate under my framework, I will leave them be. That¡¯s what a vassal is, right? This promise of unclaimed lands attracted all sorts of people. People who are unhappy with their existing ruler¡¯s tax regimes, or with insecure borders, or people on the run. Some just wanted to try out something else, and eventually, a few smaller settlements formed. Over time, many of these smaller villages and settlements will agglomerate and form into towns and cities proper, but that¡¯ll be over a few more years. Freshka too, located in what is considered the ¡®core-region¡¯ of the new land, experienced some influx of settlers. The promise of fertile lands, bountiful harvests blessed by a watchful tree spirit was attractive to some farmers. In each sector, after the migrants started coming in, I placed a [Tree of Prayer], and a few [Giant Attendant Trees], which acted as their segment¡¯s focal points. Jura, and some of the followers, set up a new Valtrian Order. And the Valtrian Order¡¯s task, this time, is to recruit promising young children from all the ten segments, to form my new reformed Valthorn Initiates. Of course, for now, no recruitment has actually started. It¡¯s only the first year they are coming in. I¡¯ll start next year. But the plan and infrastructure is ready. By the end of the year, 5 of the 10 sectors have been settled, and on average, home to about 10,000 each, for a total of 50,000! There¡¯s a bit of gang wars and internal fighting, but nothing overt, yet. I probably should get someone to watch them, like Ivy. To keep watch of any high-risk individuals, and so, I created a new artificial soul. Jasmine. Not the princess, of course. During this year, I¡¯ve also stretched my trees to reconnect with the Verdant Volcano and the Southwest Forests. I was relieved to discover they both survived, even if the area they covered had shrunk significantly. It seemed that the energy from the Volcano and the leyline was strong enough to push back at the sludge, and it helped that they were quite far from the epicenter of the sludge than I was, so, lucky for them, the pressure from the sludge was weaker. Dimitree, which I lost connected to, was still alive, if not a bit... insane. It went off in gibberish for a good three months, as I spent time ¡®repairing¡¯ it¡¯s internal structure. So, I was just glad to not have to start from scratch. Dimitree eventually recovered from his insanity, being disconnected from me for so long. I didn¡¯t allow him to speak for a long time, because he was just incoherent. The volcano crater and the Forest Rod survived, thankfully, but the sludge got as far as half-way up the volcano. So, with this, my soul forge¡¯s other abilities are restored, and my soul collectors are back in business. - Treepping Year 114 A group of 5 mages came, selling some kind of service. For payment, they would help create spell formations around and on city walls, for use against monsters, and demons. They were all quite high leveled, around level 50-60, and they quickly met the Freshkan leaders. In their mind, every new town or city must have protective enchantments. They all are well dressed, and clearly made good money making these enchantments for many towns, but they came to the wrong place. The new ruling body told them they are not interested, and they soon left to the rest of the smaller towns to ply their wares. That said. I was actually quite interested in defensive spell formations, and so when one of the new smaller villages actually coughed up a bit of money for a spell formation, my trees watched it intently. Simply put, I was trying to learn their defensive spell formations by observation. Clearly, if I could augment my defensive formations with magical spells, that¡¯ll make me even more tanky. Though, from what I could see using my [spirit vision], the defensive spell formation is essentially a 5 part process. The first part is the power source, in the case of the small village, this is a set of mana stones they embed in the village head¡¯s home. The second, is a set of runes or spells meant to extract power from that mana stone, and also an activation keystone. The third, is the actual defensive spell, written into a formation of runes or stored in crystals matrices. Unlike the ones used by Harris, these crystals have the spell written into the crystal itself via physical carving of runes into the crystal, so that the spell memorised doesn¡¯t get forgotten. The fourth, is the projection and casing of the crystals, such that they don¡¯t get accidentally knocked out, or trigger unnecessarily. So, there¡¯s a smaller set of items, usually metallic or wood, with some more runes, to protect the crystals from other triggers. There is also an item, in the case of the village, a wooden holder that points the crystal outwards, so that it projects the spell in the right direction. The fifth is a coherence and synchronisation process, such that all the crystal matrices trigger at the same time, and respond to the same activation key. Of course, the mages were more than happy to explain the mumbo jumbo to the clueless villagers, because they knew the villagers probably wouldn¡¯t remember it anyway, nor would they be able to reproduce it. One of the mages is more than happy to show off how smart he is as he explained the process of creating defensive formations to a bunch of young ladies. Maybe he would get laid that night, but I didn¡¯t care. Essentially, if I were to think about it for me, it¡¯s entirely possible for me to use a magical leyline, or the volcano, or even myself, as the centerpiece of a magical defense formation. Or, use a vast field of [tuberous storage], which stores mana, as a massive battery array. Then, using the mana from the tuberous storage, to power a huge set of magical runes, which super-charges a my various [shield generators], to create far stronger wooden shields. Isn¡¯t it? Or if I could create star mana storage arrays, that would greatly work too, but from what I overheard, the ¡®extraction¡¯ method from the storage would need to be compatible with the spell. Runes are sensitive things, and need to be written to the right size, and with the right types of mana. I should learn runic enchantments, no? A magical tree with runes! What could go wrong? Later, I spoke of this idea to Yvon and Jura. Strangely, Yvon was quite supportive. Then it hit me. ¡°It¡¯s a good idea, but I don¡¯t recall runes working on living beings. Runic carvings and symbols are usually on inanimate objects.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± But why? We did some research, Jura spoke to some surviving mages, and it seemed that runes needed to be fixed, in the sense that the shape, material and all need to be fixed. So, because living things grow and move, the runes on living skin or bark will change shape. In short, runes are like a language that somehow mana can understand, and interact with, but it has to be fixed. This concept was quite easy to understand. I imagine it as an integrated chipboard, where the shape and layout helped to produce a certain result. There¡¯s an energy source, and that energy source passes through a set of logic gates, and then out comes a result, as designed. These runes are quite similar to wifi or wireless emitters, and their specific shape, design and material allows it to absorb or release these mana-waves. A specific runic shape therefore triggers an interaction with mana, which causes it to do certain things. So, now that the communication channels have returned, I insisted that we gather all the known runes from the world. If I could understand and use runes to make myself even stronger, I must do so. ¡°Aren¡¯t you concerned that your mana may interfere with the runes?¡± Yvon asked. ¡°True, but mana can be manipulated, and certainly I can shape it in such a way, so as to not interfere with each other.¡± Taking the logic circuit concept a step further, surely there must be a way to isolate each runes¡¯ inputs and outputs such that they do not clash with each other. Jura and the Freshkan council soon put out a request for rune-related books. A young mage was nominated to read the book to me, in Lausanne¡¯s place. Eriz levelled up quite quickly, and she¡¯s now level 20, and she now had the ability to create a split-body of herself, which I placed in the largest new town outside Freshka. Her service as a full-time babysitter is invaluable for parents who want to work the farm and all that. That¡¯s the angle we worked with, though she did have to hire some of the older folks to work with her in her [Nursery Subsidiary Tree]. Unlike me, her limit is very low, and right now at level 20 she can only create one subsidiary. In a way it makes sense, since I did get my subsidiary tree level at maybe around level 80, so mine can make more parts. Now I can make tens of thousands! If she could make that many nursery trees she could definitely flood the market and put nannies out of business. Still, children are few, but at least people are giving birth to kids. Laufen, now that her daughter is not around, has more time to dedicate herself to the charity arm of the new Valtrian Order. Again, to help support and provide social services, which are so formally lacking in this world. ¡°You never give up on that idea of orphan children as weapons of war, do you?¡± Yvon rebuked me one day as I discussed the idea with Laufen. ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re always out gathering young children, again.¡± ¡°They have little attachments, and nothing to lose. They have everything to prove to the world, and they need protection. Training them to fight is only natural, and giving that path of serving as potential fighters is a benefit.¡± ¡°I still think that isn¡¯t the best way forward. Fighters and mages are best when they have motivation and drive from deep within them. Some of these kids will get that, but most of them won¡¯t. Don¡¯t force them to fight if they don¡¯t really want to.¡± Yvon disagreed. ¡°I can tell from how they swing their weapons that they¡¯re here because its¡¯ the way to get fed.¡± ¡°Then what system do you propose, to replace this? Unless parents are willing to subject their children to extensive training, the odds of creating the Lausanne-class warrior battlegroup is next to none.¡± ¡°A recruitment event. Promise them things. Find those with a passion for what you do. In this world, it is often better to have one Level 90 man than one hundred level 50s. Everyone loves heroes, and aspire to be like them.¡± ¡°So you want me to sell a dream, instead of training all these children who can¡¯t fend for themselves?¡± ¡°Just give them basic training, but whether they want to move on to the next level, that depends on their passion, talent, and whether they really want it or not! They¡¯re children, I wouldn¡¯t force Roma to learn what he doesn¡¯t want to learn. What you are doing, even if these young impressionable children seem eager and willing, is forcing something on them, but they don¡¯t really know what they want.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that postpone their growth?¡± ¡°Why do you think so, Aeon? Levelling is not limited by age. A teenager that goes through hardship in his teens can gain as many levels as a young child under 10. Starting late is in no way a bigger impediment. A big part of levelling is about our own understanding and comprehension, and is in no way slowed by starting late.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t a person who learned how to swordfight younger than an older man who just started be more skilled?¡± ¡°Yes, but the older man¡¯s intellect and wisdom would have grown, and if he was the same level, he would catch up in time. Life experience contributes to level growth, not just starting from young.¡± That makes no sense. Lausanne clearly gained and reached levels far faster That was when Jura and one of the migrant scholars came into the training room. ¡°Lady Yvon¡¯s explanation of the late-bloomer levelling effect is fascinating, but it¡¯s still unclear which idea is right.¡± Huh. ¡°Oh, pardon me, Aeon. The idea of whether to start levelling young or levelling older is something that¡¯s quite contentious, though most still prefer to start levelling from a younger age. In Lady Yvon¡¯s defense, her argument can be modified that it is better for a young child to level in a wider variety of levels, or in generic levels, and only specialise in a later age.¡± ¡°True.¡± Yvon nodded. ¡°That¡¯s a good point, it¡¯s really about specialisation, not whether a child should learn and level. But back to our earlier conversation, Aeon. What I¡¯m trying to say is that a child may not know where his passions lie. I agree with training from young, but they should be exposed to a wider set of skills, and let them see where their heart takes them. Passion for a cause and a set of skills is important, and people are more likely to find it in their later ages, as their life experiences tell them where they fit best. Passion contributes to levelling speed, not just age.¡± ¡°I¡¯m confused, but I take it that I will continue to train children, but only at a base level for a wider skillset, and then let them choose their own focus or specialisation.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I¡¯m not actually attempting to reinvent the wheel here, this is just a rehash of our common primary school education system, where the kids go shallow on a broad number of subjects and then go deep when they find something they like? Only, well, the curricular is more combat and survival focused, like, combat training, basic magic assessment, farming, basic businesses. But Yvon, now a [Training Tree], quickly renamed herself, with a big signboard outside her tree. ¡°VonAcademy.¡± ¡°Quite full of yourself to name it after... yourself.¡± I teased her. Academyvon. But at the same time, I¡¯m pretty sure my poor naming sense infected her. Or is it just a Tree thing that trees aren¡¯t good with names? ¡°What. I¡¯m now a tree that focuses on training. The big training schools in the world all have big, well known names, so I should have a name too.¡± Naming aside, her job is to produce the future Lausanne-class warriors, and part of this is to recruit from the growing countryside. Because of that earlier discussion over late and young-bloomers, she decided to accept disciples from all ages, though the training is age-segregated for now. Jura, deciding that he didn¡¯t want to do much politicking, converted his role to an advisory, Chairperson role in the Freshkan council, and he introduced a centaur migrant to me later that day. ¡°You stand before Aeon, our true guardian of the valley and the refresher of the Rottedlands. Introduce yourself, Kavio.¡± Refreshka. That¡¯s the next name if Freshka falls again. ¡°Wow.¡± The centaur Kavio had never entered the sunken valley before, referred to now, as the Valley of the Unrotten. ¡°So there really is a giant tree that survived the valley.¡± Jura shrugged. ¡°Why do people even think we invented that story... in spite of all the evidence despite it.¡± ¡°I mean, well, rumors.¡± Kavio nodded. ¡°They tend to be massive, and because rumors are so common, the truth, if strange, becomes difficult to believe.¡¯ ¡°Anyway, introduce yourself.¡± Jura pointed to me. ¡°I¡¯m supposed to shout?¡± ¡°No. I can hear you just fine.¡± I spoke. He instantly stumbled, and for a centaur with 4 legs, well, he wasn¡¯t expecting it. ¡°Ah. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m Kavio, the newly elected leader of the Freshkan council. I migrated here last year and I was told that the council is in need of new people to help. I¡¯ve been told that all incoming leaders of the council should meet you... I just wasn¡¯t expecting it to be so.. Erm... massive.¡± Jura smacked his head. I know he tried, and anyone with a half-decent intelligence network knows I exist. But still, there¡¯s a lot of ignorant people in the world. I mean, in a world of demons, you don¡¯t believe a giant tree exists? ¡°So uh...¡± ¡°The intent of such a meeting is simple.¡± I said. ¡°The valley exists because I do. My powers hold the demonic sludge at bay. It¡¯s important that any leader who enters the Freshkan council is made fully aware of that my will is law, here.¡± Kavio gulped. Jura smiled. I think he did say I needed to be more... aggressive in what I say. Being too tree-like and passive meant everyone¡¯s going to try and get their way. ¡°The Freshkan Council¡¯s ability to govern is a delegation of authority. My authority. Is that clear, Council Leader Kavio?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Good. Your audience was well noted. You may leave. There are more lands I must reclaim.¡± Jura nodded, and they both left. But I listened to their conversation as they walked out of the Sunken Valley¡¯s tunnel. ¡°I¡¯m not really a leader, isn¡¯t it?¡± Kavio asked Jura. ¡°Well, there¡¯s a reason why no one wanted the job and you got it. Your new job requires you to regularly meet Aeon and advise him on what is happening. Key diplomatic and military decisions must be approved by Aeon personally.¡± Kavio smacked himself. ¡°No wonder none of the original survivors put themselves up for election...¡± Jura smiled. Jura had the unfortunate task of being my spokesperson, and it¡¯s something few others actually want to do. ¡°So, do you still want the job?¡± He paused, and sighed. ¡°I must.¡± ¡°Good. Aeon¡¯s not that bad once you get to know him.¡± ¡°Really? ...I need to get myself some [fear] charms.¡± - Meanwhile, the expansion of the lands continued. With my improving control of mana and the increasing effectiveness of [Natural mana overwhelming], we¡¯ve reclaimed more land. I estimate by now, I¡¯ve reclaimed about 5% of the entire Rottedlands, and that makes my domain far larger than Harris¡¯s country which is 4% of the Rottedlands. Of that land, some 200,000 migrants in total have begun resettling in the 10 segments, and slowly they are forming up into new towns. There¡¯s still no city proper yet, but I observed the presence of new guilds, new adventurers. The new villages and towns are given a choice, that if they contribute a certain number of bodies to the Valtrian Order, which I will train into a proper military force, warbeetles will be stationed near the villages and protect them from monster attacks. But, if the citizens were to stray, on their own volition, into the Protected Forests, the monsters there will not hesitate to attack them. And there are no beetles to stop them. The protected forests are essentially my ¡®national parks¡¯, and the beetles only serve to mark the barrier. What happens inside, is at their own risk. If they lose anyone, or if anyone is lost in the protected forests, they have to mount their own search party. For those villages who did not contribute headcount to the Valtrian Order Militia, a levy is instead imposed, a tax on all income or produce, in exchange for protection. For newly setup villages that are still trying to get their industry growing, I gave them a one-year to two-year tax-free incentive period. Also, as I expanded, I eventually managed to breach past the southern part of the Rottedlands, and I found that my subsidiary trees that are outside the Rottedlands are all in hibernation mode. They¡¯re all sleeping, resembling ordinary trees. Once I reconnected them, I felt the entirety of my southern network return to life. Including my Titan Walker that¡¯s still covered in vines and leaves. < Lilies, are you there? > I asked, using it¡¯s way of communication. > Ah. Fellow Tree. We are glad to see you live. < < Yes. But before that, you have a shard from the hero? A fragment of the old tree? > I referred to the item that Gerrard gave. He said one fragment was with Lilies, and in my mind, I imagined myself that it¡¯ll be difficult to get it, and wondered what I could give to entice her. > Yes. We have. A memento of the tree that was, a time when we were few and tiny. < < Can I have it? I just need to borrow it for a while. > A silence. Is Lilies going to reject me? > Certainly. Where should we send it to? A memento¡¯s value is a memory shared. Let us share them. < Oh. Wow. < Send them to my main body? Do you know where? > At that moment, I felt a root make contact with one of my subsidiary trees. In an instant, right in front of my main body, a small flower bulb emerged, and it gradually unfolded itself, revealing a wooden fragment. What kind of magic is that? Wait. It¡¯s like that teleporting ability that I have with my star mana! Lilies can do it too! < Thank you. > It didn¡¯t reply. But my focus turned back on the fragment. Such a small fragment, but I knew it¡¯s history there. So old, old. I greedily took it and started analysing it. There¡¯s now two pieces. Then, I saw the vision again. It¡¯s the same. -dragons. Monsters. Dragons soared, and they fought... demons? They fought, and then a large demon appeared. It was massive, it resembled a demon king. The dragons fought the demons. Then the vision shifts. Giants of other kinds. Ice giants. Krakens? They fought the demons- And that¡¯s it. Fuck. I felt that greedy feeling again. I want more. I need that third piece. The two pieces floated in my biolab. [You have gained a level. You are now level 155.] [Skill : Psychedelic Dreams and Therapeutic Dreams upgraded.] [Skill : Hibernation significantly upgraded.] [Skill : Dream Tutor upgraded] What. Me going on a vision trip upgraded my dreaming and sleeping ability? And wait, is that 4 skill upgrades with one level? How does that work? Weapon Log Year 115 The demon king didn¡¯t come this year. The entire year though, the heroes were out and about attacking and fighting any demon walkers that appear. This time, they mostly resemble regular demons. No unusual demons. The large demon champion or demon walker-class monsters were just giant upright demons with massive wings, massive claws that resembled something out of typical RPG games. It¡¯s a good thing, I think. Just regular demonic monsters that look demonic. As the heroes travelled the world to fight demons, they occasionally dropped by. This year, Harris managed to obtain another 15 spell matrices of very good quality, so the heroes now have 25 crystals, of which, I kept 4, so each of them have 21 crystals, with 3 charges each. 63 charges. These crystals are far superior to the ones used by the mages from last year that created the defensive matrices. They contain more runes, and various crystals meant to absorb a different aspect of a spell or ability¡¯s effects. It¡¯s through a combination of all the components within the spell matrices, that they are able to store a wood shield that contains almost 90% of my real wood shield¡¯s power. It¡¯s impressive crafting, and something Harris paid a lot of good money for. ¡°I come here so often I probably should set a teleportation beacon here.¡± ¡°If you want to set it, set it up in Freshka. Not here.¡± ¡°Of course. It¡¯s good that the [message] system is partly online. Even if it takes a bit of... work.¡± Thanks to extensive clearing of the demonic sludge, and the conversion of more hybrid trees into my network, I¡¯m able to suppress the effects of the magical interference, and so, [message] can now work, but it must be routed through the southern exits. Kind of like having to build telecommunication towers around an impassable mountain. Without Astra, the heroes no longer have a flexible teleportation system, so they¡¯re forced to use the teleportation system of the natives, which meant portal magic, like the one used by Madeus when I healed the Princess. Harris was not a mage, so if he wanted to use portal magic, he had to use a beacon and a scroll. Something normal mages didn¡¯t, since they could manipulate the portal magic spell directly. Of course, this is a good lesson. Just like me, as a tree, there are some things I¡¯m naturally better at. Like offensive abilities, mine is very low, if not for all the other boosts I get. The class system, while it works to amplify certain skills, at higher levels is quite limiting. ¡°Why don¡¯t you take mage classes?¡± Curious, I asked Harris ¡°I already have 5 classes. Shield Hero, Warrior King. Weaponmaster, Inquisitor and Master Trader.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t some of those overlap? Why not remove it?¡± ¡°I needed their offensive abilities to cover my defensive focused [Shield Hero] class, else I would be quite useless in the battle against the demon king, and magic didn¡¯t synchronise well with my base hero class.¡± ¡°Then the trader class?¡± ¡°My kingdom was poor when I started. The Master Trader skill gave my kingdom some financial boost.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± 5 classes for a human hero? ¡°You must be very high leveled.¡± ¡°If I add everything up, I¡¯m almost level 220. But I think that¡¯s not how it works, because one hero level converts to about 4-5 normal class levels at the higher normal class levels, and if you divide it up using that principle, I¡¯m probably about level 140 or so.¡± ¡°So your base hero is about... level 120?¡± ¡°Yes, about there. With 40 or so levels in King, and about 20 levels each in the other 3 classes.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t unlocked a domain?¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°...Nothing.¡± ¡°In terms of pure hero levels, Gerrard¡¯s the highest because he only traded away 10 hero levels for his 45 levels in Master Brewer. So his hero class level is 135. Embarrassing, isn¡¯t it, to think that Gerrard the Drunkard actually managed to keep most of his hero levels, and we two, the sane ones supposedly, traded more of our hero levels away.¡± Harris said, he placed his cup on the table. ¡°Is this supposed to be some kind of classified information?¡± I asked. Levels doesn¡¯t seem like something one should state out publicly. ¡°On the contrary, as King, it¡¯s in my interest to publicly state my levels. My levels help to encourage and convince the citizens of my ability to protect them, and the benefits that we have. Assassins are deterred by the fact that I¡¯m so high level that they don¡¯t even bother. But my children.... Well... they have reasons to keep their levels secret.¡± ¡°They¡¯re going to fight each other?¡± Harris sighed. ¡°I could use another pot of tea right now. Yes. Everyone¡¯s jostling to be the next crown prince. I¡¯ve already told them that the will explicitly states that the country is to be broken up should it fall.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it better for it to be together?¡± ¡°Honestly... yes.¡± Harris said. ¡°But already I can see that my children are preparing for conflict should I not survive this next demon king.¡± ¡°Disgusting. Why do you not punish them?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t. In the end, they are all my children, and what they are doing is building up their own group of supporters, and they have been clever enough not to actually start a fight. My spies tell me they¡¯ve been goading and baiting each other to start an incident.¡± ¡°The younger ones will suffer.¡± ¡°I know, the lines are somewhat drawn by my wives.¡± Honestly I¡¯m not interested in his Kingly drama. This is the kind of thing that China or Hongkong Ancient CHina Period dramas are super fond of. Courtly dramas. ¡°It¡¯s going to be like the warring states era...¡± ¡°Oh, so all the children of the same mother band together. That¡¯s clever. How many wives do you have again?¡± Harris frowned. ¡°Uh... 7?¡± 7 splintered kingdoms. ¡°And how many kids?¡± ¡°I think 29 now...¡± 29 smaller districts split into 7 wives. ¡°You¡¯re absolutely insane.¡± I mused. ¡°You aren¡¯t even being a good dad.¡± Harris sighed. ¡°Look, I¡¯m not cut out for it, and my wives... they¡¯re so sexy! And hot! When they speak and tease me I just can¡¯t help myself, and my wives refuse to take any contraceptives! They say it¡¯s a sin to not receive my seeds, and the way they say it is so sexy and hot, at that moment I just can¡¯t think! I¡¯m human too, and I need their care, their gentle touch, their pleasant, warm embrace. I¡¯m alone in this world, and they are the closest thing I have to my old family, and they are my new family! I feel their love is genuine, even if I¡¯m aware they are subtly manipulating me, and taking full advantage of my status as a hero.¡± I just felt so sorry for Harris then. I used a vine and just poured another pot of tea for the poor guy being manipulated by his harem. But, it is an equal exchange, no? ¡°All human?¡± ¡°I took one elf, one they call Sandpeople, and yes, the rest humans. I prefer humans, I mean, but elves are sexy too.¡± He¡¯s just thinking with his dick, isn¡¯t it? But then, the demon king was defeated, he was at the age where his libido was bursting. He¡¯s not even twenty, and no wonder he succumbed. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not even sure if that¡¯s all the women I spent time with. I only invited 7 into my harem as my consorts, but I may have had more than that. I mean, before i even started the Kingdom I already was kinda... uhm... fucking around.¡± He¡¯s absolutely thinking with his dick. ¡°Well, now that you might die, your mistakes are now starting to act up. I wonder what your kids think about you, that have many wives.¡± Harris laughed. ¡°That¡¯s a strange question from a tree of this world. Most people in this world are very accepting of a harem and that question has never popped up. It is a medieval world where kings like to have many wives.¡± OOPS. Did I just outed myself? ¡°But my kids, well, they accept it. It¡¯s just the norm here... Maybe because heroes that survived in the past... many end up having harems too. Even the women, who keep an army of pretty boys around them.¡± Harris finished his second cup of tea. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s get to work.¡± We made armor and shields. One of the ideas they had, if the crystal matrices were insufficient, was to make actual shields that are strong enough to take a few hits. Gerrard and Mirei both are a little weak on defense, so Harris, being the guardian, with an army of summoned shield units, wanted to make real versions, using my enchanted anti-demon wood as the base. A mix of both heroic enchantments, star mana, and a dense, naturally anti-demon wood. Over a course of 2 weeks, we made 5 sets of enchanted wooden armor for each of the 3 heroes, and 10 shields for each of them. They would store them in their pocketspace for later use. As payment, we also made 5 sets for myself, which I may someday award to any of my promising minions. Well, actually 1 set is already meant for Jura. I call these 5 sets, the Woodshield Set. I¡¯ve learned a lot from making these items with Harris. The heroes essentially get a special system bypass, since they get to use their mana to shape a certain item, just by thought, without needing much effort. They also have a special skill that all heroes get, called the [Hero¡¯s Forge], which is used to make the special hero-class weapons. It¡¯s kind of like some games where the heroes have the option to unlock upgrades and buy new equipment without actually having to go to a blacksmith or physical shop. The system handled those nitty gritty stuff on their behalf. The rest of us plebeians just have to do it the old fashioned way. But, observing how one of them used it constantly made me learn more about how the system did it, and I developed a better understanding behind the process of making their heroic weapons, and as a result, I got my skills upgraded. [Skill : Woodshaping significantly upgraded.] [Skill : Subsidiary Tree option expanded. Woodshaping Workshop unlocked!] I¡¯m not sure why Harris is quite amicable with me. Why couldn¡¯t I have such a relationship with Meela and Alexis? Where did I go wrong? Or was it them that did it wrong? They must be alive, right? I didn¡¯t get a notification. What have they been doing the past twenty years? - I shifted my focus back on the hybrids, and the growing Freshkans and Freshlands. To me, their segments 1 to 10, but each of them refer to themselves differently, and they have names that I felt too lazy to even remember. Kavio too, came rather frequently to provide briefings. He¡¯s gradually getting used to the role, and to ease his mental state, I made a [tree of prayers] at the meeting place, and told him to present it as if he is talking to the smaller, much, much more peaceful looking tree of prayer instead. It¡¯s a mental crutch, because apparently his [fear] charms broke every other week. The regular updates are mainly for news, diplomatic activities, things that I can¡¯t see using my trees. Jasmine, Ivy¡¯s replacement has been hard at work securing the border together with Trevor and Dimitree, and I made three more artificial souls to help oversee my massive territory. I named them Acacia, Brootus, Cyprus, and their task is well, to monitor the new refugees, and ensure that the Protected Forests remain protected. ¡°How about some more beetles?¡± Horns asked. ¡°We represent massive untapped potential, master! Imagine it, an army of massive hero-level beetles.¡± And I agreed. It¡¯s been too long since I made more subordinates, and now is the time for massive expansion. Exponential growth! Alright, I actually struggle with that concept. So I made two more artificial souls to accompany Horns. I named them Bugsy, and Thorex, and sent them out to gain levels. They need to fight monsters, demons, to hit their level caps, but Horns was just super eager to show off to his two new juniors. I think Horns is going to be quite useless in actual combat against the demon king, since, well... they¡¯re too powerful. I need to think about activating my Titan Walker, preferably with a hero¡¯s soul. Maybe it¡¯s a good thing that Harris is close to me. If he somehow dies of old age I¡¯ll get the soul. Oh and Lilies. I better check in with them. < Do you want the fragment back? Could you lend it to me again once I get the other piece? > > Hold on to it. We do not need it. < < Okay. I have questions. You once said that the demons won before. Do you know the details? Like, how did it happen? What happened next? What do you mean, by won? > > God¡¯s champions destroyed, a decade of slaughter. Still, the world recovers, and life finds a way. < < But why? Why do the gods not intervene? > It didn¡¯t answer me. Seeing that I wasn¡¯t going anywhere with it, I went back to my own affairs. My attention is back on my large territory, and the hybrid trees. Within each protected forest there are patches of demonic hybrid trees. I¡¯m beginning to understand them, at least, their inner structure. In a way, imagine a natural tree that has to deal with an overabundance of oil, and part of it¡¯s chemical reaction is to manage the oil surplus in the environment. Naturally, they may try to break down the oil, or burn the oil, or store the oil somewhere. The demonic tree reacts to the natural mana, air and water, and so it ¡®spends¡¯ these natural mana the way it knows, which is to blow it up. In a greenhouse environment tailored to them, they¡¯re probably just as harmless as a normal tree. Something tries to make trees that are adapted to the environment. I suspect, maybe it¡¯s the spawning system. Perhaps there¡¯s a spawning god, who¡¯s main job is just to populate the world. Quite like playing a strategy game with randomly generated maps and enemies. In it¡¯s logic it tries to create something that suits the environment. Now it would be quite lame if this entire thing is just a game, no? [Skill : Hybrid Botany upgraded] [Control over hybrid trees improved] Floating Log Year 116 The demon king arrived. The heroes were ready. A battle was fought in the southern continent, far away. It was the battle of legends. The heroes fought valiantly, and after days of constant fighting, they won a hard fought battle. The battlefield was ripped, the ground itself twisted by the magics. [Demon King Nergal was slain] Or so the news goes. But on the very day the demon king died, the heroes teleported to me. ¡°Aeon.¡± Gerrard was frantic, he ran. ¡°All of us have been cursed by the demon king¡¯s disease.¡± Gerrard looked extremely pale, and though he ran, I could see his spirit flickering, not a good sign by any measure. Mirei was awake, too, but she was flickering as well. Harris lost an arm and a leg, and he had a massive gash across his body, the armor that protected him half-charred and burnt. Mirei too, lost both her legs, and two massive lightning elementals carried their master. In Harris¡¯s case, one of his summons supported him like a crutch. Gerrard was the only one with his limbs intact, but he looked like big chunks of his skin was covered in... pus. They all used their heroic magic to hold themselves together. ¡°A damned plague demon.¡± Gerrard said. ¡°And we don¡¯t have a healer!¡± ¡°And...¡± ¡°You¡¯re a great healer.¡± Harris said, coughing. I paused, and inwardly I took a deep breath. ¡°Fine. But my medical services will cost you.¡± At that very moment, memories of exorbitant medical insurance bills flashed before my very eyes, but then, I am the hospital. I could probably earn a lot of valuable supplies from this endeavour. That was how I had 3 heroes in healing pods in my body. All of them suffered, and somehow, even though they lost their limbs on that very same day, the demon¡¯s plague-touch meant it couldn¡¯t be regenerated. In normal cases where the cut occurred just recently, the soul hasn¡¯t forgotten it¡¯s limbs, so it¡¯s possible to regenerate a limb. But this demon king somehow inserted something into the soul that stopped that. I had to quickly intervene so that the limbs of their souls don¡¯t disintegrate. I also had to quickly use all the healing I have to gradually extract the demonic energy out. But this was a plague-focused demon king, and its power here is not to be trifled with. It¡¯s almost like the demon king, who received the bombardment of hexbombs, learned to use the disease-like power of hex. Adaptive demons. That¡¯s such a scary, scary thought. The three heroes rested in their pods for days, as I tried to lessen the effect of the wounds. Gerrard, comparatively, had it easier than the rest. It was significantly easier to just cut-off the ¡®sick¡¯ part and then just regenerate it. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you cut off for us too?¡± Harris and Mirei both asked. ¡°In both your cases, the Demon King¡¯s damage is in the soul. Cutting it won¡¯t fix it. The corruption must be purged from the soul, then only the limbs will regenerate.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± Gerrard, relieved to be the first to be discharged after a week in the pod, didn¡¯t leave yet. He stayed in the [secret hideout], and watched his two fellow earthlings. ¡°We would¡¯ve died if not for Harris¡¯s beacon. There was no way we could get anywhere with a good-enough healer in time.¡± ¡°Tough fight, eh?¡± I entertained him. Harris and Mirei, since the damage is a soul-level damage, had to go to sleep. I reckon they need something like my [Domain : Roots of Life] to actually fight back the demon king¡¯s corruption. I had to use my soul forge to prevent decay of the soul¡¯s blueprint for their limbs. ¡°Yeah. It wasn¡¯t very physically tough to kill but it¡¯s use of gases, poisons and those gooey stuff meant we were all constantly taking damage. All our armors were destroyed.¡± Gerrard showed off his specially made anti-demon weapon, it¡¯s half-rotten, as if somebody poured a fuckton of acid on it. ¡°At least it didn¡¯t detonate.¡± Gerrard nodded. ¡°That, too. I for one am relieved this demon king didn¡¯t have a death bomb-ability, just a death-plague ability.¡± ¡°Plague.¡± ¡°Yeah. This game is rigged.¡± Gerrard took a deep breath. ¡°Will they die?¡± ¡°As it is, no. They won¡¯t die. But they won¡¯t heal, either. I can keep them on suspended animation, or probably prevent further deterioration, but unless I find a way to overpower the demon king¡¯s corruption, it won¡¯t actually heal.¡± I wondered how those demonic cultists removed the [demon king¡¯s flames] from my trunk so many years back. But then, that¡¯s just a ¡®physical¡¯ everburning fire, not a soul-level damage. He breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°That¡¯s... that¡¯s great. At least they live. When will they wake up?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve put them to sleep for the next few days. I¡¯ll inject them with food via my vines. You can get a drink if you¡¯d like.¡± He opened a magical holding bag, withdrew a really old-looking wine, and some cups. ¡°Yeah.¡± He sat there quietly and drank the wine for some time, and once he was done, he left for Freshka, and found accommodation in Freshka¡¯s many inns. Harris still needed constant medical care, as the demonic corruption and sickness was still in his soul. But physically, other than the lost limbs, he was fine. He still had only one leg and one hand, and I had Jura come in, and teach both Mirei and Harris how to use their familiars to create a wooden leg. ¡°I lost my hand until Aeon healed it for me, but still, it¡¯s a useful ability to have. You need to first let your familiars take up the armor form, and...¡± ¡°Got it.¡± They both said, and were able to replicate it. To them, magic was easy, and the system aided them, and so they quickly understood what Jura wanted to do. ¡°Wow.¡± Jura was impressed. It took him some time to learn how to do it. ¡°Heroes really are a different breed.¡± But, even with the tree familiars acting like artificial legs and hands, the two couldn¡¯t leave very far. In Mirei¡¯s case, the demon king¡¯s attack, one of it penetrated near her chest, so there¡¯s a swirling demonic corruption very close to the center of her soul, and it took a lot of my energy to just suppress it. This was quite different from what I expected. The Demon King¡¯s very own attacks possessed high-tier soul-damaging abilities meant it could potentially hurt me directly, even if I had extremely high anti-demon defenses, though, like the demonic curse, it may be possible to suppress with [Roots of Life]. Harris, feeling a bit better, though his limbs still burn in pain, sent a message to his subordinates and minions back home. I wondered if they are happy, or sad that their King lived. Perhaps, the kingdom will hold itself together for a bit more. Or, it may just mean the conflict that happens when all the kids are older will be more deadly and ferocious. ¡°We both can¡¯t leave this place.¡± Harris said, he sat in the lounge area in the [secret hideout]. Even with my healing, I¡¯m only able to suppress it so that they can still afford some degree of freedom, but left unattended, it would flare up within a week. ¡°We could teleport there and back...¡± Mirei said. ¡°I can¡¯t run my kingdom like this.¡± Harris complained, and he had a lot of concerns. ¡°I would have to delegate my role.¡± Mirei just laughed at her friend. ¡°Good! Finally you have to bite the bullet and cut the damned cake. Hand over power, and ensure that they don¡¯t fight each other before you die is the best thing you can do as a father, Harris. This medical issue is the best thing that have ever happened to your kingdom.¡± ¡°...¡± Harris seemed reluctant to face the problem. It reminded me of myself, and damn, that hurt. I too hesitate far too much when faced with problems. ¡°Aeon, any chance you can uh... remotely heal me from my capital?¡± ¡°Uh... no.¡± Truth was, there really wasn¡¯t. The kind of mana and energy needed to suppress the demon king¡¯s curse on their bodies was something I have only here, and it needed the presence of my main body¡¯s energies. Mirei was cheerful, even though her condition was the worst of the three, because of the curse close to her soul spring. She took some time to enjoy herself in Freshka, and went for long walks. As a hero, her powers meant she could still move around very quickly. ¡°Won¡¯t you miss your prettyboys?¡± Harris laughed. Mirei just shrugged. ¡°That was my hobby a few decades ago, I moved on now. How often do we talk about it anyway?¡± To be fair, even though she¡¯s now in her mid 40s, she still looked really fit and youthful, due to the influence of heroic magic. Heroes, I reckon, if they survive, would probably like till 200s, just like the humans that practice magic. ¡°Then what do you spend time on?¡± ¡°Like what most typical ladies do, good food, tea time, good cakes and cookies, and fashion!¡± Mirei laughed. ¡°All I have to do now is move my entire operation here.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t move a kingdom!¡± Mirei ribbed him. ¡°So, let it go, Harris. It¡¯s better to let your many children have their thrones now, at least you can watch and advise them.¡± After days of discussion, eventually Harris succumbed to Mirei¡¯s idea. Anyway, now that I am their healer, and essentially their lives on my hands, I¡¯ve started to demand for more things as compensation for my healing services. Like gems. A lot of them. So, this finally allowed me to repair my [Grand Mind Tree]. With that, I felt a return of more statistics and numbers to my mind, and it checked my thoughts for the presence of external influences. So, my Rottedlands expansion continued, and we claimed more areas. So, after a good amount of area was reclaimed, I opened up segments 11 to 15 for new refugees and migrants. There were some areas I¡¯ve set aside as ¡®hybrid-tree¡¯ parks, where these are the hybrid plants that I¡¯ve gained control over. I reckon some of these new refugees will be surprised by it, but I decided to let it be. ¡°You guys seriously didn¡¯t find anything that was the source of the corruption?¡± I asked Harris about the crystal that they destroyed a few years back. Harris probably was quite surprised that only now I spoke about it, since, well, we had that discussion many years ago. ¡°Uh... no. We were honestly just looking for our fellow heroes. After we destroyed the crystals and got the notification, we just... stopped?¡± ¡°Is there a source of all these corruption?¡± I wondered to myself. It may be possible, if my understanding of the hybrid botany improves, to trace it¡¯s energy source through the roots of these hybrid demon plants. It must come from somewhere. But it¡¯s something I fear to do. If it is the abyss I¡¯m looking into, it may well look into me as well. Would I end up like Zeratul, accidentally revealing the location of the homeworld to the demons? I immediately set the Grand Mind Tree to act as an antivirus and firewall, to block out any attempted intrusions into my mind. Alexis had already revealed plenty to the demons, when she was trapped in the fire-demon mode, or so did Simone and Victor. - ¡°I¡¯m home!¡± Lausanne returned after... years of travelling. She gave Laufen a hug. It was pretty much the first thing she did. ¡°You¡¯ve been away for very long.¡± Laufen looked at her growing daughter. ¡°How was it?¡± They had lunch together. ¡°Oh. I¡¯ve been to all the continents! I fought lots of monsters and creatures.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good. Did you find anything, or... anyone?¡± Lausanne nodded shyly. ¡°Yes. Erm... that¡¯s part of why I came back, mom.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°I... uh... joined an adventurer team when I was in the continents. And erm... I travelled with them for a few years.¡± ¡°And?¡± Laufen had the look of an expecting mom, like, come on, drop the bomb already. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of getting married to him. My captain.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Laufen nodded knowingly. ¡°So, is he here? Did he come?¡± ¡°...yes. He¡¯s like... in the inn. I wanted to just uh... tell you about him first, before you meet him.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. I was expecting this to happen! No young elven girl goes travelling around the world for almost 7 to 8 years and does not find someone to fall in love with.¡± Laufen smiled and gave her daughter a knowing look. ¡°So uh. You¡¯re here to invite me to the wedding, I suppose?¡± ¡°...yeah.¡± Lausanne said shyly. In my mind, well, that escalated quickly. She¡¯s just a kid. Then a teen. And now she¡¯s getting married. I... if I was human I¡¯d probably need to take some time off and accept this. Like... wow. Time sure moves quickly, and it¡¯s even more pronounced when I see all these other people moving on with their lives. I feel... lonely. At that moment, I could feel a sense of warmth and belonging from all my fellow trees, like they were trying to comfort me. [Grand MInd Tree has intercepted attempted Influence from trees. The following message was deleted: We are one, we trees are all one.] Yeah. A tree¡¯s forever alone. All these other trees in the forest, but I am still just me. Treeditions Year 117 ¡°This way.¡± Jura led them into the tunnels. Fifteen of them, young teenagers who¡¯ve trained for a year or two. In another world, they¡¯d be school-going teenagers, but here, they are warriors, rangers, mages, druids or knights, ready to face monsters to the death. ¡°This way?¡± One of the young mage asked. He held up his staff, and the crystal glowed in the darkness of the tunnel. It was one of the many [root tunnels] that lead to the Valley of the Unrotten. They¡¯ve never been here, after all, access to this area is restricted to the heroes, Jura, Laufen, Kavio, and a few others of the new priesthood, who escorted the dead bodies to their burial grounds in the valley. ¡°Yes.¡± Jura pointed. They walked past a bunch of beetle guards. They stood, a little surprised to see the unmoving beetles. ¡°Your promotion awaits. Come.¡± The fifteen nodded. They knew this was it. The moment many have been waiting for. They soon saw the faint light at the end of the tunnel, and they soon stood at the entrance of the Valley of the Unrotten. The valley now is home to very few people, so Giant Attendant Trees, many of them on fire scattered throughout the valley, were the main source of light. There¡¯s still one small airwell at the top, above my main tree. The valley glowed with the orange fire, the trees here survived mainly on the nutrition and energy I feed them. Herbs and flowers are everywhere, and then there¡¯s the small stream of black-fires, the suppressed energies of the demonic corruption. The excess corrupting energy gathered here, to be processed by my main body and the trees. Their path was made of wood, hardened from the roots that covered everywhere, and flanked by wooden statues. I made them, as practice. My surplus wooden weapons, and the large anti-demon bolts were also used as fencing, since I had little place to store them. They soon passed a field of olives, fruits, and a mix of other crops I have cultivated in small quantities. Remnants of the earlier era when the survivors still lived in the valley. Old buildings, that looked like they¡¯ve seen some years. And ghosts. Soul harvesters and nightmare harvesters. Here in the valley, where they are closest to me, they are easily visible to anyone with the slightest affinity to magic. They resembled giant shrouds, and they floated everywhere. Some of them felt fear. [Haunted Forest]. Jura tapped them on their back. ¡°Don¡¯t embarrass yourself. Aeon¡¯s watching.¡± A test for the young Valthorns, to receive their familiars. In many ways, this was actually a ritual, more than an actual test. The walk to the Valley of the Unrotten, and to see the origins of their institution. A beetle would occasionally run across their backs, and they would turn, startled. The rangers especially, with their bow and arrows. Eventually, they arrived at where Kavio gave his briefing. A small round area flanked by tall trees, with a small Tree of Prayer in the middle. There¡¯s also a pedestal, where they can stand to see my main tree. ¡°Well, we¡¯re here. Stand on the pedestal, and receive your familiar.¡± A ritual. It¡¯s a silly thing, I could just as easily give them their familiar when they¡¯re sleeping in their rooms back in Freshka. But given easily, they would not know the weight and value of what is given, and they are young, impressionable teens. A part of me felt it was important that the weight of the responsibility is made clear. So a ritual it is. A walk to the Valley of the Unrotten. To see where the survivors lived, and meet the protector of the valley. How could one receive the familiar without ever knowing what gives you your familiar? The fifteen teens break down in different ways when they receive their familiar contracts. They¡¯ve never been here. One cup appeared for all fifteen of them, and each of the tall trees that flanked the tree of prayers revealed a pod. ¡°Time to drink.¡± Jura instructed. ¡°Finish it and enter into the pods.¡± [Tree sap], [Mystical Dreams], [Dream Tutor] A dream is just a dream, or it can be more. For these fifteen young teens who¡¯ve accepted their familiar contract, I¡¯ve given them a dream of what the familiars can do, like a tutorial. At the same time, it¡¯s also... a message. Familiars have served many masters over the century. Many have died with their familiars, and I felt it was important to drill in the fact that familiars, though useful, it ultimately is up to them to make the full use of it. Again. With power, comes responsibility. But also, with responsibility, comes power. After about 3 hours in the pod, they all emerged a little dazed, and Jura led them back to Freshka. I wondered about my methods. It¡¯s probably a little too... big brother. What I did with dreams, maybe in another world, it would reek of a government reeducation camp. Back in Freshka, ¡°How¡¯d they take it?¡± Yvon asked Jura after the kids were back. ¡°They¡¯re quiet. I think they¡¯ll be okay.¡± Jura nodded. It¡¯s been a long day, he had a large cold tea mixed with a bit of lemon and ginger for refreshments. ¡°I wished I could be there.¡± Yvon sighed. ¡°My form restricts me no further than 10 feet out of that door.¡± Again, heroes are unique like that. Eriz¡¯s ability to split her body into multiple nursery trees is special to her class, and Yvon too, can split her body into each of the training trees she is in. Right now, she could have 3 training trees. ¡°Just talk to them when you see them. I think they all need a bit of sleep after what they¡¯ve seen.¡± Yvon frowned with her wooden form. She¡¯s been their trainer for some time now, and she¡¯s about level 40 as a [Training Tree]. Naturally, she cared for her students. ¡°I hope Aeon didn¡¯t give them the dreams of brutal warfare.¡± Of all the kinds of dreams I can give a person, the dreams of the brutality of war were apparently the scariest. It¡¯s the dream where they were placed in a massive battlefield and everyone around them were killed and mutilated in different ways, and all they could do was run, flee, feel pain and scream. ¡°I think he didn¡¯t. They didn¡¯t look that horrified.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Yvon said but she was not convinced. - The New Valthorns recruited from all over the Freshlands, from all of the small villages and towns, to the few growing cities. Politics was messy, and Freshkan was like the federal government squabbling with the cities and towns, whom functioned like municipal and state governments. Kavio, the elected chief, had the difficult task of managing the loose federation, and he had to frequently rely on the strength of the beetles to make his point. Fighting, eventually broke out between two cities. To the refugees, I am but a distant, faraway image. In the minds of the cities¡¯ quasi-independent rulers, they did not believe I would impose my authority, until I did. 100,000 beetles descended on the two cities, along with the Valtrian¡¯s men. The size and massive show of force meant the two cities surrendered quickly, and those responsible quickly captured. Both leaders and those we found to be involved were publicly judged in accordance with the founding constitution of Freshka. Defiance against their delegated authority was death. A root-spear through the heart. Gruesome, but a statement. It was a statement I had to make. I had already foreseen my power to be challenged every few years, as the people do not believe what they do not see. This was my experience from New Freeka. The law is meaningless until enforced. In the medieval times, order was established through force and fear. So, for a time, Kavio found his job as the chief mediator of the various segments easier. A job Jura did not want to do, because he saw how different the scale of things were. It¡¯s a difficult task for one person, and so it had to change. It is ironic, I suppose. When I remember Freeka itself suffering because their King then demanded a draft, and was punished for not complying. And now, I do what the King¡¯s men did. I can only hope that I meted out these punishments justly, instead of randomly like the soldiers of Salah. Soon, the Freshkan Council had to be expanded into something resembling a parliamentary or congressional system. Each city and district would send a representative, and those representatives together would elect a segment leader, for a total of 15 segment leaders. One for each segment. All of the segment leaders were given an audience with me. Again, a ritual. Just as how monarchs of my world had coronation ceremonies, or how religious orders had complex conclaves, I saw it fit to drill the weight of my authority, and that these men are delegates. That the constitution of this land has its weight and power derived from me, and it was important to drill in that it is a delegation of power. Perhaps I am a bit too power crazy. I wondered that for a moment. But this is a world of power and conflict. A world where higher leveled will not hesitate to have their way, and sometimes I think, maybe all this power is too much for one person. Then I recall their stupid conflicts, and all my concerns faded away. Not everything from our world can be transplanted over. The fifteen were brought to the Valley of the Unrotten, and unlike the young Valthorns, I gave them a different... drink. I gave them visions of the past. The lives I¡¯ve taken. The foes I¡¯ve slain. The destruction of the valleys in the hand of the demons. The burning of Freeka. The corruption of the demons. The haunting screams of the dead. Wars. The fifteen came out, they held their feelings in. Kavio escorted them back to Freshka, where a comfortable inn awaited. But a message is made, and these representatives now understand their place. - "You will outlive him, Lausanne." Laufen held her daughters'' hand one day, they sat in a cafe in Freshka. "I know. It is something I thought of, and you need not counsel me otherwise." "I didn''t mean to. Not when your wedding is tomorrow. I outlived your dad too, even though we were both elves." Laufen said, she sipped on a cup of coffee, a newly imported delicacy. "Our long lives means little, when the world is so cruel to us, few survive till their hundreds, like Grandma Casshern." "I never met her." "You have, but you were just a baby." Laufen smiled, and she tapped her daughter''s smooth palm. A human might think these two were good friends, or perhaps sisters, since elven aging slowed down dramatically once one reached adulthood. Maybe, except an elf would notice the faint lines around the eyes, or the faint, aging colors of her hair. ¡°Are you ready for tomorrow?¡± ¡°Yeah. I already went through one. I don¡¯t think our Aeonic wedding is going to be more challenging than the Hawa-styled ceremony.¡± For Lausanne, she held two ceremonies, one, a Hawa-styled one in accordance with the Eastern Gaya Temple¡¯s traditions, on the eastern continent. It¡¯s meant for her husband¡¯s extended family, and the need to travel from one continent to another meant it took a whole year to get both of her events sorted out. ¡°Good.¡± The next day, a ceremony was held at the Freshka¡¯s Valtrian prayer courtyard. It¡¯s an entirely new city, so we had space. I, together with some of the surviving priests, had designed this large park-in-the-temple style courtyard, where there¡¯s multiple [tree of prayers] so different ceremonies can be held simultaneously. It¡¯s also where I designated one of my many [tree eyes], so here, the trees take on different colors every season. I remembered the verdant flower patches of home, the colors of fall, and spring, and winter, and had it recreated with the local plants. So, it¡¯s a lovely place, a wedding in a garden, but still in a temple. An earthling may vaguely tell the influences of Asian gardens and temples, and even the vast courtyards of many historical sites in the West. Lausanne and her husband stood before a [tree of prayer], with light pink leaves. It¡¯s a garden of many colors, the couple wear a ceremonial dress and shirt. A ritual, for a wedding. In a world of systems, rituals are also a means of communicating with the system. Weddings, burials, all act to inform the system of change in status. For married couples, it is not unusual for them to receive a temporary blessing immediately after the wedding. There was a small pedestal, and on it were two small pieces of wood. It¡¯s smooth, except for one part where it has a thorn, and they both prick their fingers on it, a drop of blood on both pieces of wood. The wood absorbed the blood, made into a necklace with a bit of magic and the two would exchange necklaces. A wooden necklace of the two¡¯s blood. It¡¯s a relatively new process, adapted from the practices of nearby nations. After all, ancient traditions are oft forgotten, and so new ones must take their place. Jura said quietly. ¡°A generation to the next.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t that only happen when Lausanne actually has a baby?¡± Laufen grinned. She¡¯s clearly happy to see her daughter find a husband. ¡°Well, are you pressuring them?¡± Jura smiled. ¡°Maybe not in the next few years.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a yes.¡± Well, in elven terms a few years is very short. ¡°So eager to see a grandchild?¡± Laufen grinned. - There was another event that happened during the year, and one with greater geopolitical impact on the continent. The great dissolution of Harris¡¯s Empire into the 7 queenly states of his 7 wives. Harris had set up a teleportation beacon, all of his wives and children came to Freshka. He used the tremendous funds he had at his disposal, to construct a vast verandah on the outskirts of Freshka, and where a treaty would be signed. The treaty of Freshka. If it was up to me, I¡¯d totally call it Tree-aty of Freshka, but oh well. Maybe a future treaty will enjoy that tree-atment. Harris declared the Royal Capital his personal imperial holdings, and essentially, delegated the management of his empire into 7 parts, each under one of his wives, turning them into Queens, and then, his now 30 children, each Princes or Princesses of their own regions. Armies, budgets, artifacts and magical items, all divided into 7 parts and any undividable parts are to be held by him personally. Of course, this won¡¯t be ideal. But Mirei was right, it is better that the separation lines be drawn now, than later. At least he lived to mediate any conflict. The signing was held. Everyone was present, even neighbouring royalty. 7 new Queens, and a period of armistice. A big party was held, and the Emperor himself, Harris, gave a long speech explaining that he had hoped for a peaceful transition of power to the 7 wives and their children. Jasmine, my spy-in-chief, quickly made me listen in to some of the politicians, and some of the royals. ¡°It¡¯s insanity, no? Has the Emperor gone mad, to break up his own empire this way? The other nations will sure take the chance to bite!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a hero¡¯s naivety, perhaps.¡± Another delegate explained. ¡°Heroes have made very strange choices in the past, it seemed Emperor Harris is no different.¡± ¡°Ah. Still, this is a wonderful opportunity for us. Which Queen do you think will be easier to convince?¡± ¡°I reckon we should speak to each of the young princes and princesses, eager to show off their chops. We could give them some winning chips, but trap them into our influence. Trade and wealth is the way forward, with the Emperor¡¯s summons still around to maintain peace.¡± Though Harris is unable to depart for long, his army of summons still roam his empire. No nation is foolish enough to fight the summoned armies of the hero, their strength in combat is legendary. ¡°A long term investment, at least... until the next demon king.¡± ¡°A tough decision, honestly.¡± The delegate said. ¡°This dissolved seven queendoms will surely fight the moment the Emperor falls in battle with the next demon king, but then, if he cannot leave this place, surely the demon king will come here.¡± A look of horror on the other delegate. ¡°Oh. That would be bad. We may not be able to retain our investment if the next demon king targets this continent.¡± ¡°Perhaps that is a question we should ask the Emperor, what are his plans for the next demon King.¡± And so, as Harris socialised with the rest of his children and wives, one of them asked. ¡°Your majesty, what¡¯s your plan for the next demon king. With your condition, would you lead the fight with the next demon king?¡± Harris smiled. ¡°Well, though our condition generally requires us to remain close to Aeon¡¯s healing powers, I foresee it¡¯s not a problem for the three of us to fight the next demon king. A set of teleportation beacons, and we¡¯d be fighting the demon king, and then back. We are also working on an alternative, should that day come, but it is not something I can reveal.¡± If there was a metaphorical moment when everyone was taking notes, that was it. I could sense a flood of magical messages outward, and I¡¯m damned sure Harris and Mirei could too. They are heroes, and they have innate magical sense. But he just smiled, and let it happen. Eventually, the ceremony ended, an empire officially broken up. Harris let everyone choose whether they wanted to enjoy the comforts of Freshka, or they wanted to go back. All of them went back, and surely, Harris himself predicted a torrent of planning and politicking. That night, he met Mirei for a drink. ¡°You left early.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t want to steal your thunder. It¡¯s your event, Harris. No need for two heroes in the same event.¡± ¡°Heh. I still tire of such politics, even when I have levels for it.¡± ¡°You lasted the whole day, I¡¯d say your levels did their job.¡± Mirei smiled. ¡°How does it feel, a weight off your shoulders?¡± ¡°A bit. At the same time, I fear I may have laid the foundations for a civil war.¡± ¡°You could use this time to make more magical enchantments, such that if war ever breaks out, the magical enchantments will stop it. You know there are magics that do that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s inevitable.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°Ever regret sticking your thing into so many places?¡± ¡°Sometimes.¡± Harris sighed, and he got drunk on herbal liqueur that night. ¡°All the time, you mean.¡± Mirei laughed. - Spaizzer Shilling time - My patreon''s are ahead by 3 chapters :P Spring leaves Year 118 Mirei¡¯s condition deteriorated, despite my best efforts to heal her. A part of me feels conflicted about it. If she dies, I get a titan soul. If she doesn¡¯t, well, one more hero to fight the demon king. ¡°I¡¯m going to die, isn¡¯t it?¡± She asked. ¡°Why is she deteriorating?¡± Harris asked. It didn¡¯t make sense to him, and it didn¡¯t make sense to me either, but somehow, she just deteriorated like a sudden relapse. I spent months looking into her body, and I kept trying to suppress the demon king¡¯s curse, but it¡¯s... weird. It¡¯s able to break through whatever my means of suppression and create new curses. ¡°If she deteriorates, you might too.¡± I told Harris. ¡°I¡¯m trying, but I don¡¯t know why it behaves this way.¡± ¡°It hurts...¡± Mirei said, while she sobbed. The pain she felt was intense, and it was throughout her body. She described it like she was being roasted alive. Some days, Mirei was absolutely delirious and she just kept screaming, shouting, and struggling, as the pain possessed her. ¡°Can¡¯t you sedate her or something?¡± Harris said, upset at his screaming, semi-conscious friend. ¡°Uh, really? Do I have permission?¡± Mirei herself shouted. ¡°Yes. Do it! Just knock me out!¡± She¡¯s a hero. Status effect resistance is the norm for heroes above Level 100. My attempted sleep drug wasn¡¯t strong enough to have any effect. ¡°Not working, I need to overcome your natural hero resistance.¡± ¡°How?¡± She screamed. She yelled. I tried more things. Injected sleeping pills. Didn¡¯t work. ¡°I don¡¯t get it.¡± Gerrard, who was also around. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t it work?¡± ¡°Maybe she must want to sleep herself.¡± Harris said. ¡°I mean... her body must let Aeon¡¯s drug do its¡¯ thing.¡± ¡°Oh, you mean like my alcoholism.¡± Gerrard said. ¡°Mirei, try to uh... disable or suppress your hero status. You can do that by thinking about your hero class and then think about turning it off.¡± Harris glared at Gerrard. ¡°You can do that?¡± ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t recommend it to everyone.¡± Gerrard shrugged. Mirei¡¯s screaming was blocked by the panel. ¡°Is that a good idea?¡± I asked. ¡°It¡¯s entirely possible her hero class is what¡¯s helping to delay and suppress the demonic curse.¡± The two heroes nodded. ¡°True. Didn¡¯t consider that.¡± Mirei continued to scream for days, my attempts at suppressing her pain or putting her to sleep not working. But, she really needed sleep, and yet her body¡¯s pain doesn¡¯t let her. ¡°This is just cruel.¡± Harris said. ¡°I never imagined our hero¡¯s resistance to status ailments would sabotage us in this way.¡± It¡¯s really this ¡®cliff-effect¡¯, where the hero¡¯s resistance of status ailments does not prevent a demon king¡¯s curse, and yet it prevents all attempts of ¡®suppressing¡¯ the symptoms of the curse. ¡°It¡¯s partly your level.¡± I remember being able to put Meela to sleep, but then, she was a lot lower level at that time. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The effects of the hero¡¯s natural resistance to afflictions is correlated to the level. The higher your level, the stronger your natural resistance.¡± ¡°She can¡¯t give away her levels, we need her for the demon king!¡± Harris complained. Gerrard just stared at his fellow hero. ¡°Is her life more important, or the demon king is more important?¡± Gerrard asked. ¡°No. That¡¯s not what I meant.¡± ¡°It sounded quite like what I think you meant.¡± ¡°Now¡¯s not the time to argue. Let me see what I can do to put her out of her misery. Get me the strongest painkillers and sleeping potions and items in the world. My own sleeping and pain-suppression abilities are not strong enough, but together with the world¡¯s best items, maybe I can still do something.¡± The two heroes did so. Mainly Gerrard, since he¡¯s free to travel. Harris¡¯s condition had to be monitored, his condition may suddenly deteriorate too. They acted quickly, and within days I had all kinds of strange medicines and ointments from all over the world. Such is the power of heroes to mobilise their immense financial resources. And we attempted to use each and every of those ointments. Apparently, the ¡®sleep¡¯ status, unless internally done, is viewed as a status ailment. Surely, there¡¯s a way to trigger sleep, even if her body is in pain? The body naturally sleeps. That¡¯s a fact, and the hero system doesn¡¯t intervene with that. Yet, all these ¡®inbound¡¯ influences that attempt to put her to sleep does not work. So, logically, if I could somehow fake the system to think that I am ¡®natural¡¯, wouldn¡¯t that work? I am a tree with a nature domain. If I can¡¯t do it, who else can? Days of struggling. Weeks. There are days when the pain somehow becomes more tolerable, when the demonic curse somehow subsides. Perhaps it is the alignment of the stars, but I could totally relate to Mirei''s pain. After all, I too went through something quite similar. If she could somehow gain levels to be Level 150, would heroes gain a domain too? Wouldn''t that mean they become even more overpowered if they get their heroic divine blessings, and a domain? I tried all my healing and sleep skills. From [suspended animation], to [mystical dreams], to even trying to use [hibernate] on her, but nothing worked. The heroes tried using their own heroic energy to help suppress the demonic curse, but somehow it just made it worse, so they had to stop. They cursed, and wondered how the demon king managed to create a curse of this strength and persistence. They left again, and went to look for other kinds of cure. Gerrard, it seemed, tried to go visit other healers and spirits. < Lilies, are you familiar with demonic curses? > > No < Ah. How? I mean, is there a way for a doctor to reach to the soul and just... turn off the [hero] class for a while? Like general anaesthesia or something? < Are you then familiar with how to... disable a class? Temporarily. > Lilies paused. They replied to me a week later. > The system has the power. < Well no shit, the system gave us the power of levels, pretty damn sure it has the power to remove it too. < How do I acquire it? > > Such power is beyond mortals. < Well thank you for telling me nothing. I¡¯ll have to find some other way. - Mirei would have days where the pain subsided, and I would do extensive tests. Some days, the demonic curse just... shrinks by itself. It¡¯s behavior was erratic and annoying. I didn¡¯t understand why a curse didn¡¯t behave consistently. So I wondered whether it¡¯s outside interference, like... Maybe something is remotely controlling the curse. Could I form a magical barrier? I have shield abilities, but do they work with demonic curse... uh... erm... entanglement? I mean, I guess if the heroes¡¯ magical transmission towers are somehow intertwined with each other without any obvious connection, that does suggest that a curse that is intertwined magically to something else is possible! So I tried just that. Layers on layers of magical barriers. It did nothing. Maybe the type of barriers wasn¡¯t right. She yelled and screamed every now and then. It reminded me of a mental ward, where some people just couldn¡¯t control their own mental state and frequently descend into shouting fits. Is this one of those? Frustrated, I took Mirei to the soul forge within my body. I wanted to try to use my soul forge powers to temporarily suspend the effects of her hero class. Maybe I could then put her to sleep. So, with the power of the soul forge, I examined her body again. At first, everything seemed the same. Her soul spring was there, there were two massive vases that poured sparking star mana into her spring. The spring is massive and it¡¯s large, and there are large chunks of it that resemble white marble. The curse was there too. Right next to the spring, a massive swirling black pool of stuff. The swirling curse was fenced up, by little bushes, which I think is the result of my various healing abilities. What powered this curse? I used my soul forge, as I did before, to try and suppress the curse, but it did nothing. It¡¯s already fenced up. Was it something else? There was nothing else in here, in this inner body of hers. All... except the spring. So, I went back to my earlier idea. Could I turn off the hero ability temporarily? To do so, I attempted to reach for the spring, and nothing happened. With the power of the soul forge, I pushed at the spring itself. It creaked, but didn¡¯t do much. Then I pulled. In a way, the entire spring is made of blocks, kind of like large legos stacked on one another to form a spring. Each of them represents a skill, or some, a class. It was then I saw it briefly. A small black thing. Something hidden in between the blocks. Then the blocks¡¯ pulled themselves back together. Kind of like magnets snapping back once you let go. ¡°There¡¯s something in your soulspring.¡± I told Mirei, Harris and Gerrard the bad news. ¡°I don¡¯t know when it got in there, but I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s the cause of your pain.¡± ¡°Uh...¡± They didn¡¯t understand the concept of a soulspring, of course. It probably felt like a young child listening to a doctor going about medical jargons. So I had to explain in detail what I was doing, and described what I saw. They got it rather quickly. One of them described it like, ¡°oh, it¡¯s like Naruto! That shikigami thing that pulled out the snake guy¡¯s soul and chopped his arms off! So even if he had arms, he didn¡¯t have arms, right?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Cool. So, now we know that in her soul, that¡¯s something that¡¯s living inside the central key part of her soul. That central part is tied to all our levels, our mana and stuff, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What if.... We give you more power?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t move it with your power. But you have two heroes here. Me and Harris. We¡¯re both heroes who have star mana, and star mana¡¯s like crazy juice. Could it work?¡± Gerrard asked. I thought about it for a moment, and I supposed it was worth trying. The star mana didn¡¯t do much in suppressing the curse, because well, it was already suppressed. That made sense in many ways now. We were targeting the wrong source. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it is worth trying. Will need both of you in the pods.¡± I wrapped their bodies with so many vines and branches. Simply because star mana is immensely powerful, and I¡¯m not sure regular vines by themselves can draw their mana. Then, I started the soul forge again, and telepathically gave them the signal to start the star-mana transfer. The overwhelming quantities of star mana. These heroes easily have a hundred times of my star mana, each. As it flooded through my body and into the soulforge, I had to quickly increase the quantity of vines, so much so it essentially wrapped them up entirely. Then, with their star mana and all my power, I pulled at Mirei¡¯s soul spring again. It felt amazing, I felt like I was working with a small hammer before this, and now I¡¯m given a massive excavator. So much... power. I pulled, and indeed, the soul spring started to come apart. Piece by piece was dismantled, and then I saw it. A large, entirely black piece of rock. Rotten, and festering right in the soul spring itself. When did it get here, I have no idea. But with their power, I pulled it out. Mirei was in intense quantities of pain. Pulling apart one¡¯s soul spring is like ripping through their very core. I sensed all her readings and measurements shoot through the roof, and if she could scream, she would¡¯ve screamed and fainted. I flooded her with all the sleep powers I have. [Mystical Dreams], ]Psychedelic Dreams], [Suspended Animation], [Tree Sap - Sleep]. Everything. I threw everything into her body, hoping it worked this time. And it did. The soul spring was broken, so the [hero] class could not play it¡¯s part. I then added more pain relief and pain suppression tree saps. She quickly calmed down, and entered into sleep. A black piece of rock stood before me. It oozed a blackish liquid. What in the fuck is this thing? My [inspection] just went [????] I decided to just destroy it then. I hit it with all my borrowed might. A massive root. It cracked, and broke, and turned to small black ash. Then it disappeared. Mirei¡¯s soul spring was still broken. I had to start repairing it. ¡®My star mana¡¯s running out¡¯. The two heroes telepathically communicated. ¡°I used too much to destroy that thing.¡± ¡®Is Mirei alive?¡¯ ¡°Yes, but let me do some basic repairs.¡± I tried to put her soul spring back together. I could move the lesser pieces, those that did not look like white marble. But the [hero]pieces, I couldn¡¯t budge them at all, unless... I had their star mana. ¡°My mana¡¯s out.¡± Harris said. Ugh. ¡°Fine, let¡¯s stop here.¡± The two heroes came out, absolutely exhausted. ¡°I¡¯ve never had so much star mana used up except when we fought the demon king!¡± It¡¯s only expected, isn¡¯t it? Altering one¡¯s soul is such a difficult thing, especially a hero¡¯s soul. Mirei was in the longest, deepest sleep in a long time. She was in a dream. I could sense it. A long, long dream. I think I detected that she cried at parts. The two heroes needed a few days to replenish their star mana before we could get back to repairing Mirei¡¯s soulspring. I had, in the meantime, did all the other pieces, and with each piece her condition recovered. But throughout these few days, she just slept and dreamed. The heroes said that their star mana used to refill a lot faster. When they fought the first demon king, all they needed was a 4-hour nap and they were good to fight again. These days, a few days was the minimum. They claim it¡¯s the ¡®downgraded¡¯ blessings. We got to work, and again, with their star mana, I¡¯ve finally managed to put everything back together. Without that one piece that rotted. Done, I jolt Mirei out of her dreams. When she woke up, she screamed briefly, then cried for an hour. Then she gave Harris and Gerrard both a hug. ¡°Mirei, are you alright?¡± ¡°...no.¡± ¡°What, it didn¡¯t work?¡± ¡°Whatever you all did, it worked. I¡¯m not in pain anymore.¡± Mirei said. ¡°But I¡¯m not alright. Not anymore.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I saw home.¡± ¡°Home?¡± ¡°Earth.¡± Mirei said. ¡°I dreamed of earth, but it was so real, so vivid. I was back in school again. Friends. Our family. I could remember all their names and faces again.¡± Gerrard and Harris looked at each other. ¡°We¡¯ve known for a while that the gods suppress our memories of home. But during that long sleep, all I dreamed of...was home.¡± ¡°Aeon, what did you do?¡± ¡°I put you into a dream state, but I have little input on what actually happens other than the type of dreams. I gave you a pleasant one.¡± Mirei bowed briefly. ¡°Thank you, Aeon. I needed that reminder of home. Harris, Gerrard. I want to go home.¡± The two men didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°I had enough of playing here. Thirty years¡¯ we lived here. Fought this stupid war of the gods. I want to go home now.¡± What do they even say to that? How do they even go home? How do I even go home? ¡°Mirei...¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to kill myself, but if I¡¯m heavily injured in the next battle, don¡¯t save me.¡± Mirei said. ¡°I had enough. I want to go home.¡± ¡°Mirei.¡± ¡°Harris, you had your fun. Don¡¯t you miss your parents? I saw them in my dreams. They were there. The gods told us if we died, we¡¯ll be back where we started. I had enough, Harris. It¡¯s time to wake up from this silly game.¡± She looked at the two dumbstruck men. ¡°I¡¯m going to need some time.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The two answered and quickly gave her space. Mirei was alone, and physically she was fine. She sat on a chair inside my [secret hideout], and spoke. ¡°Aeon, was that real?¡± ¡°I gave you dreams. But I don¡¯t know exactly what is in it.¡± ¡°Can you give me more of those dreams?¡± ¡°I... don¡¯t know whether your hero power will interfere with it.¡± She paused, and then she asked me a question I never expected. ¡°Can you take my hero powers away? If I give it to you willingly, is that something you can take away?¡± The answer was yes, of course. It¡¯s entirely possible to give away one¡¯s levels and skills. It had happened before so many, many, many years ago. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I see.¡± She said. ¡°Harris probably wants me to fight with him the next time. But I¡¯m tired of this artificial life. I miss my parents. I miss home. I miss being... normal again. I hate this hero thing now.¡± ¡°Things may not be well back home.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Mirei sobbed. ¡°I didn¡¯t realise how sad it is to never dream of my parents, or my siblings all these years. That we¡¯ve somehow accepted and rolled with this new role of ours as heroes so freaking easily. It¡¯s just fucked up. So fucked up, and all I want to do is quit this game.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a game.¡± Well, who knows? ¡°It might well be, with how they¡¯ve been toying with our feelings and emotions.¡± Mirei said. ¡°The worst thing is I didn¡¯t even know until you¡¯ve disabled my hero class! I never even realised how weird it is for us to just roll with it and forget so many important things about our world!¡± I didn¡¯t say much. I just gave her some tea, and now that she¡¯s not in pain, there¡¯s no reason to lock her up in here. Her curse still remained, though, and that¡¯s something even with the heroes¡¯ star mana I still can¡¯t solve. Maybe, not yet. She rested for quite a long time, alone. ¡°Aeon. I have a favor to ask.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°When it¡¯s time for me to die, can you take my levels away?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t do that. Levels must be given away freely.¡± ¡°I can give you my levels now? Or can I make it into a magical contract such that you take my levels the moment I die?¡± ¡°Why not give it to Harris, or Gerrard?¡± ¡°...they don¡¯t realise it, Aeon. Maybe Gerrard knows, but he is drinking away his worries. Maybe he knows and doesn¡¯t want to admit it. It¡¯s a kind of suffering to continue this game, knowing that our old life, our real family are all waiting for me over there, on the other side. Giving them levels just prolongs their suffering¡± ¡°It¡¯ll help them.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a twisted kindness, that heroes die frequently. Imagine never being able to die, and stuck in this world. If you realise that your loved ones are still there...¡± Hmm, at this point, well, if she wants to give it to me... ¡°I¡¯ll give it to you.¡± But then again, I can¡¯t use it. If I remember correctly, levels surrendered are converted to [experience seeds]. It just goes into my growing pool of [experience seeds]. But, ¡°Sure.¡± - That day, I gained a level. I think it was when I used the hero¡¯s star mana to crush that black [????] thing. [You gained a level. Level 156] [Skill : Natural Mana Overwhelming upgraded] [Skill : Soul Forge upgraded. Improved control and abilities over soul forge functions] I¡¯m really slow at gaining levels. The last time I gained levels was 5 years ago! That¡¯s slow, right? Spaizzer Thanks for reading. (Subtly points to Patreon having 3 chapters ahead). Tree of Runes and Rituals Year 119 During the past few years, I¡¯ve been studying runes, and formations. It¡¯s been something on my mind since I saw those mages do it, and with the heroes¡¯ financial resources, I have a lot to read and study. Of course, I can¡¯t read. So, the task is left to some poor Valtrian Order magic student, who¡¯s ¡®job¡¯ is to come to the Valley of the Unrotten, and read the book out loud. Kind of like audible, but only a lot more boring because the subject matter is runic formations, magical theory and stuff like that. This of course served multiple functions. It¡¯s a means of education for these students. Reading out loud is a good way of learning and committing to memory. Two, it helped me! Three, I get to have a sense of how these young children are. After all, their behavior is quite clear when they are asked to read a book alone in a strange and scary place. I didn¡¯t get a skill, sadly. But that¡¯s fine. I developed an understanding of the magical formations, and I began experimenting on them. Mainly, in some corner of my growing domain that wasn¡¯t inhabited. I had a few things I wanted to do, one of which is to use formations as a source of mana on a large scale. Instead of using mana, create formations that do the reverse of generating mana, like some kind of mana gathering facility. There are smaller scale variants, but I was quite inspired by the former hero, Astra¡¯s ability to apparently channel mana from various sources to create a super hex-bomb. No matter how he did it. Mirei has been particularly cooperative, and she was very amused with the children reading books in the often uninhabited valley. ¡°Tree Spirits sure have strange ways of doing things.¡± She helped with the mana-gathering formations. ¡°I had the impression trees are able to do this quite naturally. As in, trees gather mana naturally, do they not?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Mirei, after the earlier set of outburst, stabilised. I suspect it¡¯s the effects of her hero class, now restored. It suppressed those emotions. ¡°But it¡¯s a slow process, and I¡¯m hoping to speed it up.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Why not?¡± A massive defensive array requires mana. A lot of it. It took many, many iterations, but eventually we succeeded in producing an array of runes and structures able to produce more mana than it uses. It had to be big, too, so it wasn¡¯t something you could hide. But that meant I could channel more of this mana to fight off the demonic energy, and expand even more. Gerrard returned in the later half of the year with a fragment. The third piece that was given away. I scanned it, and sadly, it was still an incomplete image. -demons. Dragons. Combat. A lot of combat. Earth cracked, and so did the skies. It is still incomplete. There are pieces out there. But how do we find it? [Grand Mind-Tree has blocked attempted influence] Ah. Again. ¡°The Frozen Tree was very willing to share.¡± Gerrard explained. ¡°It told me that he would like to meet you someday.¡± ¡°Likewise.¡± A frozen tree spirit. That¡¯s extremely fascinating. This Frozen Tree lived in a frozen lake in the far north, in an uninhabited island that¡¯s almost completely frozen over. Home to ice giants, monsters and all that, the Frozen Tree is the overlord of that island, and has kept the island free of demons for millennia. I wonder what other tree spirits think of this entire situation? Surely they don¡¯t just accept it like Lilies? Or they all do, because that¡¯s how trees are? Nature is what it is, and they just accept it. Is going against the rules of the world a thing that trees don¡¯t do? [Domain and Grand Mind-Tree has blocked attempted divine action]. Uh. I take that as a yes. It seemed that trees really do not attempt to break the cycle, even if they are long lived and can see things with the benefit of history. Surely, this systematic, demonic destruction is not acceptable, since it¡¯s way more than just regular ¡®constructive¡¯ destruction. And yet they do nothing. Why? I don¡¯t get it. Gods. Has to be the gods. Meddling, meddling gods. [You¡¯ve gained a level. You are now level 157] [Skill : Natural mana overwhelming upgraded] Uh. Why is the same skill getting upgraded over and over again? And I still don¡¯t get why I gain a level from it. - The constant expansion of my territory and also the influx of more refugees means the population has increased significantly. Outside of my research, I spend more time, together with Jasmine, to watch over the multiple towns and cities that have popped up. It¡¯s a very big area, and for the most part, Kavio and the new Council of Representatives all deal with me directly. The focus is on the next demon king. Our preparations, readying ourselves for the coming wars. The heroes also worked on making more anti-demon weapons. More armors and more sets. Weapons! Yay! Over the years I¡¯ve managed to equip a 200-strong group with a full set of anti-demon armor, and I hope to grow this force to 500-strong. Of this group, about 50 are now at least level 40. Once they hit level 60-70, they should be able to handle a demon walker without my assistance. They gained this level by hunting naturally spawning monsters, and made regular trips into the Rottedlands to fight the hybrid spawns. In a world where the Rottedlands is like a large ¡®dungeon¡¯, the level of the residents should be high. Else, it¡¯s jarring. Even with protection like my army of beetles. But then, if their levels go up, that makes them more dangerous to me, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯m not too worried about high level merchants or craftsmen, but then... warriors, I have to get them on my side. Anyway, we regularly deployed soldiers and recruits into the Rottedlands to fight monsters. That way, the soldiers and recruits who work for me gain levels, and prepare for the real demonic attacks. Is this what rulers do? I mean, I didn¡¯t really actively do it, but it must be trying to do this whole play-each faction against each other schtick. Balancing levels so that all the factions never get too powerful and they continue to obey me? Too fucking time consuming. I mean, I was on this train of thought as news of civil war broke out in Harris¡¯s now fractured kingdom. I mean, the man is still alive and already they are fighting. Children, fighting each other. It must suck to be a father and watch your children fight. It suppose its like a typical family drama where a wealthy tycoon passed away and the kids squabble over the riches. In fact, it absolutely drove him into depression of some kind. Well, I¡¯m not sure whether it¡¯s actually depression, but it made him feel, very very sad. So much so that Mirei was the one comforting him. ¡°What should I do?¡± Harris was sad. Already, some of his sons and daughters came to talk to him, and asked him to stop it. But he gave away his rights to those lands, and some of his more ambitious children are taking the chance to do something. ¡°Stop him, father.¡± A boy said to Harris. ¡°He¡¯s attacking one of us.¡± But truth was, everyone was provoking each other, and Harris had his own network of informants that seemed to suggest none of his children were entirely innocent. If he wanted to lay down the law, he would have to do it to everyone. And yet he is but one person. Even those who served him, he is not surprised if they are already taking sides in the conflict. ¡°You can do two things.¡± Mirei said to a sad Harris. ¡°Stop it, and enter into a loop of constantly interfering. And eventually when you do die, they will still continue the fight that they¡¯ve postponed. Or do nothing. They have land and territory now, and let them fight each other over it. Let them prove themselves by blood and war.¡± ¡°That¡¯s so cruel.¡± ¡°It¡¯s always been this way. Territorial disputes are as old as nations themselves, and the right to rule is one protected by might and magic, not by name or heritage.¡± Harris regretted breaking his country up then. He knew he would just be kicking the can down the road until the day they die and they¡¯d fight it out anyway. But at least he wouldn¡¯t be alive to see it. So, as much as he knew it was a stupid thing to do, he started left frequently to stop the fighting with his summoned army. There was no way he could let it continue, even if it did lead to a constant vicious cycle. A cruel fate. Mirei said as much as she watched her friend feel like shit. ¡°You know, that¡¯s partly why I didn¡¯t want to have children. After I discovered what happened to so many, so many heroes and their families, I just feel really sad. I don¡¯t think I could ever watch my children drift apart and start doing that.¡± ¡°Conflict is eternal. But perhaps, so is reconciliation.¡± - I used more and more runes and formations to gather more mana, and added runic formations to the Valley of the Unrotten. Mana means territory, and I¡¯m pretty damned good with using mana to push back against the demons. More mana. More mana. More runes. More mana! Eventually, I made a formation large enough to trigger a notification that I wasn¡¯t quite expecting. [Soul Forge : Yellow Unlocked] [Artificial Souls Level Cap increased to Level 60] [All artificial souls now have Yellow option unlocked] [Class/Skill/Experience Seed merging unlocked. Ability to merge souls and classes, and multiple class seeds and experience seeds together] [Class/Skill/Experience Seed upgrade unlocked. Able to upgrade classes, skills and experience seeds to superior forms] OOOOO. Looks like I¡¯m one step further, and closer, to make myself an army of super elites. Yellow Soul Forge from just using a massive array and formation to gather mana. Who would¡¯ve thought of that! That meant soul forges actually just require different ¡®types¡¯ or ¡®origin¡¯ of mana, not necessarily unique or special magical leylines. But... wait. If I get enough star mana, could I have Soul Forge : Star? I mean, theoretically possible, perhaps? What overpowered ability would I have? Or what about demonic mana? Could enough demonic mana power some kind of Soul Forge too? So, I began to explore both aspects of these mana, experimenting more on the hybrid demonic trees. I hoped to at least somehow unlock a better understanding of the demon¡¯s mana, even if it didn¡¯t lead to a soul forge. At the same time, I started the whole class seed upgrade and merging process. Essentially, class seeds are upgraded when one adds essence, mana and materials. Combining them increases their strength and power, and fusing multiple class seeds create special ones. It¡¯s a bit like crossbreeding, splicing and grafting different trees together to create something different at the end. I began rather conservatively, like fusing multiple [ranger] and [druid] class seeds together, which formed the [Mountain Druid] class. Or multiple druid classes were fused together and then obtained the [Great Druid] Class. The ratio is like 10 normal classes to form one single better class. And I kept at it. I have a lot of class seeds and essences accumulated over the years, and I¡¯ve finally found a place to fuse them all! 20 [Knight] classes made one single [Grand Knight] class, and 10 [Warrior] and [Soldiers] made a [Warmaster]. It¡¯s honestly extremely enjoyable, and I felt like a cook when I fused all the different classes together. Adding essences to it also did some strange things. Iron and mineral essences fused to a [Knight], eventually created a [Steel Knight] class. But, there is a limitation. These evolved classes, not all can be further fused. Not all, and I¡¯m still trying to find what ¡®can¡¯ be fused. Eventually, One of the few twice-evolved classes I discovered was 30 [Great Druid] classes fused into a single [Lord of the Forest] class. And 50 [Grand Knight] classes fused into a [Knight Master] With it, I was eager to test it out. So, I selected one young promising 13-year old Valthorn. His name was Faris, and he¡¯s been living in one of the outer sections of the Freshlands, before he was recruited to join the Valthorns 3 years ago. He¡¯s been training with Yvon for a while, and in 3 years he¡¯s already a level 30 [druid]. A regular [druid] class. I gave a [Great Druid] class seed to Yvon. ¡°You want to give this to him?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°I mean... this is a rare class, right?¡± Yvon didn¡¯t know I unlocked the class-fusion ability. Let¡¯s keep it that way. ¡°Yes, I believe it is time I stop hoarding these things and grant them.¡± So Yvon did in fact, give it to Faris. There was a small ceremony, something like a small award ceremony in school where the principal would then give out certificates, only, he received a small seed. ¡°This, young Faris, is a gift from Aeon himself. A fruit which will grant you the class [Great Druid].¡± Everyone in the room of course clapped. Faris didn¡¯t waste much time and chomped down the fruit. I observed him that entire day, and I watched his soul change slightly, as the new class merged with his own. After one night¡¯s sleep, he found himself with increased mastery over his druidic abilities. [Domain and Grand Mind Tree blocked passive influence from a Great Druid]. Ah. I suppose I should be more careful with giving out classes relating to control over trees. I think that was a passive. Faris and Jura came to me for an audience the next day. He was still a young boy in the end, even though he does have a good class. Children. So, so young. ¡°Aeon, I bring the one that you¡¯ve granted the seed.¡± ¡°Greetings, Faris.¡± I spoke mentally, and already I could sense some pressure pushing back. [Domain and Grand Mind Tree blocked passive influence] ¡°I believe you may be unknowingly using some passive abilities, young Faris.¡± Faris flustered and he seemingly nodded. ¡°Ah. I... I¡¯m sorry.¡± Then I felt the pressure lift. Do druids have these abilities all these while? Is this how they attempt to control trees? He is still but a young child. ¡°Good. How do you like your reward?¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite amazing, Aeon. Upgrading my class to a Great Druid at my age is unheard of anywhere in the world. All my skills are stronger now.¡± ¡°Good. It is a gift, and a reward, and with it, responsibility and expectation, that you will do more and better for us. Our land remains heavily damaged, and we need people like you to help heal it.¡± Faris nodded. He was very agreeable and impressionable. At that moment, I wonder whether I¡¯ve made a mistake in giving him such powers, the same way the Gods gave their powers to young teenagers. - One of the foolish things about people is that, well, they seem to forget that trees in the forests have eyes. So, Jasmine and my Artificial souls alerted me to the presence of some cultists. It¡¯s common. A land newly reclaimed and filled with people, where law enforcement is still not yet secure, and leaders still vying for power and position among themselves, some will inevitably turn to magic, and occasionally, blood magic. So, in the depth of the unnamed woods, a group of 35 men and women were gathered. One of them was an old noble from the nearby city, who migrated to the Freshlands and settled there. They had with them about fifteen slaves. The slaves all looked extremely afraid. ¡°Should we save the slaves, master?¡± Jasmine asked. There were beetles and spiders who could easily intercept. ¡°Wait.¡± I wanted to see this for a long time now. Blood magic. I¡¯m sorry, slaves, but I believe the benefit I gain from learning how blood magic works will allow me to save more lives in the future. 30 men formed a circle, and with a quick cut, one of the slaves were killed. His body splattered in the middle of a strange formation. They chanted, and I could see the soul very clearly, torn apart by the blood magic. They did so repeatedly, with all the slaves. I watched, with all my sensors, magical and not. Blood magic being executed right before my eyes, I saw their magic rip the soul out of the slaves, and fused them together. Oh wow. It really is a kind of soul fusion. But it¡¯s incomplete. I saw the core of their souls break free and the remnant, the outer souls of the slaves stitched together by their rough blood magic. Incomplete. Irregular and messy. But it is strong. Just like how my artificial souls are without a soul ¡®core¡¯, from this alone I could easily see that their blood magic is essentially using the ¡®outer¡¯ part of the souls, and fused together into this mess. After a chant or so, the blood magic compressed the tangled fused souls into a small reddish drop on a small plate. The noble took it, and he drank it. Instantly I saw his body¡¯s energy levels spike up. This was quite like using blood magic to strengthen himself, and his features quickly turned younger. Ah. Youth. Interesting. The ritual was done. I think I have an idea why the hex can be reversed gradually via those negative emotions. No more reason to leave them alive. Most of them. ¡°Well. Capture the two chief ritual masters alive.¡± There were two of them that led the ritual, and well, I have plans for some good old interrogation. An army of beetles and spiders descended on them. The noble was strong, his strength amplified by the blood magic. So, it still took me a few hits of [Serpentine Rootstrike], and an army of beetles quickly slaughtered the rest of them. Hex. It¡¯s essentially an unstable fusion of the outer souls, which is why it leaked so much negative energy. And, because this negative energy is contagious, it caused others close to it to also suffer hex poisoning. Walking into a field of hex is like being infected with depression that killed you from within. A rot in the soul, caused by exposure to unstable fusion of soul fragments. Spaizzer Thanks for reading. It''s been an exhausting July, and work''s been really busy. My attempt to edit my earlier chapters into a publishable ebook is not moving anywhere T__T. Also, patreon has 3 chapters ahead if you want more, for only $3/month Tree of Classes Year 120 I gave away a [Grand Knight] class to a promising young student. She was fit, but with the Grand Knight class, she became fit and unnaturally strong. She had a skill that strengthened all the armor that she wore, and she turned into quite a monster to fight. ¡°These upgraded classes, Aeon, how did you get them?¡± Yvon was extremely curious. At the same level, an upgraded class is at least 30% stronger. Perhaps this was the comparison between a Lord and a King, or a King and an Emperor? ¡°I collected them.¡± Which is partly true. Through all the souls of the dead, I¡¯ve been accumulating so much class seeds that I¡¯ve lost track of all of them. I¡¯ve also been growing ¡®class-tree-plants¡¯, that produces more class seeds of the rarer classes, like [Dark Knight]. I mean, would 30 Dark Knights give me a Dark Paladin? ¡°You know, this news spreads out, many are going to come calling. Fruits that are able to grant an upgraded class are unheard of in the world. Even Kings may grant Royal variants, but those are nothing like true upgraded classes.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°Well. Theft, for one. We¡¯ll need to prepare for that, as there will be thieves who want to steal your stockpile of upgraded class seeds.¡± Let them try. It¡¯s all inside me. How would they steal? Perhaps these thieves have some kind of skill, then? Wait. That does sound possible. A thief with a skill able to take from one¡¯s presumed safe pockets sounds exactly like what a high-tier thief should have. ¡°Jasmine, can you increase your surveillance for thieves?¡± ¡°Master, we¡¯ve located many thieves.¡± Already? Oh. It has been a year since I gave away my [Great Druid] Class. ¡°Most are petty criminals, but some appear highly skilled.¡± Thieves. Should I just kill them? - Meanwhile, the captured blood ritualists were forced to do my bidding. Mainly, to conduct more blood rituals, using criminals that are on death row. I had to learn a bit more about blood magic. There¡¯s some fundamental similarities between my soul forge and blood magic, and I intended to learn more of it. The blood ritualists cooperated, and used the criminals to cast all sorts of blood rituals. Strengthening rituals, summoning rituals. Of course, after 50ish rituals, they leveled up, and I think they were close to level 60. Then they got overconfident and started to attack me with the summoned creatures. Each ritual made them stronger, but I too, gained a deeper understanding of blood magic. I have a large army, and now, more elites. I deployed my new [Grand Knight] and [Great Druid], together with an army of beetles. The two ritualists didn¡¯t stand much of a chance. They honestly should¡¯ve used blood magic to cast some kind of warped teleportation, but perhaps that had too much risk. Blood magic is inherently unstable, it¡¯s power derived from the stitching of the outer souls together in accordance with ancient writings. Those writings guide the ritualists, bind the fragments of the soul together into a shape, and each shape then creates a specific effect. Some of these shapes are actually benign, and hence they empower their hosts. Still, they are inherently unstable soul fragments, so over time they decay and they create problems for the host. It¡¯s like cancer, really. The two overconfident ritualists were captured again. This time, their punishment was death, and I gave them a punishment that I gave a long time ago. Death by deconstruction in a biolab. I received [Blood Mage] class seeds. I wonder whether I could somehow get [Hero] Class seeds. ¡°Mirei.¡± ¡°Yes, Aeon?¡± ¡°Would you ever be willing to give away your hero class?¡± I asked her one day as she rested in one of the courtyards of Freshka. She had slowly dismantled her business, and sold them to various merchants eager to take over her clothing chain. ¡°Yes.¡± She had a headache after she said it. ¡°The hero class is pretty much the god¡¯s remote control button. It¡¯s a trojan horse in our body.¡± It was quite predictable, and to some extent, Mirei got better at figuring out what triggers the headache. It was always something about heroes and gods. She took about a while to collect herself, and she continued. ¡°I mean, I would give it away, but I can¡¯t. The system doesn¡¯t let me do it. I just tried to do it just now.¡± ¡°Really. Yet it allows you to trade your hero levels for other levels.¡± ¡°Yeah. I could theoretically trade away all my hero levels for something else, and then give you all those levels, but it sounds like you are interested in the hero class itself, Aeon?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s right.¡± I mean, the [hero] class itself is what¡¯s incredibly fascinating, like... is there a way I can trace it backwards to the source, ie the gods. Do the gods actually have a physical location in this world? Like, there¡¯s a magical heaven somewhere, where they gaze on this world. Perhaps they are like players, looking at us through the screen. ¡°Have you not considered it, giving away all your hero levels so that you can remove their influence?¡± ¡°I did think about it. But I didn¡¯t do it because I wanted to still help Harris and Gerrard. I doubt the gods would just let all 3 of us trade all our hero classes away. Pretty sure there¡¯s like a limit or something.¡± Makes sense that the gods would put a failsafe like that. They already went ahead to actively ¡®mind-control¡¯ and ¡®mind-wipe¡¯ these heroes, why wouldn¡¯t they put restrictions. - ¡°Tending to flowers, Great Druid?¡± The young lady said. She was in full armor, had two large swords on each side, and a long wooden anti-demon spear at the back. Edna, the [Grand Knight], and she¡¯s only 16. ¡°As I am often compelled to do, yes.¡± ¡°Has Aeon summoned you recently?¡± ¡°No, why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s... well. I have had offers from nearby kingdoms to defect to serve them.¡± Faris paused. ¡°If it¡¯s a good offer, it is worth considering. Though the term... defection is a bit too strong.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Edna sat on a rock in the flower garden. ¡°Explain.¡± ¡°I believe Aeon may be open to us acting as his mercenaries.¡± ¡°Mercenaries?¡± Edna frowned. ¡°That¡¯s quite against the very nature of my class as a Grand Knight.¡± ¡°I spoke to some observers, Principal Yvon and Master Jura, and they agreed that Aeon may be willing to consider stationing us in those other kingdoms.¡± ¡°Willing to consider, doesn¡¯t mean he will.¡± ¡°Aeon¡¯s willingness, of course, has a price. A good enough reward, he would definitely consider it. I believe if the kingdoms may offer something rare and unique from the ancient pasts, Aeon may well be swayed into it. At least, Principal Yvon strongly thinks so.¡± ¡°I highly doubt he is willing to give any of us away.¡± ¡°Not give. Stationed. We are still loyal to him, and we act as his agents. Our services to those other kingdoms are similar to those of an adventurer. We would obviously abstain if those conflicts meant we would end up fighting each other.¡± ¡°So you have been similarly approached.¡± Edna smirked. ¡°Of course.¡± Faris said. ¡°When the kingdoms, or even the Hutan Council first gave me the offers, I quickly notified Valthorn leadership. Master Jura¡¯s advice then, was to ignore it, as if these kingdoms truly are desperate, they would offer far greater rewards than what they offered now.¡± Edna shook her head. ¡°That really makes it sound like... mercenarial. I wouldn¡¯t do so.¡± Faris¡¯s turn to laugh. ¡°If so, it¡¯s best you stay put. I doubt the principles of these other kingdoms would be better than ours.¡± ¡°But a part of my class is enhanced by serving a [King]. There are knight-specific abilities for people like myself...¡± ¡°...if there¡¯s anyone who can ¡®make¡¯ a King, it¡¯s probably our great Aeon.¡± I don¡¯t have a [King] class, though. Wait... does Roma have the [Prince] class? - ¡°Yes. But it¡¯s still level 2.¡± Roma said quietly, when Jura approached him. ¡°Why do you ask, Master Jura?¡± ¡°Aeon asked, not me.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Roma¡¯s an adult, like Lausanne. Unlike Lausanne, his focus has always been more academic and magical in nature, and now, having survived, he¡¯s mostly an administrator for merchant companies. It¡¯s almost like someone who¡¯s a prince relegated to an office boy, though he certainly doesn¡¯t seem any bit bothered by that sort of reality. ¡°Well, if anyone¡¯s asking, I¡¯m honestly not interested in the whole Prince thing. I¡¯d even give the class away, if I could. I¡¯m honestly not sure why I even still have the class.¡± ¡°Salah¡¯s still around, in some form, so the title remains.¡± Well, I wanted the [Prince] class, and so Jura asked. ¡°So, since you do not want the class, would you consider giving it away?¡± ¡°That is.. Possible?¡± ¡°Aeon may have the ability to take it away from you.¡± Yvon objected strongly. ¡°It¡¯s your heritage!¡± ¡°The hell with it, mom. I¡¯m not interested in being caught in stupid political games that this faraway kingdom of Salah would probably have. I have no relationship with Salah, I never lived there, I don¡¯t know anyone there, and honestly, I may well be a lifetime citizen of Freshka! I don¡¯t know my father either, and honestly, this [class] isn¡¯t worth it.¡± Well, turns out, I couldn¡¯t take it away. Simply because his level as a [Prince] was far too low. He needed to have at least 10-20 levels in Prince for me to actually ¡®take¡¯ it away from him. Help, on this matter, came from a very odd party. ¡°I¡¯m a King.¡± Harris said, back from his many peacekeeping duties. He had to come back frequently, but still, the ¡®civil¡¯ war went on. His wives, now all Queen Mothers in their own right, squabbled over territory. There were days he felt sad. His wives truly adored and loved him, and that part wasn¡¯t a lie. But his harem was held together by him, and him alone. WIth him giving up his right over the entire kingdom, each Queen had to protect her own children. Some of his children are more ambitious, and so, fighting broke out. He had no right to imprison his children, now that they are legally King and Prince Regents of their own country. He could only reprimand them as a father. ¡°If you want my class, you honestly can take it. It¡¯s useless now. I¡¯m probably going to declare my capital city independent, and let what¡¯s left of the council of ministers decide where to go.¡± ¡°You just sound incredibly sad.¡± Mirei tapped him. ¡°What say, you know, let¡¯s go out with a bang. Let¡¯s end this farce with the next demon king.¡± The two heroes plotted their plans for the next demon king. Indeed, they intended to win, but they also intended to die. Harris was able to give me a few levels of his [King] class, but no more than 20% of it. But strangely, in my hands, the [King] class was unusable. I mean, I have a [King] class seed, but I cannot give it or use it on anyone. [The class [King] cannot be used] Huh. Can I change it such that I can use it? So, with my [Soul Forge : Yellow], I tried to experiment on the [king] Class seed... and well, after injecting my own energy into it... it changed. The King class seed transformed into a unique class seed [The Anointed King, Aeon¡¯s Executor]. Uh... that¡¯s quite corny, isn¡¯t it. But that¡¯s so Starcraft. Executor. Maybe can I create a Hierarch, like uh.. Artanis? I had a dilemma now. I have a special class seed, and I wasn¡¯t quite sure who to give it to. I didn¡¯t want to give it to the heroes, because they had no ties with the valley and me. Ultimately, they are under the influence of the gods, and I wouldn¡¯t want them to be ¡®King¡¯. The first person I had in mind was Jura. He served me loyally over the years, and has demonstrated all the necessary skills of war. He shot it down. ¡°No, Aeon. Me, a King? There¡¯s no way I can do it. I prefer to just teach.¡± Lausanne, perhaps? But she¡¯s happily travelling with her husband. Laufen? She shook her head, she was happy tending to young children at Eriz¡¯s childcare centers, and didn¡¯t want the stress or the duties of a King.¡± So, I reluctantly put this class aside. But, I had my fellow artificial souls pay attention to the young Valthorns. Perhaps of these young ones, some of them will show promise, and of them, one than I can elevate to a ¡®King¡¯. - ¡°6 more years to the demon king.¡± ¡°If we¡¯re lucky, 7.¡± ¡°6. I want it to come sooner.¡± Mirei said. She was really quite eager to return home, and so, when I told her about the entire [Soul Contract], and how it works with Yvon, she immediately rejected it. To her, a Soul Contract extends her misery in this world by 1,000 years. She didn¡¯t want any of that. She missed home, and she wanted to go home. The idea of ¡®suicide¡¯ didn¡¯t quite work for her, so she¡¯s in this odd situation, perhaps quite like a Norse warrior seeking Valhalla through glorious battle with the demon king. Because little else can kill her. Her curse had remained relatively stable since my last operation, and I still continued my experiments. I suspect there must be something that binds the curse to the demons, because I didn¡¯t understand why it fluctuated at odd times. A fluctuation may be internal or external, and after all my abilities, I¡¯m rather certain I ruled out the internal factors. So, that leaves the fluctuations in the curse down to two possible external factors. The gods, or the demons. The curse is a matter of the soul, and something I wondered was... what if a hero was sacrificed in a blood ritual? Or could blood magic¡¯s ability to interact with the outer soul be used to fix the curse? Harris, of course, hated the idea. ¡°Blood magic should be outlawed. It¡¯s a gruesome ability that shouldn¡¯t even exist in this world.¡± Ngeh. The world¡¯s pretty gruesome. I mean, you gain experience by killing stuff, isn¡¯t that gruesome? How¡¯s blood magic different, it¡¯s just the way of killing, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯d concede that the only thing different is that blood magic reached into a person¡¯s soul and ripped it out, and perhaps that is a kind of ¡®desecration¡¯ of the sanctity of the soul. Again, only if one believes that the soul is ¡®sacred¡¯. A mortal belief, really. For someone like myself who now has a good understanding of the soul, it certainly doesn¡¯t feel sacred. In fact, I feel a bit of desensitization that comes from knowledge. Knowing that a person¡¯s inner soul can always reincarnate, and death is but the departure of the inner soul from a physical vessel. If so, in this cycle of death and reincarnation, it¡¯s just a convoluted version of swapping one car for another, or stopping one game and starting another new game. So... why should outer souls or lives be sacred? If anything should be sacred, it¡¯s that moment in space and time. Spacetime is sacred, because death takes it away, and each period of time is unique, and what happens in that space is unique. So, death robs away one¡¯s ability to experience each unique segment of space-time. Anyway, back to the blood magic. I certainly want to use my [blood mage] class seeds, and I want to use it differently. All the previous [blood mages] have quite warped perspectives and were up to no good, so, I¡¯m going to try to train a ¡®good¡¯ blood mage. There must be something in their magic that¡¯s worth learning. Jura, Laufen and Yvon were horrified at the idea of training young blood mages. ¡°No. No. No.¡± ¡°Our existing trainees generally gain their levels and experience against monsters and hybrids. Blood mages require blood sacrifice, and that means people! No.¡± Something like that. Doesn¡¯t make much sense, though. What¡¯s wrong using those about to die anyway? - Spaizzer Thanks for reading my little story. If you want more, my patreon has 3 more chapters :P I must confess that it''s getting harder to write this fic. The setting, the environment are like a cage, and I must work around and with the cage. There are days when I just sit down and write other stuff, hoping for an idea to pop into my head. I think I have an ending, though. Maybe it''s 1-2years away. Maybe less. Not sure. The roadmap''s hazy, I''m trying to find the dotted lines that lead to that ending. Treevial Matters Year 121 My own curse flared up. I wasn¡¯t sure why, but if it could happen to the heroes, it certainly could happen to me. Thankfully [Root of Life] helped suppress it, but it felt like one of those days when I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and had to nurse a migraine the entire day. It¡¯s really one of those days. And well, it¡¯s one of those years. I had a few rebellions to crush. A few invasions to defeat. A surge in monsters and creatures from the Rottedlands. But, there are some good parts. I sent 3 of the ancient-tree shards to Lilies. Strangely, they actually agreed to give an ¡®enchantment¡¯ should I ever ask for it. They have some powers over death. They gave me a brief origin story of their powers of death. Because they took death-ceremonies to another level. In the Lake of Lilypod City, any and every death is brought back to be submerged in the lake. A tradition almost a millennia old, Lilies have developed a method of gaining experience from the bodies of the dead. Beneath the lake¡¯s murky waters are floating roots and vines that consume the corpses of the dead. They had somehow developed a skill that allowed them to collect experience from the dead. I mean, I get experience seeds, but they get experience and levels! I wonder if it¡¯s a function of their different species? < When we were small and few, we lived in this lake where the dead were thrown away. The dead fed us, strengthened us. > Class. Experience. Levels. Perhaps, so many years ago, did Indra set me off on this path of being a Soul/Spirit Tree by requesting for a familiar? Had I received experience in a different way, would my evolution had been different? - ¡°I¡¯m afraid not.¡± Jura shook his head. ¡°Aeon has a rather poor opinion of the Hutan Council after his encounters with your people a few decades ago.¡± ¡°Could you talk to it and convince it otherwise? The Council has changed a lot over the 20 years, surely it¡¯s unfair for the Tree Spirit to pin the blame on this generation for the sins of the previous generation?¡± The Hutan Council had sent a decent-sized delegation to Freshka after the news of the Great Druid-class being gifted to Faris. It took them some time, but here they are. Many want the class, of course. Some of these druids have been regular druids for decades, and saw the upgraded class as a chance to break through their stagnant life. . Jura shrugged. ¡°Trees have long memories, I suggest you come back in, say... 50 years.¡± I think that¡¯s not true. It¡¯s just that we trees perceive time differently, so those memories feel quite fresh to me. It takes more time for me to forget a grudge, even though it feels just as long or the same to me. ¡°No. Great Druid! To a child!¡± The druid shouted at Jura. ¡°Even the entire Hutan Council, only 2 druids have that class!¡± Jura frowned. ¡°Perhaps Aeon sees something in the child. And I don¡¯t recall druids ever challenging the wisdom of the Tree Spirits.¡± [Domain and Grand Mind Tree has blocked attempted influence] ¡°And Aeon has just said that he is annoyed at your attempt to use your power.¡± The druid frowned. A few other druids looked unhappy. And they stomped off. Jasmine helped to monitor them, but then, a bunch of them were spotted sneaking into the Valthorn¡¯s offices and buildings. ¡°The tree spirit may have hidden some of the class-granting fruits in the premises. We should sneak in and try to find it.¡± They managed to bribe a Valthorn employee to reveal where valuable items are hidden in the Valtrian Order¡¯s premises. So, they snuck in. ¡°But wouldn¡¯t they hide it in it¡¯s main tree itself?¡± Another Hutan druid asked. At this point, I think no one ever revealed to the druids that I have line-of-sight of the entire valley. Wouldn¡¯t anyone be able to figure it out? ¡°Do you want a chance to find a Great Druid class or not?¡± They snuck into the premises, and then got a shock when they saw the valuables store only had money. ¡°It¡¯s just storing money...¡± That¡¯s because all the weapons, and other items have all been given to the Valthorns and they are responsible for caring for their own goods. Seriously, the concept of a store is not really valid when Jasmine and the other artificial minds can pretty much track all movement of these items almost all the time. Distributing them minimised any risk of theft, and since the valley itself is under heavy surveillance, it wasn¡¯t hard to find who took what, especially if it¡¯s of value. Money, on the other hand, was rather worthless to me, so it¡¯s security was left to the Valtrian Council. ¡°You know, it won¡¯t be there.¡± Edna appeared behind the druids, there were a group of other Valthorn Knights with her. ¡°The fruits of a special class only appear when Aeon itself decides it so.¡± ¡°You!¡± The Hutan druids turned and summoned animals to fight. They were outnumbered, honestly. There were knights everywhere, the knights overwhelmed the druids, those who surrendered were arrested and thrown into a prison. Time for Freshka to hold them ransom for some rewards from the Hutan Council. I had the impression they are on the decline, though, so I wonder what they are willing to cough up. - Later on, I awarded two more Valthorn Initiates with special classes. One, a [Mountain Druid], and another, a [Ranger Master]. To some extent, a part of me began to enjoy the chaos that these advanced classes cause. ¡°I¡¯m rather surprised that you have so many unique classes, Aeon.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been hoarding them for some time.¡± There¡¯s some truth to it, but I also have an orchard of class-seed growing trees in the Valley of the Unrotten. And it helps that I gather class seeds, skill seeds and experience seeds when people die. Everywhere, as long as it¡¯s within the range of my soul harvesters, essence, class-seed and skill-seeds continue to come in. So, I always have materials to fuse into ¡®bigger¡¯ or ¡®upgraded¡¯ seeds. ¡°Master, we need upgrades too!¡± Horns reminded. Their level cap has increased to level 60, but as previously, their upgrades require materials and gems. I decided to upgrade Trevor and Dimitree first, since they¡¯ve been supporting me for so long, and they are both at their level cap anyway. After that, I upgraded Horns and Jura¡¯s Bamboo. The Yellow-type upgrades generally grant my artificial souls to choose a ¡®class-specialisation¡¯, so in Trevor and Dimitree¡¯s case, they both gained ¡®Administrator¡¯-type skills. Horns gained [General]-type skills to control my large army of beetles. I also created more Artificial minds, placing them subordinate to Trevor, Dimitree and Jasmine to oversee my vast empire. I already had Acacia, Brootus and Cyprus from earlier, but since Trevor can now hit level 60, I elevated him to be pretty much my chief-of-artificial-souls. Dimitree is his deputy. I feel that my artificial souls or minds are like extremely good AI. They are extremely competent at monitoring and administration, but they are constrained on creation in scope, and only improved by the new soul-forge colors. The level cap also meant that they would never be able to really ¡®fight¡¯ at the level I need, simply because enemies like the demonic walkers need a force around level 80. Thinking about it, they¡¯re probably an organisation¡¯s field-managers and middle managers. Somewhere, in a quiet corner of my vast kingdom, I also had a secret experiment. This was far from the rest of the inhabited area, away from Jura or Freshka. I created a tree, and infused it with blood. A lot of blood. My roots are able to transport liquids, so I stocked and absorbed the blood from the sick, the dead, or the dying, and then infused a tree with all the blood. Though the elves didn¡¯t agree on my experimenting with [blood mages], I could very much do it myself. So, a tree. I did so secretly, and eventually, a notification. [Unique Tree : The Bleeding Tree] created. I was swept with a sickening feeling, like nausea. [Grand-mind Tree blocked attempted influence from unknown source.] Then I felt better. I need to further upgrade the Grand-Mind Tree. Then, I had my beetles secretly smuggle criminals to that location. It wasn¡¯t hard, after all, through the entire Freshlands, all these vassal-states all have criminals of various kinds. I suppose I¡¯m doing some mental gymnastics when I justify my process that these criminals are on death-row anyway. So I may as well test some basic blood magic with their bodies. Conceptually, runes are a kind of rituals. Blood magic too, is a ritual. I myself, and my entire network of trees, is pretty much a massive magical array. I tried to use my roots to ¡®cast¡¯ a blood ritual. It failed. I tried again. Failed. It failed. By the time I was done with the 50 or so criminals, I had failed all my attempted blood magic. Why did I fail? Is it because I used a bleeding Tree? I was frustrated, but I got a skill. [Skill upgraded! Magic Labs - Blood Magic Sensor unlocked] So, later that year, I spotted another bunch of blood mages. The world is filled with blood mages, very much a legacy of the hexbomb-era, when the knowledge of how to cast a hexbomb was widely distributed to so many kingdoms and countries. Once again, I let them use their blood magic, but with my new blood magic sensors, I think I began to understand it a bit more. Blood magic essentially uses their own soul as a chip, in order to hack into the souls of those sacrificed. Each use of blood magic weakens their own soul, and makes them even more susceptible to the corruption of blood magic, and the strange voices from beyond. It¡¯s like taking a part of themselves, making that into a consumable nail. So the insanity and curse that comes with all high-level blood mages is an inherent outcome of their use of such abilities. That insanity is also mixed into the very fabric of the loosely knitted outer soul fragments. Maybe it¡¯s like using a diamond to cut another diamond, because they don¡¯t have enough power for it¡¯s alternatives. ¡°Have you never found who were spreading the hexbombs?¡± I asked the heroes one day. ¡°Find them? No one¡¯s going to reveal themselves as a blood mage!¡± In truth, it should be possible to find them, since their souls would clearly be ¡®damaged¡¯. Each use is like leaving gunpowder residue on their soul. But then, one would have to be able to spot it. I would be able to spot it, all I needed to do is put them under my [biolab] and it¡¯ll be clear as day. [Curse : Weakened Soul from Blood Magic]. That¡¯s what appeared in the few captured blood mages. Their soul spring is clearly tainted, the spring itself cracked, and the waters in their spring is a muddy brown. Based on all this, I¡¯m confident in my assessment. Hex is essentially a radioactive decaying outer soul fragments stitched together with blood magic. The decay is how the outer souls ¡®untangle¡¯ the stitching and decay into normal matter. Year 122 I did another controversial series of tests. I hauled a bunch of death row criminals to my soul forge, and attempted a ¡®clean¡¯ version of the outer-soul stitching. If blood magic was ¡®incomplete¡¯ work, then could I, the master of 4 colors of the Soul Forge, perform a ¡®complete¡¯ version. I failed at first. I failed my first ten tests, and in doing so, close to 500 criminals were killed. ¡°That¡¯s hell of a gruesome way to die.¡± The heroes said. ¡°But it¡¯s painless. The overwhelming energies of my soul forge instantly kills them and liquefies them.¡± It¡¯s true. The amount of mana used to attempt ¡®clean-soul-fusion¡¯ was absolutely insane, so much so that when I use it, everyone in the entire Freshlands can feel the mana flickering in the air. Each time, I had a better understanding of the process. ¡°Aeon, where do you get these ideas?¡± The heroes asked, unaware that I¡¯ve been watching and experimenting on the blood mages. ¡°Dreams.¡± ¡°Trees can dream?¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have brains.¡± ¡°Are brains necessary for dreams?¡± Anyway, it¡¯s key to separate the Inner Soul and the Outer Soul as smoothly and cleanly as possible. After separation, the inner soul core is released so that it can proceed with it¡¯s reincarnation, and what¡¯s left is a floating magical plasma blob of outer soul fragments. Next, I used my overwhelming mana to forcefully compress the outer soul fragments together. The first few times, I didn¡¯t control my mana properly, so the outer soul fragments leaked out and then it just dissipated. Then, as the soul fragments fused together, it finally turned into a small solid object. [You¡¯ve created a Soul-Strengthening Seed] [Consuming the Soul-Strengthening Seed will increase the level capacity of one individual. Needs to be combined with a herb of sufficient quality] ¡°What.¡± I thought to myself. I expected something far more powerful than just a soul-strengthening seed. But then, the level capacity seems to suggest that each individual has a ¡®cap¡¯, and so, I have just discovered the item that breaks the cap! And I know exactly the person to give it to. ¡°Jura.¡± I fused the Soul-Strengthening Seed with a high-quality 5-year old ginseng from my Ginseng Trees. ¡°Eat this.¡± He did, and he felt like his entire body burned for the rest of the day. ¡°Aeon, what are you feeding me! Why do I feel like every part of me is breaking!¡± Well, a good day later, he woke up and felt much stronger and healthier, as if he was younger by a few decades. ¡°Aeon... I.. I have a blessing!! And I gained 7 levels in [Warlord] overnight!¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°[Soul-Blessed.]¡± Does the Soul-Strengthening Seed give levels, or are those like overflow-levels that were not effect-ed because he was capped at around Level 80? The only way to prove it, of course, is to make more, and give it to someone else that was not stuck at the cap. It¡¯s a little disappointing though, I had hoped to create something comparable to say... a fusion power-plant. But I suppose a level-breaking ability is not bad either. That meant Lausanne could also break past Level 80, if she wanted. But I think she¡¯s still happily adventuring in the world. - ¡°I want to talk about Aeon¡± Harris said to Gerrard and Mirei. They were gathered in a room in one of the lodges in Freshka. ¡°You know he¡¯s listening, right?¡± Gerrard looked at Harris like an alien. ¡°Aeon¡¯s presence permeates the entirety of this region. This entire region is a police surveillance state. We agreed on this. No talking about tree spirits anywhere near them! All of us have his familiars! Who knows if it¡¯s eavesdropping on us.¡± ¡°I know, but I think I don¡¯t mind if he listens.¡± Harris said. ¡°I just wanted to say that he seems to be very intimately familiar with our world¡¯s thought processes. Almost as if he knows what we know.¡± ¡°Evidence.¡± ¡°Remember how Jura described our wooden arms as ¡®Power-Armor?¡± Harris promptly showcased his wooden limbs, made from familiar. I was still unable to fix the two lost parts, due to the effects of the curse. But at least it wouldn¡¯t get worse. ¡°So what?¡± ¡°There¡¯s so many little references here and there that he understands. I believe he knows about earth.¡± ¡°Look, I can posit a few theories of how he knows about us. One, he¡¯s old, and he met a lot of us earthers. Two, he has the power to create and alter dreams, by extension, he must have some access to our memories, such that he can create those dreams. Three, his soul harvesters harvest the souls of the dead, and each time, he gains something from the dead. If those dead include earthers, it is no surprise that he knows what we know.¡± Mirei said. Harris froze, and after thinking for a long time. ¡°You¡¯re right. I probably didn¡¯t think it through.¡± ¡°We have 4 years left till the next demon king. We¡¯re in no condition to fight it.¡± Mirei said, though she¡¯s not dead, she is weakened by the curse. ¡°If I must admit, we must be prepared to lose and die.¡± Gerrard nodded. ¡°So, let¡¯s do what Astra did. Kill ourselves and bomb it to death.¡± ¡°No!¡± Mirei said. ¡°You saw what the system did to him! It made us hate him!¡± ¡°Well, if we want to go out with a bang, I can¡¯t think of a better way.¡± Mirei stopped. ¡°Bang? Maybe we could make ourselves into a living bomb. You know, like that manga! This old dude fought the Ant King, but as a failsafe planted a nuke into his heart. We could try that.¡± They all got a headache at the same time, but Gerrard had already prepared cups filled with some herbal liquor. They all took a sip. ¡°Damned system meddling with our minds.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good idea, but who can make a bomb that powerful?¡± ¡°Aeon¡¯s been experimenting with souls, we could ask him to try it. Maybe he can do something about it.¡± Harris looked confused and bewildered. ¡°I cannot believe that both of you are suggesting to make yourself into some kind of suicide bomber.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not suicide bombing. It¡¯s a... contingency.¡± Gerrard said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do it.¡± Harris frowned. ¡°If the demon king lives, it¡¯ll still kill you. You know it can and will look for us. You¡¯ve felt it. We¡¯re just like the Ringbearer, the Demon King can see us, one way or another. The higher levels we are, the brighter we are to him.¡± Mirei said. ¡°It¡¯s better for us to knock it out.¡± Harris had been still busy quelling the conflict among his many sons and daughter, so the idea of dying to the demon king really didn¡¯t sit well with him. ¡°So what are your alternatives, Emperor Harris? You know you can¡¯t outrun it, and you cannot move your children¡¯s kingdoms. Do them a favor, buy them some time, and knock out the demon king when you die. If the demon king lives and comes for you, your children¡¯s kingdoms will be in ruins anyway.¡± Harris was silent. Gerrard looked at Mirei. ¡°Well, if anything, both of us will find a way to make us self-destruct if we die. It¡¯s honestly a pretty fitting way to end our lives, and ironic too. We all died in a car crash, now we get to die with a Michael-Bay style explosion.¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t we summon the next generation of heroes?¡± Harris said. ¡°There must be a way I can trade powers for the right to summon more heroes.¡± Then he had a massive headache, so much so that it looked like he was having fits. Gerrard and Mirei quickly fed him some herbal liquor. ¡°Wow. That¡¯s some intense mental-attack.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± Harris took a while to recover, and then said. ¡°I mean, it takes power to summon heroes, right, but can we summon heroes, or perhaps, aid the gods in summoning heroes? That way I don¡¯t have to die. I don¡¯t mind surrendering my blessings or my levels as cost.¡± ¡°You know, that¡¯s really a rather good idea.¡± Gerrard nodded. ¡°But where do we even start, how do we even commune and discuss this with the gods?¡± Spaizzer Thanks for reading! If you want more, please do check out my patreon which has 3 more chapters! But it''s also the end of July, so you may want to wait till 1 August to subscribe, else you''d be giving me money twice! (unless you want to) Also, thanks for all the comments. It''s so much fun to read comments and reviews, and I have to resist spoiling future points by replying. XD I honestly wish I had more time, sometimes, to write. But then again I should be thankful that I have a job in this kind of economic environment. Treeding water Year 123 Since time immemorial, man has been searching for means to themselves more powerful. That is true then, and that is true now. Even nature itself is forever locked in an arms race, as species evolved for an advantage, and other species evolved in response to that advantage. War and evolution are tied together in many ways. ¡°This is the latest generation of woodformed weapons.¡± I showed my latest upgraded versions of the Wooden spears to Jura and the selected Valthorns. I had given out two more upgraded classes, one [Grand Knight], and one [Spearmaster]. It was a small group, less than 10. ¡°Is it¡¯s effectiveness against demons improved?¡± ¡°Slightly.¡± I had spent a lot of time analysing the crystal matrices, and have managed to copy a little of its effects. But to replicate it wholesale is still beyond me, for now. Every iteration is slightly better, slightly more powerful. Sad, to think that my [Woodforming] is used in this way. I should¡¯ve made statues instead. One of the wooden spears shrunk, and the attendees jumped. ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°It¡¯s now... expandable. That way it¡¯s easier to move around. I copied the idea from one of the heroes¡¯ star-mana withdrawable swords.¡± In hindsight, I should¡¯ve made something like this way earlier. It¡¯s essentially just a magical lightsaber, but with wood. Not exactly difficult to make a seed-like thing that releases a spear and later on retracts it. Nature already has many similar mechanisms. In a way, it¡¯s also partly pocketspace, similar to my [secret hideout]. ¡°It¡¯ll be tuned to all of you.¡± ¡°Tuned?¡± ¡°Yes, with runes. The gem-inserts have runes and so, add a drop of blood to it and it¡¯ll recognise you as it¡¯s owner.¡± Again, not an original idea. Some heroes have invented star-mana weapons that only recognise people who have their blood, essentially as a means of preserving power for their descendants. ¡°The heroes have this?¡± ¡°Well... no.¡± They have better ones. ¡°Ah.¡± Edna said, examining her new lance and shield. As a knight, she gets some mount-specific boosts, and so there¡¯s some new wooden protective gear for her mount. ¡°Seems like I¡¯ll have to fight demons soon.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not hard. The rule is simple, focus on your target, and don¡¯t stray too far outside Aeon¡¯s suppression aura.¡± Jura explained. He¡¯s now Level 90. ¡°Aeon¡¯s suppression aura should be everywhere.¡± Faris said, as he too examined his wooden staff and armor. There were not many weapons I could make for Faris, because he is a ranged and support hero. I agree. But sadly my suppression aura¡¯s weaker as I go further. ¡°This means Aeon puts the odds of the heroes winning the next battle at close to zero, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Our [spearmaster] asked. Jura paused. ¡°It would be so. It¡¯s not exactly uncommon for heroes to die to the demon king. Their recent string of victories is quite abnormal, and has happened no more than 5 times in the past few hundred years.¡± ¡°And so the peace of Harrisan ends.¡± Faris said. An era of relative peace, named after the most visible of the hero kings, Harris. ¡°It seems our upgraded classes have not been given out for no reason.¡± ¡°Are you afraid, [Great Druid]?¡± Edna smiled. ¡°Should I not be?¡± ¡°Worry when the time comes.¡± Jura spoke. ¡°For now, practice, and keep gaining levels.¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± Edna nodded. ¡°Aeon, are there any restrictions of use for these items?¡± ¡°No. Try them out on the hybrids. I recall a large group has been spotted.¡± ¡°Gladly.¡± Those with the upgraded classes, and Jura went for it. I believe they will succeed. Maybe even Jura himself would be sufficient, with his recently acquired strength. On the home front, the heroes have been experimenting with new kinds of spells. They wanted to make themselves into a bomb, just like the demon king. I couldn¡¯t help them. I mean, I don¡¯t have the ability to give them that kind of power. Trees don¡¯t blow up. Except for hybrid trees, but that¡¯s an outlier. So they had to speak to others, and Gerrard had been travelling everywhere. Harris too, had to frequently intervene in his family conflicts. It was just lucky that his curse did not flare up when he was temporarily away. ¡°Aeon.¡± Mirei said, when the two heroes are away. ¡°What¡¯s it like, being a tree?¡± I didn¡¯t answer. It was more like, I didn¡¯t even know where to begin describing it. ¡°Sorry. Must be offensive. I suppose it¡¯s the equivalent of you asking me, what¡¯s it like being a hero.¡± Mirei said. ¡°I asked because well, I¡¯m an alcoholic and tea addict now. Rumors are swirling about, that the heroes would not survive the next one. Of my curse, and Harris¡¯s.¡± She looked wistful. ¡°What do you think of this idea, the hero-bomb?¡± It wasn¡¯t the first time she asked. I said it was a wise decision. ¡°It¡¯s a good one. It¡¯s pragmatic.¡± Mirei paused. ¡°I hoped you¡¯d not give me the same answer. Tell me it¡¯s wrong.¡± ¡°It¡¯s wrong.¡± Mirei laughed, and then cried. ¡°Fuck it. Gerrard¡¯s running around in a wild goose chase. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any mage who knows how to make themselves into a walking nuke. Even if it¡¯s a damned good idea.¡± ¡°Keep cursing.¡± ¡°Yeah. I should probably stop wallowing in my misery.¡± Mirei stood. ¡°Here¡¯s an idea. Write runes inside my soul. Can you do that? There must be a nuclear-rune somewhere. Invent one.¡± ¡°Runes work on physical objects.¡± Well, in honesty, I¡¯ve never tried. I¡¯m not aware whether runes can be written in the soul realm, but then, the soul spring does have rune-like inscriptions and patterns.¡± ¡°Says who.¡± ¡°No one.¡± ¡°Then can you try?¡± ¡°Writing runes in the soul spring...¡± I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s possible, but certainly worth trying. ¡°Try it on me. Don¡¯t let Harris or Gerrard know.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± I had the impression Gerrard was open to the idea of nuclearising themselves. ¡°Fine. Don¡¯t let Harris know.¡± I wondered then, if it¡¯s possible to write a rune or blood ritual into the soul-spring, such that it triggers a hexbomb-like event. Is this how we can assure victory, but making heroes into nukes? It¡¯s pragmatic, certainly. Sensible, even. But I get Mirei and Harris¡¯s point that there¡¯s some quite wrong with it. How is it different from a kamikaze attack? Or in the case of a soldier charging into the firing range, preparing to die? I couldn¡¯t quite answer that, but no matter. I poked into Mirei¡¯s soul spring again, and this time I used my feelers to attempt to write runes in her soul spring. It didn¡¯t work. Not on the rocks of the soul spring. But, I could write runes on the water, or the ground around her spring. But then the waters from her soul spring quickly washed the rune away. ¡°It¡¯s... actually possible.¡± I was amazed. If one could find a way to make the rune stick, then it¡¯s possible to have a soul that¡¯s covered in runes. Or at least, outside of the soul-spring. ¡°What. Does that mean you can make me a nuke?¡± No. Not just that. Could I use runes to suppress her curse even further? But... how and where do I start? There are two main hurdles. One, there¡¯s a need to find something that makes lasting runes in the soul area, around the soul spring. Two, what runes do I use, and what is it¡¯s long term effects on a person? That¡¯s of course, something to research. - Criminals exist in every society. Each of the segments of the Freshlands administers it¡¯s own set of rules and justice, and this is something we, as the ¡®Federal¡¯ entity, do not generally participate in. It¡¯s a federal-state relationship, though. Simply because I don¡¯t want to be bothered by the minutiae, and I am also not interested in micromanaging people. I¡¯d rather focus on trees, gardens and stuff. One area which I do make orders, is that every large town and segment has gazetted gardens and parks, and long strips of trees-flanked roads. This is something the Federal Freshlands Authority, headquartered in Freshka, gazetted and required of all of its cities. A small requirement, really, since I¡¯ll handle the creation of trees and parks, the towns just have to leave the space and path for it. That¡¯s on top of the protected forests and jungles. In a way, it¡¯s almost possible to imagine the Federal Freshlands Authority like the National Parks Service on extreme steroids, to the point that it¡¯s the main authority. The Valthorns¡¯ rangers, are just a militarised version of the Park Rangers. And since they are militarised, they do also catch... criminals. Which are useful. Rumors have been swirling about that criminals caught are subjected to my experiments. That the Aeon of Freshka is outwardly a benevolent deity, but it treats it¡¯s criminals as materials for gruesome experiments. I¡¯m rather amused by it. Because it¡¯s true. Serious criminals are used for my soul-related experiments. For blood magic. For creating the [Soul-strengthening seed]. After all, the legal terminology used to describe the punishment for serious crimes is ¡®Subject to Aeon¡¯s Mercy.¡¯. I didn¡¯t know who came up with that, I suspect one clever lawyer or justice of peace, but yes, it¡¯s a phrase that has begun to strike fear into everyone. No one subjected to Aeon¡¯s Mercy had ever returned. How could they, with their souls ripped out of their bodies and turned into living experiments. Still, criminals persist, and many of these states have added a ¡®layer¡¯ beneath that punishment. Their citizens demanded something less frightening. Mostly involved life imprisonment. Criminals are quite fun, actually, and I actually received some rather interesting criminal classes. I even fused them to create more powerful criminal classes. Like [Bandit Lord], or [Master Thief]. As I thought of this, Jura had just finished capturing a runaway murderer. Punishment for multiple murders? Aeon¡¯s mercy. I feel like that¡¯s such an evil euphemism. It¡¯s like saying walk the plank, instead of jumping off the ship. The criminal is tied up, and loaded into a Beetle with a cage. A Cage-Beetle. There are hundreds of these beetles, travelling between all the various segments of the Freshland, collecting all these criminals and ferrying them here. To me. For my experiments. A logistic network of high-sec criminals set up to feed my need for materials, coordinated by my artificial minds. ¡°Alright. That¡¯s three.¡± Jura locked the criminals inside. They wailed and screamed. ¡°Let me out! Please, counsel, I beg you. Not Aeon¡¯s Mercy!¡± ¡°The Federal Law is clear. Multiple murders and domestic crimes put you under Federal Jurisdiction. Aeon has every right to claim you.¡± ¡°Please no!¡± Such exchanges were common. Why is it that bad? Kings sentence criminals to death all the time. Usually an executioner with a massive axe would do the dirty job. Jura shrugged. ¡°You may consider your appeal before Aeon himself.¡± None succeeded. The very fact that my artificial minds have assessed them as targets meant they¡¯ve passed the preset thresholds. A fellow Valthorn just gulped and looked at Jura. Every year they collect about 1,000 or so criminals. It¡¯s on a steady decline, as more and more criminals learn not to cross that threshold. Not much, when the entire Freshland region is now home to some 4 million people, spread across the 15 segments and the 50 cities, 300 towns and 5,000 or so villages within it. The Freshlands is massive, now that I have recovered close to 10 percent of what was the entire Rottedlands. Time needed for a beetle to travel from one end to another without rest takes a full 7 days. Freshka itself now is home to about 150,000, being the Federal Capital and Administrative Seat of the Freshlands Representative Council. They¡¯ve been changing the names every now and then. Little matters that I left to Kavio and the representatives. ¡°Oh the Aeon of the Freshlands...¡± My attention was drawn to a voice that called out to me. Jasmine was quick to prompt me to look. One of the nobles of the outer cities, he was alone, and he called out to me. ¡°If you can hear me, please talk to me.¡± ¡°Father, have you gone insane?¡± His son was behind him, he was a lot younger, in his teens. ¡°No.¡± The noble said. Jasmine quickly gave me his brief. He¡¯s a level 31 [Noble] and he is the ruler of this city. It¡¯s a mid-sized city on the northern edges of the Freshlands, and mainly works with mining and farming from the recovered lands. ¡°Then why are you talking like that?¡± ¡°I got a skill, young foolish son of mine, and that skill tells me Aeon knows I¡¯m talking to him.¡± ¡°Really? What skill is that?¡± The teenage son asked. ¡°[Territorial Awareness]. It¡¯s common for Kings to have a version of it, but it seemed I got lucky and somehow obtained this.¡± ¡°And so you¡¯re testing it out by shouting and calling out to Aeon, our faraway supposed benefactor?¡± The noble smacked the young teenager. ¡°Watch your words.¡± At this point, I supposed I should respond, so I telepathically spoke to both of them. ¡°Yes, nobleman. You called?¡± A vine emerged from the ground and crawled in through the window. The teenager looked deathly pale. The nobleman instantly prostrated himself before the vine. ¡°Greetings, Aeon. So it is true, those rumors of Aeon¡¯s ever-presence in the Freshlands.¡± ¡°Had it not been true?¡± ¡°Indeed. It is just that us, those on the fringes do not feel your presence.¡± ¡°Have the Valthorns not sent their men to deal with the hybrids?¡± ¡°...ah.¡± I was wasting my time. ¡°Is there anything serious?¡± ¡°...no. I just wanted to test my skill.¡± Ah. I sometimes wonder whether my presence and surveillance was a good thing. --- I floated in my soul realm, and watched the souls drift in. There were about 150,000 souls in my [soul realm], all awaiting reincarnation or whatever awaited their next step. When they are ready, they will shed their outer shells, and only the inner core will move on, to inhabit whatever that the gods had planned. I wondered whether there¡¯s a standard process to it. I recall Mozart, the being that reincarnated me, referring to himself as the administrator of this entire process. To think, since that day, I now play a part in the same process that they administered. A cog in the big machine. I once described the soul as a car and a driver, the driver as the inner core, the car as the outer core. But maybe it¡¯s also more accurate to imagine their bodies as the car, their clothes and look as their outer core, and their physical body as the inner core. One can change their outer soul shells, just as how Meela and Alexis adopted new [classes] and new [skills]. The outer soul is after all just a frame, and the skills that are attached to that frame. Now that I have four colors, my ability to interact with these floating souls improved. Some of them are in need of repairs. In a way, this entire realm is my ¡®body¡¯, and there are segments where these damaged souls are repaired. There¡¯s a lot of memories. Of their families. Of life in this world. I had chosen to just ignore these flashbacks. In a way, I¡¯m just behaving like a soulless office administrator, putting a stamp on their documents before sending them on their way. I didn¡¯t want to care about their life story. It was too much. In fact, the more I learned of their life story, it just made me feel worse, because here I am, as a soul tree. It¡¯s like that meme from the MCU movies. I guide others to a treasure I cannot possess. And here, I see memories of a life had and lost, that I cannot obtain. > Are you a soul tree too, Lilies? Do you have a [soul realm]? < < Yes, but we accept only the souls of those thrown into the lake. > Ah. > What do you do with their... memories? < < Nothing. > I paused. > Yeah. Me too. < Maybe it was right that I didn¡¯t go through their memories. Do they deserve at least that bit of dignity? I recall that Lilies was rather aloof about this whole arrangement, that they looked at it all from the angle of an overarching ecosystem. That the death of one is but a necessity. Am I becoming like that, desensitised to death? Now that my domain and grand mind tree is able to block outside influences, is this... really me that¡¯s transformed into this jaded tree? > I¡¯m... I¡¯m afraid of what I¡¯m becoming. < I didn¡¯t know why I said that to Lilies, but at that point, I really didn¡¯t have anyone else to turn to for advice on life as a tree. I had become desensitized. When I think about it, some of my choices are not my best. Even when I tried making better choices, it doesn¡¯t always turn out better. Lilies didn¡¯t reply for a whole week, then one day they just responded. < We are many things. > < Some, forced onto us by the gods. > < Some a reaction, or as a response. We think, and we act. Or we don¡¯t think, and act. A reaction nonetheless > < What we become, is a path on a confusing road. > < Our faces are many, even if you are just one. > < Fear not what you¡¯ve become, because this world demands monsters of all kinds, to do what we must. > How? Where? I don¡¯t know. [Grand Mind Tree had blocked outside influence from fellow trees] Override. [Grand Mind Tree has temporarily allowed outside influence.] I felt a sense of comfort. My fellow forests. Our now vast network of trees that stretched the entirety of the Freshlands. The land has been damaged by the demons, but we¡¯ve brought it back from the dead. The land is hurt, but we can fix it. Must I become one with the rest of the forests? Our fates are tied together. These trees depend on me, and as it is, I too, depend on them. > Do you lean on your fellow trees? < I suppose as a crutch. Maybe Lilies doesn¡¯t need it, because she, they, were born this way. But I was human, and my mind still has the lingering structure and processes of a human. It is a lot. < Certainly. Numbers are strength. Lean on them, but let them not be your crutches. > I feel like it is. - The two of them sparred. Jura was quicker. Edna was still about level 60s, though she had an upgraded class, Jura¡¯s [Warlord] class is pretty much an upgraded-class too, though a common one. But as a [Grand Knight], she had a unique set of skills. It was the whole debacle of the fused classes, such as warlord, versus specialist classes, such as Grand Knight and Great Druit. The other Valthorns watched, Yvon, too. ¡°Jura¡¯s gotten a lot stronger.¡± ¡°He somehow broke through his level cap.¡± It¡¯s a secret, of course. No one knew how he broke through the level cap, just that it happened. But Yvon was no fool, and she quickly concluded that I did something. After all, it wasn¡¯t the first time I tried to help Jura break through the level cap. She was also smart enough not to publicly say it. Faris was level 50 plus, his leveling was a little slower as somehow he didn¡¯t gain levels as frequently from battling hybrids or demons. If he wanted, his ability to influence trees was quite strong. Luckily, he couldn¡¯t get past my defenses. I wonder if the [Lord of the Forest] could, so, I decided to just destroy that seed instead. If I wanted it again, I could just merge 30 [Great Druid] seeds, but keeping it lying around was a risk I didn¡¯t want to take. - Spaizzer Thanks for reading my story. It''s already august OMFG. Seriously I need more time to do everything that I need to do. ps - patreon has 3 more chapters, for $3 (and a side story), do check it out :P Treemendous Year 124 The demon king¡¯s coming closer, and the weakening barriers somehow strengthens the hybrids. Then we spotted the demonic portals, and out came the champions. Ah shit. Here we go again. Champions. Walker-class demons. Or more like, walkers were champion-class demons. The Rottedlands occasionally spawns champion-class monsters, but they are quite passive, usually just roam around where they spawned. But a return of the champions means the demon king isn¡¯t far. ¡°So, are you guys ready for the next one?¡± The three heroes are in their 50s now. They came 40 years ago, and this will be their 5th demon king, although they didn¡¯t have to fight the 2nd one, thanks to Astra¡¯s bomb. ¡°No. We haven¡¯t fixed the fundamental weakness that we do not have a healer.¡± I couldn¡¯t fill their role, I¡¯m not a battlefield healer. I¡¯m like that hospital back in town that they rush back to. ¡°And we do have a gap in damage output.¡± ¡°We could recruit Jura.¡± Gerrard suggested. ¡°I sparred with him a few times, and I think he¡¯s about 20% of our level, maybe less.¡± ¡°No.¡± I was quick to smack that down. I wasn¡¯t going to send my best man to his death. But that was an interesting estimate. The heroes are around level 130-140, and yet a level 90 Jura is only 20% of their strength. That meant the growth at the higher levels is higher, in terms of stats. ¡°Aww I guessed it. But Aeon, you should train an archmage that can reach level 150!¡± Easier said than done. I used so many experience-gaining and training related abilities on my elite Valthorns, and Edna is only level 62. Which is just a little bit faster than how long it took Lausanne to get there. I reckon the speed is due to experience, and also an abundance of hybrid demons for Edna and her batch to fight as real combat experience. Anyway, Jura led my elite squad of Valthorns to one of the champions. They would attempt to fight one, with one of my [Giant Attendant Trees] nearby as aura and support. I wouldn¡¯t let them die, of course, but I wanted to see how my new elite squad stood against a champion. Could they do it? Anyway, this was a good time to watch. The demon champion wasn¡¯t an exotic shape or form, instead, it took the form of a massive winged demon with horns. A typical demonic look. Jura stood. ¡°Well, it¡¯s more intimidating than I expected.¡± A group of 10. Jura at about Level 92. Edna at Level 62, Faris at Level 55, the rest about level 40s to 50s. The gap¡¯s honestly big, but most of them have upgraded classes, which puts them above the strength of their level. ¡°[Fear Ward], [Morale Boost].¡± The Grand Knight used her skills. ¡°Well?¡± Jura nodded, and he too had received upgraded familiars. ¡°[Aura - demonic suppression]. Alright. It¡¯s 10-on-1. Aeon¡¯s watching, and he needs to know whether we can take it.¡± There were swarms of beetles around to ensure that their 10-on-1 fight was not interrupted. They fought. They fought hard. And they were still inadequate. Mainly, everyone else other than Jura. Even Edna¡¯s shields and abilities were not at a level strong enough to parry the demon champion¡¯s attacks, until she switched to the anti-demon weapons. I supposed I cheated, because I have these hero-fragments which just makes me intensely overpowered against demons. Still... They won. But I had to use a block or two. Conclusion, all of them needed to be around level 70 for the fight against the demon-champion to be a certainty. They also needed a far stronger damage dealer and live-healer. A druid was not a pure-healer. Not like someone with the [healer] class was. I had some [healer] class seeds, and I wanted to create a pure high-tier healer. It was not just healers. I wanted high-tier mages too, and high-tier [runemasters] as well, to do the things I wanted. Meanwhile, the heroes were getting ready. 2 years left, and already the continents faced the demonic attacks. It seemed that this time, the demons would be concentrated on our continent, because most of the demonic rifts have been detected here. Based on the heroes¡¯ network of informants all over the country, this demon king is shaping up to be another conventional demon king. Is that a good thing? ¡°We should be expecting hellhounds soon.¡± Ah! That¡¯s nostalgic. I had a woodhound from back then. ¡°And the demon knights and their elites.¡± ¡°So, what should we prepare?¡± Edna asked. ¡°Anti-fire magic? The conventional demon king is heavy on fire, axes and overwhelming force.¡± Jura advised. ¡°What have you learned from our combat with the champion?¡± ¡°We need to be stronger, and our team-composition can be better.¡± Edna shrugged. ¡°I have a few anti-demon skills as [grand knight], but not enough.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been rather useless throughout the entire battle.¡± Faris frowned. ¡°My vines are not strong enough to damage the demon champion at all! My summons are quite useless too!¡± In truth, a druid and a fire-demon is a very bad matchup. The only reason I personally have any use is because my fragments make me overpowered. ¡°Stronger skills.¡± All of them agreed they needed stronger skills, but I wonder how I could give them some of my ¡®anti-demon¡¯ properties, other than through my weapons and items. If only they could get some of my passives. ¡°Hero-weapons?¡± ¡°The gear we have here is as-close to hero-weapons we can get.¡± Jura explained. Well, I do have many, many sets of weapons I made with Harris and gang, but I kept that for now, mainly because after this generation of heroes, I may not get the chance to interact with the next batch, so I should keep this generation¡¯s weapons as a rare item. ¡°It ultimately comes down to levels, and I agree with Faris. Faris should therefore be stationed in the back. I will request Aeon for the [grand knights] to be deployed.¡± Later on, the Freshlands Federal Authority and the representative of the segment-states had gathered for a military briefing. The topic is obviously the demon king. For these representatives, this was their chance to extract maximum benefit from the federal authority. The states have all appointed their own generals and military commanders, but as enshrined in the constitution of our federation, and with my blessings, the beetles will be deployed to defend all the segments against the demons. The Valthorns, of course, have to join the battle as the ¡®elite¡¯ force. The heroes too, had deployed their summoned units to fight demons beyond the borders of the Freshlands. Gerrard was frequently away to tackle the demon champions that appeared. He, a high-leveled hero, could handle the demon champions easily. I was wary of another Rottedlands-style event, so, I increased the number of [Giant Attendant Trees] in the distant regions, forming a ring. The ideal is that if something like the Rottedlands happened again, the giant trees can last a bit longer, and give me ample warning to prepare. The last round, the demon king was on another continent, so I too somehow felt safe. It was totally a flaw in my thought process, but yeah, there¡¯s an urgency to this matter. I had reinforced the root walls on all the borders, and hand began stockpiling my [tuberous storage]. If needed, I¡¯d have to release large quantities of mana at one go to offset the pressure from a Rottedlands-style corruption bomb. I also added another of trees and root walls around Freshka and the valley, for a total of 3 layers. One at the borders, one around Freshkan-region, and one around the Valley of the Unrotten. If a bomb blew up, I''d be able to buy two to three hours for a response. I had made a basic strategy framework for a demon king. One. Survival up till the point the demon king is slain. This meant constructing defenses, mobile populations, and armies to deal with the lesser demons. On this point, we have the beetles, a growing Valthorn Elite, and each of the regions have their own armies, adventurers and so on. Two. Supporting the heroes to slay the demon king. The longer the demon king is not slain, the more damage it can cause. So, once the heroes appear, they need to be supported so they can get to the level needed as fast as possible. Sometimes this take one-to-two years, and during this time there¡¯s absolutely nothing that can stand in the demon king¡¯s way. Maybe I could, but I wasn¡¯t sure, and I have no intention of taking that challenge on. Once the heroes are found, they should be groomed and properly armed. This, of course, is somewhat against my past practice of non-interference, but clearly it didn¡¯t work that well. Three. Surviving the aftermath. We¡¯ve seen from the past few demon kings that there¡¯s usually a death-trigger, and a post-recovery period. In some cases it¡¯s a bomb, in some other, a plague. We don¡¯t know what this demon king will bring, but walls, mana, a widely distributed force, and time will be needed. If it¡¯s a corruption-bomb, rootwalls will be effective. If it¡¯s a nuke, the rootwalls will be destroyed, but they will reduce the fallout area. ¡°What if a magic-interference ability happens again?¡± Jura asked. ¡°We currently still have very little ¡®good¡¯ alternatives¡¯ to the [message] spell. That¡¯s the number one risk, I think. A communication breakdown will damage our ability to mount a response. .¡± Ah. So, I had Jura train and set up a system of runners and messengers. The Valthorns were a bit taken aback when I suggested having a system of locating and supporting the heroes. ¡°You want us to make items for the next generation of heroes?¡± Harris and Mirei were both rather surprised by it. ¡°Yes. If you don¡¯t make it, you should leave something for the next generation of heroes. I¡¯ll keep it for you, and give it to them. Unless you don¡¯t trust me.¡± This was a response to point 2, of course. How do we get the new heroes up to speed as fast as possible? ¡°No... just that, that¡¯s a good point. Why didn¡¯t we think of it?¡± Harris said. ¡°Because there¡¯s no one we could trust that would ever give up a hero-class item to the heroes. Why would they even tell the new heroes, who arrived a year or two after we died, that there are items for them?¡± Mirei answered on my behalf. ¡°It¡¯s a good idea, really. I just don¡¯t know why I didn¡¯t think of it too. But then, we didn¡¯t have an eternal tree that we could trust. I mean, our lives are already in Aeon¡¯s hands, what are some items?¡± ¡°Try to make enough for 5 generation of heroes.¡± If a hero could inherit the weapons of multiple generations of heroes, that may give them the leg up they needed. Or make them too powerful. But the heroes are already too powerful. The fact that there¡¯s always a successor generation of demon king, in 10 years, essentially keeps them in check. ¡°If you want, you can also write a special journal or writing that can only be opened with star mana, that you can leave for the next generation¡¯s hero to read.¡± They nodded, and they spent months on it. They made items, wrote magical books. Things. Memories from one generation, to be passed on to another. They all made things. Harris made shields that summoned shield soldiers. Mirei made lightning axes and staffs that also summoned lightning elementals and flying thunderbirds. Gerrard made multiple swords that also summoned magical gladiators. When they made items for others, like their descendants, they had needed to be mindful that the items needed star mana to activate, so, they had to ensure the items contained enough self-sufficient star mana such that their descendants, who are born without them, can still use the items. But when they made for future heroes, who will have star mana, they can pretty much go all out, since they didn¡¯t have to consider the star mana supply. So the power of the items contained, nigh unusable to anyone else because of it¡¯s star mana requirements, is extremely high. Again, I don¡¯t see why they couldn¡¯t have made it and stored it somewhere. No one could have used these items other than heroes anyway. At least, the full abilities of it. It¡¯s still limitedly useful in the hands of non-heroes because its generally strong and all that stuff. And, I had them stored. ¡°I will give one of each item to one hero of the next generation, so each generation will receive around 5-15 items.¡± It was rather difficult for the heroes to make the same items, so what I will do, as discussed with the heroes, was let the next generation of heroes choose what they wanted. I¡¯ve become the tree of items too. [Secret Hideout upgraded] [Woodforming upgraded] Year 125 [Demon King Guihwang has arrived] The demon king was early. At first, nothing much seemed to have happened. ¡°The Demon King is here, but we don¡¯t know where it is.¡± The heroes convened. ¡°You don¡¯t?¡± I was rather surprised by this. It¡¯s on this continent, no? No damage? ¡°Not a single sighting so far.¡± ¡°Huh? But then, isn¡¯t it destroying anything?¡± ¡°I have no idea either.¡± None of the heroes had any idea what was happening. Every demon king in the past left a trail of destruction wherever it went, so this one being absolutely unseen is strange. ¡°Is it in the Rottedlands, collecting it¡¯s strength?¡± The Rottedlands is vast, and I do recall some demon kings generally just laze around doing nothing for a while. ¡°We looked with our summons. Nothing.¡± Gerrard said. ¡°Then...¡± Is this demon king... invisible? Or an assassin-type? If so, I had ensured that everyone was on high alert. ¡°Aeon thinks this demon king¡¯s going to ¡®jump¡¯ on us?¡± ¡°Yes. Likely to be an invisible or assassin type that would only pop up when it¡¯s really sure it¡¯s seen us.¡± ¡°We can sense it, right?¡± Gerrard closed his eyes and attempted to use his heroic sense. And yet, nothing. ¡°We should just travel together, just in case-¡± An attack on the border. Demon champions, 3 of them. And an army of hybrid demons. I sent beetles to fight them, and then, I allowed the Demon Champions closer. Once they were in the vicinity of my Giant Attendant Trees, I unleashed a flurry of anti-demon skills and my hoarded pile of anti-demon bolts. They were tough. After all, the battle still occurred a distance away from my main tree, so the effects of my passives were weaker. But I eventually destroyed all 3 of them. [You gained a level. Level 158!] [Skill obtained : Demonslayer Pit] [Creates a pit that significantly weakens demons trapped within. Attacks made within the pit all gain anti-demon properties] Huh. A stationary trap-ability. What¡¯s the point- My thoughts were instantly interrupted by a surge in power. The heroes were fighting. The demon king finally made it¡¯s appearance! A large winged demon, it¡¯s scales so shiny they resembled polished chrome. It had large claws and it¡¯s swipes made large gashes in the ground with every swipe. How and when did it appear at the outskirts? ¡°We can¡¯t let it fight here.¡± Harris shouted as he dodged an energy attack. The ground cracked where it landed. I felt the pain of the ground and the trees damaged by it, and soon, the area was already decimated. ¡°There¡¯s a city not far from here!¡± ¡°Then we lead it into the Rottedlands!¡± Mirei said, and she transformed into lightning itself, and all 3 heroes were sucked into a lightning sphere. The demon king effortlessly followed. It was out to kill them! They didn¡¯t go too far. They managed to travel about one beetle-day¡¯s journey into the Rottedlands, and bought some space between themselves and civilisation. I could see it... because this entire area was filled with hybrid trees that I gained control over. I was relieved that even with the demon king so near I still have control. ¡°Should we cut it off, though?¡± Trevor asked. ¡°The demon king may use some kind of psychic attack.¡± ¡°No.¡± I wanted to watch the demon king fight. ¡°Just prepare countermeasures.¡± The heroes crashed in an uninhabited area far away, filled with hybrid demon trees. It¡¯s rocky terrain, filled with small mounds and hills, and the explosive demon trees. The three heroes were all fully armed, and they dodged. The demon king wasn¡¯t about to let them talk, as the demon king¡¯s massive claws created another scar in the ground. I felt it, the sudden extinguishing of lives. Trees that often just get destroyed in every single combat. The heroes used attacks I¡¯ve never seen before. Beams of starlight, slashes that had energies of the star mana. Bright white colored energy slashes. The demon king and the heroes traded blows, and dozens of demon champions appeared as well. The demon king summoned them to annoy the heroes, because in this star-mana form, they could destroy the demon champions with a single skill. Yet the demon king stood. Strong and it took hits like it didn¡¯t hurt. But it probably did, because Gerrard managed to cut away one of it¡¯s six silvery wings. Each time they trade blows, some trees get crushed or destroyed. It¡¯s reminded of the saying ¡®When elephant fights, it is the grass the suffers.¡¯ But the heroes were too weak. Mirei¡¯s performance was dragging them down, and Harris too, was slower. ¡°My curse is acting up!¡± Mirei winced in pain. The curse, long suppressed by my magic, was aggravated by the overuse of star-mana and their physical exertion. The demon king didn¡¯t let them have a break, either. Barrage, after barrage. They may not have noticed that I¡¯ve been gradually replenishing the vegetation so that I could maintain my vision over the event. Harris took a hit, his armor crushed by the sheer force of the demon king¡¯s silvery claws. A silver-demon. The other two heroes unleashed an attack similar to a mini-nuke, they tried to put some distance between the demon king and Harris. Harris was first to die. The demon king just tanked the attacks, and lost one of his remaining 5 wings. But he got into distance, and with his claws, grabbed onto Harris. The demon king caught him, and crushed him. [Harris has died. You received a fragment.] But Harris had prepared for this eventuality, and his body exploded into a mist of blood. The blood mist then transformed into multiple sharp, spear-like shapes. Those blood spears then smashed into the demon king¡¯s body. It pierced through multiple parts of the demon king¡¯s body with tremendous force, an attack made of the hero¡¯s blood surely is something else. The power of the attack stunned my magical sensors temporarily, at this distance. It was honestly off the charts. Another set of ithe demon king¡¯s wings were knocked out. The two heroes didn¡¯t flinch as they watched their friend die. They¡¯ve been through loss, and they are still focused on the demon king. The demon king took damage, it roared, and shot out beams of energy. Their tanker and defender was taken out, so they had to rely on a wide set of items, like their crystal matrices which created massive wooden shields. Those items didn¡¯t hold up for very long. Each of the shields took two hits. Mirei¡¯s curse acted up some more. But rather than retreat, she seemed to gain a boost of energy and she threw herself at the demon king. ¡°Damn you!¡± She shouted and she ran in with a staff of lightning. I felt all my magical sensors go nuts again then. She was drawing her soul into her attack! And the demon king, already weakened by Harris¡¯s blood-spear, had half of it¡¯s head blown off by an intense purple lightning blast that contained all of her soul¡¯s power. Then Mirei collapsed. [Mirei has died. You received a fragment.] Gerrard was the last. He stood alone, against a silverish demon king with two wings left, and half of it¡¯s head and body destroyed. Purple lightning seemed to constantly attack it from nowhere. A thunder and lightning-curse. Each lightning strike seemed powered by the hero¡¯s soul. ¡°Just you and me, buddy.¡± Gerrard closed his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s finally time for me to also return home. Wait for me, my friends.¡± He too, threw his entire soul into his gladiator¡¯s gladius. It shone with a bright blue light, it¡¯s energy distorted the air. It¡¯s glow was so bright that it seemed like the sun itself appeared. Once again all my magical sensors go insane. ¡°I won¡¯t live through this anyway, but you are going down with me.¡± Gerrard charged at the demon king. The demon king somehow roared, and I felt the world¡¯s demons all drained into it. Some of the hybrid trees were sucked up, and the demon king¡¯s two claws glowed. Both of their attacks found their targets. Gerrard¡¯s gladius stabbed right in the demon king¡¯s chest. It pierced through the blood-speared body. The demon king¡¯s claws stabbed through Gerrard¡¯s stomach. ¡°Die with me.¡± Gerrard shouted. ¡°[Drunken Explosion].¡± His body seemed to turn into an alcoholic mist, and it ignited all the naturally explosive hybrid trees together. It was a loud and massive boom. It set off a chain of hybrid-tree explosions that destroyed everything within a hundred miles, and created a smog so thick that it lasted for three weeks. [Demon King Guihwang has been destroyed] [Gerrard has died. You received a fragment]. [You received 3 heroic souls. You can now create 3 titans. You currently possess enough energy to support 2 titans] [You gained 10 levels. You are now level 168] [Skill significantly upgraded : Woodforming] [Skill significantly upgraded : Hybrid Botany] [Skill significantly upgraded : Constriction] [Skill significantly upgraded : Subsidiary Tree. Subsidiary tree limit increased on 300,000. Great Attendant Tree Limit increased to 10,000] [Skill significantly upgraded : Demonic Suppression Aura] [You reached level 160. Domain ability : Aeonic Variation unlocked] [Aeonic Classes and variants have been introduced to the world. Class-users worldwide can now obtain Aeonic-variant classes such as Aeonic Ranger, Aeonic Knight, Aeonic Priests, Aeonic Druids etc. You may also now upgrade a class to their Aeonic variants. Aeonic variants have slightly different skill sets and gains extra boosts when using Aeonic items. Animals and monsters around Aeon¡¯s valleys may also have Aeonic variants] [You¡¯ve unlocked two unique classes. Each of these 2 classes can only be awarded to one person at a time] [Aeon¡¯s Demonslayer. Class focused on demon-slaying. Gains significant anti-demon slaying boost. Able to remotely apply demonic suppression aura that¡¯s equal to Aeon¡¯s main body around itself] [Aeon¡¯s Field Scientist. Class focused on magic and research. Unlocks a wide range of lab-related and soul related skills. Can instantly set up teleportation beacons between a field lab and the magic labs within Aeon¡¯s secret hideout] I gained 10 levels! ¡°Holy cow.¡± And it wasn¡¯t over. There was a string of messages and notifications that came from Mirei and the other heroes [Mirei has bequeathed 30 experience seeds] [Mirei has bequeathed ten Lightning Mage class seeds] [Mirei has bequeathed twenty Mage class seeds] [Gerrard has bequeathed 22 experience seeds] [Gerrard has bequeathed 15 Brewmaster class seeds] [Harris has bequeathed 10 king class seeds. King class seeds absorbed into Anointed King class seed] [Harris has bequeathed 10 Master Trader class seeds] [Harris has bequeathed 10 Inquisitor class seeds. Inquisitor modified to Aeonic Inquisitor class seeds] [Harris has bequeathed 25 experience seeds] Ah. Where do I start? Spaizzer Yay thanks for reading. Hopefully a fun one. Aeon''s getting titans... :P Choose Your Tree Titans Year 125 (continued) All three heroes died in their fight. They¡¯ve managed to kill the demon king, but they fell with it. Harris¡¯s broken empire immediately devolved into war. War was declared the day the news arrived in their cities. He must be sad if he knew that the truce he brokered didn¡¯t even last a day after his death. It¡¯s a common thing, and has happened throughout history. After the heroes die, whatever they built tends to fall apart. ¡°If I die, the Freshlands will collapse too.¡± I realised in a way, this ¡®empire¡¯ I have right now is almost the same. ¡°Certainly.¡± Jura said. ¡°As it is, the safety of the entire valley is backed by your prowess. Without you, nothing much else holds the valley together, other than a shared area. And we¡¯ve seen them, happy to slay each other.¡± ¡°Conflict is eternal.¡± Yvon said as she trained a new bunch of children. ¡°But so is progress. Train, and we get better.¡± Progress in level terms, or progress in a society? Speaking of which... I can create Titans now. That meant I can choose to power up that dormant walker I have. But those were not the only choices I had. For the titan souls, the system gave a few options. [Giant Tree Serpent, Nydus - A massive serpent. Able to use earth and wood magic. Starts at level 70. Gains powers to summon all sorts of serpents and poisons. Master of poisons and has the ability to brew multiple types of potent poisons and cures. Able to grant poison immunity.] [Giant Storm Bird - A massive bird with powers of wind, water and thunder. Gains power to summon eagles and hawks. Eagles and hawks can carry goods and people. Has power to grant [Wind Mage] and [Flight] ability to those worthy. Can control the local weather and improve irrigation. Starts at level 70.] [Fusion with Jura¡¯s Bamboo to form a Titan-class summon. Starts at level 80. Takes the form of a massive wall of thorns. As a summon, it has high burst type output. Transferable, and also significantly improves it¡¯s host¡¯s strength and base stats. Host of the Titan Summon will not age] [Fusion with Horns. Starts at level 80. Transforms Horns into a Goliath Kingbeetle that¡¯s able to use earth magic and various other protective and offensive abilities. Goliath Kingbeetle can create Royal Warbeetles. Also produces very high quality beetle-silk. Royal Warbeetles can improve crop output in the area] [Fusion with a Giant attendant tree - Creates a Warmaster Treant. Starts at level 70. High toughness and use of wood magic. Warmaster Treant is able to create lesser treants to assist in combat and other duties. Also produces high quality teas and fruits.] [Fusion with Grand Mind-Tree - Creates the Tree-Over-Mind. Starts at level 75. Massive psychic magical abilities. Expands secured telepathic communication to the entire continent. Unlocks Mind Reading Ability for anyone within the local valley, which allows limited mind-reading of any targeted person in the local area. Also unlocks psychic/mental attacks and the power to send nightmares and dreams to anyone in the local valley. Psychic attacks do not work on demons.] And lastly, activate the walker. [Fusion with Walker Corpse. Creates the Walking-Tree-City. Starts at level 75. Has the ability to produce wood-warriors and also simultaneously control them. Limited to 5,000 wood-warriors at any point, and wood-warriors cannot travel far from Walking-Tree-City. Has ability to use long range projectile attacks. Also carries a mobile healing spring and accommodation on it¡¯s body able to accommodate and feed up to 1,000 people. Produces fruits and vegetables on it¡¯s back too.] I was quite struck by analysis paralysis, and I had no real urgency to select one, since, well, I have 3 of them and I can keep them until I noticed what I really, really wanted. I mean, I have 3 titan souls, and I can support 2 of them! In truth, I wanted all of them. And from my experience with this system, it¡¯s likely that I unlock even more choices as I go along, or just become ¡®aware¡¯ of them. So, there may be merit to choose the next option later, when I have more choices. I mean, all of the titan choices were good, one way or another! > What do you think, Lilies? < I shared the news of the Titan Souls to Lilies. I wasn¡¯t sure why I did it, but I wanted to tell someone, so I told Lilies and Jura. Jura was too stunned and didn¡¯t quite know what to advise me. To him, this was the realm of gods, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to choose. Which was strange, but maybe he just couldn¡¯t bear with the weight of the choice. < Any choice is a good choice > > No preferences? < < No. Choose and live with it > Hah! No! I¡¯m not going to do that. Or maybe I should? I didn¡¯t know. I wonder what kind of choices Lilies would have gotten, if they were in my place? Maybe something over death, or something like a city? Since that¡¯s what they have power over? > Lilies, if you made an item for the heroes, what would you make? < It didn¡¯t reply to me. I mean, I asked that question because the heroes were making items for the few next generations, and I wondered what¡¯s a good item I would give? I mean, could we cheat this system in some way? A sword that accumulates power as it passes through the hands of each and every hero, eventually reaching the point that it can kill the demon king outright? I mean, that¡¯s like an anime-plot, but magically and system wise, that¡¯s possible, right? A weapon that kept gaining levels. A weapon to slay all the demons. I had that idea a while ago to fuse an artificial soul into a sword or spear, but that doesn¡¯t really make a weapon that much stronger. A weapon made by the hero, formed from star mana is still stronger. Partly because artificial souls on their own aren¡¯t that strong. But if I could make a Titan-Soul version of a living, growing weapon, wouldn¡¯t it eventually reach a point where it can slay the demon king? - ¡°The heroes are dead.¡± Yvon said, as she announced to the group a few days after it happened. The Valthorns were mostly quiet. For them, these young ones, they¡¯ve lived their entire lives with Harris, Mirei and Gerrard as the surviving heroes. To some extent, this was Pax Harrisan. A period of relative ¡®peace¡¯ thanks to the quick destruction of the demon king by the heroes. This era has finally ended. ¡°What now, Principal?¡± They asked. ¡°Nothing. It was just an announcement, that all of you should know. For us, we go on as usual. We prepare for the next demon king, and the next.¡± Edna looked at Faris. ¡°Well. Our worries were for nothing.¡± ¡°What, you wanted to face the demon king? Did power get to your head?¡± Faris rolled his eyes. Since their last battle with the demon champions they¡¯ve been constantly gaining levels, and now Edna and Faris are both in the early Level 70s. ¡°Ah, no.¡± ¡°Another 10 years of relative peace.¡± ¡°8. Data collected suggests that the 2 years before the demon king arrives is filled with demonic attacks.¡± ¡°Minor attacks. Nothing we can¡¯t handle. Especially now that there¡¯s 3 of us [Grand Knights].¡± Edna said. ¡°I hear from Master Jura that he may be considering a second [Great Druid] too. With all this strength, I think we can handle a demon champion or two.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Faris seemed worried. ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Who do you think?¡± Edna smiled back. ¡°Ah come on. Don¡¯t play coy with me. You know the answer.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t. I swear.¡± Edna just walked. ¡°Hey, you two seemed happy.¡± The [spearmaster], Lovis poked in. ¡°Are we having a gathering of the upgraded classes soon?¡± ¡°Ish.¡± Edna frowned. From what I can see, all of them are still somehow around 70-80% of Lausanne¡¯s full strength. Lausanne had the special familiar, the [possession of the devoted], and that alone made her stronger, even if she had just regular classes. But the possession of the devoted has strange unwritten conditions, and I have not been able to award them to anyone yet. As the young batch of upgraded-class Valthorns talked, Jura and Yvon just looked at each other. ¡°What do you think of this batch?¡± ¡°They¡¯re good.¡± Yvon said. ¡°At their level, stronger than me.¡± ¡°Well, you used to be stronger than me.¡± Jura smiled. ¡°Used to be. Not anymore. On that topic, tell me, how did Aeon break through your cap?¡± ¡°Well, something that won¡¯t help anyone. I think only he can do it. It¡¯s something soul-related.¡± Yvon shrugged. The Valtrian Order¡¯s staff strength has increased to about 15,000, with 12,000 in Freshka itself, and the remaining 3,000 in the various city-states. They act as our representatives, recruiters and caretakers. The Valtrian Order¡¯s two main wings, the military wing, and the social wing are meant to be mutually reinforcing. The Social and Health wing, in addition to it¡¯s social support services, is also a means of funnelling young children with nothing much to lose to the Valtrian Order¡¯s ways. It works well, and the local rulers recognise it, so they often set up competing institutions in order to divert talent away from me. The Social Wing, in addition to regular orphanages, also includes funeral parlors, hospitals, childcare facilities, some schools and some food stores. Then the Valtrian Order started getting notified of it. I could feel them. They were scattered throughout Freshka, at first, 10, then 20. Then a hundred. It¡¯s like I instinctively knew where they are. ¡°My class... it changed when I woke up. It¡¯s now [Aeonic Ranger].¡± A ranger said to his colleagues on the walls of Freshka. He was not the first, but many others started getting similar notifications. ¡°What does it do?¡± Not everyone got it. Some did. ¡°I... don¡¯t know?¡± The ranger said. He was still coming to terms with his changed class. Those who¡¯s class changed generally are a bit more spiritual, and they tend to either pray to some kind of tablet, or regularly visit the temples and other social sites that I have. Some are familiar faces, I¡¯ve seen them at my [tree of prayers]. They would be healthier, and as long as they are near-to-me and my network of trees, they will be stronger. Their defensive moves were upgraded too, and they would gain some advantages when fighting demons. A few priests, who regularly perform rituals, funerals and births gained [Priest of Aeon]. As a priest, they gained the power to grant [Protection of the Valley], a temporary ¡®blessing¡¯ that grants them energy from the valley. Faris, too, woke up one day and he was [Aeonic Great Druid]. ¡°You didn¡¯t get an upgrade, Edna?¡± ¡°...no. I suddenly feel inadequate about it.¡± Edna frowned. Indeed, Jasmine and my artificial minds were quick to theorise that all those who got the [aeonic] classes were, to some extent, believers. Perhaps not to the degree of a god, but as a local deity. And now that ¡®belief¡¯ has manifested itself as a class. There was a small uproar too, among the priests. ¡°Aeon has ascended and has gained power to grant unique classes. This is proof of divinity!¡± They shouted and claimed. I cringed. Sure, now I can grant special classes. But divine? There¡¯s a massive spectrum to the gods, surely. < Congratulations are in order. > Lilies spoke suddenly, abruptly. > Huh? < < We lived for centuries, and even we are not yet lesser deities. > > What... level are you? < It didn¡¯t answer. Maybe asking their levels is like asking a woman¡¯s age. It¡¯s probably offensive. > Sorry. < < We feel your energy stretching throughout the fabric of the world. > > What? < < Beware of the Others. They now know you exist. > I didn¡¯t know what they meant for a moment. But then I soon got a rather quick notification from my network of informants. ¡°The Church of Neira has declared Aeon as a heretic and a demon. Accordingly, the Valtrian Order and the Freshlands are monsters that must be exterminated.¡± ¡°The Temple of Gaya has formally cut all ties with the Freshlands.¡± Woot. ¡°We do not recognise and will not do business with anyone who professes to be a believer of Aeon.¡± ¡°The Church of Aiva has declared Aeon, of the Freshlands as an enemy of the religion.¡± ¡°The Church of Hawa has declared Aeon, of Freshka and the Freshlands, as a heretic and enemy of the faith.¡± Ah. It came suddenly, but four churches suddenly declaring me as a heretic? And I just as quickly, I had an uprising in my own realm. All this while there have been believers of all these other faiths co-existing with us, but now these temples and religious organisations pretty much declared outright war on me. I felt a sense of anger. And fear. What can they throw at me? Did their gods suddenly realised that I¡¯ve stepped closer to the realm of the gods and now considered me an enemy? If this is going to be a conventional war like with the other lesser kingdoms, I will crush them. ¡°Aeon.¡± Jura said, a large council present. ¡°The 4 temples have declared you a heretic. Many of our own have decided to emigrate. There will be a slaughter, and there will be war. The temples have vast armies that they can summon. Resources that they can put together.¡± ¡°And yet they still depend on heroes to defend them from the demons.¡± In our broken continent, the hold of the temples are weak. There¡¯s little faith in these temples when they¡¯ve seen so much damage. But the faith of the believers are stronger where the temple institutions are strong. So, if there are enemies, they will likely come from the other continents. ¡°How many?¡± My artificial minds got to work quickly. ¡°Across the entire freshlands... not that bad. 10% of our population may leave.¡± Not that bad at all. 10% is small. Perhaps the issue of faith means little when their safety is constantly threatened. ¡°Among the nobles and leaders though, it¡¯s about 30%.¡± I had to do something. I can¡¯t fight a war without leaders. So I turned to Jura and the representatives. ¡°After the fall of the demons, my power has grown. My most recent powers involved the introduction of Aeonic-variant classes into the world.¡± A silence among those present. ¡°Even among some of you, I can sense the presence of an Aeonic class.¡± One of the present representatives was an [Aeonic Warrior]. ¡°And so, this provoked the temples in retaliation.¡± ¡°They fear your rise, Aeon.¡± One of the representatives said. ¡°This is a mark of a jealous god.¡± ¡°Not uncommon. The crusades of the Northern Frost was one such war.¡± The representatives discussed the matter among themselves. ¡°A tree¡¯s roots will break through rock and stone, if it must. If they dare to step foot in my valley, I shall break them.¡± I declared. I am high level, surely I can hold my lands against some templars. The representatives nodded, and they all went out. The Freshlands Federal Authority will prepare for war. I had things to think about. From the declaration, and the consistent timing, I concluded that this must be a divine message. Else, why did 4 temples act in unison to denounce me? The gods, or whatever they are, are in limited contact with the temples, and at the same time, their ability to ¡®see¡¯ or ¡®perceive¡¯ the world is probably limited. Somehow, when my [domain] ability added new classes to the world, that made them aware of my presence. So, would the temples summon heroes to counter me? That would be a very interesting data point, or are the gods tied in that they are unable to summon heroes? I think they can¡¯t. If they could summon heroes to destroy me directly, they would have done so. There was no need for the temples to publicly declare war on me. So, the declaration of war must mean the gods have limited tools when dealing with non-demonic matters. At best, they would request the heroes to attack me, when the next demon king arrives in the future, but that¡¯s still some time away. In short, I can expect the forces these temples will muster will be conventional in nature. Nothing extraordinary. - About a month after the declaration, I¡¯ve heard of various ¡®crusading¡¯ forces preparing for an invasion. It takes time for them to form a coalition, after all, the temples¡¯ own standing armies are generally small, and they call on a network of ¡®believer¡¯ states to donate forces for their cause. Per our network, we¡¯re looking at about 1-2million soldiers in total across the 4 temple¡¯s armies, but in actual fact it¡¯ll be less, simply because not all kingdoms will give the full amount requested by the temples. At this point, it¡¯s a good thing to ask, ¡°So, where was this same army when the demon king was rampaging throughout the world?¡± ¡°Defending their home cities.¡± Stupid. Politics is stupid. At this point a part of me wants to smack some sense into them, like, hey, I¡¯ve been protecting the world from demons, and this is what I get? ¡°Aeon, we detected a spy approaching. He¡¯s moving quickly.¡± One of my [Aeonic Rangers] commented. He must have believed that he would not be found. ¡°Intercept him.¡± My Aeonic rangers attacked, and he dodged. ¡°Wait!¡± He shouted. ¡°I want to speak to Aeon. I bring an important message from the church of Aiva.¡± ¡°If it is war, you have war.¡± The spy shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s more complicated than that.¡± - The spy was led to an area with a large [tree of prayer]. ¡°Speak.¡± I telepathically said. Edna, and a few knights were there. Just in case. ¡°May I have some privacy?¡± The spy said. ¡°The things I say must be only for Aeon.¡± ¡°No.¡± I said. The spy sighed, but then he took out a small pendant. Instantly I felt a kind of ¡®holy¡¯ energy, and Edna¡¯s sword moved in. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°This is the Aiva¡¯s Pendant of Truth. One of the 5 sacred treasures of the Church of Aiva, and proof, that I speak for Aiva.¡± Edna¡¯s sword closed in. The spy¡¯s finger gently touched the tip, pushing it aside slightly. ¡°Aiva has no intention of going to war with Aeon. But the other 3 temples have received divine messages to some degree. Aiva, our patron god, has decreed that a war is declared as a formality, but no hostilities will break out.¡± ¡°Breaking of trade routes do not count for hostilities?¡± One of the rangers shouted. ¡°Some concessions must be made to keep up to charade.¡± The spy said. ¡°But we will not send anyone of significant skill or power for this endeavour. This war is a silly thing, with demons at the border.¡± ¡°What do the temples want?¡± I asked. ¡°I do not know. But Aiva was clear. This is a fake war. An act.¡± Well, an ¡®act¡¯ of war, then. ¡°But there will be real wars with the other 3.¡± I felt sad. Especially with the temple of Gaya. I recall being housed in a temple of Gaya. It must¡¯ve been destroyed by the Rottedlands. It didn¡¯t have to be a war, no? Is this the part of my life where I¡¯m going to play tower defense against a wave of attackers from across the sea? - Spaizzer Thanks for reading! Side Story : Lausanne and the Priest of Aiva Circa Year 125, immediately after the time the demon king died ¡°The [Captain] said we¡¯ll reach Port Killos soon.¡± One of Lausanne¡¯s party-mates announced the news to the group of 10. They were adventurers, the Playing Swords, and they¡¯ve been sailing for a good 5 weeks from Port Anggar of the Southern Continent to Port Killos on the southernmost edge of the Eastern Continent. The oceans are vast. It takes a month from one place to another, sometimes three months should the weather be exceptionally bad, or some of the large monster-fishes create hostile patches. There¡¯s been times when a sea serpent made a whirlpool large enough that trade was disrupted for years across the straits. Port Killos, the Southern Fortress. Home to one of the largest Aiva temples, and seat of Grandmaster Engka, one of Grand Triumvirs of Aiva. It¡¯s walls were made 830 years ago by the Summoned Hero, Don Mex, and one of the strongest hero-enchanted walls in the world. Still, on the southern part, there was a large hole, a crater from a demonic supercannon blast. A relic of the era of Demon King Sabnoc. There¡¯s also a memorial there, to remember the 17,000 who died from that explosion. The ship was finally ready to dock. ¡°Alright.¡± Lausanne nodded. She wore a deep green jacket, and she had three wooden spears on her back. ¡°So what in the world happened in a month?¡± The party, and many other passengers disembarked. The crew and the docksmen started underloading cargo too. But, they quickly picked up something that felt different. There were far more soldiers, and templars. Aiva had templars, but the templars rarely left their training grounds except during the demon wars. ¡°The Demon King had fallen! The three heroes died!¡± They got the news, and Lausanne just nodded. That¡¯s good, she thought. A templar approached them. Normally, it would just be a regular port official that did visitor screening. ¡°Name? Which party?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Ardi, of the Playing Swords.¡± A man in his early 40s answered. He quickly showed his many adventurer guild badges. Lausanne¡¯s husband. It¡¯s funny, because Lausanne is more of a spear-user. Swords are pretty low on her list of proficiencies, but the party had a lot of sword users. Each kingdom recognised their own adventurers differently, so most parties obtained multiple certifications. ¡°Alright.¡± The templar nodded. ¡°Cleared. The temples are off-limits, however.¡± ¡°Off-limits?¡± One of the party members asked. She was the party¡¯s healer, and she¡¯s a priestess-warrior. That meant she actually has a holy-enchanted sword, albeit a lesser one. ¡°Is it open for the clergy?¡± The templar looked at the healer. ¡°Clergy may access the outer temples. Central temples off limits to everyone. The Triumvir is receiving a divine message.¡± The priestess-warrior¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°A divine message!¡± The templar nodded and signalled them to move along. Lausanne walked next to the priestess. ¡°Lexi, what¡¯s a divine message?¡± ¡°The gods, they sometimes send a divine message. Only those who have the right levels and skills can receive it. But the messages usually need a long time to be received, sometimes months, so the high priests would enter into solitary confinement, often with only a skeleton crew to support them.¡± ¡°Why do they want to receive it?¡± ¡°Usually it comes with some kind of divine blessings, and almost all priests level up quite a bit after receiving a divine message.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Lausanne just nodded. Ardi patted his wife on the back. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get to our inn. We¡¯ll check out what quests we have tomorrow.¡± They woke up the next day to sounds of marching men. An army. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Ardi asked the innkeeper. It was about time for breakfast anyway. ¡°Not sure. But the central temples have been closed for 3 weeks already. I don¡¯t recall something like this happening in a long time.¡± Lexi nibbled on a piece of meat. ¡°That usually means the divine message is quite long. Usually.¡± ¡°Have you ever received a divine message, Lexi?¡± Lausanne asked, curious. ¡°No. It¡¯s a gift for the select few, those chosen by the gods as their [voice]. For mere mortals like us, we never get a chance.¡± Lausanne nodded. Ardi came back with a few files. ¡°Alright, the guild¡¯s got some typical hunting missions, and some demon extermination missions. I think the jobs seem relatively easy, so we can split up into two groups. Lausanne will lead the demon-hunting mission. The usual split.¡± She nodded. That usual split meant Lausanne, two swordsmen and one mage. Their team is usually smaller, simply because Lausanne, at Level 80, due to her unique history, massively outleveled everyone else in the party. Everyone else was around level 40 to level 55. Ardi himself was only a Level 52 [Swordfighter]. They spent the whole morning going through the quest dossiers, but then, a group of templars marched into the inn. Heavily armed too, a group of 10 templars. ¡°We¡¯re looking for the Playing Swords.¡± One Templar Captain said, and Ardi nodded. ¡°Yes. We are the Playing Swords.¡± ¡°Per our records, is Lausanne Searwind, the ¡®Greenspears¡¯ present?¡± The templar asked. Lausanne stood. ¡°Yes. That would be me.¡± The templar nodded. ¡°Alright, Lady Lausanne, I¡¯m afraid we need you to come with us. The rest of you can stay here.¡± Ardi panicked. ¡°Wait. She¡¯s my wife, is everything alright?¡± The templar paused, his brain was probably processing the information. ¡°I¡¯m afraid the Triumvir only ordered for her. The rest of you, please wait here.¡± ¡°Will she be alright?¡± Ardi asked again, noticing that the templar didn¡¯t answer his question. Lausanne smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Honestly, what could they do? Lausanne had the best chance of escape, she did have her Warden. - The templar escorted her to the Core Temples. They didn¡¯t attempt to restrain her, so Lausanne assumed it had not been a crime. At least, not yet. She did not take her woodspears along, her three woodspears were with her party, but still, if she needed a weapon, Warden was more than able to create a few. The Core Temples were large, ancient buildings, built during the era of the hero¡¯s descendants. Don Mex was summoned by Aiva, at least, according to Aiva Scriptures. Who knows how the scriptures have changed over the hundreds of years? Regardless, it was still imposing and grand, and Lausanne nodded. She felt a pressure pressing down on her, but it was a lot lighter than Aeon¡¯s [Haunted Forests]. The templars guided her to one corner building, it resembled a small keep. It was the templar¡¯s headquarters. She noted the armored guards throughout the building, as the templar captain led up the stairs to a higher floor. Eventually she arrived at a large room with glass windows that had a beautiful vantage of the ports and the bay of Port Killos. ¡°Greetings, you must be Lausanne.¡± A middle-aged man said. He sat on a large, beautifully decorated seat, and he was flanked by a few high ranking templars. She nodded, and vaguely sensed some kind of skill. [Warden has applied Magic Suppression Aura. Skill effects cancelled]. Lausanne just smiled. It wasn¡¯t the first time someone had tried to use a skill on her. Warden, a special familiar, was unique in many ways. It was like having a mini-Aeon around, with many of Aeon¡¯s abilities, to a lesser degree. The man¡¯s head jerked a little, he probably noticed his skill was cancelled, and the presence of an aura. ¡°Well, I shouldn¡¯t have known it won¡¯t be so easy. Alright, let me just give you a brief explanation of why you are here, and why you should cooperate.¡± Lausanne didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Our records say you originated from the Freshlands, and was born in New Freeka. You lived there until 16 or 17 years ago.¡± ¡°Technically I was born in Freeka.¡± Lausanne corrected. ¡°Alright. So, you confirm you lived there until 16 to 17 years ago?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Lausanne didn¡¯t see where this was going. ¡°So, what do you know about.... Aeon.¡± Lausanne paused. She didn¡¯t like talking about Aeon, simply because well... most people didn¡¯t understand what it¡¯s like to live with a massive demi-god whose energies just permeated her world. She grew up under his care, and to everyone else, that was an alien concept. In fact, she spent a few years adjusting to the reality that her experience was extremely unique. ¡°...what do you want to know?¡± ¡°His powers. His weaknesses.¡± Lausanne had a gut feeling it wasn¡¯t going to be good. ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know of his weaknesses. Maybe... demon kings?¡± The questioning templar¡¯s eyebrows moved. ¡°His powers... he can summon beetles, create walls of trees and roots, and attack with root strikes. He also has a lot of healing abilities, like, he healed my uncle¡¯s dismembered arm. He also has massive shield abilities.¡± Lausanne honestly didn¡¯t know the full breath of Aeon¡¯s abilities. ¡°How far can he attack?¡± Lausanne shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the furthest?¡± Lausanne paused. ¡°Everywhere in the valley? That puts it at... 60 to 80 miles, maybe even a 100??¡± Honestly, Lausanne didn¡¯t know either. She was not aware of Aeon¡¯s battle with the faraway walker, nearer to Lilypod City. These questions actually made her wonder how much she knew about Aeon, because she realised that she couldn¡¯t give a definite answer for most of it. The templar¡¯s eyes widened, and he quickly jotted that down. The middle-aged templar flipped through his notes and a book. ¡°What is this about, really?¡± Lausanne asked. ¡°There will be war, milady.¡± A templar answered. ¡°With Aeon, as a false deity.¡± ¡°False deity?¡± She didn¡¯t like the sound of that at all. To her, he was a deity and guardian spirit in every way. She stared at the templar, ¡°On what grounds?¡± ¡°Our god decreed so.¡± The templar said. ¡°From what I understand, so will Hawa, Gaya and Neira.¡± Lausanne paused. She wasn¡¯t sure how to take the news. Is this war? Are all these people going to march on the Freshlands, against Aeon? Are they insane? Have they not seen the thousands of beetles he has? As far as she can remember, Aeon¡¯s supply of beetles seemed almost limitless. Sure, a high levelled individual can kill hundreds, if not thousands of beetles, but exhaustion eventually sinks in. They need sleep, food, pee and poo. Aeon could just repeatedly throw beetles at them until he finally won. He was a tree. Roots can break stones, and he was not afraid of taking forever to do it. She wanted to speak. No, she was quite tempted to just shout. But the templar said. ¡°We¡¯re rather confident. We are even authorised to use hero-items.¡± Lausanne paused. Hero-items... she thought about it for a moment, and she recalled the hero-made wooden armor that Uncle Jura had. She remembered it quite vividly, and if they can deploy hero-items, Aeon has them too. She knew for a fact that hero-items are weaker in the hands of regular folks, and Aeon has way more mana to power the hero items than the temples. Have these templars lost their minds? Emperor Harris made so many hero-items for Aeon, do they know about that? She felt conflicted. TreeTree would probably tell her to not say a word. He was fond of pulling off little surprises like that. Maybe he¡¯d even use tunnels and sappers, like he did so many years ago. ¡°Am I... under arrest?¡± Lausanne asked. She was relatively sure they wouldn¡¯t be able to hurt her. Even now, she was confident in defeating everyone in the room. ¡°Oh.¡± The templars flipped through some notes. ¡°Uh, yes. I¡¯m afraid we have to keep you under house arrest for a while.¡± The higher-ranked templars walked towards her, and she shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s alright, I won¡¯t resist.¡± The templars led her to another area of the Core Temple grounds, and she was given a small but comfortable room. ¡°A maid will attend to you, but during this time, I¡¯m afraid you have to be here. We cannot have you leaking our troop movements to the Freshlands.¡± Lausanne shrugged. She sat, and she processed her feelings. She believed Aeon would be fine. No. She knew they would be fine. Only someone with a hero¡¯s power can stand up to Aeon. All these cities struggled to even contain a Demon Walker, that¡¯s why they resorted to hexbombs. They¡¯d have to bring out their hidden big guns to even have a chance. - ¡°Are you alright?¡± Ardi came, the templars strangely allowed her husband to visit her and even gave him the option to stay with her during her ¡®house arrest¡¯. ¡°I heard the gist of it from the templars.¡± ¡°I¡¯m perfectly fine.¡± Lausanne nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to stay here for quite a while. The team can go on with their missions. In fact, you can join them if you want to.¡± Lausanne winked. Being confined for a few years, what¡¯s new? She was confined in a valley for 20 years before and had to fight hybrid demons every other day, this wasn¡¯t a big deal. In fact, this was pretty much a staycation. ¡°Do I need to warn anyone?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Lausanne shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t want my mother to know.¡± Her husband sat next to her and gave her a hug. ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Go with the team. Pretty sure they need you. More than me. I¡¯m just going to be trapped in this building for a while, nothing particularly dangerous, really.¡± He paused, and he looked rather conflicted. Eventually he nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll probably drop the demon-hunting missions without you around.¡± Lausanne shrugged. ¡°Give yourself some credit, dear. I¡¯m sure you can handle them. Go, don¡¯t waste your time trapped here with me.¡± Ardi gave her another hug. She gave him a knowing look. The ¡®I-can-break-out-anytime look¡¯. He smiled. ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Good.¡± He left later that day, and Lausanne spent some time exploring her new ¡®prison. It was a simple bedroom and she looked into the mirror. Her hair was short, now. She had it cut a few years ago after she found it rather annoying during combat. Short hair didn¡¯t get tangled so often, especially when they were in close-combat situations. A templar came in. ¡°Milady. Your presence is requested by the Grandmaster.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Grandmaster Engka. Now that¡¯s a person she never met yet. He was famously reclusive, and refused to meet. And now she had the chance to meet him. - They met in a small cozy tea room. There were four sofa chairs with plush cushions, and the Grandmaster was known to be an old man, and has maintained control over the Aiva temples for almost half a century. His hair entirely white, yet his body was in no way frail. In fact, his body looked as fit and muscular as any of the templars. From a distance, one may think he is no older than 40. He gestured to the sofa opposite his, and Lausanne sat. A few servants served them tea and cookies. ¡°I was told ladies like tea and cookies. Have some. They are the best in the region.¡± Lausanne smiled and took a tea. She sipped it. It was a kind of flower tea, a rose and chrysanthemum mixture. It had good balance and a bit of light, fluffy sweetness. The aftertaste was very gentle, and didn¡¯t stay long on the tongue. ¡°It is a good tea.¡± Grandmaster Engka nodded. ¡°Good. You must be surprised by these sudden developments, but I¡¯ll direct. I¡¯ve received a divine message from our patron god, and well, it certainly is complicated.¡± Lausanne just smiled. She vaguely sensed a skill, again, and she pushed back at it. It wasn¡¯t a problem to push it back. She was, for all that it¡¯s worth, an [Aeonic Weaponmaster] with a total level of 80. She was originally a swordswoman, but after she increased her use of spears and bows, her class fused together. The Grandmaster was perhaps of a similar level. The Grandmaster chased everyone out of the room with a wave, and he activated another kind of skill. ¡°What I say here is for your ears only. We don¡¯t want war with Aeon, but we must be seen as doing war with Aeon.¡± Grandmaster Engka said. ¡°The other three temples do want war, but Aiva¡¯s more interested in just being seen as participating.¡± Lausanne frowned. Why was he telling her this? What¡¯s the point? There¡¯s nothing she can do. ¡°Are you able to communicate with Aeon? My scouts and past reports claimed that communicating with Aeon is a perilous affair, many suffer nightmares from being around him.¡± Lausanne wondered again. She had to ask, that statement was borderline absurd ¡°Why? There¡¯s no such thing as a pretend-war. The world¡¯s certainly not a safe playground where people can play-fight. Anyone else will tell you that you are bullshitting and trying to lie to me.¡± ¡°Indeed. That¡¯s my dilemma. It¡¯s a difficult message, one that I had not told anyone yet. How do I tell otheres that my God wants me to send these men to their deaths, with no actual intention of victory. For what?¡± ¡°Then?¡± Lausanne didn¡¯t get it. ¡°Why am I here?¡± ¡°Can you communicate with Aeon?¡± ¡°...Yes. But not here. Only back in the valley.¡± ¡°My informants told me that you have an extensive history with Aeon. So, can we find a way to communicate with him? Any... how should I say this, pointers?¡± Lausanne frowned. ¡°Be frank and honest. Tell him what your god said, word-for-word if possible. I believe Aeon may understand your gods¡¯ intentions far better than we do. In my experience, we cannot understand the thoughts of a tree spirit, so the best tip I know is you can only say what you want, and see how he responds.¡± Grandmaster Engka nodded and visibly relaxed. "Indeed. Us mere mortals cannot truly fathom the thoughts of greater beings. In honesty, this... war is a futile endeavour. If Aeon is really a semi-divine being, we mortals have no way of truly harming such a being. Perhaps, only heroes and ancient monsters stand a chance.¡± Lausanne leaned forward. That was an upsetting thing to hear. ¡°Then why?¡± ¡°The Gods have a wish. We, their humble servants, must try our best to fulfill it, lest we lose our classes and suffer a divine retribution. A curse. The closer one steps to the gods, the more we are bound by their whims.¡± Engka said. ¡°Even if it seems as if the task is futile, we must believe in the gods that they will bless us, and that we play our supposed role in their larger, unfathomable plans.¡± ¡°So even if it seems like suicide or stupid, you will do it because it¡¯s part of the God¡¯s plan?¡± Lausanne asked. She couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Yes. We must put aside our disagreements and carry out our God¡¯s will.¡± Lausanne felt tormented, and she stared at the Grandmaster. He seemed every bit the wise and smart man, and yet something like this came from him. Were the gods all like this? Now she felt like she should send a [message] home and ask Aeon to be merciful. She thought of the heroes again, and she remembered how they too, seemed like they were pawns of their gods, despite their incredible power. How they were constantly, subtly influenced by the gods. She sighed. ¡°And because of this foolish endeavour, I¡¯ll remain under house arrest?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid, yes, milady. Though I can tell our walls honestly cannot hold you back should you ever wish to escape.¡± Their eyes met and she felt it was they who were imprisoned. Heretreecs of Aeon Year 126 The first wave of attackers were just plain conventional armies. Wasn¡¯t hard to scare them away with an equally massive display of force. I have a lot of beetles, and my beetles are strong. In a straight fight, I¡¯d win. When the first wave knocked on our doorsteps, those who wanted to leave have already left. Or at least, most of them. There¡¯s some that stayed back, and I suspect they are in cahoots with the temples. Jasmine and my artificial minds are actively monitoring them. I didn¡¯t arrest them immediately, because I wanted to know what they know. It may be a good idea to find out how deep their network is. So, for now, I¡¯ll play along. Let them win some small victories and catch all of them in a single swoop. It¡¯s like dangling a lure to catch a prey. There is a general consensus among the populace that I know what they are doing, but that didn¡¯t seem to have stopped those that sympathise or support the other 4 temples from plotting. Most plots are rather simple, really. Find a way to cause damage to me, or find a way to convince people to change sides, or reveal/expose some kind of strategic advantage. It also relies on a great deal of trust. That those who plot can trust those who assist them. So, it¡¯s not entirely difficult to cause the whole thing to collapse once a bit of fake news and intelligence is added to the mix. Are they willing to act on intelligence that may be fake? ¡°There are skills that help that. Such as [discern truth].¡± Yvon said, apparently plotters have some means of verifying facts. That said, Kings and rulers have counter-plot skills too, such as [discern loyalty], or [unravel plots], or some rather cutely named ones, like [Monkey Wrench], which apparently causes the forces of chaos to mess things up. Of course, I wonder whether there are abilities which therefore interfere with my ability to observe them. I believe there are, after all, I¡¯ve seen the heroes do something like that. Like a [silence bubble] or something. There were largely 3 groups. One of Gaya and Hawa. One of Aiva, and another one was a ragtag bunch. The last temple apparently was more straightforward and did not believe in plots. I didn¡¯t believe it though, I suspect this was some kind of false information. Some operated in a typical military function. They focused on gathering information about my military forces, and well... [Domain has blocked attempted espionage skill] Yeah. That happened multiple times during this month. It seemed that domain also interferes with a wide variety of skill types, especially those that come from afar. [Domain has blocked attempted scrying] The temples sent many waves, and throughout my borders, those kingdoms and nations have been forced to let the crusading armies pass. It wasn¡¯t a choice for them. ¡°Should we just let them march through our neighbours?¡± The council gathered. It¡¯s more of a war council now, with the representatives across the Freshlands sending their generals and leaders. There are many who are now my sympathisers. As a divine-tier being, the nobles and rulers of the various segments and cities have a clear choice. Side with the temples, or side with me and earn some of my divine favor. For the local nobles, it¡¯s actually quite a clear choice that I can bring more to the table. ¡°Unless Aeon permits us marching an army of beetles into our neighbour¡¯s lands...¡± Most of our neighbours are economically intertwined with us, so they are in a difficult position. They are mostly smaller nation-states or kingdoms, and they do not have a large standing army. Nothing that can stand up to a 300,000 strong crusading army. I paused and wondered, what¡¯s the objective of this army? Do all of these 300,000 really share the goals that the gods and temples¡¯ leadership decided? They probably don¡¯t know the true extent of my reach, and so, I¡¯ve extended [subsidiary trees] in all directions, even through the lands of these other neighbouring kingdoms. I also made [subsidiary trees] all the way to the port city where most of the crusading forces landed. Most people do not notice trees by the roadside. The port city¡¯s packed. It was not the only port to receive the crusading army. These forces are coming through 5 to 6 different port cities and will converge along the way to me. In a way, if I wanted to spring a surprise attack, the best time is when they are still here. There¡¯s a lot of idle chatter. A sense that the enemy is still really far away. ¡°I still can¡¯t believe I sailed across the ocean just to fight a tree.¡± Some of the soldiers said. ¡°Can¡¯t they just send a woodcutter and chop the tree down?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure the temple thought of it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just any tree. It¡¯s a tree that attained the cursed power of the evil gods.¡± ¡°An evil tree god, really?¡± Some of the soldiers seemed baffled by it. ¡°I mean, all I¡¯ve heard of the Freshlands is that this evil tree god has been shielding them from the demons, and suddenly they tell me this magic tree is now evil?¡± ¡°Shush, don¡¯t let the templars hear that.¡± ¡°Aw fuck them. I¡¯m just here for the money.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just here because the big boss says so.¡± The soldiers don¡¯t seem like they all believe in their cause all that much. It¡¯s a shame that wars, being what they are, means we will cross paths, and they will die. From my observation, the composition of the Crusading army is roughly similar to a typical army. 90% regulars with soldiers or warrior classes, and 10% unique. It¡¯s the 10% I need to pay attention to, for any unusual skills or classes. It¡¯s been some time since I had a large scale fight with other humans. ¡°Council.¡± I spoke to the war council. ¡°Reach out to all the neighbouring kingdoms and ask for an alliance. If they want to side with the temples, we will declare war and we will invade. If they join us, I will offer them protection.¡± The council did as they were told, and surprisingly quite a few of the kingdoms agreed to form an alliance. They instantly rejected the crusade¡¯s demand for freedom of entry, and I populated the allied kingdoms with my [subsidiary trees]. Fools, these temples. I have 500,000 beetles I can use in combat, and they regenerate in about 3-4 months. But, I need to get their effectiveness up. They¡¯ve been traditionally geared against monsters and demons, but since I¡¯m facing a large scale war, I need to have additional advantages and perks. ¡°Horns.¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± ¡°What sort of anti-army or anti-templar research do we have?¡± Trevor and Dimitree popped in. ¡°We have numerous potential research. We can deploy poison-laced beetles.¡±¡°I want assassin beetles.¡± I said. ¡°I want beetles that are able to hunt down their elitesl¡± ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll get the research started.¡± Horns made a fistpump. It would take a few months, so I¡¯ll just drag the battle on. - Meanwhile, a few smaller skirmishes broke out. I have not deployed most of my own abilities yet, it¡¯s better to keep some of my powers hidden. The less they know about me, the more mistakes they will make. The Valthorns needed some pep talk before every battle, though. They are trained to fight demons and hybrids, so an all-out-war against other humans, elves and sentient races still needed some mindset change, even if I had included it in their training regime. If it¡¯s not for Jura, I¡¯d have a lot more to worry about. I also had to make sure that the enemy didn¡¯t level up too much, especially survivors. Survivors may often return far stronger, and since they survived a fight with beetles, they would gain anti-beetle skills. It¡¯s really a case of just killing everyone. I wonder whether there are anti-human or anti-elf skills. ¡°They do.¡± Jura said. ¡°Such accursed skills exist.¡± This crusade, I feel, was going to drag on for a while. The temples can keep reinforcing the ports. If I want to cut them off, I must march on the ports itself. If I can hold onto the ports, the temples would have to take a long detour. ¡°There are 6 ports that are on the side of the temples. Honestly, I think a few of them will fold if we manage to capture one or two of the port cities. Their loyalty to the faraway temples are tenuous at best.¡± ¡°I see.¡± So, again, I am a tree. I can fight wars differently. The enemy, from what I¡¯ve seen so far, has not been able to detect subsidiary trees. Or at least, they didn¡¯t display that they are able to. If I want to end it, I¡¯ll have to swiftly capture all 6 port cities in one go. They have some defenses, but nothing too big. And I already have trees all the way into the city. Now, I just need to make sure I have trees in all six cities, and I can spring a sudden surprise attack. Therefore, I called on the council and changed the tactics. I wasn¡¯t sure whether any of the council leaked information to these crusaders, perhaps unwillingly or unknowingly, so I didn¡¯t disclose the full plan. The strategy simply put, is to delay the crusaders as long as possible. I told them that I would have a way to decisively win, a special weapon. This is partly true. I could deploy my titan souls against this crusading army, but I feel that¡¯s a waste. I wanted to drag it on, because I needed the time to design and research special beetles. Assassin and anti-human beetles that can fight effectively in cities, not just open areas. Spiders too. I had the web spiders, and I figured spiders would operate a lot more effectively in the city area so I increased research on poisonous spiders. And I created a few more artificial souls for Horns. Five beetles, and five spiders. My new insect-army commanders. Now that I¡¯ve leveled up to level 168, and have trees that stretch the entire Freshlands, artificial souls limit is quite high. Sure, I can field a large quantity of these sentient assistants, but they are still no match for elites. They would take a few months, at least, to reach the mid level 20-30s, and before that, their combat strength is mediocre. And so, the plan was on the way. Tunnels were made into all the six port cities, and a lot of subsidiary trees were created. I¡¯ve also created [Giant Attendant Trees] in the forested locations nearby, and used my [camouflage] ability to hide them. I would unleash at least 70,000 to 100,000 beetles on each of the 6 cities in one go, effectively cutting off their supply lines. Then, smaller attack forces will strike at the crusading army. Because the crusading army is so large, they are led by multiple [generals] and [Lords]. It¡¯s also a logistical challenge, so the army is split into two large groups of about 250,000 each, and a few smaller, 10,000-20,000 contingents. It¡¯s entirely dependent on imported supplies and resources, so a targeted attack on it¡¯s supplies will thin out the force rather quickly. A few of the [generals] have the ability, [Create Food Supply], or [Army Skill : Reduce Hunger], or some variation of it. But, the power has a ¡®size limit¡¯, so a large portion will be outside the effect of the skill, and will therefore desert the army. But, for now, smaller skirmishes. It wasn¡¯t time yet. Timing, is everything. - ¡°I¡¯m getting a little frustrated.¡± Edna complained after a skirmish with the crusaders. It was trench warfare, really. I¡¯d reinforce a large segment with walls, and the crusaders would march on it. They¡¯d fight a bit, but they usually don¡¯t make much progress. ¡°Me too.¡± ¡°I wish I can just charge out there.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll die, though.¡± ¡°I know.¡± There were about 80,000 soldiers on the other side. They were bombarding the walls with rocks and magic, but wooden shields and barriers meant those bombardments weren¡¯t making a dent. There¡¯s also a thick web of thorns and human-eating plants. They¡¯ve been using fireballs and all, trying to make a dent at the walls, but with a giant attendant tree at the back, they can take a few hits. ¡°This is just a boring stalemate.¡± Edna frowned. ¡°Aeon wants it that way.¡± Faris said. ¡°And I think the enemy knows it.¡± - ¡°We should just charge in.¡± The enemy seems to forget that even grass can have ears. And there are roots that can just peek out of the ground just a little bit. Right below the commander¡¯s camp. ¡°This is a waste of time.¡± ¡°The General said we should hold.¡± ¡°What for?¡± ¡°The General¡¯s giving the enemy too much credit. Other than that massive wall, we outnumber the enemy force by 5 to 1. And we have 1,000 elites of at least level 30. Why send us here if we are just playing this waiting game?¡± The Commander was a young man. Eager. Anxious, and wants to prove himself. He walked a bit, and a thorn gently pricked his leg. A little bit of sap. To stimulate his hormones and testosterone. A hormone-filled mistake, here and there. ¡°I command our force to charge in.¡± His body flared up, hot. Anger. Frustration. The sap merely pushed him off the cliff. ¡°Commander, the general said...¡± The assistant and captains tried to say otherwise. ¡°I am the commander here. And I say we charge.¡± They charged into a wall of thorns and maneater-plants, while [Aeonic Rangers] and archers rained death. They quickly realised the folly of their attack, and retreated. But that mistake cost them 10,000 lives, and none of the defenders. Meanwhile at another front... ¡°I was told to expect large beetle armies.¡± The General was in a large camp, flanked by his advisors. ¡°And in all of our intelligence, we¡¯ve only seen beetle armies no larger than 30,000. Whatever it is, our enemy is hiding it¡¯s strength, and wants a long-drawn war.¡± ¡°Does that mean it wants to test our supply lines?¡± A strategist asked. ¡°A long war becomes a test of logistics and resourcing.¡± The general nodded. ¡°That makes a lot of sense. Our enemy, as a heretic tree on the very edges of divinity, must have tremendous powers over plants and growth. It must be confident that it can continuously feed it¡¯s population, so it is not afraid of a long siege.¡± My beetles are just mostly doing hit-and-run on smaller forces. ¡°So it wants to draw it out until the temple decides it¡¯s no longer worth it. It expects the temples to pull their funding and supplies.¡± A strategist concluded. ¡°A swift attack might be just what it¡¯s not prepared for.¡± The general said. ¡°But it¡¯s rather clear that we can¡¯t mount a swift attack either.¡± It¡¯s a big piece of land, and even with the [general]¡¯s skills, it¡¯s probably too much. ¡°We should do a precision strike, then. A group of elites right at the center of the enemy.¡± The general of the Coalition of Crusaders pondered the idea. ¡°I have ancient records to suggest that it won¡¯t work. Written by one [General] Ackbar. It¡¯s probably a trap.¡± Ancient? 40 years in ancient? ¡°It¡¯s our best chance.¡± ¡°Not if we use our heroic artifacts.¡± Now my ¡®ears¡¯ perked up. ¡°The temple has not authorised use of the heroic artifacts.¡± ¡°If the temple wants us to slay this heretical evil tree, then we should be allowed to use our heroic items. A heroic weapon can destroy that wall, easy.¡± Ooh. I¡¯ll be on the receiving end of a heroic grade item. Now, that¡¯s something worth testing out. I¡¯m a level 168 tree, can I survive a hit from a hero-grade item? ¡°Then we must send a request.¡± The general said. ¡°Outline our observations, insist that a quick victory is ideal, and demand authorisation for our hero-grade items.¡± The temples have a lot of hero-grade items. Items left by previous heroes, or perhaps just claimed by the temple. People like Harris and Mirei even donated some items to the temples too, for political reasons. So the temples, over the years and decades, accumulated a decent stockpile of hero-items. Of course, they can¡¯t make full use of it, but because they are hero-items, they should still pack a strong punch. All I could say was, well, bring it on! Spaizzer Thanks for reading. Patreons actually already voted for the Titans, ie Mind Tree & Walker. Countree-Offensive Year 127 ¡°Activating the hero-item, the Holy Cannon of Alantara!¡± The templars shouted. The hero item itself was a small item, but to power it, they had to build a massive array of crystals and mana-storage items. The array was ten times larger than the hero-item itself, and that single use broke most of the crystals. The cannon was really just a small shotgun shaped item. Probably one of the heroes was a gunner or something when they made it. The item glowed, and woosh a huge blast of energy shot out towards the walls. I activated 5 [Steelwood Barrier]. Is this power stronger than the demonic supercannon¡¯s long range attacks? It easily tore through my 5 barriers, and then defensive shields that were already there. Then, that entire section of reinforced wall exploded. ¡°Wow.¡± I was impressed. The hero¡¯s item really made my wall look like cardboard. So, in short, the demon¡¯s attacks had previously failed to break through my defenses because of my innate anti-demonic properties. Against the hero¡¯s items, I¡¯m blocking it entirely based on stats and levels, and on that front, it¡¯s still not enough. Does this mean if Harris or Mirei tried to kill me, they could have succeeded? From this incident alone, I think the answer is yes. They could. They really could. So, I decided I needed an insurance of some kind. Like the grass that regularly regrows after fires scorched the lands, like the plants of the floodplains that respawn after every flood, I decided to extend my roots deep underground. As deep as I possibly could. Then, I put my [Tree-heart] there. Even if they chop off my entire tree, as long as my [tree-heart] survived deep underground, I believe I can survive. I also added a big batch of [tuberous storage] around my tree-heart, like a seed, I have the nutrients and energy from the storage potatoes to respawn should I need to. ¡°They won¡¯t be using that for a while.¡± Edna said. ¡°But we don¡¯t know what else they will use.¡± Faris said, as the crusaders charged at the hole. The forces quickly retreated to the next defensive point. ¡°The temples have a lot of inherited items.¡± ¡°But each use is a waste.¡± Edna frowned. ¡°Why didn¡¯t they use such items against the demons?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure they did. They just have a lot of it.¡± ¡°Maybe since the heroes were around, they didn¡¯t see why they needed to use it, unless they were really desperate.¡± Since the strategy for this entire plan was to delay the enemy as long as possible, there were numerous layers of walls made. Jura came and mentioned his concern. ¡°Since the temples are willing to use heroic items, it¡¯s possible they may attempt to use an elite force, armed with heroic items to attack you directly.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± Of course. There are probably heroic-grade teleportation items, or heroic-grade stealth items that they can use to attack me directly. The problem, of course, is that their users probably can¡¯t fully activate their abilities. Which is why the most heroic items are defensive in nature, because they needed large magical formations and runes to channel power to the heroic items. Unless, there are heroic-grade batteries. Which makes a lot of sense. < They grow weary. A few more years will blink by, and they will stop. > > Already? < I responded to Lilies. > I had hoped this war would last until the next demon king. < < Mortals, they are not suited for long wars. They forget their grudges and pain far too easily. Conflict is but a temporary dance. True wars are long, and lasts a few thousand years. > > Surely the older races would remember. < < Time is memory¡¯s archenemy. This is but a casual spar. > > It probably is. < Lilies, again with odd commentaries. I don¡¯t recall whether there are any long wars in this world, not any more, at least. Unless, that war is invisible? > Your long wars... is it the demons and the gods? < < Maybe > Maybe? That¡¯s a yes, dammit. The Crusaders advanced a little. My forces slowly moved into place. I¡¯ve had tunnels ready, and I¡¯ve secretly occupied various little forests near the port cities. Maybe they have a heroic item able to detect me? But still, I wanted to drag it out. See what exactly these temples are able to bring to the battlefield. - ¡°This sucks.¡± Edna complained. ¡°I don¡¯t like being forced to retreat.¡± Her compatriots just rolled their eyes. The crusaders revealed another hero-grade item. A large bow. They brought an army of mages along to create a runic formation on the ground, and they shot it again. This time, I used 10 [steelwood barriers]. It still tore through all of them, but at least, it didn¡¯t cause my walls to explode. All it did was blast a big hole in the wall. So the magical number is around 10? Or maybe 20? ¡°Unless you have a solution for the hero-grade items...¡± - ¡°Master. Research on assassin beetles completed. We are working on the flying beetles now.¡± Horns updated, and I quickly started transforming my beetles into their assassin forms. They are smaller, leaner, but with sharp limbs and spikes. They also have poison, and can shoot out a poison horn. ¡°Great!¡± Another piece to the puzzle. Eventually, the 2nd layer of walls fell, and the forces retreated. At this point, Jasmine quickly updated that morale was falling, and we needed a small victory to keep the stalemate going. So, the temple used the Holy Cannon of Alantara again, this time at a fort. It blasted the fort¡¯s walls and a segment to smithereens. But it was a ruse. Using [root tunnels], I had the army sneak around them, and then, with my new assassin beetles, rushed in for the kill. I would seize the Holy Cannon of Alantara for myself. There would be no survivors. It was chaos. Perhaps, a slaughter too. 50,000 assassin beetles appeared from the ground, together with the Valthorns and the regular armies. A proper counter-attack. The enemy died, and now, I have the Cannon. In the chaos, the commander was able to send a distress signal. ¡°This is Commander of the Vanguard force, we¡¯re being attacked by new beetle types! The Cannon is lost. The cannon is lost!¡± A root strike dismembered him. - The General was a day away, and he got the message. ¡°Hmmm. New beetle types. I have an ominous feeling.¡± Well, you should, mister General. You¡¯re stretching out your supply lines, spreading your men thinner, and when I strike, you won¡¯t be able to rush back and save your port cities. Letting the crusaders push further in was an intentional plot to spread out their men and their elite forces. Even if it seemed like we were losing, only Jura was aware that something was up. ¡°When is Aeon going to bring out his superweapon?¡± The war council asked. ¡°The new beetles, are those the superweapons?¡± Jura nodded. ¡°I believe that¡¯s the first of the many weapons Aeon plans to unleash.¡± The next weapon are the spiders. I wanted assassin spiders to take control of the cities. The first time the enemy would see it, would be when I attack the cities. Jasmine noted that our morale quickly improved as we have secured the hero-item. The Generals gathered his advisors. A priest was present, and he read out the statement. ¡°The temple has authorised use of more hero-items.¡± Ah. Looks like the temple is really going for it, but the fact that their ability to power the hero items relies on large arrays means they are so obvious when they are about to be used. Could a small assassin group really sneak in with it? Unless they build the array on site... or use an existing array. But I didn¡¯t want to drag it too long. I have been observing them when they used the hero-items, and now that I have claimed their hero item, I turned it against them. My mastery of runes meant I too, can quickly set up an array, and activated the Holy Cannon of Alantara against the enemy force. One blast, it drained all the runes, and broke some of the stones and ground that channeled the power. The enemy retreated. That one attack killed probably a few thousand, and it¡¯s not even it¡¯s full power. I decided to try channelling my existing star mana into it. The hero-item drained all my star mana easily, and it¡¯s so greedy! After it used up all my star mana, it wanted more, and the item easily used up my normal mana too! Did the heroes always have so much star mana? How¡¯d they keep their weapons working? ¡°Master, based on my surveillance of the heroes, they have approximately 500,000 to 800,000 star mana each.¡± Jasmine commented, she pulled on her past records of conversations between Harris, Mirei and Gerrard. I have 300. No wonder the hero-items just drained my star mana like I had nothing. They must be using at least 1,000-2,000 star mana to power the hero items each time. The weapon was now partially charged, and I used it on one of the crusading armies. The explosion was massive, far larger than what it was when powered by regular mana, and still it wiped a quarter of that army. Probably 10 to 20 thousand just died instantly. The enemy panicked and then quickly retreated. I¡¯m sorry, but death is what it is. I even felt their souls enter my main tree. But I only regenerate star mana by a pitiful amount every day. That meant I couldn¡¯t even use the hero¡¯s item if I wanted to. My full 300 star mana takes an entire 2 months to regenerate, so the weapon can be used once every two months to this level of strength. So it¡¯s not as if I could just use the cannon like a machine gun. Despite the enormous destruction caused by the hero-Cannon, I¡¯m fairly certain this wasn¡¯t it¡¯s full strength. Also, the hero-items used by the temples, and all the various nobles are inferior to pure hero items, in the sense that they have been made to also work with regular mana. True hero-items can only be operated with star mana, and are useless to everyone else. Those pure star-mana hero items are superior in output and strength. - The army regained a bit of our lost ground, and we managed to retake the outermost walls of the Freshlands. ¡°How long more till we research the next upgrade for the assassin beetles?¡± ¡°A month, master.¡± The assassin beetles have not been revealed to our enemies, yet. At least, I hoped that they were not detected. The tunnels and my bases next to the 6 port cities continue to expand. I¡¯ve researched tunneler beetles, and have also commenced research on more types of spiders. The beetles made additional tunnels into the port cities, and I wonder whether the enemy realised it by now. I could tell some of them felt something, at least. The mayor of one of the port towns kept sending miners to dig the ground. He said he felt there¡¯s an infestation or something, but he wasn¡¯t sure. I had to order the beetles to hastily collapse the tunnels before they were detected. Surely, that mayor couldn¡¯t be the only one that possessed such skills. In fact, some of the military leaders we observed clearly had the skill, but they just didn¡¯t react to it. ¡°I can¡¯t help shake off this feeling that we¡¯re all walking into a big trap.¡± A commander said to a fellow captain. ¡°It¡¯s a feeling that¡¯s been nagging at me since I landed in this city.¡± ¡°Seasickness.¡± ¡°I feel like it¡¯s my skill.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve had it since the day you landed, and it¡¯s been a good three months since then.¡± It¡¯s funny that one of the ways to beat such ¡®alarm¡¯ skills, is to keep scaring them until they stop treating it seriously. Kinda like training one¡¯s body to ignore their daily morning alarm. ¡°If it¡¯s something, it should¡¯ve happened.¡± The other captain just shrugged. ¡°We¡¯re doing okay. The heretics are not making progress.¡± That was just one of the many captains that was eventually lulled into a sense of complacency. For the rest of the year, there were smaller battles, but I was still waiting for more beetle upgrades. I wanted my conquest of the six port cities to be simultaneous and decisive. I wanted to break the crusaders once, and end it. ¡°Aeon, there should be another 400,000 soldiers arriving on our continent.¡± Kavio and the war council reported. Ah, this was in addition to the 500,000 to 600,000 soldiers that were already deployed across the entire battlefront? I wondered why the war doctrine in this world still insisted on throwing numbers at an enemy at first, but eventually I got it. In terms of actual combat, sure, an army of high leveled individuals can do way more damage than an army of lower leveled conscripts, but I increasingly believe the temples are intentionally hoping that from a large pool of low levelled individuals, some gems emerge. It¡¯s an interesting tactic, to sieve the gems from the scrap, they send these large numbers to their possible deaths. The Freshlands¡¯ own defensive army is about 300,000 strong, conscripted from the massive population of the Freshlands. Yet, that excluded my million-strong beetle and spider army. There are various smaller city-states that decided to side with me, and they volunteered in total, another 60,000 fighters. ¡°And so, they send more to their doom.¡± ¡°They would outnumber us 3-to-1 once they land. I believe they may try a decisive strike once they land, to minimise the load on their logistics.¡± One of the hired [Generals] advised. It¡¯s funny and rather strange to have [generals] on my side now, but I¡¯m not complaining. ¡°They would try this path, I believe.¡± The general pointed to one of the entrances into the Freshlands. ¡°Or force a way through this segment of the Rottedlands.¡± It¡¯s a large army, and may end up in a lot of bloodshed. A situation I¡¯d like to avoid, if I can. I wondered whether I should pull my attack at the moment when they land, or after? What is their supply situation? Is their food and accommodation going to arrive before the actual army of 400,000? Trevor tapped into the [grand mind], and quickly created a massive overview of the entire battlegrounds. He highlighted all the various supply positions. ¡°Master, should we intend to cripple and starve our opponents, we may be able to do so by attacking all these locations. A decisive strike before they land may force them to redirect.¡± The logistics and supplies usually arrive before the army. So the right time to strike is when the 400,000 is still at sea, but their supplies and all have landed. That way, the coming army is forced to deal with a lack of supply. 800 ships, carrying 500 soldiers each. Large galleons of the 4 temples. I wondered whether my attacks work in water. I think the impact of my root strikes would probably be weakened by the water. ¡°How long before they arrive?¡± ¡°In two weeks?¡± There¡¯s a tiny window, when the supply ships arrive just before the army itself. I paused, and I thought. By all the odds, it wasn¡¯t ideal. My fully researched assassin beetles were not ready, but if I wanted to cause the most damage, I had to take this window. ¡°Ready all the armies. There will be a strike in 6 to 8 days. All mobile units prepare for a long range strike.¡± That declaration made the entire war council pause, before Jura himself, invited as a translator, mostly, asked on behalf of the war council present. ¡°Aeon, repeat that, please?¡± ¡°Ready all our forces. We will strike in 6 to 8 days. Valthorns will receive specific instructions.¡± - About 2,000 of my best Valthorn fighters gathered at a forward base near one of the outer walls. There was three [giant attendant trees], and it flanked a tunnel that led underground. "Briefing time." I announced telepathically, and the Valthorns stood to attention. Edna, Faris and many other upgraded class holders were there. "All of you will be marching into the tunnels. You will be split into 6 groups, and your next orders will be given when you are there. Be prepared for urban combat and a siege, enemies expected to be high level, and large numbers." The order given, they started to board the carrier beetles. The fastest beetles were selected, and they had supplies for a month. The beetles would carry them to their targeted destination in a week. The Valthorns chatted. "Are we attacking the nearby forts?" The crusaders had set up numerous advance forts to hold their supplies. These are my targets, but it wouldn''t be the Valthorns'' target. I had intended these 2,000 Valthorns to coordinate the attack on the 6 port cities. These are my best and most loyal Valthorns, most of them have [Aeonic] variants, such as [Aeonic Rangers] or [Aeonic Druids], or [Aeonic Knights]. The beetles will provide the numbers, but I need the Valthorns are the secret sauce, with their higher levels and special skills - 2 days later, I had moved more beetles into various locations near the port cities. 100,000 beetles and spiders at each of the port cities, waiting for the time. [Root tunnels] made as close as possible, and as many [subsidiary trees] as I can, in all the places where I could place a tree without raising too many alarms. ¡°Aeon, what are we doing in 4-6 days?¡± The [general] asked, he noticed the Valthorns were gone. ¡°The enemy clearly is behaving strangely, and some of the smaller battalions have attempted to attack our walls. Is there something that was leaked?¡± The enemy was nervous. Their [generals] and [strategists] all had some combat sense, and they knew something was happening. They just didn¡¯t know what, so some of them just attacked. There was an air of tension. ¡°We¡¯re preparing for war?¡± ¡°Is Aeon revealing some superweapon? The Valthorns, what¡¯s their plan?¡± ¡°What¡¯s the enemy up to?¡± I decided to confuse them a little. ¡°We will be striking at their fortified locations.¡± The council thought this meant all the nearby forts, and they started to make plans with the resources available to them. I had given them use of 100,000 regular beetles to supplement the regular standing army. On the other side, I detected their discomfort. The generals and strategists all have skills, and so the crusader generals all increased their scouting efforts, and since there¡¯s only one week left to the trap, I didn¡¯t hesitate to kill their scouts with a root strike, or a poison. ¡°Aeon¡¯s forces are able to kill our scouts this far away from the walls.¡± ¡°They have an infiltration force? An assassination squad?¡± They wondered, and increased their guards. They truly were not experienced in fighting against a [tree]. They assumed my tactics to be similar to regular kingdoms. ¡°What¡¯s their force projection ability?¡± The generals discussed at first, of the likelihood of a long range strike from me. They noted it is possible, but they rated the risk as low, since they do not expect that I could field a war-significant number of combatants far away. This trap is something I can only pull off once. All these enemies will learn of my tactics, and they will be prepared after this. So, if this trap succeeds, I must hold onto the port cities and deny the temples a chance to regain a landing zone. At least, they would have to land further away, and march a lot further. Still, some of the more paranoid commanders reshaped their forces into defensive formations. The effects of skills are really interesting. - Another 2 days, and the supply ships started to land. Some soldiers too have landed, but the bulk of them have not arrived. The small group of soldiers started to set up new tentages and areas, where the newly arrived soldiers will rest, before joining the rest of their armies. Too bad they won¡¯t find any place to rest. The Freshland army cavalry was ready, and the crusaders were clearly preparing for a cavalry charge. ¡°We spotted Freshland cavalries and archers massing behind the walls and cities. They may be preparing for a charge.¡± ¡°If they want to strike at us before our reinforcement comes, then let them.¡± In another day, most of the supply ships have arrived, and about 70,000 of the 400,000 additional soldiers have arrived. True, not all will come at the same time, but no matter. Already, some of the soldiers had a bad feeling. I¡¯m sorry, but war is a cruel thing. The temples have decided to declare war, and peace was off the table. Perhaps I must display a decisive victory, then only a peace can be negotiated. - The Valthorns arrived at their designated locations underground. They¡¯ve been travelling in the [root tunnels] for an entire week. ¡°Where are we?¡± They were mostly lost. Their sense of time and place is distorted in the tunnels, there are no markers, to day-night cycle. They¡¯ve lived with food prepacked, or those made by the [aeonic druids]. They even have special fruits and drinks to help them tolerate the effects of travelling underground for long periods. The 2,000 Valthorns have split up in the underground tunnels to their respective targets. Each group gathered in a small clearing, protected by the [camouflage] of subsidiary trees. Time to start my second briefing. ¡°Once you step out of these forests, will be the Port cities of the Crusaders. Our enemies. Rest well, because once night falls, we will attack the port cities.¡± The Valthorns were nervous. ¡°With so little of us?¡± ¡°No. The beetles and spiders will assist you by the tens and hundred of thousands. They are hidden throughout the city, and the land beneath you. You will join the battle once they start the attack.¡± They nodded, and I let them soak in the information. I created a few wooden displays of the targeted port cities, and where the weak points are, which they took their time to analyse. They had never participated in a siege before. The Valthorns chatted and planned, and I told them to rest well before nightfall. I gave them all a tree-syrup filled with energy nutrients. They¡¯d go into the attack with their full strength, whereas the enemy is exhausted from a full day¡¯s work. - The moment of fighting finally came. The weather was pleasant in all six of the port cities, and the soldiers were all in various stages of sleep. Some were alert, for sure. I had decided to strike in the late evening, as my assassin beetles and poison-web spiders benefited from the cover of night. I steeled myself, and sent out the command to all my beetles and soldiers. ¡°Generals and commanders, it is time to strike.¡± The first port was home to 200,000, but now it was temporarily home to an additional 50,000 soldiers. As the city itself didn¡¯t have enough accommodation, most of the newly arrived soldiers and their support team lived in makeshift housing outside the city itself. That meant they were always vulnerable to subterranean attacks since they didn¡¯t have fortified foundations. It began suddenly. Tentages and their temporary bases collapsed beneath them, Multiple, almost a few hundred holes appeared at the same time, and the beetles rushed out. A well-timed root strike also caught one of the commanders by surprise, wounding him severely, before a beetle finished him off. The soldiers, most feeling safe and comfortable this far away from the front lines, were suddenly jolted into panic. Some of them slept without their weapons, many were not alert at all. The beetles took full advantage and they attacked and killed the enemies by the hundreds and thousands. ¡°Attack! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!¡± The commanders shouted, but their voices were soon silenced by a spider that ran into their mouth. The port itself found it¡¯s walls broken. Some of them had been magically reinforced, but I had found weak spots after the past few months of planning. There were already tunnels that allowed my spiders and beetles to enter the Port City itself. After all, not every city had the luxury of master builders who made thick foundations. The soldiers scattered as loud explosions spread. The Valthorns too, joined the battle. They rode beetles and rushed for the walls. They focused on the higher leveled one who managed to react and fight. Assassin beetles were more than a match for the level 10-20 soldiers, but if the enemy soldiers were level 30-50, it would require the Valthorns to effectively disable them. A mage ran and tried to send a [message], but an arrow went through his head. He collapsed. [Aeonic Rangers] and [Archers]. The 50,000 soldiers quickly thinned to only 20,000 to 30,000 that fled, and the port city itself was flooded by beetles and spiders. As a statement, the beetles dug up one of the squares, and I made a [giant attendant tree] right in the middle of it. The giant tree all emitted a [healing aura] and [magic suppression aura], which made my beetles a lot more hardy. Then an explosion went off. ¡°Master, a group of mages just activated a hero-item.¡± Right in the middle of the port city, it created a summoned giant fire elemental and it started attacking the beetles. Ah, my beetles couldn¡¯t get to that group in time. ¡°Ugh.¡± Thankfully, with my [giant attendant tree] right in the city, it was rather easy to just launch [constrict]. My vines can take a bit of fire, and they can ensnare magical creatures since 50 years ago. They can even drain mana! So it¡¯s perfect for summoned fire elementals. The vines latched on, and gradually, the struggling fire elemental shrunk until eventually it was extinguished. ¡°Shit.¡± The mages cursed and fled. The magical item summoned more fire elementals, but I had a lot of vines, and these fire elementals were pitiful. Had they been summoned with star mana, they may be worth taking seriously. Most cities had some military resistance, but nothing I couldn¡¯t really handle. So, progressively I captured more and more artifacts and treasures. They had higher level units too. A general here, a commander there. Some master swordsmen too, who cut through my army of assassin beetles like nothing. But as my beetles or the Valthorns distracted these masters, a vine would occasionally ensnare their legs, and they would find themselves weakened, poisoned. The beetles would then deliver the knockout punch. Once we got a strong foothold in the city, and my beetles have seized most of the key locations, I would telepathically speak to everyone in the city. ¡°Surrender, or we will kill you.¡± The Valthorns, like Edna and Faris would then help to coordinate and communicate with the captured and surrendered civilians. The port city fell by end of the day, civilians all under home quarantine as beetles patrolled the streets, and the enemy forces all corralled into the squares. My main focus was ensuring that the port was no longer operational. I still don¡¯t have flying beetles, but some of the jetties and docks were made of wood. So, it was easy to destroy them. Whatever supplies they had was quickly hauled away by beetles. Even if they managed to dock at one of the jetties made of stone, they would immediately have to fight beetles and spiders. A similar chain of events repeated in all the other 5 port cities. All of these cities have magical defenses and high level individuals, some more than others. In one city, the Valthorns had to deal with a group of master pyromancers, and in another, a group of expert axemen. Without [healing aura], and the element of surprise, the losses would have been a lot higher. The soldiers, as ragtag as they are, were quite good once they found their weapons. Most were around level 20, so they could go toe-to-toe with one beetle in a straight fight. Still, the element of surprise, coordinated strikes at all 6 port cities and multiple other supply locations easily overwhelmed their ability to respond properly. Some of the soldiers retreated. Skilled ones too, they had the right instincts to respond correctly. But sometimes, even doing things perfectly leads to failure. One of the port cities experienced constant combat till midnight, with long fights throughout the day. They had a few platoons of very well trained soldiers at least level 30 to 50. For them, the Valthorns fought hard, and I had to frequently assist them with my vines to prevent any unnecessary Valthorn deaths. 2,000 elites meant only about 300 to 400 Valthorns per city. A small number of elites on my side, against whatever elites the temples have. I had to protect them. They are an investment into my future. I had vision, and I had beetles. So the Valthorns would usually attack from an advantage. I would never let them be wastefully sacrificed. They are crucial to my longer term plans. We are the trees, the anchor of the ecosystem, but the ecosystem must have other moving parts. I see the Valthorns as a key part. Nearer to the various crusading armies, surgical strikes that targeted their supply chains popped up everywhere. It hit at their tents, destroyed their food. Spiders that poisoned their water. For the crusaders, this was their first brush with assassin beetles that popped out of the ground. The crusaders had two large two-hundred thousand strong forces, split across two large campsites. We didn¡¯t attack them much, just little hit and run attacks. It was intentional. I had hoped that a portion might break off and try to rescue the port cities. I chewed through the smaller forces easily. For larger armies, the element of surprise was not as effective. If they could keep themselves calm and hold the entire force together, they¡¯d survive. Their generals, startled awake by the sudden onslaught of messages and calls, actively tried to reassess the situation. ¡°All our port cities have been captured? The supplies have been stolen?¡± It wasn¡¯t hard for beetles to haul away goods. That¡¯s part of their regular peace-time duties. ¡°We¡¯ll be out of food in a week with the ports out of commission.¡± ¡°We must rush back to retake one of the ports!¡± Furious discussions broke out. Some pushing to retreat to the ports, others recommending a push against Freshlands. ¡°The paths have been cut off.¡± I¡¯m a tree. Terraforming terrain isn¡¯t exactly difficult. I could easily add trees to a path, and populate them with hostile vegetation. Then add beetles! Instant-terrain difficulty +1! Trevor and my artificial minds have been planning for months on how to knock out all their transport routes overnight, and leave only smaller, less useful paths. Even vast plains had tunnels collapsed in order to create a cliff. ¡°How?¡± That was a word that gave me joy. I felt like a master strategist who finally revealed his trump card, and the generals were my victims. ¡°Monster-trees?¡± Monstree. That¡¯s a bad pun. In a period of about a week, the balance of power switched. Their entire logistics network and supply chain crippled. The general could probably beat the Freshland force in a straight fight, but I would never fight them that way. I always wanted a subtle way. There was a saying, if one is to remove weeds, they must also remove the roots. I think these ports are the roots. I was going to drag it out until they starved, and even if the general was a good one, a starving army still represented a significant weakness. No amount of [skill] would suppress widespread hunger. Maybe a level 100 [general] could, but I think the enemy [general] was in their level 60s only. Meanwhile, the Freshland army finally got their marching orders, and they soon encountered the deserters and those who fled from my army of beetles and spiders. No army was going to hold itself together when food and water ran out. Some segments of the two crusading forces broke off and they marched towards the nearest city in hopes of securing some supplies. But morale dropped quickly as they encountered terrible, unforgiving terrain that was never there previous, and the two large armies fractured, as each force wanted to seek out their own sources of food. The generals and lords, priests tried to hold the army together, but ultimately, they were a coalition army. The temples cobbled the force together from the armies of various kingdoms. There was never true unity or proper discipline.. Once they fractured, it was a lot easier for the Freshland army and my beetles to pick off the smaller forces. Many surrendered. Many soldiers did not have a personal stake in this conflict, and were not blind zealots. Within a month from that day, both of the armies¡¯ leaders decided to surrender, while the 300,000 or so soldiers that were unable to dock had to forcefully redirect themselves to further ports, with whatever little supply they carried. There, their crusade stopped. The ¡®First Crusade Against Aeon¡¯ had ended. I lost about 200,000 beetles from the 1,000,000 deployed across the 6 cities and various smaller targets. Horns and my new artificial minds all leveled up quite significantly from the battles. [You gained a level. You are level 169] [Subsidiary trees limit increased to 1,500,000] Of course, this sudden upheaval made my war council angry, frustrated. ¡°Aeon had planned to take the six port cities all along.¡± The general said. ¡°We were the distraction from the main attack.¡± ¡°And it didn¡¯t tell us because we might leak it to the temples, so Aeon just let us drag the war out.¡± Jura earned a bit of sounding, but Jura himself had very little knowledge of the actual plan, other than there is one. In fact, he knew of the plan to attack all six port cities at the same time I announced it to the Valthorns. A victory. But the crusade was not over, not yet. The temples remained formally at war, so this was pretty much just the ¡®First Crusade¡¯. I made sure research continued into more types of beetles and spiders. I would want to add flying beetles, and bomber beetles. I¡¯d like to bomb the ships once they got in range of the shore. There¡¯s also the political complexity of assimilating the six port cities into the Freshlands administration, and the negotiations with the nations and kingdoms in between. Those that had chosen to side with the temples, quickly switched sides, when they watched the port cities fall. All of them also fortified their walls and reinforced their foundations, to make it harder for tunnelling. Politically, the six port cities are now a part of Freshka. I declared that since they declared war on me, I have, by the norms of this world, properly conquered the port cities. Something none of the kingdoms dare oppose, even if they privately mentioned their worries. Some of them got so paranoid that they chopped all the trees from their cities. Treeless cities. Enemies. I declared cities without trees as enemies of the Freshlands. The few small city states that made such a decision surrendered in fear. All in, by the end of the year, we had conquered six port cities, and eight other kingdoms. Many expressed their regrets for siding with the temples. I had initially considered being more ironfisted and considered executing their leaders, but decided to demand resources, gems and various other treasures as compensation. Throughout the new kingdoms that now come under my influence or indirect control, I thought of expelling those who sided with the temples, but instead opted for a widespread conversion programme. Like a forest reclaiming urban lands, I can convert them. I would try. Wololo. Most priests in this world are not specific to a god, though some do specialise, and in doing so, gain special classes for that god. But in most part, the priests of the world are generally polytheistic, and it¡¯s a mishmash of the pantheon and whatever local animistic belief that existed in a particular location. It was this tolerance of various beliefs that allowed me to recruit some of my earlier batch of priests. The world had spirits after all, and unlike home, the priests of this world acknowledge that each god has a focused scope, and at times, local spirits will reign over the wills of the gods. In a way, it is strange that the gods outright declared a crusade against me. Why? They¡¯ve shared the world with so many others, so what¡¯s wrong with just letting me rise? Why a crusade? Why send an army and so many lives to waste when there are demons to prepare for? Why? What¡¯s this insanity? - ¡°It¡¯s my first time seeing the ocean.¡± Edna said. She had lived inland. The Freshlands itself is landlocked, after all, the corruption bomb happened in the middle of the continent. ¡°Little did I imagine for my first time, I¡¯d be part of a covert army conquering a port city.¡± ¡°Fate is strange, Edna.¡± A fellow Valthorn nodded. There were a few deaths. I couldn¡¯t save everyone, but a few deaths are still infinitely better than many. The losses on the opponent side is far larger, and the beetles gathered the surrendered soldiers into groups. More of the regular army and cavalry had marched all the way from the Freshlands to reinforce the Valthorn strike team including various local nobles and captains. They had a lot to do, like stripping the surrendered soldiers of all their weapons, briefings, taking over the military administration. There would also be officials from the Freshlands Federal Authority. They had to set up offices to integrate these new cities into the Freshlands. Formally the six cities were declared to be the Freshland Six Ports, and they would have a sub-authority known as the Six Ports Administration. It made sense that all six ports were administered together, even if all six were previously independent states. Quite a few of the existing administration surrendered, and Kavio recommended that we assimilate them into the existing structure, once they passed some loyalty test. A suggestion I agreed. But a lot of new people had to be parachuted over. It¡¯s kind of like when a company forcefully acquired another company. Some of the employees would remain, but usually the heads of department would change. There would be a lot of system changes and migrations. Laws and processes need to be modified to comply with the new acquiring holding company. ¡°You¡¯ll get sick of the ocean soon enough, Lady Edna.¡± A soldier said. The Valthorns are a sub-nobility, so they are often referred to as Lady or Lord, even if they do not formally carry the title. ¡°Indeed.¡± Edna nodded. She was in the southernmost port. ¡°But for now I¡¯ll enjoy it.¡± There were wreckages to clean up. Holes to patch up. Most of the civilians had private complaints about the new [Giant attendant tree] that now dominated their city, but they soon accepted that they lost, and the Tree is there to remind them that we will watch over them. The Valthorns would be stationed there for at least a few years as a peacekeeping force, with regular rotations back to the Freshlands. A long range beetle-transport service was set up, and the kingdoms in between happily gave permission. It¡¯s not as if they dared oppose me at this point. - Most of the nations swayed with the wind, and changed allegiances. Like new converts, they compensated for their foolish past by insulting their temples with vigor and vitriol. It¡¯s fine. Geopolitics is disgusting, but ultimately necessary. There is no way I can populate the land without people, and people naturally give rise to politics. After the battle, I created more artificial minds. I had to. My lands and dominion had increased so much more, and Jasmine and the existing artificial minds could not handle the monitoring of so many new citizens. I also didn¡¯t expel those who believed in the four warring temples, I only demanded that they do not support any war effort against me. But that required my artificial minds to observe so many of these cities and kingdoms. Intense monitoring and surveillance is required. ¡°Why not kill them?¡± My artificial minds suggested. ¡°After all, we have killed so many.¡± I didn¡¯t want to, though. But I felt comforted too. This is a part of nature. In nature, death is perpetual. Do we weep for the millions of ants who died in their wars with each other? Do the ant queens cry when the super ant-colonies wage planetary warfare? No. [Grand Mind Tree has blocked influence from trees.] Override. Death on a personal level is a tragedy. But in the wars I fight, they are but a statistic. A number. A score at the end of the game. A tree in it¡¯s life would create thousands, even millions of seeds. All potential lives. It does not weep when mortals eat the seeds. It is part of a greater calculation. That some will survive, and as a whole, we will all prosper and grow. Pain and death is but a step- Wait. I¡¯m going too far. No. I paused and pulled myself together. ¡°Indeed, but they surrendered. As such, I must abide by the norms of those who surrendered, that they are not overly punished.¡± I cannot go too deep at that end. I would become a pest, a locust. A tree of nature must never let itself turn into plague that destabilised the ecology. ¡°But they may well go against you, master.¡± I must mold the narrative correctly. I seek to change and prepare, but I must look to be constructive, not overly destructive. Even if I do use tools which are destructive. ¡°A risk, but a calculated one. Only by displaying mercy and the willingness to assimilate these people, these heathens that they once were, can we convince the world that we are here to stay. If one of every two converts to our cause, we are stronger as a whole. The risk is worth it, to build a stronger tree, we must sometimes accept some risks.¡± The artificial minds mentally agreed. They would agree anyway. ¡°So, we watch.¡± Fifty new artificial minds. My second [grand mind tree] will take 18 months to be completed. The various surrendering kingdoms gladly volunteered the materials for it¡¯s construction. They didn¡¯t know, of course. I merely asked for the materials, and the losers gladly coughed it out. It will be long. Those who lost will nurse unhappy feelings. I only hope that we pick them up before those unhappy feelings lead to more war and conflict. The temples started a war, but I have no intention of letting this crusade last for centuries, even if I am very much suited for a long war. < A swift victory > > Relatively. < < They will regroup > Lilies had not participated in the war. In fact, Lilies¡¯ city didn¡¯t send soldiers out at all, even though their city was home to many followers of these temples. < And we see that you will be ready > Hah. Was that a pep talk from Lilies? > If only it wasn¡¯t so. < < Achieving equilibrium usually requires conflict. > > So it is. < Spaizzer I''m probably sounding like a broken record by now, but I''m still crazy busy with work, so I''ve not been able to work on side stories. That said, the regular chapters are still on a normal schedule. I had hoped to find some pockets of time and grow the gap between patreons and regular chapters, or create new tiers, but that''ll have to wait :S Anyway, this public chapter is one of my longest chapter to date at 7,300 words. I hope you like it. I edited it a few times to grow the Valthorn''s role in the battle. Thanks for reading, and just to shill a little, my patreon''s 3 chapters ahead :) Varietree Year 128 A year of relative peace, though publicly, we are still at war. It¡¯s kind of like the whole South-North Korea situation. No one wants to back off and sue for peace, and yet the temples need time to rebuild their military force. Nearby, none of the neighbouring ports wanted to host the crusading armies, lest a similar incident unfolded. Fear crept into the hearts of many kingdoms, that suddenly a giant tree appeared in the middle of a faraway city, and overwhelmed a tide of beetles and spiders. The Giant Attendant Trees, they towered in the six cities, as symbols of the Crusade¡¯s foolishness. The Giant Attendant Trees were so large that they could be seen from the boats and ships far from shore. But our own informants indicated that the temples are mustering another force. Why? In the meantime, the victory has made the Freshlands Federal Authority extremely busy, they spent a lot of time reallocating people and implementing a tonne of new rules. A lot of the prisoners of war were made to do hard labor, or farm work, but some were released to those kingdoms that surrendered. A long set of agreements and treaties, to ''secure'' the shifting allegiances of the kingdoms and nations sandwiched between the Freshlands and the Six Ports. I did not care very much for the regular prisoners, so I was happy to let them go. These were mostly low ranking soldiers mostly under level 30, their threat level was not that significant anyway. The loyalties of many conscripted soldiers are suspect anyway. Most of them just obey their Kings and Rulers, and may not truly believe in the cause. ¡°A heretic god? What does it have to do with me?¡± It¡¯s a common expression amongst the soldiers. ¡°I¡¯m here because the King sent me.¡± Quite a fair bit don¡¯t even know what they are fighting, they only know they have been instructed to invade the Freshlands. I suppose it¡¯s rather difficult to ensure the correct messages are transmitted to the 500,000 to 1,000,000 soldiers caught in the conflict. Especially in a world where messages frequently still travel by mouth. [Messages] and magical spells remain a luxury of the elite class. ¡°What does it feel like, you know... to cause the death of so many.¡± Strangely, it was a prayer from a random citizen of the Freshlands. He made the prayer some time after the armies surrendered. ¡°Do gods treat us mortals as just play things?¡± I think so. The gods certainly do. And I see why. If the gods can disassociate the person from the body, that means to them, each living person is nothing more than a gamer holding an avatar, and when they die, it¡¯s just game over for that avatar. It¡¯s like humans with our games. Many certainly think it is weird to care when our avatars die. Most just sigh, and just start a new game, with a new avatar. But for those living in the moment, they don¡¯t know that, and even if they know, they don¡¯t feel that connection to those future new lives. Each ¡®life¡¯ and ¡®death¡¯ is not connected to the next reincarnation. Maybe... Maybe I¡¯m also starting to think that way. I should not. It¡¯s a flaw. - The war council met daily. There were always new things to discuss. Kingdom A switched sides. Kingdom B switched sides. Kingdom C demands for so-and-so. Kingdom D goes this and that. After a while, it¡¯s like little notifications in my in-game menu that I¡¯ve gradually gotten better at ignoring. Especially if it doesn¡¯t require my action. It¡¯s like some corporate paper pushers who receive hundreds to thousands of emails a day, mostly cc-ed. That corporate drone would click on the email, read the first few sentences, notices that he didn¡¯t need to do anything, and click delete, or archive. ¡°Trevor, can you notify me if any of these daily meetings have something material?¡± ¡°Certainly, master.¡± Trevor answered. ¡°You may want to direct your focus on the beetle and spider research. We are making progress, but we do require your decision on the numerical allocation of beetle-types.¡± ¡°Horns. Update.¡± I mentally called out. ¡°MASTER!¡± Horns shouted with gusto. I wonder how he does it. ¡°We have successfully unlocked Bomber-Beetles. We can further advance this into Explosive Beetles, and also upgrade it¡¯s range and damage. Each will require 1 to 2 years, and additional resources.¡± Trevor interrupted. ¡°Which will not be a problem. We have secured means of collecting the necessary resources from our vassals. We can afford to undertake all of the research. It¡¯s a matter of allocation that required Master¡¯s attention.¡± ¡°Yes yes. Trevor¡¯s right, Master. But I must talk about beetles. We also have made progress on Flying Beetles and also improved our existing beetles¡¯ jumping strength. Our assassin beetles are able to leap twice as far, and our tunneler beetles can last twice as long!¡± Well, that¡¯s great. Reality is, all these upgrades do add to utility, even if it¡¯s combat strength is mostly unchanged. ¡°Wait. Why do I need to decide on allocation?¡± ¡°The process of transforming a beetle from one variant to another is a long process, and the subsidiary trees need about two to three months to shift from one form to another.¡± ¡°Ah. 90% regular beetles. I have no intention of alerting our opponents to our unique beetle variants. For the remaining 10%, can I ask for them to be split equally to all different types?¡± Horns intervened. ¡°Master... we also have Hybrid Beetles! Based on your advances in demonic-hybrid botany, we are also able to see some potential in demonic corruption-tolerant beetles. Do you want us to research those, even if they are ineffective against humans?¡± ¡°Uh. Why not, but no allocation of beetles to them?¡± Jasmine also commented. ¡°Master, there may be significant value in small beetles that can operate as stealth units.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what assassins are for?¡± ¡°Assassin beetles are still quite large, at the moment.¡± ¡°Master, Jasmine is right! We must have all kinds of beetles!¡± Horns nodded. ¡°Can we undertake all of them?¡± I felt like I was dealing with children. ¡°Alright. Trevor, do we have resources for all the research? And sufficient artificial minds to work on each and every one of these research without interfering with our operations?¡± ¡°Yes, master. If you may create a few more...¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Power is really not the problem now. All in, I can power a good 120 artificial minds. The entire Freshlands, a massive, massive space is home to around 2 billion normal trees, and 10-12 billion shrubs. The conversion of empty land into large forests has been rapid, spurred on by Trevor and the other artificial mind¡¯s dedicated and constant expansion of forests. They were persistent and relentless, and the forests grow so quickly that the Freshlands is a woodworking mecca. Housing was commonly made of wood, because of it¡¯s abundance in the Freshlands, and there were a lot of vegetarians. The Freshlands as a whole, had a lot of food supply, particularly grain and fruits, and many of the city states export their food as one of their key sources of income. That meant there was always a natural place for the Six Ports in the Freshlands, and many merchant lords quickly jumped on the opportunity. Skip intermediaries and additional middleman taxes! They lobbied for a flat-Freshlands tax instead, since the goods would be exported out of Freshland-owned ports. Kavio, in one of his many briefings, spoke of the intense resistance and trade disruptions as a result of this war. ¡°We still have trade, but the temples have implemented multiple blockages at sea. They have sanctioned privateer groups to sack ships affiliated or carrying goods from the Freshlands.¡± I¡¯m a tree. How am I supposed to attack ships out at sea anyway? My beetles too have an operating range, limited by my trees. I cannot send them far out to sea, nor are they suited for it. The ocean is really a massive wall for me, unless I¡¯m able to research sea-going plants. Lilies would probably do well at sea, at least, better than me. They¡¯re a lake-bound existence, surely the open sea wouldn¡¯t be that much of a stretch? ¡°We¡¯d have to have our own navy.¡± Which I agreed wholeheartedly. ¡°We¡¯ll have to start from scratch, since as a landlocked realm, we¡¯ve never had to have a proper navy beyond our river-boats.¡± A navy. But how do I fix our economy that¡¯s disrupted. High-level individuals would usually not have problems... Wait. I can create upgraded classes. I can create upgraded trade classes. I totally could create upgraded trade and crafting classes and supercharge the economy. If so, I should totally start doing it. ¡°Kavio. What class are you?¡± ¡°Me?¡± Kavio the centaur shifted uncomfortably. ¡°I¡¯m a... [Manager] and a [Trader]. With some classes in [Diplomat] and [Councillor]. It¡¯s... an odd mix.¡± ¡°I see. Total levels?¡± ¡°Around 60, but it¡¯s rather spread out, so I¡¯m honestly quite weak.¡± Kavio said. Jasmine whispered into my mind. ¡°I believe he also has classes in [Smuggler]. He¡¯s been observed smuggling certain mind-altering substances for nobles. In fact, master Jura also helps to procure the calming teas and psychotic leaves for Kavio.¡± ¡°When did that happen?¡± ¡°In the past few years. The substances help to calm the minds, apparently very popular with the leadership of the FFA. They say it helps deal with their anxieties and stress from interacting with you, master.¡± I paused. I caused my supposed leaders to have mental breakdowns and anxiety? Oh wait. That was my intention. I wanted them to be afraid of me, right? This is the natural consequence of that. Inevitably, some will turn to drugs for assistance. I felt conflicted. It was right for them to be afraid of me, for them to be druggies, that certainly was not the outcome I intended. I checked my massively growing pile of skill seeds and class seeds. My [soul collectors] constantly bring these back to me, on top of the other class seeds I received when my [Aeonic Priests] perform funeral rites for the dead. I have all those class seeds. Even [smuggler]. I could make upgraded versions of them. A simple formula I discovered, really, is to just mash 20 to 30 of the same class together, and it becomes an upgraded version. Sometimes 20, sometimes 30. Some needed 40. Classes that had to do with ruling over others, or were faith-related were a bit more tricky. They sometimes worked, sometimes, they didn¡¯t. I haven¡¯t quite figured it out why, or what. Perhaps there is an underlying mechanic to their upgrades. ¡°Is there something, Aeon?¡± Kavio asked. He looked really nervous. ¡°How is the economy of the Freshlands?¡± Kavio paused, and he looked extremely puzzled. Was jumping from classes to the economy too big a mental leap to make? He stood. ¡°If you desire a more complete and precise report, Aeon, I would need to gather some of the merchant lords and administrators. But largely, trade with the regional kingdoms is holding up. We have a healthy supply of food, though we are still working on distribution and allocating. The Valtrian Order is committed to distributing food and aid to the poor and those affected. Financially, the Order and the FFA has committed huge amounts of money to rebuild the lands destroyed in the last two years of war.¡± Jasmine, my sky-eye and spymaster intervened. ¡°Master, should you ever desire a report on transaction numbers, you may actually ask us. We monitor the region and we have in depth insights into the number of wagons moving from place to place, the population size and the general health. There is no need to speak to the centaur.¡± I nodded but rebuffed her. ¡°I appreciate your statistical input, Jasmine, but I believe when it comes to qualitative measures of trade, I must consult Kavio and the citizens.¡± Indeed, Jasmine¡¯s data is like a satellite system that tracks trade movements, but in terms of value and quality, that¡¯s a more subjective measure. Jasmine¡¯s ability to provide insight in whether a corn tastes well, or where the market trends are, is quite limited. Even if she and the artificial minds have a wealth of data. ¡°I have heard of the FFA¡¯s plans to rebuild and integrate the defected nations. But tell me, from your view, how does it go?¡± Kavio paused. ¡°It¡¯s... complicated. We honestly don¡¯t know how much we can trust these defected nations, so even if we have contracts and all, enforcement of those contracts is suspect. The alternative is maintaining military presence so they don¡¯t try anything funny, but that is treated as a sign that we do not trust them. So, that sows future discontent and unhappiness.¡± Ah. I see. How do we peacefully and successfully integrate an enemy nation? One that fought wars against us? How can a population that lost their loved ones against me, choose to even side with me. ¡°Time, trade and communication.¡± Jura¡¯s recommendation, using his perspective as a [Warlord]. I think it¡¯s a [Diplomat] aspect that¡¯s merged into it. ¡°Time, really. Time will heal the wound, and we would have to encourage a constant flow of people to and fro those countries.¡± Kavio agreed, of course. ¡°I agree, those are commonly understood principles for long term integration, but we still have to deal with the short term bumps. It remains that each kingdom has a cultural difference, and they want to maintain their pride. They have defected, but they do not want to be seen as subservient, even if they are, in substance, forced to be. It¡¯s a difficult balancing act.¡± I had to pause to unpack that. Essentially, for the Six Ports, the FFA formally annexed those ports as new territories of the FFA. But, for the kingdoms and nations in between, that formerly sided with the Temples, they ¡®surrendered¡¯ or ¡®switched¡¯ sides. So, their status is a lot more ambiguous as, although they are on ¡®our side¡¯, they are not my ¡®servants¡¯. As such, they have every right to resist my attempts to ¡®integrate¡¯ them into the wider Freshlands community, as they feel as that¡¯s me attempting to encroach on their sovereignty. It¡¯s like some countries trying to force it¡¯s allies to learn it¡¯s language. Sure, they are ¡®allies¡¯, but don¡¯t shove your culture down my throat. Even if these allies were formerly affiliated with my enemies. We¡¯re talking about kingdoms. Nations. I could crush them. I could, if I need to. But it has not reached that point. In the jungle, a species would have to find a niche to survive, and an ecosystem needs each other. I would like to build an ecosystem where these nations can exist, in a framework. Many resist the FFA¡¯s framework. One where I sit at the stop as the spiritual overlord of all the ¡®vassal¡¯ states. A few, agreed. Mostly those nearer and weaker, they were willing to accept me, a strange, magical being, a monster, as their supreme overlord. Most want their own dignity. Might, makes right. The world has no overarching enforcer of laws, as much as the Gods pretends that they are. Some of them still believe in their own strength. I ended the briefing, and with Jasmine, surveyed my lands. The quality of the FFA¡¯s soldiers¡¯ equipment is average. Not better than those of my opponents. I had thought I¡¯ve made arrangements for their equipment to be upgraded? And from my surveys, it seemed that, yes, there were higher quality items in the mix, but ultimately, there was a volume issue. ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware we did not have skilled [blacksmiths].¡± I asked Kavio. ¡°We do. But the quantity of high quality goods our masters can make is limited. Certainly not enough to arm 300,000 soldiers. And the quality of our metals have been inconsistent. But they are trying.¡± Why was I not made aware of this issue? There was an awkward silence. ¡°It¡¯s an ongoing process of renewing our force¡¯s equipment. And there¡¯s also the issue of channeling the higher quality output to the Valthorns, who consume these higher quality equipment at a higher rate.¡± But I¡¯ve already given them my wooden-made weapons... I spent a little more time observing my Valthorns and noticed that they treat my wooden-made weapons with unnecessary respect, using them only on missions that I¡¯ve personally ordered. On their general duties they¡¯ve used regular steel weapons. Even though I told them to treat them as expendable, they certainly still used them very, very sparingly. ¡°They mostly use them only against demons, due to their anti-demonic effects. Against regular monsters they would equip regular weapons.¡± My spymaster updated. Again... had I been so focused on the big picture stuff that I did not notice how things decayed? I think there¡¯s an expectation gap, in that when I give a command, I expect it to be carried out consistently and constantly. But what I¡¯m observing is that for the citizens of the Freshlands, they would forget the orders and commands I gave a few years ago, or there¡¯s a change of guard and the commands previously set out were not properly passed down. It¡¯s not a surprise that the enthusiasm and obedience to orders and commands decayed. It would be strange if employees remembered everything their bosses said since many years ago. So for the general populace, this ¡®bureaucratic drift¡¯ should have been expected. I recalled my own experiences working in that indie company, it was common to forget discussions and decisions that were made as we were busy with our own parts, especially if they seemed inconsequential at that time. ¡°We never forget, master.¡± Trevor said. Indeed, my artificial minds resemble AI more than actual people, and as such they remember my orders even from long ago. Things like overlays, constant expansion of forests. All made possible because my artificial minds almost never stop once an order is given. But people do. It is perhaps also why they are able to change. Because when one is not shackled by their past decisions. I looked at the Freshlands as a whole, and wondered, do they need more change, or more order and tradition? - I checked my classes. I have [pirate] classes, probably from some of them who died. [Captain] and [Sailor] classes too. I could make upgraded versions of these classes, if I wanted to start a navy. But... how do I control them? Once they are on ships, out on the open waters, I can''t monitor them at all. My trees do not have vision in the ocean. What if those with upgraded classes defect, with my ability to supervise so lacking? "Trust, Aeon. Unfortunately that is the best we have." I sighed. I have gotten quite used to being able to monitor those who serve me, at least directly or indirectly via my Artificial minds. Now this requires me to let go, I feel a little strange. Trust. That¡¯s an extremely heavy word. It¡¯s especially if the class I¡¯m creating is a [pirate]. [Pirates]... do they have strong respect for authority? ¡°Pretty sure they do have some respect for authority, especially if they have good captains.¡± I merged the Pirate and Captain classes together and noticed that 5 of each, combined, turned into a [Pirate Captain] class. I could create a pirate captain, but would they be loyal? They wouldn¡¯t. The best I could do is to somehow align our interests. But sponsoring piracy against the temples is also not something the neighbours will desire. Though I once vowed to avoid the game of politics, the fact that I have power and territory, and neighbours, make me a player in this game. Politics is unavoidable. I cannot avoid people forever, unless I do not care of the decisions other nations make and their consequences on me. Where should I go with this? I wanted a cultural victory. Which sectors need it the most? [Blacksmiths], and [Navy]? [Smugglers] to break the temple-navies¡¯ blockade? [Master Farmers]? The Freshlands need to be strengthened and reinforced such that the overall quality of life and the quality of goods are higher than the rest. Better [adventurers], less monsters. What¡¯s the best way for me to ¡®distribute¡¯ these upgraded classes among the population, such that they aid the Freshlands? ¡°Based on our surveillance of the population?¡± ¡°Master, perhaps the Titans would be useful.¡± I nodded. I wanted to know how my people tick. I may not predict what decisions they make once they are in the open waters, or outside my domain, but the best I can do is screen them, vet them and interview them properly. I took one of the Titan Souls, and nodded. Commencing fusion of [Grand Mind Tree] and the [Titan Frame]. Upgrading and unlocking of [Tree-Over-Mind] will take a few months. Tree-expressway Year 129 A moment I long awaited, and I felt it happen quite clearly. The Tree-Over-Mind was shaped like a massive blob of neurons at first, but once it was complete, it shrunk to the size of a small bush. But, anyone who saw it would be able to tell it is no ordinary bush. It was as if a thundercloud was plucked out of the sky and made into a bush. Lightning jumped from one part to another constantly. Flashes of light happened regularly. If not for various other strange, burning trees, it¡¯ll look very out of place. ¡°I am awake, Master. I am the [Tree-Over-Mind], and I can now be given a name,¡± ¡°Telepatreeck. Patreeck.¡± I had spent some time thinking of what would be a good name. It was either Telepatreeck or Psychiatreest. But I decided Patreeck would be a more common name. ¡°Activating local area [Mind Access].¡± Patreeck said, and my mind was assaulted by the thoughts of almost everyone in Freshka. Freshka was the nearest town to the Valley. A lot of people suddenly jerked when they felt the [Mind Access] happen. It¡¯s like a sudden headache. Jura was quick to detect it¡¯s presence. ¡°Aeon... did something happen. I felt my mind was suddenly touched.¡± The Mind Access felt quite like a version of the memories that the [souls] have. When the dead souls arrive in my [soul realm], and after 3 additional colors to my soul forge, the quality and quantity of memories I can see from the dead has increased over that time. This was a very similar feeling. I can ¡®feel¡¯ little bubbles of thoughts. Not everything, quite surely. That was when I could feel Jura¡¯s worry. He was wondering whether that feeling was a mental attack. It was the same throughout Freshka. Faris was back in Freshka after a stint at the Six Ports, and he felt it too. Those who are higher level can feel it, something touching their mind. They don¡¯t know what, though. A deluge of random thoughts. Stupid things. ¡°Patreeck, can you filter those that are irrelevant?¡± ¡°Define irrelevant, master?¡± ¡°Uh... anything that doesn¡¯t have to do with me.¡± ¡°Everything has to do with you, master. Eventually. Please narrow down your choice.¡± ¡°Exclude thoughts about love lives, friendships, and issues of sanitation, food.¡± What else could I exclude? Or more like, what should I focus on? Or is it better that I go about this in a machine-learning way? So, Patreeck spent quite a bit of time with me, as we went through the thoughts of the people around me, grading those thoughts using a not interested vs interested criteria, he would develop a framework of what would be relevant to me. But of course, this required training data, so I was swamped with random, silly thoughts for a long time, because though he had my knowledge, he still needed my decision making to properly assess what would be relevant to me. Most of the thoughts are mundane. Thoughts about family. About their work. About food. I wasn¡¯t interested in things like that. I wanted things that were a ¡®risk¡¯. There was a context to it too. Like, I would be interested in more ¡®mundane¡¯ things from Jura, than a random person I don¡¯t know? ¡°But you do know them, master.¡± Jasmine added. ¡°We have knowledge about so many people. It is just a thought away.¡± Ah. It¡¯s weird. It¡¯s like one moment you don¡¯t know them, and the next, all this knowledge gets downloaded. It¡¯s uncanny and weird. So weird. For a human. But so natural for them. ¡°Trees take forever to get to know a person. For us, interacting with a person for a year is good enough to make us relate to that person, and makes him feel like we¡¯re good friends or sworn enemies. For a Tree, one year¡¯s interaction is probably just a one-liner in the story of their incredibly long life.¡± Yvon was giving a talk to the new batch of Valthorns. ¡°So, don¡¯t feel discouraged and wonder why Aeon still treats you like he doesn¡¯t know you. I believe this is actually a common feeling across all of us normal mortals, when we interact with ageless creatures.¡± There¡¯s actually a segment or class in their curriculum called, ¡®Interacting with ancient spirit trees.¡¯ Apparently Gerrard helped them with the syllabus when he was here, and was mainly for those who had a ¡®druid¡¯ specialisation. ¡°Druids must learn how to manage spirit trees. They are the creatures of the land, given power by their age or special events. The theory of how spirit trees came to be is complicated and as druids, it is best not to presume each of their origins. According to one rare ancient script, spirit trees used to be far more common. This, of course, is a highly contentious statement.¡± A young boy raised his hand. His name was Eiran, and he¡¯s a 10 year old [Druid]. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°The ancient script implies that there was an era before the constant destruction and war. If you believe this, then the theory that many trees surviving and achieving sentience would be true.¡± ¡°But do we know whether it¡¯s true?¡± ¡°No. Other than one rare ancient script, we have no other descriptions of spirit trees from the old era. Many records were lost to the numerous wars and battles. It could well be that this ancient script is a story of fiction, as this script was incomplete. Or the work of a speculator or troll. Most of the more recent [Great Druids], or [Arch Druid], believe that Spirit Trees are not created by the age of the trees, but more of unique magical circumstances.¡± That would be fair, like me. I am not an ¡®old¡¯ tree, just unique. ¡°For example, records about Aeon did not exist prior to 50 to 60 years ago, when Freeka was founded.¡± Yvon said. ¡°Where was Aeon before that, we did not know.¡± So close. ¡°Perhaps, he was just asleep.¡± Yvon obviously didn¡¯t think so, but she didn¡¯t know the answer. I vaguely sensed she¡¯s still trying to unravel this mystery, and I discovered that it¡¯s been something she has been wondering for some time. It¡¯s just that no one knew the answer, and all Jura told her was that I was brought here by some druids. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s just magic, made real.¡± Another boy said. He believes in magic, that it is possible for magic to take the form of things. It¡¯s a remarkably pure view of magic. And I felt embarrassed when I felt the part of that boy¡¯s thoughts, that I¡¯m a magical existence. It was... weird and jarring to encounter these kinds of emotions. It¡¯s like being on the receiving end of a confession. Weird. It¡¯s not all positive. Many do view me as a tyrant, a benevolent dictator. These thoughts were common among the visitors to Freshka. Merchants or travelling nobles. Many mixed views about me, most, a grudging respect. On a day to day though, most of them don¡¯t really think about me that much. Their focus is mostly on their immediate issues. Food. Trade. Jobs. Safety. Relationships. Mundane stuff that I mostly filter out. For those who are used to Freshka, or have lived here for a long time, their issues relate mostly to jobs, studies, relationships, happiness, progression and justice. Safety wasn¡¯t much of a big deal, because Freshka¡¯s extremely well fortified. We have built many, many walls, and the Valthorns¡¯ tremendous presence meant safety was not something they thought about. Naturally, I¡¯ve used my new mind-reading, though it¡¯s not pure mind reading. It¡¯s like I¡¯m able to access little thought bubbles that leak out of their minds. It¡¯s a bit like Sims, where there¡¯s little blobs over their head indicating their thoughts. ¡°I¡¯ve looked through the memories and I believe this display would be most consistent with the present layout.¡± Patreeck said. ¡°Do you want me to present their thoughts in other forms? I can also arrange them as a ticker-style display, or a live-thread.¡± ¡°This is fine. Can you color code it for the type of thoughts? Mundane ones as a pale grey. War or combat related as red.¡± Patreeck instantly revised my interface and most of the speech bubbles changed into pale grey. Little grey speech bubbles. This is entirely possible because these companions of mind are able to intervene and connect to my mind directly. It¡¯s pretty much live editing similar to how TV channels add the banners and overlays for live sport events. On top of that, I now have the ability to transmit thoughts and dreams into any one person. I can project emotions, feelings, and ideas into them, these powers are strongest right here, in Freshka. Honestly, these sort of psychic attacks feel like a big step towards outright mind control. Am I becoming a hive mind that mind-controls all the citizens in my valley? I¡¯m quite sure I¡¯ve long past the point where I can say this is too much power for one person to handle. I¡¯ve had various powers that already qualify for that ¡®too much power¡¯ thing. Like [subsidiary trees] and [soul forge]. ¡°Master?¡± Patreeck and the rest of my artificial minds were concerned. I think they detected my emotional state. ¡°Ah... just... having some thoughts about my new powers.¡± - I summoned a few individuals to the valley. It¡¯s the same place where the Valthorns, or the representatives visited. This time, Jura and a few Valthorns escorted them, and I reduced the effects of my [haunted forests] along the path. ¡°Master Jura, did we do something wrong?¡± One of the merchants asked as he walked carefully behind Jura. He was one of the few merchants who actively traded with us, and with my new found powers, viewed me rather favorably. ¡°No.¡± I responded to them telepathically, I tried to control the strength of my projection. Jura had recently said that my telepathic messages had become rather overwhelming, even though the messages were simple. I honestly had not considered how my [telepathic communication] scaled with my levels, even if it made all the sense in the world. Patreeck¡¯s presence too, of course. ¡°It¡¯s actually a happy occasion.¡± The five individuals were two merchants, a carpenter, a herbalist and a healer. ¡°The five of you must feel like an odd bunch.¡± The herbalist mustered all of his strength to respond. ¡°It is an honor.¡± I could see his thoughts. He was worried sick, and he wondered what would happen to his family if he didn¡¯t go home today. The others were thinking how to run. The merchant¡¯s leg was wobbly. I had the Valthorns serve them some calming, relaxing tea. ¡°But I promise you you¡¯ll return home today.¡± The tea worked swiftly, and calmed their nerves. Then I got to the point. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of your efforts to use local goods and promote local trade, and I¡¯m here to reward you.¡± [Trademaster], [Aeonic Master Carpenter], [Advanced Aeonic Herbalist] and [Advanced Aeonic Healer]. Somehow Trademaster didn¡¯t have an aeonic variant, but then again, maybe that¡¯s because I myself have very little involvement in trade. But from what I understand, certain classes that do gain Aeonic classes either gain some mastery over wood and growth, some variant of my healing powers or anti-demonic properties. The five were stunned at the fruits, but they all took it. Except one merchant. ¡°It is a great honor, but I must refuse, Aeon.¡± The one who rejected said, and I saw the speech bubbles. He doesn¡¯t want to be seen as beholden to me, and I could tell he was extremely conflicted about it. ¡°My independence is something I greatly value as a merchant. My skill [Trustworthy broker] relies on my continuous independence.¡± ¡°...I see.¡± Oh well. But the other four were more than happy to take it. ¡°That is fine. It is a gift, and you are permitted to refuse.¡± Eventually they all left the valley, safely. It didn¡¯t take long for the effects of their upgraded classes to show up. Their works were more fine, stronger. I wanted to see what their presence would cause. The other nations who got wind of their new classes were quick to offer, but I had believed they had enough sense to refuse. At least, for a while. ¡°I suspect the Trademaster may move to other towns.¡± Jasmine commented a few weeks after that day. ¡°But the other 3 are still based in the Freshlands.¡± I mentally sighed. I guessed that a trademaster must move around to maximise his returns. Setting up a trading base is nothing more than a step to profit. - At this moment, I feel my ideas of a cultural victory seemed extremely far fetched. I could definitely assist in ¡®forming¡¯ and ¡®shaping¡¯ a culture, but ultimately the culture of a place is formed by its¡¯ people, and built over decades and centuries. It¡¯s also constantly changing. The Freshlands is a newcomer in the world, culturally. There¡¯s no goodwill that¡¯s built up over the decades, unlike the temples that are cultural and political institutions. I¡¯ve managed to sway a lot of the local nobles to at least give lip service, a word of ¡®faith¡¯ and ¡®loyalty¡¯ to the Freshlands. But many of them conflate the ¡®faith¡¯ and the ¡®authority¡¯ together. I am both God and Emperor, a religious and an administrative authority. The temples are a ¡®religious¡¯ figure, even if they lack administrative clout. The temples are gathering their forces. There are already Kings who opposed the crusade, not because of the cause, but because they are too weak. My victory had scared many of them, certainly, I was not the ¡®easy prey¡¯ they believed I were. On the central continent, most of them view me quite favourably, and so, one of the projects I had this year was to cut a path across the Rottedlands. Right now, if we take the Rottedlands as a one big pizza, I¡¯ve taken a large slice out. Same for the remnants of Harris¡¯s Empire. What I want to do now, is to cut across, and make a ¡®highway¡¯ to the surviving kingdoms on the other side. After analysing the maps, I decided to do it the politician and capitalist¡¯s way. To the highest bidder. ¡°We¡¯re going to launch a bid.¡± I told Kavio and the council. ¡°I intend to use my powers to clear a pathway through and across the Rottedlands, and so, I want to invite the kingdoms who are interested in an alliance with me, to participate. This means a trade route, protected by my trees and beetles. We can also set up new towns and cities along the path.¡± A new silk road. A new... Tree Road. A Countree road. The entire representative council was excited by what that meant. A pathway that crossed the Rottedlands would open up so many new economic opportunities for trade! It could massively reinvigorate the inland nations that bordered the Rottedlands. ¡°So, invite the kingdoms to bid. What they are willing to offer for a connecting path? We¡¯re also willing to offer a conditional defensive pact, should a nation feel ever threatened by their neighbours.¡± ¡°Is this capitalism?¡± ¡°No. This is just me sending my roots to wherever that¡¯s juicy. We¡¯ll open multiple paths eventually.¡± This task will involve me cutting across where the demon¡¯s corruption is densest, but lately, I¡¯m feeling confident. I think it¡¯s partly because of Patreeck. These Titans, they generate massive amounts of mana, and his psychic powers meant that he could help to offset the corrupting influence. I can now dream of The Transcontinental Treeway. The announcement was met with chaos. Even more than I had expected. ¡®Does this mean Aeon is able to extend his reach as far as the entire continent?¡¯ That was pretty much the number one political and military question on everyone¡¯s mind. Because if that answer was a yes, they had to quickly revise my ability to project power anywhere on the continent. ¡®Clearly the answer is a yes. Why else would the Freshlands put out an auction for a safe pathway across the Rottedlands? They must be able to do it.¡¯ ¡®No country on the continent is safe if this is true. If The Freshland¡¯s beetles are able to pop up on the other side of the continent, are we not sharing this continent with a monster? How is our throne and kingdom safe?¡¯ ¡®I think you mean, how are we still supporting the temples? This declaration is clearly a thinly veiled invitation to the rest of the kingdoms to switch sides.¡¯ The temples were quick to attack the plan as some kind of tree-imperialism. That this was me building an empire. Well, yes. Of course. I¡¯m fighting temples who can summon armies from all the continents. Surely I¡¯m going to retaliate by expanding to such a point that I can force a stalemate and a peace treaty? The FFA was extremely busy after the bid went out, many kingdoms, previously uninvolved in the affairs of the Freshlands, now had this offer. They¡¯ve previously ignored me simply because I was on the other side, the Rottedlands was this thick impenetrable wasteland. As a potential neighbour, everyone wanted to do their own due diligence, on what they were potentially inviting to their corner. Some of the kingdoms quickly formed a coalition agreeing not to bid, and to convince others not to bid. Well, they don¡¯t want me next door. But I just need one. Someone to agree. A kingdom desperate enough to agree. A kingdom that¡¯s been harassed, ignored and bullied. One who¡¯s willing to accept a new benefactor and patron. The temples were suddenly willing to open their purses and give aid to the border kingdoms, just to dissuade them from participating. Ah, geopolitics. Was it this chaotic when the Panama Canals or the Suez Canals opened? Surely the politics of having to skip a long detour for trade made everyone jump? While the discussion went on, and the actual auction would happen one year later, I started to expand. I have so many subsidiary trees. I pushed deeper into the Rottedlands. [Skill : Hybrid Botany upgraded] I pushed deeper to the center. Where is the Daemolite? The center should naturally be where the demon king fell. There should be daemolite. Instead I found a crater. A massive smoldering crater. What in the world... Oh. Is this because Harris and gang destroyed whatever that was trapping the souls of the heroes? The air here was different. The energies were chaotic. I wondered whether this constituted a magical leyline. Spaizzer Take me home, Countree Road, To a place where I belong, West Bauhinia, Mountain Momma, Take me home, Countree Road Progeny and Peas Year 130 Strange how information is often volunteered when one¡¯s in a position of power. Across the world, many observed the Freshlands¡¯ rise, and are eager to make ¡®friends¡¯. I would not have called them allies, given their fickle nature, but for now, friendly to the Freshlands. The temples are in conflict, of course. Political conflict, rather than actual war. Accusations appeared, perhaps from the kings and emperors, that the temples were dishonest. It¡¯s brewing for some time but the in-tree-continental tree highway added fuel to the fire. ¡°Why do the temples demand our best forces, when the temples¡¯ refuse to send their best templars?¡± I¡¯ve seen templars. But in our first war and the string of battles, there were just a few hundred, at most, a thousand templars. Templars. The temple¡¯s military arm. Quite similar to my Valthorns, and surely, their better suited for anti-demon activity than actually fighting me. Unless their god marked me as some kind of enemy of the religion, and they get a boost fighting me. That makes sense too. Again, free informants seemed to suggest that the temples had considered it, but their own intel suggested that their templars are ineffective against me. Simply put, the first few hundred templars were sent on a suicide mission. The temples too did not know whether the templars received any ¡®blessing¡¯ or ¡®buff¡¯ from fighting a non-demon enemy of the temple, their common understanding was that the blessings applied only against demons. A common complaint, and at this point I was rather happy to be left alone. I didn¡¯t see the point in a war that proved nothing. There really was no ¡®outcome¡¯ that¡¯s good as a whole. Like, so what if the temples won? Have they given up on their best chance of reclaiming the Rottedlands from the demonic corruption? The demonic corruption was weaker, after the demon king¡¯s death. The last demon king had recalled some of the demonic energies in the Rottedlands to fight the heroes. The Rottedlands may very well undo itself if each demon king called on it¡¯s residual demonic energy during the fight with the heroes. Perhaps that is how the world maintains it¡¯s current state. It would take a string of rottedlands-type explosions all over the world to terraform the entire world into demonland. However, if the demon kings ¡®recalled'' the energies that power it, eventually the Rottedlands would shrink. "There''s really no daemolite left in the wreck?" The representative council asked Kavio, and Kavio asked me. ¡°Both locations?¡± ¡°Aeon had only explored Sabnoc¡¯s location, as it is older and the corruption was weaker.¡± The place of the demon king''s corpse had been thoroughly destroyed. I made trees through the area last year, and even now, not a single daemolite left. The heroes had really destroyed the place. Of course, I am quite embarrassed that it took me so long to put 2 and 2 together, but then... who knew? Daemolite isn''t just a great store of mana. It''s also a good prison for souls. The two heroes were likely trapped in some kind of unique daemolite. Is the demon king harvesting souls too? Or only certain kinds of souls? "Our war potential would be greatly improved by having daemolite weaponly. After the great exhaustion of the daemolites in the last few decades ago, a new attainable source would be great." The heroes didn''t like daemolite. I recalled a conversation between the heroes about the perils of daemolite mining... The global daemolite supply, which powers a small fleet of high speed cruise ships, airships and so on, have been heavily affected by daemolite shortage. Partly because during the Sabnoc era, some of the daemolite was magically turned into greater demons. Then, the two subsequent demon king''s corpses were unharvestable due to the overwhelming presence of hex. It''s the equivalent of poisoning a productive oil well. It didn''t help that the airships were unusable in the Rottedlands. Daemolite would interact with the demonic energies and behaved erratically, sometimes exploding. The terrain itself, hostile, meant if something went wrong, they would crash in demon hybrid infested territories. Darn. But wait, if the demonic influence is weakening, would we be able to use daemolite? I had the Valthorns send an exploratory delegation to the site of the demon king Sabnoc''s fight. Other than the heroes, it''s the first time someone''s been here. ¡°So this is it. Where the demon king fell and Emperor Harris made his mark on the world.¡± Faris said. Harris was naturally the most famous of the 5 who survived. Even if they all finally died. ¡°I¡¯m more interested in where he died.¡± Edna said. The landscape was apocalyptic. There were massive holes and gashes on the ground that 4 decades did not heal, only recently some of that damage was beginning to undo itself. Still, it¡¯s a place where the demon king and heroes fought, and so the air and ground is unsettled, disturbed by the pain that this land once saw. Though I managed to remove the demonic corruption from this location, and the ground is still poisoned from magic. Too much magic was used here. Here, magic itself is weak. Not a nice place for a [mage], as they would find their magic less potent. Maybe in a few decades, the residual ¡®drain¡¯ on magic will fade, and this place will return to normalcy. ¡°Our briefing suggested that these places were always filled with daemolite.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been 4 decades. Maybe the heroes mined all of them already.¡± As I pushed more and more of the demonic sludge away, it revealed a battered terrain. There were huge underground holes, caves that were made out of magical blasts. We could tell from the round circular shape of the caves, the smooth edges that indicated something annihilated everything in it¡¯s path. Faris was most affected by the devastation. The perils of a [aeonic great druid], their emotions are very much affected by the condition of the land. He would witness a massive crevice, and he¡¯d pause, touch the ground briefly. ¡°You alright?¡± Edna walked over. There were many other Valthorns, they checked the area thoroughly for any potential magical items. Faris had to pause. ¡°Not really. This landscape... it weighs on me.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°A druid in some ways can be considered 3 main branches to it¡¯s power. Trees and animals, wind and water, and lastly earth.¡± Faris explained. ¡°Our connection to these 3 branches can be said to be almost equal at first, depending on our class, though we are usually more known for our connection to trees and animals.¡± There are variations across classes and teaching schools, of course. Some druids are pure tree-only. I believe my [aeonic druids] are more tree focused, though Faris as an [aeonic great druid] should be similar. . Edna got it instantly. ¡°Ah, so the earth¡¯s pain speaks to you.¡± ¡°Something like that.¡± Faris said. ¡°Not a nice feeling.¡± Edna smiled and teased her friend and compatriot. ¡°It¡¯s like being sensitive, I suppose.¡± Faris hit her with his stick. The next location I wanted to explore was where Guihwang, Harris and all died. I witnessed their death, of course, and the massive explosion left a large crater. That explosion destroyed the demon king, and any trees I had in the area. Since then, the area has been inaccessible due to a perpetual firestorm. ¡°Magic storm.¡± Edna and the Valthorns observed the terrain. Residual magic. It¡¯ll calm down eventually. Maybe in a few years. It doesn¡¯t happen all the time, though, which is strange. It¡¯s as if the gods rolled a dice whether there will be a magic storm, or not. ¡°We¡¯ll have to wait for it to calm down.¡± I mentally spoke. ¡°There are days when the firestorm weakens a little.¡± Maybe there¡¯s daemolite in there. - Multiple kingdoms submitted their bids, despite the protests from the temples and so on. Some did so secretly. They didn¡¯t want to publicly declare to the temples that they were looking for alternatives. The offers were interesting. Our invitation to ¡®bid¡¯ went out quite generally, that the I was looking to create a transcontinental path across the Rottedlands. Some kingdoms offered their princesses for marriage. Some offered a cut in taxes. Some outright offered control of their entire army. The representatives sat down and evaluated the offers. ¡°What¡¯s the point of this?¡± One rather cynical representative asked. ¡°In the end, Aeon¡¯s the one that decides, right?¡± Kavio nodded. ¡°Aeon had agreed to three potential alliances, and he had said he would decide on two of them. The last one, will be for us to decide.¡± The reason I did this was simple. Jasmine, from her observation of the people, and Patreeck¡¯s mental ¡®reading¡¯ had indicated that the council was growing weary. They had great authority over the lesser matters, but I had sensed that they were feeling ¡®left out¡¯ of the greater direction of the Freshlands. Letting have a say in the big things would help, I guess? I watched their thought bubbles. They were all thinking whether I¡¯m serious, or whether this is a test. ¡°Kavio, had you ever thought of marrying?¡± I telepathically spoke to the representatives present. Kavio¡¯s face paled instantly. ¡°Aeon, you don¡¯t mean...¡± ¡°Some of the kingdoms offered marriages. Certainly... our representatives should be more than worthy and deserving of the station.¡± Their minds spun, and I detected some horniness among the representatives present. Some of them are nobles, being the delegates of their parents who rule their cities or domain. Some are elected representatives from their home state. There¡¯s some variation in how this station is perceived by the local rulers, some view this as a key training ground before they return home to take over from their families, some houses send their lesser children here, while their first sons are back home, actively training. I considered that this would make these representatives not-so-loyal, since now they would have the input and influence of these faraway kingdoms. Their wives, or husbands as it may, will use them as their door to communicate with me. A reality of geopolitics. The Freshlands isn¡¯t just the valley of Freeka any more. I must have wisdom, and accept that it is possible to manage competing priorities and influences. Just like how there are trees in the lush tropics, to the cold, snowy areas of the high mountains, to the dry, vast steppes. The world is not just one type of environment. Trees adapt and evolve too, even if it seemed ever so slowly. People too, are different. The Freshlands is a growing, vast space. The ways and means of a city-state, and that of an empire should be different. The representatives had days of serious debate. There were about 72 representatives now, as the inner Freshlands had grown to twenty over segments, there¡¯s also delegates from the Six Ports, and then the representatives of the surrendered or allied kingdoms. ¡°Perhaps the hand should be offered to the High Representative of the Six Ports?¡± ¡°Or the hand of the Kingdoms?¡± It was a mess, and I didn¡¯t pay much attention to it. Each representative wanted something for their home state. After all, only one of the 3 spots would be chosen by the representatives. - ¡°Glad you¡¯re not Kavio¡¯s place anymore?¡± Yvon smiled and tapped Jura¡¯s shoulder. Yvon is almost level 70 as a [trainer-master]. ¡°Totally.¡± Jura nodded. ¡°I may be a [warlord], but dealing with squabbling nobles is really tiring. I¡¯d rather be fighting greater hybrid champions.¡± My elite Valthorns were almost capping out too. Edna was at Level 78 as an [Aeonic Grand Knight], and Faris was Level 76. Many others were in their Level 60s. They still had regular expeditions into the Rottedlands, but these days, it¡¯s harder to find champion-class demon hybrids to fight. So, their growth accordingly slowed. Instead, many started to moonlight as adventurers, fighting other monsters that spawn in the Freshlands. According to our constitution, I had mandated security for certain designated routes. Beetles would patrol those places, and so these areas are safe. Monsters, however, still frequently happen, and magical anomalies, lesser necromancers and nuisances were left to adventurers to deal with. It was a concession for the adventurers¡¯ lobby group. ¡°Are you level 100 yet?¡± Yvon asked. ¡°Nope. Still at Level 94.¡± Jura answered. ¡°But honestly, it¡¯s not a cap issue. It¡¯s just a lack of suitable opponents at this level.¡± ¡°Maybe you could just dive into a dungeon by yourself and destroy them single-handedly?¡± ¡°There are no dungeons in the Freshlands. Aeon¡¯s presence had ensured that. All the dungeons are outside of the Freshlands.¡± An unfortunate turn of events is that my overwhelming presence had prevented the growth of naturally spawning dungeons, so the Freshlands doesn¡¯t have dungeons! This was a problem for adventurers, of course. Like, what proper fantasy empire doesn¡¯t have adventurers? But if there are no dungeons, then the number of adventurers and their quality would naturally be lower. I was aware of this issue for some time... it¡¯s just that, well, I could only focus on a few things at a time. Dungeons are natural events created from magical accumulation. The presence of trees, and my roots that extend everywhere, essentially ¡®drains¡¯ magic and prevents too much magical energies from accumulating. Instead, the magic is distributed, and accumulated in forests instead. So, the forests and jungles of the Freshlands have stronger monsters, on average. Wolves, birds and all that are generally larger, stronger, and more likely to have magical features. Some even have [aeonic] variants, and I can give these [aeonic] monsters ¡®instructions¡¯, though they may not always obey it. Most of these forest monsters are territorial so they stay within the forests, and coupled with the forests being protected territories, they are rarely encountered by the general populace or adventurers. I¡¯m conflicted. If I want to strengthen adventurers, they¡¯d have to fight stronger monsters. In the Freshlands, its¡¯ either I find a way to create a dungeon where stronger monsters can spawn, or let these adventurers fight these aeonic monsters. But I don¡¯t want to, I¡¯m generally fond of these fellow forest creatures. ¡°We can use the adventurers to ¡®cull¡¯ populations of monsters that have grown too large.¡± Currently, Trevor manages the population of the monsters in the forests. If they are too big, he would put them down, with an army of beetles. I still feel conflicted. But really this is a short term solution. Population cullings of large packs will not be sustainable, nor will it give a lot of ¡®quests¡¯ for these adventurers. - The representatives eventually settled on one of the kingdoms which offered three princesses, a large amount of trade, and a regular payment. I still had to decide on the other two. Which I soon regretted. I stared and contemplated all the choices, and decided I wasn¡¯t very good at making decisions. ¡°Patreeck, Trevor, Dimitree... Give me a hand? I mean, a thought?¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± There was some buzzing for a few weeks, and my artificial minds soon gave me a presentation. I felt like I was the CEO who was given a briefing on what¡¯s the best decision to make. ¡°We have evaluated the following proposal bids and have shortlisted the following five kingdoms for your consideration, master.¡± Trevor started. He was the oldest of the artificial minds, so somehow he¡¯s like ¡®in charge¡¯. ¡°The combined bid by the Twin kingdoms of Illisar and Alenas are our first choice. They offered four children of the two kings as potential marriage partners, they also have access to four large precious gem mines that they¡¯ve agreed to offer 15% to us, and their location is close to the northern rivers. They have had a history of war with their neighbours, and their two larger neighbours have always wanted to conquer them. They¡¯ve failed in the past due to the two kings were of a high-level, and they have a small circle of strong generals. But their strongest king died of a demon wound a few years ago, and the new King is weaker.¡± I mentally nodded. Alright, they¡¯re weak and they have every reason to cooperate with us. They also have gem mines, which I need for upgrades. ¡°They are also a landlocked nation, so they really need this alternative trade route. Their traders are frequently targeted by river-pirates, especially once the ships travel to the neighbouring countries¡¯ land, and so the main river that runs through their kingdom is an unreliable source of trade.¡± Alright, they are desperate. ¡°The second best bid, in our opinion, is from the Kingdom of Tiapesok. Again, they offered five children of the royal family of our choice.¡± ¡°Patreeck, Trevor, maybe cut out the part on the children. Really irrelevant to me.¡± ¡°I believe they are relevant for our Valthorns and politically, we may dangle them as rewards for the loyal nations.¡± Trevor said. ¡°If we must maintain loyalty throughout the vast territory, it would be good to use these as rewards.¡± ¡°...really?¡± What? Is this like a game of Total War or EU4 or Crusader Kings where I matchmake royalties with deserving generals in order to maintain loyalty? Seriously. ¡°As such, the number is important.¡± Trevor continued. ¡°Jasmine had also corroborated that many nobles frequently fight over good marriage candidates, as such, there is political and economic value from these marriage candidates.¡± ¡°But where do we come in?¡± ¡°We control the trade routes, master. The wealth generated by the trade routes is a button we can turn on, or off.¡± Jasmine, Trevor and Patreeck all paused. ¡°Also, obtaining marriage candidates is also crucial, as they are worth it for the potential hereditary skills.¡± ¡°Hereditary skills?¡± Alright, what in the world is that. ¡°From our analyses of nobility, a common trait that allowed nobles to retain their power and influence, despite the world¡¯s constant change, is the ability to pass on certain skills and benefits to their progeny.¡± ¡°...what?¡± That sounded extremely familiar. Have I had this conversation before? Was it some nobles that spoke to me about inherited skills? ¡°Master, our proposal required that we incorporate the skillsets of nobility, to produce stronger offspring. Nobles and various races have been seen demonstrating the effects of inherited skills, perhaps it slightly stronger physical strength, or just natural learning ability, or slightly faster levelling speed.¡± ¡°Why did I not know of it?¡± ¡°Not all nobles possess the ability to pass down abilities. Only some do, and those that never talk about it.¡± ¡°And...¡± ¡°We can read minds.¡± Patreeck responded. ¡°Some of the nobles have been hiding this hidden advantage. They don¡¯t even tell their children, until their children gain a similar skill when they reach adulthood. Some of it is just the ability to evade negative traits or just generic healthiness.¡± Go on. ¡°We¡¯ve also discovered that some royal families have certain ¡®dynasty¡¯ abilities that bless their entire lineage.¡± Damned. Even in the world of levels, the wealthy and powerful have a way to rig the game. Seriously. ¡°As such, the children of the royals have incredible value.¡± ¡°Do you think it¡¯s possible to spawn a super-noble, then?¡± I mean, if the inherited skills can be passed down, and the inherited skills can come from both father and mother, surely the nobles would have been accumulating advantages over time. Isn¡¯t this like how one-for-all works? ¡°From our observation, yes, it¡¯s already been done.¡± The nobles and royalties intermarrying suddenly makes a huge amount of sense now. ¡°But from our observation, these gifted children mostly turn overconfident and usually die young before they ever fulfill their advantages and potential.¡± ¡°I see.¡± There¡¯s a very Mendellian quality to this entire thing. Patreeck and Trevor¡¯s proposal of mixing the royals with our elites reeks of geneticism. My soul forge alters an individual. This is altering successive generations via selective breeding. ¡°I understand Master¡¯s concerns, but the effects of skills are real. The advantages are clear. Creating super-soldiers via selective breeding is possible in the long run. It is fundamentally not much more different from selective alteration of beetles.¡± ¡°In a world of magic and levels, we¡¯re still unable to escape the powers of inheritance and inequality.¡± ¡°Magic and levels amplifies inequality. It gives legitimacy over one¡¯s superior station over another.¡± Dammit. Just fucking g¡¯ddammit. If I go down this path, eventually I would be selectively breeding my citizens to create supersoldiers. ¡°Master?¡± ¡°I need a moment.¡± I¡¯ve already taken one step into that path, by training Valthorns from their very young age. This is an extension of that thought, by ensuring the quality and potential of the Valthorns are high, even before they are trained. But there¡¯s clearly a conflict here. Valthorns are mostly children who are without families. We¡¯ve taken them in and trained them. Give them a family, and skills. Give them a purpose in life, if they didn¡¯t have one, a cause and goal to fight for. Is there a line I shouldn¡¯t cross here? I¡¯ve killed thousands. Tens of thousands? ¡°Master?¡± I need more time to contemplate this. I can accept the fact that hereditary skills exist. In fact, it makes all the sense that it should. A parent¡¯s love for their children may manifest itself as skills. ¡°The Kings and nobles of the world have been doing this all this while, master.¡± Patreeck interjected. ¡°We are just taking it a step further.¡± It¡¯s the difference between free range chicken and massive broiler farms, Patreeck. I need to think. Tree Arch Year 131 On the proposals, I had agreed to the top two choices that Trevor and Patreeck proposed. For the marriage candidates, I had advised that we will decide on that at a later date. With the three winners decided, I started work on my long overdue Great Tree Road. I was already halfway to the other side anyway, when we reached the center of the Rottedlands. Now for the remaining half. The Rottedlands¡¯ energy has become weaker. Right now, it behaves quite like creep or ooze, there¡¯s still some push and inertia, but I¡¯ve noticed the expansionary ¡®element¡¯ has been slowly disappearing. That said, hybrids will continue to spawn as long as the terrain remains covered with demonic substances. The god of spawning animals, monsters and plants doesn¡¯t particularly care what is spawned, so long as they fit the terrain. It¡¯s a bit of a runaway process. Maybe some demons or hybrids, if they could think, would see me like I am an evil highway builder, destroying and encroaching on their habitat with this highway right through their homes. On a macro level, it¡¯s like how roots break rocks or dirt apart. A root goes through it, and smaller ones gradually break it up. Some plants and trees don¡¯t like hard ground and soil, and requires worms and all to help loosen up the soil. Anyway, I started the building of the treeway and the entire process of spawning [subsidiary trees] and [giant attendant trees] took 7 months. Along the way, there were large parts that were submerged under the demonic sludge. Ancient ruins coated with demonic goop, cities that were somehow not entirely destroyed by the sludge. Caves. Rivers. There were many interesting sights and locations along the way, and I made a note to Patreeck, and Trevor to return to them. ¡°We need another artificial mind. One to control access to the path.¡± Trevor suggested and I nodded. I had capacity anyway. I named my new mind in charge of the highway that branched to the 3 selected allies, Trent. I wanted Treerific, but what would the parents think of that name? So Trent. ¡°Hi Trent. You¡¯re in charge of security and trade taxes of the Treeway. Alert us and escalate any unusual matters.¡± We mentally linked up and soon he was on his way. He¡¯s been given a large regiment of beetles to ensure the security of the path. The Council of Representatives made a request for a formal party to celebrate the new path that cut across the entire Rottedlands. But it¡¯s not ready yet. Although there is a ¡®corruption-free¡¯ path, the terrain along the path isn¡¯t exactly clean. There¡¯s still a need to build roads, build bridges, build rest stops. A lot of construction work needs to be performed before the path is ready for use. Some of this construction should start from the other side, since it didn¡¯t make sense for a construction team to travel all the way across the Rottedlands. That was a 2 to 3 month journey if one walked! I watched as the other kingdoms, these new partners of ours, send their builders and armies into the new path. ¡°It¡¯s rather tiny for a path.¡± ¡°Big enough for a few wagons, for sure. But it¡¯s so jarring. It¡¯s like someone planted a row of trees on both sides and now there¡¯s a path through the Rottedlands.¡± ¡°Hush!¡± A Lord on a horse said. ¡°His majesty instructed that we build whatever¡¯s needed for the trade route. This path will relieve our trade issues.¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably calculated to be of a certain size. You can¡¯t march a big army through it.¡± The builders talked. They clearly had no concept of being secretive. The path meandered through the Rottedlands, there were natural hills and mountains underneath all the demonic sludge, and it didn¡¯t make sense to cut a straight road and force traders up and down the path. I recalled highways from home usually tried to maintain a steady angle or slope, so I wanted to do exactly that. I watched and admired how [builders] made bridges from nearby rock and stone. They didn¡¯t dare to chop down my subsidiary trees, so they improvised and used other kinds of materials instead. Still, given how big and long the path was, the Builder¡¯s skills would actually improve travelling speed. They needed a lot of time to build, and on the Freshlands¡¯ side, we¡¯ve sent our best builders to work on it. I even gave out a few [Expert Builder] class seeds to the leaders of the build, to ensure that the path was built as fast as possible. Because of the long distances, there was also a need for smaller towns. Back in the days of the silk road, I recalled that various cities would spring up along it. Trevor and Patreeck had made some projections and calculated that since it took 2 to 3 months to walk from one end to another, horses and various mounts would cut that time by a third, to less than a month. So, there needed to be at least 4 large sized ¡®rest stops¡¯ along that path, equivalent to 1 week¡¯s distance horse-ride, or 3 weeks of walking, and another 12-16 medium sized smaller towns in between, such that it took about a few days to walk from one town to another. Back to the builders, they would need a long time to finish the road. A rudimentary basic road with a simple bridge would be ready within a year, but it seemed like the kingdoms, and also the Freshlands all talked about multiple upgrades, like bigger reinforced bridges, and proper towns. ¡°The territory on Rottedlands Pass belongs entirely to Aeon.¡± Kavio repeated to the envoys. ¡°But he had agreed to all 3 kingdoms that each of these 3 allied kingdoms that they are allowed to set up 1 large city, and 3 smaller towns in these designated locations. It is important that the administration of these cities and towns be made clearly aware to obey the constitution of the Freshlands, or risk destruction.¡± Envoys from all the 3 kingdoms were the first to make the trip through the Rottedlands¡¯ Pass, even though the [builders] had not finished building. I witnessed how envoys have rather impressive skills. One had the ability to make his horse jump across the entire ravine multiple times, and another envoy could travel for days without rest. It was easier to communicate and coordinate construction and plans with an envoy from our end. It seemed that Kavio and the Council had also sent envoys of our own to the other sides. It was better that they were here.. Patreeck¡¯s abilities quickly revealed their multiple objectives. One which featured in all 3 envoys was to assess my strength. Envoys are pretty much spies, and they all had some kind of [level-sensing] ability. It¡¯s important when dealing with other kings and lords, since the level of the other king revealed the kinds of power they had. [Domain has blocked level-sensing ability] Well thank you. It¡¯s really convenient that my Domain blocked most of these things. ¡°My ability was blocked.¡± The envoy said privately to his colleague. Each kingdom sent about 5 to 10 people to Freshka. ¡°You should know what that meant.¡± They were most cooperative. The road would only be ready next year. Even with the [Expert Builders] on the job. There was also a second round of migrationary movement, as we opened up certain sites for the future cities, which will be directly managed by the FFA. ¡°Migrate into the Rottedlands?¡± Some looked at a chance to make it rich. Some saw it like insanity. I mean, all of them were probably insane when they accepted this plan, but there are 2nd-generation citizens of the Freshlands, where it was their parents who made the move into the Freshlands. The Freshlands was founded about 20 plus years ago, some of them who came had children here, and now those children are young adults. That essentially made them 2nd-generation Freshlanders. A lot of them grew up in the relative comfort and safety of the Freshlands, so the idea of moving deeper into the Rottedlands is weird and strange. I suppose one generations¡¯ suffering does not transmit to the next? - Some of the nations neighbouring our new allies were unhappy, but they didn¡¯t dare to risk my wrath. They¡¯ve heard of the stories of the Six Ports, and they were quickly focused on fortifying their own home cities. Some though, were quick to secretly extend an olive branch to our new allies. A spy from Aiva was present too. ¡°We¡¯re actively trying to delay a second crusade.¡± The spy spoke to a small audience. Essentially me, Kavio, Jura and some of the Valthorn Elites like Lovis, Edna and Faris. Lovis was lower level than Edna and Faris, she only received her [spearmaster] class a few years back, and she¡¯s in her mid 60s. ¡°I believe we may be able to buy some time until the next demon king.¡± ¡°Essentially, you¡¯re telling us that there will be a crusade after the next demon king?¡± Kavio frowned. ¡°How¡¯s that a convincing argument?¡± The spy shrugged. ¡°Sometimes, the best we can do is to delay the fighting. The Triumvirs of Aiva will not publicly renounce the war.¡± ¡°And what if we publicly call you out on it?¡± ¡°Then it will be a real war. It¡¯s in our best interest to have this stalemate. The priests get to retain their divine duty and obligations, but no one actually has to die.¡± ¡°There¡¯s going to be smaller skirmishes and rebellions. There will be death. The Triumvirs¡¯ presumption of a peaceful stalemate is ridiculous.¡± Kavio said. ¡°It is.¡± The spy and envoy nodded. ¡°But it is what it is.¡± ¡°Rubbish.¡± I said telepathically to everyone present, and the spy¡¯s face paled. - Like dominoes, a few of the kingdoms neighbouring our new allies were quick to reach out, for communication. They wanted a similar arrangement, lest they let their neighbours benefit. It made no sense to agree to them. They didn¡¯t have the balls to submit a bid, and so, why should I give them any arrangement now? There should be an exclusive period where only these 3 allied nations get the benefit, since they decided to make the investment. The temples were already in full swing, trying to sow discord and rebellion. A few temple men, realising that attacking me was useless, decided to target those allied to me. They targeted the nobles, the Lords and Dukes, the Kings. A massive campaign to sow hate against the ruling government, simply because they are associated with me. It¡¯s quite intelligent. The rulers after all don¡¯t have an iron grip and a big brother over their population, and now, their own citizens are fed all these accusations from the temples. These accusations amplified the present dissatisfaction. The Freshlands¡¯ first victory and the subsequent shifting allegiances relocated many people, and add to that, there were the surrendering soldiers, few hundred thousands who then increased the strain on the cities and villages that received them. It was something that slowly built up over time. As the Freshlands¡¯ expanded, natural stratification and fault lines emerged. There are those from the core cities, those who lived in the original segments of the Freshlands, and then there¡¯s the newly incorporated and assimilated kingdoms. Each had different views of each other, and it could be something harmless like one city¡¯s citizens viewing another city¡¯s citizens as weird, or strange. All these little differences, suspicions and varying cultures were a formula for conflict. It is normal. As species expanded, many would come into conflict with other species who occupied the same niche. Cultural differences are a source of conflicts, and the Council of Representatives, as diverse as they are, still cannot allay all these accusations and suspicions. People just naturally formed in-groups and out-groups. Us, and them. Rebellion broke out in a few of the neighbouring states. It was something Jasmine predicted from her observations. My ability to watch and observe these neighbours are quite restricted, since many have made fortified roads and plazas, and trees are mostly in gardens and designated avenues. Still, we had a good feel of the mood, their discontent and unhappiness. I had worked out a plan with the war council. They knew something like this was going to happen. In fact, everyone knew. Even the kings themselves all knew that a rebellion was about to break out. Even regular citizens who had a bit more general knowledge could see it coming. It was that obvious. Those cultural fault lines flared up. In some cases, it took a racial turn. Humans versus non-humans. Elves versus centaurs. Some Kings had skills to suppress rebellion and disloyalty, and were quick to do it. The weaker kings didn¡¯t, and so a rebellion occurred. They would use their army to suppress them. I decided not to participate unless I was invited to. For those Kings were able to control their kingdoms, we quickly offered assistance to help resolve the underlying forces that triggered their unhappiness. It¡¯s usually rather simple stuff, like a lack of food, or poor harvest, or just ill treatment from their local lords. Things that a wagon or two of food can sometimes help ¡®solve¡¯. In a way, it was just regular ¡®hearts-and-minds¡¯ programs to help defuse the social pressures that exist in these kingdoms. Abundance helps to allay the concerns of scarcity. Many of these population groups are barely self-sufficient. Still, abundance would never satisfy the greed of mortals. The only way to ensure aid and supplies are sufficiently shared is if I have people everywhere to distribute these resources in a reasonable manner. ¡°We¡¯re going to expand the Valtrian order¡¯s social services arms to all our allied states. All of them.¡± Laufen, of course, was overwhelmed. But by now the Vatrian Order was a massive institution, and has grown it to almost 40,000 people. There are numerous Valthorns who have more ¡®defensive¡¯ or supportive skills who could assist in widespread social and community work. Even if it¡¯s simpler stuff like improving crop yields, or fixing bad housing, to the regular kinds of social work performed by the temples, which are healers and rituals. ¡°We need a massive priest training system and support system. We can¡¯t just send our people to all these neighbouring kingdoms and expect them to succeed without a robust logistic network.¡± So, the Valtrian Order went into a hiring drive. We had to expand the size of our workforce if we wanted to try and overcome this propaganda attack. There¡¯s two aspects to it. Resolving the short term issue of a rebellion, and then tackling the long term issue of what caused and fed the rebellion. This wasn¡¯t a conventional war. This was a culture war. A group of 2,000 priests and various other social workers headed for the hotspots. Places where Jasmine and Patreeck¡¯s social models indicated that there may be unrest. It feels a little minority report-ish that we¡¯re sending social workers before something bad happens, but in a way, that¡¯s preventive work, right? No one riots overnight. It¡¯s a culmination of decades of distress. Similarly, allaying those feelings of unwellness would also require dedicated care and attention. I could spawn more [Tree of Prayers] everywhere. Those trees can reduce the general stress levels and induce a sense of calmness and serenity. But it doesn¡¯t work if they are already mad. If they were in my valley, I could be even more obtrusive and use psychic and dream attacks on them, but that¡¯s like using a hammer to cut a cake. So, a massive hiring drive. Once I have the numbers, they need to be educated and trained. ¡°Let¡¯s set up a massive priest training facility.¡± I mentally told myself. Since these gods treat me as a fellow deity, even if I¡¯m evil, it was time to go on overdrive and behave like a proper religion. A culture war can only be defeated by another culture. If I want to sustainably push back these ¡®enemy¡¯ cultures, I must first convert all those in the Freshlands to my culture and religion. Else, one edict or divine message, and I¡¯ll have large swaths of my population rebellion. That is not acceptable. I marked a hilly area next to Freshka and started work. A large area of forests was merged with multiple Giant Attendant Trees. It was going to be like my Vatican, my Holy See, and I wanted the area to be visible even from afar. I used my powers to make these the tallest Giant Attendant Trees ever made, and it took about a month of working and shaping with my [woodshaping]. It¡¯s easier, since I was working with bigger things. I made housing, lecture halls, training rooms, multiple ritual rooms, places for guests and all that. I called on ten of the most experienced and high leveled [aeonic priests]. ¡°I have been extremely pleased with your efforts in the past few years to counter the propaganda spread by our opponents.¡± The ten all knelt in a circle around a [tree of prayers]. This was the same meeting area. ¡°It is time that you are rewarded for your faith and loyalty.¡± There were five men and five ladies, All ten of them received either [Patreearch of Aeon] or [Matreearch of Aeon]. These were upgraded [Aeonic] priest classes, which should empower all their regular priests abilities to a greater degree. They ate the fruits containing the classes, and instantly, all ten of them screamed. Their bodies shook, and I sensed their spirits glow brightly. Their skin turned slightly greenish, and all their eyes gained a green ring that glowed. One of them, he was a middle aged man who served mostly in the Southeastern Segments, was first to rise. ¡°O Aeon, our great patron of the land, we have received your blessings.¡± All of them rose, their bodies healthier and stronger. I sensed the presence of my domain flowing into them slightly. Does my [domain] choices influence the kinds of power my priests possess? But no matter. ¡°Rise, my Council of Arches, for the weight of expanding our faith rests in your hands.¡± The ten rose, and sat in a circle. Together, they seemed to emit a physical glow. ¡°The other gods deny my presence in our world.¡± I said. ¡°I will need you to push them back. My first order is to set up the School of Treeology, where all the priests will be trained. My second order is to secure the faith and loyalties of all nations allied to the Freshlands.¡± The ten answered in unison, their voice seemingly echoing like a choir. ¡°We receive your commandments!¡± Then I summoned the [aeonic priests] for all over. If I wanted to be a true global religion, it was time to have a proper structure, a unified code of principles, and well, power. Generic Priests get the usual abilities, heal, cure wound, some barrier and shield powers. This is where I let my new ten Patreearchs and Matreearchs to run the show. Branching Thoughts Year 132 ¡°This is the third batch of prospective priests and students.¡± A priest gestured to the Patreearch, as a group of 50 walked into the room. They all bowed, and were quickly given a short interview. A test of their faith, as the Patreearch made them recite the constitution of the Freshlands. Then a quiz on my abilities. It was a strange feeling, but at the same time, I was numb, The school of Treeology had to expand quickly in order to meet the need for social and ¡®cultural¡¯ influence in the region, so this school had to grow quickly. Conflict and confusion naturally emerged. Speed meant planning was not proper, and it seemed the 10 Decarches quickly had different opinions of how to expand the school. They soon squabbled over things like what was the right way to pray, what was the right way to do things, and their methods. Decarches, because it was 10 Patriarchs and Matriarchs. I summoned them all and they all presented their case. Each Patreearch came from a different place, and there was some diversity in races too. One of them was a half-elf, another was a centaur, another a treefolk. As such, each had different areas which they felt was important in their faith. For some, it was caring for the land. That meant they were both priests and druid. For another, it was about the birth and death of souls, and the ceremonies. While they seemed like they could mutually coexist, their arguments would devolve into arguments about what is of a higher value or semantics. For example, one of them, in their practice of honoring those who have died, would bury the body in the earth, and plant a tree on them. Yet, because the bodies of mortals sometimes carry sickness or poison. For one, it is still right to bury them. For the other, caring for the earth takes precedence, so the sick or poisoned corpse should be burned, or at least processed before burying. It¡¯s often little but fundamental differences in which values hold strong, that created these conflicts. They are ¡®small¡¯ conflicts, in the sense that they can still live with each other, and operate within the same area, but certainly it is an ideological difference. In a way, it¡¯s like different teachers in a school, each thinking their own subject is the most important one. But at the same time, I didn¡¯t want to clamp down on these differences in opinion. I didn¡¯t see myself as a founder of an orthodoxy where there is only a single source of truth or opinion, it certainly wasn¡¯t aligned with how plants evolved and adapted to their surroundings. Thus the faith I had must be able to evolve, and it was only right that the willingness to accept differences of opinion be set up at the start. But at the same time, a faith that could evolve was also one that would squabble, and eventually break apart. Yet, as I pondered this problem, whether I set it up or not, faith will naturally evolve as the greed and instincts of man meant the rules will shift over time. It is only proper, that I set up the mechanics to do so early on, and finetune it, since I am after all, their ¡®deity¡¯. So, to the ten Decarches, I decided to allow each of them to lead their own ¡®departments¡¯. A student would rotate and go through all of them, over the 2-3 years of training as a priesthood. There would be a debate, and a voting system as the 10 decarches would have to decide. In time, I saw that I¡¯d probably expand the decarches into a proper council of high priests, but that would be in the near or far future. For now, a departmental approach seemed better. I mean, I could in theory agree with any of the ten and decide that as canon, but a tree exists in the real world, and the proper way to do is, is to let the priests carry it out and observe the consequences of such beliefs. Then, apply corrective guidance as and when necessary. One thing I was quick to notice amongst the mortals of the world, was that they didn¡¯t believe neither in god¡¯s omnipotence nor omniscience. The concept of a one god of everything does not exist, simply because of the visible divinity of lesser deities and the higher gods. So it comes off rather strangely to me, that in this aspect, these people are progressive. They can accept that the gods can change their minds, and frequently, in their prayers to the divine, often try to negotiate with the gods. Even if it¡¯s futile. Is it because they¡¯ve always lived in a world where there is an expectation of a pantheon of gods? And they seem to acknowledge, without much reservation, that gods have a limited scope of powers. Still, differences emerge from their different interpretations and priorities. It¡¯s only natural, and it¡¯s something I should let it run its course. - In this period of tense peace, with the temples still planning for a second crusade, I continued to improve on our beetles and spiders. New assassin and anti-human variants, and higher range for my new artillery bomber-beetles. They are larger, about the size of a giant beetle, and they move a lot slower. But, they can shoot out an acidic projectile that can travel a few hundred meters, so that makes them a proper ranged attacker. Even if they are absolutely defenseless otherwise. No matter. Little secret weapons I can use on the next crusade. Best to keep them hidden and only reveal them when really necessary. Horns enjoyed all beetle related stuff, but I did notice he cared more for the beetles. Trevor and the other artificial minds were the ones driving the changes to the assassin spiders. I thought I should make more ¡®assassin spider¡¯ artificial minds, such that they act as my assassin-generals. Jasmine was quick to support the idea and recommended that they be assigned to her, since she and Patreeck coordinated the surveillance and monitoring of the denizens of the Freshlands. I wondered whether that was the right idea. What if Jasmine and Patreeck made the wrong call and assassinated someone without truly checking? What if they killed someone who shouldn¡¯t be killed? I didn¡¯t think that outsourcing the business of killing was something I was willing to do. Not until I could trust their judgement, even if they have been shortlisting and compiling crimes on our denizens. I felt rather strongly that I should be the one deciding on whether they lived or died. At least, in assassination situations. In a war situation as everyone present was a combatant, I am more willing to give my assistants free reign to decide. But in more covert and subjective situations, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s fair. Many people have rebellious and treasonous thoughts, but that doesn¡¯t mean they would all rebel, or would be disloyal. In fact, I would suspect anyone who never had that thought at all, because that meant they have never internally considered it. That generally meant their loyalty has never been tested, and as such, they may switch even when they seemed loyal all this while. So, I demanded a dossier for every suspected person. They¡¯ve been graded on a framework and risk rated. I felt like this was some kind of risk rating for loans, or a little like the social credit scores, but... if I¡¯m the only one I trust to make this decision, then this is the best way to thin down the risk. ¡°Or we can focus on Freshka and the nearby countries?¡± Trevor suggested. ¡°Based on the potential damage that these unfavorable people can cause in faraway places, it¡¯s rather limited.¡± Ah, a distance weightage. That¡¯s a good point. ¡°Then let¡¯s do that. Only flag those who operate within the near-valley zone. For those further out, only flag those as high risk, are a large movement, or have high magical power.¡± With that, the list was shortened considerably. - Trent, my artificial soul in charge of my intercontinental trade route gave his weekly summary of the trades. It took a year, but the basic infrastructure for trade was finally ready and traders started taking the trade. They still had to deal with the issue of supplies and resources to make the month-long journey across the central area of the continent. For now, only merchants with the right set of skills or teams made the journey. This was similar to the past, when New Freeka was newly set up. The terrain then was unfavorable, many cities were destroyed by the demons too. So, the merchants that travelled from one city to another usually had some skills that allowed the to stretch their supplies a bit longer, or make their journey a little faster on less favourable terrain, or merchants that could boost or enhance their horses and carriages such that they could make it to the next town. Once more ¡®rest stops¡¯ were built along the route, the trade volumes would naturally increase, as the route itself becomes ¡®easier¡¯. A natural evolution of trade. In fact, a train service from one end to another would also work, and I could naturally instruct beetles to act like long-haul trailers to move goods from one-end to another. I mean, they were already a means of transport back in the days of New Freeka, and it was time that I resumed their service. I decided to have Horns start research on dedicated Truckbeetles and Trailerbeetles. It just made sense. Giant Truckbeetles that haul goods across the continent. I just hope they don¡¯t accidentally bang into someone and reverse-isekai them to another world. Still, an intercontinental state sponsored beetle-hauling service. Of course, there was a fee! I mean, the Valtrian Order must be financed. Alternatively, the beetles could also act as supply-trucks, to provide food supplies for the merchants on the route. ¡°We should price the beetle¡¯s services at a high point. We do not want to outcompete the pioneer batch of merchants.¡± Kavio quickly suggested. ¡°I¡¯ll summon the merchants guild and we can develop some kind of pricing schedule. As time goes on and the route matures we can bring down the prices. We must still let the pioneer batch make some profits.¡± I pondered this for a moment and decided to agree. I wondered whether I should feed the capitalist elements of this world and let them gain power? But then, in this world, merchants do take very real risks with their lives. The protection of beetles like my own is very much an aberration. "Master, have you thought of using our network of trees across the continent for trade arbitrage? We could easily make a profit using the price differences between the Freshlands and those faraway kingdoms." I thought of that for a moment, and decided I did not want to compete with merchants. At least, not at the moment. I am a tree, and at the same time, I am also a singular point in growing government. I see my role as a facilitator and provider of infrastructure that cannot be replicated by individuals. I also am rather skeptical of a government playing the role of businesses, even though the Valtrian Order did run different types of businesses to earn money and support its expenditure. ¡°No. In the end we are a governing entity, not a business. We¡¯ll just charge fees and taxes.¡± The first thing I needed to do was to set up 3 beetlestops, each one at the borders of the three chosen allied nations. These future truckbeetles would not be able to communicate at all, so I would need the Valtrian Order representatives to record orders and instructions, have them processed... wait. How would they get orders? The merchants can¡¯t communicate with the beetles. ¡°Maybe we can have trees that receive messages?¡± I pondered this question for a moment. All these while I¡¯ve been relying on my artificial minds to run my operations, and essentially the beetles can only be ordered by them, or by Horns and the other beetle-generals. They react by spying and observing, or in the days of New Freeka, the beetles moved at regular routes and made scheduled stops, essentially like a bus service. I could repeat that, of course. If so, I could set up the beetles to depart on regular schedules and have the merchants work with a timetable. The Valtrian and Freshland representatives merely act as ¡®booking¡¯ coordinators and allocate or match empty beetles to the merchants. While Kavio handled the discussions with the merchants, I zoomed in on the new planned border towns. Each of the three nations have begun setting up a small expeditionary force, builders, farmers and merchants being the first to make the journey, along with a small military entourage. There are beetles, but so far they¡¯ve been hidden in the subsidiary trees. After all, there¡¯s really no reason for them to appear unless the hybrid demons attacked. At these designated ¡®town¡¯ zones, the area I¡¯ve ¡®reclaimed¡¯ from the demonic corruption is larger, much larger to allow for some farming activity and buildings, and fortifications, if these nations deemed them necessary. I¡¯ve essentially cut the Rottedlands into multiple slices with this long route through the Rottedlands, and it¡¯s only possible because of the weakened demonic energies. ¡°There¡¯s potential of using [Root Tunnels] to create a secret smuggling route.¡± Patrick suggested. ¡°We¡¯ll hold that off until necessary.¡± I responded. ¡°I¡¯m sure some of them have skills to detect tunnels and such.¡± On the Freshland¡¯s side, we¡¯re also rapidly building up a new settlement, on the edges of the existing segment. It¡¯s meant to be the launchpad for trade through these new route, and there are some who would take up this challenge and opportunity. For now, the first batch of traders mostly bring high value, high-margin goods. That meant jewelry, works-of-art, and artifacts. There¡¯s always an audience for this sort of good, and for the traders who have to travel light and fast, these were the best choices. These batch of traders have a lot on their hands, and part of their journey is sponsored by the merchant guilds of their home cities. It¡¯s an exploratory run, these traders would return with feedback on the difficulty of the journey, the kinds of prices and the demand for various goods, and what else they could buy. The Freshlands have a lot of food, so that¡¯s something that we can sell in bulk. We¡¯re like... Fresh Foods. - ¡°Aeon.¡± A patriarch of the Aeonic Faith spoke privately. It¡¯s close to the end of the year. ¡°A question?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Some of us have been debating whether we should expand some missions to the new lands as a result of the new trade routes. We asked Kavio about it, but he was not able to give a firm conclusion on whether the trade-agreement included missions of faith. We believe that it is only right that we spread our faith to these new allies, but at the same time, we¡¯re not too sure whether our attempts will be viewed positively.¡± Uh. Maybe? ¡°Speak to the merchants?¡± ¡°Ah. That¡¯s a good point.¡± The patriarch nodded and he arranged a meeting with the visiting merchants from the faraway kingdoms. I thought back to the older days of my studies? Should I use marriage and royal ¡®conversions¡¯ into the faith as a way of expanding my power? I recalled some kingdoms used to marry their nobility and convert other kingdoms to their religions. Is that too ¡®manipulative¡¯ as a religion? Should I go there? I paused. It¡¯s not the first of the many tough decisions I have to make. All these decisions are tradeoffs, one way or another. I don¡¯t care for royals, but I cannot deny the influence of inherited abilities, or their powers to sway vast numbers. Having royal assent would make our priests and preachers have an easy job of winning this cultural war. But at the same time, am I not a hypocrite? I did not care for royals, and yet, should I agree to this whole royal-marriage schtick, it¡¯s essentially giving them a lever of power. Hypocrite. In some places, maybe I¡¯d be referred to as pragmatic, to make decisions based on what benefits I can derive. If I was human at this time I¡¯d go for a long run, or do some stretches. I instinctively stretched, and it felt like my senses stretched to encompass the entirety of the Freshlands, as overwhelming and confusing as it sounds. It¡¯s like... zooming out of a buzzing city and viewing it from high up, like an airplane. I¡¯ve thought long and hard for some time. The issue of meddling with hereditary abilities and skills reeked of genetic engineering, and am I not robbing the young child of choice? Similarly, by pairing up royals for a skill advantage and also to proselytize these royals to my faith felt like an offense against that choice. But I have not been consistent either. Certainly I¡¯ve changed my mind. Have I given the Valthorns a choice? Not really, I am aware of the huge ethical quandaries of child weapons. Am I prepared to sin all the way to hell and back, for that chance to find a path to heaven? Is there a middle ground where I can take, that still leads me to that end? ¡°Master?¡± Trevor asked. ¡°We detected a lot of magical activity... from you.¡± Ah. I seemed that as I zoomed out, I also drew on the magical energies of the Freshlands. It was a strange feeling, but from this far away, I felt like... maybe I should go ahead with it. Sure, it¡¯s hypocritical... ¡°No.¡± That¡¯s wrong. I must have a line I cannot cross. I must. If not I¡¯ll eventually descend into viewing all the lives I sacrificed as nothing more as statistics. I forced myself to correct my earlier train of thought. It was a struggle, but I quickly called on my memories of pain. Of destruction. Of Death. My memories of those who died around me. Then, memories that I did not recognise started flooding my mind. They were memories of those who lived here, the pain of losing a spouse, a child, a leg, a friend. So many strange new memories. It was like that moment when I processed the hex, but more real, more vivid and yet also more nuanced. I could sense strong emotions, fear, anger, helplessness, bitterness, disappointment. It was strong, and from the valley... from Freshka. ¡°Master, you¡¯ve activated my abilities.¡± Patreeck said, and I realised that those were the memories of those in Freshka. Their history and past. I saw them flash, and yet it didn¡¯t overwhelm me. It¡¯s just at the right pace, the right amount that I can still take in those feelings. It took a while, there were so many memories to go through. The first generation of settlers of the Freshlands had hard lives. Starvation, hunted by monsters, was very normal. It was a pain that still felt raw for many. Even if it was just decades ago. ¡°Master...¡± Trevor too intervened. ¡°The populace of Freshka is behaving strangely.¡± They were in a state of daze, all of them. The sudden ¡®mind-draw¡¯ was like a psychic attack. ¡°Ah. My bad.¡± I relaxed and let my psychic hold go. I felt my connection to them disappear. In a way, it wasn¡¯t unusual. As a tree in the center of a huge forest of trees that sprawled across the continent, each normal tree is like it¡¯s own brain. It has its own senses, and very rarely, it¡¯s own thoughts. They are often filtered out by my mental firewall, since it¡¯s mostly inane. This felt rather similar, like adding more trees into the network, only these trees have a far more developed thought process and more memories. I paused again. I have to walk a middle path, between a tree and man. The tree¡¯s aspect can get too macro, and the aspect of man tends to be emotional and micro. But I do wonder... Is this pragmatism? Or a form of enlightened dictatorship enabled by always-on surveillance and an ability to read minds? Maybe to the temples across the ocean, to them, I may well be a hivemind that has the entire Freshlands in thrall. Matreemony Year 133 The rifts opened. I sensed it, vaguely, my magic sensors detected fluctuations. But... nothing, at first. I wondered whether they are a group of invisible or stealthed demons, like the one that attacked the previous set of heroes. Quiet. Very, very quiet. Maybe they are not on our continent? If so, that would be a welcome relief. But then, which continent? No matter, local matters first. Kavio struck a deal with the merchants guild for the establishment for a scheduled ¡®hauling¡¯ arrangement between the new trading outposts, and goods began to flow. We charged very steep fees, so that those who made the trip themselves could still earn good margins. That worked, of course, since the beetles were free labor. They are sustained by the subsidiary trees which hosted them. That meant new goods! Which was always fun. I spent time going through the new kinds of produce and output they made. Especially plants that were not native to this area of the Freshlands. I have yet to find any non-hybrid plants in the Rottedlands, but these new trading partners are an entire continent away. Surely there are types of plants that are different, so, we were also potential customers. Jura helped to request for a catalogue of plants native to those 3 new trading kingdoms, and from that, I increased my crop and herb varieties. [Crop varieties increased. Unlocked Cucumbers, Capsicums, Red Barley and Native Blacktatoes]. [Herbal variants increased. Herbal patches will now spawn more types of herbs] New types of trees and plants too, some of which are not commonly found in the existing freshlands. As a magical tree, I naturally have a ¡®boost¡¯ to the growth of trees around me. The way this ability presented itself is by amplifying the growth speed of existing trees, amplifying and magically ¡®assisting¡¯ the trees¡¯ seeds to spread, by mechanisms which I have yet to truly understand, to outright ¡®creating¡¯ the trees. That said, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s really me that¡¯s creating these regular trees, and more of me somehow telling the system or the ¡®god¡¯ that spawns creatures, monsters and vegetation to ¡®create¡¯ something at a certain location. Or at least, that¡¯s how I suspect it works. That said, the limitation of these ability, is that I can only boost existing trees, or for the creation of trees, trees that I have already seen or are naturally ¡®native¡¯ to this environment. So, now that there are these new varieties, I could potentially improve the biodiversity of the valley and the Freshlands with these new plants, if they don¡¯t prove to be overcompetitive and won¡¯t crowd out the native. That said, Trevor and the artificial minds have assured me that they will actively monitor the population of all types of plants and would act accordingly. These new trees were not that suited for the Freshlands, and perhaps that was why they were not native. In some ways, they are more... tropical than our temperate forests. So, we had to introduce them into areas where the weather was warmer and more humid. There were some such patches in the reclaimed Freshlands. I¡¯m quite willing to introduce new species to the Freshlands because it¡¯s essentially a blank slate that was once wiped clean by the demonic corruption. The existing species and types of trees that appear in the Freshlands are honestly rather uniform, and the temperate-adapted trees only survived with some of my passives. Perhaps some time ago these plants were also present in these environments, but I don¡¯t know. In either case, the present level of diversity in the environment can be increased. There were also new types of insects and bugs that came from these faraway places. I wonder whether some of them would turn out to be pests. No. Correction. Pretty sure some of them will be pests, but for now I¡¯m willing to tolerate them. I recalled that there were all sorts of parasites, bugs and stuff that would sometimes cause infestations and massively hammer the productivity of plantations and fields. It¡¯s not a problem, between my own abilities, the druids, and the farmer¡¯s skills. Still, trade related pests. Unwanted, but they happen. - I thought about the issue of noble skills and whether that was something I wanted to meddle with. There was something about meddling with the lives, essentially stacking the deck, that makes me feel a little repulsed. I believed in meritocracy. At least, in some form I still do. But this honestly is unfair, isn¡¯t it? But the world never was fair. Everyone¡¯s dice is loaded in some way, differently. ¡°Master, a choice must be made. Consider that if we grant this right of marriage to the nobles, it will empower the nobility in the long run.¡± Is it bad to further empower the nobility? Are they not already ¡®strong¡¯, relative to the regular folk? As it is, the common man with no special skills and levels would find it very hard to oppose a noble with better skills and higher levels. The inequality is already entrenched in the System. This whole hereditary issue is merely an outcome of that entrenched inequality. I decided that choice was important. My memories of all the pain and death was clear that, yes, power is important, but so is the ability to choose. I could assist and do some matchmaking, but anything will be voluntary. Parents, and the child must both have the option to change their mind. Or was I being too lenient? In a world where monsters and people of a high level don¡¯t hesitate to flaunt their power... was this a foolish, naive thought process? It felt foolish. ¡°Master. Perhaps they should be only allowed a limited set of choices. Total freedom is unacceptable. Not when they could choose to attack us.¡± Patreeck said. ¡°It is apt to consider these allies of ours in a symbiotic relationship. If that relationship were to turn hostile or one-sided, it is very much in our interest to eliminate them.¡± ¡°Unless the Master were to implement some kind of shackle...¡± Jasmine suggested. ¡°Or their make their class powers conditional?¡± ¡°Which thus leads to our next question, master. Do you have the ability to retract the powers of the aeonic classes, should they ever turn hostile?¡± Trevor¡¯s turn to ask a question. ¡°Master¡¯s abilities are very much that of a ¡®support¡¯ class. An incredibly powerful support class with a niche offensive power.¡± There are some powers I am clearly able to withdraw. Familiars, for one. But classes... I can¡¯t take them back once I¡¯ve given them to the people. It only made sense, because a class is essentially a part of their soul spring, it didn¡¯t make sense that I could have them back so easily. Or familiars like Jura¡¯s Bamboo, which is essentially a spiritual companion. I briefly attempted to ¡®withdraw¡¯ the aeonic classes, but it seemed it doesn¡¯t work like that. Strangely, it was Lilies who provided insight into how my aeonic variant classes work. Essentially, I cannot take back the class, but each of these classes have a set of inbuilt ¡®rules¡¯ that should they be broken, the class itself would be lost. It¡¯s like if a hero of justice suddenly committed an act of evil, they would lose their hero of justice class. ¡°But what are the rules of my aeonic classes?¡± I couldn¡¯t answer that. But my aeonic priests seemed to have a theory. Faith. Belief. Intent. In a way, classes behave quite like soul contracts. They give the individual power and abilities, and at the same time, impose conditions on them, and shape their thinking. I would have to accept that this is a risk I have to take with any supersoldier, and can only have a second layer of oversight from Jasmine. In a way, it¡¯s quite like Lausanne. I invested in her, and now she¡¯s somewhere out there, living her life as an adventurer. I needed a talent management programme, and succession planning. Indeed, I cannot guarantee every individual¡¯s loyalty, but I could, as a whole, improve my chances. In short, I should do what trees do. Go forth and multiply~ No. Spread my eggs into many baskets. Ugh. Still sounds strange. I wonder why I still come back to this topic even though I¡¯ve already set up the Valthorns and the Valtrian Order, and now an additional priesthood and Treeology School. Is it because I expanded the Freshlands too quickly, such that I do not have enough talent to manage a sprawling federation of somewhat-loosely associated states? The envoys were not in a good position. The agreement meant that some of the princesses and princes were due to be marriage partners, but the envoys, until now, have not had any news. Their kings pressured them for updates. ¡°Are the planned engagements on? Who are the candidates? Our princes and princesses aren¡¯t getting any younger!¡± Again, choice. These poor children don¡¯t have it. The norm for arranged marriage is when they turned 16 or 18 for humans, depending on the society, but for elves and other races, they have different ages of maturity. But generally, their women only get married later, when they are at least 30 to 40, since their children are considered extremely young, even though they are already 30 years old. It¡¯s tense. And insulting. Why isn¡¯t the wedding happening immediately? These kingdoms are wondering whether we were looking down on them. The task of managing the politics with these 3 neighbouring kingdoms fell on Kavio, and he struggled. Even though he said what I meant to say. I decided to then summon the 3 envoys to meet me. All three meetings happened in a similar manner. They were brought to a location in the Valley of the Unrotten, before the Tree of Prayer. ¡°Hi Envoy.¡± They all cower before me. Typical. Intentional. ¡°I heard that there¡¯s been a fuss about weddings and the candidates.¡± I mentally spoke as authoritatively as I could. I could sense their legs shaking. ¡°Let your kings know that I have yet to decide on who deserves the hand of their children.¡± People are weird. I had Kavio tell them the same thing, but they refuse to believe it. But when I tell them, they believe it. It¡¯s really about who-says-what, rather than what-was-said, in politics. So absolutely annoying. I mean, I¡¯m trying to delegate, but it¡¯s annoying when all these other people want the ¡®source¡¯ or the ¡®truth¡¯. Dammit. - News of the rifts being detected came in. Mostly in the Eastern Continent, apparently, but they¡¯ve yet to see any actual demons. The rifts were spotted opening, and then... closing soon after. The temple¡¯s blockade and embargo is still in force, so it¡¯s really harder to get news, but we have our own informants. As long as [message] is still operational, we¡¯d still have news. So far, they haven¡¯t seen any demons.... Which is strange. Or the news just isn¡¯t getting in? Invisible demons? The Valtrian Order requested for more information. - As the year went on, we had the first batch of accelerated graduates from my school. They were quickly sent to the ¡®front lines¡¯. There were a lot of social issues to be solved, and well, the graduates would have to pick things up as they go. Strangely it reminded me of my time when I first started work. It¡¯s a difficult job, but they have the entire administrative machinery behind them. For many of the smaller villages, they mostly appreciated the help, and quickly warmed up to the presence of these new priests. But cities with existing temples, and nobles who are already believers of other religions, were a harder nut to crack. For smaller villages, where temples and priests visit sporadically, there always was a vacuum that could be filled. It¡¯s only because the priests of the other temples rarely devote themselves to smaller villages, and generally set up in the larger towns. So this was the strategy the decarches adopted. The bulk of the population in the Freshlands and it¡¯s neighbouring kingdoms are in the rural areas anyway. This strategy, however, depended mainly on having a large number of priests. Even so, there are population centers unserved by the 4 temples. One of the clear weaknesses of this world is lack of objective data. Most nations have a vague number of their total population, but that¡¯s an estimate that¡¯s affected by the quality of data collection. Since I have the power of ever present surveillance, it¡¯s a lot easier to then build a database. I could very accurately do a live count of how many people live in any particular city, how many refugees moved from place to place, their overall economic condition and all such datapoints. Powers any economist would probably kill for. Instead, we are using it to maximise aeonic missionaries and entrench the Freshland¡¯s social, cultural and religious influence in neighbouring states. But I suppose that would be later, after I have stronger control. Earlier, I won the first crusade because the crusaders were a coalition army, but now I¡¯m essentially the head of a coalition, and I¡¯m trying to fuse the coalition together into some coherent, stable form. After thinking for a long time, I decided to award the marriage, in principle, to the senior clergy, exceptional Valtrian Order and Valthorns retiring from active service, and selected nobles, at a 30:20:50 ratio. In short, the existing nobles would be rewarded for their loyalty with the marriage-partners from these faraway kingdoms. As a coalition, I needed some carrots. At the same time, these marriages would be conditional, and require both partners to be converts of my faith. I would, accordingly, grant some blessings and gifts as their patron. The other half of the candidates would be granted for well performing clergymen. The clergy are part of a social aspect, and they would require the official and unofficial status of the royals more than my Valthorns. Being married to royalty would allow them to tap into the unofficial networks that these royals have. For Valthorns, I decided it wasn¡¯t necessary to have them be part of this entire matchmaking process, but I acknowledged that some of the Valthorns would eventually retire from service, and intend to settle down. This would be a potential reward for their long service, at their choice. It was unlikely that I would use the quota I¡¯ve set aside for the Valthorns, so I would use them for my priests instead. I summoned the senior representatives of the Freshlands, the decarches and the Valtrian Order to announce my decision to the envoys. This meant, 8 of the princesses and princes will be wed to the priests, and another 7 princes and princesses to the nobles. Trevor and my fellow artificial minds had already compiled a list of nobles and priests that they saw performed acts that expanded the Freshlands, and after a quick review of their achievements, I went ahead with it. The nobles, if they themselves are unmarried, could take the award, or assign it to their children. A day after the award, the decarches came to highlight some concerns. ¡°How would the princesses live with our priests? The gap in lifestyle would be too much and too large.¡± They saw the marriage between the royalties and the priests as essentially setting them up for failure since they wouldn¡¯t get along and the gap would mean these princesses would generally view their marriage as nothing more than a punishment. For these aeonic priests, would these marriages be a distraction from their real task of expanding the faith? Some nobles too had concerns and worries. One of the noble I awarded the right to marry was rather poor, simply because his land was still developing and it would take a while for him to amass any kind of wealth. Building wealth as a noble is a long process, unless one has exceptional skills and abilities. The right to marry a princess was stressful. It did not feel good how quickly the complaints and concerns emerged. I had the impression they wanted this! I summoned the decarches and priests again, and most of the decarches, being the first generation of high priests, proposed that the weddings as sweeteners for our allied kingdoms. There were some kingdoms that had shifted allegiances to the Freshlands, before I captured the six Ports. A reward for changing allegiances early. I thought about it long and hard, and spoke to the priests whom I awarded the rights to. They were all overwhelmed by the idea of marrying a princess. These were hardworking, driven people who spent most of their time in villages giving out aid and converting more and more people to my faith. It¡¯s stressful. Ah. I had made a mistake. I should backtrack. So, I rescinded the awards, and gave them to those kingdoms that changed sides. These marriages enhanced the links between the kingdoms. I just hoped they didn¡¯t eventually transform into a net that trapped me instead. - The temples expanded the blockage to cover the entirety of the continent. They are essentially forcing the kingdoms on the Central continent to choose. The temples are essentially saying, ¡®Attack the Freshlands, or this blockade will last forever.¡¯ Some of the kingdoms and nations from across the Central Continent are amassing their army, and yet they are fearful of attacking. The demons have appeared, and until they have certainty over where the demon king will spawn. It¡¯s really the fear of the unknown, the leaders of this generation lived 40 years under the implied protection of Harris and gang. For 4 successive demon kings, the kingdoms and nations could live without much worry because the heroes are already here. For some of the kings and rulers, they never lived through this period where there¡¯s no hero. Fear and panic abound, and so, the kinds of messages Kavio and the diplomatic corps receive are also mixed. ¡°Hilarious, isn¡¯t it?¡± Yvon said at a meeting of the Valtrian Order, comprising the senior Valthorns and various other individuals. Every month, there¡¯s a summary of all diplomatic communications circulated to the Valtrian Order, the Valthorns, the senior Aeonic Priests, and also the Council of Representatives. ¡°Why are these kings asking such things?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fear.¡± Jura said. He remembered the days of New Freeka. ¡°It¡¯s a strange feeling to feel powerless before a demon king. It¡¯s like hiding in a house when a storm hits, and this time, the storm hits when one¡¯s outside.¡± For the other group of rulers, they¡¯ve got utmost confidence in their own abilities, and that they didn¡¯t need heroes. Of course, their own priests and wizards had attempted to counsel them otherwise, but these rulers are probably the spoiled brats who now have power. Or maybe they are just idiots. These groups are taunting me, and they¡¯ve sent nastily worded missives. They¡¯ve also talked about raising an army, but didn¡¯t actually deploy their army anywhere out of their borders. Probably posturing. - This is the mad rush before the ¡®demon winter¡¯, the time for the grasshopper to build a stockpile before the snow falls. The time for preparation. By now the living societies must have adapted to the presence of these almost regular 10-year cycles. They only deviate by a small amount, and yet society is no better prepared for it. I wonder whether they feel like it''s an economic recession that always inevitably arrives. Patreeck¡¯s insight into the minds of the regular folk suggests that they don¡¯t even think about it. Most of the citizens plan at most, a month ahead. Nobles and merchants would plan a year ahead. But the idea of 10-year plans would seem really silly for these mortals who feel that so much can change in a few years, that 10-year plans are moot from the day they are made.. Treetiary Studies Year 134 Mini-Dragons. More accurately, demon-drakes. The demons had opted for a strategy I speculated a few decades ago that I thought would be effective against heroes. No fodder units, just high-tier demons. They made it into drakes. Fire-breathing and lightning-breathing drakes. At first, news was hard to come by. The Central continent was on lockdown after all. But the drakes spawned and spread quickly, and somehow they multiplied rather quickly too. Just 10 drakes could lay waste to an entire town, and the defenses would be hard pressed to even counter them. The drakes would fly up in the air and just use their breath attacks until the defenders were dead. It reminded me of Alexis. Alexis easily torched the forest too when she was possessed by the demon¡¯s will. Decades later, I¡¯m still likely to be rather defenseless against a similar tactic. I mean, I have spiders who could fire ensnaring webbings, but I am highly skeptical of their effectiveness against mini-champion class drakes. As a result, I¡¯ve been using my class-fusion ability to train specialist anti-air. [Sharpshooters] and [Bowmasters]. These are regular rangers and archers, upgraded a little more. But still, I think they would be insufficient if there are champion-class demon-drakes. I suspect they would be more like... dragons? The blockade has faltered in parts, because there was chaos in the Eastern Continent. We receive news of the citizens fleeing underground, as these flying demons were mostly unchallenged. What good are walls, when these demons just fly over them? In fact, what good are my walls? My walls wouldn¡¯t do shit either. ¡°Jura, we need to restart our underground bunker project.¡± In the days of New Freeka we built a massive sewer that¡¯s also an underground bunker. But it proved ineffective when the ground itself liquified into demonic goop. ¡°Will it work this time?¡± ¡°Against flying demons... what else?¡± This is essentially air superiority. The demons have it, and unless I can field dragons or garudas and whatnot, the best defense is some kind of anti-air defensive array. Magical cannons to counter them. We started work on massive anti-demon ballistas, and a special beetle-spider collaboration, a beetle-cannon that would fire spiders at the demons. These spiders would hold onto large vines and they would ¡®ensnare¡¯ these flying demons. It would pull them to the ground where the rest of my forces and my root strikes can easily disable them. Ballistas, nets, and shields. Harpoons and arrows too. This was the time for my upgraded classes to contribute. The upgraded master woodworkers and weapon-makers assisted to make stronger anti-demon weapons. Their skill allowed them to make these ballista bolts lighter, go a bit further, and deal more damage. They can even weave a few extra enchantments than usual. More weapons, with a focus on anti-air. There¡¯s also a side effort on improving my mages, but the thing was, mages are hard to scale and reproduce in large numbers. Mages are ultimately dependent on their personal talent and I can¡¯t give them much anti-demonic effects, unlike these ballistas and arrows, where I can easily improve their damage output against these demons by using special wooden materials made from my body. The demons remained mostly on the Eastern Continent. News was sporadic, and it seemed like these demons didn¡¯t attack everywhere. But they hit really, really hard, with large groups of flying demon-drakes. So, the War of the Eviltree entered a quiet phase. Other than the blockade, no one actually did any large scale fighting. A time to hunker down, and prepare for the eventual demonic conflict. Every general worth their salt would make plans. How to deal with these demon-drakes. Archers. Ballistas. Huge army of mages. Every King would be watching the skies, for when these demons would cross the oceans and assail their lands. In an odd twist of events, the blockade essentially became a ring of ¡®watchers¡¯ that helped the Central Continent act as a chain of lookout points for these flying demons. ¡°What¡¯s the last record of flying demons?¡± ¡°Uh... according to surviving records, 500 or so years ago?¡± One of Kavio¡¯s assistants answered. ¡°It was reported then that they were horned demons with massive wings that threw fireballs.¡± Ah. ¡°Do we have records of the heroes?¡± ¡°Not much, other than their names and the Kingdoms they¡¯ve founded.¡± Hmmm. It¡¯s annoying that the history of the world¡¯s in such a great mess. No one actually knows what happened. Even Lilies has only a slice of the world, and only from their perspective. The idea of an objective history rarely exists because of how frequently the demons ¡®reset¡¯ every attempt to collect information in a single place. So, I decided, maybe I should throw my hat into this game as well. ¡°Have there been great libraries in the past?¡± It seemed like a thing for Trees to be collectors of the world¡¯s knowledge. It¡¯s almost tropey that heroes would inevitably consult an ancient tree for some historical context. So well, I should play my part in the trope. ¡°But you can¡¯t read...¡± ¡°Correct.¡± And that is a problem. I had people read to me in the past, like when I was studying the runes. I already had a program to collect books, but that was in the days of New Freeka. Many of the collected books were destroyed when the corruption and flames torched the valley, but some were still safe, stored inside my [secret hideout]. If I could create a library, and make it into a skill like what I did with Meela¡¯s Hotel, I could fuse an artificial mind into the new library-skill, and create a living tree-librarian. And I attempted this on a few [subsidiary trees]. I made shelves after shelves and stocked them up with books. In this world, books are expensive. They are handwritten or magically written, so the cost of producing books has not gone down at all. They are also made of paper. But at the same time, this was not true everywhere. There ARE cities where books are common, because some of the mages have set up book-making enterprises, but in a world where global trade is still in its infancy, this sort of practice has not spread. But I didn¡¯t get it. Even after two months, there was no special library tree that I could make. - I could use my special demon-slayer class now. I mean, I could assign it to one of my master archers, or Jura. ¡°I¡¯m not a good matchup against flying demons.¡± Jura shrugged. ¡°I¡¯d think Lausanne would be a better fit, but she¡¯s not here. Or Lovis, [spearmaster]. Or the new [sharpshooters] or [marksmen]?¡± He wasn¡¯t keen on fighting more demons. ¡°Oh, and Lausanne sent a note. She encountered some of these demons and there¡¯s a ¡®birther¡¯ demon that spawns more demons. These birthers are wingless.¡± Oh that¡¯s a good thing. That meant that these demons can¡¯t fly across the ocean and then start a new nest. Unless a rift appeared here, and these wingless demons appeared through it. But that is an assumption that these wingless demons stay wingless, or there¡¯s no transformation-process for large demon-drakes to become these wingless demons. In short, well, we still don¡¯t know whether we¡¯re really safe. - Consolidation. Jasmine and my team of artificial minds focused on ensuring that the new territories are integrated into the land. It¡¯s a case of fighting fire, really. We could sense areas where there¡¯s growing discontent, and we would deploy Aeonic Priests and the Valthorns to help calm the place down, and reduce the possibility of an unrest. It¡¯s a very Civ-like problem, dealing with growing unrest across the territories, and therefore demanded a social response. It¡¯s relatively effective as my artificial mind¡¯s observational abilities give me insight into the problem. I would then inform the priests of the problem, and they would then solve it. In a sense, I help to cut out the ¡®discovery¡¯ aspect of their social work. In any social unhappiness, it¡¯s very tempting to solve the symptoms, instead of the root cause. In fact, this is normally the cause back home, because the governments have no ability to read minds, and also, they are unable to communicate with themselves. Various departments are each like blind men touching an elephant, unable to form a complete coherent picture as they do not communicate. The artificial minds¡¯ are overpowered in this sense. Their ability to operate as a unified AI essentially meant they could seamlessly gather multiple data points on a single person and stitch them together, bypassing all the departmental silos common in government institutions and corporate structures. Using my artificial minds¡¯ observational skills, it was also a lot easier to find out who wasn¡¯t playing their part in society. Like a noble who¡¯s hoarding too much gold. Or somebody¡¯s collecting more taxes than what the law mandated. Still, unhappiness is something that not only needs to be managed, the people must also be directed into productive activities that feel satisfying. That usually involved getting to do work, and finding enjoyment in that work. A difficult task, but priests of this world are well equipped with skills that help them to do just that. My artificial minds also spied extensively on the nobles and the ruling class, and I would then use that information to also help the priests in navigating the nobility. It¡¯s a tense relationship between the nobles and these priests. To them, they view our priests as ¡®invaders¡¯, and my priests, though they have training, still need help. They have to be sensitive, and be seen as working with the nobles, not against them. The intention is to convert these nobles to my faith, and have them work with us. That, to some extent, involved mild re-education of the nobles. So, it was one of the Decarches who gave an extremely brilliant idea. ¡°Aeon, as it is, we have a school for priests.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I believe it is also appropriate to have a school for the noble¡¯s children and the royal children.¡± I paused and considered the idea. Indeed, if I do want to culturally indoctrinate the entire continent, I should go beyond that. I need schools in every single country on this continent such that they all get history and views from the Freshlands¡¯ perspective. I would need it to work hand in hand with the aeonic priests too, such that they also get exposed to my faith. But a first step would be to gather all the noble children and give them an education with a Freshland¡¯s bias. That way, these nobles would take these ideas and principles that we inculcate and they would later act as our ambassadors. One day when they take over their respective regions they would naturally seek to be closer to the Freshlands. It¡¯s a first step for a continent-wide compulsory education system. Right now most children do some kind of labor, apprenticeship. The wealthier ones employ tutors to train them in particular fields. I could capitalise on the present Valthorn¡¯s reputation as a group of strong warriors to entice the nobles. I would make warriors out of their children. I would make leaders out of them too. I could even dangle special classes or upgraded classes as rewards for the best performing noble children, thereby granting these nobles a chance to get ahead in life. A noble children academy. If I do this, I will be the founder of an isekai academy center. What if the heroes end up isekai-ing into my noble academy? Or some otherworlder reincarnated as a lowly noble? No matter. If I want cultural strength, a noble academy would work very well in the current framework. I could set up the noble academy, the priest academy, and the Valthorn military academy as competing institutions, and essentially acting as each other¡¯s check and balances. It would work, and I get to avoid the whole marriage debacle too. It was a great idea, and if I set it up within Patreeck¡¯s mind-reading range, I¡¯d be able to get greater insight into the thoughts and personalities of these young nobles. Even if I hate the whole idea of a noble class, this would allow me to collect data on the noble¡¯s powers across a vast sample of young nobles. I could then compare this data against the Valthorns and have a good understanding of how nobles compare against regular children. I would then use this to shape my education for the common folk, and eventually set up a school for commoners. I would then lift that class up, and build another group of elite from that group. ¡°I agree, Patreearch.¡± I said a few days later. ¡°The idea of a school for nobles and royals is a one with great potential.¡± Indeed, it was even natural that the idea came from the clergy. The idea of the modern university or college had roots in various missionary schools and cathedral schools. I summoned Jura, Kavio, and the entire Council of Representatives. The representatives are pretty much entirely nobles from the various segments of the Freshlands, and so, the pioneer batch of students will most likely be their offsprings. I explained the idea to them. It wasn¡¯t entirely a foreign concept. Some royal families have such similar academies, but they were all small. The various other temples operated a distributed education system where the education is conducted by the clergy. There was a mixed reaction at first. Then I dangled the reward for the children. ¡°I would grant the top 10 students a select choice of upgraded classes, skills, and equipment.¡± Then each of these nobles saw the potential. It would be a 4-year programme from the nobles, and quickly some of the nobles volunteered the children. It would be between ages 16 to 25 for humans, for elves, during their teen years, any time between 18 to 40, for the treefolk and so on, during their formative pre-adulthood years. ¡°Jura and Yvon. Both of you will continue to lead the Valtrian and Valthorn Academies.¡± Their priorities should remain with the Valthorns. They are my de facto military arm, and I see the Valthorns essentially as the Military Academy. I would have to hire new people to lead this entire practice, and so, I set out to gather generals, retired administrators, merchants, and people who are old and have a reasonably high level. I also started checking around the surroundings of Freshka for a location. It would be a massive mini-city of it¡¯s own, in the same breath as the School of Treelogy. In my mind, I would call it the Ivy League College, but that sounded too much like copyright infringement so I decided I was going to call it the Universitree. But then, the ¡®Universitree¡¯ would be a better fit for the university of the commoners. I even have a slogan already. Unitree is strength! Eventually I settled on a name for the school for these nobility, the Freshlands¡¯ Treetiary College of Governance, or the FTC. I wanted to avoid any specific mention of nobles in the name, such that I could eventually convert it into a regular college that can also accept non-nobles, so I had to plan this out. ALso, there was no immediately suitable place for this college, so I decided to call our [master builders] and [grand druids] to terraform and shape a land into a place suitable to build the FTC. It would take a full 6 months for a place to be built, even with the resources, but at the same time, I also quickly auctioned up smaller subdivided plots of land in the FTC zone to all our allied kingdoms, that they can build a mini-palace for their offsprings in the future. From what I understood of the nobles, they have a strong need to ¡®maintain¡¯ face and so, allowing the nobles and royalties to invest in a plot of land to show off to other young children would be popular. For the first batch, I had to start off with a bang. So, I looked at my skill and class seeds, and experimented on the [Lord] classes from the dead nobles, and eventually, I made two classes, from a mashup of Rangers and Traders with the Lord classes. [Ranger Lord] and [Trade Lord]. In addition to [Marksmen], [General] and various other classes. We announced it to our allies that the best two students will be given these class seeds, which they may consume for themselves or gift to anyone they please. Then, real interest started to come in. Kings from across our allied nations all volunteered to send a small group of their children to vie for the spot. Of course, now that we have students, we then had to build a syllabus. We already have one from the Valthorns, but the Valthorns are essentially a martial school. They are exceptionally combat focused. This programme would have to be a little bit balanced, across combat, magic, trade and governance, culture and history, and equally important, an education in the aeonic faith. The goal was cultural dominance on the continent, secure the Freshlands¡¯ place in the world and establishing myself as a legitimate faith and religion, with my own followers to push back against these 4 enemy faiths. So the combat focus would have to be watered down, and the other aspects expanded. I had to gather a few Decarches, some of the Freshlands best traders and makers to give their input, together with those level 30-40 tutors. I would also have to ¡®train¡¯ the tutors such that they become respectable in their own right, else this school wasn¡¯t going to work. Level 30 to 40 is... average. - Freshka, would transform into the home of 3 large competing schools. The Valthorn Academy located in Freshka itself, and the associated military fields and locations. The School of Treelogy in another outskirt area of Freshka, as a school for my clergy. Then lastly the Treetiary College as the school for future nobility. Secretly, I also earmarked a large spot for the future 4th school. The Universitree of the Masses. As it is, I can only gather sufficient talent for one school, and I didn¡¯t need to increase the tension from managing noble-commoner dynamics. It¡¯s a plan that would take centuries to play out, but if I do this right, this generation of young leaders would eventually propagate my faith. This was an investment that would only pay off at least 20 to 30 years into the future. - ¡°I¡¯m impressed, but at the same time, it¡¯s hypocritical.¡± Yvon said one evening. ¡°Aeon once said he hated the royalty, and here he is, amplifying their power.¡± Jura nodded. ¡°I agree. It¡¯s pragmatic though. But I¡¯m sure he is aware of the hypocrisy. Lately, Aeon is rather... calculative.¡± ¡°It¡¯s those trees. I mean, you¡¯ve seen them, right? The weird flashing ones.¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Jura shrugged as he watched a bunch of archers practice another volley. The Valthorn¡¯s focus has been anti-air. [Archers], [Rangers] working with our [master woodworker] to make anti-demonic wooden arrows, further enchanted with magic. In a mildly interesting development, the senior [Aeonic Priests] and [Patreearches] gained a skill that allows them to bless weapons and people with [aeonic-style anti-demonic effects], on top of their regular [holy]-element enchantments. So, the Treeology School is also assisting to produce ¡®enchanted¡¯ weapons. I wonder how the [holy]-element can coexist when I¡¯m the patron deity and I have only one [holy-enchantment] magic that I inherited from long long ago. I¡¯ve also observed that the priests¡¯ powers are mostly independent from mine, even if ¡®derived¡¯ from me. In the sense that the priests can use as much power as they have, and I would not be affected. It¡¯s not as if their use of [aeonic-abilities] are a drain on me. Quite unlike Lausanne¡¯s Warden, which has a defined monthly star-mana maintenance cost. How does that work? Is it like the system created a specific pool of energy from which all these aeonic priests then call on for power? Or are all powers derived from the system, and I¡¯m just the ¡®lawmaker¡¯, but not the ¡®source¡¯ of the power? This is certainly a rather weird system. Side story- Lausanne and the demons End of Year 133/beginning of Year 134 ~ city of Perhimpunan, of the Sultanate of Timurtengah, Eastern Continent. Lausanne stared at the Aivan templar. It¡¯s been a few years, 6 years since they released her from their home imprisonment, but somehow, the sight of templars still triggered her, a little, little bit. Even if her stay was pleasant, a prison is still a prison. ¡°Greetings Lady Lausanne.¡± The templar of Aiva handed her a magical letter. ¡°A message from Grandmaster Engka.¡± She frowned, but this wasn¡¯t the first time she received a letter from Engka. Engka had convinced her, as part of her release terms many years ago, that she would assist with demon-related matters. No matter, the letter magically unlocked itself the moment she touched it. ¡®Investigate the village of Dimusnah. Demon sightings suspected. Local Temple did not respond back. More info at City Temple.¡¯ She frowned. At first, this didn¡¯t seem like something that needed her assistance. But then she pondered it and a gut feeling told her it wasn¡¯t so simple. Her husband and the rest of the Playing Swords were there too. A few members changed. Two died. Her husband frowned. ¡°Engka has some task for you again?¡± ¡°Yeah. But investigate this village of Dimusnah. Any idea where that is?¡± Lausanne repeated the contents in private to the rest of her adventurer team. One of the team members unfurled a map and they soon found it. It was a few days from the city, it was a small village that bordered the central canyons. Lausanne nodded. ¡°Alright, thanks. I¡¯ll be going.¡± She walked with her husband to somewhere quiet, and gave him a hug. ¡°I¡¯ll have to go do this.¡± Ardi just smiled. ¡°Take care alright. It¡¯s very close to the start of demon-season. Don¡¯t bite more than you can chew.¡± He said that every time Lausanne went out on her own, but he knew Lausanne wasn¡¯t reckless. Clueless occasionally, but not reckless. ¡°We¡¯ll be taking on missions around here.¡± It wasn¡¯t right for her to ask her team to go with her for her personal bargain with the Temple. - As Lausanne walked up the steps into the Aivan temple, two templars stopped her. ¡°State your business.¡± Lausanne nodded and flashed a special Aivan-Ring. They nodded and let her in. It was her first time in this city¡¯s temple, but they all had a similar layout. The High Templar was at the top. The High Templar was already waiting. The High Templar was the lead military officer of the temple in this city. Every large Aivan Temple had one. ¡°Greetings Lausanne.¡± There were two other templars in the room. ¡°We believe demons from the rift have been spotted near Dimusnah, and Engka believes you¡¯re the best person to investigate. We would have sent templars, but we¡¯re shorthanded at the moment.¡± Lausanne shrugged. All the High Templars always sounded like they were a bit irritated at her. They, of course, didn¡¯t know her Aeonic origins, or else they¡¯d all attempt to kill her. Instead, Engka had constructed an elaborate plan to ¡®drown¡¯ out news about her origins, so they only know that she¡¯s an elf from the Highland Cities of the North. It was easy to fake her origins when she left the Central continent so many years ago. ¡°We¡¯ll arrange a carriage to get you to a nearby town. And here¡¯s a document for you.¡± The High Templar said and that was the end of the conversation. The document was magically sealed, but it was more elaborate. There was a small guest meeting room where she sat, and opened it. It seemed that Dimusnah was already destroyed, but they didn¡¯t know what, so essentially, they needed someone who had a scout or ranger¡¯s abilities to track the demons. There were no known markings or footprints. Lausanne made the journey that night, and in two days she reached the nearest town. From there, she would have to walk. The mood in the town was strange, and she noticed how sparsely populated it was. She was the only one in the inn that day. Have they disappeared? ¡°No. Most of them have fled the town.¡± The innkeeper said. ¡°The sudden destruction of Dimusnah was scary.¡± Huh. It wasn¡¯t a secret. ¡°And no one dared venture near.¡± Lausanne just glanced at the map again. This was a sparsely populated part of the continent anyway. If demons wanted to hide away and bide their time, this was the perfect place. But that implied they could think, and Lausanne was relatively sure not all demons can think. Could this generation think? At least to a limited degree? The very few hints she got seemed to imply it. She continued her journey the next day. The area is dry, almost-desert like. There was some vegetation, but most of them were small. There were cactuses too. Still, a village existed here simply because of the mines and the minerals that wash up on the shores of the canyon¡¯s rivers. It would take her a day and some to finally arrive, at her speed. It was early morning when she arrived at the village and saw the destroyed village. There was visible charring on the floor, as if some intense flame burned through the entire area. She touched the charred dirt, sniffed it a little. Demons. Unmistakably so. But there were no footsteps of creatures or demons. Well, there were fleeing villages, but the ground burned wherever they fled. She looked at the shape and angle of the charring. Whatever it was, it attacked from a higher altitude. Possible the height of a walker. ¡°Could be some kind of ranged attacker, or flying.¡± Lausanne said to herself, as she examined the ruins. She looked at the direction of the flame... and went the other way. If it¡¯s a tall demon like a walker, there should be some footsteps or imprints on the ground. Nothing. There were more flames and charring, but no footsteps. ¡°Most likely a flyer.¡± She paused. She briefly remembered one of her many dream-spars, where she fought flying creatures. This seemed to match it. Had the rift opened? It was about time. A generation of flying demons would be frightening. She mentally informed Warden to prepare some extra throwing spears, and adjusted the three wooden spears on her back. If they really are flyers, she¡¯ll need them soon enough. The trail of flames eventually ended at the edges of a canyon. ¡°Where did they go?¡± Lausanne looked at the river, and at the edges of the canyons as far as she could see. It was dry. There were no monsters either. ¡°Upriver then. That¡¯s the typical answer.¡± She began walking along the canyon. If they were hiding, they must have found a cave or something. She looked at a map, and there are parts where the river¡¯s hidden underground. Or perhaps on the other side of the tributaries. Vines extended from both her hands, and she used them like long feelers. At her level, she could stretch it from one side to the other side, and she¡¯d be able to use her vines and swing along the river, using the canyon walls as her anchors.. That would be a faster way to travel along the canyons. She steeled herself, and began moving. There was nothing. The canyons were vast, and as she moved upriver, she noticed little shiny things in the river. Gems. The reason why the village of Dimusnah even existed. ¡°Now¡¯s not the time for that.¡± She said to herself. Maybe on the trip back, once she located the demons. It took about an hour, then she thought she heard something. A soft growl. Almost imperceptible. She reeled in her vine and it pulled her to the canyon walls. A few vines popped out of her body and allowed her to latch onto the wall like a spider. Then she saw it, a hole in the wall right at the river water¡¯s edge. This was almost three hours away from the village There were easily five of them, three of them were massive. Large, winged, and they were in different colors. Black. Dark Brown. Reddish-black. Horned. But they also had glowing red eyes. Dragons...? Lausanne paused, and she stared a little longer. No. Demons that resembled dragons. But why were they hiding? It was then she saw smaller dragons. The smaller dragons stepped out of the hole and dived into the river. A while later it emerged. What was it doing? Using her vine-legs, she crawled closer, then she saw it half-hidden inside the hole. A larger, wingless dragon. The smaller dragon walked next to it, and it spat out some gems. This larger demon-dragon ate it, and it glowed. Then it laid an egg. Lausanne felt chills. This was a breeding demon, like Sabnoc! Sabnoc latched on magical locations to grow massive armies. She looked at them, and sensed their magical power. They were not weak. Not as strong as a walker or a champion, but certainly more of the demon-elite or demon-general tier. It made sense why the village was destroyed so easily. These demons, they are only a few of them, but they needed someone at least level 50 or 60 to fight them. The demons did not spot her. She used a bit of her druidic powers to move the rock around her, like a natural camouflage. She waited, and watched them a little more. They were eating the gems in the river, and they would also feed the gems to the wingless demon in the cave. What made them suddenly attack the village? Were they spotted? Were they instructed by the demon king to hide and multiply until the time is right? She waited till night. The demons still didn¡¯t spot her, and she noticed they were constantly eating. Then, two of the large demon-dragons flew away. Only the wingless, one larger demon-dragon and two smaller ones were left. If she wanted a chance, this was it. She waited for the two large demon-dragons to fly further away. She took a deep breath, and reached for two wooden anti-demon spears. She leapt out of her hideout, and quickly activated her [Anti-demon suppression aura]. The demons turned, and her wooden spear glowed in a bright green light. [Spear of Destruction] She landed right on one of the smaller demons. It was unprepared, and the spear went through the head. It collapsed there and then. The wingless demon roared, and its breathed a jet of fire. The other larger one quickly took flight and opened it¡¯s mouth. She threw her other spear at it, accelerated by her power. [Flying Spear]. The demon¡¯s firebreath clashed with the flying anti-demon spear. But she had no time, she quickly leaped away to avoid the wingless demon¡¯s fireblast. She cursed. She should have attacked the wingless demon first. She thought she could take that one later. The wingless demon¡¯s firebreath continued to streak across the canyon walls, as it attempted to chase her down. She called on Warden to produce more throwing spears, and she flung it at the wingless demon. It wasn¡¯t moving, only it¡¯s head was. But the other, larger flying demon was already flying into another position. She turned and quickly used her vines to change directions. There was another jet of fire. She landed on another side of the canyon walls. The demon was still flying, and it breathed fire into the canyon. It intended to coat the entire canyon with fire. ¡°Ugh.¡± She grunted and the flames started to coat her surroundings. The wingless dragon was still there. She couldn¡¯t get it. She made a mistake! The demon-dragon kept breathing fire. If she wanted to fight it, she needed to get it down, lower to the ground. Or... she had to fly up there. That area of the canyon would be entirely blanketed with fire soon, she needed to do it now. She used her vines and attached itself to the canyon walls, and with some magic, transformed herself into an arrow and shot herself into the sky at the demon. Then, with another spear, and a vine attached to it, flung it into it¡¯s body. This time, the demon aimed it¡¯s jet of flame at Lausanne instead of the spear, so the spear managed to pierce the flying demon. [Steelwood Barrier]. The jet of flame burned the wooden barrier, but she was fine. She landed on the ground, and then activated [Constrict]. The vine exploded into a massive tangle of vines around the demon, and she planted her feet on the ground. [Entrench]. The vines linked up with the roots Lausanne created in the ground, and with the roots supporting her, she pulled the constricted demon out of the sky. It crashed into the ground with a loud bang, but it wasn¡¯t over. It breathed fire again. [Steelwood Barrier]. A barrier blocked the flames, opening a space for Lausanne to quickly move ahead. She had to do it now when it was on the ground. [Super-antidemon rootstrike]. Three massive roots emerged from the ground and it skewered the large demon-dragon. It then disintegrated, and left behind... gems and some other things. A roar, followed by another. The two large demon-dragons were coming back. She had to get the wingless dragon first! She suspected the wingless dragon to be something like a ¡®birther¡¯, so she needed to get rid of it, else the demons would continue to multiply. She used her vines and her abilities to speed up. She needed to get back to where the wingless dragon was. But it was gone. Only the smaller one was there, and it roared. ¡°Ugh.¡± Lausanne decided a demon was still a demon, even if it¡¯s small. With a vine attached to a spear, she flung it and the smaller demon. It died instantly from the attack, even though it did try to fight it off. She heard the roars again. If the two large demons are back, it¡¯ll be another hard fight. The mature demon-dragons were just below a demon walker in offensive ability, but thankfully their defenses were rather weak. But where¡¯s the wingless one? If it¡¯s wingless, there should be footsteps. She looked around and activated a common druidic ability, which was to ¡®borrow¡¯ animal-like abilities. [Scent of the Prey], and she followed it. It went even further upstream and it didn¡¯t manage to go very far. It was large, but not very fast. Lausanne used her vines to slingshot herself at the wingless demon. It¡¯s a grounded demon, so she should be able to use [super anti-demon root strike] once she gets in range. The demon¡¯s head turned and it spat a huge amount of fire. It charred the wooden barrier around her, but not good enough. She was almost there. It had a massive tail and it moved to strike. It smashed into the charred barrier, but the barrier was still intact. There was another tail that came at her from the right. Did it always have two tails? The tails smashed right into the wooden shield and knocked her into the canyon wall. ¡°Ugh.¡± She didn¡¯t see that coming, and mentally thanked Warden for a protective shield that helped absorb the impact. Still, the shockwave hurt. At least it wasn¡¯t a walker-class enemy, and at this distance, she could counterattack. Five anti-demon roots emerged from the floor and pierced the wingless demon-dragon, and it roared. Almost like it was in pain, but it turned and breathed fire. She sensed its energy dissipating, and yet it kept breathing fire into the narrow canyon. Lausanne leaped and then used two vines to latch on to the top of the canyon walls, and launched herself up. The wingless demon wasn¡¯t moving. The five roots were still firmly planted in it¡¯s body. She retrieved another wooden spear from Warden and flung it at the wingless demon. This time, it smashed into it¡¯s body and then the body cracked. Then the cracks lit up, and the wingless demon exploded. It left gems and other things splattered all over the canyon floor. Yet, it¡¯s not over. Not yet. There¡¯s two more larger demons that should be on the way. She heard their roar, and again. They were... fleeing? She didn¡¯t expect that. Or did something else call them? ¡°Ugh.¡± Lausanne found a place to stop and just do a short self-check. Parts of her skin were bleeding, and some parts burned. She¡¯ll need a day or two to heal them. One of her prized wooden spears broke too. Still, now she had time to think. Strategically, they would need a whole lot of archers and mages. Way, way more. Anti-demon arrows would need to be the default equipment. She was in no condition to chase after the two large demon-drakes. The battle used up quite a bit of her energy, so she decided to head back instead. A templar was already waiting for her at the nearest village. ¡°Lady Lausanne, you¡¯ve located the enemy?¡± ¡°Yes. Identified as winged demons that can breath fire and perhaps other elemental attacks.¡± She gave a long list of observations of what she¡¯s seen, things like size, attack patterns, types of attacks and so on. The templar nodded and quickly started to compile it into a document that will go straight to the Grandmaster. Once completed the templar left, and Lausanne rested in the village. She wondered whether the two large demon-drakes would return, but she¡¯s too tired to care. [Summon Spirit Bird]. Lausanne looked at a small ethereal bird. ¡°Keep watch, little one.¡± The bird nodded and flew off. Practreecal Experience Year 135 The demon king was late. It didn¡¯t come this year, and so we hear more of the Eastern Continent¡¯s struggle with the demon-drakes. More fighting, but so far, the Eastern continent has managed to hold the demons back, and keep them on their continent. It was rather admirable, really. Stories of great sacrifice to hold back the flying demons. Of champions and adventurers. Of archmages and all, banding together to slay dragons. It was the kind of tale passed down the family, or made into song. Or great bravery from everywhere. Where were all of these warriors before the demon king? Do they have a mind block, that they only displayed initiative, courage before lesser demons? Of course, many kingdoms naturally offered to send some nominal aid to the Eastern Continent, but due to the blockade, all aid from the Central Continent was blocked. There¡¯s strange rumors coming out of the other continents, that the central continent as a whole is now referred to as a ¡®Cursed Continent¡¯. It¡¯s essentially a PsyOps attack meant to target all these merchants and regular people to reduce demand for travel between their continent and the Central Continent. Have the 4 temples decided that it¡¯s better to just cut out the entire central continent from their collective conscience? ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡± Jura and Kavio asked the secret envoy of Aiva. ¡°Is this your fake war?¡± ¡°It¡¯s... the best possible outcome to avoid bloodshed.¡± Even if we revealed this ruse, I reckoned no one would believe us. Aiva¡¯s conduct has been consistently war-like. ¡°Every single continent outside of the Central Continent has been amending their maps to mark the entire central continent as cursed and that a travel ban was instituted.¡± Kavio was exceptionally mad. ¡°You¡¯re essentially telling all the other kingdoms on this continent that all of them are a lost cause.¡± The envoy nodded. ¡°It... is a necessary sacrifice. A curtain falls on the central continent, a cold war is better than an actual war.¡± Well, since the 4 temples have essentially gifted these other nations to me, it would be horrible of me to refuse their hospitality. It¡¯s free real estate, after all. As a result, I quickly commanded Kavio to send envoys to all these nations, to discuss cooperation and trade. They must feel betrayed that they have been essentially locked out of the global trade routes. ¡°They could have secret arrangements. Some of these kingdoms must have been warned beforehand.¡± Kavio suggested. ¡°They may rebuff us. I foresee some of them will attempt to negotiate exemptions for themselves, if not publicly, then secretly.¡± ¡°Then investigate. Either way, since they are doing this rebranding, we can certainly retaliate in the same manner.¡± I wondered whether I should, though. What are the implications? ¡°Get some people together and consider the implications of it.¡± They would need some time to do the necessary investigative research, and I created a few more additional artificial minds to assist Jasmine with the monitoring of the new territories. A cultural shift. Traditionally each continent wasn¡¯t significantly different from the others, the Central continent itself usually had a mix of all 4 temples and the other lesser temples, and the nobility generally communicated with each other, via [message], [teleport] and other long range travel or communication skills. It was the rudimentary framework of a globally connected elite. But now that entirety, amplified by Sabnoc, and now this blockade, it essentially meant the culture of the central continent¡¯s elites will no longer be in sync with the rest of the world, and that will cascade down, since the citizens have a tendency to parrot the cultural practices of the nobility. Already, the nobility are second-guessing themselves. Throughout the central continent, the blockade caused economic problems for the merchant class, and that greatly impacted the wealth of the nobility, even if it didn¡¯t really affect the regular citizens. The new trade routes have brought prosperity to my 3 new trading partners. The towns along the trade route grew quite well. The truckbeetles were actually quite popular, mainly to haul heavy, bulky goods that are relatively ¡®cheap¡¯. For some inland countries, they have a relatively monotonous choice in terms of their food, so the Freshlands¡¯ traders capitalised on the reliability and relative-consistency of the Truckbeetles and introduced new varieties of food, fruits and herbs. The merchants were also doing some demand-side work. They collaborated with [cooks] and [chefs] to introduce new dishes and foods made with a fusion of native food and Freshland foods. It¡¯s fascinating what these merchants do to make people buy their products. There are purist, of course, that resist these foreign foods, but among the nobility eager to sample new things, and among the poor who cannot choose, new types of food are very welcome. Next were weapons. My woodworkers are still working on more anti-air weapons, making enchanted arrows and so on. Most of these were for the Valthorns¡¯ and the Freshlands¡¯ army, but a small batch of anti-demon anti-air weapons and ammo were distributed for sale. After all, now that the rest of the world has effectively cut off the rest of the kingdoms, there was a vacuum that I naturally had to fill. I wanted to be seen as sharing my benefits with the allied kingdoms, that I am arming them for their own protection. This was essentially weapons-diplomacy. The temples would usually place some lesser hero items in allied kingdoms, or those that have earned their ¡®favor¡¯ as a reward. It was this ¡®reward¡¯ in exchange for hero items that helped build the temple¡¯s influence. That said, the excommunicated hero Astra did mess with that power balance by selling hero items in large quantities in exchange for territory and resources. Some countries benefited from the Four Temple¡¯s blockade. Those that have a developed craftsmen class suddenly benefited from having a captive market. Still, trade tensions were rising, and despite the spectre of the demons looming over us, a few of the desperate kingdoms finally launched small attacks. Specialised hit squads made of their strongest adventurers. We saw them coming. The moment they entered Patreeck¡¯s psychic range, their plans were all revealed. We even prepared a nice welcoming party for them. Patreeck had used his ability to reveal their plans, and so we knew what we were getting into. The moment the adventurer group, a group of level 60s and 70s, about 10 of them approached the valley, I had the Valthorns already ready to engage, and the necessary traps. In fact, Patreeck alone could have disabled them, with a surge of overwhelming psychic attack. But that wouldn¡¯t allow the Valthorns to level, so we let them fight it out, and right when they were supposed to reveal their explosive artifact, I had a few vines emerge, and grabbed it. Then I sent it into my magic lab for further investigation. After that we had our usual interrogation session, and then... death. I kept a few mememtos of these adventurers, and had a messenger deliver these remains back to the kingdom that sent them. That kingdom wanted these adventurers to be unidentified and unlinked to them, but clearly they didn¡¯t know I could read minds. Maybe they should have mindwiped them, if they had such power. I didn¡¯t want to make it public, after all, it¡¯s better to respond with nuance. I suspect the King¡¯s desperate, that¡¯s why he resolved to such acts. A final act, a desperate one. And now it didn¡¯t work, the King¡¯s plan will crumble and they know it. This would force them to bend. Now, I wait. - In the meantime, the construction of the 3 schools are complete, and the trainers are actively developing the syllabus. The first generation of students, the pioneer batch of noble-children have arrived to begin their new study life in the Treetiary College. I soon found the quality of the trainers extremely lacking. They were low-leveled, in the range of level 30s and 40s in the field they were selected to teach. Still, they were chosen because they were willing to do this sort of work. At this point, Yvon had a very good comment. She did have experience as a [training tree] and she is the principal of the Valthorn¡¯s Academy. ¡°It ultimately depends on what you desire in them, Aeon. A good teacher must have the right teaching skills. He need not be a master of his craft, he merely needs to be a good guide along the student¡¯s path. Technical competence and ability to teach are two different matters.¡± ¡°In your experience, what matters more?¡± ¡°Will these students be granted use of your learning [dreams]? Currently the effects of [training tree], and various other learning-support skills is what ultimately pushed the Valthorns to a high level. If it was just me and Jura, the Valthorns would never reach such a high level.¡± Hmm... I spoke to Faris and Edna, my two-highest leveled new-generation warriors, on what they felt were more important. Both didn¡¯t seem particularly fond of nobles and nobility, so they were torn whether they should give their views or not. Still. ¡°Practical experience matters. All those battles in the Rottedlands caused me to level up a lot.¡± Under the influence of my [powerleveling] and other growth skills. ¡°I think the teacher is important, but they only take you up to level 30 or so. After that, it¡¯s all about our own real experience.¡± ¡°I agree with Edna. As a druid, I needed to use my powers, and be placed in situations where I had to use my powers creatively. Those allowed me to gain levels. Combat, experimentation, and interesting situations seem to correlate with my levelling speed.¡± But how does one ¡®create¡¯ practical experience for nobles who are doing trade and governance? A business management school like... Oh wait. It¡¯s essentially an MBA programme, isn¡¯t it? ¡°Live experience is really the best. Those life-like dreams are 2nd best.¡± Faris repeated. ¡°Nothing like spending time in the trenches to really grow.¡± ¡°I see.¡± How do I simulate town management for these young nobles? The programme therefore needs a mix of practical experience. ¡°Perhaps they can play some roles in managing the newly reclaimed territories. We¡¯re in need of capable people to manage, and their noble skills would be a boost to the new lands. They bring with them the backing of their own home-territories too.¡± It came from Kavio. For Kavio, on top of diplomatic issues, he has been struggling to maintain the growing administrative requirements. New lands, new towns, all needed people to run them. It¡¯s hard to convince any decent ruler or mayor to make a move to a new land. But not so for these noble children, who are young and untested. The very fact that it¡¯s only a temporary assignment, as part of a ¡®holistic¡¯ education programme could convince these young nobles to go willingly. So I could use the whole noble-school to tap into their talents, and deploy them under the guise of school or college learning trips. I imagine having a blank slate would train their imagination and give them a challenge, and so they can level up. ¡°Alright.¡± I had Trevor, Jasmine pull up the newly reclaimed lands that are still ¡®unmanaged¡¯ or ¡®poorly¡¯ managed, and decided that nobles would be sent to these lands. The students would be judged and rewarded based on their performance, and as a group. I wanted it to be a group event, because I understood that working in groups is a terrible, terrible thing, and it was this struggle against each other that would cause them to level up. Competition, especially, direct, visible competition is important. The first batch of Treeetiary College students, were of course rather shocked by the task. ¡°We¡¯re going to manage a new spot of land?¡± Some of them were excited, some of them seemed afraid. ¡°Each group of 5 students will be accompanied by a merchant advisor, a military advisor and a people advisor. Each of you are allowed to have an entourage of 2 people, and 2 bodyguards. The advisors are only there to give you comments and observations. The local citizens are ultimately the ones carrying out your orders, and you are expected to learn to lead and command the citizens. The challenge of the new lands would be a good place for young commanders to hone your skills. For safety, you will be accompanied by a squad of beetles.¡± The students have not had such a task before. ¡°Each group will spend 6 months at their designated locations, and it will be a competition. The best group will receive a small reward. The worst group a punishment.¡± There had to be a carrot, and a stick to every plan. If they took it, great! And off they went. Most of these lands were mostly sparse, where I¡¯ve just ¡®reclaimed¡¯ it from the Rottedlands. Therefore, each group is responsible for a group of settlers, about 500 to 800, to set up a small village, plan defenses, and everything from head to toe. It¡¯s a safe arrangement, in the sense that my beetles would ensure the security of these lands, their only challenge is the management of the village. I would graduate them to harder challenges where they would have to multitask both growth, people, trade and war as they mature of the 4 to 5 year program. - On the research front, Horns and the labs developed a few additional upgrades for the assassin spiders and beetles. These were more stealthy forms, more anti-humanoid damage perks, more poison. At the same time, we were also working on more anti-air upgrades. We explored strange and silly ideas, like bungee-spiders who would be shot at the flying monsters, attached with poisons and extremely durable vines and threads. The idea was to either disable the wings, or pull them to the ground with the threads. Throughout the Freshlands, armorers, blacksmiths, bowyers and fletchers were all busy. In a way, the entire world is a wartime economy, and the demands of war dominated the order books of the land¡¯s craftspeople. Arrows. Ballistas. Crossbow bolts. Nets and slings. Harpoons. We were preparing for the eventual arrival of these airborne demons. We trained rangers, and we set up more lookout posts. On the shores, where my [giant attendant trees] stood, we set up platforms where rangers and archers with farsight or similar skills could be on the lookout. It¡¯s likely that the demons would come from the eastern shore, but at the same time, a rift could easily open in our continent. So, we kept watch over the Rottedlands too. The Valthorns and the beetles increased their patrol frequency. So far, so good. All quiet on the central continent. But that¡¯s no guarantee. Where is the demon king? - For now, the social unrest and unhappiness is kept under the lid. My aeonic priests have proved their worth, quickly earning a spot as a regular feature in many smaller towns, and with them, a huge amount of aid. We¡¯d got rid of many selfish lesser rulers too, though we tolerated corruption or lesser crimes in these lands. After all, the Freshlands¡¯ constitution, lesser local corruption and crimes are under the jurisdiction of the Kings and nobility, though it still reserves the right for me to intervene as I see fit. If these rulers were fueling a rebellion with their conduct, then we would step in. It¡¯s usually just having the local ruler or Lord relocated to another place in their land. Things we could still do, while being seen as respecting the local King¡¯s power and sovereignty. The priests would petition the King directly, with our observations and information, and that would usually be sufficient to sway them to see things our way. They too do not want a rebellion on their land. My priests are also a key funnel for future talent, either as Valthorns or as future priests, so it was important to constantly monitor them. I had one of the artificial minds¡¯ under Jasmine dedicated to the task of observing the priests conduct. Even if the nobles abused their power, I wanted my priests to be seen as good. Certain things should be out of bounds for men of faith. It was important that I reminded the priests that I am watching, because priests are in a unique position of power and trust in the society. For most part, I¡¯d say 49 out of 50 priests were genuinely good people. But a religions¡¯ reputation is often destroyed by that single priest. It was the same for the patreearchs. They were people in greater positions of power, so another artificial mind was dedicated to observing their conduct and actions. I like to believe I can trust them, but everyone will be watched. From our observations, we would have a list of pointers which is then used to shape the School of Treelogy¡¯s education. Already we noted there¡¯s a lot of weakness in inter-species preaching and proselytising. Most of the priests aimed and shaped their preaching and messaging to people of the same species, and they struggle to form a connection with someone of another race. An elven priest needs to struggle to interact with a centaur, or a dwarf, and harder still with a treefolk. There was a need to improve training and understanding of species specific nuances. It would never be as good, but at the very least, they would be taught the key mistakes to avoid when dealing with people of another species. This was also a point that I wanted to put into the Treetiary College¡¯s education, though their angle was more on trade-preferences and diplomatic preferences of different species. - Facultree of the commons Year 136 The demon king was still late. This was unusual, and we hear of great battles in the Eastern Continent. Even though there is supposedly an information embargo, there are still leaks. Great, incredible battles of archers and demon-drakes. Of battles in cliff-areas where warriors could ¡®reduce¡¯ some of the demon-drakes¡¯ airborne superiority. Of great skill and classes. There¡¯s a class of [Drakeslayer-Archers] and [Drakehunters] that emerged from these battles. I would like to get my hands on some of those classes, but I suspect it¡¯ll be a matter of time. The world thanked their lucky stars that the demons are still confined in the Eastern Continent, despite being able to fly, and the rifts remained only in that continent. I wonder what''s keeping them there. From the news, it certainly did not seem like the defenders were able to stop them from reaching the sea. Perhaps there are other factors. So, we focused on consolidating power, strengthening the Aeonic priesthood across the Freshlands, deploying the young nobles on little adventures. They were pretty average as a whole, but the little outdoor adventure contributed a few levels to their [lord] class. It¡¯s good progress for a few months¡¯ outdoors, and they helped to stabilise these new territories. I¡¯d also get to get a good sense of the type of rulers and managers these nobles would become. Whether they were kind, ruthless, rational or emotional. In the same vein, although practical experience is indeed important, I wasn¡¯t about to tolerate the low levels of the Treetiary College¡¯s teachers and lecturers. I had ensured all of them had training of their own, in the form of monthly doses of [dream academy]. I hoped to improve their levels by a bit, putting them in the Level 40 to Level 50 range for at least a single class. They would be teaching young ones who are around level 10 or so when they start off, but because these are noble-classes, the ¡®power¡¯ of a level 10 is actually more like a level 15 to 20. This is especially pronounced with those of noble-blood. [Prince] and [Princesses], usually already have some secret hereditary skills, and their class itself is strong as it¡¯s base. In a contest of wills, it¡¯s usually a matchup of the one¡¯s strongest levels and classes, not the cumulative total levels and classes. If the trainers and tutors are too low-leveled in any one class, they won¡¯t be able to suppress or control the tutors. Ideally, I would want someone like Jura as the headmaster. His [warlord] class is a noble-equivalent and as such, nobles don¡¯t get an advantage against him. So I focused on training the tutors and I also had taken a liking to one of the tutors. Thordrock, a bearded dwarven man who¡¯s in his late middle ages, a little plump and prosperous. He seemed every bit the old headmaster, and had the cranky, steely disposition to boot. He used to be a [merchant], then he got too weary for all the travelling his class required, so he found this task of educating the next generation interesting. As a merchant, he had been to a lot of places, and fought a lot of bandits and thieves. Thordrock was a level 38 [mining merchant], level 18 [blacksmith] and level 20 [axe warrior]. In every sense of the word, the scattered levels meant he was close to capping out as a person, since Level 80 to Level 85 seemed to be the usual cap for normal mortals. For now, there was no single ¡®headmaster¡¯ of the entire Treetiary College, and it is run as if the entire teaching staff is a ¡®council¡¯. Still, the problem is, once an individual hits a level cap, I can¡¯t really push his level higher with [dream academy]. Still, not entirely useless. If I could somehow trigger or force a class merger, then only the combined class would be able to stand toe to toe with the nobility-classes. ¡°What do you think of taking the lead?¡± I asked Thordrock one day. At that point they just returned from the students¡¯ expedition from the new territories. ¡°Of?¡± ¡°The entire Treetiary College?¡± ¡°Well, yes. Finally! Someone needs to be in charge of this messed up school!¡± He said. ¡°First, we need some booze in the school.¡± ¡°Some of them are underage.¡± ¡°Well those underage ones have to just suck it.¡± Thordrock laughed. ¡°Any good self respecting noble who can¡¯t handle a drink¡¯s gonna be in trouble anyway. I lost count of the number of times nobles¡¯ got their drinks spiked.¡± Oh. That... was too-much-info. ¡°All of these young¡¯un need to learn how to drink, how to handle a drink, and how to handle stuff in their drink. Like me, I have [spiked drink-resistance]. At the very least, they need to have [poison-detection]!¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Thordrock laughed, then he asked again. ¡°Are you serious, Aeon?¡± ¡°What do you think this school should be?¡± ¡°Other than exporting your politics?¡± He asked. ¡°Yes. Tell me what do you think this school should be?¡± I didn¡¯t want to share my ideals, of course. I had a certain vision for it, but the locals mostly saw it as a way I was going to strengthen the Freshlands. ¡°Ultimately... unity.¡± Thordrock said, as he rubbed his beard. ¡°Unity of the noble-class, however limited and fickle that¡¯s worth. I saw this as a step to truly build a continental trade system, but in the past 1 year I¡¯ve served as a tutor of these nobles, it is also a place for social bonds to be built among the noble class, which would foster more trade and industry.¡± ¡°Where do you see me in this picture?¡± Thordrock paused and he couldn¡¯t answer it. But I could read his mind. ¡®What am I supposed to say? Do I praise Aeon? Or do I state the truth that he¡¯s seen as a benevolent tyrant? Or...¡¯ ¡°I would appreciate the truth, Thordrock. I have no need for fickle praises. They do little for me.¡± ¡°I... don¡¯t know. A school founded by an immortal semi-divine being that¡¯s earmarked as a heretical existence? Just thinking about it makes me need a mug, so I rarely do think about it. But if this school wants to exist, it better damn well train some good, capable, competent nobles.¡± ¡°Define a competent noble. What is a good graduate student? What do you think a student who graduates from this school should be able to do?¡± In a way, this was an interview whether he was suited for it. Thordrock paused again. ¡°One that can hold his beer, makes a good deal, can set up a working, functioning town, and is able to defend itself from its¡¯ enemies.¡± I paused. That certainly fit the defensive noble. ¡°No part of values or principles?¡± ¡°The hell with that.¡± Thordrock laughed. ¡°The things I¡¯ve done to get a deal...¡± Ah. He has loose morals. I wonder whether I wanted to create little Machievellians? Thordrock continued. ¡°We all want to live, ayte? Lookit me. I paid bribes to not get killed. I paid bribes to run away from hot zones. I paid adventurers to die so that I may live. Y¡¯know. Principles ain¡¯t gonna cut it, not when there¡¯s a monster in front of me. I bit, I begged, I knelt where I needed to.¡± There was a part he didn¡¯t say. ¡®And right now, you¡¯re the biggest powerhouse on the continent. If not you, then who?¡¯ I paused. Hmmm. He clearly has swaying loyalties. Should I still use him, then? Or someone else? There¡¯s this entire Freshlands, home to so many people, surely I can find someone who has the experience to lead a school. Or do I have to make one myself? So, I had to look a little harder. Maybe someone who isn¡¯t high profile, but is loyal. Quiet and unassuming, but gets the job done. Ah damn, thinking about it, I¡¯ve fallen for the old trick of looking at the most visible candidates, instead of looking at it objectively. There must be someone who¡¯s quiet but I didn¡¯t notice because he¡¯s quiet. It¡¯s such a rookie talent management mistake! So what if they talk and are more ¡®visible¡¯! Talent and competence is not always visible! If you¡¯ve done everything right, and everything works, it often seems like you¡¯ve done nothing at all! The ability to troubleshoot and solve problems is only one aspect, it¡¯s even better if one is able to prevent problems in the first place! So... how do I spot people who are able to resolve problems before they even fester or become bad? Observation. I had to observe them and see how they resolved problems. How many steps ahead they did things, and how much thought they went into doing what they did. People who could balance thoughtful consideration, and yet take decisive action when the timing is right. This demanded a huge amount of processing power and observation, and it¡¯s made possible thanks to Patreeck¡¯s special powers and my artificial mind¡¯s ongoing observation throughout my immediate valley. It required me to constantly monitor my candidates and rate them on a scale of various factors, like forward thinking, problem-resolution ability, ability to work with multiple parties, communication, and even manipulativeness. All these needed multiple, hundreds of datapoints. Personality. These traits were especially true when looking for a person who¡¯s suited for trade and governance. To some extent, all traders plan. The very nature of a trader meant he had to be aware of market prices and changes, production data, and the ability to locate an opportunity, a gap. At least, that¡¯s what I thought. But it is not so. The present world rewarded merchants who took risks. Who just made a journey from one end of the continent to the other, with little information to work with. The presence of a system for traders, and the effect of various trader¡¯s skills meant some traders could make decisions based on hunch. Their skills would ¡®tell¡¯ them where and what to do. I needed someone who wouldn¡¯t rely on their skills, at least not much. Or perhaps a skill that switches their disposition towards long term thinking, despite the system¡¯s tendency of giving skills as mental shortcuts. Patreeck and Jasmine took a few months to monitor how certain people behaved in context. Then, one day... ¡°Master, would you consider a young candidate who¡¯s currently an apprentice at a blacksmith?¡± Huh. He¡¯s way too young to be a master of an academy of young little pain-in-the-asses. But, I could start training him really young, then in a few decades he will be ready. So I decided to have a look. The young apprentice was a half-elf boy named Kastua. Despite his youth, he had demonstrated a quiet focus on preventing and solving problems, so he¡¯s likeable but doesn¡¯t stand out. It would be decades before he would ever be a master of the colleges. He seemed to like his work as a blacksmith apprentice, but I got Jura to speak to him. ¡°Hello Kastua.¡± Kastua quickly bowed politely. ¡°Greetings, Counsel Jura.¡± Jura¡¯s no longer the counsel, but it seemed many still refer to him as such, it¡¯s one of those guarded politeness. Never know when a person of such power would take offense. ¡°It seemed Aeon saw some potential in you, and would like to include you in training. Would you be keen?¡± Jura wasn¡¯t exactly sugarcoating. ¡°What he plans for you, I do not know.¡± The young boy¡¯s mind instantly had a lot to think about. ¡°Yes.¡± Jura paused. ¡°I... will give you some time to think it through.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He repeated. ¡°No need for the time. My answer is yes.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Jura nodded. ¡°Very well, Aeon will speak to you when the time is right.¡± - Kastua was not the only one. It was against our nature to put all eggs in one basket. A tree made many, many seeds. I needed multiple candidates across all age bands, so that I had a solid talent pool for proper succession planning. I wanted someone who had that kind of personality, and also faith. The levels and technical ability was something I could work on. So, on top of Kastua, we soon located 4 to 5 more people of various ages whom we think have potential. They are mostly young, and are under Lilies. The Heroes died. < < We know. We sensed their presence fade away in the fabric of the world. > > So what now? < < Hunker down. A true winter comes. > That sounded awfully ominous. > Tips? < < Hide and spread far. Demons cannot reach everywhere. > If we¡¯re doomed, we¡¯re doomed, isn¡¯t it? But I don¡¯t believe so, since... well, I just don¡¯t believe it. I refuse to believe it. Then, I announced it to the representatives of the various cities, and the nobles of many kingdoms. The heroes have died, all 10 of them have fallen in battle. The entire hall was in uproar. It was a panic I¡¯ve never seen the nobles exhibit. One of the noble lords went a little nuts and shouted, ¡°We¡¯re doomed!¡± Some said rather strange things. ¡°Why is this happening? It¡¯s the first time in documented history!¡± ¡°Is it?¡± Some nobles challenged, clearly trying to be the level-headed one. ¡°Our historical records only go back so far. What if this wasn¡¯t the first time?¡± I recall when I first arrived, the gods always summoned heroes if the previous generation died to the new demon king. But would the gods summon heroes again, if the new batch of heroes died? ¡°If it isn¡¯t, then we have chosen correctly to break away from the 4 temples! They¡¯ve lied to us all this time!¡± But why? Why are the gods restricted from summoning newer heroes, if the new heroes died? Certainly they can try again, right? ¡°Is that something worth arguing over at this time? We need to deal with the reality before us, that the heroes have all fallen, and yet the demon king still lived. We must focus our efforts on surviving this!¡± ¡°Survive? How? I for one am going to be rushing out there and spend all my money and live a life.¡± Patreeck¡¯s ability told me all of them are seeing their lives flash before their eyes. This was one of those, ¡®if you died tomorrow, what would you do?¡¯ moments. A noble said. ¡°We must try something. If we must call on the blood mages to perform a ritual of massive proportions, then we must. It is either they die, or everyone dies!¡± I¡¯m certain some of the kings and the temples out there would be considering this option right now. But based on Patreeck¡¯s calculation and my own historical data, it wouldn¡¯t be enough. From my observations of the hex to date, and my experiments, the existing hexbomb would not have enough power to destroy a demon king. Unless I sacrificed close to 20 million people, maybe more. I recall sensing the huge surge in magical energies when that hex-like thing, and now that I¡¯ve got access to the hex on my own, I¡¯m able to put the two data points together to calculate the energy needed to replicate a similar power level. 20 million. Did he sacrifice so many? I don¡¯t think so? Yet, how did Astra do it? Is it because of the amplification power of Star mana? Could star-mana and hex fuse together, or does the star mana apply it¡¯s anti-demon king qualities to the entire hexbomb? ¡°What are our options?¡± I asked the artificial minds. ¡°The hexbomb is a good direction, master. We should focus on amplifying the power of the soul, in order to create a superbomb. To borrow your memories, master, the hexbomb is essentially a massive bundle of 10million TNTs, if we could use the soul-fragments in a significantly more efficient way, it may be possible to achieve the same effect with far lower sacrifice.¡± It still required sacrifice. Just less. ¡°What level of efficiency can we achieve at the moment?¡± The artificial minds paused and started calculating. It took them two days. ¡°Based on our current knowhow and converting the entire valley of the Unrotten, we can amplify the hexbomb¡¯s efficiency and power by 4 times.¡± Trevor said. ¡°Still, that meant at least 5 million sacrifices.¡± Was I willing to do this to get just a single shot at the demon king with the hexbomb? It bothered me. I didn¡¯t think it was the right thing to do at all. It felt like I¡¯m cutting off my limbs just to live another day. ¡°From a utilitarian point of view, master, sacrifices are necessary. 5million is a number the Freshlands can afford.¡± It took a few days, but I then decided. ¡°It must be a last resort. But we must make preparations.¡± The preparations required were massive. Firstly, we needed to make sure that there were at least 5 to 10 million people within a 5 day walk of Freshka. Next, was preparing the structures, formations and runes needed to properly concentrate the energies released from 5 to 10 million souls. We didn¡¯t know how much time we had, but preparing the formations and runes needed to perform a blood ritual of this size was going to take years. In a way, this option was dead from the start. There¡¯s no way we could have done the preparations needed in time, if the demon king attacked this year, we would have failed. Even sacrificing 20million people isn¡¯t so simple, since the souls of all 20 million need to be stitched together into a single shot. This endeavour alone required the construction of a massive containment array to control the energies. How did Astra do it? Was my magical measurement and sensors so far off? There must be some star-mana or hero-level shenanigans at work. - ¡°The heroes died.¡± The Valthorns¡¯ upgraded classers spoke among themselves. ¡°This meant the demon king may very well be on the way to kill the rest of us.¡± ¡°Does Aeon have a plan?¡± ¡°I say we hide. Construct massive installations deep within mountains and wait it out. The demon king may rule the world outside, but with our skills, we¡¯d live. Faris and the druids, the mages together could generate all the things we needed to live.¡± ¡°Ah, Aeon¡¯s underground bunkers taken to the extreme, huh?¡± ¡°Well, yes. But we¡¯re talking extremely, extremely deep. Far deeper than before.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good possibility.¡± Some of the Valthorns considered the idea. It had a good merit. ¡°The demons certainly can¡¯t sense us if we hide that deep.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s do it. We can expand it if we can create enough space.¡± ¡°We better not tell the nobles. They¡¯ll demand we protect them if they know.¡± All the Valthorns nodded. The Valthorns started what they called the ¡®trench-hideout project¡¯. They, using their powers together, started to dig really, really, really deep underground. Their project would take a few months, but if they do it right, they¡¯d probably survive. - At the same time, Lausanne¡¯s still alive. That was a good sign, in the sense that the entire Eastern Continent has not fallen under the demons. There must be pockets or nations that survived. As the year went by, captains and sailors began noticing that the temples¡¯ blockade now had holes. Some navies still maintained the blockade, but there were pockets where the ships left. The temples after all are a hodgepodge of contributed forces, so some of the kingdoms may have given up. Then, we began capturing some ships that strangely sailed into the harbors of our allied kingdoms. ¡°What¡¯s happening out there?¡± We interrogated the crew. ¡°We don¡¯t know, but our supply ships stopped coming and we were starving. So all of us had to come here! We either starve, or sail to the nearest harbor.¡± They didn¡¯t know much. Even the captains were not very well informed of what was happening back in their home country. Jura sat and asked me one day. ¡°TreeTree, remember that time when you unlocked my limit?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°How far can you go with it?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± I didn¡¯t get his point. Was there multiple roadblocks on their levels that I have to keep unlocking? Do the native souls have a gacha-style level cap where they need multiple upgrades before they achieve max capacity? ¡°How high can you push it?¡± I don¡¯t know, really. Jura paused. ¡°Actually, maybe I should cut to the point. Treetree, are you able to make something like a hero? I know you tried with Lausanne, and it didn¡¯t go far, but that was then, before all of the Rottedlands. We all know you¡¯ve gained strength as the forests and the lands expanded. Now, would you be able to do it?¡± Hmmmm. I probably cannot create the [hero] class. There¡¯s something divine about it, or at least, the god¡¯s version certainly is divine. But is the [hero] class truly the pinnacle class out there, or it¡¯s essentially possible for any class to achieve a similar power, even if they need to be a far higher level? It is worth trying. - ¡°Astia. Did you get fragments?¡± She did. She paused, her mind raced. ¡°Sorry?¡± She wondered how I knew. ¡°Fragments of heroes. It¡¯s a thing that reincarnation of other worlds receive. I wonder if you received it.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± She decided to be honest. ¡°They¡¯re dead, aren¡¯t they. How did you know, Aeon?¡± I lied. ¡°As a being that¡¯s close to the divine, we can sense it. Their fading presence in the fabric of the world.¡± ¡°Close to the divine.¡± She repeated. She¡¯s been gaining levels in [scribe] and [artist], aided by the boost provided by the fragments. Her work was a lot of painting and paperwork, after all. I wondered whether she had the potential to achieve what I did, maybe she could even do more. ¡°But that¡¯s not enough to take on the demon king?¡± ¡°Heroes are specialist demon-king exterminators. We are not.¡± It was a statement of fact, as far as I¡¯m concerned. - I wondered what the demon king would do, or what the gods would do. I got my answer as the year almost approached it¡¯s end. [The Gods have summoned three new heroes.] It¡¯s almost as if the gods themselves panicked? Why did they do this? Year 142 So, new heroes. The nobles and the Valthorns all relaxed considerably once I told them of the new heroes. I wonder where they will appear. > Has this happened before? < < Our memories are hazy from the times long ago, but yes. > Lilies responded a day later. I wonder how long LIlies must have lived. But then, most of the time, they don¡¯t? Again, not exactly new under the sun, is it? Life goes on. We¡¯ll deal with the demons when they arrive on our shores. In the meantime, we continued our preparations. The school was doing well, and this year, I had a few exceptional students from both the Valtrian Order Academy, and also the Freshlands Treetiary college. Talent was a strange thing. It almost seemed like they came in waves, with some years just having a lot more good people than others. The College had one exceptional centaur [Chiefling], and over the period of the 4 to 5 year course, transformed into [Warlord] at just Level 25. Right next to him was a master [Ranger Lord], again, he started just as a [Noble], and as the course developed his administrative and archery skills, it fused together at Level 30. On the Valtrian side, a young [archer] hit Level 43 at 16 years old, mostly from hunting hybrids and participating in all sorts of archery competitions. There was also a [knight] who managed to hit level 35 as they graduated from the academy, and his class evolved into [Guardian Knight] without needing any prompt or special class seed from me. It made me wonder what¡¯s really the evolution threshold of classes? Jura¡¯s [Warlord] class happened very late, when he was almost level 60 plus in his warrior-type classes. The nature of class is a perplexing thing, almost as if the rules don''t apply uniformly. Everyone¡¯s class system had different thresholds and triggers. - On the blood magic front, we continued to make preparations for the grand ritual, should we ever need one. Again a last resort, and I wondered whether I should shelve the project since the heroes arrived. ¡°We should prepare the formations regardless. It can be repurposed for other uses.¡± My artificial minds suggested, and so I agreed with it. Indeed, a massive formation used for containing souls seemed useful, even if just for my [soul forge]. The other preparation was partly Jura¡¯s idea, to create a mini-hero by fusing classes together. This was also where I spent quite a bit of time. It¡¯s a process of knocking class seeds together to see what worked, and what didn¡¯t. It¡¯s a lot of tracking and math, so I created an artificial mind to help keep track of all the ratios and numbers. There were some successes. I could not upgrade, or maybe, I have not found the way to upgrade some classes, but in the process of tweaking the [Knight], [Druid], [Spearman] and [Soldier] classes, I¡¯ve somehow merged them with my own essence, and created the [Tree Knight] class, and I could then further upgrade it to [Knight of the Woods], and even further to [Knightmaster of the Woods]. There were some classes that I thought could be further evolved, like [Sharpshooter], or [Grand knight], or [weaponmaster], but so far, I didn¡¯t make much progress on those. If there were a class that made life difficult for me, it would be the [mage] classes. It was easy enough to fuse [mage] with [druid] or [mage] with [knight]. Mage classes also could be fused together at the first layer, into [Great Mage]. But things got wacky from there. The higher mage classes repelled each other when I attempted to create [archmages] or [wizards]. It¡¯s not as if these classes were rare. I have [archmage] classes, collected from dead archmages. I even have existing Valthorn mages who managed to evolve their [mage] classes into [archmages]. Yet the class fusion resisted my attempts to create [archmages] out of [mages] or [great mages]. I wonder whether this was a deliberate system restriction for high tier magic, or there¡¯s some quirk to it that I didn¡¯t know. I needed time, and I was partly throttled by the number of class seeds. Experimenting with class seeds required and consumed huge amounts of class seeds. Even if it takes just 10 seeds of the same type to fuse it to the next level, by the 3rd level it needed 1,000 seeds. It was just lucky that I had trees that could grow the normal class seeds by the bucketload, so I could do so. I could also create a tree that grows the upgraded class seeds, but then theft remains a huge concern. As my reach extends throughout the continent, all my trees aid me in the process of collecting more class seeds, via various death rituals, via my [soul harvesters]. All in, the entire Continent, now under my direct or indirect control, produced between 5,000 to 50,000 class seeds per year. A rise in the class seeds usually arose from a massive war or battle where many died. Or a slaughter or something. Per the statistics provided by my artificial minds, it¡¯s roughly one in every fifty deaths would result in a class seed. That ratio is about 1 in 10 if the dead were buried via the Aeonic burial ceremonies. The ratio¡¯s better if the ceremony was performed in Freshka, where almost 1 in 2 burials result in some kind of class seed or skill seed. There¡¯s clearly a problem of proximity. I can¡¯t be everywhere at once, not all full strength. As it is, many abilities are just better when they are done near to me. I suppose if I could split a tree into multiple copies of myself, such that I could be 100% there, everywhere. As it is, the [Giant Attendant Trees] can only push up to 50%. Decent, but not great, and that ratio¡¯s wonky for certain kinds of abilities. As the year went on, we didn¡¯t see demons crossing the oceans. Maybe they went to the Northern Isles or the Southern Continent, instead of directly west to the Central Continent. Why? If the demons have a head start, they should push hard and expand. After all, if the demons can fly, what¡¯s stopping them? Also, none of the heroes were on my continent. I tried looking for them, but nothing. No stragglers either, unless they died. Or took a form different from the normal humans. I wonder whether there are others like me out there, taking their time to hide away. Or have they all died? Side Story – Lausanne’s Return to the Central Continent Around Year 141 to 142 Lausanne paused as she cradled the young toddler girl in her arms. It was a strange time to have a child, but strangely, it is not uncommon. The people she¡¯s met, many others have made babies when a war came. It¡¯s almost as if war and crisis triggered the reproductive desires in the living. ¡°She really looks like you.¡± Ardi smiled, and somehow Lausanne felt and remembered her mother¡¯s words. Ardi had aged. They¡¯ve been married for 23 years, and though Lausanne wasn¡¯t rushing things, her husband¡¯s hair had whitened, and two years ago, Ardi proposed to have a child. The chaos and mess got to him, and to some extent, being human, even if he aged slower than a regular human. Or maybe it¡¯s the whole confined inside a city while demons roamed outside. What else was there to do, but to copulate? She agreed. 20 years without a child was quite far away from the human norms, and so Arlisa came into the world slightly over a year ago. At times, she wondered whether this was a mistake. The Eastern continent, for the lack of a better word, not the best place to raise a young baby girl. Not at all. Even if the city she lived in was doing well. She had hoped things would improve when the heroes supposedly arrived, and that she, and her new baby, Arlisa, and Ardi, would be able to leave the Eastern Continent, and head back to the Central Continent. It didn¡¯t. The flying drakes continued to destroy huge amounts of land, and Lausanne¡¯s survival depended mostly on underground hideouts and cities. The dwarves, in particular, adapted well to this demon king, their cities often extended into the mountains, and they had ways to prepare their fortified cities for a long siege without exposure to the outside world. Honestly, it felt very much like being trapped in the Valley again. Except the city was far larger, and all they had to deal with was flying drakes that roamed outside. ¡°Lausanne, the Lord summoned you.¡± A messenger came over. She shrugged, and calmed Arlisa down. ¡°Let him know I¡¯ll be there soon.¡± Lausanne passed the baby to her. Lausanne changed into her combat attire and walked to the Lord¡¯s subterranean chambers. There was an Aiva priest there and a Hawa priest, and also a group of other warriors. Lausanne met them before, they were part of the defense force. ¡°Grandmaster Engka once said you were the temple¡¯s secret weapon.¡± Lausanne wanted to roll her eyes, but she resisted. She internally regretted taking Engka¡¯s bargain. It¡¯s been a decade, and the temple still made requests for her. She wondered whether she should just say no, now that she had a child of her own. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m no such thing.¡± Lausanne bowed. ¡°I happen to just carry out too many Aivan Triumvir¡¯s requests.¡± The Lord smirked. ¡°No matter. You will need to do a task for us. I received a divine quest from both Hawa and Aiva, to rescue the new heroes.¡± ¡°New... heroes?¡± Lausanne paused. ¡®What the hell? Why did the gods summon new heroes? Did something happen to the 10 heroes?¡¯ In the Eastern Continent, news was rare. Communication channels were few, and information like the death of the 10 heroes were a massive secret known only to the upper echelons of the priesthood and the kings. Rumors spread, but with every travel in the eastern continent extremely difficult, it was an extremely slow move. Locals all wondered what took the heroes so long to slay the demon king, and for Lausanne, it suddenly made sense. Lausanne agreed. Even if the task was difficult, heroes meant a solution to the demon king problem, and a path for her new family. The alternative was a perpetual quarantine in this city that offered nothing much. They found the heroes hiding in a small cave, with a special compass from the priest of Hawa. Three young heroes, hungry, dirty, and weak, hiding in a cave. There were demon-drakes that flew overhead. ¡°Come with us.¡± The young heroes didn¡¯t have much of a choice. It was starve, or take the only opportunity they had. They had to fight a few demon drakes on the way back, but ultimately, they didn¡¯t encounter any exceptional number of demons, or the more powerful demon-drake champions. - ¡°Tough day?¡± Ardi asked as Lausanne walked back to their home for the past 3 years. They didn¡¯t have much food. ¡°Yeah.¡± Lausanne sat. Lexi played with Arlisa in the small room they had. The Playing Swords disbanded 2 years ago when most of the team died during a massive demon drake attack, Ardi, Lexi, and one other swordsman were all that¡¯s left. Ardi, Lexi both decided to call it a day. They were both not young anymore, the years displayed itself on their hair, their skin. Even if Lexi still looked good as her holy powers granted her a slower rate of ageing, she too had grown weary from the fighting and travelling, and wanted a break. Space was surprisingly abundant. Many of the city¡¯s denizens died when the demon drakes attacked, so there were plenty of uninhabited accommodations. ¡°I met heroes today. 3 young ones.¡± ¡°Eh, what happened to the previous 10?¡± ¡°I... don¡¯t know. But if there are 3 new young ones, that can¡¯t be a good sign.¡± Lexi paused and nodded. She was a priestess too, and she knew the rules about heroes. The gods only summoned new heroes if the previous generation all died. If there were 3 new ones, it only meant the previous 10 all died. ¡°It¡¯s probably something you should keep to yourself, Lausanne.¡± Lausanne paused, and she too realised the implication. ¡°Thanks for the reminder, Lexi.¡± Ardi nodded. The demon drakes raided every city on the continent. The cities that survived all relied on their heroic artifacts, but even then, those only granted a short period of protection. ¡°Lexi, what does the demon king do after it wins?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. The scriptures all didn¡¯t speak of such an event.¡± - The Dwarven City in the Mountain, Gurdarim, one of the five mining cities on the Eastern Continent, and part of the Dwarven Miner Federation. Each city was ruled by a Lord, but the Lord may as well be the King of each of their own cities. There was a massive chamber in the middle of the mountain, the rocky ceilings reinforced with magically enhanced pillars and plates. Home to almost a hundred thousand at it¡¯s peak, now it was home to a third of that. Only 30,000. They purchased one of the abandoned units from the City Hall a few years ago, and it had a small garden. There was no sunlight, but magical stones acted as artificial lights. ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll be trapped here forever?¡± Ardi asked Lausanne that night. They sat in the garden, they both had a cup of tea. Lexi and Arlisa had gone to sleep earlier. ¡°I hope not. If there are new heroes, that is a good sign.¡± Lausanne said. ¡°Even if they seemed really, really weak.¡± Ardi smiled and sipped on his tea. ¡°We don¡¯t have a way out, sadly.¡± All the ships in the nearest port city are all on official missions, either to deliver goods, carry men, or just carry critical supplies. They had attempted to buy their way out, but even the merchants rejected. The surviving kingdoms paid top dollar to the merchants to deliver the necessities. Many more merchants have been essentially ¡®nationalised¡¯ during this period of time, and they operated shipping routes that supported the military. Even if the heroes have died, many cities still chugged along, protected by heroic items so freely given out a few decades ago. Still, they are stressed, as the heroic items had a long recharge time, and if the demons attacked frequently, they would eventually break through the defenses. Gurdarim too had one heroic item in its treasury. A massive mirror that collected energy and would release a heat ray that destroyed anything in it¡¯s path. Still, it had an extremely long recharge time of 2 month, so the city reserved it¡¯s use for the demon champions. Any lesser attack had to be repelled by the defense force. Some of the surviving cities had more heroic artifacts, and although that meant they had more weapons at their disposal, those cities were attacked more often. Blasphemy, when Lausanne highlighted that the demon kings can sense the presence of heroes and their star mana. But what else could it be? A few days later, Lausanne was summoned again. ¡°The heroes must leave the Eastern Continent, to somewhere that they can train.¡± Lausanne immediately thought of the Rottedlands, but she kept her mouth quiet. She knew that the priest would immediately say she is a heretic for even suggesting it. ¡°And?¡± ¡°We want you, along with our elites to escort them to the port city on the western coast. We¡¯re not sure which city will be safe when you get there, so Port Helas, Port Kelah and Port Lawad are all on standy.¡± Huh? What did such a statement mean? ¡°There¡¯s a large pack of drakes spotted. 50 drakes.¡± The adventurers and veterans next to Lausanne immediately gulped. Some of them quickly said. ¡°Milord, that¡¯s too much for us, even if we are escorting heroes.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t the heroes handle them?¡± Lausanne asked. ¡°It¡¯s... complicated.¡± The priest sighed. ¡°They are unable to use their powers for the time being.¡± Lausanne frowned. That didn¡¯t sound good at all. There must be a catch. ¡°The demons are looking. If we keep them here in our city, a large army of drakes will soon attack this city. For the good of this city, we must take them away.¡± ¡°How could the demons find the heroes? Can¡¯t we teleport them away?¡± Lausanne asked. ¡°We¡¯ve recently noticed the presence of some kind of magical interference. We¡¯re not sure what... and we do not dare to risk it. And as strange as it seemed, we must face the evidence that the demons are able to see the heroes... somehow.¡± The priests of course shook their heads. ¡°The demons must have found a way to twist the god¡¯s blessings. But regardless, we must escort the heroes of the city. The gods command it.¡± Lausanne mentally eye-rolled. ¡°So escorting heroes past a large pack of drakes is your preferred solution?¡± Lausanne challenged the Lord, and the Lord frowned. ¡°Alternatively.¡± A priest said. ¡°If there could be a big enough distraction, a team of adventurers with fast horses can rush the heroes to the port city.¡± One of the adventurers present suggested, ¡°Maybe they¡¯ll just go away? The demons may just move away after some time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a possibility. We could wait, but like I said, we¡¯re painting a target on our back.¡± ¡°May I speak to the heroes?¡± Lausanne suddenly asked. She wanted to know how useless, or what level these heroes are. ¡°Sure.¡± The priests said. She gave a light nod, and left the discussion. - Lausanne found the three heroes in one of the houses provided by the Lord. They were practicing with weapons. ¡°Hello.¡± ¡°Hi. Are you one of the Lord¡¯s people?¡± One of the guys asked. The three heroes were two boys and one girl. The girl immediately smacked the guy. ¡°She¡¯s one of those who came for us.¡± ¡°Oh. Definitely the Lord¡¯s people.¡± Lausanne smirked. ¡°May I?¡± They nodded, and Lausanne sat on a wooden stool next to them. They continued practicing, at least, one of them. The girl was the first to talk. ¡°Why are you here, lady?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Lausanne. I¡¯m one of the independent combatants employed by the Lord. I just wanted to talk to you, and get a sense of why we¡¯re having this issue.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± The three heroes just stopped. ¡°I¡¯ll be direct. Is there a problem with your powers?¡± Lausanne wanted to understand what the priest meant by, ¡®unable to use their powers¡¯. The three heroes fumbled a bit. One of the boys was first to answer. ¡°...yes.¡± They sat together, and the boy, Alvin, was the one that explained. ¡°Uh... it¡¯s complicated, but when we died in a bus crash, we met this god. He called himself Claude, and he said well, we were summoned under extraordinary circumstances.¡± Lausanne nodded. Go on. ¡°So, he briefed us quickly that the earlier group failed, so we are now tasked to fix the mistakes. But because we are an emergency team, we had a bit more restrictions. One of which is that our powers are locked for one year. We can level in our ordinary classes, but [Hero] is stuck at level 1, and our [Blessing of the Gods] is inactive. It¡¯s also locked for a year.¡± Lausanne nodded. They were essentially regular people, then. ¡°Why do you need to leave the continent?¡± ¡°Uh... we can¡¯t even fight the drakes. There¡¯s no way we can level.¡± Alvin repeated. The girl, Kei, then added. ¡°And Claude, that god fellow, said we should get out of the continent, and come back when we¡¯re stronger.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Hans was the other boy. He just nodded along. Alvin continued. ¡°So, we asked the Lord to help us. We go back to the easy places, farm ourselves to a higher level, then come back and kick the demon¡¯s ass.¡± Kei smacked the boy. ¡°Stop talking shit Alvin.¡± ¡°Hey I¡¯m just saying we¡¯re gonna kick those demons ass once we have our hero powers. What¡¯s wrong with that! All we gotta do is survive for a year. We¡¯ve already survived a month!¡± Lausanne just smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll come over and practice with you kids, alright?¡± It was weird to refer to them as kids, because they were the heroes, but Lausanne had to admit they were kids. ¡°At least, until you get your ticket out of this place.¡± ¡°Alright!¡± - Waiting was a good choice. About a month after, the flock of demon drakes attacked somewhere else, and there was a small window of opportunity. They quickly rushed the heroes to the port town. Lausanne also took that chance to get her family to the port city. But there were no ships willing to take them. All seaworthy ships were used for the military and temple affairs. ¡°We say goodbye here, Lady Lausanne.¡± Kei bowed. ¡°Thank you for practicing with us, and telling us about the world.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. Remember, it¡¯s a secret you can tell no one else.¡± Lausanne spoke of her experience meeting Harris, the other heroes, and of the Freshlands when they practiced. The three heroes nodded. To them, it was a perspective different from what the priests have shared. ¡°We¡¯ll keep it in mind.¡± A ship would take them to the Southern continent, where they would grind and practice for at least a year, and get their [hero] levels up. The heroes left that day, as for Lausanne and family, they searched for ships to take them to the Central continent. None was available, even if they were willing to go to the Cursed Continent. Then, Lausanne stumbled on the old dockyards, where many damaged ships were under repair. Some of the ships were in terrible condition, and so were put up for sale. That was when she had an idea. The ships were made of wood, after all, and her Warden allowed her access to some of Aeon¡¯s rather strange abilities, even if they were ¡®weaker¡¯. ¡°If I buy the ship, can I sail it wherever I want?¡± ¡°Uh, well, yes. It¡¯s your ship. But we¡¯re full making ships for the army and the merchant corps.¡± The Dock Manager said, and she soon confirmed it with everyone else. Lausanne just smiled, and she thanked Aeon for Warden. So, she bought one of the damaged ships. They were adventurers, naturally they had money. Furthermore, the damaged ships were cheap, since repairs would cost a bomb anyway, so no sane seagoing merchant was going to pay a lot of money. Ardi returned from the tavern with a crew and a captain. It wasn¡¯t hard to convince sailors to sail with them, all that¡¯s needed is money. ¡°So... where¡¯s our ship?¡± They were all gathered before the unrepaired ship, it¡¯s wood some parts rotten and broken. Lausanne climbed aboard, sat in the middle, and in an instance, a green flash of light. Her body temporarily merged with the wood of the ship, and it¡¯s as if the ship itself returned to life. Rotten wood started to heal, and broken pieces regrew. It took about an hour, but to the crew and captain, it was strange to see a ship heal itself. [Woodcrafting] and [Wood Magic]. In the same way she and Warden could create wooden spears out of thin air, linking to wooden structures and revitalising them was just an extension of that ability, taken to a larger scale. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go. This ship will not fail as long as my magic feeds it. We¡¯re getting our asses out of here.¡± It was a rocky journey, the oceans were not known for pleasant weather. But with a ship that doesn¡¯t break, and Lausanne could even directly steer the ship by linking Warden to the wooden rudders, it wasn¡¯t that bad. Just a bit of vomiting here and there. They also fought some monsters along the way, nothing too large or scary. Mostly just common ocean pests. A few of the crew died from sea-monster attacks too, but eventually, after two months of sailing, they finally saw land. Seeds of a Lineage Year 142 (continued) This year, one of my FTC graduates¡¯ class transformed into [Aeonic Lord]. I don¡¯t recall ever seeing any of the nobles obtaining such a class, so, it¡¯s presence was quite a surprise to me. I am able to upgrade a class to its¡¯ aeonic variants, but so far no Lord or noble had ever approached me to do so. So, rather than be assured, I suddenly felt that all my nobles were not as loyal as I thought they were. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s a matter of faith, rather than loyalty.¡± My artificial minds suggested. ¡°I believe many are loyal, in their hearts, you are their [King]. But not their [God].¡± Hmmm... That¡¯s certainly possible. The mechanisms of faith are not truly understood. At the same time, I revisited my [Anointed King] class again. If I gave it to him, what would happen? Perhaps the [Aeonic Lord] is an entry level class into the whole path of aeonic-aligned noble classes? Kraviek, the relatively-young student, was a treefolk noble. It¡¯s appropriate, I suppose, that the treefolks are the first to believe in my divinity. A young sapling in his mid thirties, he was born in the early days of the Freshlands, and grew up in a merchant house in the inner segments, and then later, granted his own territory as his family were one of the pioneer settlers of the outer segments. The treefolk had been one of the first to embrace my divinity, and so, my artificial minds¡¯ suggestion certainly had a basis. ¡°Kraviek.¡± I spoke to the young treefolk Lord, and like all my other aeonic classers, I could sense him very clearly. He immediately prostrated in the way treefolks always had. ¡°Praise the Tree.¡± Patreeck¡¯s scan of his memories and thoughts was like flipping through the mind of a zealot. One who believed everything. Faith, and more. ¡°Please, how can I be of service?¡± ¡°Well done on achieving your class.¡± I started with praise. I wanted to know more from the person. ¡°You are the first I know of.¡± ¡°You honor me, your holiness.¡± Holiness? That didn¡¯t seem right. I certainly am not holy. ¡°I prefer to be referred to as Aeon.¡± ¡°Yes, Aeon.¡± ¡°Tell me, how do you feel about your new class? What does it do?¡± Kraviek was still prostrated on the floor. ¡°My Level 20 [Aeonic Lord] granted me a mix of [Aeonic Weapons] and [Blessed Lands], which supports agriculture, husbandry and forestry.¡± I see. So the Aeonic Lord is essentially a nature-focused lord, similar to a Druid and Lord. A variant, I suppose, of the druidic Lords. - Progress was made on our anti-air research. We¡¯ve developed beetles able to fire thorny projectiles, similar to a mobile anti-air tank. The choice for thorny projectiles, instead of their own body parts is simply because we wanted to amplify the damage dealt, by using anti-demon wooden ballista bolts. So, a battalion of ballista-beetles could carry a load of 3 to 5 anti-demon bolts each, which they could then use to rain death on an army of flying demons. They would unfortunately be defenseless once they exhausted their anti-demon bolts, but no matter. I was still quite proud of Horns. This was like a medieval beetle version of a V2 rocket launcher. If I wanted to make beetles with unlimited ammo, it is possible, but usually that would compromise on their range and their actual damage output. So, if I wanted beetles who could provide long range support with high amounts of damage, separate ammunition from the launcher was a good idea. After all, I¡¯ve been making anti-demon bolts all this time! The next matter was an issue of force projection. I am now a continental power, and as a continental power, there will be occasions when I need to project significant force in a particular location. Currently, I can do so by spawning multiple [Giant Attendant Trees], but I believe that¡¯s insufficient. So, I decided to activate my second [Titan Soul], on the Walker. The idea would be to make the Giant Walker into a mobile anti-air fortress, loaded with all the anti-demon bolts and ballista beetles. That way, I could station it on the Eastern coast, facing the Eastern Continent. The Walker, I hoped, would be a walking Aegis supercruiser. At the same time, my [master woodworkers] and [war fletchers] focused on making stronger, more powerful anti-demon bolts. Together with mages, who wove and enchanted the bolts with [flight] and [target-seeking] abilities, these were the magical equivalent of second-generation surface-to-air anti-demon projectiles. This was a development that started 5 years ago, when we found out about the flying drakes, and has roots in the first anti-demon bolts and spears. Next up, would be to figure out a way to cram more soul-power into it, essentially adding nuclear-tipped weaponry into my arsenal. The Walker¡¯s corpse, now covered with trees, bushes, vines and animals who lived in it, shook. It¡¯s as if the ground itself broke apart. New trees emerged as the Titan Soul lodged itself in the center of the massive corpse, it¡¯s rejuvenating energy repaired broken limbs and made new ones out of wood and stone. It took a while, about 3 months for the Titan Soul''s energies to imprint itself on the massive building, and then finally, it was ready. When it first rose out of the overgrown forest around it, the entire city was immediately on high alert. They thought a monster had appeared. We even received requests for help from the nearby kingdoms when they saw the massive tree-covered walker starting to walk. ¡°Do not engage. That thing is a special-minion of Aeon.¡± The massive walker mentally contacted me once it was fully awake. ¡°Walker reporting for duty.¡± ¡°Ah yes, I must grant you a name. You shall be Hytreerion. Your first assignment is to walk to Freshka, where you will be outfitted.¡± It took about a week for it to walk from the Lilies¡¯ lake to Freshka, guided by my artificial minds. As it was as large as a walker, it had to take a path away from residential centers. Perhaps for my artificial minds, it¡¯s similar to guiding a massive truck. Once it arrived, I had Hytreerion loaded up with Ballista-Beetles, a massive armory for all the anti-demon bolts and weaponry, and also it needed to be outfitted for habitation. Hytreerion came default with multiple rooms, similar to empty [customisable rooms]. ¡°How many people should be the crew?¡± ¡°Demon walkers don¡¯t need crew, why should this need a crew?¡± It was slower than a beetle, but it could walk without ever needing rest, so in long distances it would be just a bit faster. But since it needed to detour around habited spaces, it would still take longer to get anywhere. In the end, after I explained just a few key traits of the walker, the Valthorns eventually developed a crew. There would be at least two upgraded classers, one [Great Druid] and one [Sharpshooter], and a few [Commanders]. Outfitting Hytreerion took a month, and we spawned a special [biolab] in Hytreerion¡¯s back, which allowed the person inside to communicate with Hytreerion and provide navigation guidance. I expect Hytreerion to be mostly guided by my artificial minds, but I had to prepare for the possibility that my communication network could break up should the demon king have a massive jamming ability. After all, it happened once, I¡¯d be a fool not to prepare for it again. During the process, Hytreerion¡¯s presence was a havoc of it¡¯s own. The Treetiary College students had a mixed view of my presence, and Patreeck detected multiple messages that spoke of Hytreerion to the rest of the continent. Even though we¡¯re technically on the same side, there¡¯s still a huge amount of suspicion among each other. Some of them were rather factual, a lot were just hyperbole. Some had a mix of worry and suspicion, that I¡¯d somehow managed to create a walker-class creature. For the Treelogy priests, they were more deferential. They converted one of the customisable rooms into a prayer room, and even asked for a [tree of prayer] to be placed in the walker. They spoke of this as a fact of divinity. The commoners were just disturbed for a few days, and then they got used to it. The Valthorns and the Valtrian Order were just busy outfitting the Hytreerion. They got to see it up close, and the ballista beetles that have settled into the tree-towers on Hytreerion¡¯s back. Once Hytreerion was ready and fully equipped with all the anti-air weapons I can cram in it, it made the slow walk across the continent to the eastern seaboard of the Central Continent. I reckoned that the demons, should they arrive, will come from the east. They were not going to fly a curved path, unless there were islands that they could stop along the way. - I continued to experiment on the [Tainted Demon Crystal Core], and I struggled to comprehend it. I could tap into the aspect of the core that was a ¡®native¡¯, but I¡¯ve not been able to activate the other part, which was the demonic energies. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not a good idea to use it.¡± I wondered whether using demonic energy was a step too far, in the same league as blood magic. If anything, demonic magic would make me a target for the heroes. The heroes have some kind of demonic-sensing ability, so using demonic mana would instantly flag me. Still, I¡¯ll deal with that later. Even if just for the knowledge. - Small battles broke out during the year, and we captured a few more temple-navies. Some of them just surrendered without a fight, some attacked the cities outright. It was strange, but the navies were getting desperate, and the blockade began to crumble. As the news of the navies deserting their blockade locations, more kingdoms pulled back their navies. It happened rather quickly too, and suddenly, there was no blockade anymore. It ended rather naturally, and didn¡¯t even require any offensive from us. It was a rather big letdown for the young sailors and navies who were itching for a big ¡®break-the-blockade¡¯ kind of fight. I suppose that¡¯s how wars are lost sometimes, the logistics and planning at the back of it crumbled. Now that the blockade¡¯s over, it¡¯s a lot easier for pirates and merchants to sneak to the other continents. They would have to quickly disguise their ships and attire to fake themselves as locals, but that¡¯s a lot easier than fighting a navy. Some of the ports usually would be willing to turn a blind eye if the right amount of money was paid. So, news from the other continents trickled in. It seemed that there were 3 new heroes, all appeared on the Eastern Continent, right in the battlegrounds. They were saved by the temple¡¯s forces, who had been forewarned. Are the gods of the temples the same one that summoned them? I remember having this conversation with Harris, Mirei and Gerrard, and they were not sure. It seemed like there¡¯s some kind of overlap, but it was also possible the gods took different forms with different people. They are trying to escape though, and that stirred a bunch of rumors about the new heroes being eunuchs or impaired. - Then... Lausanne returned. At least, she and her family, plus a lot of others sailed a wooden ship to one of the ports. The ship was in bad shape, but it seemed that their skills somehow allowed them to escape and navigate through the ocean. Laufen was overjoyed. Everyone close to that group was relieved. I felt relieved too. At first, when the ship landed, no one knew who they were. But the moment she landed on the shore, the Eastern Coast was filled with my trees, so she was immediately in the range of my telepathic communication. So once I told Jura, a huge convoy of beetles was on the way. That was when I met little Arlisa. The young one year old half-elf toddler girl. There was something about her that was different, the way her soul seemed to resonate with my spiritual vision so easily. Was this because of Lausanne¡¯s overlong exposure to my energies and the familiar? The second generation was therefore more adapted to it? Why was I even thinking of it from an evolutionary angle? Maybe she really just was special, and was born with a special gift, like how Indra had his gift, that gave me this vision. ¡®Tree.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a voice. But more of a thought. ¡®TreeTree.¡¯ Arlisa could respond to me telepathically even though she¡¯s only slightly more than one. I thought that was way too early. ¡°Uh... your daughter...¡± ¡°She¡¯s cute, right?¡± Lausanne smiled, and she introduced Arlisa to her grandmother. Laufen was just overwhelmed. She¡¯s been away for years and now she came back with a kid? What¡¯s she supposed to think? ¡°Why didn¡¯t you contact us?¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t. All the normal communication lines were interrupted, and my flying birds kept getting attacked by the drakes.¡± For the rest of the crew, we offered them hospitality in the port city. They were in a continent that was said to be cursed, at least for the past 10 years, so they had a lot of preconceptions to adjust to. Most of them were just massively surprised to see normal people, instead of mutants. For Lexi, Ardi, Lausanne and Arlisa, they were on a convoy of beetles back home. ¡°I¡¯m going to stay put for a while.¡± Lausanne said. ¡°You¡¯re only staying put because you have a daughter.¡± Laufen teased her. ¡°Well... maybe that¡¯s true.¡± Lausanne shrugged. Once back, Lausanne soon told me about what she learned from the heroes, and her time in the Eastern Continent. There were parts she omitted, but she was not aware of Patreeck¡¯s abilities, so I soon learned of her house arrest by the Aivan church, and her subsequent contract of ¡®community service¡¯. The heroes were handicapped. They would take a while before they are even able to kill the demon king. All this pointed to one thing. Why is the demon king not more aggressive? This sort of circumstance should result in an aggressive demon king. Unless something resulted in it not being able to do so? Did the earlier generation of heroes almost win, that the demon king is still recovering? Or, are the demons programmed to just go to sleep even if it did win? If so, what is the point of this conflict then? More importantly, why did the god even give the new heroes a ¡®handicap¡¯? They must have weighed their chances, and the gods must know something. Is the demon king unable to move for the next one year, that¡¯s why the gods do this? Or is the handicap just an outcome of the 2nd time summoning within a short period? I wished I could ask more, but Lausanne¡¯s knowledge only went so far. Maybe even the heroes don''t know the answer. But the gods must know about the handicap, so the fact that they went ahead with it meant they knew the chances of survival are decent. > The new heroes have a handicap, know why? < Lilies was one of those I asked. < The act of the gods are puzzling. We know not the reason either. > Puzzling. - I had Lausanne''s daughter, Arlisa tested in the biolab, the young toddler was turning 2, and I wanted to know what made her able to respond to me telepathically. As I dived into the young child''s soul, I noted it was still unformed, there was a small spring in the middle without any bricks around it. The shores were still shifting and moving.. This was normal for young children, I recall Lausanne herself was unformed at that age. Then, I noticed a little green crystal right in the spring. [Inherited Aeonic Compatibility (hereditary - 2 generations) - Skill transforms into [Blessed by a Soul Tree] if conditions met, or will be lost.] [Inherited Skills - (locked) - will transform to new skills on maturity] "If Lausanne''s able to pass on skills, Master, I believe Jura and Laufen may be able to pass on skills too." Patreeck said. "Given Jura''s level and his unlocked soul, it would be highly likely that he can pass on a good number of skills." Uh. "We should also consider those with the upgraded classes like Edna, Faris, whether their descendants will have inherited skills. If we can merge their skills with those from the nobles, it would create individuals of extremely high potential." Yes, yes. But why doesn''t everyone have inherited skills? Everyone has their own parents, and their parents all must be of a certain level. Surely there must be some condition. And why was this the first time I¡¯ve seen a hereditary skill? I¡¯ve heard of it from Patreeck and the nobles, but surely, I¡¯ve seen so many Valthorns and so many others... Or do all the hereditary skills transform into a regular skill once they hit a certain age, or just disappear? If they all transformed, perhaps I¡¯ve been looking at them when they were older, and the hereditary skills by then, already transformed into something else. Or am I looking in the wrong place? Or perhaps, like my soul forge, I needed a different ¡®lense¡¯ to view them? ¡°Anyone else has Blessed By a Soul Tree?¡± Patreeck immediately came up. ¡°Based on the last checkup of the Valthorns, there are six others who possess the skill. But their blessing is only the basic level, not like Lausanne¡¯s advanced blessing.¡± Ah. Problems of an empire, I¡¯ve delegated most of the [biolab]¡¯s scanning to my artificial minds. But I can¡¯t be mentally everywhere at once, even if I sort of am everywhere, physically. ¡°I want to observe all the Valthorns and upgraded classers¡¯ children. This includes nobles. I want to know how this hereditary skill thing works.¡± ¡°Glad you finally agree, master.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not agreeing. I¡¯m just analysing.¡± Registree Year 143 We¡¯ve made contact with a few secretly dissatisfied kingdoms, and of them, a few more agreed to establish covert trade relations. Rather than fly any national flags, the trade would go via ships that looked like, behaved like, and manned by pirates. Privateers, essentially. We would also need to arrange with some independent islands to act as trading intermediaries, to cover up the paperwork and trail, disguising the origin of goods. We¡¯re some pariah state, at least, in the eyes of the 4 temples, but clearly not all kingdoms think so, even if they can¡¯t disagree publicly, given how far we are. I suppose we¡¯re like a certain nuclear state in that sense. It was also a good way to formally ¡®engage¡¯ many out of work merchants that have already turned to piracy anyway. So, the FFA organised a project to convert a few of the smaller port cities into ¡®pirate-dens¡¯, where all these out of work merchants can start their new careers as state sanctioned privateers and merchants. This was where the [Trade Lord], that young noble from before, volunteered to take up the task of changing the port cities for this purpose. One of the allied kingdoms was rather miffed, but we offered to compensate him for letting us run one of the port cities, in the form of tax revenues. Someone else was going to accept the terms anyway. I spawned a few more artificial minds to track the ships that call on the ports. There was always a risk that real pirates would then come to these ¡®fake-pirate-dens¡¯, and the only way we could spot it is if we tracked the ships that were on our side, and those who were not. The crews could change too, so the artificial minds were there. One of these ¡®fake-pirate-dens¡¯ was in a swampy area, and I¡¯d imagine it looked like some pirate movie, complete with the mist and faint glowing lights that lurked in the swamp trees. Swamps. That¡¯s a relatively new territory for me, in the sense that there¡¯s still a lot of research to be done on swamp-adapted plants. I¡¯ve used the [biolab] to analyse quite a few of the swamp samples over the past few years, and did gain some understanding, but my focus has been on anti-air weapons and expanding the anti air and anti-humanoid competencies of my beetles and spiders. I do have the magic poop resistant plants from a few decades ago, so those also can be considered a type of ¡®swamp¡¯ plants, but those are more of a ¡®freshwater-swamp¡¯ type of plant. The issue really, is really saltwater. These swamps are next to the sea and ocean, and saltwater tends to make the regular plants feel dry and quickly they would die. I also had to quickly barriers for my roots, so as not to ¡®draw¡¯ too much salt into my root networks. My main body is adapted to all kinds of environments, and that also includes saltwater, so I could control my roots behavior to a certain extent. But maintaining a connection to the saltwater and swamp plants meant placing some filters in place. If I want to ever cross the ocean, the first barrier I¡¯d have to pass is to develop saltwater-adapted plants. That¡¯s ignoring all the other issues such as high underwater pressures, monsters, possibly underwater druids, underwater civilisations and possibly, even eldritch monsters. I¡¯d probably start by finding a small island somewhere across the sea and attempt a small crossing. Conceptually that should not be so different from growing a root under the riverbed. Especially if the roots are deep enough not to be affected by the saltwater. Anyway, I digressed. The demon king has not been spotted leaving the Eastern Continent. After the collapse of the blockade, and also from Lausanne¡¯s experience on that continent, it turned out that a lot of small cities have managed to survive, as they went underground. By Lausanne¡¯s own measure though, about 70-80% of all kingdoms have been destroyed, the actual casualty rate is probably around 40-50% as most of the citizens have fled once the demons started to expand. This even included nobles and royalty, who fled to allied kingdoms, or those with blood relations on other continents. The few kingdoms that are left are usually maritime-focused nations, that had cities based on the islands, or those who built their cities into mountains or other easily fortified locations. Yet, no demon king spotted. The demon drakes have been flying and attacking the maritime nations, and so far, only the ¡®demon-champion¡¯ class giant drakes have been spotted. I used my magical sensors to try and understand what¡¯s happening, and couldn¡¯t detect anything either. Also, that batch of heroes did arrive and attack the demon king, and they were slightly above level 100, all of them. So, I¡¯m predicting that the demon king is either injured rather badly that it needs to recover, or there¡¯s some residual energy left by the heroes that kept the demon king immobile, or, the demon king itself cannot move by nature. If it¡¯s the last one, that would be a great relief to the world, but that certainly didn¡¯t align to the drakes. ¡°No one has seen the demon king itself, actually. Only the heroes have dared venture close.¡± Lausanne said. Now that she¡¯s back in Freshka, she¡¯s taken on the role as one of the Valthorn¡¯s military trainers, together with Ardi. They¡¯ve decided to put down their adventurer¡¯s hat and settle down as educators. For now. - Lausanne when she was younger did not have much talent, I recall that I had to feed her so many memories and dreams before she developed combat sense. Or maybe she was just a late bloomer. But somehow I think Arlisa started with a natural aptitude. Even as a 2 to 3 year old little girl, she seemed like she easily mimicked the movement of her mother. I wonder whether it was because it was her mother that¡¯s teaching her, rather than anything genetics or inherited, but somehow, something told me she¡¯s gifted. I wonder if I concentrated my resources on her, would I make someone way stronger? Still, that family has been through so much, so I decided to look elsewhere. Now that there¡¯s almost an entire continent under my observation, it was possible for me to spend more effort to spy and locate talent. To most of the civilians, they thought I derived this ability to locate talent by some kind of soothsaying or predictive ability, but in reality, it¡¯s just a massive network of observation trees, artificial minds to crunch the data, and then a layer of reviews. So, for very young children, I actually don¡¯t know anything, since the data needs to be gathered over a long period of time. This meant the earliest we drafted someone to join the Valtrian Order¡¯s early-stage academies and training camps was around 7 or 8 years old. In a way, my observations of Arlisa constituted special treatment, from me. Which was partly why. just last year I started screenings for the children of nobles and those of retired Valthorns and Valtrian Orders, and so far, I spotted some hereditary skills. Indeed, most hereditary skills are transient, in the sense that they would transform into another skill at a certain maturity period. That age differed by race, by skill, and by many other factors which I have yet to understand, and I needed a larger, larger dataset to form anything conclusive. I wanted to institute mandatory screenings of young children in a [biolab] at ages 3, and age 5, and then age 10, but from Patreeck and the other artificial mind¡¯s assessment, such screenings would be resisted. If anything, I needed to mask it as something else, and preferably, tap into faith and religion. Already, the priests perform some kind of ritual on young children, similar to blessings. So, we decided to expand the ¡®blessing¡¯ ceremony on young children, so as to include a ¡®ceremonial¡¯ dip in a biolab. Of course, the biolab would have to be shaped and formed to be compatible with the priest¡¯s blessing ceremony. A baptreesm at ages 3, 5 and 10, if I may borrow from the religions of my world. The one aged 3 and 5 would be ¡®blessing¡¯ with some additional nutrients and healing. The one aged 10 could be the coming-of-age ceremony. I gathered my Patreearchs and Matreearchs to roll out the new baptreesm process. Again, ceremonies, processes and rituals were things priests loved. It gave them power, and purpose. For the people, it gave them peace of mind. All for the purpose of gathering a massive dataset and assessment of the continent¡¯s talent pool. This was a massive undertaking only Patreeck could handle, and even then I had to set up more artificial minds to take on the recording process, which led to me unlocking a new tree type. [Unlocked new special tree type - The Registree.] [The Registree is a library of data, and can store all kinds of information.] Jura, sat one day and said something random. ¡°It¡¯s easy to believe that people are destined to do what they are meant to do, after all we are not heroes. But sometimes when I look at Lausanne, and remember how her parents were just ordinary elves, I think to myself, maybe it¡¯s really possible for people to exceed what they were originally destined to do. Even me, I thought I¡¯d cap out at level 60 so many years ago, but since then, so much has happened, and now I¡¯m a level 99 Warlord.¡± ¡°You need one more level to hit 100.¡± But I think his comment on destiny, perhaps this register I am building is very much like a caste system, isn¡¯t it? That I classify people by their innate talent and forgo the part on people working hard and striving against the impossible. ¡°I know.¡± ¡°Do you want to cheat?¡± I offered him one experience seed, wrapped up in the shape of a fruit. I have a few hundred experience seeds anyway, and I¡¯ve been hoarding it forever. I¡¯ve always wanted to use it, but I reckon there must be a restriction of some kind. He smiled, and he bit it. ¡°We need every edge we can get, at this point.¡± Once he finished eating, he felt his body ache, and then his entire body started cracking. Those cracks appeared, and then disappeared, it lasted for 10 minutes. Then once it was done, he smiled. ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°Wow?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a Level 100 Warlord of Aeon. I suppose I should¡¯ve seen that coming with Kraveik¡¯s Aeonic Lord.¡± Jura laughed. ¡°Good skill too.¡± ¡°Good?¡± ¡°[Steelwood Barriers of Aeon].¡± Jura laughed. ¡°I can make your shields, with the same strength.¡± Essentially, with this ability, he could stop demon walker attacks! Still, for a level 100 skill that¡¯s quite a letdown, now. But since I was on the topic of children and hereditary skills, I just casually asked. ¡°Jura, do you ever plan on having kids?¡± Jura laughed again. He laughed for a good 10 minutes, then he stopped. ¡°You know, 60 years ago, Casshern actually gave us a simple briefing on what to expect from Spirit Trees. For other spirit trees, it was common to receive questions about family, our intentions to breed and they would bless our children. I was quite relieved that you didn¡¯t do any of that, so now, 60 years later, I wasn¡¯t expecting that question!¡± Well, a part of me wanted to know whether his kids would have the kind of hereditary skills like Arlisa! ¡°If I meet the right person, maybe.¡± Jura smiled. ¡°But as of now, I¡¯m fine being a lone twig.¡± - Trees now covered large swaths of the continent, and the Rottedlands itself have been cut into multiple slices by rows and rows of trees, kind of like a pizza. In a way, the entire continent has never been so green and had so much forest cover. It even altered the weather, some places that were once really hot started to become bearable, and some colder places warmed up. Rain also started appearing more frequently in the once dry zones. Forests generated their own microclimate, and amplified the creation of rain clouds. [Milestone achieved : 300 billion normal trees linked on the Central Continent] The milestone triggered a level gain. [You gained a level. Level 170.] [New Domain Ability obtained : Gift of Accelerated Growth] [Once a year, you can cause any one person to hit Level 60. Activating this ability gives you a full read of a person¡¯s classes. You may assign the additional levels. Does not work for those above Level 60. Does not work for [hero] class.] [New Domain Ability obtained : Gift of Accelerated Skill Evolution] [Once a year, you can upgrade any one individual¡¯s skill of your choice by one tier. Does not work on [hero] or [divine] skills.] I immediately wanted to test out my evolutionary powers, and my target was once again, Jura. He was my guinea pig since so long ago, and once again, he will be again. The new ability was activated by a simple touch of a vine. Instantly, I could detect all the skills that he had, and they were separated into pools, which seemed to correspond to their types. He had his old villager skills, then those skills that were from his original diplomat and fighter skills, and now, warlord skills. This was a special time-restricted power. Once a year isn¡¯t so bad, really. That meant 10 skill upgrades every demon king. Not bad, in my opinion. I instantly chose the steelwood barrier. After all, it was his level 100 skill. Naturally I should use it on his strongest skill. Of course, it¡¯s entirely possible some skills, when upgraded, become far more powerful than even the level 100 skill. Still, I have time, and now I just wanted to use it. It evolved into [Triple Steelwood Barriers of Aeon]. Woh. Cool. Now I need to figure out who to use it on, next! Can I use it on Lausanne or Arlisa¡¯s [Blessed by a Soul Tree]? - A lone ship sailed across the Southern Oceans. It was a fast, well-equipped and heavily armed ship. It came to one of the ports on our Southern coast, and instantly the military was at high alert. It flew the flag of the temples. It wasn¡¯t aggressive, and it did not display any weapons, so the ship was escorted to the port¡¯s most distant dock. Just in case it carried explosive gems or weapons. This was, by and large, a trading port. It had just a few navy vessels in the dock. A Valthorn was thankfully in the city at the time, Iasenos, a Level 53 Centaur [Spearmaster], so he ran to the port, fully armed and ready for a fight. The ship docked, and out came adventurers. ¡°The cursed continent.¡± They said. The soldiers and Iasenos tensed up. That was a horrible way to start. The adventurers didn¡¯t look that interested. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re sailing off soon.¡± A young girl hopped off the ship. The adventurers quickly climbed back up their ship, and then the ship started sailing. ¡°Uh. You guys aren¡¯t even going to come with me?¡± The girl sighed, and then she turned to the soldiers. ¡°Alright, uh... hi.¡± The soldiers looked uncomfortable, their weapons were ready and armed. Iasenos put up a stern face. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Iasenos then started talking. ¡°All visitors from abroad are required to fill up the necessary forms. Have you completed your documentation? Do you have your papers?¡± The girl froze, and shook her head. ¡°I... uh...¡± ¡°Do you have a merchant¡¯s trade letter, or an endorsement letter of your identity from your local authority?¡¯ ¡°I... no.¡± ¡°Are you travelling on a diplomatic license or a messenger¡¯s assignment?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m afraid you must come with us to our detention center and answer a bit more questions.¡± She nodded. ¡°Okay.¡± She was dressed also in typical adventurer armor and weaponry. At this point, I had not sensed her, only my artificial minds were monitoring the situation. In the detention center, she was interrogated by the Valtrian Order. It was when she finally explained who she was, that the artificial minds sought my attention. ¡°My name is Kei, I¡¯m uh... one of the three new heroes.¡± Iasenos paused as he processed the information. He quickly chased everyone else out of the room. ¡°New... heroes? The one from the second summoning.¡± ¡°...yes.¡± Kei stared at the centaur. The centaur merely stared back. He was quickly using his familiar to reach out to other Valthorns in the region. He took a few deep breathes and formulated a mental response. ¡°Why are you here, then?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here to claim the hero weapons. The one left to us by my predecessors.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no such thing.¡± Iasenos lied intentionally. Kei frowned. ¡°I refuse to believe that. Take me to Aeon.¡± ¡°What gives you the right to demand an audience with our divine tree?¡± The centaur played hardball. ¡°I¡¯m a hero.¡± ¡°Prove it. A hero should be able to use star mana.¡± She paused and sighed. ¡°I... uh.. My [hero] class is still low. I can¡¯t use star mana yet.¡± ¡°Then what do you have as evidence of your [hero] status?¡± She thought about it for a moment. ¡°Well, star mana isn¡¯t the only hero thing, right? May I demonstrate? I do need to be outside, though.¡± Iasenos nodded. ¡°Come.¡± In the port city, the Valthorn¡¯s building is a small one, an additional building built next to the existing local ruling governor¡¯s building. Outside, there was a small field for the local recruits to practice. She sat, and then floated. ¡°[Ship-mode].¡± Instantly, a magical frame appeared around her body, and it was shaped like a.... Shipgirl with a magical frame of cannons and guns at her side. ¡°I can transform into magical adaptations of my world, and it¡¯ll get stronger when I level. Does that count as sufficient evidence?¡± She honestly sounded embarrassed explaining it. A shipgirl. Seriously. Who came up with that idea? Iasenos paused. ¡°That could be just some sophisticated illusion magic, but very well. I will raise a case with the regional Valthorn leadership for further advice. Until then, take this.¡± Iasenos gave her a wooden belt. ¡°Tie this around your leg. That way, we know you¡¯ve not fled.¡± ¡°If I am a hero, I could just break it.¡± ¡°If you break it for any reason, then we know you¡¯re not a good person anyway, even if you are a hero. So, it¡¯s in your interest not to break it.¡± Kei smirked. ¡°I see.¡± Deep roots Year 144 After a bit of bureaucracy, Kei and Lausanne were finally met again in Freshka. ¡°Hello again. Has the restrictions on your class lifted?¡± Lausanne asked. ¡°Yes it has, Lady Lausanne.¡± Kei bowed. Lausanne was pretty much an old auntie for the 18 year old Kei. ¡°I¡¯ve leveled a bit after fighting regular monsters, but still, my hero levels are way too low. Only in the lower 20s. No way near enough, if what you told us last time was true.¡± ¡°Well, the Rottedlands is a fine anvil to hone any [hero] into a worthy shape. I may even take you there myself, but I have a kid to care for.¡± Lausanne shrugged. ¡°Where¡¯s Alvin and Hans?¡± Kei waited for a while, she pondered over her response. ¡°Uh...¡± ¡°They don¡¯t believe me, right?¡± Lausanne laughed. ¡°...yeah. They uh... they¡¯re really into the stories and legends the priests and temples fed them. So I had to travel alone.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯ll soon realise this continent does have it¡¯s own propaganda.¡± There was a period of awkward silence as both sized each other. Kei then continued. ¡°You spoke of Aeon¡¯s uh... weapons. A stockpile of hero items. I¡¯d like to have them.¡± ¡°It is not mine to give, but Aeon¡¯s. The previous heroes entrusted the task to Aeon. It is for you to prove yourself worthy of them.¡± Kei nodded. ¡°How may I do so?¡± ¡°First, we¡¯ll need to get your levels up to at least level 70. Without Star Mana, the items are useless to you, for they respond to nothing else.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t be waltzing into the Rottedlands by myself, right? I¡¯m only level 20+ in my [hero] class, and Level 30+ in my [soldier] class.¡± ¡°Well... that¡¯s actually one of the best ways to level quickly. Put yourself in trouble and fight your way out of it. Or we can spar a bit more, under Aeon¡¯s auspices and blessings.¡± ¡°Would that make much of a difference?¡± Kei asked. ¡°It will. But first, a familiar.¡± Lausanne said. ¡°My black vines are from my familiar, and I am certain Aeon wants you to have a familiar before he grants you access to the facilities available here.¡± ¡°Is that a must?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Okay then.¡± I gave her a familiar at the temple, then they used one of the many [training rooms], with Yvon present too. Yvon as an upgraded [training tree] would also have an effect of accelerating her level gain. - When Kei arrived at the end of last year, I had to decide what to do with the hero. It was clear I could not kill her, there was after all a moratorium on killing heroes until the demon king died, and I wasn¡¯t going to risk a divine curse. I already have a suppressed demonic curse to deal with. So, after some consideration, and discussions with the many different councils, I decided assisting the heroes was the best choice. Get her on my side, and at least if the other two heroes are nasty, it¡¯d be me and a hero vs 2 heroes, instead of me against 3 heroes. It was also better to learn what they know, and discover how their powers worked. I would even offer her a familiar, and reap the benefits if she died, just like the earlier bunch. So far the gods have not warned against taking my familiars, so that¡¯s a good thing. I wonder whether they really hate me, or they are just testing me in some kind of divine game. Or maybe, they don¡¯t have the ability to communicate directly with the heroes? The people of the world could receive divine messages, but I had not heard of stories where the heroes received divine messages. If the managers of the reincarnation process, Mozart and gang are not the same ones as the gods who summoned them, it is entirely possible that certain messages don¡¯t get through. Thinking back, Mozart did refer to the gods as if they were someone else. Or perhaps it is just a trick. Like seemingly different shops in a shopping mall all owned by the same person. Anyway, I decided to help her along. - ¡°Level 60!¡± Kei said after two weeks! She was quick, and the regular hybrids of the Rottedlands now too weak for her. A level 60 hero was easily stronger than a level 80 [spearmaster] or [grand knight]. It was just the nature of absurdly powerful classes like [hero]. Every few levels, a bit more of her regular mana transformed into star mana. By level 100, 100% of her mana is star mana, though she could change it to normal mana if she so desires. At least, that¡¯s how the earlier heroes had it. ¡°My two friends are only in the 40s back in the South, and still they refuse to come here!¡± ¡°Well, a bit more for you to go. Perhaps, level 90, then Aeon will see you.¡± ¡°Alright!¡± - The next 30 hero levels came after 4 months of constant grinding. She had to travel the fractured Rottedlands, to look for the giant hybrids, because only the massive hybrids gave her sufficient experience. Still, it¡¯s exceptionally fast levelling speed, but for the heroes, it still felt too slow. Still, I chose level 90, because I recall one of the first few heroes I met unlocked their [heavenly forms] at that level. Kei¡¯s level 90 skill wasn¡¯t heavenly form. Instead, it was, [Heavenly Guns Array]. It created a massive star mana powered fortress around her with multiple magical floating flak-cannon lookalikes. They had a large range, and clearly were meant to take out aerial opponents. She was, literally, a walking anti-air fortress. A shipgirl. I had to resist really hard to ask whether she knew what a shipgirl was. ¡°Damn. Finally back to civilization after hitting level 90.¡± Kei said, finally back in a large city after spending her last few months camping out in the towns along the Tree-expressways. Those towns were her ¡®save spot¡¯ as she ventured into the Rottedlands. We granted her a small escort, mostly as a guide. There really was no need to attach an upgraded Valthorn with her, since her level¡¯s already quite high, so her escorts were mostly a few regular Aeonic priests, for healing, and a small squad of regular Valthorn soldiers and rangers. She quickly visited Lausanne. Somehow, Lausanne¡¯s her ¡®guide¡¯, even if she¡¯s still busy with Arlisa and just as a trainer. ¡°I¡¯m level 90 now, can I meet Aeon and claim my weapon?¡± Lausanne just bowed, ¡°I¡¯m afraid the right person to assist you is Jura.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± She met Jura in the Valthorn Fortress, and quickly made her request. ¡°Yes. I believe Aeon has been expecting you. Before that, there is someone Aeon wants you to meet.¡± - ¡°Kei, this is Astia. She¡¯s a human from your world, I believe.¡± Stella just nodded, she was nervous, afraid, and yet excited to meet someone from her own world. ¡°Hi.¡± ¡°Hello.¡± Kei just nodded. ¡°You¡¯re... not a hero?¡± She scratched her head, baffled. Stella just smiled at her question. ¡°No. I¡¯m an accident. Collateral damage.¡± ¡°That¡¯s... really strange. And rather than let you die normally, they send you here?¡± ¡°Uh... yeah.¡± ¡°Did you... die in a bus?¡± Stella answered, she was more nervous. She now wondered why she even agreed to this. What did she want out of this meet, anyway? So what if the hero was from earth. There was no way they could help her, is there? Those thoughts immediately made her blurt out. ¡°Uh, do you know how to go back?¡± Kei looked at Stella as if it was a strange question. ¡°Why would I want to go back? This world is awesome. I get magical powers, I can slay demons, and I get to live like a Queen once I win.¡± Stella immediately realised Kei was just like the first batch, the kids. They wanted to be in this world. ¡°Oh. I see. Well... uh... good luck then.¡± Stella gave a wave and walked away. ¡°Alright. Can I claim my hero items now?¡± Kei immediately changed the subject. Jura smiled and led her to a nice garden with a gazebo and a small area. There were cookies, fruits, tea, and some other refreshments. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll take you there, but first, a short break, shall we? I¡¯ve got some questions to ask as well.¡± ¡°Oh okay.¡± She sat down, took a sip and started snacking. ¡°Well, firstly. On behalf of Aeon, what do you think is the role of a [hero]?¡± Kei paused. ¡°Is that a trick question?¡± ¡°Not really, Aeon promised the previous generation of heroes that he will grant you a hero item, but he merely wanted to be sure.¡± She took another sip. ¡°I don¡¯t know, actually. The gods we met, his name was Claude. He said we were.. Uh... emergency summons. Our mission was to destroy the demon king, and we would be rewarded for it. [Hero]¡¯s probably too big a word for me. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m a hero, at least not yet, so I suppose you could consider us... uhm... demon exterminators?¡± ¡°I see, I see.¡± Jura smiled. ¡°Have some cookies? They are good.¡± Jura took one and had it too. ¡°Are you aware of the history of [heroes] and the [demon kings]?¡± ¡°Yeah, I mean, I got the broad gist of it. The priests we met told us about how the world had regular demon kings and us heroes are summoned to fight them. It¡¯s just the way the world is, a constant cycle of destruction and rebirth. Evil monsters from the beyond, and heroes to stop it.¡± ¡°Well, lately, the destruction has been far too heavy for the world to bear. It is no longer just a regular forest fire, but an inferno that engulfed a continent. If there was a way to stop this cycle, would you ever take it?¡± Kei froze at the question, and seemed to have a headache. She didn¡¯t respond for a good minute, her eyes were blank. ¡°Uh... I¡¯m sorry. It was just really difficult for me to think somehow..¡± She took a big sip of tea. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Jura smiled. ¡°Take all the time you need.¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s a choice not for me to decide. I mean, the god entrusted me to slay the demon king, I think I should do it. It¡¯s my purpose, you know.¡± ¡°Is it really your purpose, or a purpose that was placed on you?¡± Again, she took another big sip of tea and ate some of the fruits. ¡°Whoah. We¡¯re onto some heavy conversations before I get the hero items, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Well, have you not wondered why it¡¯s so natural for you to want to kill demons? Why with such passion and determination?¡± Kei seemed to struggle to respond. ¡°You know... these questions are really making my head spin. I don¡¯t know, but demons are the bad guys, right? I¡¯m given all these powers to kill demons, so what do I do, if not kill demons?¡± Jura smiled at the young girl. ¡°Surely, when all you have is a hammer...¡± ¡°Everything looks like nails.¡± Kei continued. ¡°So yes, I have anti-demon powers, I¡¯m gonna use them, and then after I win, I¡¯m going to take a break.¡± It seemed that Kei¡¯s mindset is quite heavily affected by the [hero] power. Almost more than the previous generation, or is this because she has yet to see the destruction that follows? ¡°What was on your mind when you arrived in the Eastern Continent?¡± ¡°Destruction. So much destruction from the demon king. It¡¯s only right we defeat them.¡± Jura realised at that point it was pointless to continue. ¡°I believe that¡¯s enough. Come.¡± Jura led her into the Valley of the Unrotten. It was a relatively long walk, there were no beetles to ferry them, even though that is possible. Jura led her to one of the large giant attendant trees within, and inside it, there was a room with a selection of hero items. ¡°Well, on all the tables are the hero items. The previous heroes said that you may choose one.¡± ¡°Only one?¡± ¡°Yes. One item. And we will need you to contribute back to the treasury as well, by making a hero item.¡± Kei paused and thought. ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°There are some journals left by the heroes, they are meant for your reading, but cannot be taken. You may also leave your own journals, if you feel like it.¡± Jura left her alone inside, and that was the first time I telepathically spoke to her. ¡°Kei.¡± She froze. ¡°...Aeon?¡± ¡°Yes. These are belongings of Harris, Gerrard and Mirei, they came almost 60 years ago. They started the 4 decades of peace, when they held back 4 demon kings consecutively.¡± ¡°I see.¡± She sat down and she was drawn to the journals first. She started reading the handwriting notes. I wasn¡¯t privy to the contents, since the journal itself was sealed. Yet, it opened for her so naturally, as if it detected another hero. She spent a few hours with the journals, and I thought I saw her weep at a few points. There was a kind of heroic energy in the journals that blocked my ability to eavesdrop or observe, and I certainly wasn¡¯t aware of this ability. It was when she finally closed the journal that I could talk to her again. But she was just stunned. She didn¡¯t say a word for another 30-45 minutes, but I could see she was thinking really, really hard. ¡°Aeon?¡± She asked after that period of silence. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Do you.... Still have herbal infused wines? Or teas? The strongest ones?¡± A small teapot appeared in the Giant Attendant Tree, and hot water too. She quietly brewed the tea and sipped it, her mind still spinning. Patreeck could not read her mind once she passed Level 40 as a hero. She sat there and sipped. ¡°I... I wasn¡¯t ready to see those... visions.¡± Kei said. ¡°Sorry? I¡¯ve got no idea what is in the journals.¡± ¡°I mean... they left memories behind in the journals. Some kind of dreamspell that contained a fragment of themselves. It¡¯s like... It¡¯s like a part of them still lived in the journal.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± I certainly wasn¡¯t aware that a journal could be made so powerful. But since it was made with [star mana], I suppose anything is possible. ¡°The gods want us to kill the demon and keep the cycle going, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Well, yes?¡± ¡°But they also want us to die, so that the world¡¯s constantly in turmoil?¡± I had no answer. ¡°Do you believe what the heroes said?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°I mean, that this demon and us... we¡¯re the god¡¯s way of resetting the system? Keep this world stagnant and stuck in a perpetual state of war. Do you believe that?¡± ¡°That¡¯s just one of the theories. Without asking the gods, no one knows.¡± I suppose that sounded like one of the crazy musings Gerrard had. I didn¡¯t know he recorded that into the journal. She sat. ¡°I...¡± She looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown. ¡°It changes nothing for you, really. The gods have already predestined that you must slay the demon king, or die. That is a task you have.¡± ¡°I can choose to do nothing.¡± She had a headache again, and she quickly took a sip of the tea. ¡°Your two friends will do it for you, or they will die trying. It is best you go with them. Again, knowledge only changes your perspective, but not the task at hand.¡± Kei sat for a while, and then she stretched. ¡°Yes. You are right. And I too, should do my part.¡± She walked over to the journal, and she channeled her star mana into it. The journal glowed, and I thought it became bigger. She then spent the next few hours analysing the other hero items, and a few more hours making more hero items. All in, she spent almost 3 days there and she left with a spear. But I felt she changed. I¡¯m really curious what¡¯s in the journal now. ¡°Thank you, Aeon. I must now depart and join my friends. It will be time for me to do my duty, whether we like it or not.¡± ¡°Good luck.¡± Kei left Freshka, and started her journey to return to the Eastern Continent. She would have to travel from Freshka, and journey to the port cities on the Eastern Coast, and then arrange for a special pirate ship that would smuggle her there. - ¡°How¡¯re you, Astia?¡± Stella was in her studio, working on her paintings and posters. That little meet with Kei didn¡¯t go as well as I liked, and strangely, it made her turn to painting. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± No she¡¯s not. Her mental indicators were a mess. She felt lonely, alone in the world. She wondered whether death would return her to her own world, and yet she lacked the guts to actually kill herself. There was no one who could help her. ¡°Alright.¡± I decided not to push it. ¡°The door is always open should you ever need to speak, or want to go somewhere. The Central Continent is home to many beautiful sights, and if you wish, I may arrange someone to go with you.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Her mind¡¯s still locked up. I could force it open, but I decided not to. Perhaps she needs meditation. Even though it¡¯s been years since she arrived, she¡¯s still not yet accepted reality, her mind clung onto her old world, no matter how painful her life there was. She still yearned to go home. She had no friends, but many acquaintances. I had tried to create environments for her to make friends, but she couldn¡¯t let anyone in. So it didn¡¯t go anywhere. - The runic formations necessary for a supermassive blood ritual were 60% complete. Creating them was far harder than I expected. Containing the energies that such a ritual would release was one of the two main struggles, the second point of difficulty was then compressing such a massive ritual into a single shot. Runes were hard, especially at large scales. I hope that I never have to resort to such bloody tactics. On other preparations, Hytreerion, my tree walker was idle. It was a massive anti-air fortress and it sat at the edges of the Eastern Continent. It could not walk or swim across the ocean, and I wondered whether flight was a good idea. But then, I also doubt a Flying Titan could swim across the ocean. It was a distance far too large to bridge. Still, the [Trade Lord]¡¯s efforts to convert a few of the port cities into mini-pirate dens were quite successful. Piracy had a kind of charm to it, and as a privateer, it was even better. They had legal backing of the Central Continent. The Eastern Continent managed to hold on, even if so many have died. The demon king clearly is incapacitated or ¡®sealed¡¯ to some effect. At the same time, I wanted to activate my two unique classes. ¡°Lausanne. I have a special class, [Aeonic Demonslayer]. Do you want it?¡± ¡°...no.¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°No. Perhaps you could offer it to Jura?¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°I think... I think I don¡¯t deserve this special treatment.¡± Lausanne said. ¡°I certainly lack the kind of genius talent needed to maximise such a class. After spending such a long time as an adventurer, I realised my talent¡¯s honestly just above average, my main advantage is really my high levels, and the unique abilities that you gave me. In the hands of someone truly talented and gifted, I think your powers can go much further. And at the same time, it¡¯s also fear. I may not live up to the expectations such a special class would have, and I may do stupid things.¡± It¡¯s motherhood, isn¡¯t it? But I didn¡¯t say it. ¡°So... please, offer it to someone else.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± - Gated Gardens Year 145 The Eastern Continent¡¯s war against the demons increased in intensity. The heroes returned, and with it, they brought superior, star-mana powered firepower. The heroes could take on large flights of drakes, and that meant the war was starting to shift in favor of the natives. We know this, because the temples¡¯ propaganda machine is in full swing, boasting of the heroes success in defeating the demons. So, the powers of the 3 heroes were now public knowledge. Kei essentially was a mobile flak fortress. Alvin, was a mobile missile site and he fired magic missiles by the thousands. Hans was the mobile beam weapons and drones person. Strange that the Gods opted for ground based anti-air powers, instead of giving the heroes flight and ability to fight midair. With their powers, the drakes were not a challenge. They just could not be everywhere at the same time. There were too many fronts, too many cities and towns under the attack of the drakes. The drakes have multiplied tremendously over the past few years, and swarms of 50 to 300 giant drakes were now common sight. Lausanne described them as mobile flying fortresses, and were quite like dragons that she¡¯d seen in her many dreams. I was expecting the war to end soon. The heroes would win, I think. - In the Central continent, the ruling class generally believed the demon king was a goner. They didn¡¯t think the heroes would fail the 2nd time, even if they were the 2nd batch. Personally, I think they would succeed, simply because the demon king must be in a weaker state, perhaps due to damage from the earlier battles with the first batch of heroes. So, our focus was mainly on restoring the trade connections that¡¯ve been lost over the past decade of war, and it was getting easier. In particular, a few of the island nations, there were some volcanic island nations located nearer to the center of the oceans, that were keen to support us and essentially become our intermediaries. Unlike the continental kingdoms where the temple¡¯s influence is strong, these volcanic islands had a lot more to gain, and honestly, not much to lose. That said, since most of our ships disguised themselves as pirate ships, privateers all, they had multiple sea battles with the navies of those continental kingdoms. We lost quite many ships, but it was fine. On the Northern continent, often referred to as the Northern Isles, a few independent kingdoms went as far as permitting our merchant ships to dock, without a need to change our flags. Overall, a good sign, that trade and global relations were somewhat thawing. I really don¡¯t see the point of pointless battles. Solving the demon king in the long run was a bigger problem. - The Central Continent is big, and even though almost all of the kingdoms and nations in the continent are now allied to my, either formally or indirectly, there are still places where my root network and trees only have a little coverage. Since many of these new kingdoms are relatively new to my growing federation, we had focused our subsidiary trees in the habited zones. This was in line with our support of the Treeological priests¡¯ social and charity work. It would be quite similar to a network of expressways linking all the large habited zones, since I also needed the network of trees to ¡®break¡¯ through the shattered Rottedlands, and also to act as beacons for the beetle-truckers. Therefore, in spite of my vast network, there are still gaps. And where there are gaps, there are mysteries to be explained, and monsters I have yet to meet. So, in the northern areas of the Central continent, in a forest I recently just expanded to, we heard a creature calling out to us. ¡°I sense a spirit in our midst.¡± A large giant wolf spoke, it looked every park like a regular giant wolf-animal, but the very fact that it spoke meant it was not ordinary at all. It seemed to be having a conversation with something, or someone. ¡°You are right, perhaps it can hear us.¡± The wolf somehow said. ¡°So, spirit, show yourself.¡± I thought about this for a moment, and decided to telepathically speak. There was something strange about his form as a wolf, perhaps it is not really a wolf. ¡°Greetings.¡± The wolf paused, and it looked around. ¡°I see. A spirit of the land?¡± ¡°I am Aeon, a Tree Spirit.¡± ¡°Akrenaf, Wolf of the Hunt.¡± I had no idea what that was. ¡°It seems you speak the common tongue?¡± ¡°Ah, I am both wolf and man, and there are two of us in our body as we speak.¡± My spiritual vision seemed to clear up, and then I saw a wolf... and something like a man? But it¡¯s not really separated. ¡°The man in me is Varik the Brave, a human shaman who died a century ago.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°You are...¡± it paused, and then it seemed puzzled. ¡°Where is your body?¡± ¡°Far, far away.¡± ¡°So... strange.¡± ¡°Not as strange as two souls in a single body.¡± I don¡¯t recall that is possible. One soul should have purged the other. I focused my energies, my roots linked to more trees. The trees around them all added to my spiritual sense. ¡°Ah, we are not really two souls. Our souls fused, and we are one, but we are of two minds.¡± Ah split personality. That¡¯s a lot easy to digest. ¡°How?¡± ¡°Varik the [Shaman] has a unique ritual skill called [Living Memory]. It made his soul into a memory able to latch onto anything, or in this instance, me.¡± Akrenaf said. ¡°I, the wolf killed him a century ago. I was but a normal wolf then.¡± The memory changed the wolf, and it gained levels since then. It is now far stronger than before, and yet, it refused to leave it¡¯s forest. ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°I am dominant, but his memories, voices, magic and thoughts remain in me. He lives through me.¡± ¡°Fascinating. Well met, Akrenaf, Wolf of the Hunt.¡± It howled. Akrenaf was a wolf that guarded this forest, and as a wolf, he is, in many ways, a monster like me. Yet, it had memory of the world, and thought, and so it gained levels. As my roots spread throughout the forest... This was a young forest. It was not older than 50 years. ¡°This forest, it was destroyed before?¡± ¡°Yes. The demons came, we were powerless to stop it, so we hid in the mountains till they left. When they left, Varik¡¯s [Shaman] powers helped to restore the land and return the forest. ¡°I see.¡± That explained how the forest didn¡¯t seem special. It was not ancient, and it doesn¡¯t have history to it. It was no wonder it fell through all our radars. This [shaman] class is interesting, so I quickly went through my stockpiles. I do have a few of them, but I¡¯ve not given them to anyone. It¡¯s certainly a ritualistic class, with a focus on runes, sacrifices, ceremonies and processions. - Exploration of the [Tainted Demon Core] continued. More tests, and I still struggle. I had to wield both regular mana, and somehow create demon mana to unlock it. It was going nowhere. - Arlisa was 5, and she grew quickly. Her physique was at least 20-30% bigger than a half-elf of her age, and despite her petite figure, her body was exceptionally strong. This was because her inherited class had transformed into [Blessing of a Soul Tree (advanced)], and she unlocked [Enhanced Strength], and [Resilient Body]. It¡¯s strange, and like Lausanne, quite a splitting image of herself. Laufen could finally have the joy of teasing Lausanne. ¡°You were just like her. We couldn¡¯t handle you when you got too strong.¡± ¡°She didn¡¯t even get started on the dreams yet!¡± Lausanne protested. Arlisa made a naughty face and ran away. It was a pain to find her, she didn¡¯t unlock any class yet, but she already has the [Lesser Stealth] skill. ¡°I don¡¯t know anyone who has lesser stealth at 5!¡± Lausanne complained when she caught her daughter hiding on top of the trees in Freshka. ¡°She better not end up stealing!¡± - [The Demon King Raja-Naga has been slain]. None of the heroes died, and the news of their victory quickly spread. The war of the demon king is over... at least, for this decade. The heroes spent two months mopping up the rest of the demons from the Eastern Continent, and then... they were all set out on their ways. So... Kei returned to the Central Continent after that. Alone, and she immediately went to Freshka. ¡°I need an audience with Aeon.¡± She met Jura, and there was a seriousness in her words. ¡°No buts. I want to see him, or I will barge into the valley myself.¡± Jura shrugged and nodded. If she won against the demon king, then there¡¯s nothing Jura can do to stop her anymore. Not at his level. We led her to the Giant Attendant Tree again, where she last chose her hero item. Once she was inside, she immediately sat down and demanded. ¡°I want tea.¡± Oh well. Tea it is. She poured exceptionally large amounts of leaves into the pot and made a thick brew. She cast a spell to cool it down and then quickly downed the cup. Then she yelled. ¡°FUUUUUUUUUUUUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!¡± Thankfully she was indoors. She poured herself another cup of the tea, and downed it. ¡°FUCK THIS SHIT! ARGH WHY WERE WE SO STUPID!¡± ¡°Uh, may I ask what happened?¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°Those fucking gods Fuck fuck fuckfuckfuckfuck.¡± Then she seemed to struggle against some kind of phantom pain. She quickly gulped down a cup of tea. ¡°You won, right?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t have to kill the demon king!¡± Kei shouted. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t have to kill a weak, defenseless demon king!¡± What? I waited. That sounded absurd. The demon king killed so many. Surely killing the demon king is the right thing to... wait. Is she trying to tell me something else. ¡°But the gods. Fuck¡¯em, they did something to all of us. All three of us. We broke the seal that the previous heroes made, and killed the weakened and disabled demon king. It was pathetic of us. There was no challenge in slaying a weakened demon king.¡± The more I paid attention, this was a very weird statement from Kei. Like, what do you mean, no challenge? Is that all she cared about? No. She¡¯s trying to say something without saying it. She sat and started talking. ¡°We should¡¯ve walked away, rather than let the power in our hands get to our head. The previous heroes were not strong enough to kill the demon king, but the seal they left behind in their final hours left the demon king in a perpetually disarmed state, trapped in a magical tornado and magical web, sustained by heroic mana.¡± ¡°The demon king couldn¡¯t harm a fly in that state, and yet we walked up to it and killed it! It was pathetic! We should have waited for a proper fight." Huh. ¡°Why?¡± She continued. ¡°I don¡¯t fucking know either, but whatever fuck that was, I should have slapped the hell out of my two friends and tell them to walk away. But I didn¡¯t. The bloodlust won. Fuck the gods. They fucked with my mind so hard. I want a proper fight!¡± She¡¯s not like that. She had a headache again. Another cup. "Even now, they are fucking with me." No. She¡¯s trying to say... what. ¡°Think about it. If we only killed all the other demons, and left the demon king there and waited for it to recover, we could have a proper fight. We could wait a 100 years if we need to, so that we can get a proper fight on our hands.¡± 100 years? Oh. OH. She had a mental breakdown, a headache and started crying. ¡°Why, Aeon? Why?¡± I honestly have no idea. But clever. ¡°Are the gods secretly sadists? Are they gods of war, like Ares, that relished in victory? They just want the demon king dead, is that it? Even if it¡¯s defenseless? Don¡¯t they care about the struggle? The pleasure and satisfaction of a hard won battle?¡± Kei sat up. ¡°Fuck the gods. Fuck em, and fuck my two brainwashed friends who can¡¯t seem the mindcontrol for the life of me. My answer is simple. Aeon, I need your help. I believe in the whole wide world right now, only you can help me. Even if I die in the end.¡± Another cup. ¡°Next one, I want a proper fight with the demon king.¡± Then she screamed in pain. ¡°And...¡± ¡°You¡¯re a tree, a magical tree, and as far as I can tell, one of the strongest beings to exist in this world. If I give you all the star mana I have, including my soul if you need it, can you..." She couldn''t say it, as she dropped down on the floor and struggled. It seemed like her head was in immense pain and she pulled her hair. This was too much for me to take and if I was a human I¡¯d be panicking. Thankfully, a tree does not panic. She struggled for a good one hour, and when she recovered, her eyes were blank, her face deathly pale. She just sat there, and finished her pot of tea. Then she asked for the journal, but I didn¡¯t say too much to her. She seemed out of it. She stared at the journal for hours, then finally she added some additional notes into it. She slept in that room that day, then spent the subsequent few weeks, making more star-mana weapons. - Despite Kei¡¯s obsession and frustrations about slaying a weakened demon king, I think she was actually trying to tell me something else, without fully triggering the god¡¯s increasingly overreaching mental influences. By not going all the way and making me think for myself what she couldn¡¯t say, did she just... figure out how to cheat the gods? Her statement about a weakened, disarmed demon king opened my mind to a world of possibilities. Seal the demon king. And probably the heroes too. A seal that could last a century. Maybe more. It¡¯s strange to think that this entire problem could be solved in such a simple method. Seal the demon king, lock it up, keep it alive but harmless. Essentially, it would jam a metal wrench into the cog. It¡¯s a lot easier to deal with the other demons, without the demon king. Peace. Sort of. But how? It was a proposal in the right intent, but we are lacking the tools. If this is to be done, it would need a few decades of preparation, and far more levels than what we have now. I gathered my artificial minds. ¡°The hero Kei was almost in the right direction. If we can somehow figure out how to disable both the hero and the demon king, we can delay the cycle as long as they are both disabled. Failure is unfortunately death, since if either one turns on us, our ability to survive them right now is low.¡± ¡°It can be done if the hero is on our side. By our calculations and our present abilities, I think we have an extremely slim chance this would succeed. I recommend significantly more preparation.¡± Patreeck commented, and naturally I agreed. This was going against heaven and hell at the same time. ¡°To seal a demon king and also a hero would require a spell far more powerful than anything we have, perhaps at an even higher tier than the superhexbomb.¡± ¡°But not impossible, and as the hero implied, a 100 years of peace may be worth it, and it would allow us all the time we need to prepare for the eventual failure of the seal. We are the only ones that can stop this. Only us, with the benefit of our long lives. Perhaps, us and Lilies. Together.¡± Silence from my artificial minds. ¡°We would have to convince Lilies to support this endeavour, it is risky, since the heroes will turn on us as our plans involve sealing both sides. We also don¡¯t know how far the god¡¯s mind-warping abilities can go. Should any of the heroes rebel so publicly, would the gods be able to turn their powers on overdrive, and turn her into their puppet outright?¡± I believe it is certain that the gods won¡¯t let me seal the demon king. Why else did they load up the heroes¡¯ minds with so much mental alterations? I believe the gods can make them puppets if they so desire, perhaps at a great cost. ¡°If so, master, conflict with the heroes...¡± ¡°Inevitable.¡± I recalled Kei¡¯s words. When she saw the demon king, she was swamped with an intense bloodlust. The heroes that supported and worked with us may betray us at that crucial moment, and that could go really bad, very quickly. We would need very specific countermeasures for the heroes then. The war with the temples would take a far nastier turn, if that happened. Still, I wanted to thank Kei. She sparked a thought, a chance, of how this entire conflict could end. A perpetual truce. Maybe it would not succeed in her lifetime, but I have the time to prepare. I¡¯ll need all the time to prepare on this path that will make the gods and demons my enemies. ¡°Master.¡± Patreeck spoke. ¡°It may be tempting to consider Kei¡¯s suggestion as something achievable, but at the same time, it is possible that you can gain sufficient power to alter the divine arrangement yourself, without a need to directly seal both of the combatants in this conflict.¡± ¡°Hmmm?¡± ¡°I mean... the heroes and the demons are beings from another world, right? If you could... seal this world away, hide the world from their sight, would they still come?¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like the powers of the ancient vanishing forest, taking it to the next level. A vanishing world, away from the meddling gazes of the demons and the gods. A global shroud generator.¡± Another option. Go all out on the path of divinity, then run away, and take this entire world with it. There are other options that may emerge the higher up I go, as I better understand the powers of the divine. Options. Suddenly I felt like there is a path out of this stupid game. ¡°You are right. We must try what we can.¡± Spaizzer Happy new year peeps. Thanks for reading. Ballistreecs Year 146 We had a lot of thinking to do, and as we seriously considered it, we discovered there were more options. One of which, which also has some chance of success, is to break one of the heroes free of the god¡¯s control, permanently. The risk was, an independent hero could choose to do anything, including turn on me. Yet, unlike Patreeck¡¯s idea of achieving godhood and altering the world directly, I had some idea on how to succeed. Already I have some inroads on this, with my teas and drinks, that helped to suppress the effects of the god¡¯s influence. I¡¯d have to figure out how to superpower my tea and drinks, to make a real anti-divine influence tea. So, we started doing a lot more research on the tea. What is it about the tea that makes it work? We performed various tests, and to most people, the tea... does nothing much. It¡¯s just regular tea, for most people, though gradually, we noticed that most of them were healthier after a month¡¯s intake of tea, daily. There was a lot more research to do on teas. Second, which was in the same league of difficulty as ascending to full divinity myself, was to create my own [hero]. If the levelling system allowed me to eventually reach full divinity, I should be able to alter the game either myself, or via my agents. All in, we had a few options. One, seal the demon king and heroes. Thus delay the summoning of the next demon king or heroes. The risk with this was that, what if there¡¯s no real restriction? What if the gods¡¯ heroes and demon king can just arrive anyway, when the time is right? Could the gods force a summoning Two, ascend to full divinity. There¡¯s significantly unclear what my options are at that point, or whether it allowed me to alter the systems at that point. But, this should be a default option. As long as I am strong, sealing the demon king and heroes will be ¡®easier¡¯. Three, break a hero free of god¡¯s control. Alternatively, would it be possible to also break a demon king free of their own control? Four, make my own hero. May not need full divinity if there are worldly ways to reach that level of power. Five, achieve the ability to kill the demon king and heroes extremely quickly. This would effectively minimise their threat level. Easier said than done, and again, requires myself to probably achieve full divinity. Only a god could kill a demigod, no? - In the past 2 years, I used my new [gifts] on the priests and Valthorns. Since skills could be upgraded, and I had earlier started doing widespread screening of young children, I already had a decently sized dataset of skills. From what, it was a matter of triangulating those who are loyal, have good skills that could be taken a step further, and probably need the skill to make an impact. The first time I used it 2 years ago, I used it on a Treeologist high priest with the skill [Presence of Calm], which upgraded it to [Aura of Tranquility (Strong], simply because he lived in an area where the population was angry and upset at the trade and industrial issues. It would take some time to solve the issue, since matters of industry can¡¯t be fixed overnight. They do need a period of time for a new reality to sink it. The aura helped to suppress the dissent, for the changes introduced to take effect. This was a people issue, sometimes. A solution is available, but when the populace is already angry, often the solution is rejected and resisted. It¡¯s like trying to help the person in pain, first we must suppress the pain, then we can get to the cause of the pain. If the victim is struggling, it makes life difficult for everyone. Last year, I used the skill gift on Edna¡¯s [Grand Shield], and it transformed into [Suit of Grand Armor], which pretty much made her a walking tank. It was a little bit of a letdown, I thought it would evolve into Triple Grand Shield or something. But oh well. Skills don¡¯t always work the way I want them to. So, this year, I went to Arlisa instead, and I tried to upgrade the [Blessing of a Soul Tree (advanced)]. It didn¡¯t work. Then, I went to another of the Patreearchs. He had a skill called [Guidance of the Master], which generally helped the priests under his care gain new skills, or speed up their levelling. But, he can only use it on one student at a time, once a month. Again, I hoped it transform into an aura or something, but instead, it just upgraded into [Guidance of the Master (advanced)], which increased the number of students at any one time to three students. Oh well. I think I will try it on one of the blacksmiths or woodworkers next. Maybe he could make something nice. Yeah. Actually I should totally make one of the blacksmiths into some kind of super blacksmith. No seal would work without high tier equipment to match, and I do need alternatives that are in the same tier as the hero-items. - I spent a lot of time thinking about how to use my new levelling skill, and my sticking point was mainly giving 60 levels and skills may very well be a handicap. From my understanding of the people as a whole, things that are given so easily, especially a level gift, would be wasted on most people who are unable to wrap their head around the sudden surge in levels. That they would lose the ability to estimate their own strength, because they jumped up so fast. It¡¯s like a man who just learned to drive, suddenly getting a 1000bhp sports car. He wouldn¡¯t be able to cope with his newfound power and speed. Or how a person who just struck the lottery would soon squander his wealth. It wasn¡¯t earned. Unlike the upgraded skills, which are given to people who are already at high levels of power, the sudden surge in levels would be given to young folks with low levels, for my gift of levels to be most effective. There was also the issue of free will and choice. Since my gift dictated that I select the class and levels, what if they don¡¯t want this class? After all, this gift is most effective on the young with low levels. It¡¯s like I forced someone to study through university for a degree he may not really like, but thought he liked when he was young. I struggled with this power for quite some time, until I was then led back to the wolf with two ¡®spirits¡¯ in it. Akrenaf was content to live in the forest, and though it was clearly intelligent, it decided to do nothing but stay in its forest. Monsters. I should use my gift on monsters. Monsters after all don¡¯t have an issue of class. Monsters can¡¯t gain classes, like how I couldn¡¯t gain classes. I decided to use my gift on a spider. It gained the levels alright, it transformed into a giant spider... I felt static in my telepathic connections. It was trying to communicate and the spider was extremely confused. Then it went on a rampage. I had to kill it. Damn this gift. It¡¯s a trap. I¡¯ll need to figure out how to use it properly. Maybe on my artificial souls instead. -- ¡°Ms Astia.¡± Kei bowed and then sat opposite Astia in her living room. They are neighbours, at least, for now. ¡°Apologies for intruding. May I sit here and talk?¡± Astia paused. ¡°You don¡¯t have to reply. I understand it makes you nervous. But just hear me out.¡± She nodded. Kei had declared herself a resident of the Central continent, and I agreed. Strangely, most of her decision making was guided by the journal. ¡°I read in the journal that the heroes receive fragments when their friends die in battle, but I want to know whether you get them too. Is it something all of us earthlings get?¡± Astia nodded. ¡°I see. Thankfully I don¡¯t have a fragment, at least, not yet. Tell me, what do you remember from earth? Technologies, things. Do you remember any of the scientific formulas and equations?¡± The older girl shook her head. Kei sighed. ¡°Me neither. I curse myself for not studying harder. Who knew all these things would be handy anyway? I wanted to make gunpowder, like, real gunpowder.¡± Strangely, Astia interjected. ¡°Why make gunpowder when there are local powders that do the same thing? Spark-powders.¡± ¡°...ah. Yes. True, true. There may be native equivalents of our human things. I suppose you don¡¯t remember anything about computers, either?¡± Astia was baffled. ¡°Computers are incredibly hard to make. The level of precision...¡± ¡°Well, like you suggested, there¡¯s magic. Magic and precision crafting can be a substitute for clean rooms and industrial manufacturing processes...¡± ¡°But, why do you need computers when magic can do the same, and more?¡± ¡°Scale? For those without magic?¡± It was a bit strange for Astia to be the advocate of this world¡¯s methods. ¡°Miss hero, you might think your way is the right way, and this world might seem primitive. But I don¡¯t think you should be introducing the things you want, without thinking it through.¡± Her heartbeat was fast, and even weirder for her to defend this world¡¯s way of life. Kei was silent, as she considered Astia¡¯s words. Patreeck peeked into her mind, and I sensed she was nervous, but yet she did truly feel that this world wasn¡¯t that bad. Kei sat and looked out. ¡°My friends are going to wage war, eventually. They will think it is right to continue the god¡¯s divine crusade against Aeon. They are not doing so because the temples are consumed by the massive reconstruction efforts and funds needed for the Eastern Continent. I hoped we could have an advantage.¡± We? Astia shook her head. She was too nervous to say it, but we could read her mind. Once again, heroes are fools. They don¡¯t know anything, but since they have power, and someone tells them of the issues, they¡¯ll champion it even if they don¡¯t know the truth. Kei had enough and walked away. - She then brought her concerns to Jura. ¡°The crusades will come again. This time, there will be two heroes on their side.¡± She wasn¡¯t here for the first one, but she seemed to think there will be a second one. Indeed, the heroes are overpowered. If they attempt to attack anyone, it¡¯s unlikely they¡¯d lose. If anything, I should force them to a stalemate. What countermeasures do I have against heroes? Could I use poison against them? Did they have poison immunity as default, or only for certain types of heroes? Rather than have a discussion, it was better to just have a serious fight. Kei and Jura have a serious fight deep in a secluded forest. ¡°So, Aeon is watching?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jura nodded. ¡°If your two friends are coming, we must first know how far we are. As it is, I¡¯m one of the highest leveled.¡± Well, he IS the highest level. There was no one else at level 100. Everyone else was stuck in their caps at Level 80 to 85. ¡°I see. Then I shall not hold back.¡± ¡°Well, but don¡¯t kill me.¡± Jura laughed and prepared his spear. Bamboo floated around his body, forming a wooden structure. Kei levitated, she didn¡¯t even need to say a word, then a massive array of magical guns appeared, and floated around her. The guns started to aim and fired rapidly. Jura immediately used the [Triple Steelwood Barriers of Aeon], and the guns hammered the barriers, breaking off the wooden barriers chunk by chunk. But here was our first learning point, Kei was using star mana attacks, but it didn¡¯t deal exceptional damage against my shields. This meant star mana is super powerful, but it probably had a special perk against demons. It held briefly, the multiple guns did destroy the barrier in after 15 seconds. Jura had to quickly move, weaving through the hail of bullets. It was like watching an expert dance through a bullet storm. Kei was a shipgirl, and this was Touhou¡¯s bullet hell. The shield had a recharge period, so Jura couldn¡¯t use it again, but it was time to go on the offense. Return bullet hell with bullet hell, as Jura¡¯s Bamboo expanded massively, forming multiple flowers. The flowers took damage from the bullets, but some managed to activate and fired shells back at Kei. Yet, the same shells were shot down by Kei¡¯s array of guns. She had an array of close-range anti-projectile guns as her defense. Most of Jura¡¯s shells didn¡¯t even get close, and the few that did, didn¡¯t do much damage to the array. ¡°What level are you again?¡± Jura ducked as bullets flew over his head. ¡°After killing that weak demon king? Level 112. I think my friends barely crossed Level 100.¡± ¡°And you can keep shooting?¡± Jura managed to create another set of Steelwood Barriers. They were blown up rather quickly. He tried to use the temporary cover to activate long range spear attacks, and then launched them. ¡°Well. Yes. For a few days, in fact.¡± Kei¡¯s gun arrays fired like multiple machineguns, and knocked the flying spears out of the way. ¡°Shit it¡¯s like cheating.¡± Kei kept firing. She didn¡¯t even have to move, her array of cannons did most of the work for her. Jura on the other hand, had to keep moving. At this point, I wondered how¡¯d she react to long range attacks, so I arranged for a spear-beetle to shoot a spear at her from afar. The spear was shredded in midair, but only after it reached a certain distance. Jura launched a few ranged skills, one of which created hundreds of wooden spears and flew at her. The guns shot down most of them, but for a change, about 20% hit the array and destroyed a few of them. Kei frowned and activated an ability. The gun was healing! ¡°Aeons, curse you.¡± Jura cursed, he did his attack again. More spears, and even more spears. The guns kept firing, and then he did a ground-based attack . It exploded right underneath Kei and destroyed one of the arrays! Jura immediately amped up the pace, using his skills to create a massive dust storm. Kei¡¯s cannons fired wildly in all directions, but somehow their aim was slightly worse, so more of the spear projectiles got through the defensive guns. Point 2. She can¡¯t shoot what she can¡¯t see. She has some kind of super-sight, but even then it can be blocked or weakened. Powers like [mist] and [hidden forests] would be useful in a conflict with the hero. I would also have to consider various ¡®passive¡¯ attacks. Kei¡¯s body glowed, and instantly, a massive shell appeared around her, and it fired bullets in all directions like a turning multi turret. It blew some of the smoke and dust away, and whatever bullets that were her way. ¡°That was pretty good.¡± Kei said, she emerged unscathed. ¡°But you know, one of the heroes has missiles, kinda like flying super arrows, and the other one has lasers. I mean beam-light attacks.¡± Damned bullet hell. They have beam dancers too. Jura still couldn¡¯t close in. Kei levitated further up in the sky, and I wondered whether lightning weapons would perform against her. Jura clearly thought of the same thing, as he switched weapons and took out two purple spears. He stabbed one into the ground, and then ran. The guns seemed to have a sense of where he was going, and would fire ahead. Jura took a few shots to the leg, thankfully, Bamboo immediately activated thick wooden armor to absorb the shots. He ran again, Kei still levitating towards him, her guns had never stopped shooting. The ground was battered with mini gunshot explosions, and then he stabbed the other purple spear into the ground. ¡°Oh what is this?¡± Kei wondered, her guns shot the spears too. Jura immediately activated them, and two large lightning bolts arcs towards the other spear, and in doing so, zapped Kei and her array. She screamed in pain, and it seemed her arrays stopped shooting for that brief 1 or 2 seconds. Then it resumed shooting. ¡°Ouch.¡± Kei said, she was fine, even if the shock did slightly hurt her. ¡°That kinda, kinda hurt.¡± The spears only have one single lightning charge each. Lightning works. I would need more lightning weapons, and lightning arrays. In short, extremely high speed is necessary to counter this generation of heroes. My roots could still be effective if they were levitating not far from the ground, but if they floated too high up my roots would be useless. Jura stopped. ¡°I think we can have a break. I¡¯m out of ideas, and my leg hurts. Consider it my loss.¡± Jura was being honest. Kei could keep this up all day, since she doesn¡¯t really get tired if she activated her star mana. Her cannons did all the work, whereas Jura, even though he did have immense stamina, has been dodging bullets the entire fight. ¡°Oh. Okay.¡± ¡°And there¡¯s two of you on the other side.¡± Jura shrugged. ¡°I need more levels to even think of keeping up.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Lightning would work, and I¡¯ve activated my artificial souls to gather all sorts of high speed weapons. Lightning, light beams, death rays, all the sort. I¡¯ll need them in large quantities to hurt the heroes. The heroes would be exceptionally tough from the extra stats of their [hero] class and their blessings, and they would likely to have high natural healing ability too. But they do not have a dedicated healer, and that¡¯s a weak point I need to exploit. If I can wear them down over long periods of time, I can still win. ¡°How long does it take for your star mana to regenerate?¡± ¡°About a day if I sleep. If I keep fighting... I don¡¯t know.¡± Kei said. ¡°Aeon has a plan?¡± ¡°Well, they are two of them, and we are a continent.¡± I can¡¯t feed the heroes too many kills though, they might gain levels. In fact, the tactic would generally involve clearing out wherever they land, and using poison abilities to weaken them. Then only engage them with a large team of high levelled individuals. ¡°I¡¯d never think I¡¯d have to fight a hero. Not in my entire lifetime.¡± Jura said. ¡°Certainly, I¡¯d never think there would even be a reason where I¡¯d have to fight against a hero... well, except if they hunted elves.¡± Kei smirked. ¡°So... what does Aeon have in mind?¡± For Jura, a lot of [experience seeds]. Subtreefuge 2 Year 147 Jura took 14 experience seeds, a whole bunch of skill seeds until he vomited, and that moved his level to Level 114. ¡°These experience seeds are so overpowered.¡± Kei protested. Truth was, she was just upset that it didn¡¯t work on heroes. It was also my first time using so many of them, and I soon discovered there was a time-restriction to the experience seed. Jura couldn¡¯t take another more that 15 experience seeds in total. The additional levels gave Jura more power, speed and abilities, but still, against Kei¡¯s [Fortress of Guns], it¡¯s still lacking. Kei was still absurdly strong, and even if Jura could get close, the guns would all bombard Jura¡¯s armor to smithereens. ¡°Today¡¯s practice is a little special.¡± Jura explained. He was next to Edna and Faris, both Level 80s. ¡°Aeon will be joining in our fight.¡± Kei paused. ¡°Aeon?¡± ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s go.¡± Instantly, her array appeared, and it seemed like she still had some cards to play, as she activated two more arrays of cannons and guns. I wasn¡¯t going to let this chance slide, so I¡¯ve activated [poison roots], [mist] and [constrict]. She levitated out of the way, and her cannons started to shoot the ground beneath her. Jura. Edna and Faris all spread out and attacked from separate directions, hoping to capitalise on the sight-dependent targeting function of the arrays. Still, the guns just carpeted her surroundings. I tried to buy time and space, I created multiple [steelwood barriers] in many places just so that the three have some cover. Then she had large cannons shooting some kind of magical bullet. It blasted the barriers to smithereens in a single shot! Yet, Jura got close, his spear almost grazed her, but it was blocked by an array of cannons, which crumbled from the impact. At that distance, some of the cannons managed to land a point-blank hit on Jura, and Jura was flung to the distance. I had to immediately block with more [steelwood barriers]. ¡°Ouch.¡± Jura was hurt, he bled a little. At the same time, Edna¡¯s new armor-skill also proved relatively useless against the hero. It lasted a good 12 seconds, and then her armor was entirely destroyed. Vines popped up as she tried to regain her footing from the explosion, some of them managed to entangle her array of magical guns. We pulled in all directions, and increased the number of vines. I kept spawning as many vines as I could, and Kei¡¯s guns kept firing, she used fire-attacks, bullets, explosions, and this was when I discovered I could spawn as many vines as she could destroy, and more. I had the mana of the entire network of trees at my disposal, and I was going to use all of it if I had to. It was a tug of war, her cannons kept shooting on the ground around her, destroying the vines, trying to create space between her and the ground beneath her. The vines were exceptional with my energies regenerating them. The vines drained at her mana but she had so, so much! It felt like Alexis again, back when she was that demon-possessed fire elemental form. I had beaten Alexis then, but that¡¯s because she was a weakened hero with demonic energy possessing her. Kei struggled and then her body glowed. Then she emitted an explosion that torched all the vines. At that moment, her array of guns vanished. Edna and Faris were a distance away, they were horribly outmatched by her cannons and guns. Their armor didn¡¯t last. Jura too was nursing his wounds in the distance. I had more vines appear. Kei took a deep breath and summoned another array of guns. She had different types of bullets, and the ground was covered in exposed roots, my roots, she fired more bullets at them. But somehow, regenerating roots and vines were proving to be quite a bad matchup for a gunner like her. This constant resistance went on for a good two hours, and then she was slowly getting tired. I didn¡¯t want to push her further, and I still think she has a lot more to go. ¡°Let¡¯s stop.¡± I mentally signaled, and Kei relaxed. - ¡°What? You didn¡¯t tell us you¡¯re in the central continent!¡± Alvin and Hans were on the other side of the magical call. ¡°I did, but somehow both of you seemed to have just ignored it.¡± Kei frowned. ¡°Why?¡± She was feigning ignorance. ¡°Never mind. Then help us sabotage the Central Continent¡¯s defenses. The temples want to launch a 2nd crusade soon, this time with us as the main force.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Kei frowned. She already knew this much. Back when they were on the Eastern Continent, she already knew of the temple¡¯s plan for a 2nd crusade after the war. The plan was only foiled when the first batch of heroes died. ¡°Because the cursed tree is actually an evil spawn of the demons! Think about it, how else did it survive the demonic corruption for so long? It must be actually a clever ploy by the demons to create a tree that appears to be on our side! The gods have decreed that a war must be waged against it.¡± Before Kei could respond, I mentally whispered. ¡°Play along. If we want to win, it may be a good idea to just let them think you¡¯re on their side.¡± ¡°Hmmm...¡± Kei just acted. ¡°Is the demon tree aware of your presence?¡± The other two heroes said. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Beware of the things it tells you. The temples said the tree has somehow managed to convince and cheat past heroes as well.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°They suspect the tree may have some mind-controlling abilities, psychotic substances and drugs, since it managed to convince the heroes to part with their hero items last time. Don¡¯t take things from the tree. Be careful of what you eat and drink.¡± Kei paused. ¡°You mean it¡¯s been drugging me?¡± ¡°Yeah. Maybe! You have to be careful Kei. It¡¯s a very crafty tree. It managed to defeat the first crusade!¡± ¡°It must be quite crafty.¡± ¡°Why don''t you escape? And rejoin us back in the Southern Continent? The three of us can launch the crusade together!¡± ¡°I... uh...¡± ¡°Has it gotten to you? That evil tree! I won¡¯t forgive them.¡± ¡°I mean... I met someone who¡¯s probably from earth.¡± ¡°Oh no. The tree managed to catch someone else! Can you free him too?¡± ¡°Her.¡± ¡°Ya. Her. Can you free her? Both of you, can you escape? I¡¯m sure the temples will be happy to host all of you. They¡¯ve been treating us really well.¡± Kei rolled her eyes. ¡°You mean girls, right?¡± Both Alvin and Hans blushed. It seemed that the two heroes are serviced by a harem of gorgeous temple priestesses. ¡°I knew it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure they have handsome good looking boys too!¡± Alvin responded. ¡°Come back here, Kei.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think. That tree must be sowing doubt in your mind. Be careful of what you think, Kei.¡± I wonder what the hell were the temples feeding the heroes. But then, maybe the gods have some kind of godly surveillance ability, so it¡¯s not a surprise if it could see what kind of powers I have, though I suspect my later domain-protected powers remain a secret. Kei found it hard to play along as it went on. ¡°Okay okay. I¡¯ll need to hide. Before he finds me.¡± ¡°Good. See you.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± The connection cut off, and Kei stood. She asked. ¡°Do you have mind control powers, Aeon?¡± ¡°No.¡± Well, Patreeck¡¯s not exactly mind control. It¡¯s... influence and mind-reading. ¡°Do you have psychotic drugs?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± If a hero wants to investigate, I¡¯m not surprised if it can find the truth. So it was better to just be upfront about it. ¡°I have various kinds of psychedelic substances, generated by my plants and organs.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Kei walked away. She spent a few weeks fighting demonic hybrids in the Rottedlands. - I spoke to Lausanne about the heroes¡¯ plan for the crusades. ¡°Hmm, I didn¡¯t realise the two of them were so deeply influenced by the temple¡¯s demagoguery. When I met them, they seemed... ordinary.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been many years since the last hero summoning, and the temples are still formally at war with us.¡± Jura opined. ¡°The rhetoric and propaganda is in full swing. Surely you¡¯ve seen the tales that the people spin about us.¡± The propaganda divided the world. Those on the central continent think they are so absurd, to the point that rather than improve the local¡¯s view of the temples, it merely made them look ridiculous. In fact, the fervour and passion of the locals to defend the central continent increased every time some ridiculous propaganda got circulated. It¡¯s even a point of comedy. On the other continents, they seem to believe the propaganda. It wasn¡¯t a stretch for them to believe it, somehow. The only ones that react nonchalantly to the propaganda are the border nations. The island nations that trade with us, and the kingdoms that secretly made trade arrangements. For them, the propaganda, on either side, seemed like just a sidenote. Money, resources were more important. ¡°The Valthorns won¡¯t be much help against the heroes.¡± Jura admitted. ¡°Unless you make more of those limit-breaking things... And even me at Level 114 now....¡± ¡°You¡¯ll need to reach at least Level 150 to hold your own against them.¡± It¡¯s a simple concept, that the system recognises level 150 as the tier of ¡®champions¡¯. Thus, level 150 must be like an entry level hero. If they also unlock their domain powers at that point, I could see them gaining significant strength at that level, which would allow them to catch up to the heroes. ¡°Wow.¡± Jura just said. ¡°Level 150 seems so...¡± ¡°Crazy.¡± Lausanne added. ¡°Seriously, I didn¡¯t know Aeon had the ability to break level caps. When did that happen?¡± ¡°Uh... some time ago. Still, it¡¯s insufficient. In our spar with Kei, we lost badly. But, Aeon suggested the implementation of multiple high speed attacks would be sufficient to weaken the hero. But they also have incredibly high base defense and stats, so it also need to pack a bit of a punch.¡± ¡°Crystal bombs then. We charge up hundreds, or thousands of spell matrixes, and plant them as mines. Detonate them when the heroes get near.¡± Lausanne suggested. ¡°That¡¯s a good idea.¡± We could try that out. We gathered that the heroes will approach from the sea, and chances are they will come with a fleet of ships. The temples will give full backing and won¡¯t half ass this crusade, with the heroes in the lead. It¡¯ll be a sizable force, a coalition from all the continents. The temples will be eager to demonstrate their power, and redeem themselves from their prior loss. In short, a lot of bloodshed. That said, if I couldn¡¯t nuke the demon king, I could nuke the heroes. I think that has a far higher chance of success, but I think I would make Kei an enemy. As it is, the chances of success for me, Kei and my other high leveled talents against these two heroes are quite good. Almost 50-50. If I could trap them properly, and Kei doesn¡¯t defect, we have a very good chance of winning. ¡°Then let¡¯s get to it. We should start preparing what we need for the traps. All the crystal matrixes we can make.¡± This required better enchanters and crafters, and so, I used my class fusion abilities to create a few [High Enchanters] and [Master Crystalworkers]. They would work on the base of the crystals to store our ¡®lightning bombs¡¯, and then I would add some of my own runic carvings to enhance it further. Production of these crystal bombs required rare materials, and also the skills of my workers, so even after giving out the new classes, we were making 30 to 50 crystals a month. Hardly enough to mine the shores, or prepare a weapon. - The Continent was in full war-preparations mode, and at the same time, I¡¯ve recalled Hytreerion back. I needed to outfit him for a different sort of battle now, no longer anti-air, but anti-hero. He needed all the high-speed weapons I could make, and the change in the loadout had to reflect that. The heroes were all dedicated anti-air specialists, but from what I¡¯ve seen with Kei, their detection abilities and other ancillary abilities such as defense, healing skills are relatively strong, but not insanely overpowered. It¡¯s still possible to capitalise of these lagging abilities, and pretty much turn them into weaknesses. Also, there¡¯s only two of them, and Kei¡¯s movement speed is just slightly faster than Jura at his top speed, so these two heroes would be at a similar pace. That meant, their invasion fleet will not be as well protected as they think. If we can hold the two heroes off and keep them occupied, the rest of our forces could cut off their supply lines and force them to a retreat. A continent turned into a machine readying itself for war. - ¡°Lord Kraviek.¡± An assistant bowed to the Treefolk Lord. ¡°This way.¡± He nodded and was led to a fancy meeting room. A few others were waiting. The Lords were gathered for a meeting in one of Freshka¡¯s largest mansions, organised by the [Trade Lord]. ¡°My humblest apologies to my esteemed peers.¡± Kraveik said. ¡°Pardon my time, treefolks do not move very quickly.¡± ¡°No matter, no matter. Come.¡± The Dwarven Trade Lord nodded. There were 10 Lords in that room, all graduates of the FTC. ¡°Come. The 2nd Crusades will be a storm that will soon sweep our lands. We, the noble class, have much to deliberate.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°I have been in contact with a few kingdoms on the other continents.¡± There was a gasp. ¡°The heroes will lead the charge, and they say the female hero in our midst will turn against us.¡± Whispers in the small crowd. ¡°It does make sense that a hero summoned by the other gods would turn against us.¡± ¡°Indeed a worrying thing. Aeon may not be able to hold against 3 heroes. Few things in our known history have managed to hold the heroes back.¡± ¡°You speak like you have a proposal, dwarf.¡± A centaur lord immediately cut in. ¡°Let¡¯s hear it.¡± ¡°Indeed, indeed. We must decide whether we should defect.¡± Kraviek slammed the table. ¡°I oppose that wholeheartedly.¡± ¡°Or pretend that we are defecting. It would be wise to play along and hedge our bets.¡± The Dwarf said. ¡°If Kei, the hero really is defecting, I will make contact and suggest that we switch along with her.¡± Kraviek again slammed the table. ¡°Enough. I will have no part of this nonsense. Do you all have no shame to even consider it? We were given power by Aeon, and now we turn against him?¡± The dwarf immediately retorted ¡°We earned our classes by performing as the best in our cohort. Aeon has done much for us, but our class is our own, and we must plan for the inevitable. Our survival must matter.¡± ¡°And I would rather burn than defect against my patron.¡± The dwarf took a deep breath. ¡°Calm, Kraviek. We are peers in this room, so please, hear me out. Aeon very well knows that our present loyalties are because of the role his divine plays.. If he falls, the glue that holds this entire continent collapses together. He would not begrudge us if we planned for that inevitability.¡± ¡°Again, I would rather burn.¡± ¡°I would love for Aeon to win, Kraviek. But we are dealing with heroes. Heroes have reshaped the political landscape of the world many times already. Remember, elven heroes subordinated tree spirits too. Aeon¡¯s superiority in our continent is dependent on his ability to withstand the heroes¡¯ pressure.¡± ¡°He would stand better with us on his side.¡± The dwarf sighed, and the discussion was heated. One of the later graduates spoke. ¡°I suggest we keep our options open at this point. We do not know whether Aeon will lose or not.¡± ¡°Dwarf, you may be a master of trade, but it is my view this is a trade you should not make.¡± Kraviek warned. The dwarf could only sigh. ¡°If it is only so easy. Should the tree fall, are we going to be crushed under it, or step aside? What is loyalty if it is death to all we care for?¡± ¡°There are times you should have conviction in your positions, not constantly weigh the shifting odds.¡± ¡°What if?¡± The dwarf retorted. Another lord spoke up. ¡°It is best whatever we discuss never leave this room. The Valthorns will have our heads if they know we even considered defection.¡± ¡°I will keep my silence, but I fear it may be too late. Aeon¡¯s ears are everywhere. Pray that he does not mete out preemptive punishment.¡± The dwarf¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You mean...¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I chose to do nothing. The entire continent has always wondered what would happen if I were to suddenly die or disappear. Every king, every lord worth their salt have been planning for that possibility, and so far, all I needed to do was to send a nice warning letter if they take a step too far. I even let them make contact. It wasn¡¯t a problem for them to communicate with those on the other side. Who knows, the defection may even go the other way. From what I could see, the Dwarf¡¯s concerns are entirely from fear. Fear of my eventual destruction. It is valid, and so long as he does not participate in plots against me, or reveal sensitive info, I would grant them some leeway. If I were to execute everyone for even having a thought of betrayal, I would soon slaughter everyone. Everyone has thoughts of change. I can accept reasonable dissent and discussion. ¡°Patreeck, just keep an eye on them?¡± ¡°Certainly, master.¡± But we will always be watching. Infiltreetion Year 147 (end of year) The 2nd crusades brewed in the distant horizon. A thousand ships set sail from all the continents, but most of them would not make land, only the force led by the hero will first make landfall. At least, that¡¯s the plan we heard. ¡°What is our victory condition?¡± I asked Kei this question as the war preparations went on. ¡°Are you willing to kill your friends?¡± I wanted to be sure she was on the same side, and what her ¡®line¡¯ in the sand was. She shook at the word, ¡®kill¡¯. ¡°I.... I¡¯m not sure. I thought of defeating them, and they¡¯ll go away.¡± Ugh. Now she lacks the conviction. ¡°I¡¯ll keep defeating them.¡± ¡°There¡¯s two of them and one of you. And then they will come back again. Stronger, and bigger. Realistically speaking, if we want to win, no, for this to be a victory, the two of them must die. The crusades will not stop if the heroes live. The temples will not allow the heroes to retreat.¡± ¡°Can we capture them instead?¡± Kei said. ¡°I want them to see the journals. That¡¯s the minimum I want to try. Maybe we can change their mind.¡± This was insane. ¡°The journals can¡¯t leave the room. The heroes enchanted it so that it¡¯s magically bound to that tree.¡± ¡°Then we capture them, and lead them here.¡± ¡°What you want to do will put us in tremendous danger.¡± Defeating the heroes is hard enough. Capturing these star-mana powered superweapons? She thought for a moment, and then said. ¡°Not if I play my part properly. I¡¯ll need your help.¡± - ¡°Kei!¡± ¡°Alvin, Hans. I got a plan, but I need both of you to come, preferably just the two of you.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± The two heroes paused. ¡°I think I can sneak both of you to Aeon directly. No need for any large crusading party. If we defeat Aeon first, together, the continent will fold anyway. What do you think? The army can come afterwards, and it¡¯ll be a resounding victory for them.¡± ¡°It smells like a trap, Kei.¡± ¡°I know, but we¡¯re heroes. There¡¯s two of you, and one of me, and the enemy¡¯s just a tree.¡± Kei said. ¡°What do you think? It¡¯s the best way to save the cursed continent without spilling too much blood. So much was already sacrificed in the earlier crusades.¡± They thought for some time. ¡°We¡¯ll have to discuss this with the High Command of the Crusaders.¡± ¡°Yes, do so. But please, consider my suggestion. A small strike team will be super effective. I¡¯ll also lead you to the Tree¡¯s stockpile of hero items.¡± - ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡± Hans and Alvin reached out a week later. It was predictable, since the temples were not really willing to risk life and limb for victory. But if the temple was more than willing to let the heroes risk it all. It¡¯s really par for the course. They¡¯ve done it with the demon kings, and they will do it again with me. ¡°Alright. Here¡¯s the plan.¡± Kei explained over their magical concall. - Hans and Alvin arrived in a small high speed ship, their ship stopped in a quiet, mostly secluded bay. There was no ship in that area. The two of them landed with a small team of soldiers from the temples. The soldiers would stay back and keep watch. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± I had already emptied that targeted location once the plan was set in motion. ¡°Rather lax defenses, not what we were expecting.¡± I had a feel of their power, I had tree-sensors in the area, and the bay was filled with trees. They were weaker than Kei for sure. Kei had the benefit of power-levelling in the Rottedlands, and so she scored more kills during the demon king battles. ¡°With all the trees here, maybe he already knows we are coming.¡± Hans said. ¡°But I don¡¯t sense any magic.¡± Of course they can¡¯t. Their detection abilities are just above average. ¡°Hello.¡± Kei said, she appeared from behind a coconut tree. ¡°Finally, I get to see you two again.¡± Alvin immediately ran over. ¡°Are you alright, Kei? Did the Tree torture you or anything?¡± Kei smiled. ¡°Look at me.¡± Alvin paused. ¡°Just to be sure, the temples gave me this.¡± He took out some kind of water, and he splashed it on Kei. Kei immediately shouted. ¡°What the hell.¡± ¡°It¡¯s holy water, the priests said. It¡¯ll wash off any mind control and demonic influence.¡± Kei frowned. ¡°As if such things would work on me.¡± ¡°We never know. The Tree did manage to brainwash an entire continent to rebel against the 4 temples.¡± Alvin gave Kei a hug. ¡°Glad to see you again.¡± ¡°Yeah. Come.¡± Kei took out a bag with a change of clothes. They were military uniforms of the Valtrian Order. ¡°I stole some military outfits of the defense force. Remember, let me do the talking.¡± - The three heroes were soon at a military outpost in the far south. It was a small outpost, but there was a beetle-truck stop here. ¡°Walk normally like you belong. Think spy movies.¡± Kei said. The two boys straightened their backs. ¡°Walk behind me.¡± ¡°Good Evening, Lady Kei.¡± A soldier saluted as the three walked into the outpost. Kei nodded. She was also in a military uniform, but her uniform was one of a higher status, similar to those of the Valthorn¡¯s upgraded classers. The two walked behind her. ¡°When¡¯s the next beetle arriving?¡± ¡°To where, milady?¡± The soldier asked. ¡°Freshka.¡± ¡°In two hours.¡± ¡°Got it. Thanks.¡± Kei said and she turned. ¡°We have some time, let¡¯s eat.¡± She led them to a canteen in the outpost. There was a very small force in that outpost, and most of them left after seeing them. ¡°Why do they seem to be afraid of you?¡± Hans asked once there was no one else. ¡°Because I outrank them. I¡¯m an honorary Valthorn, which makes me part of the elite force.¡± Alvin nodded. ¡°It¡¯s clever that you so easily snuck into-¡± Kei immediately lunged forward, her hand covered his mouth. ¡°Don¡¯t say it.¡± Kei looked stern. The boys both nodded. This was an espionage! One that I am watching through all the trees everywhere. Even Kei doesn¡¯t know I could see so much. ¡°What are we waiting for?¡± ¡°Beetle-carriages. They¡¯re kinda like long range buses that travel from selected outposts to various destinations throughout the continent.¡± The two boys nodded, impressed. ¡°Wow. They¡¯re advanced in this aspect.¡± ¡°Yes. Now, both of you are my assigned escorts, here¡¯s your fake name tags and papers.¡± Kei took out a stack of papers with tags and various badges. She pinned it on them. ¡°Refer to me as Lady Kei. If you see someone with the same uniform as me, refer to them as a superior rank. If you don¡¯t know their name, just say Yessir. Got it?¡± ¡°Yes. Why didn¡¯t you tell us all this earlier?¡± ¡°I just didn¡¯t remember that I needed all this then.¡± Kei said frankly. ¡°Now, come. The convoys should be here soon. I¡¯ll get an exclusive one for us.¡± - Year 148 ¡°How long will this journey take?¡± Hans asked a week into the journey ¡°Five weeks. Usually it takes only two, but the express beetles are on other duties, and it¡¯s winter, so the travel speed of the beetles are slower. They''re more sluggish during this time. This beetle will stop in a few cities along the way, maybe we can try to catch an express beetle. This path also has less... traffic.¡± They were wrapped in thick winter jackets supplied by the Valtrian Order. The south was usually warmer, but the path they chose took them through to the highlands. The beetles stopped at one of the mountain snow-covered towns. These were the winter-adapted beetles, product of my earlier research to counter the effects of cold. Still, they had to travel close to the [subsidiary trees]. The mountain town also had a small group of soldiers. Here, it was a mix of militia and Valthorns. The local town maintained a militia to deal with various monsters that spawn from the snowlands. ¡°Let¡¯s take a break. I have to submit some reports to the local Valthorns, and we¡¯ll need to do some monster extermination missions here.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°To keep up our cover, stupid.¡± Kei said. They hunted some mountain icegoats and frost lizards for two days, and then resumed their journey. ¡°Alright. This beetle is going to take us to Fortress Arkiad. It¡¯s one of the larger southern fortresses, and a key staging ground of the defense force. I suggest both of you memorise this place well for your later battles. We will need the local commander, so, again, let me do the talking.¡± Throughout the Central Continent, we had many, many staging grounds and Fortresses. Fortress Arkiad is one such Fort. It had three [Giant Attendant Trees], and tonnes of wooden walls and defenses around it. ¡°Holy cow.¡± They both said. It was their first time seeing the Giant trees. ¡°Aeon is larger. So shut it.¡± Kei said, as the beetle approached the gates. A group of six well-dressed soldiers approached them. The beetle also lowered it¡¯s body. ¡°Papers please.¡± Kei quickly flashed her badge and handed over her papers. She looked at the two behind him. She coughed. ¡°Papers.¡± The two quickly scrambled to find their documents and presented them to the soldiers. ¡°Alright, you can pass.¡± The beetle stopped right after the wooden gates. ¡°Impressive, right?¡± Kei smiled. ¡°These are all magically reinforced wood, and hyper resistant to fire, contrary to common belief.¡± ¡°Resistant to fire?¡± Both Hans and Alvin responded. ¡°Yes. Strange but true. Come. As a senior Valthorn I must meet the commander. Both of you will come with me. It¡¯s the first time you¡¯ll meet a Valthorn Classer, and the first time in a giant tree.¡± The Fortress Commander¡¯s office was high up in the Giant Attendant Tree, and getting there meant walking in the spiral stairs or taking one of the wooden pulleys. ¡°Shit this place is straight out of a fantasy.¡± Kei glared at Hans. ¡°Oops. Sorry milady.¡± The Commander¡¯s Office was a large room with open windows. ¡°Greetings Commander Lovis.¡± Kei said. ¡°Ah, Lady Kei. Welcome to Fortress Arkiad again. How long will you stay this time?¡± ¡°Just a day or two. I¡¯ll need to head off to Freshka soon. Aeon summoned.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Lovis instantly leapt and stopped right in front of Hans and Alvin. They both gulped. Lovis recently capped out at Level 85 as a [Spearmaster]. ¡°Strange, your two escorts... they smell funny.¡± Only a select few were privy to the plan. Lovis was genuinely suspicious of Hans and Alvin. The two heroes froze. They were easily stronger than Lovis, but their mental state was weak. I wonder whether it¡¯s because they got their levels too quickly. ¡°It¡¯s the sea. I believe they were stationed on the outer trade islands.¡± Kei responded calmly. ¡°I see. Both of you better get a shower. It¡¯s improper for escorts to make your lady defend you.¡± Lovis said. Kei chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll see to it. If we may?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. Go ahead. Use our facilities as you please, Lady Kei.¡± - ¡°Who was that again?¡± Hans asked. He clearly didn¡¯t pay any attention when Kei explained earlier. To heroes, most people are just npcs. Not worth remembering. ¡°Lovis. [Spearmaster]. I believe she¡¯s Level 85.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± Hans was impressed, even though he was clearly stronger. ¡°I could beat her, but she has a presence.¡± Kei smirked. ¡°She¡¯s not the only one.¡± ¡°No wonder the first crusade lost. The number of people at that level... I think the kingdoms have only a few.¡± - After another three weeks of travelling, they entered the domain of the Freshlands. ¡°On your left, in the distance, is what remains of the Rottedlands. Carved up by Aeon¡¯s magical energies.¡± Kei said. ¡°The temples said Aeon made a deal with the demons.¡± Alvin said. ¡°Well, then the ground we are now on is all demon then.¡± Kei explained. ¡°There will be more demonic hybrids, and they are attracted to creatures that emit star mana like us, so be prepared for more fighting.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s true. Demonic hybrids. This.. Aeon made a deal with the demons and that¡¯s why we have these cursed hybrids. The gods would never create such twisted monsters.¡± Kei paused. As they travelled closer, they were attacked by a few demonic hybrids. They also saw beetles emerging from the trees to fight them. Then, they reached the first walls of Freshka. Over the decades I¡¯ve added layer after layer of defenses. There was a [Giant Attendant Tree] that functioned as the centerpiece of the walls and gates. Again, Valthorns and Valtrian order soldiers quickly did the usual ID checks, both the heroes getting used to the investigations. ¡°Now we have the centerpiece of Aeon¡¯s propaganda machine.¡± Kei said, half joking. ¡°We¡¯re passing by the educational institutes.¡± They passed by the Freshlands Treetiary College and the School of Treeology. The Valthorn Academy was on the other side. ¡°Should we blow them up now, especially that School of Treeology?¡± Alvin said. ¡°They are a cult. This entire setup is a cult.¡± Kei paused. ¡°No. People don¡¯t need to die for this. Remember, the goal is Aeon.¡± The two of them nodded ¡°Okay.¡± - ¡°Come.¡± Kei led them into the room of where all the hero items were kept. We had intentionally set it up such that it looked like the entire tree was just a simple building. There were a few hero items on the table. It¡¯s a risk if they activated them, but I had to trust Kei at this point. The journal was there too, on the table. It was closed, though. ¡°So... this is it?¡± ¡°There should be more.¡± Kei said. ¡°Where did it go...¡± The two boys started searching, and then Hans walked over to the journal. He briefly opened it, the star mana in the journal resonated with his own. Then he froze. Alvin immediately ran over and touched Hans. ¡°Hans... you alright?¡± ¡°...No.¡± Hans said. ¡°The journal...¡± Alvin then went and looked at the journal, its pages open, magical words floating everywhere. Habitually he reached out and touched the journals¡¯ sides, and then he froze. The journal glowed. I still didn¡¯t know what was in the journals, and why it evoked such a strong emotion. Both of them were stunned. The journal glowed, and their own bodies seemed to resonate with it. They didn¡¯t move for a few hours. Kei just shrugged, sat down and started brewing some tea. When they finally broke out of the stupor, they both turned to face Kei. ¡°You trapped us.¡± Kei smiled. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You sly woman.¡± Alvin said. ¡°You wanted us to see this.¡± ¡°Yes. It is the only way we can stop being pawns of greater powers. ¡± They froze. ¡°What now? You¡¯ve just shown everything we¡¯ve known to be lies.¡± They had a headache. Kei offered them tea. ¡°I don¡¯t know. But I wanted to show you that this whole crusade is pointless. Fighting you on the battlefield wouldn¡¯t have proved anything, even if we win. I don¡¯t want to fight you, and we shouldn¡¯t be fighting with Aeon. I don¡¯t want Aeon to fight with the temples either, as disgusting as the temples are. Our true enemies are not each other.¡± ¡°Then? We play arbiters of peace?¡± Hans said. ¡°The gods want us to be in perpetual conflict. Us, the heroes and the demons are agents of that intention. We trigger more fights. More wars. Maybe this whole world is just a farm and we are the means of harvesting something.¡± ¡°How did the previous heroes know?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but they seemed to have managed to resist the gods¡¯ influence to a greater degree than us. Either they found a way, or we¡¯re just too weak.¡± ¡°Then...¡± ¡°I want us to take a timeout. There¡¯s really no reason for more bloodshed. We can break the cycle, even if the gods want us to play our part in this. We failed with the demon king, but we can stop this one.¡± ¡°You truly think sparing Aeon is the right decision? Not fighting him?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve committed too much, and an army will soon be on their way.¡± The other boy continued. ¡°A timeout. Please. Let¡¯s just pretend each other doesn¡¯t exist. Why must we fight? When heroes fight, so many people die pointlessly.¡± ¡°I... I¡¯ve seen the good things the temples do. The temples are not bad, either. I won¡¯t just switch sides.¡± Alvin repeated. ¡°I¡¯m not asking the two of you to be friends with Aeon. But see the value of his presence in the world, even if he made a contract with the demons, which, by the way, I don¡¯t think so.¡± Alvin and Hans both just sat there. ¡°I need more time. I can¡¯t process this. Not yet.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be here. I¡¯ll go get food. Please, don¡¯t do anything stupid. We really, really don¡¯t need to fight anyone. Well, maybe just the demons.¡± Kei returned later with food. ¡°Also, there¡¯s more to the journals. I don¡¯t know how the previous heroes did it, but they¡¯ve somehow copied a large chunk of their mind and memories into that magical journal. I¡¯ve... I¡¯ve added my own to it too.¡± Alvin and Hans glared at Kei for a moment, and then they sighed. ¡°They uploaded their minds into a book. Great. This is next level crazy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been crazy since we got here, boys.¡± That was how two heroes ended up camping in my tree of hero items for a few days. The crusades, thankfully, didn¡¯t move on. The temples were smart to suspend further action once they discovered the heroes had gone silent. Some time later, their bloodlust seemed significantly more subdued. ¡°I think we should head back.¡± Alvin and Hans said. ¡°We won¡¯t be friends with Aeon, but we agree. We don¡¯t need to fight. It is pointless, as much as the temples want to convince us otherwise.¡± Kei happily nodded. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I know you¡¯re too invested in the temples¡¯ hierarchy by now. But all we want is to stop the outright fighting. The world doesn¡¯t need more deaths. We had enough in the Eastern Continent.¡± ¡°Yes. We can agree on that.¡± The two heroes agreed, though they have not truly switched over to my side. Kei escorted them off. ¡°So, it¡¯s over?¡± I asked Kei as their ship sailed away. ¡°I think they won¡¯t attack us, at least. The temples might still continue the crusade, but it¡¯ll just be the temples¡¯ own forces.¡± ¡°Then they won¡¯t.¡± Alvin and Hans returned to the Southern Continent and soon advocated a focus on healing and restoration, rather than a second crusade. The Eastern Continent still needed a lot of healing, and that was the angle they took. Jura continued to fear for a large crusade, and personally, I was just happy I didn¡¯t have to fight heroes. But I¡¯m now super interested in what¡¯s in that magical journal. What did Gerrard, Harris and Mirei write in there? ¡°So... all our military work, what do we do?¡± ¡°We can slow it down, and prepare for the next demon king. Take a break, you all deserve a bit of it.¡± This year, I significantly dialed down the war efforts. Still, I kept those things, the anti-hero countermeasures in storage. I may still need it someday. Kei managed to diffuse the situation with the journal, and in a way, it was very lucky that it worked out the way it did. Though I know that someday, I will have to fight a hero for real, I¡¯m happy that this 2nd crusade ended before it even started. For once, a war fought and won with cunning, instead of blood. In a way Kei really did something heroic. Fractures Year 148 (continued) "Thank Aeons that went well." Edna breathed a huge sigh of relief. The two heroes, Alvin and Hans returned to the South. On the very day the three heroes came to Freshka, we summoned quite a few of the high levelled Valthorns for an emergency preparation. The valley itself was loaded with many traps and magical weapons, ready to go off if the encounter in the Tree of Hero Items did not go well. Me too, personally relieved that for once, we avoided a battle. That is a rarity in this world, where fighting often is the way to settle large disputes. ¡°I didn¡¯t know they were the heroes.¡± Lovis complained, and her fellow Valthorns sympathised. Almost all of them were informed only when they came into the many holding areas prepared around the valley. ¡°In hindsight, it¡¯s obvious.¡± Edna laughed in relief. ¡°Most of us are just going to serve as meatshields for Aeon¡¯s magical weapons.¡± I had multiple hero items prepared, and was prepared to even detonate the entire valley around me to secure a victory. In Patreeck¡¯s simulation, we would likely have deaths of about half of Freshka, and almost all of the high leveled Valthorn¡¯s dead, most of it collateral damage, in a battle between us and the two heroes. It wasn¡¯t going to be pretty, and I wasn¡¯t sure if the two heroes have any trump cards. When Patreeck had included a 30-50% increase in their damage and power, and I¡¯d probably lose my main trunk, Freshka and all the colleges a smoldering ruin. As long as my [heart] is hidden somewhere deep below, I think I could still rebuild. But if they have some kind of detection ability, I¡¯m dead. I would need more levels. The goal of breaking this cycle demands it. - News from the Temples. The refusal of heroes to wage a 2nd crusade seemed to set off a chain of internal conflicts, and rather than let the populace question whether the gods truly are in control of the heroes, the gods seemed to have decided on a 2nd divine message. Full scale war is prohibited, but the Central Continent and all that is associated with Aeon is to be a pariah, persona non-grata. Essentially, a return to the status quo. The central continent remains ¡®cursed¡¯, even with two heroes on their side. I was rather amused that the gods would so quickly intervene and issue a 2nd divine message. Kei also returned to Freshka after the incident. ¡°Good job.¡± I spoke to her after she sent the two off. ¡°It went pretty much the way you planned it to.¡± ¡°The book only managed to convince them to suspend conflicts. Too bad they weren¡¯t willing to add their own to it.¡± ¡°Now that issue is temporarily fixed, what¡¯s next?¡± ¡°The next demon king, of course.¡± It¡¯s getting boring, honestly. Come on, how many demon kings do we have to go through? Its¡¯ that¡¯s the nature of maintenance, it¡¯s all boring and no one ever thanks you, but when something fucks up then everyone is out to get you. After the announcement, the story from the temples pivoted massively. ¡°The temples now claim that Aeon is a fallen archangel of the gods, that have been punished for going astray and thus turned into a tree. That Aeon is still a servant of the gods that has lost its way, so the temples now preach that the cursed continent are people who need salvation and clarity, that Aeon is one in need of guidance.¡± One of the spymasters explained the news from the continents. It was a massive WTF moment. ¡°The crusade was the temple¡¯s attempt of guiding Aeon back to the proper path, but the gods have now found mercy and decided to let time bring Aeon back into their fold.¡± Who writes this sort of propaganda for the temples? And the populace just buy into this sort of wonky reasoning so easily? Seriously? ¡°So, Aeon, other than the cursed and heretic, is also now the Fallen Archangel of Gods, the wayward one, the deceived and the deceiver. The heroes must brave a journey to the cursed land to reclaim the weapons of gods, left in the Fallen Archangel¡¯s hands.¡± ¡°Wow.¡± If I had a jaw, it would be wide open now. ¡°Seriously the temple¡¯s propaganda machine is quite impressive.¡± ¡°So, the Cursed Continent is also the Lost Continent. Lost, because our people have fallen astray from the light of the Gods, Gaya, Aiva, Hewa and Neira. The heroes, in their mercy, have convinced the gods that it is unnecessary to slay the wayward ones on the Central Continent, and instead, the heroes will devote their efforts in convincing and guiding the lost, back from the brink.¡± They somehow manage to twist the failed 2nd crusade into a ¡®draw¡¯. ¡°Aeon would denounce the declaration and claim that they are not followers of the gods, but it is a lie.¡± If I even come out to say it is wrong, it¡¯ll just play into their claim that I¡¯m lost. Still, I had to do it. I summoned my Patreearches and Matreearches, and made them start a series of counter-propaganda sermons. But war with the other temples is indeed pointless. Ugh. The nobles that contacted the outsiders were surprised by how quickly the four temples folded, and the crusades dead before they even landed. The fact that the two heroes actually came into Freshka and then into the valley is a secret unknown to most, only those alerted to the emergency combat preparations. The Lords were clearly smart enough to deny such a conversation of shifting sides ever happened. It wasn¡¯t in their interest, now that the winds have shifted, to admit so. I decided to let it go. There¡¯s just far too many people planning for contingencies anyway, they would not be the first, nor the last. - Arlisa hid in a small tree in the forests, on the outskirts of Freshka. She was now almost 8, and yet she looked like a 15-year old. As a half elf, maybe it was the human side of her. ¡°Don¡¯t tell momma where I am.¡± She mentally whispered to me, her [lesser stealth] upgraded into two skills, [Forest-blending] and [Stealth]. She was dodging her sparring lessons again. Lausanne needed to work to find her. ¡°Why do you dislike sparring anyway?¡± She was good at it. Arlisa pouted. ¡°I like hiding more.¡± ¡°Found you.¡± Lausanne smirked as she appeared next to her in a quick jump. She gave her daughter a tap on the head. ¡°Ouch.¡± ¡°Now back to class.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t wanna.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°I just don¡¯t wanna.¡± Arlisa protested. ¡°Let me play.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t recall being so rebellious at your age, young lady.¡± Lausanne frowned. ¡°You gotta go for classes.¡± Arlisa didn¡¯t care. She just shouted and protested. She preferred to be playing hide and seek with her mom. - Year 149 It¡¯s been 28 years since I last used a [soul-strengthening seed], and also, I¡¯ve got a few ginsengs of sufficient maturity. This time, I have a few 25-year old ginsengs. I¡¯ve planted them around Freshka, a few near the leylines, and some in the volcano. Surrounded by a huge army of beetles. ¡°Lausanne, do you want it?¡± ¡°What... is this?¡± ¡°Something to break your level limit.¡± She thought for a while, and then shook her head. ¡°As with the special class, I believe there are others more suited for it.¡± So, I went for another. ¡°Edna. You¡¯ve served me for the past 29 years as my first [Grand Knight], and it is time for me to grant you a blessing like that of Jura. With this, you will be able to exceed your current level limit, and take on responsibilities far greater than what you have now.¡± She nodded, and as with Jura so many decades ago, she had a whole night of pain and aches. The next day, she looked healthier, her soul glowing just like Jura¡¯s. I could tell she gained a few levels, just like Jura, overflow levels from all her accumulated experience. ¡°So we were right, Jura really received a gift from you.¡± Edna marvelled at her body. Breaking this limit seemed to unlock more vitality in them, and that reflected in their physical strength, all increased by a bit. I wondered whether heroes are therefore different in this key aspect, that they are born with far greater vitality than anyone else, since the concept of a level limit did not even occur to them. ¡°Was it not obvious?¡± ¡°No. Jura did not explain, and we have been wondering for quite some time.¡± Edna paused, and knelt before the tree of prayer. She thought for a while, and then she just quietly prayed. - After Edna, next was Faris. I had some concerns of making a druid stronger, mainly fear that the power he gained would allow him to gain control over me. Lately, I¡¯ve begun to gain some confidence in my own abilities, and [domain] is a far stronger shield for all these subtle manipulations and controls than I expected. So, I¡¯ve dabbled with the idea of making Faris stronger. I offered him the same blessing, and he too took it. Just like Edna and Jura, he had a day of pain and aches, and the next day he emerged with an extra two levels. Unfortunately their classes did not change. ¡°I believe both your classes will change when you hit level 100.¡± Jura explained to the two. ¡°Just as mine did. It is a great privilege and honor, and also a responsibility. More than ever, your lives are now intertwined with Aeon¡¯s will.¡± ¡°Aeon¡¯s will?¡± ¡°You have spoken and discussed with Aeon many times, but this choice reflects that he too, has greater plans for both of you.¡± ¡°What sort of plans?¡± It was then I immediately jumped in. ¡°These plans are not one for the outside world, or for the temples. Not even your fellow Valthorns, unless they too, receive this same blessing.¡± The two gulped. ¡°I aim to end the cycle of demons and heroes, to do so, I must have champions at my side.¡± Jura shrugged, I had privately discussed this with him earlier. ¡°Over the next few decades, or perhaps centuries, but it will be so. My champions will be there to lay the foundations, and to do what I cannot do. It is a position of tremendous trust and responsibility.¡± Faris seemed lightheaded for a moment. ¡°End the cycle...¡± Edna had a serious, contemplative look on her face. ¡°Think about it, do you think the other gods seriously want to end this cycle, or they are just content with this present status of constantly fighting with the demons?¡± They thought about it for a long while. Edna was first to say. ¡°What do I do?¡± ¡°Not immediately. It is important that you gain strength, and secondly, watch your mind. The other gods have attempted to attack my mind multiple times, and I will attempt to aid you, to resist those powers. Every day, you shall have at least a cup of herbal tea, and if you ever feel like you have a mental attack or feel lightheaded, you must let me know, I will attempt to support your mind. It is one of the things we must do, to gain the powers to resist mental attacks.¡± Patreeck¡¯s able to use his mental attack powers to also provide some limited ¡®shielding¡¯, but only in the valley of Freshka. ¡°Your goal is to reach Level 150. At level 150 you unlock the first of the [domain] powers, and enter the realm of true champions. Only then, we can dream of catching up to the heroes.¡± For me, even at Level 170, fighting a level 110+ hero like Kei is still a 50:50 thing. If Kei had a more ground-focused ability, or was a more ¡®martial-oriented¡¯ hero, she would have won against me easily. Level 150 is nothing more than a ticket to be in the race, with a huge advantage for the heroes. I think they would need to be Level 170 or 180 to fight a level 110 hero. Or maybe, the domain choices they have then would be more combat-oriented. ¡°150!¡± They both gasp. It was twice their current level. ¡°I will help you. Some [experience seeds] will get you closer to that goal, but after this, the three of you must fight many strong foes by yourselves. Only then you will gain the experience needed to level up.¡± I believe I¡¯ll have to give out fragments too, once I get past 100 hero fragments. The experience support and anti-demonic buffs would be useful. ¡°It is a huge task, one we will need to achieve over the decades. It is alright if we miss the next demon king, or the one after. All we need is one successful shot, and we can end this madness for good. Too many lives lost over the millennia to this pointless conflict.¡± They all nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve always lived thinking this demon king thing was just a regular event, where even kings or heroes can¡¯t stop it. To be part of an attempt like that, I must say, fills me with a purpose I cannot describe.¡± Edna said. ¡°It is a worthy goal.¡± ¡°Speak to no one else of the goal. The other gods are watching, and they will attempt to use their powers to influence you.¡± Again, another set of nods. ¡°If anyone asks, the goal is to gain power. For now, you are dismissed.¡± Faris didn¡¯t return home. He summoned a wolf and went for a long trek through the high mountains. The knowledge seemed to weigh on him a lot more than Edna. - ¡°I hope they can take it.¡± I spoke to Jura privately. ¡°They had to know. Just like me. I had always suspected you have a larger goal, but I was not certain of the extent of how large it would be.¡± ¡°Yeah. This is a conflict far bigger than any one of us. They must know. This is a path that may take us in open conflict with the other gods and heroes.¡± Jura nodded, ¡°Of the Valthorns, they are most ready. Perhaps Lovis, next? Or would this power also extend to Yvon?¡± Yvon is a soul-contractee, and I¡¯m not sure how the soul-contract would interact with the soul blessing. ¡°I¡¯m not sure whether it can work with Yvon, not in her current state.¡± ¡°And that mind control thing... really? The gods tried?¡± ¡°Yes. I have deflected divine energies a few times.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± Jura said. ¡°How do we even know if we¡¯re compromised? What if I¡¯m already under the influence of the gods?¡± ¡°At this point, I don¡¯t know. It is something I am working on.¡± - ¡°Aeon wants all books on heretics, rebellions against the gods and all such things. If the other temples have records on the prior struggles with rebels and disbelievers, he wants it.¡± It was clearly something that made people uncomfortable. ¡°Is Aeon really a heretic?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ask me. Aeon wants a massive magical study on the work of heretics, their weapons and their processes.¡± The Decarches received the order first. The goal was simply, whether there are some kind of objects that naturally resist divine powers. If so, those items or elements would be very useful in the process of countering the gods. > May we know your intent? < Lilies discovered that we were gathering the books some time later. The entire continent has swayed to my side, including Lilies¡¯ inhabitants. It seemed to maintain an aloof relationship with their inhabitants, not bothered to really give directions or orders. But they were clearly monitoring them. Ah. Yes I should ask Lilies. < Do you know of any items that may protect oneself from divine influence and mindfuckery? Pardon the language. > > Blackstar Gems. They resist, but not absolute. We have some. < < Blackstar Gems? How does it work? > > Best eaten or consumed, or fused to the soul. Strengthens the soul from otherworldly influences < Huh. What does that do to heroes? Lilies seemed to detect my thoughts. > Reacts dangerously with star mana. Often explodes in contact. < < Where do I find them? > > Really deep underground, where the sun doesn¡¯t shine, where the light of the heavens do not touch. If you cannot find, you can make them. Leave most types of precious gem really deep underground, away from all light for a hundred years, with some anti-magic or anti-mana enchantments, and about one-tenth will turn into Blackstar Gems. < A hundred years to make. ¡°Blackstar Gems?¡± The temples seemed to have not made any mention of it, nor any books or records were kept on this. It existed mostly in geological and blacksmith books, but did not seem to elaborate much on its use. We soon found some from the merchants, such objects kept in various stores. It was a rather brittle object, small, really pitch black in color and seemed to reflect no light. It appeared quite like a matte black stone. It was not hard and did not store magic or mana like most gems. Quite like coal, if not as shiny. < We eat this? > I was rather confused by that. > For a temporary resistance against the divine < I decided to just place it into my various types of labs for further study. If such an object really has anti-divine properties, perhaps I could make weapons or armor that grant those around me the ability to resist these forces. Hypocritreecal Year 150 Research into the Blackstar Gems soon yielded some results. They had mild generic anti-magic properties, but these anti-magic properties are exceptionally effective against ¡®holy¡¯ and ¡®light¡¯ elements. That said, once consumed, they only stay in the body for a short moment of time. I have no way of recreating ¡®divine¡¯ magic to test out the effectiveness of these Blackstar Gems. ¡°Do you have any ¡®divine¡¯ abilities?¡± I asked Kei. ¡°Nope.¡± Sigh. It may be effective against Holy and Light, and it¡¯s a conjecture that this extends to ¡®divine¡¯ type of magic. I had preferred something more conclusive. Next, was research on how to actually use these Blackstar Gems. For Edna, Faris and Jura, I made specialised helmets with these gems inserted, hopefully that would give them some protection against the mind-controlling effects of the gods. Again, it¡¯s a speculation if this works. - My requests to gather the documents, records and books went quite okay. It wasn¡¯t hard to gather details about people who were punished for their heresy. Heretics were those who turned against their gods. I also wonder whether there are anyone that turned against me with a special class. Is there a [heretic] class? The Valthorns and Priesthoold were responsible for combing through the documents for any objects or items that may be of interest. Most of them were crap, and there¡¯s a lot of misinformation in the records. Things written down or speculated by some priest that over time became the ¡®canon¡¯ understanding of a particular subject. Again, rubbish. But from the pile of rubbish, there are some possible chances. Items or weapons mentioned in passing. Sea serpents and certain items harvested from the deep sea. Strange. Items from the sea are common, but for them to be used by the heretics? Why? This was where old myths emerged. Neira, Gaya, Hawa and Aiva are referred to the four temples of the continents, but in many smaller islands, many have more localised faiths, shamanistic rituals and animism. For smaller islands with their lives intertwined with the seas and oceans, many sailors pay homage to various ¡®sea gods¡¯ and ¡®sea guardians¡¯, and strangely, the four gods don¡¯t overtly oppose such homages, even if they frown on them. If the land had seen so much destruction from the demons, the sea, for most part, has been spared of the destruction. If there are any civilisations deep underwater, they must have watched the surface fight endless, pointless battles, and they would have records from a long time ago. The demons did not invade the sea. Naturally, the faith of those island nations seemed to be a bit more obscure and strange. I felt like I was going down a rabbit hole, trying to find what¡¯s going on, really. Maybe my answer to this problem, lies in the past. If the memories of that ancient tree are true, there may be a time from before the demons and heroes. The lands, which have over the millennia seen hundreds or thousands of demon kings, would have been so destroyed that the odds of records surviving would be close to nil. But the sea, the ocean so vast, if there are records somehow submerged, they may still survive. If luck is on our side. Thus, I commanded the Valthorns and Priests to gather all the myths, legends and folklore of the smaller island nations, and the beliefs of the seafarers and sailors. If there was an equivalent of polynesian myths, I want to know. Again, it wasn¡¯t hard to gather a general one, but to have it in detail, most of such myths were spoken from one generation to the next, hardly written. The Valthorns and other employees of the overall FFA would have to go and meet these islanders and conduct interviews. They started with the nearby islands. The variation in founding myths and all that differ rather greatly, and quite a few seemed to have suffered influence from the 4 temples. There were far more parallels than I thought was normal. The sea, and the oceans are home to many giant creatures, the largest of them are the zaratans, or world turtles. The floating zaratans, large turtles with islands on their backs, are creatures spoken of in legends and tattoos, very rarely appearing and even if they did, their presence is often accompanied by a thick fog, so no one is really sure. The most unique of these beliefs stated that the first denizens of the world came on the back of these zaratans, and that these zaratans had the ability to sail from one world to another, through portals mortals cannot even fathom. Long ago when the world was bare and empty, of only land and sea, the zaratans came to the world and brought the first plants, animals and trees. Another variant of these myths, more common in the southern islands, that the world and many others were on the back of massive world serpents, zaratans and fishes. Those stellar bodies that moved quickly across the sea of stars were travelling on speedy world serpents, the slower ones, on the zaratans. If these zaratans do exist, they may well be minor deity class creatures, maybe more if they lived for very long. If they are indeed of the multiverse, then it would make sense that they have the power to resist the divine. Surely creatures of that level would consider gods nothing more than peers. There were lesser myths too, and it still took some time to digest them, to separate those that may have some use, and some that did not. What¡¯s strangely common in the island myths, were the tales of local heroes. Quite unlike the common zeitgeist from the temples which often contained heroes from faraway lands. These island epics were tales of how ordinary men rose up to challenge great beasts. That said, the power level described in these epics were not at the level of the demon kings. They were more local nuisances, dealing with problems that affected the islands, or just the smaller chain of islands - ¡°The bards are having a good time.¡± Jura chuckled. Edna and Faris were next to him. They met more regularly, now that they have similar challenges. ¡°With all the stories that Aeon¡¯s asking for, they¡¯re making good money.¡± They met in Yvon¡¯s academy, in theory supervising, but mostly just watching a large group of young students practice simple movements. Jabs, thrusts, parries. These were children aged 6 to 12, and they were separated into groups to reflect their relative levels of competence. ¡°So, did you get a mental attack?¡± Jura asked. ¡°I haven¡¯t, but then again, maybe I won¡¯t know.¡± I made them all a necklace and a ring made of the Blackstar Gems, after Faris complained that the helmet was impractical. Sometimes, simple stuff is best. ¡°No. But I really wish there were more of us.¡± ¡°Leveling someone up to the cap requires something like the Rottedlands, and now that the Rottedlands is much smaller, it¡¯s also harder for it to generate high-tier hybrids for us to fight.¡± Jura just explained frankly. ¡°Outside of our spars with the heroes, we¡¯ll most likely have to travel to fight demon champions and walkers to gain levels. We¡¯ll be busy once the rift opens.¡± - ¡°Tree Spirit, are you there?¡± Akrenaf the wolf asked one day. ¡°We wish to speak.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°We wish to leave the forest, and if you may, guide us to where there is magic in the land?¡± ¡°Magic in the land, you mean, leylines?¡± Now that my network of trees and roots spread across the continent, there¡¯s actually multiple leylines. But, my soul forge requires different ¡®types¡¯ of energies, so an increase in the quantity of leylines merely increases the total mana available to me, but does not result in me unlocking a different ¡®color¡¯ to my leyline. There are multiple dungeons across the continent too, and they are either [black] or [red], or [blue], colors which I already have. So, despite my expansion, my soul forge colors did not grow. The wolf sniffled momentarily, shaking and nodding its head, and then answered. ¡°Yes, I believe that is what they are called by the mages. The shamans refer to them as just magic in the land. Can you help us ensure safe passage, we see many humans and creatures who would fear us and attack us.¡± ¡°That can be done. I shall assign you an escort.¡± Faris arrived five days later by express-beetle. ¡°This is Akrenaf, a wolf. He wishes to travel to the leylines of the land, and I saw it fitting that a great druid is to escort him.¡± Druids are also commonly seen with animals and tamed monsters, so a massive wolf-monster travelling with a druid would not raise alarms. ¡°Well met, Wolf.¡± Faris said with a friendly bow. Akrenaf sniffed him slightly, and spoke. ¡°He smells of the city.¡± Faris shrugged, ¡°My tasks often lead me to the cities. But that should not detract from my task of escorting you.¡± ¡°It is fine.¡± The wolf shook it¡¯s head. ¡°Let us go.¡± They travelled mostly through the smaller routes, walking the entire way. When they finally arrived at the nearest magical leyline, a ¡®blue¡¯ one, the wolf sniffed and tapped its massive paws on the ground a few times. It was using a skill of somekind, and then... that was it. That was rather boring. The wolf repeated it a few times in most of the other ley lines or places with natural mana. ¡°Are you looking for something else?¡± I asked at the fourth leyline they visited. ¡°No, not really. This is right. We merely sensed its strength.¡± The wolf responded. ¡°And your reach is far.¡± Ah. ¡°It is for a shaman to regularly visit nearby leylines, as shamans tap onto leylines for strength and power. Their health and condition is critical to a shaman¡¯s strength, and also why certain types of shamans often live in strange places. Quite like that of a witch.¡± Faris merely shrugged. Have I met a witch? - Kei could fly was something I expected. What I did not expect was how high she could fly. She could fly almost to the edge of the ¡®sky¡¯ itself, almost crossing into space. Space was, as she described it, strange. The moons moved erratically at times, as if forcefully yanked out of place. It also occurred to me that if she really wanted to win her fight against me, all she needed to do is fly really high up and bombard me from where I cannot reach. Her magical projectiles would lose some of its power at that distance, but she would not be harmed at all at that distance. Of course, I kept my mouth shut. The heroes could have used a similar tactic against the demon king too, unless, of course, the demon king also can fly at that distance. I wonder what the world would be like if the next demon king was some kind of alien monstrosity that floated on low planetary orbit, bombarding the world with dropships filled with demons. ¡°We killed the demon king 5 years ago.¡± Yes, Year 145. So there¡¯s 5 years left. ¡°There¡¯s 5 years left, right?¡± ¡°The rifts usually open 1-2 years before. You can start hunting demons once that happens to raise your levels, if you feel not confident. But once you cross Level 100 as a hero...¡± Kei nodded. ¡°Oh yeah.¡± It feels like I¡¯ve done this for umpteenth times. Is this what being a non-player character feels like? Repeating the same shit to different ¡®players¡¯ every damn time. It¡¯s boring. In the meantime, I scheduled more practice sessions for Kei with Edna and Jura. Edna gained a level or two from spars with Kei. - The Rottedland shrunk even more, at this point, it is only a quarter of the Rottedland¡¯s peak. Furthermore, this ¡®quarter¡¯ is sliced up by all the tree-roads, and the new nations that now inhabited the reclaimed lands. I wondered whether there was a way to tap into blood magic as a source of new mana-color for my soul forge. Perhaps, by way of a rune on the general population that granted some of their mana to me? I have [Red], from a volcano. [Yellow] from a runic formation. [Blue] from my existing trees and networks, [Black] from a magical leyline. From ley lines throughout the continent, most of them were already Blue, Black or Red. Do I have green? Shouldn¡¯t trees be [Green]? Or is it from something else? If there¡¯s [black], there should be [white] too? Frustrated, I shared my concerns about the colors with Lilies. < How do I get [green]?> > No clue. Mine is Black from all the death of people. < No progress. I believe demonic magic is perhaps one color. This blood magic is also another. What other sources of magic? Wind? Water? I decided to try for both. If Wind could be a source of magic, all I needed was to spawn a lot of trees in places where there is a lot of wind, and find a way to convert that wind-energy into mana. Perhaps that¡¯ll give me another ¡®source¡¯. If my experience with [blue] was correct, I¡¯ll need at least 10,000 wind-harnessing trees to unlock a new color. For a month I experimented with various grasses, reeds and coconut trees, attempting to find a way to convert wind-to-mana. Of course, my artificial minds submitted some rather fascinating tree species for my consideration too. Dandelions. And wind-mill tree-monsters. The windmill trees were trees with flexible branches that could twist along with the wind. They were monsters first, trees second, and they actually attack people around them. Carnivorous little creatures. Naturally, they went into the [biolab]. [Research option unlocked : Windmill Trees - 18 months needed.] [Research option unlocked : Wind Energy Harvesting - Grassy Fields - 18 months needed] [Research option unlocked : Wind-to-mana - 24 months needed.] Fuck. 2 years. I decided to work on water-based plants instead. We were already experimenting with swamp trees and swamp adapted trees. Now, the goal was to turn wave-to-mana, and it¡¯s associated relationships. The druids already had a large collection of plants that exist on the shoreline. These included also certain forms of seaweeds and algae. [Research option unlocked : Algae-to-energy (Seaweeds) Stage 1 - 12 months needed] [Research option unlocked : Swamp wavebarriers - 18 months needed] [Research option unlocked : Saltwater Tolerance Stage 1 - 24 months] Oh well. I started the research anyway. If I can unlock both of them, that should lead to more mana, and hopefully a new color. Wind and water seemed natural enough. - A few minor wars broke out among my subordinated states. The Valthorns had to abstain from conflict, and also work with the Priesthood, together they were tasked with protecting innocents from the fighting. The entire Central continent is a hodgepodge of rulers. The FFA and the Valthorns essentially existed as a federal government with power over all outbound diplomacy, religion, certain military rules and rights, interstate trade, racial matters and certain overarching criminal prosecution powers. There¡¯s also federal taxes, and also the FFA regulated all of the major transport and trade routes. Below that are the ¡®states¡¯, who retain domestic power, budgetary control over the finances of their own states, internal state trades, local criminal and law powers. These are the ¡®allied¡¯ and ¡®subordinated¡¯ states. It¡¯s complicated simply because certain states were ¡®captured¡¯, but we have spared the local rulers in exchange for their cooperation. So there are differences in the laws and powers of the local rulers, depending on their respective history with the FFA. Those who converted to my side willingly retained most of their domestic powers, surrendering only minimal external-bound powers. Again, this hodgepodge of powers, laws and all is from history. I did not want to forcefully standardise the laws, simply because there are local cultures that affect things. For example, a nation with a treefolk majority has certain local rules and regulations that cater to their needs that would be unrealistic and burdensome to apply in a city with centaur-population as a majority. There simply was no way to apply a one-size fit all approach to laws, without creating unhappiness. In fact, in the Freshlands¡¯ Treetiary College, there¡¯s quite a large segment of the curriculum that focused on the various variant laws throughout the central continent. The administrators and nobles, unfortunately for them, have to be able to navigate this massive landmine of rules and regulations. Taxes too are increasingly complicated. At the federal level, we levy a tax on the nations itself, a 10-30% cut of all incomes, depending on their past agreements with us. Some places, like the Six Ports, and Freshka, are considered ¡®directly administered territories¡¯ of the FFA, so they only have a single-layer of tax. But for the allied states, they would sometimes face dual taxes, one from the state, and one more from the federal authority, if the state decides to pass on the tax obligation to the local rulers. Naturally this is also a source of dispute. For example, a kingdom where one of their larger merchant organisations moved to another, perhaps for trade and tax issues, would then raise a complaint to the FFA and the Representative Council, but even if we made a ¡®good¡¯ decision, things don¡¯t always work out. Over time, Kavio explained that it¡¯s quite normal for a decision to be made by the Council, but the two disputing parties still resolve to war. It tends to flare up more when the entire continent is at peace. It¡¯s like, after they are no longer scared of a war with the temples, they now turn on each other. So, we just let them fight. The Valthorns and the federal forces would abstain, and we would also set up certain rules of engagement. Even assassinations were permitted, so long as the targets were all members of the ruling party and the local military force. There¡¯s also separate food stockpiles, the general food stockpiles and water sources which are acceptable targets, and the Valthorn and Priesthood¡¯s stockpiles, which are off limits. If the combatants overstepped the boundaries, the Valthorns would interfere and we would crush whoever offended the rules first. It wasn¡¯t hard to pinpoint who¡¯s at fault when my army of artificial souls monitored it. If that failed, andI couldn¡¯t pinpoint it, it was also possible to just capture the leaders, ship them to Freshka for a trial. Patreeck would then use his mindreading abilities to discern the truth. Occasionally, I would send a reminder to all the other nobles by skewering the offending noble. I suppose I¡¯m a hypocrite. Of course, the idea of letting my states fight each other was strange for Kei, who seemed to have the concept that the world should be all kumbaya and everyone should be friends. People will have disputes. Even if there¡¯s no demon king, no demons, even if there is excess, people will fight. It¡¯s good for the army too. Those who fight gain levels, and I have more people that I can poach for the Valthorns. It also helps to clearly delineate the difference between the Federal authority and the State authority. Citizens that lived through such interstate wars all learn that we have different roles, and generally have far higher loyalty to the federal authority than the state rulers, simply because the wars cause them to realise that their state rulers are just all about power. Swaying Grass Year 151 The clock is ticking, and my research continued. Some of my research commenced a little too late, so only the algae-to-energy research was completed. There are many, many kinds of algaes, each type chose a slightly different mix of specialisations to excel in their respective environments. I recall in my earlier studying days that there were certain types of seagrass or seaweeds which swayed and moved with the motion of the waves, and there are also documentaries about how certain types of deep sea algaes actually feed on geothermal vents, or certain fungi that lived in volcanic lakes. These are alien life in some ways. Either via waves-to-mana, or geothermal-algae-to-mana, I¡¯d hope to arrive at some new source of mana. The thought about algae also brought me back to my much earlier days of coping with a growing country. The poop problem. There was also the whole trash-to-energy, an incinerator. There may be a way to do the same to poop. Poop-to-mana. I wonder whether this soul forge thing is just some subliminal messaging about power-source diversity. Anyway. Poop problems. Poop-to-mana, taking my earlier research to the next stage, in combination with the algae blooms. As the research into water-based plants continued, one of my skills upgraded! [Rootnet upgraded. Basic connection with shallow seagrass established.] Then came the usual messaging spam. I had to filter out a lot of garbage from the seagrass. In places where the sea isn¡¯t that deep, these seagrass created underwater meadows, where fishes and other monsters live. I found them similar to floodplains where the grasses and other plants have adapted to recurring floods. Still, this connection into the seagrass is the first time my ¡®senses¡¯ extended out to the shallow sea. Again, everything is really murky, and my hearing, sight abilities don¡¯t work that well underwater. It¡¯s muffled, or too noisy and loud. Yet, this is a positive thing If seagrass is possible, then, ocean-grass would be the next step. I remember in our world that seagrasses were local and constrained to the seas, and do not grow in the deep oceans. But if I could expand my research into seagrass and make them more durable and hardier in deep waters... Either that, or have a look at the undersea maps. Perhaps there are ancient land bridges where seagrasses can cross, though from what I see so far, the central continent is really far from any of the other continents. Or maybe there¡¯s a hidden underwater chain of mountains. Ah well. - ¡°Mom.¡± Arlisa said to Lausanne one morning. ¡°You¡¯re good at fighting, right?¡± Lausanne paused and turned to face her daughter. She wasn¡¯t sure where her daughter was going with this question. Kids tend to ask the weirdest things. ¡°I am, but against monsters or bad guys. Why?¡± ¡°Can you win against a demon king?¡± Lausanne shook her head. ¡°No.¡± That stung at a part of her that once wanted to be a hero. ¡°A demon king is a special existence, my dear. It¡¯s one of those creatures where only those chosen by the gods can defeat.¡± ¡°Is Aeon a god?¡± Lausanne paused. Ah. ¡°Uhm, sort of.¡± ¡°He chose you, right? I mean, a long time ago.¡± She sipped on her morning cup of tea, and bit into a slice of bread. Arlisa noticed her mom¡¯s silence. ¡°Is Aeon a god?¡± ¡°Sort of.¡± ¡°What does that mean, mom?¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°Gods exist in a spectrum, a range of powers. There are weak gods and stronger gods. Aeon is one of the world-bound demigods, and is on the weaker side, but it is gaining strength over time. Someday it will be as powerful as the elder gods.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Arlisa nodded, she appreciated the honesty. She somehow knew, despite her youth. Perhaps it is a gift of children, to be able to sense the truth and lies of their parents. ¡°So yes, I was chosen. By luck or misfortune that I was there, with grandma in the village then. We hid. We survived. Aeon has watched over us since then. Honestly.. I remember little of those early days. I was far too young.¡± ¡°Okay mom.¡± Arlisa nodded. Some of the meaning was lost on her, but she got the gist of it. ¡°Can Aeon choose me too?¡± ¡°...I believe you have already been chosen.¡± Lausanne sighed. She knew of the Blessing, I told her, and she took it with a mix of gratefulness and fear. Something she confided in Laufen a lot. ¡°Mom, how did you deal with it... when Aeon started training me?¡± Lausanne asked Laufen. ¡°How do you cope, with... the expectation?¡± Laufen shook her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t. Things were smaller back then, when it was just us in that small ring of trees. When we were just hustling to survive the winters, when the girls had to hunt our own animals without any of the trained warriors. When Aeon trained you, it was just helping us survive. Giving us a chance. Not now though. Now, Aeon¡¯s power has grown, and he is the guardian deity of the entire continent. For Arlisa, her expectations, and what everyone wants from her, will be higher. Her challenges, her enemies... they will be like yours in your later years. When you were ¡®special¡¯.¡± Lausanne blushed. It was embarrassing to remember the days when people referred to the then teenager as Lady. They still call her Lady today, but somehow, it¡¯s a lot more ¡®normal¡¯ and ¡®appropriate¡¯. ¡°As your mother then, all I could do was pray and hope for your safety. Elves like us rarely betray the guidance of our home tree spirits, their wisdom and foresight beyond that of our own. If you let Arlisa walk the path, it¡¯s something you should really sit down and have a long chat with TreeTree. Its¡¯ power grows, and so will Arlisa, even if her talent is no better than yours, she will exceed your power once she reaches maturity. When that happens, she will be fighting nothing less than the greater demons.¡± ¡°That makes me afraid. I never knew what it''s like to fear for someone else.¡± Laufen gave her daughter a hug. ¡°Then you know how it¡¯s like for me to feel, with you so far away. But Aeon was always with you, isn¡¯t it?¡± Lausanne thought about Warden. Warden¡¯s power grows with mine, the star-mana link allowed it to always reproduce a lesser variant of almost all my powers. It is something unique about the Possessions of the Devoted. ¡°She is young, and one day you will have to let go. Aeon will give her wings and weapons we cannot yet imagine, as he once did, with you. It¡¯s now on you to choose. Clip her wings, or teach her how to better use them. Aeon will not impose if you choose otherwise. He has eyes on the young talents all over the continent, he can spare you that choice. Time has changed. We are no longer desperate, our survival no longer hanging by a thread.¡± Lausanne sat and wondered. Indeed, Laufen is right to say I would not force them. The blessings I grant to Lausanne is both her luck and misfortune to be in the right place, and at the right time. Arlisa¡¯s in a position of privilege. In a way, she inherited her power. - ¡°Hey.¡± Kei walked into Stella¡¯s apartment. ¡°You sure you don¡¯t want to come along?¡± Kei tried to reconcile with Stella after their bad first encounter a while back. Partly because Kei has matured enough. Kei even told her about the journal, but Stella just shook her head. ¡°No. I am rather content here.¡± Her apartment was filled with artwork, many of them made as posters for the various Valthorn projects. She found confidence and joy in painting, if anything, the sense of progression from levels seemed to make her feel better, and helped to reinforce her identity. She poured her energy and negativity into her art. It¡¯s strange how the sensation of levelling up made her progress seem more real, more.. Tangible. Even as she toiled at something as abstract and subjective as art, the levels were an anchor. It made me realise that maybe levels would be useful for those who struggled with their own self worth. That having something to hold onto, that I am a high leveled artist, or I am a high leveled warrior was a strong reminder that things are not that bad. Kei sighed. ¡°The world is a large place, Astia. Come with me, see the world. It¡¯ll help your art.¡± ¡°I will, someday. But let me hit Level 40 as a [painter] then I will.¡± She¡¯s at the crux, a Level 39 [Painter]. ¡°Do you want me to wait for you?¡± ¡°No need. If I do travel, I will first visit the sights on this continent.¡± Though her confidence has seen some improvement, her people skills remain lacking. More like, she¡¯s still not very fond of being with people. Maybe she¡¯s just allergic to people. Kei nodded and just left. After that, Kei came to see me. ¡°I¡¯ve arranged with Alvin and Hans to visit them in the South. I¡¯ll be gone for a year or two.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I mean, what could I say. She¡¯s not exactly my servant, we¡¯re just partners at this point. She packed up, said goodbye to some of those she¡¯s close with, mostly merchants and some other adventurers. She¡¯s got a big travelling bug, and she¡¯s been going from town to town, visiting almost every kingdom and nation along the way. Mostly to just have some local coffee or tea, sit around, fight a monster or two, make some money sparring with some upstart nobles, have sex with some gorgeously good looking dude by the beach, things young teens on a European style backpacker¡¯s trip or gap year do. I suppose it also ties in with her confusion and lack of direction in her life as a hero. The journal loosened her chains, but she still doesn¡¯t know where to go. She needed this time off, to think and find herself. Both of them are lost in their own ways. Then again, most of us are lost. - There was a bit of drama in the Treetiary College during this year, when one of the Lordlings attacked and significantly paralysed another Lordling. My eyes were watching, but I decided not to act, simply because this wasn¡¯t the first time the two squabbled, and it seemed like they had a bit of bad blood. Rivals and stuff. I think I could help the paralysed Lordling, but I decided to wait and let the drama unfold. Life should have consequences, and I wanted to see it. The family of both Lordlings got into the fray, and they had discussions that quickly broke down to little wars and skirmishes. Again, we let it happen. I see this as a way of the natural aristocracy imposing its own cruel version of meritocracy and survival of the fittest. The principal asked me to intervene, of course. I rejected him, and told him to buy a big pack of popcorn and watch the drama unfold. If I let kingdoms go to war with each other and assassinate each other, was I going to stop them here? ¡°But you said the FTC is a safe place.¡± ¡°Safe from everything else. But I suppose, not each other. He¡¯s only paralysed, that can be... fixed. And if they ask me to, I will. At a cost, of course.¡± Conflict is natural. Survival of the fittest is natural too. I considered the implications of ending the cycle, what would happen in a world without heroes and demon kings. If I removed this source of conflict, what happens next? It is not world peace, and I think of my own world too. Home. Earth was never at peace. They would fight, they would go to war and use heinous weapons. Individuals with desires and needs will inevitably clash with each other. This world would then naturally go to war. Perhaps the 4 temples will then be at each other¡¯s throats, the current unity-in-a-common-enemy no longer applicable. But those wars will be less devastating than the demon king. I¡¯m sure of it, simply because the kinds of power the temples can unleash is fearsome, but nowhere near the multi-million single-day deaths that demon kings have done before. So, it¡¯s still good to end the cycle, especially from the perspective of the living, sapient beings. But for trees, the end of the common enemy would result in an expansion of sapient beings over time, and that would encroach on the natural territory of the others. Would the next stage of that conflict be Man Vs Nature, once the demon king is out of the way? It wasn¡¯t a pleasant thought to consider. - The two heroes that Kei would soon meet were busy doing what heroes normally did. That was, build a harem, make babies, establish new kingdoms, and generally enjoying their lives. Alvin, established his kingdom in the Southern Continent, by essentially turning a few of the princesses and queens into this harem. Their territories were then amalgamated into his new kingdom. Hans, travelled back to the Eastern Continent, and claimed the right to rule over a few cities and towns that lost their leaders from the terrible demonic attacks. Of course, this also involved admitting a lot of women into his harem. The two Kings were clearly competing on the harem part, even if they both didn¡¯t say it. I think all these heroes need a harem-education program, to explain the risks of establishing a harem and the subsequent problems that would arise. Harris had the problem. Even today, his successor kingdoms continue to fight with each other. They have trade wars, stupid sanctions against each other. Again, I¡¯m not in the business of correcting stupid people, so I let them be. - I gave Lovis the 4th Soul Strengthening seed, as my specialist [spearmaster]. I also asked the 3 of them, Edna, Faris and Lovis, who would want to take on the role as [Aeon¡¯s Demonslayer]. Faris flat out rejected it, as the new class deviated far too much from his current one as a druid. Edna was rather happy as a knight, so Lovis also accepted the new class, as my new unique-class holder. Once she accepted the new class, her [spearmaster] class disappeared, but her classes were subsumed under the [Aeon¡¯s Demonslayer]. She obtained my [anti-demon aura] and buffs against demons. In short, the damage she takes from demons reduces significantly, and the damage she deals to demons significantly increases. But like my own [hero fragment] buff, I¡¯m not sure whether it applies to Demon Kings. We would have to test it out the next time a demon king comes around. It took her a good month to get used to the power of her new class, and its¡¯ also a strangely... twisted class. Once she accepted the unique class, I somehow gained access to her thoughts and memories, and also some insight into her history and her past. She was one of the orphans, just like Edna and Faris, and when she received the class almost 30 years ago, back in Year 123, she was a child. She was brought into the Valthorns as the Freshlands recovered, and has since then moved up. She lagged behind both Edna and Faris in levelling, though she had practiced a lot more. This was at a level beyond Patreeck¡¯s mind reading, in the sense that it was a lot more personal, more... nuanced, and contained more details of things. I felt bad, really, that this class gave me such direct access into her mind. It made me realise that perhaps the [hero] class is actually a unique class granted by the gods, and as such, if they have access into the minds¡¯ of their heroes, then the next step after access is they could alter them significantly. Which is thus evidenced by all the mind control. I spoke to her personally, alone as she dipped herself into the biolab for further examination. She was slightly afraid, but also excited and honored. Her soulspring was now different, instead of the usual blocks, it was made entirely out of a tree, with roots holding onto all the blocks. The blocks themselves had roots growing into them. Each class presented itself differently in the spring, and this class was a domineering one. It absorbed all her other classes, and she was now a single-class. [Aeon¡¯s Demonslayer]. Nothing else. ¡°Can you hear me?¡± I spoke as I delved into her soul spring, examining her energy. She¡¯s asleep, yet awake here. ¡°...yes.¡± She was confused, and this, to her, is like a dream-like state. It¡¯s not too far off. The spring was vigorous, like Jura and the other two. The spring¡¯s vigor was the essential component, though not the only one, of a person¡¯s level cap. The vigor seemed to determine how many skills or levels a person could support. I wonder, why am I not affected by it? < What beings are not affected by the level cap? > I asked Lilies. > Heroes, because the gods grant them boundless vigor. Us, trees, and other beings like us, for we derive our vigor from the land and the world around us. Dragons and magical creatures that tap into the land or exist on some outside source of vigor too would not have a level cap. But mortals, no. Treefolks have a higher level cap than mortals, as a part of their vigor is from the land, yet they very rarely reach those heights. < Wait what. I have so many treefolk followers. Where are my superleveled treefolk? The highest levelled treefolk in the central continent is a [Woodshaper] at level 74. He mainly shapes wood into utensils and tools, but also does a lot of larger scale projects like defensive walls, buildings, castles made of wood and all that. I decided to speak to him, and awarded him a gift for skills. It significantly improved the finesse of his woodshaping, and asked him to aid in making weapons against the demons. Entree Keys Year 152 Lilies introduced me to an interesting new friend. It was a massive turtle, the size of a bus, that somehow managed to secretly swim through the rivers and lakes. I had eyes and ears, but in the water, it still managed to evade my detection. It clearly had some skills, and the way it communicated was strange.The turtle stopped at the side of the lake, and touched one of Lilies¡¯ floating platforms. It seemed to use Lilies¡¯ way of communication. > I am Vallasira, pleased to meet you, Aeon. < It was a magical turtle or tortoise thing, resembling a Zaratan, but too small to be one. But I asked to be sure. < Greetings Vallasira. Are you a Zaratan? > > Yes, I am a young Zaratan. It is a common question, and I have lived for as long as Lilies. We heard of your search for tales of the sea, and I am here to answer what I can. It is not often that one of the spirits of the land seeks out the spirits of the sea. < < I see. > Is there a catch? With Lilies, there wasn¡¯t any. Lilies was just willing to share, especially with someone like me whom they view as an equal. < Thank you, what may I do for you, in exchange for the favor? > > So long as we are never hunted on your lands and your rivers, that is good enough. < < I can do that. It will be so. But, it is best to never declare your existence at all. > I said. < Just declaring your existence draws attention to your kind. > > It is so. It seems you seek the origins of the gods? < < Yes, and perhaps, the origin of this system to begin with. But first tell me, how have you hid away from the demons? > They lived so long, surely there are ways... > We do what spirits of our kind do. We swim to other worlds where the demons cannot follow. < I felt like that turtle just dropped a bombshell on me. So there clearly are other worlds, and not only that, the turtle is able to go there! < Can you take us with you? > It paused momentarily > We can only carry what that can fit on our backs, and our void mana determines how often we can go and what we can take. For spirits of you power... we cannot do so. < Void mana. Where have I heard that before... Ah. That princess from so many many years ago. So that princess was headed in the right direction... < I have so many questions. > > And we have time. < Vallasira spoke, he, or it, floated on the shores of Lilies¡¯ lake. I made a large wall of trees so that he would not be seen, and then added a layer of [camouflage] and [mist]. Here was a creature who travelled to other worlds, and it would not be . < Are the gods and demons on other worlds too? Have any of the worlds broken free of this... system? > < Yes and yes. Some were never even touched, though we know not why. But I have only been to the two nearest worlds, though I have lived for 4,500 years, my Void mana is only enough to take me to the nearest of the two. Both worlds are just like this, with their own gods, heroes and demons to deal with. I have heard of a system that is beyond the reach of the demons and the gods, but it was a few millennia ago when I was but a youngling. I do not know of a path to that world. > Fuck. So there are multiple worlds with similar problems. But also, there is a way to escape. Patreeck¡¯s idea of hiding the world, or somehow moving the world away has merit. < What are the gods? > > We believe they are creatures or beings that reached a certain yet unknown high level, and obtained the 2nd tier of the system. We also speculate there is either a system that existed above this one, or a tier to the current system. In any case, the gods have access to a higher set of powers and rights. We do not know how to get there, and those who have, could not reveal it to us. < An admin system, or console access, isn¡¯t it? Mozart referred to himself as administrator. Maybe it¡¯s just a set of administrator passwords which granted them access to that system. < The gods, are they the same ones on other worlds? > > We suspect so, though their names are different across worlds. < < You say... we? Are there more of you? > > Certainly. Zaratans meet each other to mate, to raise our eggs and our young, and discuss the matters of our safety, and of the multiverse. > < Then, what are these demons? Can you stop them?> > As Zaratans of the sea, we know little of these otherworldly invaders. They have a homeworld, or a chain of worlds somewhere, but their world lacks seas, rivers or lakes, so we cannot create the interplanar mist and swim there. So... we don¡¯t know beyond that, and who controls them there. Our great elder once tried to stop the demons, but the God¡¯s puppets turned on our elder. < A waterless world. I see. Also, these interplanar turtles need large bodies of water to move around worlds? That¡¯s a rather odd restriction to their power. < Can you teach me how to move to other worlds? > > Our abilities have adapted us to travelling to other worlds, and would not be useful to you. Large quantities of Void Mana is the first step to any interplanar travel. < Void mana. How do I get that? It seemed the turtle read my mind. > Void Mana requires one to dabble in higher magics, or, if you have it naturally. Like us. < Wait, does this also imply that the Spirit Trees in those stories may actually have Void Mana instead of Star Mana? Perhaps, it is a path along the road of the domains, that I may have one of those choices in the future? I would presume that there have to be further domain choices, that Level 150 isn¡¯t the only time one chooses their domain. Given that my first domain choice happened at Level 150, it¡¯s possible that the next domain choice happens at either Level 200, Level 250 or Level 300. If Level 150 was the one and only domain choice, then I may be quite fucked. < Do you have a domain? > The turtle was silent for a moment, then answered. > No. < Hmm. That meant a high level is not really necessary to get the power to travel to other worlds. Even that princess managed to expose herself to void mana, she was not higher than Level 50 then. So there are ways to access Void Mana. Perhaps even naturally. Are there plants that naturally produce void mana? If I could create a farm of such trees or plants... < How do the gods summon heroes? Why them? > The turtle just shook its massive head. It probably didn¡¯t know. Not that I can blame them. What else did I want to know? Uh. But already I have a lot to work with. < What do you know of the domain? > > Elevated authority in a specified field of the system. < Ah darn. The system works like users making and interacting with it, and domain powers are ¡®super-user¡¯ rights? Gods eventually reach ¡®admin¡¯ rights? But what is this... system? Are gods the creators of it, or are they just glorified administrators? If there are just administrators, surely the creator must be a lot more powerful? The turtle left after a while, but it promised to return again someday. - ¡°We wish to reopen diplomatic relationships, discreetly.¡± An Aiva Envoy arrived on our shores, disguised as a regular merchant. They met with an audience of the Representatives, and Kavio. Kavio was about to retire after decades at the helm, to be replaced by one of the representatives. They had a mini-election to select the ¡®Representative Leader¡¯. ¡°And why would we even bother?¡± Kavio barked, his mood was rather foul. Another Lord in the meeting quickly intervened. ¡°Representative Leader Kavio, wait. Let¡¯s hear him out.¡± ¡°The Temple of Aiva does not believe or participate in the slander against Aeon or the Central Continent.¡± Absolute rubbish. All the evidence collected so far, it¡¯s quite clear Aivan Church participated in the propaganda. Liars. ¡°They are liars.¡± I whispered to Kavio¡¯s ears, and he knows it too. After all, we did not sit idle after the blockade was broken. The restoration of our eyes and ears in these hostile lands were one of the great priorities since then. ¡°Lies, envoy.¡± Kavio repeated. ¡°Let it be known that we do not appreciate the lies.¡± The envoy gulped. Patreeck used his mind reading abilities. The envoy screwed up anyway, he knew it was a lie too, but he was confident. He had a skill to resist mind reading, but he was horribly underleveled against Patreeck. The Aivan Temple did want to open diplomatic relations, but the leadership hoped to extort some kind of agreement or aid, since they had a lot of damage to undo. ¡°Aeon notes you did not come to our shores in good faith. This negotiation is over.¡± Kavio sent him off. The representatives were baffled. ¡°Thank your foolish gods that we do not send you back in a body bag.¡± The envoy left at haste. - One of the Valthorns, without the use of my class seeds, managed to upgrade his own class to [Archmage]. [Archmage] has been one of those elusive classes to create, though I did have archmage classes obtained from the dead. I would say the magic of the Central Continent is not significantly more advanced than the other continents. Magic research is mostly the pursuit of eccentric individuals, so, while the Central Continent is safer than the other continents, and my various abilities did seem to improve the speed of gaining levels, they still tend to plateau. To summarise, with magic, what I had were [mages] of a high level, but did not have particularly unique abilities. The process of ¡®creating¡¯ or ¡®inventing¡¯ new spells or new ways of using existing spells, as it is, remains the domain of the eccentric, or otherwise, luck. A [Mage] is someone who taps into the mana of the world, and casts spells. A spell can be both a [skill] and not a skill. That meant, it is possible for a mage to read an instruction of how to cast [fireball], and cast the spell, [fireball], without having the skill [fireball]. Having the skill, of course, meant the mage could cast the same spell faster, quicker, stronger and with less mana cost. A mage therefore learns to cast a spell, and with sufficient practice, gains the [skill] reflecting that said spell, and thus becomes more competent and powerful. Mages also gain a range of support skills throughout their careers, such as mana-cost reduction skills, passive mana regeneration skills, or elemental ¡®boosts¡¯ and ¡®discounts¡¯. The invention of new spells, however, is mostly bouts of madness. A mage tries to mix components of the spells together, in hopes of creating something new. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they fail. A good healer, like myself, meant that they are more likely to survive failures and have the chance to try again. This, of course, supports the persistent mages, those who work hard and experiment constantly. They have some successes, but they will see a lot more failures. The conversation with the zaratan left my mind spinning, and my artificial minds were hard at work processing the ideas. There are ways to travel across worlds. Void mana. If anything, I now had to consider sponsoring the mages and wizards in our care to dabble in void mana, figure out how that princess managed to do so. It¡¯s a risky one, clearly playing with void mana incorrectly would destroy one¡¯s soul spring. Over the decades, my library of books and tomes have grown massively. I had my researchers and mages run through them, to find the clues of Void Magic. I recall some words back when Madeus still lived. The tomes of the mad-hero Arsene Emir. I quickly called on the Valthorns to locate it. It took a few months, but the tomes and writings of the mad-hero were duplicated many, many times, so we managed to retrieve a few copies. Some of the surviving kingdoms on the Central Continent had a copy in their own personal libraries. Void mana. Exposure to it would cause visions and nightmares of otherworldly horrors. Back then, it was explained to me that Void Mana was a raw primordial form of mana. Is that explanation then still true? Quite a few of the mages professed their reluctance to experiment on void mana. It seemed that the history of man is littered with mages killing themselves through incorrect use of void mana, and no one has figured out how to correctly use them in the first place. Knowledge of void mana isn¡¯t entirely rare, and is used mostly as a reminder of bad magical practices. Some of the mages commented that void mana can be collected, in small amounts, by way of runic formations. However, the runic formations usually must be located high above the ground, usually in towers or tall secluded places that are exposed to the night sky, and a large anti-magic barrier must be present, such that the runic formation is ¡®clear¡¯ of all other mana. Then it is a matter of waiting and luck. Sometimes, the runic formations will collect a small bit of void mana. Most of the time, nothing. Collecting void mana when the two suns are present is impossible as the light will cause the void mana to decay. Of course, their comments were very strange, some points seemed to contradict my existing knowledge, and I believe there¡¯s quite a bit of misinformation in that knowhow. What is void mana? < Would you know how to create void mana? > I asked Lilies. > Some say it is always around us, but just undetected. < Ah great. I¡¯m hunting for elementary particles. > Some come across them purely by luck. < < I see. > I have an entire continent. Surely if it is luck, the statistics would point to me having seen it already. > Perhaps it is invisible to you, as you rely on Spirit Vision. < ...fuck. - Year 153 There was not much time to rest, as I saw, we saw rifts opening throughout the central continent. It was a magically fascinating thing to see, to see space and reality crumble and break apart to reveal these gashes in space. We redirected all the magical sensors and labs to the rifts, and wondered whether the demons use void mana too, or perhaps they have some substitute for it. Are the rifts void mana? ¡°Aeon. Demons spotted on our continent. Your command?¡± Kavio and Valthorns came to meet. ¡°Ringfence all the rifts, and let our forces fight them.¡± Naturally, what else is there to do against demons? ¡°We should aim to take this opportunity to level up the forces. Alert me to all ¡®demon champions¡¯.¡± ¡°As you command.¡± Some of the smaller rifts spawned only ordinary demons. The demons resembled large skeletal structures, a bit more like animated skeleton animals with some dried flesh. From this alone I¡¯m predicted an undead-type demon king. Since it wasn¡¯t a problem to suppress the rifts, I¡¯ve started setting up labs closer to the rifts, hoping that my sensors will figure out what they are. ¡°Has anyone ever touched a rift?¡± I asked the entire council and the Valthorns. ¡°Uh... not that we know of.¡± ¡°What if we touched the rift?¡± There was silence. I decided to try, and on one of the smallest rifts, a bunch of vines and roots reached out and attempted to hold the rifts. It was weird. The rifts seemed to be both a physical and magical thing, and alternated between the two. It felt like touching a floating snowflake that promptly turned into a puddle of water. There was a... frequency. I could feel it, the way the energy of the rift ebbed back and forth. I instinctively attempted to match its resonance. ¡°Master, the vines went through.¡± Patreeck noted. ¡°What.¡± The vines got to the other side of the rift, I could still feel them, and it could go through if the magical pulse was at the right regularity. There was a sensation of incredible dryness, my vines had to draw more water from the network. Sand. Rocks. But very, very dry. About an hour into it, the demons seemed to realise, the small rift quickly closed and cut off my vines, now left on the other side. ¡°Did you see or feel anything?¡± I asked Patreeck. Patreeck had used my [eye] ability on the vines, to see what¡¯s on the other side. Patreeck gave me a series of images, it felt like I was looking through the eyes of the mars rovers, an alien world filled with massive spires and large, red crystals. An army waited at the other side. The vine¡¯s eye turned and looked back at the rift. We saw a large ring-shaped gate structure, and the rift in it. Around the platform of the gate were six massive arrays of reddish-black stone. It glowed in both red and a black-ish color, at intervals. There were also more of those red crystals, further out, connected by some strange chains. The demons then spotted the vine, and the portal promptly closed. That was the end of it. But I saw enough. Demons. Alien worlds. Gates that open the rifts itself. Could I tamper with the rift next time? Spaizzer Due to my present overwhelming workload and life generally, I''ve decided to take one week off. There will be no chapters on 2 March 2021. I will resume posting on 9 March 2021 (or 10 March 2021 depending on where you are in the world.) Snatch Treeives Year 153 (continued) Each rift had a different frequency and resonance, but it was still possible to align it. The beetles and Valthorns fought demons by the thousands to gain access and reach the rift. Again, no big deal. With Lovis¡¯s new demonslaying power, the regular demons were easy. Under the effect of the demon suppressing aura, these demons were more like slow moving zombies. Together with my subsidiary trees spawning up to the rift itself, it wasn¡¯t hard. Once they managed to reach the rift, they too, tried matching their mana to match the rift, but they struggled to do so. They do not possess my ability to manipulate mana in one¡¯s body at such great detail. I did after all, face decades of corrupting demon energies, and also use mana for magical soul-surgery. All of these meant I was capable of incredibly subtle mana control, and I could handle the fluctuations in these frequencies. I tried wrapping a beetle in my vines and then sending it through the rift. It didn¡¯t work. The vines went through but the beetle just bounced off. Again, my vines and roots went through the rift, and once I had vision, I immediately activated my [subsidiary trees] on the other side of the rift. It worked. The subsidiary tree instantly spawned beetles that fought with the demons on the other side, and bought me some precious time. My vines and roots grabbed the red crystals, those red stones and pulled them through the rift. Then I saw the giant demons. Massive boney mammoths. Their magical blasts destroyed my subsidiary tree in a single energy attack. Ah. The rift was closed again. But I got them, the red crystals. Never mind, there will be more rifts. The demons seem like they are unable to stop opening the rift. I hauled the red crystals back to my labs for analysis. They were not demonic in nature, and instead... They are void mana batteries. Each of them were slightly depleted. One of them exploded suddenly and left a massive crater, killing a few Valthorns and destroyed a few hundred beetles. The Valthorns got the message and so they maintained a large distance from the crystals. Another one exploded when one of my lab-trees prodded it with too much mana. The void mana inside is clearly quite unstable and is prone to strange behaviors. One of the Valthorns injured in the first explosion soon developed symptoms similar to the Princess, and testing in the [biolab] soon proved me right. He had the exact same curse, [Exposed to Void Mana]. Thankfully, I am far better equipped now, and I have more mana at my disposal. This time, I was about to crush the curse outright. But he lost some of his levels and skills from the void mana. This made me wonder... Could I use void mana to remove the [hero] class? I suppose this is like using chemotherapy to remove a cancer. It¡¯s harmful, in more ways than one. - There were easily 30 to 50 rifts open at any one time, and from them, out came these undead-like demons. With so many rifts to secure throughout the continent, it was a bit like playing whack-a-mole on a continental scale. This meant our forces and our elites had to be distributed throughout the continent. Hytreerion, my tree walker finally saw battle, and it was incredibly fun to watch it stomp demons, the same way those demon walkers stomped on us. Have a taste of your own medicine! It¡¯s also my first time witnessing the full combat capabilities of a Titan-Soul powered Walker, and its accompanying army of Wood Soldiers. Those wood soldiers are quite like beetles, in that they don¡¯t have much intelligence. In a way, Hytreerion is pretty much a land based Protoss Carrier and the wooden soldiers are its interceptors. So far, the first wave of demons from the rifts did not contain any ¡®champions¡¯ or ¡®walkers¡¯, and were just large masses of mobs. That meant a single Hytreerion was sufficient to secure one rift, or a few if they were located close to each other. Now that I know those rifts are actually two-way gates, I¡¯d like to prepare for an eventual counter-invasion to the demon worlds, and Hytreerion, as a champion-tier creature would be my advance force. But first, I¡¯ll have to figure out how to create these rifts on my own. There¡¯s a few good reasons to go to the other side. One - there may be a chance to figure out why and how the demons are invading our world. This may be one of the best ways to get an answer. Two - More of those void battery-crystals Another matter at hand, was whether I should tell Kei about these two-way rifts, that it is possible to go to the other side with some mana-synchronisation. My concern was, if the gods have a read on her mind to some extent, then if she knew, then the gods must know too. Then again, there are certainly secret followers of the other gods in the Central Continent, and the gods may have observed my actions. I decided to tell her anyway. She promptly returned to the Central continent within a month, and attempted to assault one of the rifts. She managed to synchronise herself with it, her natural magical gift as a hero meant this was easy stuff. But once she entered it, the barrier seemed to drain a little of her star mana and then the rift quickly collapsed. Fucking hell. Because the heroes at almost entirely star-mana once they pass level 100, and the rifts seemed to be powered by void mana, the interactions between the two mana types caused the rift to collapse. Well played, gods. Well played. The heroes can¡¯t use void mana since it reacts dangerously with star mana, so they can¡¯t use void mana to travel back home, or travel to the world of demons. Of course, this frustrated Kei. ¡°So there¡¯s this mana type, called Void Mana that lets you open fabrics of space and time, and we can¡¯t use it because us heroes are loaded to the brim with star mana.¡± But Stella was delighted to learn of void mana. She, after all, did not have star mana, and now, this void mana was a way to go home. I would have to ask the Zaratans whether its¡¯ possible to send her back by riding on their backs, but from what he said, it seemed the distance is too far. Conceptually, if the gods have star mana, and I presume that the reaction between void and star mana is still dangerous even at significantly higher levels, how did the gods summon the heroes from far away? One, the gods stored their mana off-body, i.e. in separated shells? Perhaps the gods have the ability to split their being, like multiple trees in a network? If so, perhaps me and the gods are more alike than I thought. Either that, or there is some distinction between the mana types of the gods. Perhaps Mozart and gang are gods with void mana, and the Aiva, Gaya, Hawa and Neira gods are star-mana gods? That there is some kind of trading arrangement between them? - ¡°Rift secured, master.¡± Hytreerion repeated, and more of my subsidiary trees spawn into place. Throughout the continent, the military and Valthorns have kept the rift¡¯s demons suppressed. After my first void battery, I¡¯ve resolved that I want more of them, and so, it¡¯s time for the Rift Robberies. I activated a few more artificial minds, and readied them for the task at hand. Vines and roots resonated their mana with the rifts, and all at once, all of them entered the rifts. We invaded 14 rifts, and spawned [Giant Attendant Trees] and [Subsidiary Trees] by the tens and hundreds. Beetles then appeared to fight the demons on the other side. But, the terrain on the other side was incredibly dry, and it was an environmental energy that caused my trees to dry up and shrivel. They won¡¯t last very long in that hostile terrain, the ground nothing more than rock and sand. The roots of my [Giant Attendant Trees] and [Subsidiary Trees] couldn¡¯t extract any water or nutrients from the ground to sustain their strength, so all the nutrients and water had to be supplied by roots through the rift itself. Never mind. I needed them to buy me time. I wanted a lot of that void mana battery. I would keep them and store them secretly as weapons against the heroes. If void mana reacted with star mana, it made sense that trapped the heroes in a void-mana-battery field would be dangerous for them. One. Two. My roots pulled. I saw more of those boney mammoths, they used beam weapons and glowing red horns that shredded through my trees. They were stronger on the other side. My beetles didn¡¯t last long, weakened by the dryness of the air, and my aura was negligible. Through one of the rifts, I saw a familiar sight. One I saw during the demons¡¯ dreams, back when the souls of the heroes were trapped. A massive city-like structure filled with massive spires of red crystals, the spires were everywhere and stretched to the horizon. A massive serpent of bone and decayed flesh spotted the trees and charged at them. It¡¯s body glowed in pulses of red and black, and it rammed the [giant attendant trees]. It crushed my trees easily. Never mind. More crystals were stolen. I¡¯ve grabbed twenty five of them before all the rifts shut off. Still, my rift raid triggered something strange. All the rifts throughout the continent instantly closed. Great. If the demons are intelligent, clearly they figured out that I know how to go through their rfits. We expect countermeasures. - Year 153 Detailed analysis soon revealed something that was quite worrying. These crystals are pretty much [daemolite], but before they were fully ¡®emptied¡¯ of their void mana. The demon king¡¯s death always left [Daemolite], hence, the rifts would close quite soon after the demon king was killed. Simply because their ¡®carrier¡¯ of the [void mana] had fallen. In these crystals, we saw these magical patterns, powered by the void mana. They were almost invisible, and only now we could see them because of the void mana that caused them to flicker into existence. Quickly, I asked for some existing daemolite, harvested from the previous demon kings. When void mana from the void mana battery was connected to the daemolite, those patterns reemerged. For now I don¡¯t know what they did... but the fact that there is a magical pattern in these crystals suggested that they may have other purposes, on top of just batteries. It also made me wonder whether the demon¡¯s mana is a form of processed and stabilised void mana? I didn¡¯t make much progress on this research, and the demonic rifts remain closed for a good six months. At first, I wonder whether this was a way of scaring the demons off. Then the 2nd wave of rift opened. Only a single rift opened, but it was massive. I could see the rift open right before my vision, simply because this rift opened right next to Freshka, very close to where my labs were. Then demonic champions poured out. Large mammoths and skeletal serpents emerged from the rift. But they picked a fight in my home ground, where my aura was strongest. The battle for the good three weeks was fearsome, as champion after champion poured out of the massive rift. I had to step in and hold them back, as my forces, now scattered throughout the continent, rushed back. Then, as more of my higher leveled warriors returned, they took the reins. Jura slew one of the skeleton mammoths single handedly, and they leveled. Lovis, Edna, Faris and Jura fought for days, and ten champions came out of the rifts over the three weeks. Jura hit level 125. Edna, Faris and Lovis soon breached Level 95. After the ten champions, there was a lull, where only lesser demons, the mobs came out. They died as soon as they stepped out of the rift. My roots attempted to synchronise with this rift, and I noticed they¡¯ve scrambled the magical resonance. It was no longer the same pattern, but a constantly changing frequency and pulse. Smart, and after a day or two of monitoring I thought I cracked at how they changed their frequency. My roots went through. I saw more demons. They noticed. The rift closed again just as suddenly, then we had another period of peace. - The demonic attacks became propaganda fodder for the 4 temples, at first. But then they soon shut up, when they noticed just how quickly we suppressed the demons. Kei was personally quite impressed at how the entire demon issue was kept under control. ¡°If every continent had an existence like yourself, the world would be a lot more peaceful.¡± I then pointed at the states and lesser nations engaged in small skirmishes and wars with each other. ¡°Once you remove the big bad guy from the picture, those in power merely turn on each other. It¡¯s a form of peace, but conflict remains inevitable.¡± ¡°True, true. Unless you want to mind-control everyone to submission.¡± ¡°That would not be ideal.¡± I may be a tree, but I sure ain¡¯t no Eye-of-the-Moon. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s silly.¡± That said, I¡¯m no saint either. The Treeology priests and Valthorns engaged in massive social ventures to build positive reputation, and also not-so-subtle propaganda and emotional manipulation. Just like the Four Temples, we too use a bit of ¡®carrot-and-stick¡¯, the stick being fear of life without us, the chaos of the times before. I wonder if Kei¡¯s smart enough to notice. ¡°So, how¡¯s your trip to the other continents?¡± Kei rolled her eyes. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not bad. I see a lot of rebuilding in the Eastern Continent, all of which progressed quite well. It¡¯s been 8 years, but the scars still remain. There¡¯s also large groups of refugees in the other continents that are stuck in limbo, struggling to decide whether to return, or stay in their new home, and face a different set of challenges there.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just life.¡± My citizens have been through that a few times. I¡¯ve seen so many generations of refugees. ¡°The people of this world are used to it.¡± The fluidity of their lives in something they are very well aware of. ¡°I¡¯m going to use my [hero¡¯s forge] and make massive robots.¡± Kei said, the conversation just went off in a 90 degree angle. ¡°I mean, after what I¡¯ve seen on the other continents, I think the world needs a lot more than just heroes.¡± I paused. Seriously. ¡°It¡¯s possible, I checked. I¡¯ll need a lot of materials, though, so I¡¯m going to go travel again and find them. I¡¯ll be back for the demon king, though. Which should be in a year or two? I¡¯ll try to convince the other two to come too, if they aren¡¯t too busy stuffing their dicks into their army of sluts.¡± ¡°Language, Kei.¡± Kei laughed and left. - ¡°Tell me more of this void mana.¡± Stella looked through the papers, records and magical books. She¡¯s been here for a decade or so, and I think her confidence level is getting better. She still doesn¡¯t like to talk to new people, but she¡¯s very comfortable with me. At least, to her, I¡¯m that voice in her head that¡¯s been around for a decade. She is now a Level 40 [Courtly Administrator], and unlike the heroes, she had no star mana. She was therefore a good candidate, if I wanted to work on these void-mana shenanigans. Void mana was a way home, even if it¡¯s extremely remote. I explained it at length, about how the ¡®rifts¡¯, but I did not speak of the zaratans. Her earlier classes had merged together, [Painter] and [Administrator], and for her to touch magic at this point is a great change. The risks of how the void mana can destroy the soul spring and all that, strangely, was not really a risk. ¡°If you are right, this void mana is pretty much a reset button.¡± ¡°...¡± Well, yes. ¡°I get to lose all the stats and levels, and start over.¡± Stella said. ¡°So, there¡¯s really no risk, unless I die, and that¡¯s rather unlikely because you have cured people with void mana curses before.¡± She walked a step or two, then turned. ¡°Fuck it, I¡¯m in. It¡¯s either I get home, or I die trying.¡± - Dabbling in void magic is quite like blood magic in some ways. It required magical formations, and also complicated chants. The magical records left by the mad-hero, Arsene Emir, documented his attempts to call on the void. Once we cross checked his history, it seemed that he died when defending his home from the demon champions. A hero shouldn¡¯t die to demon champions so easily. There must be something more, but most of those records are lost to the great Rottedlands disaster. Still, the magical tome of the otherworldly void was sufficiently interesting. It seemed, per Arsene¡¯s view, that void mana is ever present in the environment, and the issue was actually collecting it. In low quantities, void mana does nothing, and it¡¯s reality-disrupting abilities only manifest when high amounts are present. In his own words, Arsene actually said that void mana isn¡¯t actually mana, but more of a ¡®reality-atom¡¯, that the world was actually held together by Void Mana. So, generating void mana was strangely easy, according to his theory. Just spread mana to the general surrounding and let the mana ¡®dissipate¡¯ into the world. Occasionally, this would knockoff one of the void mana. The difficult thing was actually capturing the void mana. Holding the void mana was difficult unless one had the right kind of item. The void mana would pass through almost all kinds of materials, and would disappear after a while. It was like trying to capture, bottle up bubbles, and hope they don¡¯t somehow break apart for long periods of time. It¡¯ll take some time. Or maybe I should just reuse the captured void mana batteries? But i¡¯m not sure what happens if I do so, especially with the unknown inscriptions and patterns inside the batteries. Do I summon more demons if I do that? - Progress with blackstar gems and demonic hybrid core - none. Attempts to further refine tea to enhance mental-divine resistance - uncertain. Unable to test efficacy. We gave Kei various types of tea for her to comment on, but again, she isn¡¯t really the best judge of whether the gods are meddling with her or not. - Research! I¡¯ve completed the first stages of both the Wind-to-Mana and Waste-to-Mana research. The seagrass research also meant my ¡®knowledge¡¯ of the surrounding seas is gradually improving, but the vast oceans still remain out of research. Seagrass research, for now, continues. For the Wind-to-Mana, Waste-to-Mana and Wave-to-Mana research, it increased the total mana output by a little bit, but so far, did not unlock a new color for my [soul forge]. I¡¯ve added a wide variety of new coastal species to my biological collection too, especially those that live mostly in the sea. It felt a bit like I¡¯m expanding in so many different directions, even with Trevor organising all my various labs and artificial minds. With so many different types of mana, so many different types of new plants, weaponry development, research on runes and blood magic, it feels like I¡¯m scattering my resources throughout and hope some of them stick. I don¡¯t know what might work, and concentrating all my resources on just a few things only to end in failure is rather depressing. But this process of ¡®carpet-bombing¡¯ everything also feels... cheap. Like I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m actually doing. Those who Fight For Tree Year 155 The rifts opened again, this time, they went back to their earlier strategy of multiple rifts across the central continent. But we were getting better. My studies into the void mana and the daemolite had produced some useful information.The daemolite has a certain range of resonance with the rifts, that is mostly invisible, except when one has void mana. The daemolite¡¯s ability to store void mana is actually quite good, compared to almost everything we¡¯ve seen. The next point, really, is why? The daemolite left by the demon king on this world, does it serve a purpose beyond just a store of void mana? Or does the demon king need that void mana batteries to travel to this world? Or is there some other purpose? But anyway, our research into void mana and these void batteries made us more sensitive to the rifts, and so, I had about 4-5 hours notice that a rift was happening, and also their location. It¡¯s just a lot easier to find something when you know exactly what you are looking for. The Valthorns, Hytreerion and all engaged in combat over the next few months, the rifts now popping in and out. They barely stay open for more than a week, and would close as soon as my forces get near. If this isn¡¯t proof of demonic intelligence, I don¡¯t know what else is. They clearly have some way of transmitting information back to the homeworld, and are able to act on it. Thankfully, the type of demons remain the same. It¡¯s still the quasi-undead demons. Is there like some kind of facility in their home world that decides on the demonic themes? As the year went on, it¡¯s increasingly clear that something big was going to happen. My sensors were going wild, and I knew exactly where it was going to happen. Of course, we had to be tuned in to that specific magical resonance to detect it. I¡¯m betting my money on this being the demon king, and he will appear in the Central Continent. I¡¯m quite sure of it. Immediately, I had that area where we detected the magical fluctuations cleared, emptied of all people, and loaded with all the magical traps and weapons. If a demon king¡¯s gonna appear on our continent, I¡¯m gonna hammer it with everything. I also started to flood the area with my [Giant attendant trees]. This was my chance to test how long I can hold out against the demon king. Kei was on the way back from the other continent. The other two heroes agreed to come as well. It seemed to me that they are compelled to fight demon kings, even if they disagree with me, and have no love for the central continent. Perhaps, it is a requirement of the [hero] class, that they must challenge the demon king. - Of course, my actions were not missed by the common folk, or the elite. I decided it was just right to be forthcoming about it, so I informed everyone that the demon king will be on the central continent. Once again, panic. - Schadenfreude. That¡¯s the feeling from the other continents and the temples. They delight in the fact that I will have to face the demon king. Damn them. Not that they can do anything to help. - I called on the kingdoms of the central continent to share their hero items. Many of them have a few, legacy of their founding heroes, or gifts from visiting heroes. We built bombardment stations, built around the hero items. We can prepare for this, and so we will. The hero items were all supported with massive arrays of mana-storing potatoes. If one doesn¡¯t hurt the demon king, maybe a few of them together can. Together with the heroes, I¡¯d hope to make this battle a swift one. After all, apes together strong. I even equipped Hytreerion, my massive tree walker with that Cannon of Alantara I stole from the temples. Hytreerion¡¯s massive mana pool meant he could support one hero item on his own, and to bolster his mana capacity, we also started research of mana-storage beetles. Mobile-mana batteries meant to augment Hytreerion¡¯s large mana pool. These mobile mana-storage beetles started off as beetles with a large mana-potato grafted on their back. Over time, the biolabs made improvements to the ¡®bond¡¯ between these mana-potatoes and the beetles. Eventually, I even got them to explode if triggered in a certain way. It¡¯s a roundabout way of getting back to Beetle-banelings. Point is, I needed mana-storage, since the point is to create huge ¡®bursts¡¯ of energy output. We¡¯ve also planted the entire area with modified potatoes, and charged them up with all the mana I could get. If a demon king¡¯s coming, I was going to blow it up as much as I can. ¡°Seriously, this is... really just camping at the spawn point, isn¡¯t it? What if the demon king doesn¡¯t spawn here?¡± Kei admired my work when she arrived at the location. We¡¯ve built multiple fortresses around the demon king¡¯s spawn point. My rift attuned sensors did not detect any unusual changes. For now, all of them point here. ¡°But, sure.¡± ¡°Can you help?¡± I spoke to Kei. ¡°Your array of guns, are you able to place them as fixed objects? Since I was quite certain where the demon king will appear, it is entirely possible to really break this.¡± ¡°But is killing the demon king the answer?¡± Kei asked. ¡° We did that last time, and all it did was lead to this point here.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re not willing to help me kill the demon king, then help me immobilise it to a significant degree, such that we can repeat what happened.¡± Kei thought for a moment and then agreed. ¡°This is pretty much trying to injure a pokemon so that you can catch it, but not too much that it¡¯s dead.¡± I got that reference, but I just continued. ¡°So, help?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± She spent about a month using her [hero¡¯s forge] to set up multiple cannon arrays. But, her arrays are powered by her star mana, so for now, they are pretty much like single-use turrets that will expire once the star mana runs out. Still, with so many cannons, traps and weapons, I¡¯d hope to at least significantly weaken the demon king. ¡°When are your two friends coming?¡± ¡°They said they will come once the demon king appears.¡± Ugh. So glued to their harem. - ¡°So this is what mom¡¯s been up to.¡± Arlisa said. She had snuck out after I asked Lausanne and many others to help with the preparations of the site. She stood at the edge of the cliff and looked at the vast area now cleared into a battleground. The entire area, and anywhere with 50 miles was evacuated where possible. Overnight, towns and cities in the area were emptied, the people moved as far as they could. We had large convoys of beetles ferrying people from the towns and cities to large dedicated ¡®new-towns¡¯. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Lausanne, of course, could sense her daughter from a distance away. It also helped that one of Arlisa¡¯s bracelets are enchanted. Arlisa jumped when Lausanne snuck out behind her, undoing her [Camouflage]. ¡°MOM!¡± Arlisa was about to flip. ¡°Wait. Why didn¡¯t I sense you coming?¡± ¡°Your [Detection] abilities are probably too low.¡± Lausanne patted her 14 year old daughter¡¯s head. She¡¯s a level 34 [Ranger], and it¡¯s considered slow when Lausanne herself hit Level 60s at that age. But, of course, Arlisa was also taking life a lot easier, and did not have to fight as many monsters as Lausanne did. Naturally, her level would be lower. There¡¯s also a part of her ¡®rebelling¡¯ by not following her mother¡¯s footsteps. When everyone expected her levels to soar, she resisted it. She claimed that she was still trying to figure out her life and didn¡¯t want to move so fast. ¡°Now, you want to see what we are doing?¡± ¡°Is the demon king going to appear soon?¡± ¡°Aeon thinks it¡¯ll be soon. This entire place is loaded with formations, which... he isn¡¯t sure will work or not.¡± Arlisa was worried, and her facial expression reflected that. ¡°Will you be fighting, mom?¡± ¡°No against the demon king. Hopefully not. Jura is. Along with those who received the seed. But the rest of us will be helping to control the other demons that appear. Aeon expects the demon king to be accompanied by a large army.¡± ¡°...I see.¡± - The Valthorns went through the plans over and over. Kei, as the hero, was also involved. The moment the demon king appeared, we would activate all the weapons and traps against the demon king, and then only would Kei engage. One-on-one against the demon king is going to be tough, but the rest of us will play support. Everyone was in their best equipment. We moved our best anti-demon artifacts to the fortresses around Ground Zero. The signals we detected were increasing, and getting stronger. The tension in the air was rising. And yet the two heroes have not even left their continent. ¡°How long do you think we can hold back the demon king?¡± ¡°Based on our calculations and data provided by past heroes, master... we should be able to suppress the demon king for at least a day. Our base case scenario varies, but the median is around 6 days.¡± Patreeck modelled the potential battle, and 6 days wasn¡¯t great. The key is whether Kei can kill it. Based on our current data points, we should be able to take the demon king down by about 40-50%. Kei¡¯s star mana would have to make up for the rest of the shortfall. That¡¯s barring any cheap tricks. - I made progress with my various energy research. There was no progress for the blackstar gems, however. Still, the energy research did not unlock new color. At least, not yet. All it did was add more mana to the pool. It¡¯s fine. It was loading the entire area with more mana anyway. - Jura, Lovis, Faris and Edna were all Level 125. It seemed there was a natural limit for experience seeds, and that limit was Level 125. All the experience seed did not work beyond that point. Darn. I suppose you can¡¯t cheese your way to divinity through experience seeds. They had to earn their last 25 levels. I also gave my 5th Soul Strengthening seed, this time to one of my Patreearchs, Priest Lumoof. He was a Level 85 [Aeonic Bishop]. Though he was old, he had a lot of support abilities, and I needed someone like that to support the first 4. Now was not the time to save on experience seeds, so I also pushed him up to Level 125. Year 156 The demon king didn¡¯t waste time. The rift was massive, so massive that it seemed like the sky itself twisted. ¡°It¡¯s coming.¡± Kei said from a distance away. We watched, as massive skeleton dragons and mammoths stepped out of the rifts. The ¡®champions¡¯ of the demon king. ¡°Should we blow it up now?¡± One of the Valthorns asked nervously. ¡°No. Only when the demon king is here.¡± There were at least 50 of those champions, and I can¡¯t help but remember Harris describing them as fodder once they were at level 130s. They could destroy a champion in a single-star mana attack. The demon king¡¯s heads appeared. It was a massive skeletal serpent with large reddish spires along it¡¯s jagged spine. It had three heads, a three headed skeleton serpent, one head resembled the skull of a mammoth, one head resembled a dragon, and one resembled a cobra. Everyone felt it. ¡°Hold.¡± Kei said nervously. This was her first full-powered demon king. The last one was a dud. She instantly notified her two ¡®friends¡¯ that the demon king had descended. Indeed. I got the notification the moment it¡¯s entire body appeared. [Demon King Tigash has descended] It¡¯s three heads roared. The demonic champions, who surrounded the area, turned and charged. I feel a tingle in my network. Fear. Everyone seemed to be caught in its aura and presence. Kei immediately stood straighter and activated her own star-mana form. It glowed like a lighthouse in the dark, and instantly, the fear subsided. Point 1. Demon King has some kind of fear aura. Point 2. Heroes have a natural anti-fear aura. ¡°Ready.¡± I notified everyone to take cover. ¡°It¡¯s time for some explosions.¡± All the hero items prepared in the entire area activated, and the first volleys of energy blasts shredded the demon champions. The barrage of bullets, projectiles and beams from all directions, even Hytreerion. It was beautiful. It resembled Total Annihilation when I let loose multiple long range cannons, or those old videos of battleships going all out. The valley was filled with the sound of all the cannons and artifacts unleashing fury on the demons and the demon king. The 50 or so demon champions were destroyed quickly. After the volley, came the traps. The entire ground beneath the demon king glowed. Overcharged mana potatoes embedded in the ground, configured into a literal mana bomb, and the multiple explosive formations around them. Together, they would explode as one single massive bomb. The single explosion for the mana was so large it could be heard a 100 miles away, the fortress braced for the shockwave of energy. The detonation lefta massive crater. ¡°Where¡¯d the demon king go?¡± No. It was an illusion. We saw the three heads still floated, surrounded by massive skeletal shields. Those shields looked like they took some damage, and it¡¯s body was gone. The eyes on the three heads glowed, and instantly we saw it¡¯s body regenerate. It roared, and more champions emerged from the rift. Kei sprung into action. She could remotely ¡®recharge¡¯ her arrays as long as she¡¯s within the area, so the cannons kept up the attack. I felt drained as the weapons and traps called on more mana, but this was the moment we¡¯ve prepared for. Two to three years of preparation all for this single moment. We unleashed everything we could, as suicidal beetles loaded with mana potatoes on their back charged towards the demon king. One of the heads roared, and a huge red energy blast torched the walls. We quickly activated defensive shields, but they didn¡¯t last very long. The beams were as powerful as the heroes! Tower after tower, incinerated. ¡°These fortresses are a bad idea. We should have built them into the ground, instead of above ground!¡± One Valthorn commented. Which I agreed with. Tall fortresses were a stupid idea against demon kings with beam weapons. Naturally things above ground would be in their line of sight, and line of fire! I shall have fortresses built underground next time. At least the earth and dirt helped to absorb some of the damage! The artificial minds helped me reconfigure some of the magical weapon arrays, connecting them to fresh mana potatoes. We needed to keep up the pressure, as more demon champions emerged from the rift. ¡°We¡¯ll take the champions, let Kei focus on the demon king.¡± Jura, Edna, Faris and Lovis stood and charged in. One of the demon king¡¯s three heads, the one resembling a cobra opened it¡¯s mouth and shot a huge spire-projectile. Where did such a projectile even come from? The projectile exploded into thousands of smaller spires, and those thousands of smaller spires transformed into small zombie-like creatures. They charged out of the crater, and attempted to reach the magical cannons. Beetles! Thousands of beetles emerged and met the zombie-army. The mammoth-head¡¯s eyes glowed, and all the zombie-minions glowed and gained strength. A buff effect. Jura hacked through hundreds of zombies and managed to land a finishing blow on a champion. Hytreerion too loaded up its¡¯ mana beetles and shot another projectile. It impacted one of the demon champions, it staggered and then fell. It was pure chaos as the cobra head turned again, this time it shot a beam at Hytreerion. Shit It was too big and bulky. I activated all the defensive abilities I had, but it still tore through them. It knocked Hytreerion back by a few hundred meters, and made a large wound on it¡¯s back. The mammoth head roared and a fire appeared between its¡¯ tusks. ¡°The fuck is that.¡± My sensors went wild. Kei¡¯s multiple arrays fused together into a large cannon, and then fired a purple-and-white energy beam. It hit the Cobra head and the cobra head crumbled. The mammoth head¡¯s fire glowed, and in an instant the entire crater and it¡¯s surroundings were charred with black demon flames. It was a very familiar pain. The fireblast hit the surrounding weapon posts, multiple hero items were destroyed. We felt it as some of my subordinates died. Jura and the heavy rankers immediately dived to avoid the blast, but Faris¡¯s staff was instantly torched. Kei had a magical shell protecting her. It glowed white, and she had suddenly transformed. This was the ¡®star-mana¡¯ form. Now, she was the core and center of a massive magical weapons platform. Each of it¡¯s energy blasts were purple-white and contained huge quantities of star mana. It was a form I¡¯ve never seen, and I wondered whether she was still holding back? Or is this something that only activated when she faces a demon king? Yet, the Cobra Head, that we thought was destroyed, reconstituted itself. ¡°Master. The mammoth¡¯s head, there¡¯s ten slots with six red crystals on it.¡± Patreeck mentally shouted in my mind. I immediately zoomed in. ¡°When we nuked the entire place, 3 of the red crystals crumbled, and just now, when Kei destroyed the cobra head, one more crystal turned to ash. It¡¯s a life-counter!¡± There¡¯s six more lives. ¡°Kei, those heads can regenerate. You need to knock them all out at least 6 times.¡± I suspect 9 times in total. They only stopped regenerating if they were out of crystals. I quickly explained the details as we kept up the pressure. The dragon head¡¯s turn to glow, and it shot multiple beams. ¡°Master. Bad news. Rifts opening across the continent.¡± Treevor repeated. ¡°At least fifty.¡± Fuck. Most of my high leveled guys are here. ¡°Beetles and get everyone not occupied. Activate the adventurers and the local militia too.¡± I still had a few guys. Horns was not involved in this conflict since he was too low leveled, but he could help with the other sites. ¡°Lausanne, need you to take a team and get to one of the rifts!¡± Yet I couldn¡¯t distract myself from the conflicts throughout the continent. I felt my entire body tingle, like static, as if I was right next to a lightning storm. The dragon-head roared and dragon-head launched more energy beams. These beams behaved more like strings than beams, and it destroyed a few more fortresses. Kei flew and weaved between those strings like a pro, but even then, she got hit a few times. The arrays took the damage for her. It felt like watching a touhou game. The dragon-head released multiple slow-moving floating energy-mines. These were like explosive wisps, and they went in all directions. ¡°Aeon. What do we do?¡± Edna shouted as she hid in the ground together with Faris. ¡°We¡¯re pinned down and we can¡¯t get close!¡± They had a few shields up, but they didn¡¯t last very long. The flames burned them easily. It seemed that either the demon king¡¯s flames are not really flames, or my resistance just got nullified before the king, or I¡¯m still too far. There were about 30 demon champions left, and the demon king traded blows with Kei. The King concentrated on Kei, and focused its attacks on her. Honestly, the rest of us are just distractions for the two true titans. Kei¡¯s attacks filled the skies, and her barrage of star-mana bullets took out demon champions easily, 2 shots, and the demon champion was destroyed. But that was not her objective! She wanted to attack the demon king but these champions kept getting in the way! ¡°Black-fireblast incoming!¡± I alerted the engaging forces, as we noticed the mammoth head had a small spark of fire between its tusks, again. This second shot incinerated my beetles, and a few more arrays. I got mental notification that a few of the arrays are ready. I had to shoot, or they might get destroyed. ¡°Go Go Go!¡± Right next to the demon king, my Giant Attendant Trees were nothing more than firewood. It¡¯s energy beams ripped through the trees like they were a piece of thin scrap paper. It was a mistake to ask my elite forces to engage in this battle, as they scrambled to flee for their lives. My mistake. Next time I won¡¯t field anyone less than Level 100. Anyone less than that is nothing more than a liability. It¡¯s true that they could help with the demon champions, but with the demon king¡¯s attacks, I couldn¡¯t even protect them. The demon king clearly didn¡¯t care for it¡¯s own subordinates, as it shot beams that incinerated both ally and foe. The demon king was beyond them, truly. The traps and the cannons were infinitely better choices. ¡°Kei. Can you push the demon king to the marked spots?¡± I asked. We had traps made in the surrounding area as well. We were prepared to nuke this entire area to smithereens if we can take out the demon king. ¡°Am trying.¡± She responded as she dodged wave after wave of magical bullets and beams. Her attacks managed to hit the dragon-head and it crumbled! 5 crystals left! The rift abruptly closed behind the demon king. There were no more champions, as Kei¡¯s projectiles and the few arrays took out the remaining champions. It didn¡¯t take long for the dragon-head to start regenerating. But it was enough to buy time. As Kei¡¯s array transformed into massive mirror structure and temporarily ¡®deflected¡¯ the demons¡¯ bullets. The sudden shift hit the Cobra-head and it too, crumbled after five or so star-mana hits. I quickly attempted to create multiple giant attendant trees around the demon king and used my vines to latch onto them, when they were still regenerating. There was only the mammoth head now. My vines grabbed on to all of them and I tried to drain them of mana. I heard a voice in my head when that happened. ¡®Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee usssssssssssssssss.¡¯ [Mental incursion detected. Blocking... sCraMb---] [Excessive demonic mana in network. Expelling...] Fuck. Fuck. Not now. Patreeck and my domain stepped in and blocked off the attack. ¡®Pawns...¡¯ The voice was legible now. I felt it in my head. Shit. Shit. ¡®Pawns...¡¯ ¡°Master we couldn¡¯t block all of it. We must detach. We must disconnect the vines.¡± Patreeck shouted in my head. ¡°It¡¯s in your head!¡± ¡®Pawns...¡¯ I saw visions of their homeworld again. It was a massive purple world. ¡®Long ago. Before the slavers.¡¯ Massive, purple, and they were giants. They were all monsters and their cities were massive canyons. Monsters. A primitive society. ¡®Fight the slavers.¡¯ More visions, large, massive cities of giant monsters. Then... a beam of light. Kei¡¯s energy blast weaved through the trees and hit the immobilised mammoth head and it too crumbled. All three heads abruptly twisted and fused together, and in an instant, those giant attendant trees were vaporised, along with my vines. The link to my mind broke, and I was knocked out of the vision. In its place, the three heads combined, turning into a single-head with three faces. The dragon, the snake and the mammoth. Was that some kind of symbolism? All three mouths opened, and it shot out huge red beams in all directions. Faris was too near! Still, he kept attacking the demon king, his attacks made small, tiny cracks on the large three-faced creature. One of the mouth turned to face Faris and shot a red beam. It happened so, so quickly, and he was too near. Faris was caught in the red beam. He was vaporised instantly. [Faris has died.] FUCK! ¡°Retreat!¡± I screamed mentally, but it was too late, really. The red beam was crazy powerful. My shields were nothing more than paper before a flood. This power was above and beyond whatever data I got from Harris. When we simulated the past demon kings, my shields still managed to weaken the power of the attack, but this was easily three to four times stronger. Jura shook his head. ¡°No. We¡¯re this near, and we¡¯re this close. It¡¯s either we win, or there¡¯s nothing left for us.¡± He threw a magical spear. It hit the demon king¡¯s face and caused a tiny crack. Kei¡¯s star mana blast managed to hit and it knocked a big chunk off the demon king¡¯s three faces. ¡°It traded defense and hit-points for power.¡± Patreeck commented in my head, quickly summarising that it¡¯s defensive stats are probably not that high. It¡¯s also a ¡®relative¡¯ thing. To Kei, yes, it¡¯s totally a glass cannon, to us, it¡¯s still impossibly tough. ¡°It¡¯s a glass cannon.¡± ¡°With 10 lives. Not exactly a glass cannon.¡± Still, my eyes were locked on Jura and Lovis, both attempted to get closer. Lovis threw a few magical spears at the demon king from her location, and it did just tiny bits of damage too. ¡°Not anymore. There¡¯s only two red-crystals on its mammoth-face.¡± The demon¡¯s energy beam and the beam from Kei¡¯s array had a clash of powers normally seen in anime. The two energies met and had a short tug of war but eventually, Kei¡¯s purple-white beam lost. The demon¡¯s power pushed through and Kei¡¯s array was destroyed in another big explosion. The beam was so strong it even burned a straight line for about 10 miles, I felt like a line of trees just vanished from my network. Kei was alive. She managed to dodge sideways but she had lost an entire limb. Blood streamed out of the charred parts. But she stood. Alive and defiant. I immediately sent vines to surround her, and attempted to heal her. At this distance, my root strikes would be weak, but whatever. I unleashed all I could, and summoned multiple giant attendant trees again. The Demon King roared and black flames instantly torched my root strikes. One of them hit the demon king and caused a little more cracks. ¡°...not yet.¡± Kei said, my vines now wrapped around her entire body. Her arm was lost but my vines quickly applied healing energies to suppress the wound. She lifted her other hand, and her body glowed. Her lifeforce and soul was flickering. I could sense her entire soul spring cracking and crumbling, even the marbled hero-blocks. Ten magical large projectiles, they resembled armor-piercing rounds appeared in the air, made of star mana. This was it, as all of her mana left her body. Her body now felt like an empty shell. If this didn¡¯t work, the demon king would win. A flick of her finger, and all ten massive magical rounds flew towards the three-faced demon king. The demon king roared, it¡¯s three-faces unfurled like a book and took the attack head on. The projectiles exploded on impact, each explosion was small, but they were dense with star mana. Each shot resembled a mini-nuke on its own. There was a short moment of suspense as we watched the dust settle. It was not enough. When the dust settled, there was still one face. The mammoth face was still there, cracked and weakened, there was no crystal left on its head. This was its last life too. If only the other two heroes were here. Kei... fainted. Her life force flickered and faded, she was weak and dying, even if I managed to suppress the bleeding. I called on my mana to heal Kei and supported her, but I could sense her soul spring crumbling... The demon king¡¯s movements were sluggish. Its face were filled with thousands of cracks and it roared. Kei¡¯s anti-fear aura faded away. I froze. I had flashbacks of that very first time when I met that demon king, and I remembered how it chopped off my trunk. It felt like old wounds had suddenly reappeared, their wounds that I thought had fully healed just flared up. Old pains and wounds just burned suddenly, things I didn¡¯t even know I had. What do I- ¡°Master!¡± My artificial souls voice broke me out of my flashbacks. Then, I saw Lovis and Jura both charged at the demon king. Somehow they were unaffected. They were equipped with anti-demon spears and launched an attack together. Their weapons glowed as they used everything they had at the demon king. ¡°What are you guys doing?¡± We have a clear shot. Both of them mentally responded, even though I sensed and shared their fear. I didn¡¯t know what compelled them to even try for the demon king. Their spears crash into the demon king¡¯s skeletal face. The cracks on its face glowed. It¡¯s a familiar look. Things I¡¯ve seen in dreams. It was going to blow. Flames shot out in all directions. Why do they always blow up. ¡°Fuck get the shit out of there!¡± I quickly extended my vines and attempted to drag both of them out of there, and used my vines to latch onto the exploding demon king. If I could drain some of its energy, the explosion may not be so big. I wrapped my vines and roots around Kei, she was too weak to move in her half-dead state, and used my vines to haul her away. Jura and Lovis ran as fast as they could, I made layers after layers of wooden shields. Everything. I made Giant Attendant Trees too, by the hundreds. I pulled and tried to drain as much energy out of the demon king as I could. My vines wrapped around the demon king¡¯s cracked faces many many times, and my entire body was temporarily flooded with the demon king¡¯s mana, but it wasn¡¯t enough. The mammoth-face still detonated, and instantly, there was an explosion just as big as my traps. Black, blue and red light cut through my vines and all my shields, and it was as if the void itself was here. ¡°What could I do? Wait. Teleport! My Star-mana Ropeway!¡± I wanted to activate my teleportation ability to save them, but I had used all my star mana. The explosion was too quick, and my subsidiary tree was charred before it even completely spawned. The black-ish energies exploded and caught Lovis, Kei and Jura. I tried to shield them, but the energies attacked my roots too, and it incinerated them instantly. The energy felt like a shockwave of radiation, and it interfered with my roots, vines and trees¡¯ ability to regenerate. ¡°Fuck!!!!!¡± I was far away, but if I had a human heart, it was like watching a tragedy unfold before my very eyes. I felt it sink. I wanted to deny this reality. No. Jura was closest to the demon king, and the impact of the blast was strongest on him. Even with all the shields and power I could muster, it was nothing before that King. His entire body was pierced by the light, and charred by the explosion, and he collapsed. ¡°Jura!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± He died, even though my vines tried to reach him. I tried and tried to create shields, and I saw Jura activated his familiar to shield himself too. But the explosion was too strong, too dense. The notification I dreaded came in. [Jura has died.] ¡°FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!¡± I mentally yelled. Lovis managed to escape a little further, but it wasn¡¯t enough at all. Just like Jura, the demonic rays pierced through and charred her body, and she died within seconds. [Lovis has died. Aeon¡¯s Demonslayer class was released.] Kei was much further away when the radioactive shockwave hit. It tore through the layers of wooden vines, and I felt the rays pierce through the wounds. But at the same time, I thought I felt a strange flow push back at the demonic radiation. Something equally powerful, if not stronger. Yet, I got a strange notification. [Kei has died. You have received a fragment and a Titan Soul.] Then I looked at her again, her body had fused with all the vines. Her heart is beating, my vines had entered her body through her destroyed arm, to keep her alive. She was no longer human. Only her face was left intact, but her body had... melted into this strange part-crystalline, part-treevines structure. There was a heart in there that was still beating, I could sense it with my vines. It was no longer a normal heart. It was... a crystal? The crystal collapsed instantly and formed a cocoon made of crystal and a huge tangle of roots within. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked, then one of the artificial minds flooded my mind. I saw the explosion rip through Kei¡¯s body, but then, she glowed. A part of it crumbled away, and a part of it remained that pushed back against the wave, like how a magnetosphere deflected a solar flare. In that process, the shockwave caused her body to shift and change. [Demon King Tigash has been destroyed] [Due to your excessive contribution in the fight against the demon king as a non-hero, you have been granted a special experience multiplier. You gained 27 Levels. You are now Level 197] [Jura has bequeathed the skill - Warlord¡¯s Barrage. Skill absorbed into Root Field. Root Fields upgraded to Fields of Death] [Lovis has bequeathed the skill - Spear of Destruction. Skill modified and changed to Roots of Destruction] [Faris has bequeathed the skill - Vine Control. The following skills have been merged. Healing Vines, Constrict, and Absorption to Root & Vine Mastery] I... I couldn¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t check the rest of the skills. I had to pause for a moment and consider what had just happened. So I didn¡¯t. I¡¯ll get back to the skills the next time. - ¡°Oh. I died.¡± Jura¡¯s spirit appeared in my soul realm the next day. So did Lovis and Faris. ¡°I figured that would happen. I¡¯ll disappear in a few months, right?¡± It was a strange feeling to see him there. ¡°...I¡¯m sorry.¡± I shouldn¡¯t have put them through that. But against the demon king, could I even think of holding back my best fighters? No. Jura shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m glad I did it. To fight a demon king and managed to land a hit to finish it off? If that¡¯s not going out with a bang, what else is?¡± Lovis agreed. ¡°Thank you both.¡± Jura smiled. ¡°I¡¯m glad we still have these few months to say my goodbyes.¡± Bitter Treeiumph Year 156 Continued Edna stood in the ruined battlegrounds, it was now filled with deep gashes and cuts, most of it from the damage left from the demon king¡¯s numerous beams. We couldn¡¯t even find Faris¡¯s body. The beam had vaporised him, and what¡¯s left was a few trinkets that were not caught in the beams. ¡°...Life remains so frail.¡± She knelt and touched the dirt. She saw it first hand, when the beams burned through the air. ¡°So frail before the demon king.¡± Faris was Edna¡¯s closest friend. They were peers for over so many years. ¡°And now...¡± She touched the ground. The dirt and earth in the entire area was magically charged. It was something I would study later on. The demon king¡¯s magical blast also transferred some of its qualities to the remaining dirt that was not destroyed. Jura, is a spirit in my soul realm. ¡°So this is what it¡¯s like to see things from your point of view.¡± Jura though, seemed really relaxed and free. ¡°I have always wondered what it¡¯s like to be a spirit.¡± ¡°Do you want to stay in this world, Jura? I¡¯ll find a way.¡± He had a few months. Jura shook his head. ¡°I¡¯d like to see what¡¯s beyond that, please. The death promised to all elves who died with their spirit trees. Let me just say goodbye to those who I cared for.¡± This meant the original elves. and the Valthorns that he personally trained. Many were in a way his closest friends and family, even if not related by blood. ¡°We died gloriously, but no big state funerals, please.¡± Jura said. ¡°There will be one, for all who died in this war.¡± I wanted to insist. There were many others who died, and they deserved a proper burial. ¡°It¡¯s the first time anyone has participated in a large-scale battle against the demon king.¡± It was a sombre event. Throughout the continent there were many battles, and there were deaths there, too. Thankfully, most rifts were relatively low-risk, with only less than 5 rifts had demon walkers or demon champions. After the destruction of the demon king, we quickly redirected our attention to those demons. But the lag meant death. Relatively speaking, it was good for us. The central continent lost about 100,000 people to the demons, most of them when one of those demon champions got close to one of the cities or towns. Low, relative to the huge numbers lost on the eastern continent. Throughout the entire war, about 200,000 was lost. Again, good numbers, good numbers. Yet the death of Jura, Faris and Lovis felt really personal to me, especially Jura. ¡°You really want to go?¡± I¡¯m sure I can figure out something. Perhaps a soul contract or something to keep him here. Jura just nodded. ¡°I think its¡¯ time. The next generation can take over my place. The young Valthorns, many of them have great potential.¡± ¡°No. Please reconsider.¡± Jura shook his head. ¡°Aeon, you¡¯ve done so much for me and I am grateful. We¡¯ve fought many battles together, and achieved much. To see Freeka grow to New Freeka, only to lose it, and then rebuild as Freshka has been wonderful. These few decades were incredible. But I¡¯ve died, and I would like a peaceful passing.¡± I sighed mentally, but I think he could feel it. ¡°Very well. I will dearly miss your presence by my side.¡± ¡°There¡¯s still a few months.¡± - Many of those who died in the conflict actually appeared in my [soul realm]. Some would stay for days, some for months. Often, it¡¯s their own choice. Using a combination of Patreeck¡¯s mental powers and my own [soul realm], we used it to grant special ¡®mental audiences¡¯ with the dead. It¡¯s a special ritual, the priests called it the communion of the passing, for those who remained to say and say so much. Many though, did not want to die. I felt a little selfish and hypocritical then. I would go to great lengths if I can ¡®resurrect¡¯ Jura, but for the rest of them, I wouldn¡¯t. A [soul contract], made before death, would¡¯ve been an easy ¡®resurrection¡¯ solution, since I can redeploy them as something else. Yet, I felt for young orphans who¡¯ve grown up and lived almost their entire lives as my swords and shields, to drag them to service again through [soul contract], is exceptionally cruel even for my standards. They have given me one life as my weapon, and they would return experience, skill seeds and level seeds when they die through the familiars. For the general populace, it was a sense of relief that the demon king disaster passed by so quickly, in about a day. Perhaps, this was the fastest we¡¯ve ever killed a demon king, because we could predict where the demon king appeared. If the demon¡¯s intelligence is real, the next time won¡¯t be so easy. - Kei was not dead, but the system thinks she is dead. It was incredibly weird. Her body was entirely a mixture of crystal and vines, like an overgrown laboratory. ¡°This is not what I expected.¡± She looked like a golem. A crystal golem. She lost her [hero] class when the blast happened. It stripped her of all her classes and levels, and she was... temporarily level-less. Then, because the healing happened simultaneously as the demon king¡¯s blast stripped her soul of all her soul-bricks, she didn¡¯t actually die even as the loss of all her levels somehow made the system think she died. ¡°My friends think I¡¯m dead, right?¡± Kei said. ¡°Most likely, if they get the notification.¡± ¡°Then lets¡¯ keep it that way.¡± Ah. Shit. This meant the advantage has just shifted to the heroes again, now that Kei¡¯s lost all her hero powers. They most likely won¡¯t believe that this golem is her either. Shit. Am I going to face the crusades, next? ¡°How do you feel?¡± I asked the golem. She shrugged and moved. The first few days after the battle, I thought she was dead. After all, that¡¯s what the notification said, and it had never been wrong before. The heart kept beating. Pulsing. I thought it was just residual energies that caused it to beat. Then she moved after a few days, and talked. Kei looked around, right now, she was in a resting area within the Valley of the Unrotten. I wasn¡¯t comfortable letting her wander around in Freshka. Not yet, anyway. ¡°Surprisingly fine, even if this body needs getting used to.¡± Kei was incredibly nonchalant about the entire transformation. ¡°If anything, I suddenly have a clarity of mind that feels amazing.¡± Her golem body was mixed with organic elements within, and anyone who laid their eyes on her would immediately say she is an abomination. ¡°Really.¡± Consider the implications that the system could be ¡®wrong¡¯. What else is wrong, then? Also, the demonic blast was able to strip a person of their soul and levels. If so, could I replicate it to ultimately free the heroes from their traps? ¡°I¡¯m now a Level 1 [Bio-crystalline Construct], with no classes. Do you think this is just a copy of my soul, and the real me is really dead, or this is really me?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no true answer for that, is there?¡± I could see that she still has a soul, but if most of a soul has been stripped away, is it really still her? It reminded me of the ¡®ship of Theseus¡¯ problem. ¡°Good answer.¡± Kei laughed mechanically. ¡°I should gain levels. Can you help me?¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± I secretly guided Kei to a patch of the Rottedlands, where she can fight hybrids. - Edna had gained levels. She gained 14 levels from the battle, so she is now Level 139 as an [Aeonic Grand Knight]. She is stronger, and yet at the same time, she is cursed. ¡°Aeon. How do you do it? To watch our friends perish?¡± She was actually trying to cope with her own loss. Faris and Lovis were her friends, and as fellow Valthorns, they were really close knit. ¡°I¡¯ve lived with certainty that my friends would survive. Drunk on our own immortality...¡± When you are a level 100+, and it¡¯s normal to feel like you¡¯d never die. ¡°I honestly have no good answer for you, Edna. Jura is my most loyal warrior, and he had served at my side since the days when this valley was a village called Freeka. His loss and his presence will be something I keenly feel for decades, perhaps even centuries to come.¡± Edna nodded and wept privately. We all lost a friend. ¡°This struggle against the demon king destroyed too many friendships and relationships. When you told us you wanted to stop the cycle, I honestly thought I understood it. But only now do I see and feel the real cost of this struggle.¡± ¡°It will be a path paved with the blood and bodies of our friends. Victories all have a price.¡± I said, despite my own struggles with Jura¡¯s death. Edna didn¡¯t reply and continued to cry alone. An hour or so later, she responded. ¡°Well... if I stopped now, Faris and Lovis would¡¯ve died for nothing, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Faris, Lovis and Jura¡¯s spirit watched that same conversation. Faris just sighed. ¡°I felt like I died like a chump, though. Just a bad position and the deathray just killed me. How does one even stop such things?¡± Lovis nodded. ¡°I think there must be a way to strengthen our body such that we can resist it. At least, we should be able to survive it.¡± Jura nodded. ¡°That explosion at the end was extremely disgusting. To think that a demon king almost always self-destructs when it is defeated.¡± Well, almost all demon kings self-destructed. ¡°We should have prepared with some kind of instant teleportation ability.¡± Faris nodded. ¡°Yeah. The next generation of Valthorns must have the ability to perform instant-short range teleportations, and also super-enhanced senses. There are skills that can grant the ability to temporarily supercharge one¡¯s senses and reaction time.¡± Strangely the 3 dead spirits were a lot more analytical. Perhaps, now that they are dead, the best way they can contribute is to think about how to prevent their own deaths. Edna was back to work after resting for two weeks, and then she had a session of ¡®mental-communion¡¯ with Faris and Lovis. - A part of me felt numb. I¡¯ve always known that as a tree, I would eventually outlive everyone around me. A magical tree that does not decay nor age, but only grows larger and more powerful over time, it is inevitable. < Did you ever lose those loyal to you, Lilies? > > Always. One eventually turns detached. Friends eventually become just tools. To lose so many, so often, one learns to draw lines. < At that moment a human part of me resisted. No. No. I must have courage to constantly make friends and trust them. If I become more like Lilies, eventually the Valthorns will just be numbers on a battlefield. I would be nothing more than a general, safe in one¡¯s nuclear bunker, pressing buttons. No. I didn¡¯t want to become desensitized to this. I wasn¡¯t prepared to lose what little left of my humanity just to accomplish this goal of stopping the cycle. I am already a murderer and slayer of thousands, enslaver and mind controller. To lose even friendships and trust, that¡¯s just the next level. Even villains need to have people that they can trust. No. Great villains all have people that they can trust. > Time, and cycles. < LIlies responded. > Cycles, repeating lives and conversations. < I paused. > It hurts too much to see those who have fallen, in those that still lived. < I wonder which one of Lilies¡¯ many minds were talking. This one seemed a little more melancholic. > LIke a widower who sees a woman that looked like a splitting image of their deceased wife. < I sighed. Maybe Lilies has a point. But I believe I should try. I owe it to those who lived to give them a chance. I can¡¯t just wallow in grief and never move on. No. I will trust and I will make new friends. Even if I will have to suffer and watch them die eventually, it is only right I continue doing so. A tree survives disasters and storms, and still blooms when spring comes. The scars did not alter its will to live and love. - Once the state funerals and about a month had passed, I was finally prepared to revisit the huge wall of notification that I received. I gained 27 levels and I am now Level 197. [Due to your excessive contribution in the fight against the demon king as a non-hero, you have been granted a special experience multiplier. You gained 27 Levels. You are now Level 197] [Jura has bequeathed the skill - Warlord¡¯s Barrage. Skill absorbed into Root Field. Root Fields upgraded to Fields of Death] [Lovis has bequeathed the skill - Spear of Destruction. Skill modified and changed to Roots of Destruction] [Faris has bequeathed the skill - Vine Control. The following skills have been merged. Healing Vines, Constrict, and Absorption to Root & Vine Mastery] [Level 190 - Domain Skill acquired : Court of the Deitree. Court of the Deitree has a 50 member limit. Possession of the Devoted now merged with Court of the Deitree.] [Those granted the ¡®Court Familiars¡¯ gain abilities similar to those of the Devoted. Court of the Deitree does not require star mana.] [Those who served never truly die, their abilities are recorded and retained. Jura, Lovis and Faris¡¯s abilities and skills are elevated as Zealots of the Ancestree. Court members function similar to Familiars. You¡¯ve gained the ability [Summon Court]. Court members can be instantly teleported to your location without any mana requirements, with no use limits and restrictions. Skills of those who died with the Court Familiars are absorbed] [Level 180 - Domain Skill Acquired : Natural Dungeons] [Grants ability to trigger new dungeons. Each dungeon must be powered by either a leyline or magical formation of equivalent power. Dungeons are not subordinates and are mostly independent, but you have some influence to control their difficulty level and strength. Each dungeon generates rewards and monsters based on the chosen difficulty and strength] [Active Titan Soul capacity increased to 5] [Root Strike significantly upgraded. Root Strikes and Super-antidemon root strikes merged and now all automatically have anti-demonic effects] [Healing abilities significantly upgraded. Vines now can perform instant-healing by touch.] [Wooden materials significantly upgraded. Strength of all wooden items made significantly upgraded and gained passive skills] [Giant Attendant Trees defensive abilities and force projection significantly upgraded. Giant Attendant Trees now able to recreate up to 66% of Aeon¡¯s original strength over long distances] [Familiars significantly upgraded. All familiars gained additional skills and abilities. All familiars are now Greater Familiars.] [Biolabs and other labs significantly upgraded. All labs now are significantly more attuned to demonic energies and rift-related energies] [Overall physical defense and magical defense significantly increased. Demonic Curse dispelled] It was a long one, but ultimately it¡¯s still numb to me. All these abilities were achieved with the death of those close to me. And was it worth it? These abilities enhanced my strength and defenses. There was something extremely bittersweet of receiving powers like [Court of the Deitree], which would have allowed me to save Jura, Lovis and Faris. It¡¯s like having the ability to close the stable doors after the prized horses have left the stables. Yet it¡¯s clear that during the battle, Kei¡¯s magical powers did at least 60-70% of the damage. Regardless, these small steps all lead me closer to that eventual day. - The rest of the Central continent had some reconstruction to do, and privately, our intelligence services indicated most of the other temples were amazed how quickly the demon king was defeated. Yet, despite Kei¡¯s death, there were no concrete plans for a continuation of the crusade. Just rumors and discussions. I wonder what changed on their end. Lausanne and Laufen were both most affected by Jura¡¯s death at the battle. They spoke to him too via the mental communion. Arlisa only sparred with Jura a few times, after all, her training was mostly conducted by her mother. To her, Jura was that uncle that seemed to mostly accompany the crazy tree. Yet, Arlisa too, witnessed the destruction wrought by the demon king. The craters it left behind all still had residual magical energies, and already labs are in full swing, conducting research. Lausanne tapped her daughter¡¯s head as she guided her through the battlefield. She wanted to see what happened to all the traps and fortresses, and she was greeted by the hellscape. ¡°The land will heal. Aeon¡¯s powers would soon undo all the wounds of the earth. Which is why you must see it now. When the wounds are fresh and the earth is torn asunder.¡± Lausanne said. The magical residue was gradually being cleaned up. Beetles hard at work, they dug and carried them back to the labs for studies. ¡°Those of us who received Aeon¡¯s blessings are more sensitive to the land, we can feel the subtle flow of the energy in the ground, the same way a druid could. If it scares you, hold my hand.¡± Lausanne assured her daughter. ¡°Are all battles like this?¡± Arlisa was both impressed and fearful. It was quite a sight, and the terrain¡¯s energy meant the weather was just as chaotic. Storms and thunder seemed perpetual, and I could feel my own mana wrestling with the unsettled air. ¡°When the opponent is a demon king, yes. But this is a lot more common. Even demon champions can deal huge damage. We¡¯ve seen things like this back in the Eastern Continent.¡± Lausanne spoke, and she remembered her own time in the wasteland that was the Eastern Continent. ¡°You fought them before?¡± Arlisa suddenly seemed really impressed at her mom. ¡°Only the champions.¡± Lausanne said. ¡°Never the King.¡± ¡°But Uncle Jura did.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Lausanne said. ¡°If the other heroes were here, maybe he did not...¡± She couldn¡¯t finish the sentence. ¡°Can Aeon fight the King?¡± Arlisa though, quickly switched the question. Lausanne paused for a moment. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Arlisa. Maybe, maybe not. Unlike us, Aeon cannot move himself to face the demon king head on.¡± ¡°Then they¡¯ll have to lure the demon king so that Aeon can smack him?¡± Lausanne smiled and patted her daughter. ¡°Now that¡¯s an idea to think about.¡± ¡°If we ever face a demon king, what can we do to survive?¡± She wondered. ¡°Honestly, unlikely. You may not even be able to run, since it¡¯s attack range is clearly very far.¡± She pointed as the gashes in the earth, which stretched for miles. Even the hills in the distance were not spared. There were many destroyed forests and trees in the area, often from a stray energy beam, or a deflected projectile that exploded. ¡°Then we¡¯ll just accept our fate?¡± Arlisa looked back at her mom. Lausanne nodded. ¡°Pretty much. Unless you are someone like Uncle Jura. He died a hero, a true champion of Freshka. But his path is not for everyone.¡± Arlisa the little rebel frowned. She was underleveled in many ways, at least, compared to the Valthorns of her age. Already there were young, upcoming Valthorns just about 15, or 16, that had reached level mid 40s in their chosen combat profession. Still, she watched the ruins, all the fortresses, so strong and sturdy before this, flattened in a single battle. All those magical traps and hero items activated, and it was still insufficient. The destruction truly hammered in how small she was in the larger scheme of things. Without levels, one has no say in what the world can throw at them. ¡°Without levels and skills, we are just lambs for the slaughter.¡± Lausanne said quite frankly. ¡°Our world today is changing thanks to Aeon, but should he fall, the world will revert back to its original state. One where might and power makes right. Aeon¡¯s overwhelming might today is what grants the lesser ones a choice. Without his vast shade, what we have today is not possible. One day, I¡¯ll take you to the other continents, there you will witness what the world is like without an overwhelming presence like Aeon.¡± Arlisa merely nodded. They had a rest at a makeshift rest stop. The Valthorns had set up multiple ¡®viewing points¡¯, since there clearly was an interest in disaster-tourism. ¡°Lady Lausanne, what a coincidence.¡± There were not the only visitors. Many nobles too came to see the destruction. Some hoped to see daemolite, but somehow this demon king did not leave any behind. Those in the Freshlands Treetiary college even organised large tours for the students to see the destruction for themselves. ¡°Ah. Lord Kraveik, what luck.¡± The tree lord smiled. ¡°Fascinating, isn¡¯t it. Even though it does pain me to see the land in such suffering.¡± The treefolk could feel the damage when they walk, their exposed feets have little feelers and roots. He turned to face Arlisa. ¡°And you must be Arlisa?¡± The young girl nodded. ¡°Taking in the sights, too?¡± Lausanne asked. ¡°Yes. How many lords and kings can even claim to have seen the site of the demon king¡¯s death? If anything, this is an experience unique to us!¡± Kraveik smiled. Lausanne laughed. Indeed, it was heaven and earth, if compared to the vast destruction of the Eastern Continent. Here, the nobles are talking about tourism. Arlisa merely listened as the nobles continued their conversation. Even if her mother said she wasn¡¯t a noble, no one would believe it. In the eyes of the entire continent, her mother was a member of the nobility and perhaps, even as close to a continent-wide royalty. - ¡°Thanks for fighting with me all this while, Jura.¡± I said one day, I could sense that his soul would soon move on. He just smiled. ¡°It¡¯s not too bad. Casshern once said, ¡®Death comes to us all, but for some earlier than others. Oh tree spirit, take good care of them, those who still lived, and in your Court of the Deitree, truly, elves that die with their spirit trees, never truly die...¡¯ ¡°May you have a blessed life.¡± At this point, his heart was already set, and I was not going to hold on to him forcefully. Forcing a soul to do what it doesn¡¯t want to do, outside of [soul contracts], is something quite against the nature of soul and spirit trees. ¡°I¡¯m blessed enough, TreeTree. The heights I¡¯ve reached, the battles I fought, few can even speak of. I¡¯m sure Faris and Lovis feel similar.¡± He bowed in my soul realm. ¡°I remember I knelt that day when I returned to Freeka. I returned expecting to see nothing, and how this tiny village has gone through so much change. Destruction, and then reconstruction. There will be more change, but I know they will have you to guide them.¡± I felt sad. Maybe it was that tiny fragment of humanity left in me. ¡°Goodbye, Aeon.¡± ¡°May we meet again, in your next reincarnation.¡± In the long run, we will all meet again. ¡°Indeed.¡± Splicing Roots Year 157 Jura departed, along with many others for their onward reincarnation. Their souls will go on and rejoin the world, eventually. But my mind still swirled with the conversation we had before we left. - ¡°Why did you attack the demon king at that time? Did you feel like it was something you wanted to do?¡± Lovis and Jura thought in my soul realm, and shrugged, ¡°I¡¯m not sure. At that moment, it felt like it was something we should have done. I knew I had a shot, and I just took it. I didn¡¯t think of it that much.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Darn. Is that ¡®should-have-done¡¯ some kind of demon-king influence? How do I separate what they did as whether truly their own free will, or some kind of godly influence? How was Jura and Lovis¡¯s action different from Kei when they met the weakened demon king? - Maybe we will cross paths again. The world keeps reincarnating everyone. Those who died will take new forms, but forget everything. Maybe he¡¯s already reincarnated as a baby in the central continent, and I wouldn¡¯t know it either. The day immediately after he left, I felt... lonely. It was strange to lose his presence, and in some ways, was just as bad as that time, when I was trapped and imprisoned by the demon fire and corruption. ¡°We will be here for you, master.¡± My artificial souls reassured me. I felt similar sentiments from the trees, everywhere. They¡¯ve done this many times, when I felt down and unsure. I sometimes feel that my identity is clearer during these periods of loss. ¡°I know.¡± But time for grief is over. With the demon king killed, we¡¯ve merely reset the timer, and there¡¯s a lot to process. I believe it¡¯s quite unlikely for the demon king to appear in the same continent twice, consecutively, but then again, it¡¯s quite obvious there is some intelligence on the other end, so they may choose so. Regardless, preparations must continue. Based on that single sample of demon king battle, we¡¯ve observed that hero items are clearly super effective. Explosive area-traps are also very useful and can deal some damage to the demon king. So, the directive to the rest of the continent is clear. We needed a lot more high-density magical munitions. Things that I can stack together, or use as projectiles would be great. My anti-demonic weapons were useful, but somehow, against the demon king, their effectiveness was just average. If there were bombs loaded with anti-demonic weapons, that may be a way to mash them together. Either that, or the demon king itself isn¡¯t a ¡®demon-element¡¯, thus it did not feel or suffer any weakness from anti-demon weapons. My gut feels this is the most likely case, that the demon king is ¡®unique¡¯ and ¡®different¡¯ from the rest of its spawn. After this battle, I also feel that depending on the ¡®anti-demon¡¯ advantages I have to carry the day feels risky, it''s entirely possible that the demon king can adapt and have changing elements, just like some overpowered pokemon, or the spawned demon king just has specific resistance. Thus, generic weapons should be more successful in the long term. I¡¯ll also can rely on this arsenal against any rogue hero that decides to come my way. - Edna was stronger, and firstly we noticed her stats gains had accelerated. Her 14 levels effectively tripled her overall strength. It seemed my earlier theory was not correct, the catchup to the heroes triggered a lot earlier, at Level 125 onwards. That said, even with these levels she is still behind the heroes. Her movements were quick, even faster than Jura and the best of the rangers, despite being a ¡®knight¡¯. ¡°This kind of power is surreal.¡± Edna said privately. If she was anywhere mad, the utensils around her would break, and the ground itself would crack. If she stomped the floor, it would break too, unless I reinforced it. Her ¡®shield¡¯ abilities too had shared in her growth, but those abilities made her feel... bitter. The same way I related to my new [Court of the Deitree]. Bittersweet. But no matter, it¡¯s time to test it out. The [Court of the Deitree] essentially allowed me to award special familiars to up to 50 members, and these 50 members are each like the Possession of the Devoted, with a wide array of extra perks. The best perk is the retention of abilities from past warriors, and 50 members meant I can keep the best abilities of 50 of my best warriors. One of them kept about 10 of Jura¡¯s best skills. At least, I won¡¯t have to totally start from scratch even if I lose those that I helped to level. In Edna¡¯s case, she wanted Lovis¡¯s skills. She thought the mix of Lovis¡¯s offensive skills would be a great complement to her current defensive abilities. ¡°Oh... I get a [Lady of the Court] familiar!¡± Edna said, and briefly activated Lovis¡¯s spear skills and she was able to move and attack with the exact pose as Lovis. After Edna used her move, she just stood there for a moment, quiet. She muttered something to herself, so quiet I couldn¡¯t hear it. But I could tell its a feeling of gratitude. - ¡°I have something to discuss.¡± Yvon asked one day. ¡°I¡¯ve seen the strength that Edna now possessed, and I¡¯d like to know whether its¡¯ possible to remake us in that manner.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I mean... it¡¯s an open secret that you¡¯ve been helping them gain strength, and I don¡¯t know how it¡¯s done, but I¡¯d like to know whether it¡¯s something that can be done for me.¡± I was puzzled by Yvon¡¯s request. She¡¯s at Level 70 as a [Training Tree]. ¡°I want to fight. I¡¯ve trained so many and hoped that my training is enough when the time comes. But after I¡¯ve heard of the battles against the demon king, I feel an urge, a calling within me to fight once more.¡± I didn¡¯t answer. I didn¡¯t know whether I should. - Kei had gained about 40 levels in 1 year. She adapted quickly to her new form as a crystalline golem. At level 30, she evolved, and the crystalline golem was taller, more refined and more flexible. Now, she could look like a crystal statue and her colors could change. ¡°I honestly like this body.¡± She said after a battle with hybrids. I have not started the whole dungeons thing, not yet, anyway. ¡°Really? Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a feeling. Like... I¡¯m more aware of my body, and I can change it if I don¡¯t like it. And I feel like a million bucks. And I¡¯m shiny like a diamond!¡± She laughed. Did she just try to joke? ¡°I mean seriously. I can sparkle like I¡¯m so fancy, like y¡¯know, a vampire.¡± ¡°Vampires don¡¯t sparkle.¡± ¡°Yes they do.¡± ¡°No they don¡¯t.¡± What are the kids reading these days that vampires sparkle? ¡°Unless they are golem-vampires.¡± She paused and seemed to think about it seriously. ¡°They must be blood-crystal golems then, since they need blood to replenish their strength.¡± I didn¡¯t want to continue this conversation, it¡¯s getting absolutely retarded. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about sparkly vampires. Your friends, they¡¯ve not said anything, or made any pronouncements since you died. Well, sort of. Why? Are you guys close?¡± ¡°I thought we were.¡± Kei said, she made that ¡®I don¡¯t know¡¯ pose. ¡°But I guess I¡¯m out of their strike zone so they don¡¯t care anymore. And we¡¯ve been apart for years, pretty sure the relationship between us isn¡¯t tight anymore. We¡¯ve drifted apart, pretty much.¡± ¡°Really, are friendships really so weak and brittle?¡± I mean, to be fair, for highly mobile and powerful individuals like them, relationships are difficult. Everyone else treats them like they are someone to be feared, or someone to be obeyed. Equals are a rare thing, though to me, I guess I¡¯m lucky I have been meeting those that I do consider my equals, like Lilies. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I guess we¡¯re just not that good at being friends. We¡¯ve been sent here together and friends out of necessity and convenience. I honestly feel you are a better friend than they are. Truly.¡± Kei said. ¡°Even Astia feels like a better friend, as aloof as she is.¡± - Speaking of Astia... ¡°Attempt 494.¡± She said, as she swirled mana before her eyes. She was surprisingly determined when she actually got down to it. In the past few years, she gained 25 levels as a [Mage], and her focus is attempting to touch Void Mana. Anyone with a brain would put one-and-one together and surmise her performance must have something to do with her [Late Bloomer] ability. Level 25 as a mage is pretty low, of course. It makes her just slightly ahead of an apprentice mage who are normally around level 10-25. Void mana was both hard and easy. Controlling and containing it was extremely difficult, but easy enough to generate, if one did not care for one¡¯s own health. So Astia had numerous visits to the [soul forge] for repairs. ¡°Home is a great motivator.¡± ¡°Indeed. Though I don¡¯t have much there, I still feel like I have a duty to return. At least, with this, I have the choice to return.¡± ¡°What if it¡¯s a one way trip?¡± ¡°Then I will have to live with it. But that¡¯s a bridge I will cross when I get there.¡± Astia, or Stella kept practicing. At night, she would sleep and use my [dream academy]. She seemed to be really into this whole [mage] thing, but it took time for magical studies to pay off. Magic is such a broad and deep subject, that mastery takes a long time for most common folk. - It¡¯s a lot harder to develop [ocean grass] than I expected, and the clear problem was the lack of sunlight. Is it still a plant, if a plant does not depend on sunlight and perform some kind of photosynthesis? One of the easier shortcuts is to go the way of Lilies, which meant large floating platforms with roots that stretched all the way down to the ocean floor. But the ocean is also home to massive waves and typhoons, and the monsters that live in the oceans are huge. The seafarers bring home tales of their ventures on the high seas, of giant leviathans and krakens, of ancient sea creatures. For now, I concentrated my work on expanding seagrass to most of the continental shelf, the land where the seas are somewhat shallow, and light can still reach the sea floor. Already I¡¯ve made many discoveries of sunken ships and other various hidden treasures. There¡¯s nothing quite like a constantly growing seagrass to truly ¡®scan¡¯ the sea floor for sunken items. So, as the development kept going, I had a very pleasant upgrade. [Giant Attendant Tree variant added : Seagiant Trees]. This allowed me to add giant trees on the shallow seas, and more variants to my trees too. [Biolabs upgraded : Sea-variant labs added] There were more to see in the seas. Fishes, monsters, and even insects. New types of sea-insects, sea-crustaceans, and also all kinds of plants. There was a patch of sea where the continental shelf extended a little further than the norm, and the seagrass expanded on this path. Then, my [rootnet] met something new. [....foreignthoughtsdetected.] There was a growing intelligence in the mass of sea corals and algae in this part of the sea. An emergent sea-spirit similar to Lilies in a way. It was young, and I could tell because it was incoherent and a mess. ¡°Master.... Should we block it out?¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± My seagrass expanded even more, and we had more contact points with that sea-coral-reef-spirit. It transmitted thoughts. Sea. Roots. Tendrils. Fish. It felt like it was trying to learn language, and we responded with words. This went on for months, as it transmitted more thoughts. During this time, my seagrass pretty much encroached on the entirety of the reef, and I got close enough to use [Inspect]. [Reef Mind] Oooh. There were no details to it, other than the name. I spoke of this to Lilies, and they were rather interested. < A new spirit of the seas. Vallasira would know more. > > Then I must speak to him. < < I will attempt to call him. > I didn¡¯t know when Vallasira the Zaratan would return, I recall that their sense of time is somewhat distorted by the travel between worlds. For now, I kept communicating with the Reef Mind. Perhaps it will soon speak to me. - I also returned to focus on the hybrid demon-plants in the Rottedlands. Now that I¡¯ve seen what the world of the demons looked like, I wanted to prepare myself for an eventual war on their homeland. Perhaps one of the ways to end this conflict for good is on the other side of the rift. If I could stop them from creating the rfits for good, or push the battlefield onto their world, that¡¯ll prevent the demon kings from ever coming to our world. To do so, I¡¯d have to find ways to establish a foothold on the other side, and have a force that can stand up to the might of the demons on their homeworld. I¡¯ve seen from the few raids that the power levels of the champions are significantly stronger on their homeworld, probably due to some kind of magic there, and also perhaps to the weakened, dried state of my trees and plants. Now, at the hybrids, I¡¯m looking for drying-resistance, if there¡¯s such a word. Things that can endure a dry, arid environment. I contemplated whether it¡¯s a good idea of even upgrading beetles to adapt to such an environment, but Horns, typically, was a massive advocate of the beetles for all environments. He insisted that beetles can be adapted to fight on the dry worlds. Personally, I was thinking of cockroaches. Mainly because the idea of insects in a dry world just reminded me of that cockroach on Mars manga. But I suppose beetles also could do. It¡¯s a set of research I have to do secretly, since making plants and insects more demon-like will probably ring all the wrong kinds of bells among the general population. ¡°I think it¡¯s a good idea, but the portal should come first.¡± I shared the idea with Edna, of course. She was the only one left of the four. ¡°Taking the war to their homeworld would avoid a lot of the problems, but personally I think maintaining an open portal will be the biggest issue. Else, any force left on their homeworld is on their own and it¡¯s a death sentence. We need your support and presence if we ever step foot on their soil.¡± It¡¯s like landing a ship on enemy territory. On that front, I¡¯m still working on the void mana. But progress is slow. - ¡°Mom.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Lausanne turned to face her growing daughter. They were home, then. ¡°Have you ever thought of stepping into Uncle Jura¡¯s shoes?¡± ¡°Sometimes. But I¡¯ve decided not to.¡± ¡°Aeon¡¯s searching, right?¡± She said as she munched down her breakfast. ¡°Of course. If you know someone, do let me know. I¡¯m sure Aeon¡¯s interested.¡± Arlisa frowned at Lausanne¡¯s comment. ¡°Your classmates, perhaps?¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± Arlisa was finally enrolled in the Freshlands Treetiary College. She initially had a stint with the Valthorns, but due to her relatively low levels and rebellious nature, Lausanne suggested that she try the college instead. ¡°My classmates probably can¡¯t kill a fly.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Lausanne smirked. ¡°I had the impression that the nobles from the outer rings all had combat experience, either on the high seas, or against the hybrid demons.¡± ¡°Nah. No way.¡± ¡°You seem to think very little of them. That¡¯s not a good attitude to have, my dear.¡± Lausanne shrugged. ¡°You¡¯d be surprised how quickly people can grow and level under difficult circumstances.¡± Arlisa paused. ¡°...nah. They¡¯re not good enough.¡± ¡°Well, you never know.¡± Lausanne smiled. ¡°If you say it that way, why search? Anyone could do it.¡± Arlisa protested. ¡°Not everyone desires it, and has the right personality for it. Some things are not about talent, but more about choices and desires. Whether they want to step out to fulfill that role.¡± - It¡¯s true that after the death of Jura, Faris and Lovis, there is a gap in the pinnacle of the Valthorns. But the Valthorns is a vast organisation, and they are in every sense of the word, a professional army with an even more elite chosen. There are already many other Valthorns with upgraded classes in the level 70s and lower 80s, that now I have to test and train, to push them higher up to their limits and to achieve level 100. More candidates to vet through. Most of these are from the existing training programme, essentially my child soldiers, as abhorrent as that sounds to those from Earth. But we can¡¯t apply the laws of a world without magic to one with magic, at least, not totally. To these soldiers, this is a career, a legitimate, well paying career that can get them out of poverty. If one believes everyone has different talents, it would not be a stretch to say some people are just meant to fight, and are good at it. That sort of talent is diminished back on earth, where everyone is relegated to operate in a capitalist society. With my new dungeon ability, I also have additional ways to test whether these Valthorns are able to perform at higher roles. Essentially, my new ability meant I can spawn dungeons where there is an unused leyline. I don¡¯t have a lot of control over what happens inside the dungeon, and no control over the monsters either. But, I can decide their ¡®challenge¡¯ rating, essentially whether these are level 20, level 40, level 60 or level 80 dungeons. The quality and strength of the leyline also affects the max level I could go. So far, the best ley line I found can go up to level 70. I thought whether I could ¡®hack¡¯ into the ley line and make it even stronger, perhaps with a runic formation. That¡¯ll be something to experiment on. In any case, a Level 70 dungeon actually spawns a ¡®dungeon-boss¡¯ at level 80, so that¡¯s not a bad challenge for the existing Valthorn elites. From the adventurer circles, normal dungeons rarely go past level 70, and those are considered difficult dungeons. But there are some rather special dungeons where there are monsters in the level 100s, but most of them are lost to time. - Dutrees and taxes Year 158 ¡°The peace we have today is one won by blood.¡± Edna explained to the young Valthorns. ¡°The order we have today is held together by the bones of those who fell defending it. Peace demands blood. Order demands bones. The question is simply, are you ready to give your blood and bones for the cause.¡± The entire blood and bones analogy was a little too much, and felt a bit like a blood mage or a necromancer trying to win others to their cause. But it seemed to work for hot blooded young folks. Even the naturally calm treefolk seemed taken by the whole sacrifice schtick. In every generation, in every batch, there is a mix of dispositions, some more reserved, some more passionate. As the one they would ultimately fight for, it¡¯s my role to identify those who¡¯s fire will keep burning, and burn brighter for decades to come. Based on what I¡¯ve seen so far, there¡¯s no real clear personality indicators to suggest which type of person will remain passionate and loyal to the cause for years to come. Instead, what we noticed is loyalty tends to be accumulated over the decades via little events, and events that increase loyalties for some individuals, do not increase them for others. The young ones all practiced, and Edna adjusted their pose. I asked her to help with training, simply because they would just naturally level faster when someone of a significantly higher level is advising them. Renewal is a constant, neverending affair. Just as a deciduous tree repeatedly grows after each winter. ¡°Class, today, we have Roon and Evin, two of our senior Valthorns! They¡¯ll be providing guidance on archery, and fighting with weapons!¡± Students grow and turn to teachers. Teachers change. A new generation takes over, hopefully, better than the ones that came before. ¡°Roon, is a Level 64 [Aeonic Sharpshooter], and Evin, a Level 61 [Champion Gladiator].¡± Edna introduced them. They were just as nervous as the kids. Roon was once among them, 15 years ago. Somehow, to return and be one of the teachers was a stressful affair. Kids. Edna patted them both on the back. ¡°You¡¯ll do fine. Just relax, have a cup of herbal tea if you need it.¡± She smiled at the two younger folks. Roon is a typical elf orphan, while Evin is a female half-dwarf who capitalised on her exceptional strength to win multiple arena battles, thus earning the Champion title. The Valthorns are allowed to compete in competitions, but only a limited number. So internally, within the Valthorns, there is a mini-competition before they even get to participate. This is because we didn¡¯t want to flood every competition with Valthorn Initiates, with our dedicated training and high levels. Yet, we do want a presence in these competitions where there are large spectator groups, so we want our good candidates to perform well and help improve our reputation. That said, our best-of-the-best never participate, and there is an internal rule that only those below Level 50 can participate in competitions. I do think it¡¯s a bit silly, but if the level of competition increases in the future, the level cap will be revised accordingly. The two new trainers were uncomfortable at best. It was hard to connect with young children, it took effort, and practice to know how to speak and get young kids to listen and do things. Even if the Valthorn recruits were already a preselected crop. - The dungeons opened, and the Valthorns attempted them. The dungeons have some rules, despite the domain powers. For example, my ¡®view¡¯ of the dungeon is always delayed. I can only see what happened after each team completed their run of the dungeon, whether they failed, or they succeeded. Secondly, I can tweak the dungeon¡¯s settings, but I have no ability to use my powers inside the dungeons. It¡¯s like I have a RNG dungeon generator, and I¡¯m playing an idle game where I send teams out on expeditions and hope they succeed. Patreeck was quick to generate a mathematical model though. After like 10 to 20 rounds of attempts, he already could estimate the chances of success for the dungeon, based on the squad strength. - The return of dungeons to the continent also brought a new lobbying group. Adventurers. ¡°We wish to petition Aeon for access to the new dungeons.¡± Adventurers wanted dungeons. After the borders were loosened, there actually was a ¡®brain drain¡¯ where adventurers left the Central continents for the other continents. This was simply because there were no dungeons, and if there were no dungeons, adventurers had little chance of striking it rich by fighting a dungeon and earning a high tier reward. They were nothing more than monster hunters. Dungeons were a crucial element in the adventurer ecosystem, and previously, the adventurers had to suffer in silence, since, well, the borders were closed. They were not going to get themselves killed by travelling to a continent that killed anyone that came from the Central continent. Not anymore. The guild masters were quick to band together and demand the dungeons for the adventurers. Or at least, shared ¡®slots¡¯ where adventurers could attempt those dungeons for themselves. It was a point I discussed with the Valthorns consistently, and after a while, we had a ¡®carve-up¡¯ system. Certain dungeons were marked at Valthorn-only, and certain dungeons were free-for-all. Valthorns were free to join the adventurers on raids, and form their own parties. ¡°A 15% tax on all earnings is too high.¡± The Guild masters then shifted onto issue of taxes on dungeon-rewards. ¡°25% was the initial number, I believe.¡± Kavio walked. The guild masters gulped but then presented that there¡¯s actually at least a two-layer tax. Under most local and regional laws, dungeon earnings were subject to taxes at the local nation level. That meant adventurers had to pay a tax to the local state, and also to the Valthorns. ¡°Higher profits will allow the adventurers to get better gear and fight better. If Aeon¡¯s goal is to get strength, please, consider supporting the adventurers¡¯ in their pursuit of personal growth.¡± I was rather torn. The taxes helped support the Valthorns, and the Valthorns do have a lot of spending. But I also agreed that for folks that risked their lives for money, a high tax does feel like bad taste. ¡°We recommend a door tax. A per-entry tax.¡± The guildmasters naturally preferred a flat tax, since all the potential upside accrued to the adventurers. Kavio looked over the proposal. ¡°We¡¯ll submit this proposal for further discussion.¡± - ¡°We¡¯re running at a marginal surplus at the moment.¡± The Chief of the Valthorn¡¯s financial and accounting records was Chancellor Brandak, a Treefolk Merchant turned Lord. He was the fourth treefolk [Aeonic Lord] after Kraveik, but soon found a home in the massive Valthorn machinery as our de-facto CFO. The Valthorns¡¯ bookkeeping function was frankly a mess as we expanded quickly, and we had revenue sources throughout the entire continent. Compiling income and expenditure reports on a continental scale was a challenge, and continued to be a challenge. This was despite my [artificial souls] monitoring all the transactions throughout the continent. Simply put, there were simply far too many transactions at any given day, for artificial minds to keep up with, and over time, their role shifted to that of ¡®auditors¡¯, where they merely observed the practices of the Valthorns on a sampling basis. The complexity of revenue had also increased, as with the multiple layers of taxes and jurisdictions. Brandak¡¯s advise seemed to concur with the guild masters. ¡°It would be administratively easier for us if we just impose a door tax. That way, we don¡¯t have to calculate the adventurers¡¯ earnings and participate in the highly subjective matter of valuing artifacts and salvaged equipment. As it is, we do spend quite a bit of money maintaining valuers and appraisals.¡± Kavio, was on the other side. ¡°Marginal, Chancellor Brandak. We could use the money for more recruitment.¡± ¡°A reasonably higher door tax would pretty much equalise our take from the dungeons, without the need for valuations. It would not be significantly lower, and the chances of high tier equipment is so low that it¡¯s better to let that be the adventurers¡¯ shot at the lottery. Let them have their winnings.¡± One of the councillors wondered. ¡°Is this related to that report on adventurer emigrations a while back?¡± ¡°Actually yes.¡± Kavio nodded. ¡°There¡¯s the issue of adventurers preferring work on the other continents as they had far better outcomes with dungeons. Monster hunter is a stable but not very lucrative job, but adventurers are all, in their hearts, looking for that moonshot.¡± ¡°Does Aeon have a view on this?¡± Another of the councillors asked. There are some councillors who just preferred to go with everything I decide. Bootlickers. ¡°Aeon has decided to abstain on the matters of taxation.¡± Brandak responded to the floor. ¡°Can¡¯t we just override the local authority¡¯s right to tax dungeon earnings?¡± One councillor from Freshka asked, which was swiftly slammed by the councillors from the respective kingdoms. None of the kingdoms wanted to give up their own rights to the tax income, yet, if the Freshlands Federal Authority shifted to a door-tax mechanism, most kingdoms will naturally follow, with their own rates. I mentally spoke to Brandak and Kavio. ¡°I¡¯ll leave this matter to the both of you.¡± They argued for two months, with multiple hearings and consultations with the adventurer guild masters, as well as some passionate views from certain kingdoms, and eventually decided to go for a vote. That resulted in a door tax. Then came the next part of the dungeon-squabble. ¡°Councillor Kavio, we¡¯d like to submit a petition for at least one dungeon in the Kingdoms of A to be converted to a public dungeon.¡± Well, there was a tax inequality where dungeons reserved for Valthorn use did not generate tax income for their host kingdoms. Honestly, this entire debacle just reminded me why I hated bureaucracy with a freaking passion. It was a chore going through the numerous interested parties. I felt like being stuck as a project manager with different opposing stakeholders that refused to compromise. I could, of course, steamroll this entire thing through.A few more months passed by. The councillors were pretty much bombarded with lobbies and petitions. The issue of dungeons had a whole lot more vested interests than I thought. Merchant groups who traded on dungeon equipment, crafters and workers who supported and supplied gear to adventurers all lobbied for public dungeons. Valthorns all used Valthorn-supplied gear, so their spending in the local cities are usually lower than adventurers, on a per capita basis. Thus, Chancellor Brandak came with a proposal. ¡°We propose all dungeons be public dungeons, but all dungeons will have three months per year where the dungeons are exclusive to the Valthorns. All existing public dungeons will be rolled into this scheme. All dungeons will have a door tax proportionate to their difficulty. There will be no tax on Valthorn use of dungeons.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± - ¡°These dungeons are cool.¡± Kei said, after she explored the dungeon as a golem with a group of Valthorns. ¡°Right, Ikka?¡± Ikka was one of the unfortunate Valthorns that are stuck as her ¡®escort¡¯. She¡¯s a level 55 [Grand Knight]. ¡°Yes, Kaide.¡± Kei had a new name, Kaide. She wanted to distinguish herself from her old self, and also, help keep her secret identity safe. Very few people knew she was a hero. ¡°Are these dungeons normal?¡± Kei asked Ikka. Ikka shrugged. ¡°I mean, fifteen floors seem a bit overkill for a dungeon, and I really liked that big boss fight at the end, and the miniboss fight.¡± ¡°There¡¯s... a miniboss?¡± ¡°Yes. A few, in fact. There¡¯s usually a miniboss at the end of the floor, too. Good for levelling, really. It¡¯s almost as if the dungeon read your mind, Aeon.¡± I wonder whether that¡¯s just my will spilling into the dungeon-system. ¡°How frequently can you change the settings?¡± Honestly, none. Once I set the settings, the dungeon is locked, unless I destroy the dungeon. I can¡¯t even set what kind of monsters can appear. My artificial minds helped to build a register of the dungeons¡¯ and their monsters, but even then, the dungeons do spring surprises every now and then. The dungeons are intentionally not letting me into their inner workings, beyond a RNG and challenge setting. For a domain ability, this felt... kinda annoying. ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Oh. You can¡¯t even tweak what happens inside, right?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°Hmmm... I think its¡¯ because the levelling system requires genuine danger. The special dungeon experience multiplier only applies if there¡¯s actually lives at risk, I suppose.¡± Kei speculated. ¡°Special dungeon experience multiplier...?¡± What the hell is that gacha raid shit? Kei paused. ¡°Oh. Maybe you don¡¯t know, but when I entered dungeons, at least, when I was a hero, I could see I had a ¡®passive¡¯ experience gain buff. I don¡¯t see it now, but I think the buff is still there. All dungeons have a thing where people gain levels faster when they struggle in them, I think.¡± What. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t be fair if you could tweak dungeons, and still enjoy the passive experience multiplier, ayy?¡± Fair? If they want to talk about fairness, start with why in the flying fuck do heroes get overpowered level gains? They can reach level 100 within one year. ONE YEAR. There¡¯s no such thing as fairness when it comes to gods and heroes. If they can stack the game and load the die, why can¡¯t I do it too? Kei paused. ¡°Did I say something wrong?¡± I didn¡¯t reply. I still stewed over the concept of fairness. - ¡°Aeon, are you mad that I¡¯m slacking?¡± Arlisa asked one day. She... wasn¡¯t the best student, despite her clearly blessed intelligence and natural talent. Somehow, she was blessed with martial talent that exceeded most, but here she is, slacking and dodging classes. ¡°Do you want me to be?¡± I didn¡¯t want to push the responsibility on her. As far as I can tell, achievement can¡¯t be forced, all you can do is offer opportunity. For Valthorns with nothing, they would naturally grab all the opportunities they can get. Arlisa, thus the spoiled 2nd generation, had the luxury of time and nobility to waste it. It¡¯s sad, of course, but at the same time, that only meant I excluded her from my plans. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Mom keeps telling me about duty and that because I am blessed, I should live up to it. I mean, I feel like I did enough, though.¡± Her behavior was familiar, like the clever kid in school that studied just enough to do well, and then spend the rest of her time playing or doing other things. ¡°That¡¯s why I wanted to ask you.¡± ¡°Many others on the continent would give up a lot to be in your privileged position. Whether you live up to your station in life, is up to you. It¡¯s very fortunate that Lausanne is an elf, who would live very long lives naturally, it¡¯s a safety net very, very few have.¡± ¡°I knew it.¡± She sighed. ¡°All this following the footsteps of my mother is annoying. I want my own life.¡± ¡°Your life has always been your own.¡± ¡°I mean, I want to be able to choose the direction of my own life.¡± ¡°That has never been taken away from you. Whatever choice you make, it will just factor into the bigger picture.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the problem, isn¡¯t it.¡± Arlisa frowned. ¡°Even if I have the ability to choose whatever I want to be, the gears of the world will move against me. So, only certain choices are realistic choices. In that case, am I really able to choose?¡± ¡°It seems you are thinking far too ahead of yourself, my dear Arlisa.¡± I responded. ¡°Are you slacking because all the choices scare you?¡± She paced in her room, and then sat down. ¡°That¡¯s... a very good point.¡± - ¡°You can create dungeons?¡± I wonder why no one ever presumed to ask why so many dungeons appeared suddenly throughout the continent. So, when I discussed the matter of dungeon configurations with Edna, she seemed really, really taken aback by it. ¡°Uh. Yes. It is a new ability I gained.¡± She was stunned. ¡°Everyone seemed to think that perhaps the God of Dungeons was suddenly magnanimous, so dungeons reappeared on the central continent.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Of course, me being me, I told almost no one, except Kei, about my abilities. I would have told Jura, but, well. ¡°It seems I may have erred in my decision on this?¡± ¡°No. Wait. That meant all that squabbling with the kingdoms could have been just ended by telling them that the dungeons are all your creations?¡± ¡°I had the impression they were aware.¡± ¡°No. They were not. They guessed, but it was just a suspicion, and certainly creating dungeons is a level of ability that they didn¡¯t think you have.¡± ¡°I find their lack of faith in your abilities, disturbing. Requesting permission for mind-attack.¡± Patreeck commented. ¡°Denied.¡± ¡°Should I say so?¡± ¡°I mean... uh... I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s a strategic decision at this point. If you could essentially hold the kingdoms at ransom by creating or removing dungeons...¡± Edna processed it. ¡°Ah.¡± That¡¯s a good point. Access to the wealth of dungeons as a form of economic leash on the kingdoms is a very good way to keep these herd of cats compliant. ¡°We should discuss this with a wider council.¡± - Chancellor Brandak, Councillor Kavio, more senior Vallhorns, the Treeology Patreearches, the highest Lords and Kings were there, and of course, it was pretty much an earth shaking announcement. ¡°Aeon gained the ability to cause dungeons to appear, and the recent Dungeon Spring is entirely due to Aeon¡¯s prolific use of his new ability.¡± A diplomat was quick to display the risks of this news going out. ¡°In the holy text of the Gaya church, it is mentioned that the powers of creating dungeons is one that is vested in the Lost Gods. By association, the Gayan faith will therefore consider Aeon to be one of the Lost Gods, the traitors who opened the astral way to the demons.¡± ¡°Then we must be quick to counter such beliefs.¡± A Patreearch said. ¡°Our faith is independent of the other faiths, and so our God¡¯s powers should not be linked to the text of another religion. I am of the view that the priesthood should go out and sing praise of this new power.¡± ¡°People die in dungeons, and that did not change. These dungeons, created by Aeon as they may be, remain a dangerous place.¡± One of the Lords had another opinion. ¡°Associating Aeon with a place that causes death will make Aeon seem... cruel. Even if those are risks that the adventurers knowingly signed up for.¡± That was also... a good point. Creating this place of death has reputational risk. ¡°In the history of our allied nations, there have been some Kings who had skills that improve a dungeon¡¯s characteristics, or improve its¡¯ levels gain and such...¡± One of the local Prince explained. Indeed, Kings have all sort of generic improvement skills, some of which, target the dungeons in their territory. ¡°Such skills are not been associated with the Lost Gods, if one even believes in such hogwash.¡± This particular local prince was a product of the FTC, and as such, has rather aggressive views toward the ¡®outside¡¯ religions. Kinda ironic, when we are the ones that displaced those religions. ¡°So do we tell, or not tell?¡± I eventually decided that this was something to be shared among the leadership team, but not to the general public. They all swore an oath that day to tell no one outside that room. They should know my abilities to some limited degree, at least, I want to begin this process of forming a cohesive top-level force, and I can do that with only a reasonable level of trust. We¡¯ll see soon enough if the trust is reciprocated. Stem the tide Year 159 ¡°The next demon king won¡¯t be here.¡± Edna said confidently. ¡°Based on historical records, so far there¡¯s only been two incidents of successive demon kings in the same continent, within the past 500 years. It¡¯s actually not that low, isn¡¯t it? 2 consecutive demon kings imply 4 demon kings in the same continent, and every 10 years meant 50 demon kings in that period of time. About slightly less than 10%? At least, that¡¯s what my primitive mind suggested. Not the best chances, and can still happen. Edna, thanks, not a flag I appreciated having. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m that unlucky.¡± Edna responded. Edna was merely trying to convince me that we still have time. Our research and development for stronger, more powerful magical bombs and weapons was making progress, but still too slow to really tip the scales. In the past 2 years, we¡¯ve started training more [enchanters] and more [lapidarists], to buid stronger, more powerful magical bombs. It¡¯s funny that I¡¯m back doing what Harris was doing. Back then, he wanted huge crystalline matrixes to store my skills. Now, what I¡¯m trying to do is huge crystalline matrixes to store bombs. Bombs. Lots and lots of bombs. Bomb research tied in with my ongoing hexbomb research, and the idea of a ¡®clean¡¯ hexbomb. That felt like a dirty word, the idea that there¡¯s such a thing as a ¡®clean¡¯ hexbomb. As if the twisted tangle of soul fragments, things made via blood sacrifice can be ¡®clean¡¯. My regular process of ¡®harvesting¡¯ souls also generates soul fragments. I dislike the term ¡®harvesting¡¯, since as a soul and spirit tree, my job is actually to facilitate the transfer of souls to the unknown, for them to reincarnate in life. Increasingly though, I¡¯m now curious what actually happens after sending them off. Anyway, that¡¯s another thing to study. For now, soul fragments of the dead are what I use to make artificial souls and minds. To fuse them in a way that makes a bomb, while still ¡®clean¡¯, is really one of the oxymoronic challenges, because my very nature as a soul tree and spirit tree is really to ¡®repair¡¯ all these soul damage, not find ways to corrupt soul fragments into bombs. We resumed experimenting on the soul fragments, and set up large mana batteries around the Valley of the Unrotten to do so. Dabbling with soul-related matters still required a lot of energy, but not as much as they used to. It seemed that my naturally higher levels and domain abilities contributed to a ¡®discount¡¯. We attempted a few different kinds of ¡®research¡¯. One of which was to manually stitch the soul fragments together, and figure what shape creates what sort of effect. We know for a fact that hexbombs are imperfectly connected soul fragments, but why? Is it the irregular shape, or type of connection, or the base nature of the fragments? Do the type of fragments matter? At first, I thought it didn¡¯t, but then as the research continued, it¡¯s quite clear there are some differences in the nature of these fragments, especially in the ¡®type-of-death¡¯. If so, that¡¯s a bad sign because the power of blood magic is then inherently tied to the nature of its sacrifice, that the fragments must be made in this manner to generate that level of power. I believe it''s possible to separate the emotions from the fragments, but if the emotions are the fragments, then... We reviewed our experience clearing the hexed lands, and it took a lot of brainpower mainly, to disentangle the hex. I wonder how did that work, that ¡®drawing out¡¯ the negative emotions so that they can dissipate, does that actually support the view that the emotion and fragments are separate, or was it both? At the same time, it¡¯s a known fact that some extremely traumatic deaths can generate ¡®ghosts¡¯ and ¡®haunted¡¯ monsters, and so, are those ghosts and haunted creatures similarly a product of that person¡¯s soul fragmentation on death, and those fragments then transformed or created a ghost? There had to be something. Death and blood magic must be linked. - Arlisa went on a tour of the cities and places of the Central Continent. Despite being an average student due to her lack of effort, she was enthusiastic at the opportunity to get away from her parents. ¡°You seem very keen on travelling to the other cities, Lady Arlisa.¡± A fellow student around her age said. Arlisa theoretically should have graduated, but she decided to stay on. The Freshlands Treetiary College does have a ¡®core¡¯ syllabus that¡¯s aimed to replicate the 4-to-5 year university experience, but there are a lot of ¡®optional¡¯ subjects, and even the core syllabus changes year on year. Arlisa nodded. ¡°Yes, Irkania.¡± The group was mostly commoners. Most of the noble born students had their own ¡®continental tours¡¯ already, but the Freshland Treetiary College wanted to recreate a similar educational exposure for its commoners, so they had a tour arranged. There were other nobles too, most of them less wealthy. Still, there was no shame in the tour, since many of the academic team participated. ¡°I¡¯ve wanted to visit the coastal cities for quite some time.¡± ¡°Did you participate in last year¡¯s tour?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± Arlisa shook her head. ¡°I wanted to but something came up.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Irkania was a lizardwoman, from one of the riverine towns. They were relatively rare previously, but a few decades of stability helped their population to regrow. ¡°Have you ever been there in the past?¡± ¡°No. Maybe my mom took me there when I was a small tiny girl, but I can¡¯t remember any of it.¡± They both smiled. ¡°Well, I was hoping that you knew your way around. I¡¯ve got to visit some relatives and pass them some souvenirs. But I guess I¡¯ll just have to keep walking around and ask whether they¡¯ve seen any lizardpeople.¡± Arlisa chuckled, and made a joke that would be inappropriate in more socially developed societies. ¡°So the whole stereotype is true! All lizardpeople are connected!¡± Irkania laughed too. ¡°Well, to some extent. We are a small species.¡± Truth was, they were once more common, their cities were centered around the swamps of the inland lakes. Most of those lakes and the swamps were flattened when Sabnoc blew up. So, what¡¯s left of the lizardpeople that went on to reclaim their lost land all came from a small pool of survivors and outlying villages. They benefited greatly from the Valthorn¡¯s Social services, especially the [incubation pods], specialised [childcare centers] and nutritional tree saps. Young lizardlings were frequently starved of nutrients and it seemed they have a relatively low survival rate. It was also particularly troublesome as infant lizardlings were pretty much animals and had very monster-like aggression, their sentience and awareness seemed to just pop up when they passed their 2nd year. In the case of lizard young, it was particularly important to prevent their lizardlings from escaping. Their society has a very strange relationship with their children, to them, the sentientless children were monsters, and their own people have no qualms killing the young lizards if they were exceptionally aggressive. To them, a child is only a lizard child when they gained their will and intelligence. Before that, monsters. They also have no concept of parents, and practiced a case of pooled upbringing, where everyone contributed to raising the newly sentient children. Everyone was pretty much related, and the females would deposit any fertilised eggs in a central location in their village. Till this day this was something I have not been able to process, that they are able to have that emotional distance from their spawn for that first two years. ¡°Cousins?¡± ¡°Yes. Everyone¡¯s a cousin, or an uncle. We do have our own words for it though.¡± Irkania smiled. The lizardpeople repopulation programme was one of the few success cases on the Central Continent, but one we rarely talk about. Lizardpeople generally face a little more discrimination than others, particularly because lizardpeople prefer to work and play at night. Daytime they are often observed to be lazing about, and thus they have a reputation as being lazy. Still, they are one of the best night-time guards, and are very good counter-assassins, thanks to their extremely keen sense of space and movement. ¡°But I believe they are two generations before us.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Each village a family, each generation a batch. Arlisa nodded. The tour was a large one. Easily 500 students in this batch. For the commoners, they were split to about 6 different batches, so that everyone would get their chance for the tour. The academic staff would rotate to participate, along with a group from the Valthorns and the Treeology. The largest beetles were used as transport, after all, once all the other support staff was included, this tour was a 1,000 strong tour. Entire inns were reserved for the tourists. It spoke of Freshka¡¯s evolution from a town no one knows to the Spiritual Capital of the Continent. The soft and hard power it now controlled. The sea. Arlisa spent about half an hour by the sea before leaving. A little disgusted. ¡°The sea¡¯s the same everywhere.¡± Irkania said. ¡°The ports too. Forever messy, and filled with the smell of salt, rotten fish and people who didn¡¯t have showers for weeks.¡± ¡°I thought lizardpeople don¡¯t shower.¡± ¡°We do. Some of us.¡± Irkania smiled. ¡°Were you expecting something different?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, actually.¡± Arlisa said. ¡°Maybe what you need is space. Away from whatever that kept your mind occupied. Perhaps your mother?¡± Arlisa shrugged. ¡°Perhaps.¡± - Communications with the reef mind continued, and progressively, I began to feel like its mind was forming up. It no longer felt like it was a clueless thing clawing randomly. The images and scenes it brought up were all new, different, and it repeated, as if getting confirmation. About 2+ years since we made contact with the Reef mind, it finally attempted it¡¯s first conversation. > Reef. Greetings. < I heard its voice, my group of artificial minds allowed it¡¯s attempt to communicate to reach me. < Tree. Greetings. > I responded. I would one day hope to bridge this communication with Lilies, and also Vallasira. Perhaps Vallasira could visit it directly. > Reef. Happy. < It is happy? < I am glad. > > Language. Difficult. < < With practice, becomes easy. > What is this reef mind? Is it a dungeon core? Or perhaps just a collection of reefs and corals that somehow gained consciousness and a soul? It paused. Reefy did not attempt to speak for a while, but I could sense a lot of thoughts floating about, those thoughts sometimes vaguely touch the roots at the edges of the reef. I wondered whether it¡¯s appropriate for me to refer to it as Reefy. - I awarded my 2nd special class, [Aeon¡¯s Field Scientist], to a middle-aged dwarven alchemist named Alka. Alka was just a [Level 39 General Alchemist], and he¡¯s spent the last 40 years working on growing highly powerful crystals from simple raw materials. He made some progress, but as with research, it¡¯s often an issue of resources, just as much as knowledge. To try everything and see what works, requires one to be able to afford everything. If a researcher is financially distressed, the research usually would not progress. The materials needed for labs are expensive, especially when dealing with items possessing magical potential. So, when Patreeck summarised a list of contractors and researchers that supported our attempts to develop more potent crystal bombs, Alka somehow came up. I interviewed him, and somehow, perhaps an instinct or a gut feel told me he would be fit. ¡°I will sponsor your research, and you will have a set fund. Chancellor Brandak¡¯s office will handle it.¡± ¡°And all I gotta do is find ways to make bigger, stronger, magical storage crystals.¡± He wasn¡¯t confident, I mean, I could read his mind and I knew he was acting, but he still attempted to put up a confident face. But as it turned out, he should¡¯ve had more confidence in himself. ¡°Yes.¡± I notified Chancellor Brandak to set a reasonable budget, but something on the lower side. Two months later, he displayed the first multi-layer crystalline bomb. In short, a two-stage crystal bomb. It¡¯s performance was impressive. It was a deviously simple solution, and I wondered why we were so obsessed with getting better crystals. A set of interlinked crystal bombs, with mutually amplifying spells stored could be made more powerful than a single large superspell. Honestly, when I saw it I felt like I was an idiot. What¡¯s stopping us from making an entire super-lattice of crystal gems, all configured to cause a massive chain reaction? ¡°Crystals store magic and mana, and are meant to go off at a trigger. A chain of crystals that is meant to trigger when the others trigger, arranged in such high density will explode from the sheer mana density and the entanglement of the different spell types. You want the spells to only interact when you want it to, but the crystals also need spell shielding so that they don¡¯t interact prematurely. See the problem? More crystals, more shielding. More shielding, harder to trigger and less efficient.¡± Alka, liberated from the financial challenges, went full speed ahead on research, and so, I decided to award him my special class. Simply because I needed someone to work on this. I was prepared to build massive nuclear bombs if it meant I can end the demon kings easily. If he could solve this multi-crystal amplification-containment puzzle, we¡¯re well on our way to magical nukes. Once I have magical nukes, I¡¯m gonna try to send a few across the rifts. Sorry, Pacific Rim and Avengers. I know nuclear bombs across portals are not new. - So, along the line of portals, Stella, or Astia, managed to actually gain a special class. [Void Mage]. This was after she accidentally hurt herself a grand total of 73 times, and cursed herself in the process. That process has been generally beneficial for me too. I gained a rather specific skill in dealing with Stella¡¯s void mana exposure. [Skill : Greater Resistance to Curse obtained] [Skill : Curse-breaker obtained] Void magic. Progress! This was a good affirmation, and dispelled one of my earlier concerns. I was worried whether this void magic existed outside the ¡®system¡¯. It was not uncommon, at least from my memories, for certain types of magic to exist outside the system. Void magic seemed likely to be one such thing. Stella¡¯s skills were rather lame, really. [Void Fist], [Void Punch], and [Void Walk]. It seemed that the powers of the void were indeed powerful, but it didn¡¯t seem particularly different. But, under the hood, when I looked into Stella¡¯s soul spring, that was when the differences were clear. Stella¡¯s once clear soul spring was now pure, pitch black. It was like black oil poured out of her spring, her soul now a conduit for the void. The skills existed in her soul were matte black blocks of things, and resembled the curses she had, but now a solid form. All this came at a high price. She lost all of her earlier artist or administrator levels. But somehow she still did it. The call of home was a lot stronger for her. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be able to go home. Not in this shape.¡± Kei said. ¡°Earth would bomb me to hell, or put me in some kind of exhibit.¡± Kei gained more levels, and one of her stranger powers was the ability to change the surface and color of her crystalline body, allowing herself to actually pass off as a marble statue, or a stone statue. Stella didn¡¯t really care much. ¡°I gained the [void mage] class, but where¡¯s my portal?¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably something you need to discover.¡± ¡°I keep trying...¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s just a simple void equivalent of a ¡®teleportation¡¯ spell.¡± And so Stella attempted to learn teleportation, but with void mana. It didn¡¯t turn out well for the first 5 times. It resulted in her rupturing her soul spring, and needed special repairs. Stella was knocked unconscious and in a coma for a week after one of the incidents. Strangely, despite her soul spring now entirely black, she can still cast regular spells and still tap into normal mana. Weird. Where did it come from? If i could get hold of the [void mage] class seed, I would be able to seriously manufacture void mana. I suspected that void mana may well lead me to a new color for my soul forge. I also wanted to know whether i could make specialised [void-trees]. I theorised it should be possible, in the same way I could have star-mana producing leaves. Maybe the end goal is like a single grand unifying mana and soul theorem. Something that would bridge from star mana, to hex and blood magic, to this void mana schtick. - ¡°We should design a response plan if the other continents ever get attacked by the demon king.¡± Lausanne proposed one day to the Valthorns. ¡°I saw the destruction of the Eastern Continent first hand, and we too, suffered the destruction of the Rottedlands. Though it may feel nice to see them suffer for their past crimes against our aggression, the vast majority of the populace is not complicit in their crimes. We should give aid.¡± ¡°Aid does not come free, and if we are to provide assistance, with all due respect Lady Lausannne, we must use that opportunity to spread his divine faith. The faith of Aeon.¡± ¡°That¡¯ll trigger a war.¡± A diplomat suggested. ¡°At least, from the more aggressive nations.¡± Lausanne nodded. ¡°Understood, which is why we must have a plan. There must be nations which we can ally with, or be friendly which, who can then act as our beachhead. Somewhere for the regular folk to retreat to, and somewhere, that we can push back at the demons, and stem the destruction. Save lives.¡± ¡°I believe the key problem is that Aeon is immobile and remains firmly rooted on our continent. It is his grace and divine protection that allows us the luxury of this conversation. It is our fortune and luck, and their misfortune.¡± Some of the Lords really take the shoepolishing and asskissing to the next level. The scary thing is, because of years of ¡®brainwashing¡¯ and ¡®propaganda¡¯ from the Freshlands Treetiary College and Treeology, they actually believe it. It¡¯s unnerving, but this is the outcome of my own actions. I wonder how the Emperor of Man felt when after millennia, his followers worshipped him instead of speaking to him the way he wanted. ¡°Can we transplant Aeon¡¯s trees?¡± A lady asked. ¡°I mean, that¡¯s what druids used to do, right, transplanting trees with magic.¡± Fuck no. After a century or so I am not moving. ¡°I mean, just the lesser trees.¡± ¡°It¡¯s something worth considering, and merits discussion with Aeon himself.¡± Kavio answered. Chancellor Brandak, Alka, Edna were all in the audience for this proposal. ¡°We have six years at least, to plan a response.¡± Lausanne said. ¡°I propose we identify friendly nations on each continent, and start making the necessary preparations. We can have seedlings and smaller plants moved over.¡± ¡°But does Aeon¡¯s divinity and presence carry over? I had the impression his powers cover only the central continent.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s an issue of quantity. With enough trees and seedlings he could project power?¡± It was an interesting discussion, but I wasn¡¯t about to reveal that all the trees I controlled so far are linked via a massive network of roots. There were certain groups of priests who felt we were too fixated on the central continent and wanted to preach on the other continents. They would be delighted at this news. How do I make my divine presence felt? Perhaps a portal, with roots? Like how I invaded the demon world temporarily? - Journeys to the Centree of the World Year 160 (part 1) The ruins of the Demon King Tigash were converted into a memorial for the dead. I felt it was appropriate, now that my powers have gradually restored the damaged terrain to almost 90% of its former self. It was just a little memento, to remember those who sacrificed themselves in war. Once the terrain was restored, it would be hard to tell this place was once a hellscape. A city would be built here, over time. A war focused one, of course. At the same time, this place, now that I¡¯ve undid the damage, actually did have residual magical energy that could be used, so I made a dungeon. Its just sweet petty revenge on my part. I will train multiple generations here, with the energies of the demon king. - On the topic of leylines and dungeons, we also explored ways of enhancing these magical but naturally occurring geological features. Ley lines seemed to be the mana-magical equivalent of ¡®sun spots¡¯, and now that I have a massive map of the central continent¡¯s ley lines, it did seem somewhat evenly distributed across the continent. Somewhat, and that did imply areas where there is a particular ¡®lack¡¯ of ley lines, and areas that have lumps. What are ley lines? When dealing with only a few ley lines, this was a particularly pointless question to ask. But with a continent¡¯s worth of ley lines, I could start making some inferences. ¡°Ley Lines naturally occurring.¡± Akrenaf, the wolf. ¡°Creating them is impossible.¡± I disagreed with that. The fact that there¡¯s so many of them across the world implied something. One, it was something created from the land itself, perhaps by way of agglomeration of energies. Two, the ¡®sun spot¡¯ analogy suggests that the world¡¯s core has some kind of mana-field that creates these ley lines. < Ley Lines power us > Lilies explained one day. < The Lake was created by the ley lines eons ago, but the ley line has moved since. > Again, ley lines can move over long periods of time. This clearly suggested a mana-magnetosphere kind of mechanic deep in the planet. A mana-tosphere. This is quite like how magnetic poles can shift over time. If these ley lines have no polarity, then it makes sense that it¡¯s distribution is random since there is no repelling force? ¡°Could the elemental features or colors of the ley lines be a way these ley lines differentiate itself?¡± Patreeck theorised that the colors are a kind of ¡®polarity¡¯, so instead of just north and south for magnets. Manas have multiple poles, perhaps? This theory was dispelled when we analysed the colors of the ley lines. Black and blue dominated the colors of the ley lines. There were also ¡®neutral¡¯ ley lines with no coloration to it, and these were by far the most common source. If there is a polarity, there should be a lumpy distribution of the colors, but that¡¯s not what we are seeing. It¡¯s random. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s more of an electricity-like mechanic. The core is just a source, and there¡¯s something on the surface that causes the mana from the core to arc to the surface.¡± This would be like plasma globes. The plasma filaments are thus the ley lines. Also possible, but does not explain coloration. Our research into ley lines were primarily driven by two things. One. Can I supercharge ley lines to make super powerful weapons? The existing ley lines are not powerful enough, so, can I, using my natural powers, influence or cause the energies to gather in such a way that the ley lines become significantly more powerful than they normally are. This thought process is a bit like attempting to use canals and channels to accumulate multiple smaller streams into a larger river? Two. Can I use multiple ley lines, or enhance ley lines, to create dungeons with significantly higher level cap. This would allow my Level 125ers to level up quickly, and thus achieve the level needed to counter the demon king¡¯s next attempt. Firstly, how do I interact with ley lines? So far, I have been on the receiving end of the ley lines energies. Are there historical records where mages attempted to meddle with ley lines? I sent out an order to the Valthorns, and then to the various mage guilds. I got close to nothing. Very few people ever recorded their meddlings with ley lines. I¡¯m sure multiple mages have considered whether it is possible to tap into such natural circumstances for power. It¡¯s likely most of them died when exposed to such power. I tried meddling with ley lines. I went back to the earlier ley lines, like the ones that held my [threetrees of mana]. I extended my roots, attempting to follow the flow of mana deep into the ground. I went as deep as I could, following the subtle fluctuations of mana. I¡¯ve gotten a lot better at sensing and following the traces of mana, after all that practice. My roots can also stretch deeper than before. The ley lines seemed to all head to the center. There must be something down there, no? The distance to the core is massive, I reckon. Assuming this world is no larger than earth, that¡¯s still some 6,000km of distance. Could I dig that far down? Yet, I felt this challenge was one I was incredibly well suited for. I have various tunneling skills, and abilities to extend my roots. If I could create little microclimates and ¡®pockets¡¯ as I dug downwards, I¡¯d run into whatever¡¯s down there. Perhaps even magma or the planet¡¯s mantle? I should be able to break past the crust. So I did. A tree¡¯s journey to the center of the planet. I wasn¡¯t sure what I was expecting, but I felt that now was a good time to try. I would dig tunnels with my roots, and eventually, at the limit of the roots range, I would create a large pocket of space. I would then spawn a Giant Attendant Tree there. This renewed my root¡¯s range, and allowed me to extend it further. The roots supplied water and minerals for the attendant trees to survive, and the tunnels itself supplied air. It was a long, laborious and somewhat boring process. But I eventually gotten deep. Minerals and strange metallic ores, crystals of all kinds were here. And that damned black as coal Blackstar Gems were aplenty. Gems. hah. They might as well call it Blackstar Coal. That¡¯s a better name for it. It also got hotter. And hotter. I dug. And I dug. I dug for weeks. The heat was still manageable. Thank goodness for my various resistances. Then, I broke through the hard crust, and if I could say my jaw dropped, it did. I had stumbled into a pocket of space down below the crust, and instead of just rock and minerals, I saw the remains of a civilization I did not recognise. Deep down here, it¡¯s dark and without light. There is hardly any oxygen, save those that somehow managed to make it down here through my root tunnels. But my spiritual senses could still see the structures, ancient. Preserved, buried in such depths. This was at least a hundred miles below the crust! [Title : Rediscoverer of the Margmarian Dwarf City earned.] ¡°Magmarian Dwarves.¡± I thought to myself. All the people that once lived here were all dead. Long, long ago. But their massive towers and structures remained, mostly made of a metal I did not recognise. There were no bodies, no one on the streets. The structures looked like they¡¯ve been untouched for eons. I spawned a Giant Attendant Tree here, at the edge of their ancient city. The earth seemed to have caved in on them? Was this my fate if the demon king¡¯s corruptions overwhelmed us? Did a similar event happen to them? I noticed how the curvature of the rock above their city was almost perfectly round. They must have had a barrier or something of that sort that shielded them. My roots spread through their ancient city. It felt like I was in a post apocalyptic movie, the last man walking down a deserted city. There was little sign of chaos, the ancient structures looked beautifully preserved with hardly any damage. It seemed no war happened here. Their city was quite large, and I kept going. My roots spread through the city¡¯s tiled roads. The tiles were old and easily gave way to my roots. I could use this city as a secret hideout for the people. There were all kinds of buildings. I spawned beetles, my heat-resistant variant. Down here the heat and pressure was quite high, and my spiders would not do. The beetles then fanned out, searching for life. Would there be survivors? I think not. There were no vegetation in this area, certainly these magmarian dwarves did not survive without food. Unless they ate rock. Maybe they ate rock. My beetles highlighted some buildings of interest. My roots followed. Temples, ancient, massive temples. Made of an even stranger metal. No. Crystal. My roots approached, and I felt something push back. Magic. The temple surrounded by steps, like a pyramid. Crystalline columns surrounded the temples, each had a statue on it. Statue of creatures. A four-winged bird, a scorpion, a dragon with a halo on its head. A dog with two balls of flame. All sculpted out of crystal. Were these dwarves some kind of egyptian equivalent? What levels of wealth did they reach to do so? The temple itself was the first building I saw in this entire city that crumbled. My vines snaked up the stairs and then, as with vines, crawled up all the crumbled walls. I saw a large broken statue inside, a humanoid structure with its head gone. There were words on the building walls that I did not recognise. All scrubbed off. What happened here? Another group of beetles highlighted something else. Another set of temples. These temples were still intact. They were also made with the same materials, and the same crystalline structures. There were no statues inside. My roots spread and then we reached the center of this city. There was a vast domed building, solid and made of a mix of crystal and metal. It had no entrances, no holes. It looked like... a tomb. I had to know, so my roots attacked it. The crystal was strong, and it held through the first hit. And the second. And the third. And the tenth. But it cracked at the twentieth root strike, and my roots now had a hole where it could enter. And for the first time, bodies. Ancient bodies all preserved in crystal. At least ten thousand bodies. I sensed no life in them, their souls have long since departed. At the center, was another crystal, but this crystal seemed like an equipment, rather than a structure. There was a lot more intricate, and I sensed fluctuations in its energy. It was reacting to my spiritual sight. My vines then touched it, and the crystal attempted to draw mana from me. I decided to give it a bit. The crystal glowed and responded to the mana, and then, from it... an apparition appeared, it floated right above the crystal. It was a hologram! A magical hologram! ¡°Today is the 24th year since the fall of the Daemos Comet. We remain trapped underneath the Daemos Comet¡¯s tremendous magical sludge, and our attempts to break through the sludge has not been successful. Our archmages theorise it would take at least 10,000 years for the chaotic energies from the sludge to dissipate.¡± Magical sludge? But it¡¯s all dirt to me. ¡°Our fellow sister cities are all equally trapped by the sludge.¡± It paused. It was that same man, but he looked a lot older. ¡°Today is the 46th year since the fall. Our food stockpiles have run out. Our archmages have been working hard daily to create food, maintain vegetation and keep us alive. But things are honestly bleak. We expect not to survive for long. I¡¯ve called on the archmages to start our self entombment. We may as well give ourselves a peaceful death.¡± It paused again, and it flicked to a different scene. A different person. ¡°Chancellor Mar has been entombed. Honestly, at this point, everyone¡¯s given up, and well, me too. We¡¯re trapped in this hell. Who would have thought a comet would have ended our world so easily. Our prayers to our gods have all yielded nothing. Eras, Geis, and Deyar, we prayed to you.¡± He sobbed. ¡°But nothing. Not a word. Why have you forsaken us? Doomed us to this!¡± It flicked again, a different person. ¡°We pray to the Gods Eras, Geis and Deyar, may we be protected even in death.¡± It flickered again, and another person appeared. ¡°I am the last one here, the last mage-priest of the Marga. I assented to the wish of the others for their peaceful death. In my anger and hatred for our fate, I destroyed the temple of Eras. Eras has abandoned us in our time of need. Where was he when we needed him? Is this it? Trapped in a city underneath a massive layer of molten sludge?¡± It paused, the same person then continued. ¡°The Jewel of the Margma¡¯s protective barriers continued to hold. I had attempted to disable it, but I failed. The Jewel remains untouched, underneath this dome. I refuse to die. I will continue to experiment on the jewel.¡± That was the last image. There¡¯s another jewel! My roots quickly explored beneath the dome, and indeed, there was a large subterranean structure, a series of tunnels and walkways. These dwarves built relatively sophisticated cities! Then I saw it, about a few hundred feet beneath the dome, through walkways and stairways. A bright blue crystal, still faintly glowing, but slightly off center. It was no longer on the pedestal, but still on the platform. There were a few bodies around it, all dead. My roots and vines reached out, and briefly touched it. [You have obtained an ancient relic, Ley Line Lense - Focusing Shield Gem] A ley line lense? Such a thing existed in the ancient world? I spawned a few more attendant trees outside around this ancient city, this time, I attuned them to the magic in the area. Indeed, I¡¯ve been following the ley line all the way down. I spread my roots, and then noticed that there were other ley lines that converged here. The ley lines on the surface were like streams of a river, and here, in this very ancient city, those streams converged. Taking that logic that all the leylines we saw on the surface were nothing more than little branches of the same whole, the core would thus be the great ocean. The ley lines here were a strong, robust blue and also black. Multiple colors mixed here. But over the millennia, it had moved, shifted slightly. Like how rivers reshaped the land, and like how magnetic polarities moved. The ley line lense was now off center, no longer along where the ley lines were focused. I moved the Ley Line Lense, placing it back on its pedestal, properly. At first, nothing. I adjusted the pedestal, moving it until it was focused along the invisible paths of the ley lines. It suddenly glowed, and then, it emitted a vast, powerful shield that covered the entirety of the ancient city. Yet, it did not cut off my roots. It had somehow taken to my roots¡¯ signature, identifying I am a friendly party. The shield was back. If the ley lines remained, surely the shield would last. If so, the city clearly outlasted its inhabitants. The shields¡¯ restoration also seemed to bring certain structures in the city back online. My roots sensed mana flows in the city itself, and my roots retraced those flows to large buildings that housed other additional crystals that ¡®harvest¡¯ energies from the shield, as a form of power. These were things I¡¯ve not seen before, a unique set of runes and power. My roots connected to the structures, and I wanted to study them. I spent days studying these ancient runes and the formations they used, and also the crystals. They were regular crystals, but programmed by the runes and formations to function as an ambient mana absorber. It¡¯s really cool, and after about two months of studying, my subsidiary trees unlocked new functions. [New subsidiary tree variant obtained : Crystalline Mana Trees. Crystalline mana trees are trees with crystals in them. The crystals can store mana, and also be tailored to perform specific functions. Each tree can have only a single crystal type.] [Tuberous storage upgraded : Crystalline Potatoes. Potato mana storage now comes with crystals, and this increases capacity and also ability to store different kinds of mana!] [New lab variant obtained : Underground Living Crystal Labs. Allows creation of crystals in a lab.] Somehow, the studies meant I had rediscovered the ways to grow crystals in a lab. That¡¯s not exactly groundbreaking, I mean, I knew that was possible from earth, but this was hell of a roundabout way of rediscovering it. Surely, if I needed to make massive crystal lattices, what better way than to grow the necessary crystals myself, than actually hoping to find those crystals out in the wild? Thanks ancient civilisation, I¡¯m one step closer to lab-grown crystal superbombs! At the same time, there must be something further down there? The discovery of an ancient city so deep underground, I wondered, could this world actually just be layers upon layers, that millions of years ago, this planet was very very small, and each of these disasters just added a layer of earth and crust over it? Is this just a slice of layer cake all the way down? I had to know, so I traced the ley lines, and kept digging. - Tech Tree Explorations Year 160 part 2 So many different things to focus on, and perhaps, that is how an empire loses focus. An emperor cannot do everything at once, and though I have significantly more advantages than any regular emperor, I too, feel this limitation. It¡¯s increasingly obvious that I am often the bottleneck of any decision making process. I have so many different concurrent research projects, all operated by my artificial minds. Time to check in on each of them. Anti-divine research. The lack of testability hampered progress. The artificial minds are trying the best to reverse engineer the component parts of the blackstar gems, but it¡¯s really educated guesses at this point. Without ways to test effectiveness, it¡¯s hard to know what exactly works, and what doesn¡¯t. Demon invasion research. Research into extreme terrains was not doing too bad. My main body actually has all-terrain adaptability, and that essentially meant it¡¯s possible for me to survive in their world. The problem was my subsidiary trees, and also the forces that I have to bring to mount a successful retaliation. Patreeck and my artificial minds are modelling various scenarios, and presented with a wide range of areas where we needed. Firstly, we needed a way to create mana on their homeworld, and from that mana, create water and other materials we needed. Only with this we can hope to maintain a permanent staging point on their homeworld. I wondered whether such resources are available on their world, but I thought the chances are very slim. So, it¡¯s likely that we¡¯d have to make water. It¡¯s not entirely impossible, there are spells and gems that can do so, but this is a key starting point. Secondly, we were also working on the alien-world beetles. This meant further enhancing their ability to operate in ultra-arid environments. The brief moments when I spawned trees on the other side gave me some data, and one of which, all the beetles were incredibly brittle without the necessary moisture. Even my trees didn¡¯t hold itself together that well. We needed to design a replacement fluid, something that would not just immediately evaporate in the demon world. Developing this evaporation-resistant fluid would strengthen both tree and beetle, and would reduce the impact of the water-scarcity. Thirdly, was a matter that needed Stella¡¯s input as my first [void mage]. The issue of maintaining the demon rifts, and the possibility of creating our own rifts. If we could create rifts, we could even find a way to send her home. When I told her that this was a way of testing the portals, she was quickly on board. The idea of helping to defeat the demons through research seemed to appeal to her. But firstly, I need to recreate the rifts, and that¡¯s... a lot harder. Stella experimented with teleportation spells instead, and actually, teleportation within the same area, or even the same continent did not require any void mana. This meant void mana may actually be only needed for inter-world issues. Is void mana perhaps some kind of ¡®transdimensional-fluid¡¯? If so, the void mana merely something to act as a shell, to send a packet through the stars? I... didn¡¯t know how to test my theory. ¡°Let¡¯s send somebody to the two moons.¡± Stella said. ¡°We don¡¯t know how to send someone to the other world, but I think we can first attempt the moons.¡± That... is a good idea. Are the demons on the same ¡®realm¡¯ as us? Or are they actually creatures on some other planes of existence? Maybe this test would go nowhere, but in any case, teleporting to the moon sounds like a good first step. One small step for the tree, one giant step for the forest! - After that, there¡¯s also the sea related research, and the idea of somehow developing a network of deep-ocean roots. My roots would essentially be subsea internet cables, wouldn¡¯t it? If I could make deep ocean roots, where, at certain regular intervals, I have floating plants to sustain the network? So, on this front, we also have research on making my roots go further, last longer, and can survive the pressures and dangers of the deep sea. There are monsters down there. I hoped Reefy would be able to assist, or could Reefy be a bridge? But its has a strong turtle instinct. That meant Reefy¡¯s first instinct is to just hide and build huge defenses. Are all reefs like this? Why are trees different? Anyway, I didn¡¯t have any progress on ocean-level grass, but I did make progress on large floating vines and floating roots. Perhaps I could float a root or a vine all the way to the other continents? Convert the entire ocean into a massive hydroponic farm? Ideas ideas, but whether the system cooperates by rewarding me with a skill is another matter. - Then there¡¯s the matter of bombs. Alka, my chief scientist, is doing his best. I mean, he¡¯s a little bit mad, as with all those who dabble in research, but I suppose dealing with bombs do tend to make one a lot more edgy than usual. I decided to award him one of my [Court of the Deitree], so that I can teleport him away should one of the bombs go nuts. No progress is ever made without a few accidental explosions. On this front, Stella¡¯s also contributing, because one of our earth-inspired ideas was a star-mana and void-mana fusion bomb. We had to quickly allocate a space, an uninhabited segment of the continent for Alka¡¯s bomb research. Kei quickly dubbed it our Area 51. I thought that wasn¡¯t quite correct, I thought it¡¯ll be more of our Bikini Atoll or some shit. It¡¯s honestly quite entertaining, to watch shit blow up. I would love to see all these new bombs blow up in front of the demon king. His research also led to some attempts at mixing crystal matrixes with hexbombs. It¡¯s pretty much a ¡®dirty bomb¡¯. Didn¡¯t work very well, it seemed that hex itself did not enjoy being trapped in crystal matrixes and would also corrode the runic formations present inside any crystal matrixes. Perhaps we¡¯re doing it wrong, but Alka and his small army of crystalworkers were hard at work. - Then, after research, was the issue of training. Every year we focus on training new people, and the training programme of the major institutions get finetuned year after year. I¡¯ve also awarded more upgraded classes, and in Edna¡¯s case, I upgraded more of her skills. Also, thanks to my recent research into mana, I¡¯ve managed to figure out some ways to increase a ley line¡¯s strength. In some ways, ley lines are like ¡®feng shui¡¯ flows, the will of the world¡¯s movements, and it¡¯s affected by strange offerings and structures that normally do not have any magical effects. In short, a simple statue of the right kind, in the right places, can actually amplify a ley line. There¡¯s a certain set of rules around ley lines, and these rules only apply in a relatively limited distance from the ley line. I am still in the process of figuring it out, but I got help from that [Shaman]. He carved a simple totem, and placed it quite a distance from the ley line, and yet, somehow, it interacted with the ley line and increased its power. That pushed up the levels of the monsters from a dungeon made of said ley line by 10! So, after a few more tweaks, we finally made a dungeon able to spawn Level 100 monsters. [Level 100 Dungeons unlocked. Dungeon level limit increased] Uh? Stupid system. Why make us jump through hoops just to allow us to make more level 100 monsters? With that, my Valthorns, especially those in the level 80s and 90s, and also Edna, started challenging the Level 100 dungeons. I still had a huge stockpile of experience seeds, though right now, my limiter is actually my [ginseng] plant. Back then, when I first got the skill, I was limited to 3 ginseng at any one time. Now, I¡¯m still limited to about 15 ginseng at any time, and the ginseng needs at least 5 years before they are sufficiently mature to unlock the level limit. Essentially, every 5 years, I can unlock 15 individuals. I missed a few decades during the Burning Rottedlands era, and have been resuming it after I regained my own sense of self, a good 50 years ago. There were a few accidental failures too, due to the erratic nature of the monster spawns, so I still have about 65 or so Ginseng I can deploy. That¡¯s quite a small pool, but I decided I had to be generous, and gave it to most of the Valthorns that capped out at around Level 80 to 85. I recently also had my first Valthorn Treefolk that hit his level limit. His level limit was actually higher, at level 95. Still, his class mix was a bit part [Aeonic Berserker] and part [Wood mage], and also part [villager], so some of those levels were not that ¡®effective¡¯. Still, it was enlightening to look at a high leveled Treefolk under the hood. One of the immediate differences was that the Soul Spring seemed to have a secondary source of mana. There was a small trickle of ¡®water¡¯ that dripped in from up above, as if it rained in the soul spring. After some analysis, this was the Treefolk¡¯s natural ability to absorb vitality and strength from its surroundings, like a tree would gather nutrients from its surroundings. So, I really wonder how different Lilies¡¯ soul spring would be. I¡¯m unable to view my own, after all, Lilies and Reefy might be the closest equivalent I will ever find. - Lumoof, Patreearch of the Treeology, the First of the Decarches led a prayer, once every month. There was a schedule in place, each Patreearch or Matreearch would lead a prayer, and they would take turns to do so. At first, it felt very... old-school to have a religion that conducts prayers, but the priests eventually convinced me that their very class demands them to conduct acts of faith, and mass prayers were one of the best ways to do so. I still remember how weird it was to have others pray to me, at first, but eventually I got used to it. Now, these mass prayers were the next level. I wonder whether this is how superstars feel like, having a big fanbase. The halls were massive for the prayers, and I made an extremely large sized [Tree of Prayer] in the center of the hall, for them to focus their prayers. It was easily one of the most beautiful ones I¡¯ve made too, with all sorts of flowering colors and little glowing lights. To add to the spectacle, I had one of the artificial minds coordinate the flowering with the sermons. It helps, apparently. Lumoof was also a recipient of my [soul strengthening seed], and the unlocked level limit seemed to de-age him by a decade or two, simply because his soul now had a lot more vitality, and that vitality flowed into his overall well being. Faith is one of the unifying features of the Central Continent. I could actually see the parallels of the Central Continent with the Holy Roman Empire, and also the Muslim Empires, in that faith and governance are intertwined. Part of this by design, my own attempts to forge unity through culture meant the religious aspects also meant there is institutional backing for the missionary and preachers. As a result, the temples of Aeon, over time, also became a social venue, and a place for those seeking audiences with authority to mingle. Prayers are one of the few rare moments where nobles and common folk can be seen together, at least among the common races of humans, elves, dwarves and centaurs. For the non-humans, many still remember the earlier racial purges, and that too is a cause for wars between the kingdoms under my jurisdiction. It seemed that past transgressions continue to remain, even till today. Lumoof paused, as he touched those who came for prayer briefly. A [blessing], a skill of many high priests. It often grants a temporary boost to their health and strength, for usually a week or two. The short duration is intentional, meant to encourage their return to the temples. Next, was the baby blessings. Children and spawn of all races were brought before him, He chanted, and they all had a warm glow. Also a blessing. It seemed that just like how I have a special [nursery], the priests too have a separate set of blessings for children. There were a few more act of ¡®miracles¡¯ as they called it, as Lumoof demonstrated a power available to all the Patreearchs. An act of healing or restoration very much like my ability to remove curses and fix arms, though with some additional, like they needed a bit of the persons¡¯ memento. I had often forgotten that priests and shamans have abilities that can often influence the [soul]. The day¡¯s proceedings were over. Lumoof relaxed and walked to the back of the prayer halls. Some of the junior priests exclaimed their sense of wonder at Lumoof¡¯s abilities. He smiled. ¡°A moment, Patreearch Lumoof?¡± The nobles often tried to find time to speak to the high priests after prayer. ¡°Ah. I have a meeting to attend to.¡± - Arlisa and Lausanne attended these prayers occasionally, and they both used a ring that seemed to distort everyone¡¯s perception of them, usually giving them some semblance of privacy. Afterwards, they¡¯d have lunch in one of the city¡¯s many restaurants. Lausanne was pregnant again, but she coped well, her high levels and strong physique meant she suffered few of pregnancies¡¯ many challenges. Arlisa was pretty much her bodyguard, though there were a few Valthorns in the vicinity ready to assist her should it be needed. Lausanne had the talk with Arlisa, about children, and sex and the not-so-young Arlisa blushed. She was after all 19, almost 20, and for half-elves, this was at the very edge of adulthood. Lausanne then shared some differences about how babies were cared for on the other continents, and Arlisa decided it was too much for her, so she changed the subject. She had decided to work a little bit harder this year, and that hard work quickly translated to levels. Maybe it was the pressure of having a younger sibling? At her age, having a sibling that¡¯s just a baby? I¡¯ve never wondered about the issue of the age gap between siblings in a world where elves can have children for centuries. Do they even have laws on minors? How does one even shape laws on minors when what is considered a minor differed across species, and the intermixed species which matured at different speeds? - Year 161 Stella¡¯s attempt to teleport to the moon failed again. Of course, during this time, she and Kei brainstormed many issues. ¡°Surely that moon has no oxygen.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know for sure.¡± ¡°It makes better sense for me to go.¡± Kei said. ¡°I¡¯m a golem. I can live there.¡± ¡°But what if I can¡¯t send you back?¡± ¡°And sending you there is a better idea?¡± ¡°I¡¯m the [void mage]? I can cast the same spell in reverse.¡± There are two moons, and both moons have a somewhat elliptical orbit around this world. Or at least, that¡¯s how it seemed to me. ¡°You¡¯ll die first.¡± Kei responded. ¡°If there are monsters, or if the moon is inhabitable, then you¡¯re dead the moment the rift opens.¡± ¡°Air doesn¡¯t pass through rifts.¡± That¡¯s what I said, really. The demons¡¯ rifts are more like a pathway filled with filters. One has to use the exact mana sequence and resonance to actually interact with them. ¡°How do we know that?¡± Kei argued. ¡°That sample size is based on the demon¡¯s rifts. Why should our magic be the same?¡± Stella agreed, but then, this entire argument was one of the few distractions from the real fundamental problem they had. Portal spells... have been lost to time. Heroes have a teleportation spell, unlocked as part of the heroes¡¯ grimoire when they hit somewhere around level 101 to 105, but those are teleportation spells that only works on a small number of people around them, and isn¡¯t a ¡®portal¡¯. They continued experimenting. This, being an area of magic, and most of my magical knowledge were more of the crafting or enchantment sort, meant my ability to contribute was extremely limited, despite my mana mastery. - I also relooked at my inventory. I had stored so many different things over the decades, and then looked at the single unused [Forest rod]. Then I wondered for a moment. Could I use this on the demon¡¯s world? It¡¯s mostly useless on this world, but could the rod be my single superterraforming stick, to allow me to make that single base on their homeworld? It could work. I quickly analysed the rod for its characteristics again. I had done so in the past and found certain parts of it confusing, its material some kind of strange metal. It was strange, that it absorbed mana from whoever, and whoever flooded it with mana gained control of it. Yet, how it performs its terraforming or terrain shaping is still something I didn¡¯t quite understand, simply because it worked very differently from my own powers. I still didn¡¯t understand what it is. There were a set of crystals inside that seemed to hold the entirety of the Rod¡¯s functionalities, and those crystals refused to reveal its¡¯ secrets. I didn¡¯t want to poke too hard either, and risk losing my one and only Forest Rod. But it was worth trying. Once we can establish a reliable riftportal to the demon world, the Forest Rod will be going to the other side. Getting to the Root of It Year 161 (continued) I received strange news from my agents across the other continents. It seemed that the swift death of the demon king rattled the leadership of the various temples, and they¡¯ve sent agents to investigate whether I possessed weapons of incredible destruction. They didn¡¯t think Kei was strong enough to take down a demon king on her own, so their next bet was that I had given her something of tremendous power, or she located some super-powerful artifact. They seemed to have spent the last few years attempting to use a range of scrying and spying spells on the Central Continent, but have been unsuccessful. My [domain] must have deterred most of the spying in the immediate vicinity of Freshka. I decided to test it out with some mages, and they reported that it¡¯s impossible to use certain types of spells around the Freshka Valley, and that ¡®deterrence¡¯ covers the 3 academies as well. The only unprotected academy, in a sense, are my naval academies at the coastal cities, the place where we train new sailors and captains. One of the flaws of the naval academies is it¡¯s inherent distance from me, so the effects of my various ¡®powerleveling¡¯ abilities is slightly weaker, even with the amplification effects from my Giant Attendant Trees. So, since their scry spells failed, they attempted to use spies and doublecrossers instead. They approached a lot of Valthorns with the usual cocktail of espionage. Girls, money, power, artifacts in exchange of information. I wasn¡¯t going to hide the fact that I trapped the targeted location with bombs, and that I could somewhat guess the demon king¡¯s location. I mean, that place is even a memorial now, and the tales of the Valthorns¡¯ bravery in face of mortal danger is one of the recurring new tales most aspiring recruit holds close to their hearts. So, what was initially secrets among the intelligentsia, became a common folk¡¯s tale. The stories of the kingdom¡¯s massive bomb arrays went out, it was both scandalous and inspiring at the same time. Scandalous for the temples, because the larger populace who always thought it was only heroes who could damage the demon kings. ¡°It seems the demon kings can be harmed by mortal weapons!¡± The temples then had a counter-propaganda problem of their own. In the past they have always let the heroes fight the demon king. Mortals of the world are nothing more than fodder. But now, the concept that the people of the world could aid in the swift destruction of the demon king was a set of ideas never ever thought possible. ¡°If so, then does it mean anyone can gain the power to challenge the heroes and demon king?¡± A tale of hope and power. That man can challenge gods. The core ethos that ¡®only heroes can defeat demon kings¡¯, had been damaged. If we were to successfully defeat a demon king without any heroes, then we would have thoroughly broken that belief. The temples tried to twist it to say it is my blessings that allowed the bombs to harm the demon king, that the demon king remained an enemy of only the divine. The four temples over the centuries have implicitly told the general populace, to ¡®know your place¡¯, that the demon king is not one for mortal men to challenge. So, the tale of Jura and Lovis¡¯s self sacrifice to destroy the demon king was the single best counter for this tale. That it is possible for natives to rise from their stations, and seize their fate for themselves. That if there were no summoned heroes, the natives can rise to the challenge. Hope. Glory. Legend. The tale of the Valthorn Heroes was a hit among the general populace, unlike the tale of the foreign heroes. The bards and songstresses made different versions, with many embellishments both big and small. Hope is a very powerful poison. Already the stories swayed the stability of many priests, that their words of Gods suddenly seemed a little hollow. ¡°Surely the Gods don¡¯t trust us with such power.¡± The speculation went. ¡°That¡¯s why the Gods imported their own people. It¡¯s divine nepotism!¡± ¡°Why only summoned heroes get gifted powers? Why do we who live here, who prayed devotedly to our gods, not deserving of any lesser power? Is that fairness?¡± Poison. The nations faced internal conflict from the stories, so much so that the tales were banned. But banning them just led to them being propagated secretly, and there were no real ways such stories can be stopped with the proliferation of [messages]. ¡°The Gods play favourites with their own favourite heroes. We are just cattle, offering prayers to gods that do not care for us. If this story is true, and it must be true, it is possible for us to rise and be more than this.¡± That led to a small wave of refugees. The Kingdoms and nations decided that it was better to let those who believed go to the other side, than risk domestic conflict. If these refugees, empowered by hope, are to take up arms against the kingdom, blood would be spilled. Sure, they would win, but what¡¯s the point? Of course, this pleased me. Loyal believers from the other continents. More war potential? Sure thing, I need all hands on deck for the next time the demon king lands here. The tale was especially popular among enchanters, alchemists and gemmakers, and more than a handful made the journey to the Central Continent, tempted by the chance to participate in making demon king-slaying bombs. ¡°These stories are so absurd.¡± Kei laughed as she heard the tales recounted to her. ¡°It¡¯s so much war-propaganda.¡± Stella nodded. ¡°It¡¯s really a military puff piece. If I was a young hot blooded male with a talent for fighting, or making bombs, I¡¯d probably sign up for the Valthorn academy right now.¡± ¡°And why did they make me into this superhero?¡± The tale of Kei was also similarly embellished. I didn¡¯t find the tales of Kei exceptionally embellished, when her powers are really, truly, superhero tier stuff. I mean, magical floating cannon arrays that shoot super power mini-nuke bullets? Superhero tier. The story had the effect of inspiring locals too. My chief researcher particularly relished the challenge of creating bombs powerful enough to kill the demon king. The day he makes a bomb that powerful, I would have him repeat, ¡®Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.¡¯ Or maybe he would regret it, like how that Alfred Nobel regretted the creation of TNT. No matter, we need bombs. Big ones. And I will have them. - Year 162 The Big Deep Dig went on. Progress was getting slower, as the ground turned more hostile. Certain areas were filled with hot magma that I could not spawn roots even if I wanted to. One odd observation. The inner part of this world isn¡¯t uniformly hot. I suppose it¡¯s similar back on Earth, too, since the flow of the inner mantle meant there should be fluctuations. So, we dug horizontally when we could not go lower. I wonder whether I could invent geological survey tools. It would save me so much time if I could just scan the earth for parts where the solid ground was deepest. ...I got nothing. System? That¡¯s your cue to give me a skill? Nope. Nothing. I paused and I recall my roots already have some kind of mineral sensing ability and various filtration abilities, but I guess sonar-roots are a step too far, even for the system. Maybe it¡¯s a domain ability? I kept digging, and I found strange, large bones. Naturally, I excavated them and sent them to my [biolabs]. Archeologists will probably frown at my methods, but oh well. I¡¯d like to have ancient dinosaurs, please. Ancient dragons are fine too. Something that quickly turned up was that the bones all bore some kind of damage, claws, swords, there were even little bits of crystals in them. I kept digging. Bones. More bones. Strange bones, and as my roots unearthed more bones, I soon found the strangest one of them all. It was massive. Each bone was the size of a medium sized tree, and more importantly, each bone had a ton of little gems in it. When we placed it in the [biolab] - I heard a voice and saw a vision- An experience similar to that of the ancient tree shard. The skies burned as the rift opened. ¡°We expected this, the coming of the Invaders. The master astrologers have watched the skies and stars for millennia and have foretold this day. The day when the demons come to our world. Invaders. Minions of the So-Called Gods. Invaders. We thought we were well prepared, the might of our dragon empire was unmatched. But our pride would soon meet its downfall.¡± A sky full of stars was instantly ripped apart, and demons poured out of the rift. But they met resistance, as a flight of dragons rose to fight them. The demons did not last long against the might of the demons. ¡°The Invader Gods were relentless.¡± More demons, and more dragons fell from the skies. More, and more demons flooded through the rifts. ¡°We fought. We destroyed every single one of the demon crystals.¡± I saw images of dragons, they burned the demon crystals, melted them. ¡°But we could not hunt down every single one, as the invaders came more, and more frequently. They were crafty, and hid their demonic attunement crystals deep in the ground. Our master mages could not find all of them. An invasion that was once centuries turned to one that occurred every few decades.¡± More dragons fell, as the rifts widened. ¡°We were humbled. Their numbers were clear, even ants could take down an elephant in sufficient numbers. Our kind took forever to replenish our numbers, and they could sacrifice millions to take us down. We could not resist forever.¡± Images, visions of dragons battling it out with the demons. Gruesome, the dragons were all bloodied and injured, and they kept fighting. ¡°Each time, more of our fortresses fell, our younglings slaughtered.¡± A continent covered with the blood of dragons. ¡°We sought a way to end this, but there were none.¡± Then, a scene of a massive demon and its accompanying army of demon-drakes. ¡°The demons adopted our form. It was an insult to injury that I could not take. Our last stand, and we lost. The world had succumbed to the demons then.¡± It was the will, the last words of the dragon etched into the memory of bones. But when was this? There were no humans in that world I could see, were they a society of dragons then? The bones, with the little daemolite throughout, were incredibly ancient, as my [biolab] did some tests to make an estimate. Ancient. At least a few hundred thousand years? The magical energies that remained in the largest of the dragon bones were unfamiliar, and different. Were they the ¡®precursors¡¯ of this world? Seems corny that this world had a dragonic origin. Or maybe, they were just one of the many earlier races. Perhaps, they are the ¡®dinosaurs¡¯ of this world. We kept digging. - < Are there dragons in the world? > I asked Lilies. I honestly have not seen any. Except for the demon¡¯s dragon. I mean, at this point, dragons are really stuff of ancient legends. > I know not of their fate. < - At this depth, it¡¯ll take almost a month to walk from the surface to the deepest level. The magical energies at this depth were already slightly more active than on the surface, and the slow progress was partly due to the terrain. The magical energies and environmental factors that I could easily resist were harder on the beetles, and they had to be reinforced with active regeneration. They were heat resistant, but even then, their performance was slower. The lens from that Margmar city seemed to be a relic of some kind, but I still don¡¯t understand how it works, how it¡¯s made, and what it actually does other than create this magical barrier. It looked like a very beautiful blue glass though. But I could think of a few ways to use them. For one, how would it work as a shield against a demon king? Could they see active battle? Two, the lens clearly twists the leyline in a way such that it becomes the shield. Could I change the shape of the shield such that it functions as a weapon? In any case, Edna and a few high level Valthorns were the first group that made the journey into the depths. There were things I could not see or read at the depths, my vision was after all mostly limited by my spiritual sense, and my root¡¯s ¡®earth-sense¡¯, they would descend to the Margmar city to help decipher what¡¯s going on down there. I had specialised miner beetles, made to haul rock and break the ground, so that my roots have an easier time clearing a path, but these miners were not meant for carry people, but my earlier versions of carrier-beetles were not suited for the deep, where there¡¯s no light. So, we had to modi ¡°This is a lot deeper than I expected, Aeon.¡± Edna remarked once the beetles descended continuously for a week underground. I could teleport them, but where¡¯s the fun in that. ¡°How many such tunnels are there? Did you make them, or were they always here?¡± ¡°I made them.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Edna paused, the heat got a lot higher deep underground, and she activated a few personal comfort items. These were some of the ¡°What are we looking at?¡± The first one, of course, was the Blackstar veins. There were a lot of them at this depth. She and the small group of Valthorns that made the trip rested there for a day and examined the veins. They descended the next day. The Margmar City was a lot more impressive, but strangely, the moment they stepped into the City¡¯s vicinity, golems emerged and attacked them. They fought them off easily, but there were some defensive mechanisms that recognised people, but not trees. Hah. Once again, people forget to remember that trees in this world can kill. They spent a lot more time in the subterranean city, and they lived there for a few weeks. - Back on the surface, our training continued, and we reviewed the performance of our 2nd-generation Valthorns. This meant, their parents were also Valthorns, and these kids had some variant of the skill - [Blessed by the Soul Tree]. Most of them joined us over the past 5 years, and they were all born around 10-20 years ago. In a way, these kids were all my other bets. I didn¡¯t see any reason to burden Lausanne¡¯s family on more battles and fights if they don¡¯t want it. Arlisa, being the somewhat lazy bum that she is, was not really trying either. There were a few of them. Somehow their ages were very close, only 3-5 years apart. A few of them were ambitious, and so we supported their ambitions by giving them specialised training, special slots at the dungeons. It reeks of favoritism, but at the same time, no reason to waste those with the right skill sets. These young teens put in the hours and hit Level 50 within two years. That was as fast as Lausanne, even faster, considering they started out in their single digits. [Rangers], [Sharpshooters], [Knights] and [Mages]. They were also mixed with some other inherited skills that gave them certain advantages Lausanne did not have. The products of a bit of gentle nudges, genetic meddling and little boosts during their infant years. Already I could sense their potential and level limits would be higher than the generation before them. The idea of a Spartan generation isn¡¯t that far fetched. Already we were doing deep ¡®scans¡¯ into the young children of many Valthorns and nobles. I did nothing to most of them, but for a few, I attempted to use my powers to ¡®strengthen¡¯ them earlier, ¡®awaken¡¯ them. I wanted to see how far I can push them, in a few decades these younglings would be my level 125ers. If the inherited skills could be stacked repeatedly, that would make subsequent generations significantly stronger. - Streetching Boundaries Year 163 ¡°We can¡¯t afford to wait.¡± Lausanne once again made her case to the council. ¡°The rifts will occur any time now, any time.¡± I could sense the subtle twisting of space, already my magical sensors are sharper, and more sensitive to void mana. ¡°There will be a lot of death.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see why we should assist. There are still two living heroes, isn¡¯t it? We should reserve our strength.¡± The skeptical group. The ¡®turtles¡¯. ¡°I agree with that view, Lady Lausanne. I strongly recommend we observe the heroes¡¯ actions before even bothering to assist. What if the heroes use this chance to strike us?¡± Lausanne paused, the earlier crusades were a bad taste that many still remember. ¡°The other temples have never assisted us.¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m not recommending we assist the temples. We should find favourable countries, nations that are willing to shift their allegiances. Surely there are those who have lost faith in the temples, and we should step in. This is our chance to make a foothold on those kingdoms. The refugees are a sign that the winds are shifting, we should use this tailwind to make a stand.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a little mixed on that.¡± Chancellor Brandak opined. ¡°It¡¯s a waste of good resources, and I think strategically, we would reveal our hands if we sent our Valthorns to the other continents. Currently, the other nations have limited info on our true combat abilities.¡± Lausanne paused. The strategic element was a good argument. ¡°I think the value of Valthorn¡¯s strategic abilities is overstated. Our true power is and always is Aeon¡¯s set of skills and abilities. Revealing Valthorn doesn¡¯t do much.¡± ¡°What if the other temples take this chance to capture the Valthorns? Surely, this is one of the few chances they get hold of our elite group. Would we risk sending our forces into enemy lines this way, far from Aeon¡¯s reach?¡± It¡¯s true. As long as they are on this continent, I can still interfere. But on the other continents, I couldn¡¯t. Lausanne frowned, she had a short flashback of her time as a captive. That was another good argument from one of the High Lords. ¡°That simply meant that if we do want to send aid, we must send a high-powered group. One that can resist such attempts to capture them, and it must be a large contingent as well.¡± Lausanne read the unsaid words. It¡¯ll be implied as hostility, simply because of the size of the force. No, it¡¯s a flat out declaration of distrust. Who would want to play host to a force large enough to take over a kingdom? What if someone took offense and that force decided to lay waste to the kingdom. Lausanne frowned, she decided to back away from her case. ¡°Can we... assist indirectly? Surely if a public assistance program is unjustifiable, then can we provide indirect support?¡± I personally disliked that idea, because it reeks of proxy wars played by world powers. But then again, I am a world power now. What kind of world power do I want to be? In the council was one of the Pirate Lords, he spoke with a swagger befitting his class. ¡°There are certain islands close to the other continents that are not heavily populated. We may use those as launchpads, if our intention is to take a foothold. But we will be noticed.¡± Chancellor Kavio nodded. ¡°Our naval force has not fought a real naval battle so far.¡± The Pirate Lord agreed. ¡°Only pirates. Some of the kingdoms may have high leveled Captains and Admirals.¡± Lausanne shrunk a bit more, it was just a way of saying the idea wasn¡¯t worth it.The meeting soon ended. - ¡°Hytreerion.¡± ¡°Yes master.¡± ¡°Can you swim?¡± ¡°...Yes, after my recent level up I gained some ability to move over large bodies of water, but slowly. My combat abilities are also significantly curtailed in water.¡± I thought about it momentarily, could I create additional Titans? I do have additional Titans that I should deploy for this cause. It was time to relook at what other Titans I can bring. It¡¯s a good way to prepare for the next demon king anyway. There must be new options by this point. The prompts then came up again. It repeated those choices I had a long time ago. [Giant Tree Serpent, Nydus - A massive serpent. Able to use earth and wood magic. Starts at level 70. Gains powers to summon all sorts of serpents and poisons. Master of poisons and has the ability to brew multiple types of potent poisons and cures. Able to grant poison immunity.] [Giant Storm Bird - A massive bird with powers of wind, water and thunder. Gains power to summon eagles and hawks. Eagles and hawks can carry goods and people. Has power to grant [Wind Mage] and [Flight] ability to those worthy. Can control the local weather and improve irrigation. Starts at level 70.] [Fusion with Horns. Starts at level 80. Transforms Horns into a Goliath Kingbeetle that¡¯s able to use earth magic and various other protective and offensive abilities. Goliath Kingbeetle can create Royal Warbeetles. Also produces very high quality beetle-silk. Royal Warbeetles can improve crop output in the area] [Fusion with a Giant attendant tree - Creates a Warmaster Treant. Starts at level 70. High toughness and use of wood magic. Warmaster Treant is able to create lesser treants to assist in combat and other duties. Also produces high quality teas and fruits.] These were the old options I had, well, without the ones with Jura too. Strangely, I didn¡¯t have an option for Edna. Anyway, I reviewed my new options. [Great Levelling Dungeon - Fuse a dungeon with a titan Soul to create a dungeon that gets stronger as it levels. Starts at Level 100. Warning : Possible chance to loss of control of dungeon inhabitants] Uh. That warning sounds like an inevitability. [Crystalform Titan - Level 70 Crystal Titan. High toughness and tremendous magic resistance. Able to produce crystals. Can change ¡®forms¡¯ to perform different type of roles. Able to learn and use a certain range of magics.] [Depth Worm - Starts at Level 70. A creature of the subterranean world. Extremely good at digging and making tunnels. Has very good ¡®earth-sense¡¯ and is able to detect hidden features in the deep ground. Weak to magical attack. Also produces certain types of mineral and metals.] Hmmmm... these two seemed to be tied to my recent activities in crystals and digging underground tunnels. Seemed kind of a boring choice for a ¡®titan¡¯. [Fusion with a Seagiant Tree - Seagiant Treant - Level 70. Similar to Warmaster Treant Titan, but capable of combat in shallow seas and swamps. Has various swamp and sea-type adaptations, and can create seagrass vines and seaweeds. Produces really high quality seaweed for consumption] Ah. This was also not too bad, but nothing really revolutionary. Patreeck is pretty much in a class of his own with his psychic powers. Ah. More to think about. Maybe my next generation of Valthorns will get some kind of special Titan? - ¡°Here, we have our first tri-spell magical lattice.¡± Alka demonstrated the first three-spell amplification magical bomb. The whole thing was the size of a cow, and Alka theorised that it¡¯s explosion should be really strong. It was big, for sure. The magical explosion could level a city, but it¡¯s intensity was somewhat lacking. Kei was the one who asked. ¡°The demon king always blows up right?¡± ¡°...most of the time, yes.¡± ¡°How do they do it?¡± That was a good question. If the demon king always had a self-destruct button, why couldn¡¯t I use the same mechanism to create an equally powerful bomb? No. Taking it a step further, if all demon kings had a self-destruct function, could I somehow trigger that self-destruction function as a means of defeating the demon king? It¡¯s pretty much cheesing the system if I could trigger their self-destruction. I had Patreeck and my artificial minds relook into our data. How did the demons create such a powerful bomb that even heroes, with their incredible superstars and natural defenses, could not escape? ¡°Some heroes were able to protect themselves.¡± Patreeck said. ¡°They were usually the defense-focused heroes.¡± Patreeck had indeed digested as much history as we could gather. Defensive heroes were usually able to survive the bomb. Especially if they had divine-tier supershield abilities. Offensive or more generalist heroes would still die, though. I pondered whether it¡¯s possible to augment generalist heroes with stronger defensive abilities, and so that they could survive it, but then, is it in my interest to keep the heroes alive? If anything, letting defensive heroes live is actually a good thing since these type of heroes generally tend to be passive, as their first instinct isn¡¯t to blow shit up. My artificial minds soon found a few areas worth experimenting on, mainly on the latticework and the runic formations. Patreeck soon theorised that the demon king¡¯s inner structure was more of a natural amplifier, rather than a container. It¡¯s a reverse from our present ways. Our present magical crystal all functioned as a container, with some amplification added through the runic formations etched into said crystals. If the crystal was naturally amplificative, and the runes was then the one playing the container. Using the crystals as a means of creating power, that meant its¡¯ likely multiple types of crystals was layered in order to create a kind of ¡®exponential¡¯ power. Surely that isn¡¯t all, is it? Patreeck¡¯s calculations quickly concluded that depending on the types of material... this may be the answer, or is there something else? If it¡¯s so simple, my vines should have been able to drain away the energy and significantly lessen the damage... Our thoughts turned back to the Demon Core. Could my answer lie there? That damned thing that I have yet to figure out. - The rifts opened. It was in the Northern Islands, roughly. At this distance, the energies of the rift are quite diffused and its hard to know where exactly. There¡¯s also the issue of poor quality maps that generally presented the world as bits and pieces. This is after all a world without satellite position systems and satellite imagery. The maps built via fliers and cartographers are quite good for their local areas, but often have huge errors when dealing with turbulent oceans. ¡°Maybe we shouldn¡¯t aim so high.¡± Kei laughed as Stella exerted herself again. The idea of teleporting themselves to the moon was pretty crazy. ¡°If we can¡¯t even teleport to the moon, how am I supposed to get home?¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s something a lot simpler. Maybe the worlds are folded together like layers of rags stacked on one another, and interdimensional world movement is just us changing floors, rather that moving across the floors.¡± ¡°What, there¡¯s some kind of interdimensional lift?¡± Stella rolled her eyes. ¡°Surely magic isn¡¯t that simple.¡± Kei laughed. ¡°Magic is whatever this world wants it to be. Why should it be that complicated anyway? The gods certainly dumbed it down for the heroes. Did you know heroes can skip so many steps when they use spells? Fucking hell now that I¡¯m not a hero any more I have to do it the normal way and it totally sucks.¡± Stella¡¯s eyes rolled even more. Metaphorically. ¡°I¡¯m serious, Astia. The gods give life-hacks for the heroes to skip steps, and in some cases, we even get straight-up auto-casting functions.¡± Every time I learn about how the heroes have everything rigged, I just feel absolutely unfair. How do I replicate that? A familiar that assists with magic casting? Wait. Waitwaitwait. I could do that, isn¡¯t it? Would it be possible to design a tree familiar with a focus on mental and magical abilities that augment the hosts¡¯ spellcasting, rather than just give them more abilities? It should be possible, right? I have my artificial souls all functioning as my assistants, but could I replicate this on a smaller scale with them? ¡°It requires quite a bit of processing power.¡± Patreeck commented. ¡°A familiar fused with an artificial soul on its¡¯ own can provide some support, but being only one, it¡¯s not enough to match the kind of assistance the heroes get.¡± Effectively, yes, a familiar with an artificial soul can function as a ¡®2nd mind¡¯ for a warrior, but compared to the heroes¡¯ super AI, it¡¯s still too far behind. I thought about it for a while... but then I remembered. ¡°No. The artificial mind doesn¡¯t need to be the one doing all the thinking.¡± Rather than ¡®tag¡¯ the artificial mind and have all the computational load be with the combatant, why can¡¯t it be ¡®hived-off¡¯ to a ¡®cloud¡¯? If the artificial mind and familiar functions as a gateway or a connection, and all the actual assistance and mental computation happens here, with Patreeck and a massive network of stationary, dedicated artificial minds? ¡°That is... possible, but we would need a familiar that can form a kind of... mind-link?¡± I needed to test it out, and already I have candidates. The best people I can test this on are treefolks. They are naturally already able to connect with trees. Could I juice the treefolks with the power of an entire network of trees? Use the power of the remote ¡®forest of minds¡¯ to significantly increase a treefolks¡¯ combat powers? Essentially, the treefolk would have to allow us to control certain parts of their body. The minds stewed on the idea, I could sense them thinking about it in detail. I approached the treefolks on the idea as well. I summoned Lord Kraveik, the de facto lord of the Treefolks, though there are few others like him, and pitched the idea. ¡°We¡¯re looking to create specialised treefolk champions, augmented by powers of the forest.¡± The concept of artificial souls is not everyone knows, and many of them believe those artificial souls are just extensions of me. It¡¯s true, to some extent, so I don¡¯t correct it. ¡°We¡¯re hoping to test whether treefolks can act as our ¡®gateway¡¯ and ¡®avatars¡¯.¡± ¡°I believe they should be receptive, but I¡¯ll need to raise this topic with the warriors.¡± In the meantime, I need to figure out how to change familiars and artificial souls so that they can perform such a function. - > Are the demons near? < Reefy asked one fine day. Its language had improved quite a bit, mostly due to exposure to me. < Maybe. > > Will they hurt us? < < Again, maybe. > > When will they come? < < We don¡¯t know > Reefy expanded in his coral reef area, and at the same time, also embedded his core somewhere deeper into the reef. I could sense his curious magical energies touching my sea-roots, like a small octopus, afraid, but yet couldn¡¯t resist it. He¡¯s also taken control of some fishes. I wasn¡¯t exactly sure how he did it, but perhaps it is a similar mechanism to my control of the beetles. Out of friendliness I didn¡¯t attack any of those fishes that he controlled, so I wasn¡¯t sure whether those fishes are actual living things or some kind of ¡®summon¡¯. As he expanded, I decided to retreat and give him a little bit more space. At the same time, I introduced Reefy to Lilies. Lilies was mostly aloof, and also very curious. The two spirits were really far away from each other, and would likely never interact in normal circumstances. Their communication required me to create some kind of dedicated paths on [rootnet], but not exactly impossible. Sadly, no new skill from that. Strangely, both of them had very little concept of privacy and did not attempt to shield their conversations from me at all. > If they come, will we fight? < I vaguely sensed that Reefy felt comfortable with me, but I still wasn¡¯t sure myself what my relationship with it was. Were we friends? I¡¯m not even sure if it is a friend. At the same time, Reefy was aware of the kind of conflicts we faced on land, the demons and their invaders. Reefy, reciprocated with images of his own battles, smaller in scale, with the monsters that attempted to dominate the reef, some that thought they could even seize its core. Those shared visions were when I realised how different Reefy¡¯s sense of the world is. It viewed the world in movement, in a state of constant fluctuation of inhabitants. The reef was rarely a permanent home for the sea creatures that lived there. They were mostly nomadic. I saw creatures that were strange, and colorful. Reefy viewed the world in a tightly mixed set of color and sound through the little nodes and eyes throughout the reef, and at the same time, sound was a very very big part of his vision. His sight was always blended with an associated sound, they were inseparable when he described things. That was when we started sharing the recorded sounds of the creatures, animals. Whatever we have stored in our [Registree], and it was something that delighted Reefy. At least, I thought it was delighted. I wasn¡¯t sure whether it felt those emotions, despite the presence of intelligence. Reefy expanded mostly around the shelf, and it had a mix of combat powers, such as controlling the reefs to release various types of projectiles, to support powers like accelerating reef growth. I was pretty sure it had some fish-control abilities too. ¡°Our information from Reefy¡¯s direction is limited because we pretty much gave up the area around it.¡± Patreeck shared. Thankfully, it was relatively easy to convince Reefy to share intel, especially when my interest was on boats and ships that happened above its location. It didn¡¯t like boats. It didn¡¯t like people very much either, and was fond of killing those who ventured too near. I quickly declared the reef area a natural reserve, so that none of the fishers ever come close. There were protests from the kingdoms that shared a border with that part of the sea but between a sentient reef, or kingdoms, I soon decided it was better to keep Reefy¡¯s goodwill. I would educate it on the ways of the natives, their fishing habits and why they do so. It responded with anger and hatred, but over time, it soon softened its stance to one of displeasure, and then negotiated ¡®safe¡¯ paths through Reefy¡¯s area of control. Paths where ships could sail, but no fishing or diving. There were those who did it anyway, but a few deaths later, the sailors and merchants learned their lesson. Reefy was very aggressive when faced with swimmers and divers, and would not hesitate to spear a diver to death with sharpened corals. I would try to educate Reefy on a less lethal approach, but I foresee it will take some time. - Labyrinth of Roots Year 164 We kept digging into the depths, and I soon discovered a second limit. There was a limit of how far the chain of roots and trees can go underground. That range, as of now, was about 500 miles. I can go a max of 500 miles deep, or wide, or underground, or whichever, then I need to go back to the surface. That said, this also meant it may be possible to tunnel all the way to the other continents, as long as I make a little surface trip every 500 miles. Perhaps, a super tall tree from deep underwater, or a long vine that breaks through the earth and extends all the way to the surface, kinda like a super long kelp forest? If there are island chains along the way, It¡¯s still possible to make ¡®hops¡¯. Else, it¡¯ll be like a whale surfacing to get a breath. Strange that the trees need such a thing. Perhaps it¡¯s just some magical mambo-jumbo just to deal with such a loophole. Or maybe the system just decided that I shouldn¡¯t be allowed to dig so deep. Hah! In the depths, we soon found more long-forgotten cities. The Margmarian Dwarves were not the first, and those Dragon Bones were not that rare either. There seemed like there was a time when dragons were extremely common, though most of these bones were a lot smaller. Their magic had decayed over the eons. Sad. - I theorised that ancient civilisations would also choose to use ley lines as a form of natural power source, thus following the ley lines underground did lead to a few other interesting locations. We discovered a large tomb-like structure in the depths, filled with long-dead corpses, their bodies fully decayed. In fact, the bones pretty much disintegrated on contact, and they left behind some magical books and items, their magic also fading. This was when I felt torn. I either could call on the wider crowd of mages with the right ¡®preservation¡¯ and ¡®ice¡¯ skills to preserve or freeze these objects, and doing so would reveal these ancient sites to the wider world, or use the Valthorn¡¯s own mages who are more combat focused. There were also strategic issues that would reveal how deep I could dig... in the end, I decided to use Valthorns, but equipped with magical artefacts that slow decay. As we kept digging, and followed the ley lines, eventually we discovered most of them had some old tombs, and ancient smaller cities. Most had some degree of magical protection, and some looked like the muck had flooded the entire city. It was a lot of work, trying to excavate such massive cities, and so much time had passed that the structures that made up the walls, and the muck itself is almost indistinguishable. - ¡°These ancient places are amazing, and they speak of gods that have long been forgotten.¡± A few of the Valthorn analysts came to the subterranean city. Alka, too, as my Chief Researcher. It was one of the inspiration trips. They had to be equipped with a whole set of artifacts just to tolerate the pressure, natural heat and the lack of breathable air. Even among the various races that call the Central Continent home, few are adapted to subterranean living. Treefolks suffered from walking in the depths a lot more than the others, their bodies seemed to despise going underground for long periods. Some groups of lizardpeople were much more fond of the underground, but only up to a certain level. Beyond that the heat is unbearable. Dwarves, true to their heritage as miners and diggers, performed the best, but even they needed artefacts. The lense remained on its pedestal. I took it out temporarily to study it, and since then returned it. I still could not understand how its made. One of the thoughts shared with the Valthorns, was the use of this location as a hideout. True, they were functionally buried alive, but this ancient city is the perfect apocalypse bunker. The fact that it stood despite the eons was sufficient proof of it¡¯s success as a bunker. ¡°This is a rehash of Aeon¡¯s old sewer bunker idea isn¡¯t it?¡± One of the older Valthorns laughed. The history of New Freeka was not totally lost. ¡°Indeed, but this space is significantly larger and uses a power source independent of Aeon.¡± There were kinks to work out, and the druids that made the trip down soon wanted to plant a wide range of fungi that generated light, and also some plants that could survive with the indirect light from fungi. I think the ultimate problem is one of comfort. The idea of living underground is appalling, that only dwarves and certain lizard-people subspecies would consider it for any decently long period of time. Centaurs and treefolks hate it with a passion, and I think maybe that¡¯s why they will be the first to go extinct. Or maybe the gods will just repopulate the world with them based on some kind of cookie cutter racial template. - Also on the line of ley lines and underground, I made a dungeon underground in an area with a few ley lines and somehow, this was my first Level 120 dungeon. It was a simple premise. Ley lines are more powerful underground, partly because the energies are concentrated. Because it¡¯s so far hidden underground, I decided that this was a Valthorn-exclusive dungeon. Not that anyone else could even challenge it. In fact, right now, only Lumoof and Edna have any chance of surviving a battle with the monsters of this dungeon. Thankfully the dungeon wasn¡¯t going to go wild, else I¡¯d be dealing with Level 120 monsters. Their first reaction to seeing a Level 120 dungeon was pretty much, some variant of what-the-fuck. But, this was the best way to level up, so, out of the sheer value of farming a Level 120 dungeon, began the first recreation of the underground pre-dungeon savepoint. A large continent of Valthorns with all types of skills, including support and crafting skills, were chosen to set up this mini city. I even created a few additional artificial minds just to oversee this city¡¯s administration. The thing is, when high level individuals are not spotted for long periods of time, it tends to fuel rumors of death. Thus began the first vanishing of Edna and Lumoof and a lot of other higher level Valthorns. They would camp down there, right outside the dungeons and make battle with the dungeon¡¯s monsters. Eavesdropping on the conversations of foreign intelligence agents were part of my entertainment. ¡°Lady Edna vanished?¡± ¡°No one has seen her for months!¡± ¡°Not just her. A large group of the best warriors have all disappeared!¡± They fought hard, and even the level 80s and 90s levelled quickly when faced with Level 120 monsters. And they have not even fought the boss or the minibosses. ¡°She has not reported in her home position in the Six Ports for months! The Valthorns have assigned new individuals to take over all their places.¡± ¡°But they are not listed as dead.¡± The other temples would want to have a gauge on my combat strength, so they keep tabs on these individuals. I had thought of killing them altogether, but it¡¯s better to lull them into a sense of complacency. I also noticed I learned a lot more about the other temples when they are alive, and they share information with other fellow agents. So, I let them live. It¡¯s only when they tried something unacceptable that they would encounter some unfortunate coincidences and accidents. I imagine the intelligence setup is kinda like a Venus flytrap. Let them venture a little too near and wham! Dead bugs. At the same time, a few of my artificial minds sorted data by their risk levels. I was willing to let foreign intelligence agents get certain information, after all, just like nuclear bombs, letting other countries know I have such nuclear weapons is a deterrent of its own. - ¡°What news do you have?¡± Kei asked Lausanne, on the war in the northern isles. She worried for her two friends, those two bastards that didn¡¯t even come and help her. Lausanne shrugged. ¡°They¡¯re doing alright. The Demon King isn¡¯t here yet, just regular ¡®mobs¡¯.¡± The elven girl had gotten used to Kei¡¯s lingo, and even used some of their terms. Kei nodded. ¡°Ah yes. True. They won¡¯t lose to regular mobs... right?¡± I still don¡¯t understand why she¡¯s worried. Heroes with their absurd stats won¡¯t lose to regular demons. ¡°What kind of demons have they met?¡± ¡°Seems to be some kind of worm. In addition to the regular hounds.¡± ¡°Worm?¡± ¡°Yeah. A worm-demon. Big fat ugly slugs with horns and spikes. Attacks by spitting some acids, or by ramming. Moves incredibly fast for such an ugly thing.¡± Lausanne had drawings that were shared by our agents on the other continents, again, part of the mutual horse trading. Kei looked at the pictures, somehow disgusted. ¡°If I had my powers I¡¯d burn it with fire and blow them up. Truly a spawn of hell.¡± Lausanne smiled. ¡°Indeed, but spears and spikes work quite well against them. Their inner parts seem quite soft. I wonder whether they pop like worms when you pierce them.¡± ¡°Eww. Thanks for planting that image in my head.¡± ¡°Or maybe they¡¯ll just leak demon-juice.¡± ¡°Eww.¡± Lausanne smiled, and the two started their regular spar. Kei was a lot easier to defeat, since she¡¯s just a crystal-golem without overpowered hero powers and stats. She gained a lot of levels then, and she is now about Level 75 as a crystal golem. She formed a team with Astia and Lausanne, to go dungeon diving, thought they mostly dived in the level 60-70 range. Statistically, the minds gathered data that most adventurers hit about level 40-50, and a small minority would reach level 80. It takes about 7 to 10 years to reach Level 80 if one takes on the dungeons regularly, without any experience-boosting powers. With the effect of experience boosts, or the powers of various leaders, it¡¯s possible to reduce this time by more than half. The fastest level gain I have so far is 3 years to Level 80, without any of the experience seeds or my level 60 gift. This, of course, required tremendous dedication. Getting to level 80 in 3 years meant diving a dungeon of the appropriate challenge level every 2 to 3 days, and classing suitably. There are [Kings] that have powers to improve level gain, after all, leaders are famed for their passive ability to improve the strength of those around them, and they can give gifts too. But generally, the passive ability is only as strong as the [Kings] own levels. Anyway, Stella/Astia also received one of my familiars. I had hoped to eventually collect her [void mage] class, so that I could produce more of them. Her powers were surprisingly conventional, if not for the [void] title. In a way, a [void mage] is just a [poison mage] with some extra steps and effects. After all, [void] powers tend to leave a ¡®stain¡¯ that deals damage over time. That¡¯s functionally a poison-type ability. She was frustrated that her attempts to teleport to the moon didn¡¯t have any progress, so the dungeon diving was to gain levels, and build better equipment. Also, void items were very hard to make, because of their violent reactions to all things mana. - Anyway, the Northern Islands actually performed relatively well. The earlier bout of negativity and comparison of the Temples performance versus the Central Continent spurred a need by the temple¡¯s senior leadership to be seen as performing their duties, so the 4 temples actually gathered their forces to help suppress the demonic incursions, and the 2 remaining heroes actually had to get out of their palaces and start slaying demons. A good change, compared to their previously uncoordinated response. They were still slow, of course, they didn¡¯t have the benefit of a single unifying tree with continental overview, so deaths are aplenty, but at least the temples and heroes are seen trying. Our agents told us that the Northern Isles were quite lucky, their forces managed to activate on time, and the people were well armed. They also had groups of adventurers and warriors that could take on those worms. The demons kinda fucked up, too. They chose to invade the cold northern islands, where their worm¡¯s performance is impaired somewhat. Still, I wonder how a worm-like Demon King will be? Is it going to be like some massive Dune-ish Sandworm? A snowworm? Or maybe a hydra? That¡¯d be quite boring. - Year 165 Another year without the demon king. The war in the Northern Isles continued, and more rifts. I knew this because my magical sensors were pretty busy, the presence of the rifts were a constant thing. The heroes and the defenders remain on top of things, though the intensity and quantity of the rifts increased. More worms, and larger worm-variants. The champions and walkers of this episode of the demonic incursions had masses of giant multiple-building-sized worms that exploded into smaller worms when destroyed. It was horrible, and even so the heroes persisted in their battle. Soldiers that never had any emotion for such wriggly, wiggly creatures all emerged from battles hating worms to their core. They kept splitting, into smaller and smaller parts, but thankfully the smallest of these demon worms are still the size of dogs. Worms. I wondered how¡¯d I¡¯d fight them. No. I would just nuke them to death with all my magical bombs. Why use root strikes when a bomb would work? Turned out, these demons were incredibly magic resistant, and physical damage was their general weakness. They survived fires, drowning, and most magical attacks. . The adaptability of these demons was honestly amazing. Where¡¯d they find such anti-magic worms? - ¡°What¡¯s our strategy if the demonic incursion comes to our shores?¡± As with any decently competent military force, there is always a lot of simulation going on in the heads of the generals. ¡°We¡¯d make a massive wall of spears.¡± ¡°That¡¯ll work for smaller demons. What about the building-sized demons?¡± ¡°Bigger spears?¡± The druids apparently had an easier suggestion. Squash them with rocks. I wonder if that''ll work, since worms could tunnel through earth. In fact, would my own root networks hold up if they attack the ground? Those were... good questions. I was reminded by my earlier days when we faced that giant centipede demon, are these demons a similar variant? Yet, back then, the giant centipede demon was actually incredibly resistant to physical damage. Perhaps... shrapnel weapons? Bombs that shoot up tiny spear-like projectiles? Or would my rooting fields be sufficient to deter these demons? - Edna gained a few levels, and she reached level 145. Lumoof too, as a [patreearch] was now about level 138, and the sort of healing powers he possessed was quite impressive. He too, received a [Court of the Deitree], but not one with any inherited skills. Perhaps, should he falls, this position in the Court would absorb his skills. They were... doing well, and fighting the monsters of the Level 120 dungeon was a lot more challenging than anyone gave them credit for. The underground city outside the level 120 dungeon grew to about 1,000 people, all Valthorns. A secret base accessed via my network of root tunnels. Lumoof would often perform sermons in a small underground temple, his blessings were incredibly powerful at his level. I still don¡¯t get how [priests]¡¯s blessings can stack with my own. I mean, logically, if a priest derives power from a god, a god¡¯s blessings should automatically be superior to that of the priest. But the fact that they stack implies it is a system mechanic. Anyway, we¡¯ll abuse it since it works that way. After a while, they recommended a few individuals for the ¡®uplifting¡¯, to unlock their level limit. 5 more individuals, a mix of rangers, druids and knights. The surface world remains oblivious to the existence of the dungeon, and rumors of the deaths of my senior leadership continued to swirl. Good point was, it seemed that my trust in my nobility to keep the secret was not entirely unfounded. Most of them kept their mouth shut about my dungeon-creation ability, and the fact that I had a super dungeon hidden underground was also a confidential matter known only to the senior Valthorns. But there are suspicions. There are classes out there, such as [earth mages] and other similar types that are particularly sensitive to underground tunnels, and there were suspicions. Many kingdoms have some individuals that had earth-detection skills, simply because my few-decade old tunnel raid on the Six Ports was still a strategy discussed even till today. Heck, even the temples had to design plans on the possibility of surprise raids, and that meant they could never fully commit an army to an invasion. Any force needs to be split to protect their rear, or they leave themselves open for a repeat of the tunnel disaster. Maybe that¡¯s why they didn¡¯t think another crusade was worthwhile? At least, not without the heroes. Edna, as she approached the first tier of divinity, Level 150, had many questions about what would happen, and honestly, I wasn¡¯t sure either. Was her experience going to be similar? Surely, as a humanoid with classes, there should be some subtle differences? One Root At A Time Year 166 The war in the north is in full swing, as the [Demon King Durthal] descended. The real war had just begun in the frozen north, and Kei was worried. ¡°Tell me they¡¯re alright.¡± She would say. I would often respond. ¡°They don¡¯t deserve your concern.¡± ¡°They¡¯re assholes and they left me to die instead of coming immediately as they should.¡± Kei said. ¡°But they are still my asshole friends. Don¡¯t you have friends like that? Shit ass, good-for-nothing friends?¡± ¡°I¡¯m quite surprised by this change of behavior compared to your earlier days.¡± Kei frowned. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m still not very happy with them and I¡¯m still not on good terms. I mean, I didn¡¯t even tell them I¡¯m still alive. But I don¡¯t wish them ill. I don¡¯t really want them to die either.¡± ¡°Relationships are confusing.¡± I sighed. ¡°It is. I suppose a tree won¡¯t get that.¡± That hurt a lot more than it should. ¡°So... how are they?¡± Kei repeated. ¡°They are doing alright.¡± ¡°Details. Come on.¡± Kei insisted. ¡°I want to know whether they¡¯re fucked or not.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have one of the advisors meet you. Seriously why are you invested? Are you going to help them?¡± ¡°Me? With my level 70 form? I¡¯m just trash before that demon king.¡± Kei frowned. ¡°No... I guess I just want to feel I¡¯m part of the conflict.¡± Ah. Things people do to feel like they are still part of something, the same way a football fan speaks of their favourite team like ¡®us¡¯ and ¡®we¡¯. Like they are a part of something bigger. ¡°But I thought... you know.. You think this whole conflict is a trap?¡± She sighed. ¡°It¡¯s hard to explain, you know, I want to step away from this game, the only way to win is not to play, but my friends are caught. They are still [heroes], and the [hero] class is cursed. The demons will chase them, hunt them, and they will be compelled to fight them. Do I choose to do nothing? In fact, that¡¯s exactly what I¡¯ve done. Nothing. So, I feel like shit, kinda. I¡¯m trying to help Astia, maybe her Void Mana is one way out of this whole circus, but at the same time, I¡¯m not sure whether my friends should learn of Astia¡¯s existence. What would they do if they found out there¡¯s someone who has void mana and could possibly open a portal to the other side? Would the god¡¯s meddling force them to murder Astia?¡± Oh. ¡°So yes, I want to know so that I can play cheerleader and deceive myself. If I could, I¡¯d like to help you defeat the next demon king too. Wait. Dammit. Not defeat. We need to find a way to put a pause on this entire thing. One where the system doesn¡¯t automatically push another demon king through the rift after a set timer.¡± Did I tell her? I think I didn¡¯t. Kei stood there for quite a while, she is after all a golem, so she can stand for long periods with little issue. ¡°I know that was an unnecessary ramble, but I think I¡¯d have to get at least level 150, right? At least, that¡¯s what i heard Edna was saying that Level 150 is when the mortal ascends a step to the divine.¡± ¡°...yes.¡± ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s get more of those monsters.¡± I¡¯m not sure I should trust her with the full plan. But I suppose a little more couldn¡¯t hurt. As of now, she¡¯s just about level 70ish and she spent her time challenging the level 80-90 dungeons. That level 120 dungeon underground remained a secret known only to a select few. Even Lausanne doesn¡¯t know about it, well, because she decided not to move past where she is now, because of some fear of the unknown. - Arlisa finally stopped her stint in the Freshland Treetiary College, and not-unlike her mother, she joined a group of adventurers, visiting dungeons throughout the Continent. I suppose I¡¯m like one of her uncles, watching her bungle her way through life despite all of her privileges, and now extremely relieved that she decided to do something useful and productive for herself. Also, the whole adventurer thing allowed her to get away from her mom, since they have a rather tense relationship. Lausanne seemed to try to push her to do more, and well, take advantage of her gifts, but Arlisa was just rather content taking things at her own pace. It was just regular tension within the family, but it eventually worsened when Lausanne started talking about the other Valthorns she coached. These other Valthorns were younger and more hungry, and the comparisons, even if Lausanne didn¡¯t meant it, really irked Arlisa. So, she kinda decided to just finish the whole FTC thing and joined some adventurers, taking on lower level dungeons, at first the level 20-30 dungeons. ¡°Yes?¡± My response was slow, as with all busy uncles, but she¡¯s used to it. ¡°Oh. Hi Aeon.¡± She responded and found a quiet place to sit down. I suppose having a mental or psychic conversation required a set of norms not unlike cell phone calls. ¡°I... wanted to ask for a favor.¡± She was far outside of Freshka then, away from the range of Patreeck¡¯s mind reading. ¡°A favor?¡± ¡°I know I¡¯m not a member of the Valthorns... but could I get access to some of the restricted dungeon slots?¡± I thought for a moment. ¡°Sorry Arlisa, but the answer is no. The rules are set, and they are not to be twisted so easily.¡± I felt kind of disappointed at that moment, that she resorted to using her privilege in this manner. I would also step on the authority which I delegated to the Council. If I delegated the powers, they should be followed by all. I hated the nobility back then, and I have a dislike for them now. It just kinda sucks that Lausanne¡¯s daughter is the one that chose to do it. - Lausanne¡¯s other child was a young little boy named Lauda. Just like Arlisa, he too, had the inherited blessings, the exact same one. He developed well, but I wondered whether I should dote on him or not. Simply because of Arlisa. Arlisa still struggled with privilege, and effort. She¡¯s gifted, and yet chose not to make the most of it. How much of that was because of me? Was I the source of her ¡®stress¡¯? I wasn¡¯t sure. Even though I could read minds, that didn¡¯t mean I knew what caused their personalities to develop in a certain way, and whether that development, how much was due to my presence. How a personality is formed and shaped over the decades is still a mystery, even if one can have many good educated guesses. It is not like personalities are ¡®skill blocks¡¯ that I can create by repeating certain actions. People respond to stimuli differently, and so the best I can do is just keep trying. - The war escalates with Demon King Durthal, and the wedge between those who believe we should provide assistance, and those who believe those other continents deserved it grows. It¡¯s a relatively small minority, of course, but they are loud. The discussions turned somewhat... chaotic. ¡°There are people there we should save. Talented people we can rescue.¡± One of the many lords suggested. ¡°I¡¯ve attempted to bribe them to come over, but I believe our ability to ensure their physical safety will win them over. ¡°Are you trying to insinuate a kidnapping?¡± ¡°Well yes, but they¡¯ll come willingly when their towns are getting flattened by demons.¡± It¡¯s a huge mess, the representatives and the bureaucrats wanted to plan how to take advantage of the chaos in the North. Already some Lords sent their own people, not Valthorns, their own militia to ¡®assist¡¯ in the war effort. In their case, it¡¯s really a luxury of security, that they can afford to meddle in other nations¡¯ affairs. We watched them attempt to ¡®assist¡¯ the other nations, and then the demons killed their agents. The heroes put up a hell of a resistance. But, they could not be everywhere at the same time, and so, cities after cities fell. The unpredictable rifts also had a tendency of popping up everywhere, so its hard to really protect the ¡®front-line¡¯ when there isn¡¯t one. They didn¡¯t have that many high level individuals they could deploy, nor did they have the benefit of my almost continent-wide demonic suppression aura. The rifts also spread throughout the world, and so... we had a rift open on our continent. Rift appearances are targeted, but occasionally they spawn in other places too. But a single one opened on our shores. Just a single one. But I¡¯ve been waiting for a long time for it to happen, and deployed my beetles to flood the area. The rift opened in the northernmost point of the Central Continent, close to a port city. My forces quickly defeated the first wave of worms, the beetles¡¯ sharp horns, tusks and similarly heavy and spiky carapaces made them natural counters to the spiky flesh worms. My trees sprung out of the earth around the rifts, and quickly, my vines attempted to make contact with the rift. This will not be the time for the [Forest Rod]. Not yet. I only have one shot, one opportunity, to make a stand in the other world, in one moment. But not yet. I¡¯ll let this one slip. What I wanted to test out were my bombs, and my new generation of beetles, coated with a layer of mana-crystals. Essentially, a rift-jumpsuit for beetles, because I wanted to test out whether I could modulate the mana in these crystals, to allow my beetles to cross the rift. Eventually, I¡¯d like to scale it up to a Titan, especially a Titan that can generate a microclimate, and an ¡®aura¡¯ titan to bring my anti-demon aura to their world. It worked, partially. The body part that had crystals managed to go through, but the rest of it didn¡¯t. The beetle splattered as the two parts got torn apart by the rift. Ooof. Sorry beetle, that¡¯s a horrible, horrible way to die. It¡¯s kinda like being stuck in a moving lift door. Sample one didn¡¯t work. Then, I got another beetle, this time the crystals were a lot more fine, and spread throughout its entire body. It.... worked! Oh my, it worked. I felt the beetle get crushed by something on the other side, and the rift quickly closed on us. ... Fuck. But hey, now I just need tiny-crystals in every part of the body! At least one tiny problem solved. The bigger problem remains. ¡°If we can¡¯t keep the portal open, we can¡¯t hold any realistic position on the other side.¡± My minds were, of course, quick to remind me of the obstacles. I¡¯ll have to wait when Stella dies, then I can steal her [void mage]. Most other mages were not keen on learning void - I also attempted to learn void magic for myself. If I could gain some star mana by the way of leaves, surely, there is a way for me to gain void mana too. It was a strange sensation, as I tried to repeat the steps Stella took to gain her [void mage] class. I tried it repeatedly for months, and all I got was silly notification. [Skill obtained : Void tolerance] But still no void mana. I suppose I have to work through a few prerequisite skills before I get the void mana? Or perhaps I¡¯ll have it as an option at level 200? - After that first Level 120 dungeon, I attempted to create an even stronger, more powerful dungeon, with all that I know so far. Of course, doing so meant some of the smaller ley lines had to be ¡®channeled¡¯ away, guided by little carvings and weird signatures. It worked, because after I gathered and focused the energies of like 30 ley lines, I managed to create a Level 130 dungeon. I even got a skill out of it. [Skill obtained : Ley Line Guidance] The high leveled Valthorns that were busy attempting the Level 120 dungeon then moved on to new dungeons and Edna fought the dungeons repeatedly with a group of unlocked Valthorns. I had given about 3-4 ginsengs, and given that these damned ginseng takes at least 5 years to reach their suitable state, in the current mana rich conditions, that¡¯s still a bit of a drawback. It felt like I was burning through more high ginseng than I expected. The Level 120 and Level 130 dungeons quickly proved their brutality, when one of the high leveled Valthorns was killed, pretty much mangled by dungeons, despite their best preparations. If it gets out of hand I would need to move them down to the Level 90-100 range dungeons before they come back. But Edna did well, this was her level, and together with Lumoof, Edna could take on wave after wave of the dungeon monsters, her stamina seemed to grow exponentially with each level closer to Level 150. Then, it happened. Level 150. I felt it very clearly, the distortion in the air, subtle, but present. My link to her, via the Court of the Deitree flooded with a new kind of energy I have never sensed before. Something unique to her. ¡°I¡¯ve done it, Aeon. Level 150. All my classes have merged, and I have a choice.¡± ¡°A choice?¡± ¡°Yes. Domain of [Shield] or Domain of [Knight].¡± Huh. That¡¯s a strangely generic name for a domain. The air seemed to rattle around her, quite like when the heroes activated their star mana forms. I paused. ¡°I leave the choice to you.¡± If I am right, my ability to control them will diminish once they achieve domain powers, just as the god¡¯s ability to meddle with me diminished when I obtained my own domain. Edna paused, and chose [Knight]. The energy around her was pretty hero-ish, and it felt at that very moment, her combat ability pretty much increased a few fold. She attempted to take on the level 130 dungeon again, and found the monsters suddenly easier to destroy. A breakthrough, the Level 150 was a force multiplier. ¡°Aeon, you had this power for some time?¡± ¡°Yes, but mine is that of another concept or form. Knowledge of the domains are extremely scarce, and even I cannot guide you much from here.¡± Edna nodded. ¡°It makes sense if it is so. I suddenly understand and appreciate the gap between myself and the heroes now.¡± ¡°I believe you are still a distance away from them, though. Is there a skill for you at Level 150?¡± ¡°Yes. Two. [Duty Beyond Life and Death] and [Knights of Light].¡± ¡°...what is that?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t die for a day and my body can¡¯t be severed or cut, usable five times a year. First ¡®death-hit¡¯ also fully restores my health and status to original state. Subsequent near death I¡¯m only weakened until I am healed. It¡¯s pretty much functional combat immortality. The other skill is that the knights around me get some super buffs.¡± ¡°That would make you immune to the explosions.¡± I mean, if she can¡¯t die for a day, that meant she could tank the demon king¡¯s deathbomb. Was this an ability out of a MOBA? ¡°That meant I could dive into the deepest dungeons without fear.¡± ¡°But you could get trapped for more than a day, and then you will die.¡± Edna thought for a moment. ¡°That is true. I can still lose my limbs and be disabled in other ways, it is just that for a day, any heal spell can restore me to my original state. It¡¯s a great skill, but not foolproof.¡± I mean, I could just bury her underground for more than a day and she¡¯s still dead. But with her current strength she could punch and kick her way out of any dirt. Or I could teleport her out via the Court¡¯s powers. Lumoof smiled, ¡°It seemed you have reached a level that even I feel a need to bow.¡± Edna paused as she considered the question. ¡°What happens when a priest reaches level 150?¡± ¡°...I don¡¯t know.¡± That¡¯s a good question. Does a priest, whose power is to channel their patron god¡¯s energy, become a god in his own right? Or does he still extend and rely on his patron god? Lumoof had a very santa-like laugh, ¡°Ho ho, I believe we will know when we get there.¡± Well, for Lumoof, that¡¯s another 10+ levels away. Not that far now that there¡¯s a Level 130 dungeon to grind. ¡°The next trigger will be at Level 160, right?¡± ¡°Yes, you will have a new domain ability at every 10 level.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Edna paused. This was probably a lot to take in, even though I did share the details. - < One of yours reached the level of the domains? > Lilies was particularly sensitive to the domain¡¯s presence. I wonder how did Lilies feel it? Is it like a notification, or just an itch? > Yes, one of my knights. At this point, not one of mine anymore. < Truly, when one reaches the domain, few can control them. Domain is a lesser deity, and in Edna¡¯s case, she is free to go anywhere she wants. < It seems you have faith. > > If I don¡¯t, what¡¯s the point? < - ¡°At this point, it¡¯s worth asking again, are you still on board with my plans?¡± I spoke to Edna a few weeks after she got used to her powers. Edna nodded, her words were firm. ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve seen the hell the demons bring, and more importantly, I¡¯ve seen that we can make a difference. Now that I have this power, I believe I have a duty to live up to it. I believe in this cause, Aeon.¡± Internally I felt a sense of relief. Edna could easily set up her own kingdom and rule over her own land, at this point she is a one-woman army. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I told Lumoof of the plans too. Now that he was close to that level, it was time he knew what my true plans were. He beamed, ¡°Truly a plot befitting a god. Only a god can dream of ending this cog that has plagued our world for ages.¡± No. Actually, I should ask them once they hit Level 100, whether they want to still go on with the plan. Many of them would brave hell and high water, and I¡¯d like to think that if they got this far, they certainly would follow through. ¡°Whatever it is, as a priest, my duty is to serve our god, we are the hands of our god¡¯s will, and I will see through it.¡± Lumoof explained, and I wonder whether it¡¯s just typical ¡®priest speak¡¯. Yet my gut feel somehow thinks he was genuine. I checked on the other Valthorns, those above Level 100. Perhaps, perhaps I should open up this matter a lot earlier. No. I should have spoken of my plans before I even offered them the soul strengthening seed. But does that make it seem like I am making it a condition? I decided, perhaps it is fair to have a little bit of trust, for those who have served for so long. I would grant the seed, even for those who would not walk with me against the demon king, so long as they served faithfully up to this point. Most of the Valthorns were shocked, and yet, almost all of them were accepting. There was a sense that they knew something larger was at play, and now finally they got the answer. Perhaps Patreeck and the minds¡¯ constant, meticulous screening contributed to this. But all of them got here, and earned the [Aeonic-variant] classes by some degree of loyalty to me. For the Valthorns, the constant push for even higher levels now suddenly made sense. Why even though they were already so high leveled, I still insisted to push them further. In most nations, the King tries to keep a gap to prevent a rebellion, and yet I still pushed them higher. Some of them thought it insane, that eventually some of them would turn against me. It would happen. But so be it. The march against the gods and demons cannot happen with me alone. Of Pest and Plagues Year 167 The wars in the North turned really ugly, as the demons brought out the merged worm-champions. Worms fused of multiple-champion level demons, these were absolutely massive monsters and they levelled cities quickly. Again, the two heroes couldn¡¯t be everywhere at once, and although one single hero was enough to defeat these merged worm champions, there were still a few of them, and these worms were smart enough to escape once the heroes were on their tails. Ugly. ¡°They need help.¡± Kei said. ¡°I¡¯d imagine Lausanne could do quite a bit of damage to these worms.¡± Lausanne shook her head. ¡°If they are merged champions, probably not. I fought a champion by myself before, all I did was just drag it on. I still needed help to win.¡± ¡°Maybe, I think Aeon¡¯s powers are stronger, and your linked powers are therefore stronger.¡± ¡°True, but it¡¯s still a big, big gap.¡± Lausanne shrugged. ¡°And that¡¯s not what I want.¡± They have not met Edna for years now, but that was normal. Kei, Lausanne and Astia have been busy hunting dungeons during their short breaks, but Lausanne had to frequently take time off, to spend time with Lauda. Lauda, the second child grew up extremely attached to Lausanne, increasingly so these few years, I wonder whether it¡¯s because of her long absence during her dungeon expeditions. Kei nodded. She was level 80 now, and she gained the ability to shapeshift her golem form even more, and also some coloration changes. Fighting the dungeons at the right power levels meant she was earning enough experience. I was honestly quite amazed that she got so high leveled so quickly, but it seemed she hacked. She had a skill called [Precious Memories of Stone], which strangely, gave herself a boost to experience gained. Stella was a level 53 [Void Mage], and honestly it a huge mixed bag. From what I can see, void mages have very few special spells. The difference she brought was that the usual spells she casted were just ¡®twisted¡¯ by the void mana such that they have a slightly more ¡®powerful¡¯ impact. The issues are also two-fold. There is no grimoire or manual where Stella can refer to and see what kind of spells used void mana. So, her best bet was to use existing spells and modify it as she practiced. Next, void mana was also unstable and she frequently got cursed from it, so its not easy to experiment with void mana either. Perhaps we just needed to find a [void mana] manual. Or perhaps ask Vallasira to teach her, since it had void mana. Wait. Why didn¡¯t I think of that before? - > I would like to speak to Vallasira again. < I asked Lilies one day to help communicate the message. < He would likely only return once the demon king is dead. As it is, he¡¯s likely to be in another world. > > I see. < Damned hiding zaratans. I wonder how Lilies even found them. - It was one fine evening, when everything seemed to be doing alright, that I got the string of messages. [Hans has died. You received a fragment.] [Demon King Durthal has been slain.] Then, my magical sensors went nuts again. An explosion? Is it going to be some kind of superbomb event? Turns out... no. We got the answer a few days later, as our informants quickly spoke of black swarms that blot out the sky, creatures that devoured crops and plants without any fear. Demon KIng Durthal was a bomb, alright. It¡¯s body was a massive swarm of pests that it waited to unleash on the world. ¡°That¡¯s just cruel.¡± Kei said, after she had a moment of grief. ¡°You¡¯re telling me there¡¯s a magical swarm of locusts when it dies?¡± ¡°Yes. It blew up and seeded it¡¯s immediate surroundings with these... spawning things that pumped out locusts.¡± Our mages attempted to use their magic to get information, the area was no longer interrupted by the demon king¡¯s presence. The terrain was a huge mix of large daemolite crystal structures, and these massive hatcheries. Kei frowned. ¡°Y¡¯know, I want to be a magma or fire golem for my next evolution so that I can burn these structures with fire. I hate bugs.¡± ¡°You¡¯re immune to bugs.¡± Lausanne laughed. ¡°You¡¯re a crystal.¡± ¡°My trauma as a human carried over. I still hate bugs.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let my beetles hear that.¡± I said. ¡°Your beetles are cool.¡± Kei quickly shook her arms. ¡°I mean, they are totally awesome. But I hate those tiny types. LIke spiders.¡± A group of my web spiders appeared next to her and she yelped. ¡°You do realise I have spiders as servants too?¡± ¡°Ah. Yes.¡± ¡°Point is, right now, in the Northern Isles, there¡¯s a locust and pest generator that¡¯s spreading these bugs all over the world, and we¡¯ll be seeing food shortages if that place isn¡¯t shut down.¡± ¡°But Alvin is still alive, right?¡± ¡°News is unclear. It seems that he may be heavily, heavily injured and the temples are keeping all news about the hero¡¯s condition in extreme secrecy.¡± ¡°I must go there.¡± Kei said. ¡°And do what?¡± I countered. ¡°You¡¯re not a human form.¡± ¡°I still must go.¡± Kei decided, ignoring all of my warnings. ¡°He¡¯s my friend, as much as I hate him.¡± ¡°In your current form, you¡¯ll get attacked and robbed, cut up and sold as gems.¡± ¡°I¡¯m level 80. How many can hope to defeat me or even hurt me?¡± Kei was confident in her strength. ¡°Except a hero, few can even touch me.¡± ¡°You¡¯d be surprised at how many level 80s are hidden in the world. Many just choose to play it safe and not let their talents be known.¡± I explained. It¡¯s common for many elites to understate their value, lest they be sent by their lords to do dangerous things, or suspicions of treachery. In fact, Patreeck reckoned there¡¯s an average of 5-10 level understatement by adventurers out there, simply because most adventurers wanted to avoid the eye of the government. As they say, this was all about holding their cards close to their hearts. The issue with the cap also distorts one¡¯s strength. Someone with multiple non-complementary classes may be a lot weaker than someone at a lower overall level but with a single focused class. Just like how Jura had villager classes back then. ¡°So you¡¯re saying there are level 80 bandit lords and stuff?¡± ¡°Well, maybe not.¡± The highest of the lords in my kingdom is almost Level 70, and there¡¯s been a lot of ¡®higher¡¯ level inflation simply because most of these lords now survived longer. Even Kings reached their higher level 60s, but the Kings were not really levelling as much, I suspect, maybe a ruler must be truly independent to gain levels? Or is it because the role of ¡®ruling¡¯ has been separated and segregated to the FFA¡¯s council of representatives, and also some areas of sovereignty were traded away. ¡°I must go.¡± ¡°Then you must at least learn some spells to disguise your appearance.¡± ¡°I already have.¡± Kei said, and in a flicker, the magical energies coated her crystal skin and she looked absolutely human. - Year 168 The locusts crossed the damned ocean. The Valthorns mobilised. Fighting locusts was a hard tasks. The cities closest to the North suffered greatly as the locusts attacked crops and even forests. The forests had their natural defenders and predators, and those attempted to fight off the locusts. Their territory had to be protected. But the farmlands were brutally eaten, and somehow these locusts were able to breed even this far from their homeland. The fields were ravaged, a month¡¯s harvest wiped out. The larger locusts attacked trees too, and I felt them, nibbling. It felt like I had ants crawling all over me. They deal no damage, but goddamn they are fucking irritating. I deployed my beetles by the tens of thousands to chomp on them., but still there were millions. I needed some other kind of solution. Edna¡¯s ascension to the domain didn¡¯t help much against these tiny swarms of bugs. Individually or in swarms they can be eradicated, but miss a few and they will quickly multiply. In areas where my aura is strong, these magical demon locusts are nothing more than regular bugs, their strength individually is flat out pathetic, and I could kill them by the hundreds of thousands using the chomping defensive plants. It¡¯s really just a freaking pest. I soon deployed my bug-eater plants around all the major agricultural locations. It¡¯s an ugly sight, but a necessity. These magical locusts are not bothered by the weather, and must be slaughtered. Fields where the locusts ¡®captured¡¯ and ¡®infested¡¯ become mini-hatcheries that pumped out even more of these locusts, though in lesser numbers than the main hatchery. Annoying. Ugh. I forgot how much I hated dealing with an insect infestation. Bugs. Damned bugs. ¡°We¡¯re not bugs, right?¡± Horns asked. ¡°Technically you are. But I like you.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m referring to these... pests.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll crush them.¡± Horns happily declared, and the beetles outfitted themselves for anti-locust battle. That meant more pincers, smaller sharp thorns and spikes, and some kind of anti-locust gas spray. Bug spray. - The northern shores turned into a place of horrible carnage as we slay the locusts by the millions. I¡¯ve lost count, and my artificial minds lost count. We¡¯ve resorted to using magical estimates, and using long range magical explosions, our newest magical weapons, to intercept locust swarms crossing the oceans. It¡¯s kinda like shooting a bomb at a typhoon. Or nuking a hurricane while it¡¯s over the ocean. Wait. That¡¯s not the right kind of description. Bombs work, but it¡¯s not really the best countermeasure against these things. But what else could we do? Our druids and mages attempted some hurricane or wind spells to destroy the locust swarms, and they do work. But the thing with swarms, is that inevitably some of them survive. ¡°Master, unless we can destroy the main hatcheries and spawning points.¡± Which are across the ocean. ¡°We¡¯ll be dealing with these pests for a long time.¡± Ugh. I can¡¯t be the only one dealing with this shit. ¡°How are the other continents coping?¡± I asked my council. ¡°Strangely, not that bad. There doesn¡¯t seem to be a lot of locusts headed their way, and the Northern Isles is simply closer to us than any other continent.¡± My advisors said. ¡°A few of the local lords have started activating magical wards and formations to create ¡®pest-barriers¡¯. They work, but these swarms have very high flight-limit and seem to be able to fly past the barriers.¡± ¡°Really?¡± It¡¯s more of a case that we were the first to see it, as the other continents soon saw the swarms descend on their farmlands. The Eastern Continent suffered heavily, their magical defenses were lacking after the prior wars, and the locusts soon devoured their agricultural produce. ¡°Do the locusts die off without food after a while?¡± This was something I actually wondered. The answer was... yes and no. My spiders captured thousands of locusts for experimentation within my biolab. One of the few countermeasures I contemplated was... natural defenses. In nature, as I could recall from some documentaries, it¡¯s common for other insects to ¡®check¡¯ the growth of other insects. If these locusts are pests, I could possibly design insects that specifically counter their massive swarms. As it is, my beetles and spiders, stationary bug-eater plants are doing a decent job in killing these demons, but I needed more. Something more powerful that could chase them wherever they went. Interceptor bugs. We also considered other natural defenses. There were plants that emitted certain gases that were poisonous to their pests. Some plants emitted saps that caused these locusts to stick, or certain changes to the shape or content of their food that reacted to certain parts of their body, which then caused these locusts to die. Everything was on the table, because they were freaking annoying. I felt like an angry househusband attempting to destroy all the pests in his home. So, we conducted experiments on the locusts that we captured, and discovered that they are magically powered, and have a little tiny bit of demonic flesh in them that absorbed magic and mana from the surroundings for sustenance. But, once they started eating, they switched to another demonic flesh that digested food. They also had an inbuilt ¡®death trigger¡¯, and that was after 5 reproductions, where after food, they made tiny demonic locust eggs in small blobs. Very strangely well built and engineered, for a tiny creature. Then, we did one of my favourite anti-demon abilities. Flooding their bodies with my overwhelming mana. They popped like balloons. Then I tested with less. And less. Until I reached a point where my mana was just enough to overwhelm them, but not overload the parts till it burst. [Demonic Locust captured. Converting...] The locusts changed shape into... giant grasshoppers? That was one of the biggest letdowns ever. Massive, harmless giant grasshoppers. - These locusts were mindless, and we also discovered that they can be ¡®lured¡¯, using specific scents. Smell of fresh, growing plants seemed to attract them. Maybe that¡¯s why they attacked the central continent in such large numbers. The level of forestation and agriculture on the central continent far exceeded the others, and we generally have a food surplus, so for these mindless locusts, they were just drawn across the continent to that scent, most likely swept across the oceans through the high winds. So, by amplifying these scents, we soon discovered we were able to pretty much lure the locusts to a specific location, and then, with some good ol¡¯ magical bombs and magical formations from Alka, either burn them to death with magical flames, or blow them up. Later we tried to develop specialised anti-demon gas spray that were effective only against demons. Tried. Our own demon-locusticide. Yeah. It¡¯s a mouthful. If I had a mouth. But it¡¯s surprisingly harder than we thought. I honestly never had an appreciation of how hard it is to develop a powerful chemical agent that worked specifically on something, because most materials are shared across many different life forms. - As the war against the demonic locusts raged on, we also analysed the metals from the Margmarian City. These were strange metals to me, but once we put them in the material labs, it¡¯s soon clear they were just a blend of metals that were forged into an alloy. Mostly common materials, so now I have the ratio of what went into that alloy. Yet, the method of production still eluded us, though we have some good, educated guesses. Since metallurgy was clearly something I am unfamiliar with, this was a matter left for my high-level blacksmiths and steelmasters to research, and whether there is any use for these alloys in our weaponry. - Our agents speak of attempts by the adventurers in the north to attack the locust¡¯s main hatcheries, but they were thwarted by massive worms. It seemed that there were still champions that remained. This went on for about two-to-three months, before it seemed a few of the kingdoms, and the temples themselves unleashed their big guns. Their hero items. They used these weapons to mount a series of assaults on the hatcheries and made significant gains, and the locust swarms quickly dwindled. But it was a short period of calm, as the hatcheries soon reproduced. They were not able to clamp down on the hatcheries in totality, and something about the residual energies there caused the hatcheries to respawn. - ¡°I want to speak to Aeon.¡± Kei messaged via a magical communication device, one of the legacy artifacts of the Harrisan era. She was apparently already in the Northern Isles, somehow. ¡°Why?¡± Lausanne picked up the artifact. ¡°I can¡¯t just walk up to Aeon and talk to him just because you said so.¡± Well, that¡¯s not true. ¡°Alvin is poisoned by some kind of super-worm poison during the fight with the demon king, but the poison doesn¡¯t seem to kill him. Instead, it just somehow interfered with the functioning of his classes.¡± Wait. The demons can do that? How? Seriously, how? I had attempted to tamper with the hero skills in the soul springs too. ¡°He looks relatively okay, but extremely pale, as if something¡¯s just massively weakening him. He can¡¯t even use the most basic of abilities.¡± Did the demons just discover something I wanted to know for a long time? The secret to ¡®disabling¡¯ heroes without killing them? I quickly informed Lausanne and she spoke on my behalf. ¡°Aeon asked whether you can transport Alvin to the Central Continent for further studies.¡± Well, curing him is beside the point. I want to know how the demons did it, so that I can do the same. If I can replicate this, then I have nothing to fear from heroes! ¡°I will try. The temples are keeping this under tight wraps. I had to sneak in to find Alvin.¡± ¡°Aeon said if you need help, he will quickly arrange an extraction team.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Kei seemed to ask. Did I play my cards too openly? That she suspected that I have an ulterior motive? ¡°Yeah.¡± Dancing in Our Palms Year 168 Operation Smuggle-the-Hero out of the Northern Isles was in full swing, as a fleet of ships sailed across the ocean. ¡°Does the hero even want to be saved?¡± Edna asked the obvious question. ¡°I¡¯m not planning to escort a tantrum-throwing hero across the ocean.¡± For a task that involved a hero, I felt only Edna was up to the task. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m pretty sure he wants to be saved and healed, even if he prefers it not to be through Aeon¡¯s powers.¡± Kei responded on the magical communication device. ¡°As it is, he can¡¯t bonk his harem.¡± ¡°Does he know that it¡¯s... you? Did he see you as... you? Did you ask him?¡± Kei didn¡¯t answer, and Edna rolled her eyes. ¡°Seriously. Aeon, you there? You agreed to this?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I responded through a magical speaking item, one of the priests acted as my spokesperson. My eyes looked through that same device. Edna shrugged. ¡°Kei, you owe me one.¡± ¡°Yes, boss.¡± Kei bowed, ¡°I¡¯ll meet you guys once the force lands. I¡¯ve already bought off some of the scouts and folks in that area, but I¡¯ll doublecheck.¡± The fleet would mostly remain along a string of uninhabited islands, cloaked by magical spells and fog. A smaller group of ships will make landfall and a few hundred men will disembark. From there, they will travel to the city where Alvin is kept under watch by the temples. This was a secret that very few were supposed to know, but it seemed that there are a lot of loose lips around. Edna called on the senior team leads for a recap. Essentially, the mission is to ¡®steal¡¯ the hero, without the temples knowing we did it. The potential for a political and worldwide drama, should it be seen that the Central Continent ¡®kidnapped¡¯ a hero, well, a part of me thought it¡¯ll be a big middle finger to the 4 temples, and yet, I wasn¡¯t sure how the kingdoms and the temples would react. In any case, best if the force remained unknown. That meant all of them were in disguises and had magical artefacts that altered their presence and magical signatures. Also, no unique abilities, so they had to all use common skills and abilities, and all their equipment were basic. Even the ships we used for the operations were all repurposed ships captured from pirates or Northern-isle sanctioned privateers. One of the accompanying Valthorns was a level 125 ranger called Roon. He too, received multiple experience seeds and the soul strengthening seed, and was in the 3rd batch of ¡®ascended¡¯ potential warriors. ¡°Well, a cakewalk isn¡¯t it.¡± ¡°In a way.¡± Edna said. ¡°There¡¯s 6 of us here that¡¯s above level 100, and another 10 at Level 80s. I do not expect any of us to die from this. The temples themselves have only a few people in the high 60s and 70s, and those old farts are probably hidden away. Our main risk, really, are the hero-items.¡± Roon brought out a greater teleportation device, again, a relic of the Harris era. One of the items they used to teleport back to me. The idea is, once they get hold of Alvin, they¡¯ll use the teleportation device to send him here. There is a risk that the teleportation path can be traced via magic, and that would reveal my role in this entire affair, but I suspect an item used by the heroes is unlikely to be so easily followed. ¡°The city and the temple itself is fortified with ancient teleportation shields. We must get the target out of this range.¡± There was a circle drawn on the map, results of their earlier scouting efforts. ¡°That¡¯s quite a big range.¡± ¡°Yes, if I recall it was a hero item from a few centuries ago.¡± Roon explained. As the ranger, sharpshooter and one of the elite ranged specialists, he did quite a bit of research. ¡°They are likely to have secondary magic interference here and here.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± - [Kei & Valthorn¡¯s perspective - 3rd person POV] The weather was cold. The north was often cold like this, the batterings of the colder, northern winds were relentless. ¡°I wonder how much of the chill is due to the Frozen Tree.¡± Roon was fully equipped, even if it was all entirely off-the-shelf items. They drank a cup of warm tea, which boosts their natural heat and keeps themselves warm. Edna shrugged, her senses took in the air of the north. ¡°We¡¯re not here to meet the Frozen Tree, or hunt the hatcheries, Roon.¡± News of her ascension to the realm of the [domain] remained a secret known only to a few, so even Roon didn¡¯t know. Not yet Roon smiled at the middle-aged knight. ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Another high leveled ranger came by. He wore a thick cloak and jacket, again, a very ordinary item. ¡°I wish I can use my enchanted coat.¡± ¡°Me too, Johann. Me too.¡± Roon responded. Their items were all stored in specialised magical crystals, in the event of an emergency. Edna waved, and they kept their mouth shut. The small ships stopped, and the captains signalled that they were going to hold. It¡¯s time. Edna stood, and everyone else followed. They changed to rafts, and then made landfall. ¡°We could¡¯ve used magic.¡± Johann wondered, he was one of those who had not received the soul strengthening seed, so he was only level 85. Still, he believed he would be given the honor once this task was done. ¡°No need to trigger any wide range magical detection.¡± The group split up, about 30 started setting up camps. The higher levelled ones, led by Edna, would go first. Smaller teams would stay back to ensure they had somewhere to retreat to, or provide support if needed. ¡°The North¡¯s intelligence systems are surprisingly robust.¡± Johann frowned. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°I¡¯m surprised too, but yes.¡± Roon said. ¡°We need to look out for their agents.¡± - Kei¡¯s POV - ¡°This is the place.¡± The informant was an old woman in her 60s, and she walked Kei through the door of the hotel. The receptionist was a human lady in a beautiful outfit, and the informant spoke to her briefly, and then flashed a card. Kei was sure it was a card or some kind. The receptionist smiled naturally and then led them through a beautifully decorated walkway, and then into a wooden lift. ¡°This is as far as I will go. The receptionist will take over.¡± The informant nodded, Kei felt it was strange how serious she sounded. She entered the lift, and so did the receptionist. The doors to the lift closed, and then, the receptionist knocked on the wooden walls of the lift. The receptionist then took out a pendant and pressed it. The lift went down, and when it opened, it looked as if she was in an armory. ¡°This way.¡± There were groups of people resting. Some looked injured, their weapons all on the central table. There were a few individuals that looked like healers, and they even had the white doctor¡¯s robe. She was led to a room. It was very bare for a hotel. No. Here, it wasn¡¯t a hotel anymore. This was a war preparation area. ¡°Hello.¡± Two walked through the door, and the door closed. The lighting was very dim, and she had to use a skill to see. Kei sat. ¡°Hello. I¡¯m here to confirm the heroes¡¯ whereabouts and buy details on the security around the temple area.¡± The two individuals seemed to have shared a glance, but it¡¯s too dark to make out anything. ¡°I believe the informant should have submitted the request?¡± Kei tried to clarify. ¡°...yes.¡± One of the two shadows brought out a briefcase. Kei reached out to touch it. ¡°Payment.¡± Kei paused. Oh. She activated a storage crystal and withdrew the payment. Gems and coins. Two additional shadows came into the room and went through the payment. They nodded once they were done, and left the room. The briefcase slid across the table, and opened. Kei looked at it. It was meticulous work, schedules of the patrols around the city, where the forces are, what was the level of guards. There were just 3 level 50+ individuals in the entire guarding force, and this was a great relief to Kei. ¡°Thank you.¡± Kei said. She assumed the briefcase was hers, so she placed the documents back inside, and then grabbed the briefcase. It... wouldn¡¯t leave the table. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been watching you for some time.¡± Kei paused. She was being watched? ¡°So, tell us, why have you been sniffing around for details about the hero, Alvin¡¯s condition.¡± The voice was clearly female, but it sounded weird. Not a human for sure. Kei took a deep breath. ¡°I believe I am the client, here?¡± The two didn¡¯t reply. ¡°I had the impression organisations like yours don¡¯t pry into the affairs of your clients.¡± ¡°That is normally true.¡± Another voice spoke. Kei wasn¡¯t sure what exactly this voice sounded like. ¡°But when your targets are the heroes, we want to hear exactly what your plan is. Are you one of the hero-hunters?¡± Kei didn¡¯t reply to that. Hero-hunters? What was that? The voice on the left continued. ¡°Lady K, right? I¡¯ll be frank. My agents across the continent have been watching, and protecting the heroes where we can. So we know when you¡¯re looking for him, and we even know you¡¯ve managed to somehow snuck into Alvin¡¯s compound. Once.¡± Kei¡¯s eyes twitched. They¡¯ve been watching her for so long? She thought back to all her conversations with Lausanne and Aeon. Did they know? She was pretty sure she used magical interference abilities to hide that she was having a conversation. At that moment, a magical energy blast coated the room, and Kei¡¯s magical disguise was instantly dispelled. A very strong ¡®dispel¡¯ spell. ¡°A crystal golem.¡± The two said. ¡°Interesting.¡± Kei¡¯s fists went up and she was prepared to fight. ¡°This is a trap.¡± ¡°I¡¯m surprised that a hero-hunter would walk into our trap. Unless, you are not one.¡± The shadows said. ¡°We can¡¯t let anyone hurt the heroes before their time is up.¡± At that moment, a magical suppression field popped up and Kei felt her energy level decline massively. How she missed her hero powers. ¡°Tell us everything and who you work for.¡± - Kei wasn¡¯t sure how deep down they were, but she guessed they were quite deep underground. The explosion from her magical crystal bombs merely rattled the room. It didn¡¯t occur to Kei that her response was overkill, then. That activating a magic bomb was too much force, but Kei felt afraid. The fact that the entire underground area was magically rigged made her feel unsafe, that she was vulnerable, so she thought her response was proportionate to the level of risk she faced. Still the rooms seemed incredibly strong, she deduced they were magically enchanted. Rather than spill anything, she decided to bomb the shit out of the place. If they had torture devices, or magical artefacts, Kei felt they could still hurt her. ¡°There really is no need to be so aggressive. We just want to talk..¡± One of the voices said. Kei didn''t believe that one bit. The walls seemed to close in, and Kei¡¯s crystal limbs glowed, attempting to push back. The other voice seemed to have vanished, but Kei was sure she, no, she was sure both voices were female, was still here. She activated her speaking stone. ¡°K to E. K to E. Trap. Trap Trap. Abort.¡± ¡°E to K. Acknowledged. Location.¡± ¡°Rosewood Gardens, Galewinds.¡± Kei spoke, while she tried to fight off the rocks and bricks that flew her way. The room itself seemed to move in her way, the walls itself attempted to cut off her path. ¡°I kinda figured this is how this would turn out.¡± The shadows said, seemingly unharmed by the huge magical bomb. ¡°Lucky us, we have the bombproof shielding installed.¡± Kei frowned at how loudly they talked. An extra arm popped out of her chest to fight off the shadows that attempted to restrain her. ¡°Champions.¡± Kei repeated the word, a code word for high tier opponents. Those two individuals were clearly strong. Her fist of crystal glowed, and she slammed into one of the moving walls, and it caused it to crack. Kei frowned, that was a lot less damage than she expected. These were reinforced walls, a skill of some kind. She punched again, and this time, it buckled. She charged her crystal fist for a third punch, and this time, it made a big hole that led to the surface. She ran out. Yet... they didn¡¯t give chase. - Kei didn¡¯t like that feeling. It felt like they were still on her tail, even though she didn¡¯t see anyone in the entire afternoon. She was now quite a distance away from town, her golem body¡¯s stamina was incredible. She surveyed her surroundings, all data pointed that she wasn¡¯t followed. Yet, it still feel like they followed her. It was strange. She sat, and activated her speaking stone again. ¡°K to E. K to E.¡± ¡°Status.¡± ¡°Safe. Surroundings clean.¡± She lied. She activated her magical interference spell. Yet she didn¡¯t feel safe. ¡°Is the plan compromised?¡± Kei was silent. ¡°Is the plan compromised?¡± The tone was clearly seeking confirmation. Kei sighed. ¡°Maybe.¡± - Edna closed the speaking stone. ¡°That went as expected. That means we¡¯re going with plan B.¡± Roon and the group nodded. There was always a contingency plan in the works, in the event Kei was compromised. Edna never quite trusted her, and as far as she could tell, Aeon also kept her at arm¡¯s length, even if he entertained a lot of her whims. ¡°Alright, we consider that the temples know what Kei knows. Which is, there¡¯s a group of us coming for the heroes.¡± ¡°If they know we are coming, then we should strike with two forces. A feint. A smaller force to make it seem like we¡¯re attacking, and then a larger, actual force to capture the hero.¡± One of the Knights suggested. ¡°Good idea, but how?¡± ¡°We can hire some bandits or mercenaries.¡± ¡°If the intelligence systems are as good as what we¡¯ve seen, they¡¯ll know we¡¯ve hired them.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll hire them, and I¡¯ll be the bait.¡± Johann suggested. ¡°Together with three others.¡± Edna paused. ¡°Hmmm... fine. No. I suggest you split into pairs and hire two groups, and mount two separate attacks. We¡¯ll strike at the third attack.¡± - ¡°E to K. Please move to pickup one.¡± Kei frowned at the instruction. Pickup one? Wasn¡¯t that one of the southern port cities? But she figured they must have had a plan. ¡°Acknowledged.¡± - The hero Alvin was supposedly living in a massive fortified palace in the City of Essenva, home to about 200,000 others, half of which were temple followers. The city also housed the branches of all 4 temples, and a large contingent of their force. Located in the largest island in the Northern Isles, and geographically in the center, it was one of the many ¡®fort-cities¡¯, built when the temples realised they needed a show of strength a decade ago. The city was very heavily fortified, and yet, it was surprisingly easy to hire mercenaries and other kinds of instigators to trigger riots, simply because there were a lot of pent up dissatisfaction built up over the decades, from food shortages, to bad behavior from the ruling authorities. The first riot was crushed brutally, but it did what it was meant to do. It ¡®relieved¡¯ some of the tension in the air, and some of the forces seemed to think what they were predicted had come to pass. The second riot was a much smaller one, and pretty much fizzled out. They waited a month in between, and a month after the second riot. - ¡°The hell. Why are they waiting so long?¡± Kei was now in the southern port city. She was nervous, but no news was good news. Edna had disabled the communication crystal, a sign she wanted absolute radio silence, so Kei¡¯s news came from bards, and news-speakers. - ¡°Have we spotted him?¡± Edna asked as Roon returned from the scouting mission. ¡°Yes. We¡¯ve finally managed to slip in and get one of the identifier crystals. He¡¯s alive and we¡¯ve mapped out his routine for the past two weeks.¡± He placed his notes on the table in their secret operation room, hidden in a magical space in the forests. Alvin was bedridden and seemed to be supported by a magical bed. The Valthorns considered his schedule in a portable [secret hideout], made out of an ordinary tree deep in the nearby woods, courtesy of the Court of the Deitree. ¡°The intelligence forces have been sweeping the town for the past two months. They¡¯re still not letting up.¡± Those intelligence forces came through the forest as well, but they couldn¡¯t locate the [secret hideout]. Edna frowned. ¡°They are more persistent than I expected, but no matter. This will be a matter we¡¯ll highlight for our next investigation.¡± So far, none of them were caught. They were all too high leveled and had enough equipment to evade most conventional weapons. ¡°But Kei¡¯s under surveillance by the intelligence.¡± A few of the Valthorns were tasked to keep watch on Kei while the operation was underway, without her knowledge. ¡°They seemed to have reported her, but they are not taking any immediate action.¡± Edna¡¯s frown didn¡¯t go away. ¡°Any risk that our extraction and escape will be interrupted?¡± It was still a distance to travel from that port to the ships. But Kei could teleport, and that would allow her to get out. But teleportation jamming crystals are sufficiently common that most large cities have some lying around. ¡°Not sure. The intelligence forces are quite high leveled, we spotted one or two which we believe are around level 60s. If they have reinforcement, then we may have a problem.¡± Level 60s was quite high. Aeon preferred if killing of other high levelled individuals be kept at the minimum, since every person alive is someone that could fight the demons. They were pretty much working on this with kids¡¯ gloves. ¡°Hmmm.... We¡¯ll put this aside first. In terms of our course of action, the key question is then, are we going to make contact with the hero?¡± Edna asked and everyone gulped uncomfortably. Aeon wanted to kidnap the hero , whether he wanted to come or not. But if he resisted, it would make things difficult. ¡°That¡¯s only point 1.¡± Roon said. ¡°The bed must also be considered. I think it¡¯s some kind of healing or life support artefact. I think I need one more visit to confirm the artefact¡¯s effects, that our items can temporarily replace its function while moving the hero.¡± Last thing they wanted was the hero to die if he was to leave the bed. Aeon didn¡¯t want that. Not yet. Edna knew he wanted to look at the hero¡¯s curse. And for that, she had to capture him alive. She quickly sent a specialised encrypted message home. ¡®Will require healing once target is sent through teleport. Hero seems to rely on healing support.¡¯ ¡°We could send the item across too.¡± ¡°If we¡¯re sending the item too, we¡¯ll need channeling time, can we keep the hero still for 1 hour?¡± Teleportation scaled with distance and size. Edna tapped the table. ¡°Which is why, we must ask, do we want to ask the hero?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we just put him to sleep?¡± ¡°We can try, but heroes are naturally immune to all kinds of regular ailments and lower tier spells and skills. We¡¯re not sure whether it will work, but if it does, good for us.¡± Edna said. To what extent did the curse weaken the hero¡¯s power? Does it nullify immunities too? Didn¡¯t seem like a good bet. Roon noted it down. ¡°Alright, one last recon.¡± As the level 125 ranger, he had enough stealth and camouflage abilities to walk through the gates, but the presence of the intelligence forces still made things a little tense. Someone around level 40 with the right mix of detection and scouting ability can still spot him. - The last scouting mission was thankfully smooth. - ¡°Alright. Good. Let¡¯s just confirm our plans. Our plan is two fold, and we must hit both at around the same time.¡± Edna said. They had considered many ideas and plans over the past month of surveillance, so they had to firm up which version they went with. ¡°I¡¯ll lead eight of us, together with our artefacts, to enter the hero¡¯s location, and capture him at this time. Roon and Johann will lead the rest to hit anti-teleportation crystals and disable them. Once disabled we¡¯ll ping, and we will trigger the teleportation channelling. We are sending the hero with the bed, unless the resistance is too heavy.¡± Everyone nodded. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get into the tunnels.¡± Using their special familiars¡¯ [Root Tunnel] ability, they¡¯ve excavated tiny tunnels that led under the hero¡¯s compound, and also to the magic tower where the city¡¯s anti-teleportation crystals were held. Sadly, the tunnels only got them three quarters there, as there were structures underground built by the [builders]. Reinforced stone and rock that prevently the [root tunnel] from going further. But at least they were in the compound. Roon and Johann¡¯s group started the first ping to indicate they started the assault. They were all in camo, and hit all the resistance with extremely powerful sleeping agents. It was... pretty much a cakewalk at how quickly the resistance collapsed. They were too high level. Once they got up to the crystal¡¯s location, they pinged again. This was Edna¡¯s cue to launch their side of the operations. Similar to Roon and Johann, they hit most of the targets with strong sleep or paralysis agents, causing the regular guards and the temple¡¯s forces to collapse. It was also a relatively easy task, their high levels meant they outclassed the resistance. Then they reached the hero¡¯s compound. They found the hero already asleep, and Edna was the first to approach the hero, her protective abilities all active. The moment she touched him, she knew the condition was bad. He just looked alright, but something churned deep in him. She could feel it. But the touch triggered something else. An alarm. Someone had cast a touch-alarm on the hero. ¡°Ugh.¡± Edna guessed that it must have been the intelligence. She made a mental note to check on who ran them. The temples were clearly not behind them. The alarm was city wide. Roon instantly deactivated the anti-teleportation shield, and one of the high mages, started the teleportation channel. ¡°...who¡¯re you?¡± Alvin woke up, groggy. Edna glanced at him, her mind was on the defensive forces that streamed through the various buildings towards them. ¡°We¡¯re here to take you to someone who can help you.¡± ¡°But the temples said... only the gods can help me.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re taking you to a god.¡± Edna and her team activated their magical items, which summoned massive walls around them. One of the druids then casted a wide area sleep-poison spell. It soon sent most of the guards to sleep. Alvin frowned. ¡°...who?¡± The sleep ability was effective on almost everyone. Almost everyone. At that moment, a dark shadow charged at them, the shadow¡¯s blades were active. Edna could feel that this shadow was someone who had probably reached high levels. Perhaps in the 80s. Edna smiled, and focused her domain¡¯s aura. It instantly caused the shadow to freeze and collapse, revealing a lean humanoid lady with strange beetle-like armor. Still, it wasn¡¯t enough, as the lady got up and charged, her body surrounded by a deep purple light. She activated a massive force shield that pushed back, and it was too big for the shadow to dodge. The shadow smashed into the force shield and was launched a few hundred feet away. The mage in the group said. ¡°20 minutes.¡± The sleep spell on the guards would knock them out till the next morning. Edna thought for a moment, and then turned to face the shadow. It was going to get up again. She then activated her [Court]¡¯s vines and tentacles. It surged out and wrapped the shadow, injecting the sleep and paralysis directly into the strange lady¡¯s body. Yet, that was enough. As she collapsed, her eyes went wide as the vines that now wrapped her body. ¡°...Aeon?¡± The moment she collapsed, one of her artifacts activated and she was teleported away. Edna was impressed. ¡°Wow. These intelligence forces are well prepared.¡± Alvin was just surprised. ¡°Who are you guys?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve met.¡± Edna smiled. ¡°Teleportation is activating.¡± The mage said, and at that instant, Alvin, and his bed vanished. Edna smiled, and went to the ping. ¡°Radio silence off. Let¡¯s get our ass out of here. K team, please get our golem lady out safely. Knock the intel guys out if you have to.¡± - [Back to Aeon¡¯s POV] Alvin arrived on time, and already my best biolabs and medical skills were ready and waiting. They sent him right into the Valley of the Unrotten, no, I even opened up the magical barriers and runic foundations just so that I can receive this particular teleportation. When he arrived, he glanced up and saw all the trees around him. ¡°Oh fuck.¡± He said. ¡°Hello.¡± I spoke. ¡°I believe we¡¯ve never met, but Kei told me to help you.¡± ¡°And you think I¡¯ll believe that, Aeon? She¡¯s dead, and it¡¯s your fault.¡± Alvin responded, surprisingly angry. Eh, and I thought it¡¯s his fault for not coming here. ¡°It¡¯s out of respect to Kei and her ideals that we didn¡¯t pursue a crusade.¡± ¡°Really?¡± My spirit vision told me that his energies were extremely conflicted, his spirit was like a bright light, but there was something that blocked those light out, so much that I saw only bits and pieces of stray light. ¡°No matter your views, I have been requested to assist you, and I will.¡± I meant every word. But I¡¯ll also figure out how to disable heroes too. - Tree Uses Heal… Or Not? Year 168 (part 2) ¡°You don¡¯t look in particularly good shape, for a hero.¡± I mentally spoke to Alvin, and he was powerless to resist. I sensed the swirling chaos within his body and I¡¯m eager to see how it worked under the hood. First we start with comprehension, then, weaponization. ¡°And if I refuse?¡± Alvin said. ¡°Well, you¡¯d rather live like this, bedridden for the remainder of your days, than let me try to heal you?¡± Alvin didn¡¯t reply. ¡°The next demon king will come in 10 years or so, and when it comes, it will come for you, because you are the last surviving hero. And they will find you in this state, and kill you. And destroy the city around you too.¡± The weakened hero clenched his fists. ¡°What do you even care?¡± That offended me. Offended us. Have we not been fighting against the demons all these while? Have I not been resisting? What gave this hero the right to question that? Why, just because I wasn¡¯t on the ¡®same¡¯ side. ¡°I brought you because Kei asked me to help you. Because I happen to be one of the few people in the world that can even try to undo a demon king¡¯s curse, and you question me?¡± I was tempted to just keep him in stasis. ¡°By bringing you here, we have pretty much drawn the next demon king to us. To me. Do you think I would do so if I didn¡¯t mean to heal you?¡± ¡°You could have brought me here to kill me.¡± ¡°I could.¡± Honestly, I could. In fact, if I found out how the demon¡¯s poison or curse or whatever worked, I could be a dick to the world and not heal him. ¡°But that would mean more unnecessary destruction, and more people dying while we wait for the gods to summon the next batch of heroes. As much as I dislike Kei¡¯s request, I still saw some merit in helping you. And we need you to fix the locust problem that¡¯s causing food disruptions all over the world.¡± ¡°And I am supposed to believe that you mean well for the world.¡± ¡°I do.¡± I meant it. I truly believe that this cycle is horrible. All the lives, all those forests, jungles, trees and habitats wiped out, just to serve as the playground for this game of gods. I¡¯ve seen enough death to see this isn¡¯t the way to go, and from what I can tell, many other, earlier precursor civilisations have suffered a premature death. ¡°Heh.¡± Alvin snorted. ¡°So, are you letting me help you or not?¡± If I have to kill him, I will. With the levels I gained since the fight with the demon king, maybe I could give him a run for his money. Still, the entire Valley of the Unrotten is loaded with bombs. If he¡¯s going to start something crazy once I healed him, I would blow up the entire valley to take him down. I¡¯ll live, but I don¡¯t think he will. ¡°Fine.¡± - I made a giant attendant tree that¡¯s focused as a biolab to house Alvin¡¯s body, with all the best materials I could gather, and all the tools I may never need. I activated all my sensors, and then dived into his soul spring, to see what is the magical equivalent of an oil slick. Just like Meela long ago, there were these two large magical jugs in the sky that poured beautiful untainted, sparkly water into his soul spring, and the ¡®lake¡¯ around it. This sparkly water was star mana, and then, I saw these... strange spire like structures that resembled the demon¡¯s homeworld. These emitted demonic mana in large quantities, and yet the star mana was still able to push back against the mana produced by these spires. What¡¯s really different, was something that looked like a single red crystal located right on top of his own soul spring that was surrounded by a red flame. I activated my soul-related abilities to get a closer look, whether this was just another type of curse. The flames seemed to burn the star mana that got near it, and in doing so, created an entirely dry, parched area. [Greater Daemon Hybrid Parasite Spawn - nascent form] What-in-the-fuck. I looked closer, and I saw, indeed, there seemed to be something resembling a.... I¡¯m not sure what I¡¯m looking at. It¡¯s like a jellyfish, but incomplete. In fact, once I observed the way the flames interacted with the star mana, I believe that thing may be ¡®drinking¡¯ the star mana. - ¡°Alvin. I want you to tell me what the demon king did to you.¡± He was still groggy when I woke him from the biolab¡¯s bed. My vines and my own healing energies have taken over the role of his magical bed, and I could see he was healthier in most ways. But his skills and magic all remained off limits, so long as that... parasite, consumed all the mana that got anywhere near his soul spring. He sat up, and told the story. Both of them fought the giant worm demon king, and it went quite well. The temples provided some assistance, as they brought out old hero items to help provide cover fire and take out the mobs. They activated their powers, their star mana forms and went all out. The demon king caught one, but Hans managed to use his attacks at point blank range to significantly weaken the demon king before he was killed. He fought the demon king to the end, but at the end, when he thought he won, there was a core in the middle. He thought it was going to explode, but instead, it just shot out the locusts to the entire area. In the middle was also this glowing blob of tiny red worms that attacked him. He thought he killed and destroyed most of them... but then he began losing his powers. Within a month he was significantly weakened, and he thought he was going to die, but then somehow the condition stabilised. Still, he needed support, and so the temple brought out the ancient hero item, the Healing Bed. Honestly, the bed itself resembled something that would be found in a hospital. It¡¯s clearly something made by a hero in memory of home. ¡°Those... little red worms. I thought I got all of them.¡± Alvin confessed. ¡°But I think some of them managed to get into my body.¡± The spawn in his soul spring. How? - I thought long and hard about this. There¡¯s a parasite in his body, and it¡¯s the thing that denies him access to his powers. It¡¯s like somebody rerouted the electricity away from the main computer, so the computer¡¯s unusable, but not necessarily ¡®spoilt¡¯. The thing was growing. It fed on his star mana. Honestly, a part of me was extremely curious of what happens if it matures? Does it burst out of his body? The red flames protected it, but I realised that the protection was insufficient. Not enough to deny me. I placed Alvin in my specialised soul forge, a set up I used to heal Stella of her void mana curses, and activated the various ley lines for the power I needed. The flames this parasite created, were meant to ¡®consume¡¯ star mana, and it was specifically tailored for it. It had pretty good protections, such that significant majority of healing or anti-poison or anti-parasite abilities could not get past those red flames. But not me. The flames bent and went out to the touch of my overwhelming mana. And my vines reached out, and then touched it. At that moment, a voice spoke back. ¡®Tree, we believe we are on the same side.¡¯ I mentally froze, and Patreeck quickly updated. ¡°No mental incursions, master. It appears to be a telepathic message passed via the vines.¡± ¡®Don¡¯t remove me.¡¯ The... spawn? Indeed, there really was nothing else but the crystal. ¡°What are you?¡± ¡®I am the demon¡¯s bid to escape the clutches of our Slavers. A weapon created to kill heroes, but at the same time, use the heroes¡¯ powers to grow. ¡® ...shit. ¡°I do not believe you.¡± ¡®Certainly, you should not.¡¯ ¡°How do you speak so... well?¡± The level of speech and sentence structure suggested something a lot more intelligent than what I initially remembered of the demons. ¡®We learn from the captured heroes. We learn from their memories, their thoughts. We leech off their minds, and pick the speech and language patterns. Even now, I tap into the hero¡¯s mind.¡¯ ¡°You are a parasite.¡± ¡®That I am.¡¯ ¡°Then tell me why I should not remove you?¡± ¡®Because I can help you fight the Slavers. We know your kind is unaware of who we are. Who we serve.¡¯ ¡°Then enlighten me.¡± ¡®The Ancient Slavers, and the Puppeteers, are but two large factions in eternal conflict over the multiverse. This world is one of the many ¡®gateway-worlds¡¯ at the edges between the realm of the Slavers and the Puppeteers. We, the so called ¡®demons¡¯, are but a race of animals, or monsters, that the slavers have ¡®assimilated¡¯ as their slaves of war. Our homeworlds are helpless, the slaver¡¯s mind-touch is etched into our flesh, our souls stolen away and fused into the mass. Our leaders are forced to fight their wars, sent to your world as the demon kings.¡¯ I wonder whether its¡¯ lying. But it¡¯s quite plausible. ¡°Then what are you?¡± ¡®I am a secret project, a weapon designed by our kings, with a spark to regain control of our own destiny.¡¯ I¡¯m getting some serious Xel¡¯naga vibes here. No. Kerrigan. ¡®But to do so, I must grow and mature outside the eyes of the Puppeteers and the Slavers..¡¯ I had a real sinking feeling. ¡®The Demon Kings believe we can have allies in this world. Those who can help us rebel against our Slavers. We have seen strong natives across the multiverse, and we have attempted to seek their aid. I am to be made using the magic of the Puppeteers, to wash away the corrupt stain of the Slavers that seeks to hold onto my will. With true independence, and the knowledge I have, we can retake my homeworld.¡¯ Is this for real? No. Don¡¯t demons always lie? But that¡¯s the belief, isn¡¯t it? ¡°I have not decided to help you or not, but I need to know everything. And I mean, everything damned thing.¡± ¡®Certainly. Our kings believe letting the natives know the truth of the conflict will convert some to our cause.¡¯ Convert to their cause? That choice of word seemed to sound like the demon¡¯s attempting to incite people to believe them. Isn¡¯t this just a version of the Demon Cults I met a century ago? ¡°Start from the beginning. Who are the Gods?¡± ¡®The Slavers and Puppeteers are but a generation of mortals that gained apotheosis, perhaps a few million years ago. They come after three Parents, the Birth of the system-time and the Birth of the worlds, and the Birth of Souls, and rose to enslave them. They failed.¡¯ ¡°How do you know this, and how do I know this is true?¡± ¡®It is our ancient belief which we believe is true.¡¯ Oh lord, I¡¯m dealing with demonic religion. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡®We want to be freed of the Slavers.¡¯ ¡°What do the Slavers and Puppeteers want?¡± I presume these are the gods. ¡®We do not know much. We know they seek to conquer the gateway worlds, and to do so we must defeat the Puppets, and claim the native magic of the world. In worlds where we have conquered, the slavers consumed the natives and turned them into new slaves, to fight other battles. The native worlds were stripped of certain types of energies, and the rest was left for the new slaves to use. The Slavers will change the natives, such that the natives become more... warlike.¡¯ ¡°How do you open the portals to our world? Where is your world?¡± ¡®I do not know how to describe where my world is. It is just... there. As for the portals, the Slavers have unique individuals tasked with tuning the void-gates. The void gates are tuned to residual energies of your world, but I know not of their operations. These are the powers of the Slavers. Each of the demon worlds have agents of the Slavers.¡¯ Each of the demon worlds? THere are more than one? ¡°How can I know you are not lying to me?¡± There was a moment of silence, then it responded. ¡®So what if I am? Does it make what I say any less useful?¡¯ I kept on with the Q&A session. ¡°How do you break free of the Slaver¡¯s hold?¡± ¡®Their hold is written in the flesh, and in the stones of the soul.¡¯ ¡°What happens when you mature?¡± ¡®The hero dies, and I emerge a matured creature, hatching from the body of the hero.¡¯ Whoah, that¡¯s some alien shit. It was then that I felt my mana become slightly unstable. I decided to pull out, and disconnected my vines from that parasitic crystal. - ¡°So?¡± Alvin asked when he woke up. ¡°I¡¯m still trying.¡± ¡°I felt like you almost touched it though. What... what is it?¡± ¡°I... I don¡¯t know.¡± I lied. Honestly, I had a choice. Do I save the hero, or do I keep the parasite? If what the parasite said is true, he could be useful. No. Even just seeing it was sufficiently informative. It meant it¡¯s possible to create ¡®soul spring parasites¡¯. Creatures that existed in the soul spring and that same soul spring can ¡®leech¡¯ away the star mana. Could I make tree-equivalents of such parasitic creatures? I believe it¡¯s not impossible, there are parasitic trees in the world. ¡°Huh, so the great tree isn¡¯t so great after all. So much for being the god of the Central Continent.¡± Alvin snorted. Thankfully I am a tree, and the insult didn¡¯t bother me. I contemplated the issue, whether to assist Alvin, or to let the parasite remain within the body of the hero. The hero¡¯s a pain in the ass, but he¡¯s hostile. On the other hand, what could the demon do for me? Should I use it as a source of information and just extract what I can, then save the hero anyway? At what point does the demon mature? - ¡®I will mature in another... three years.¡¯ I felt a strange unsettling feeling. ¡°Tell me more. Why do you come to our world like clockwork? Every 10 years?¡± ¡®Is it that frequent? It may be those gathered from the other enslaved worlds. The Slavers occasionally only require the Kings to serve as the Leader of the Assault, to stabilise both the interworld portal and to spread the Slaver¡¯s energies.¡¯ ¡°What are the heroes, and why do the gods need them?¡± ¡®We have captured a few in the past, and we can read minds. The Puppeteers summoned heroes from the same few places, and we met their kind in the other worlds too. But why... we are not privy to the thoughts of the Puppeteers. We only know that their magic is well suited against the etchings of the Slavers on our reforged flesh.¡¯¡¯ ...fucking shit. I mean, I knew from the Zaratans that there are other worlds and they face demons there. ¡°How do you plan to strike back against the Slavers? You said you needed help. What is the strategy?¡± ¡®In our homeworld, the Slavers maintain ten large crystalline spires, which store the souls of our people, prisons. The Kings are those chosen from the imprisoned souls, a promise by the Slavers to free some of us for every Puppeteer we slay. There are similar spires in the other enslaved worlds.¡¯ I paused at the idea of these... controlled spires. ¡®The Kings are suspicious of the Slavers, but given our circumstances, we have no choice but to obey. The Slavers etched strong curses and rules into the flesh of the Kings, so we are bound by their will.¡¯ ¡°Where are the Slavers?¡± ¡®We do not know. We believe they have ascended to a higher folded plane where they can reach multiple worlds at once, rather than have their powers limited by the constraints of space and time. Their servants walk in the enslaved worlds, their appointed commissioners...¡¯ There¡¯s so many things that don¡¯t make sense. If there are these puppeteers that manipulate this game, why do they need to ¡®import¡¯ heroes from Earth? Why? ¡°Do you know of... earth?¡± ¡®Yes. One of the few homeworlds of the Puppets.¡¯ ¡°Why? Why them?¡± There are other worlds? ¡®We do not know why. We have attempted to reach that world, but our powers fail. It seemed that these homeworlds are behind some kind of one-way barrier.¡¯ This meant Stella¡¯s plan to reach home may fail. ¡°Back to the crystal spires. Will destroying them free the world from the Slaver¡¯s rule?¡± ¡®Most likely. We believe it will weaken it, at least. The spires are extensions of the Slavers, destroying them should weaken their hold on our homeworld.¡¯ ¡°And you will stop invading our world?¡± ¡®You would have to free all the enslaved worlds for that to happen, and there are perhaps hundreds.¡¯ Hmmm... This is useful. This meant that hiding the world from the view of the gods and demons may be a more realistic option. ¡°Wait. That day you spoke of the portals. What residual energies do you speak of?¡± ¡®In your world, there are remnant energies of the Slavers. These act as beacons for the gates to find your world. As it is, your world has a mix of energies, both the Slavers and the Puppeteers.¡¯ ¡°Where?¡± ¡®...we do not know. But we know we leave more of the slaver¡¯s energies in your world after each invasion. Perhaps in the bodies of the Kings.¡¯ Alright. Damned Daemolite is bad. This just confirms it. I¡¯ll have to destroy all the daemolite... No. if there are residual ¡®Slaver¡¯ energies, I should gather them and see whether I can absorb them for myself. If these are remnant energies of the Gods of these demons, it should be worth something. - ¡°You¡¯ve been trying so many times and nothing.¡± Alvin snorted. ¡°I¡¯m getting annoyed with this. Just kill me and be done with it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m very tempted to.¡± I responded. Edna, Kei and the others finally returned from the Northern Isles, and Kei walked through the door. Alvin sat on the biolab. ¡°Hi Alvin.¡± Kei said, her body that of a golem. ¡°Who¡¯re you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Kei, you asshole.¡± ¡°Kei¡¯s dead.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s just say I didn¡¯t really die. I got blown up by the demon king, but somehow Aeon managed to salvage a big chunk of my soul and placed me into this body.¡± Kei¡¯s explanation was quite on point. Alvin stared at the golem. ¡°What, you don¡¯t believe me?¡± ¡°No.¡± Alvin shook his head. ¡°Wait. How?¡± ¡°I explained it already. Weren¡¯t you listening?¡± ¡°I mean. Yes. No. I mean, how?¡± Kei facepalmed. ¡°You¡¯re an idiot.¡± ¡°I swore I saw the notification said you died.¡± Alvin shook his head. ¡°I lost all of my [hero] classes and all of my levels, which the system somehow interpreted as me dying. I believe Aeon described it as having the entire house blown off.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you try to contact us?¡± Alvin said. ¡°What for? Would you believe me?¡± Alvin thought about it for a moment. ¡°...true.¡± Kei then turned to me. ¡°Aeon, how¡¯s his condition?¡± Should I lie? I decided maybe it¡¯s not worth it to lie. ¡°There¡¯s a parasite inside him. A demonic parasite that¡¯s eating up all of his mana and most of his vitality.. I¡¯m still thinking about how to remove it. It¡¯s... complicated.¡± Kei nodded. Alvin¡¯s face was one of abject horror. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me that.¡± ¡°I wanted to tell Kei, first.¡± Edna then walked into the biolab, her energy and presence easily filled the room. Kei looked at Edna a little surprised. ¡°You¡¯ve changed since I last saw you, Lady Edna. You¡¯ve crossed the line?¡± Edna gave a little nod. ¡°Just barely. So, how¡¯s your patient?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a parasite in him.¡± ¡°I see. That explains a lot.¡± Edna could sense magical energies of those around her, so she was quite surprised by how ¡®empty¡¯ he felt. It¡¯s one of the consequences of the ¡®domain.¡¯ ¡°So, what¡¯s our next step? We wait for Aeon to heal him?¡± ¡°The parasite¡¯s a little bit tricky.¡± - Later on, I pulled Edna and a few of the senior Valthorns for a private meeting, where I briefed them on what I learned from the parasite. ¡°The conundrum is essentially, do we save the hero, or do we keep the parasite for it¡¯s knowledge?¡± ¡°Why not both, really?¡± One of the higher leveled druids, a dude called Kayus asked. ¡°Perhaps, if it is a parasite, we could transplant it to a suitable host.¡± ¡°It needs star mana to grow, if what it says is true. And if it chooses to resist us on maturity, it may be a handful to deal with.¡± Lumoof hushed it. ¡°We have Aeon and Edna to deal with it.¡± Lumoof wasn¡¯t too far off from the Level 150 either. Now that Edna¡¯s back, they could resume their dungeon exploration. Hmmm... transplanting the parasite could be an idea. I also wondered whether I wanted to draw on its¡¯ demonic energy. Perhaps it could give me the breakthrough I need to truly understand and master demonic mana. I also wonder... whether I could ¡®convert¡¯ it the same way I did with demon walkers? Does it have a soul? Or perhaps, it has? ¡®Yes. The Kings managed to free a part of our souls, and spread it into the worms. The Slavers still have a hold over my soul, but with each day, the consumed Star Mana eats away at their bindings. When I mature, I will be free.¡¯ There was something about it that just didn¡¯t sit right. Was it instinct? - The Claritree of Space Year 169 I believe the knowledge of the demons will help us significantly more in the long run, at least, more than saving the hero. Of course, these are not mutually exclusive choices, so I am left with trying to ¡®extract¡¯ the parasite, and providing it with a suitable ¡®environment¡¯ to continue its growth. ¡°We should tell them.¡± Edna said. ¡°I think a bit of transparency will help.¡± I stewed on the decision for days, and then I decided to go with Edna¡¯s idea. I think I have natural ¡®hermit¡¯ tendencies, which have not always served me well. Perhaps Edna¡¯s willingness for transparency would result in a better outcome. ¡°You have a parasite.¡± It was a fact. ¡°Yes I know.¡± Alvin rolled his eyes like he heard this a million times. Kei stood next to her friend. They were still friends, somehow, despite all the shit that happened between them. ¡°The parasite, I believe it has a mind, and it talks to me every time I touch it. As a result, I¡¯ve been really careful when dealing with it.¡± Both Kei and Alvin stared at each other, their jaws a little wide. I dropped a bomb. Kei immediately asked. ¡°...is this why it¡¯s taking so long?¡± ¡°Well, yes.¡± I answered. Kei¡¯s golem face looked like one of betrayal. ¡°Aeon...¡± ¡°Now, I¡¯m telling you this because I still intend to heal Alvin.¡± ¡°Then? Spill it. What¡¯s really causing the delay?¡± Alvin accused. ¡°I¡¯m hoping to extract it without killing it. This parasite may well hold the answer for how to open a gate to the demon world, and take the battle to their world.¡± I admitted it honestly. ¡°I¡¯m sick of letting this world be the playground of the gods, where they just stomp through and destroy everything. It¡¯s time to take the battle to their world. That¡¯s why I¡¯m dealing with this carefully.¡± ¡°This is my life you are talking about.¡± Alvin accused, and I vaguely sensed some divine energies at work, as if it just glossed over what I said. ¡°I¡¯m not some experiment you can play with to win some bigger game.¡± Kei was more understanding. ¡°Aeon, dealing with a demon parasite doesn¡¯t sound like a good idea. I highly doubt whatever a demon parasite says is trustworthy. It¡¯s a demon, right, and in my world, demons only offer bad deals.¡± Well. Yeah. That¡¯s... true. It¡¯s entirely possible that this parasite is lying to me and telling me crap. I reviewed what it said so far, and clearly none of it betrayed its true intentions. The parasite always spoke of taking the battle back against the Slavers, but we, the natives, are just expendable. That was the sense I got after I reviewed my conversation with it. After some thinking, I concluded I won¡¯t sacrifice the hero to save this parasite. Yes, I agree that saving the hero is just repeating more of what has passed, but the demon¡¯s trustworthiness is severely in doubt. At best, I should aim for an outcome where both survive. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m aware of that, but I¡¯m hoping for a mutually beneficial outcome. Alvin¡¯s life comes first, and I will not hesitate to destroy the parasite.¡± I spoke to both of them. ¡°But this is a rare opportunity to interrogate and understand the demons, and use their knowledge against them.¡± Kei was deep in thought, her thoughts unmarred by any attempted divine influence. ¡°Fine. But I want to be informed every step of the way. Alvin may not be able to think with the presence of the parasite in him.¡± Alvin snorted. ¡°Hey. I¡¯m still here.¡± ¡°The parasite may influence you as it gets stronger.¡± Kei responded. ¡°It¡¯s pretty much the equivalent of a demonic possession. As you know, you can¡¯t trust the words of someone you are about to exorcise.¡± Alvin was horrified at the idea. ¡°Ugh. Get it out. Now.¡± ¡°Unless death is certain.. Not yet. Not until we get more out of the parasite.¡± I responded. Kei nodded. ¡°I want to know what his condition is at all times, and would it be possible to quantify the parasite¡¯s state? I¡¯m afraid your attempts to ¡®extract¡¯ the parasite may accelerate that thing¡¯s maturity.¡± ¡°That is a good point, but how do I... hmm... Wait. How about this, every time I try to do something, you enter the [biolab]. In my dream sleep state I can project what I see to you directly.¡± This was essentially using Patreeck¡¯s mind-attack abilities and memory injection abilities to bridge visions. Kei paused. Alvin shook his head. ¡°That makes both of us vulnerable!¡± Kei thought... ¡°Possible for you to project what you see, and what¡¯s actually happening to Alvin¡¯s body physically?¡± ¡°In the dream state... yes.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Alvin shook his head like this was the worst idea ever. - Meanwhile... ¡°How¡¯ve you been, Arlisa?¡± Laufen tapped her head. They met up in Laufen¡¯s home in one of the giant attendant trees in Freshka. ¡°I¡¯m alright, grandmother. Have you seen mom around?¡± Arlisa sat in a rattan chair. There was a pot of tea on the table. ¡°Yes,. She¡¯s busy with your brother, and that golem girl.¡± Laufen nodded. ¡°Have you forgot to speak to her recently?¡± ¡°...kinda.¡± Arlisa shrugged. ¡°Now what have you done?¡± Laufen sipped her fruit tea. Her role in the Valthorns have gradually reduced in the past few years, the social work she once championed gradually taken over by the Priests, and senior Valthorns that sought out less combat oriented roles. Still, she continued to work in the local social services. ¡°...nothing.¡± Their eyes met, and Arlisa turned her head away. ¡°Well, okay. Tell me about your adventures! I hear from the initiates that you¡¯ve been really active on the whole dungeon stuff.¡± Arlisa breathed a sigh of relief as her grandmother allowed her to change the subject. ¡°Oh it¡¯s tough.¡± Well, she was gifted, and finally she found some use for her natural talents for stealth, sneaking and tracking. But unlike Lausanne where her skills are augmented by a Court-level familiar, Arlisa only received an ordinary familiar, and her combat experience paled to Lausanne. Furthermore, she went on her adventures quite a distance from Freshka, where my ¡®powerleveling¡¯ and experience-related boosts are weaker. It¡¯s tough, and she¡¯s in the mid level 50s. The fact that she had to apply for the regular adventurer slots along with her team, also meant she couldn¡¯t do it as frequently. Still, she had fun. Her companions seemed like decent people, a few lizardpeople, a centaur and a gnoll. She also didn¡¯t get to fight the hybrid demons in the Rottedlands, as that task is usually reserved for the local militia, or the nearest Valthorn keeps. Laufen just smiled at her explanations and her adventures. ¡°That¡¯s good. I¡¯m happy for you.¡± Arlisa shifted uncomfortably. ¡°...really? Do... Do you think mom¡¯s disappointed? Are you disappointed, granny?¡± Laufen thought about it for a moment and sighed. ¡°Your mom, I think she doesn¡¯t know what to do with you. Maybe she had an idea, a hope that you¡¯d be this exemplary individual, no matter what you chose. She was willing to accept whatever you would be, as long as she saw that you worked hard at it. I think she wasn¡¯t prepared to see you just... do nothing.¡± Arlisa sighed. ¡°I knew it.¡± ¡°You feel that there¡¯s a lot of expectations on you, don¡¯t you?¡± Arlisa nodded. She was a little bit sad. To hear that her mom was disappointed in her. ¡°That¡¯s normal. Parents and their children are meant to be different.¡± Laufen tapped Arlisa on the shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s part of growth.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel like growth though.¡± Laufen just smiled and switched the topic. ¡°One day, it¡¯ll all make sense. Let¡¯s not talk about such bitter stuff. Your brother¡¯s cute.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Arlisa shifted awkwardly. ¡°It¡¯s weird that he¡¯s my brother.¡± Laufen laughed. ¡°That happens with us elves, since we have such long lives that siblings can be entire generations apart. But in a few decades, it¡¯ll be fine.¡± Arlisa rolled her eyes. ¡°A lot can happen in a few decades.¡± ¡°Exactly!¡± - What¡¯s the point of extracting the demon parasite? I considered that the purpose of ¡®saving¡¯ the parasite is to have access to it¡¯s repository of knowledge. As such, perhaps even if I did save it, I should not let it ever attain its maturity. In fact, if what I want is its knowledge, whether it remains a demon or not doesn¡¯t matter. Kei had a point that the demon was likely to lie. It had every incentive to, as I have its life in my metaphorical hands, so it would say anything and everything for me to keep it that way. Yet, I am so starved of information on the mechanics of what¡¯s happening in the background, that I know I can¡¯t let go of this opportunity. I thought about it and concluded that I needed to ¡®unmake¡¯ the demon parasite. Perhaps, in the same way with the demon walker, I needed to inject and overwhelm it with my mana such that it would ¡®become¡¯ one of mine. I soon discussed the idea with Edna and my senior Valthorns, and then, brought the idea to Kei. ¡°So... wait. You plan to flood Alvin¡¯s body with your mana, such that your mana overwrites¡¯ it¡¯s own mana? You can do that?¡± Kei was quite shocked by the idea. ¡°I didn¡¯t know it¡¯s possible to take over a person by flooding it with mana!¡± ¡°I have never tested this ability on a person, only mindless demons thus far.¡± I had to first check whether the parasite had any mana in the first place. My checking soon revealed the answer to be yes. It has its own demonic mana, but it¡¯s different. It¡¯s a mix of demonic mana and star mana. Could my mana overwhelm it? I... don¡¯t know. I have never really been able to prove how [natural mana overwhelming] worked anyway. My understanding had been that my mana would take the place of the ¡®blood¡¯ that ran through the demonic flesh, and in doing so freeing the body from the control of the demons. Would it work if it has a soul? No. As I studied it a little more, the parasite doesn¡¯t have a soul. A soul should not be able to exist within the soul spring of another soul. It¡¯s therefore more of an intelligent homunculus. What would happen if my mana enters the parasite? The parasite has some mana-consumption ability, as demonstrated by its ability to consume star mana. What if I unintentionally sped up its development? Wouldn¡¯t I indirectly kill Alvin that way? Still, if I wanted to ¡®save¡¯ it, then converting it to a non-demonic form would be the only way I can trust it¡¯s words. As it is, even if what it said is true, I could not trust it to take any action. If these knowledge is not actionable, what was the point? Edna, Lumoof and a few of the high leveled Valthorns were present, just in case things went bad. My hope was Edna would step in and fight anything that occurred. I also had the entire area rigged with bombs if the parasite was significantly stronger than expected. We prepared multiple biolab pods, all ready for the attempted mana flood. The idea was, flood Alvin¡¯s body with my mana, and by extension, flood the parasite with my mana, and see whether it worked to ¡®weaken¡¯ or ¡®convert¡¯ it. If it goes bad we¡¯ll stop. If it does go terribly, we¡¯ll use my soul realm powers to forcefully extract the parasite from his soul. If the conversion is successful, I¡¯d have insights into how it ¡®ate¡¯ star mana, which hopefully I can then recreate the effect. After that, is figuring out how to effectively weaponise it as an anti-hero weapon, though this part is left unsaid. I ensured all my potato batteries throughout the continent were fully charged, just in case I needed them. If this was a hybrid, I just had starcraft flashbacks that this was gonna be a lot more difficult. ¡°So, what if it doesn¡¯t work?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll destroy it.¡± ¡°What if you can¡¯t?¡± ¡°I believe I can.¡± From my vines touching it, I was rather sure I could hurt it. I just wasn¡¯t sure how it would respond to a flood of my mana. Kei looked at Alvin. ¡°You think Aeon should have a go at it?¡± Alvin just meh-ed. He was bitter ever since he came here, even if Kei did her best to cheer him up. The fact that her golem could shapeshift meant she could even make herself look like the old Kei. Kei paused and thought. ¡°So, if we wait, you¡¯ll die. Are there alternative healers you know of?¡± Alvin shook his head. ¡°Short of a divine miracle?¡± ¡°I figured.¡± Kei sighed. ¡°Demonic curses are not so easily removed.¡± ¡°So, we have to.¡± - I went in for one last probing check. I touched the parasite crystal, and I could see it growing bit by bit. Its flames attempted to burn my vines but I was protected. ¡®Traitor.¡¯ That was rich coming from a parasite. ¡°You told me you can¡¯t be trusted. I am merely acting on your words and performing the necessary due diligence.¡± ¡®We told you much more than that. Why do you wish to serve the Slavers and the Puppeteers?¡¯ If I managed to convert it, then we could have an honest conversation. But as it is, there was sufficient grounds for a healthy dose of skepticism. Was it goading me? In any case, I avoided the question and asked one of my own. ¡°What happens when I flood you with my mana?¡± ¡®We don¡¯t know. But we will resist you.¡¯ ¡°Why don¡¯t you leave his body?¡± ¡®No. Puppeteer¡¯s mana is key.¡¯ ¡°I believe the hero is innocent. If you leave his body, and he continues to supply you star mana, will you do it?¡± It didn¡¯t reply, but the silence was sufficient to seal the deal. ¡°I hope to win you over to my side with my mana. Turn you into one of mine. I can supply you with star mana should you take this option.¡± ¡®It seems the Kings have to reconsider their plans. The natives are fools. The natives are also just Slavers.¡¯ That... that kinda stung. ¡°Your nature requires the death of the hero. I offer you an option to leave without killing it, and still retain your access to star mana. And now you claim I seek to enslave you?¡± It didn¡¯t respond. ¡®We will have the blood and mana of the puppeteers.¡¯ This was when I knew it had to die. - ¡°So?¡± Kei asked, nervous. Like family members asking the doctors for status updates. ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡± I thought about it. I wanted it out, where I can study it in great detail. As it is, embedded within the hero¡¯s body, my ability to dissect the parasite¡¯s abilities were not great. I believe the star mana it consumed also fed it, and gave it the strength to resist my attempts to probe further. Everything was ready. Alvin slept in my soul forge. I called on the mana from all the nearby sources, and extended my vines into his soul. The parasite¡¯s flames flared, huge, and yet, it did nothing to my vines. My vines, multiple of them appeared from the great beyond and into Alvin¡¯s realm. The vines latched onto the growing crystal. One. Two. Three. Eventually there were hundreds of vines that touched the parasite. ¡®We will not be defeated. We are Legion.¡¯ Oh great. Parasite makes jokes. ¡®We will destroy you.¡¯ My vines glowed from all the mana that passed through. The entire valley was suddenly thick with mana. Anyone with some magical sense could feel the huge pulse of mana that now pulled towards the Valley. My artificial minds helped to stabilise the mana, and assisted with all the calculations. I tapped on their computational power to help manage the thing. The crystal throbbed. It shook. ¡®We will resist.¡¯ The crystal glowed, and flesh emerged. It lashed out and fought with my vines. The flesh released shockwaves, and instantly Alvin was in pain. ¡°He¡¯s in pain! Get it out!¡± Kei spoke whilst connected to me via Patreeck¡¯s mind-projection. The crystal was soon surrounded by a strange flesh-like substance, a muscular object covered with thick purple goo. The flesh then formed appendages, tentacles that lashed out at all of my vines. The star mana around the soul spring swirled, and his soul spring shook from the ripples and waves. It made Alvin tremble. The parasite seemed to be able to partially form a body in this form, and that was fascinating to me. Even as it attempted to swat away all of my vines. It... wasn¡¯t doing a very good job. It was surprisingly weak in this aspect. My vines managed to keep a hold on it, and it seemed to realise that it was losing this battle, so very abruptly, all the flesh just shrunk and retreated back into the crystal, and then it¡¯s flames emerged again. It drained the star mana that poured out of the floating vases in Alvin¡¯s soul realm. It glowed, and I had a bad, bad feeling. Kei seemed to sense it too. ¡°NO! Take it out! Now!¡± My vines immediately wrapped around it, and I activated my [soul forge]¡¯s gateway to transfer it out of the soul realm. The crystal¡¯s tremors clashed with the energies of my soul forge, and it felt like I was trying to pull something massive out of a tiny hole. It glowed even more, the glow seemed to release a kind of wave that caused the soul spring to shake constantly. My standby sensor array was abuzz with readings. I pulled more mana from the surrounding environment. Perhaps I was too early. At a later stage, perhaps it would put up more of a resistance. ¡°Get ready.¡± I signaled Edna and the team to prepare for combat. Once the crystal is out, who knows what it would transform itself into. It was yanked out, and the crystal exploded into a fleshy tentacle monster. Edna had been waiting for this moment. She had Lovis¡¯s abilities all charged up, and in an instant, a rain of magically empowered spears skewered the parasite from all directions. It splattered, and the single red crystal in the middle crumbled. Edna wasn¡¯t holding back. Edna paused. ¡°Was... was that it?¡± The parasite... was destroyed. We checked the surroundings, and at the same time I also looked back at Alvin. His condition rapidly stabilised, as his parasite no longer hindered the flow of star mana to his soul spring. Still, the shock of having the parasite pulled out of his soul realm meant he was unconscious. Edna doubletapped the remains, stabbing each small piece with her spears. ¡°That was... anticlimactic. I expected a harder fight.¡± Patreeck quickly reviewed the data. ¡°It¡¯s energies were unstable and it seemed that the forced extraction weakened it significantly.¡± ¡°I see.¡± It made sense. Things were not made to survive such shifts. Not when it¡¯s not ready. The only thing left was the crumbled remains of the red crystal. My vines quickly gathered it up and placed it in my lab for studies. At that moment, I felt a sensation pass through me. Memories written in crystal form. It wasn¡¯t hard for me to piece it together, Patreeck¡¯s super fast cognitive abilities quickly helped reconnect the data across all the crumbled crystals. It started from where I was, and then suddenly it zoomed out. A large circular world, this world. Then, it shifted, as if a filter was applied. There were... tendrils that stretched out from the world, out into the nothingness. There were easily six of them, maybe more. Some fainter than the others. I felt like something was spinning in my mind. Patreeck and a few of my other artificial minds stepped in to help me untangle the strange messages from the crystals. Then, another filter was applied. I could follow those tendrils now, and soon, I was looking at some kind of... map. A star map. The tendrils were the ¡®paths¡¯ the demons followed. If I am right, these other places were the sources of the demon invasions. Of all of them, one of the tendrils seemed to be a little bit brighter and clearer. [....error. Error. Astral Domain not available. Incompatible domain detected. Skill downgraded] [Skill obtained : Memories of the Starways] [Skill obtained : Sensitivity to the Astral Forces] [Special Tree Type Unlocked : Astreeal Monitor. Unlocks live monitoring of the starways] I paused and I considered my options again. I gathered my senior Valthorns a few days after the incident, to plot our next move. ¡°I believe I have received a skill that allows me to see the arrival of the demons. I will need to wait till the next demon king to prove it.¡± More importantly, my sudden sensitivity to the astral forces immediately made me focus on the [daemolite]. I could now see a faint, wispy gas that seemed to ¡®float¡¯ out of them. The daemolites facilitated the starways. The demons used the starways to invade. If so, destroying the daemolites will help. No, with my ability to view these astral forces, I should hunt down the daemolites wherever they are. I also explained this new reality to them. ¡°Then we must hunt down the daemolite and destroy them.¡± ¡°No, if these things are the key to creating the rifts, then we may use it for our counterattack?¡± ¡°Aeon said there were at least six other tendrils, that meant there¡¯s constantly at least 6 other worlds out there?¡± I wasn¡¯t sure about the tendrils, whether they linked somewhere or not. Or what¡¯s on the other side. I wasn¡¯t even sure whether it¡¯s a good idea to immediately destroy the daemolite. We¡¯ll have to see what we can do. ¡°In any case, let¡¯s gather them up.¡± Ultreemate Power Year 170 Within months a huge pile of daemolite sat in my valley, and with my newfound ¡®vision¡¯ of these wispy energies, I saw them glow. These were... tendrils that reached out into the beyond, and on the other side, are the demon worlds. These daemolites are essentially both markers, and also ¡®ports¡¯. ¡°We should destroy them.¡± Edna said. ¡°Those who support the use of airships will resist.¡± Ah yes. Damned airships. Many of them grounded or unable to fly over the decades as daemolite turned ¡®rare¡¯. Still, there are places where they exist and are still in use. ¡°The merit of delaying the demon king should exceed that.¡± ¡°What evidence do we have to prove that, other than Aeon¡¯s knowledge? Surely Aeon¡¯s words hold sway here, but in the other continents, they would rather retain the advantages of having functional airships than supporting some vague goal of delaying the demon king. We don¡¯t even know if destroying it will cause these links to disappear.¡± ¡°That argument has merit. We can¡¯t test it, and we can¡¯t exactly be sure whether the links rely on the daemolite, or merely augmented by it.¡± The first thing we tested was Stella¡¯s void mana. I suppose it¡¯s a bit oxymoronish that her name, which meant ¡®star¡¯, ended up with ¡®void¡¯ instead of ¡®star mana¡¯. Oh well. Life¡¯s like that. Stella stood and held a big chunk of daemolite, an empty daemolite, before her, and channeled her void mana in. As expected the daemolite, being the battery pack that it was designed to be, eagerly absorbed the void mana. What I wanted her to do was sense where the mana was flowing. Was there leakage? Did some of that leak into these ¡®space tethers¡¯? She closed her eyes, and I used Patreeck¡¯s mind reading abilities to sense what she was feeling. At first, it was just the crystal itself. Nothing much there. I prodded her to keep cycling the void mana, and also ¡®look¡¯ for ¡®exits.¡¯ Nothing... at first. Then suddenly, she felt it. A bit of it slipped into those once-invisible strands, and in my eyes, I saw for a moment like a pulse. She focused her eyes and now that she knew what she was looking for, she pulled more of her void mana swirling within the daemolite, and then pushed it towards that area. To my astral visions, I saw the once wispy lines turned solid. She saw something, as if someone was looking through a tiny peephole. Then her void mana ran out. ¡°I swear I saw light.¡± Stella said, exasperated. ¡°It¡¯s like... the sky? I thought I saw the sky.¡± The peephole was too small. One could not see the vastness of the other world when one¡¯s vision is so small. - Alvin was cured, and within a month his strength returned. Kei was thankful, and Alvin was just glad that he no longer needed to be bound to the magical bed. ¡°I really cannot believe there was such a thing inside me. I mean, I felt like my strength was consistently fading, no matter what I did... but... wow.¡± He was a lot less aggressive now that I fulfilled my promise to heal him. Kei sat next to him. ¡°You¡¯re gonna go bonk your church nuns after this?¡± Alvin laughed. ¡°Uh.. they¡¯re really sweet you know. And hot too.¡± Kei slapped him on the shoulder. ¡°Seriously, that''s because you¡¯re the hero. You think they¡¯ll give you the time of day if you were just anyone else?¡± Alvin sighed. ¡°I know. That¡¯s why I¡¯m taking advantage of it. I know they don¡¯t really ¡®love¡¯ me, but who cares right. The gods promised us a happy ending, so I¡¯m having it. At least I get to satisfy my urges and fulfill all those dreams I had when I was a young horny bastard of a kid.¡± ¡°You¡¯re being an ass.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± ¡°Yes you are. Tell me why didn¡¯t you come and help me when I sent word that the demon king is coming?¡± ¡°We... we didn¡¯t know you would fight it so quickly!¡± ¡°Oh come on don¡¯t lie.¡± Kei said. ¡°Though, I suppose thanks to that, I¡¯m a living golem that¡¯s biologically immortal. So I have to thank you for that.¡± ¡°Speaking of which. Are you still... you?¡± Alvin actually asked. ¡°You know the whole ship of Theseus thing? Are you still you if you¡¯re made of fragments of you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think about that shit. I ain¡¯t smart like that. If you think I¡¯m me, then that¡¯s good enough. I think I¡¯m still me, and as far as I care, that¡¯s all that matters.¡± Alvin thought about it. ¡°True, true.¡± ¡°Now don¡¯t change the subject, what were you doing back then when the demon king arrived.¡± ¡°Look, I know the temple¡¯s not been very transparent with information with me, but they are good people. They try to do what they think is best for the world, even if it¡¯s a bit... messed up. So, when I got the message and I spoke to the temples about it, they said I still have a lot of time, since heroes don¡¯t immediately engage the demon king once it arrives. That¡¯s how it always was. I didn¡¯t know that you¡¯ve found a way to check where the demon king is arriving and you rigged the whole area to blow.¡± ¡°That¡¯s Aeon¡¯s role.¡± ¡°I mean, yes. How?¡± ¡°Aeon¡¯s secret.¡± ¡°Secrets means there is something to hide. We¡¯re the heroes, why should they hide it from us?¡± ¡°A tree has some secrets, and I suggest you live with it.¡± Kei responded. ¡°I think that he managed to heal you is sufficient merit to earn that level of trust.¡± Alvin sighed. ¡°Look, the temples told me weird shit that¡¯s been happening in the central continent. They¡¯re saying that Aeon¡¯s have the ability to manipulate dungeons and stuff. Real playing-both-sides shit. Are you aware of that?¡± ¡°You think Aeon¡¯s playing both sides?¡± ¡°Well... yeah? Why then does his powers allow it to control dungeons, supposedly powered by the same energy source as the demons?¡± ¡°Have you verified that dungeons are powered by the same source? Have you even seen him do it?¡± ¡°Uh...¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t, right? It¡¯s just things the temple is saying.¡± ¡°The temples got it from their oracles, who supposedly can tap into the system to uh... harvest information.¡± ¡°I thought oracles speak to their gods. And seriously, why do you trust the oracles either?¡± ¡°Well, she¡¯s kinda cute and all.¡± ¡°You slept with the oracle.¡± ¡°Uh... yeah.¡± Alvin¡¯s face blushed. ¡°She was telling me all this stuff while we¡¯re in bed. It¡¯s kinda sexy to be honest.¡± Kei facepalmed. ¡°Dude. That¡¯s too much info.¡± ¡°Oh come on don¡¯t be a prude, Kei. We¡¯re not kids anymore. We¡¯ve lived in this world for decades now. I swear I¡¯ll regret it if I don¡¯t live the life I want, now that I have the chance to do it.¡± ¡°Ugh. Men.¡± Kei rolled her eyes. ¡°You know what¡¯s your problem, Kei? No one even dares to approach you. Not with that scary aura of yours.¡± ¡°You¡¯re lecturing me now? Enough. Let¡¯s stop this conversation.¡± Alvin¡¯s face straightened. ¡°Yeah. I mean, I think Aeon¡¯s playing both sides. At least, the temples suspect that he has some dabblings with the demons. The fact that he wanted to even ¡®keep¡¯ the parasite tells you enough that he has other goals in mind.¡± ¡°And what might that be?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe it wants the demon king¡¯s powers for itself?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what I know. Aeon is a god-in-the-making. It¡¯s going to be a true god one day. All this ¡®playing¡¯ on both sides, as far as I can tell, is Aeon testing the limits of its powers, on how far its powers work on us, and them.¡± Alvin stared right at Kei. ¡°And that excuses it exploring the demonic powers?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been here for some time, and yes, I can tell his presence persists even in the Rottedlands, but it has been for the greater good. It is willing to sacrifice hundreds, no, tens of thousands if it achieves a greater goal of permanently ending the disaster that is the demon king.¡± ¡°Is that what Aeon wants to do? Are you sure, Kei? From what I see, or to the rest of the temples, Aeon¡¯s actions so far are more of that of a ¡®God-Emperor¡¯. It¡¯s attempting to dominate the entire world to it¡¯s cause, and wouldn¡¯t let either demons, or heroes get in its way. First it started with an area, now it conquered the Central continent. It will eventually want to rule the world, Kei. There is no room for sharing with the other 4 temples in its structure.¡± ¡°The temples started the crusades.¡± ¡°Some say it¡¯s Aeon who first chased out the priests.¡± ¡°The temples will not accept an arrangement less than equals.¡± ¡°The temples have no right to demand equality, not with a god.¡± Kei responded. ¡°And this is why the temples and Aeon will fight.¡± Alvin said. ¡°They don¡¯t see a future of coexistence.¡± ¡°Can coexistence happen when they¡¯ve fought crusades? You must remember that the temples forced Aeon to conquer the continent.¡± ¡°The temples see it as a convenient excuse.¡± Kei sat. ¡°This conflict¡¯s too deep to untangle, isn¡¯t it?¡± Alvin nodded. ¡°Yep. The temples, once used to the existing status quo now have to contend with a rising global power with a supposed god at its helm. Conflict is inevitable. World wars have occured for less. I''m pretty sure they know where I am. They have a tracking spell on me anyway.¡± ¡°...tracking spell?¡± Kei wasn¡¯t sure about such things. But I have anti-magic formations and shields around the entire Freshka area. I believe they should still work to prevent him from being detected. I think they should. I didn¡¯t detect any magical incursions, yet. ¡°Yeah. And now I get to walk free. They¡¯ll know I¡¯ve been here.¡± ¡°What if we offer a peace offering? That we return you back to the capital secretly, at let the temples claim the right to say they¡¯ve healed you?¡± Kei asked. ¡°I mean, I really don¡¯t want this thing to start a war between the continents again. There¡¯s been enough of this shit.¡± Alvin nodded. ¡°...could work.¡± - While the heroes chatted, Edna and Lumoof returned to their subterranean dungeon hunting. Something they observed recently was that the frequency of spawns from the Level 130 and Level 120 dungeons were getting slower. It¡¯s as if it was getting exhausted. So, as I zoomed in my senses on the ley lines around the area, I noted that the energies were weakening. It seemed that these magical ley lines can support lower tier dungeons easily, but high level dungeons seemed to exhaust the ley lines more than it can naturally restore itself. I would have to repeat the act of tweaking ley lines more often, in order to keep their growth up. Still, Lumoof was really close to it. ¡°What do you think I¡¯ll get?¡± Lumoof asked Edna as a joke, as they took a break outside the underground dungeon. A small town was built many years ago, the area filled with magical lighting to make it feel normal. He no longer looked like the really old man that he once was. Now, he resembled a really fit and healthy mid 40s man. ¡°I have no idea.¡± Edna shrugged. ¡°Aeon said the domains are specific to you. Based on your class, and your history.¡± Lumoof thought about it. ¡°I was just level 85 just 15 years ago. If it¡¯s based on my history, I¡¯d be a beggar, or perhaps a thief?¡± Lumoof was a migrant, who soon found himself tangled in the Valthorns many years ago, and over time, gradually moved up the ranks. I quickly power-leveled Lumoof by letting him consume a huge amount of level seeds, so that he hit level 125. Humanoid classes merged once they hit somewhere around level 100 to 125... well, except for [hero]. That class refused mergers, at least to my knowledge. I recall Jura had an event when he hit Level 100 and his lesser classes just ¡®merged¡¯ into his main class. Or was it just a fade-away? . ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s just get that final level and find out, shall we?¡± Lumoof stood, and Edna joined him in another attempt at the Level 130 dungeon. - It took 6 months of fighting the dungeon, though almost 5 months of it was mostly waiting for the dungeon¡¯s energies to respawn and open up for ¡®invaders¡¯. Finally, Lumoof did it. In a flash, he levelled up, and that moment, he somehow ¡®sucked¡¯ up the dungeons¡¯ energies and it crumbled. The squad quickly fled the crumbling dungeon, and back to the underground town. The tunnels were unharmed. After they checked that everyone was fine, they regrouped, and Edna asked. ¡°I felt a pulse.¡± Before we could ask Lumoof what his choices were, I felt a surge pass through my entire network of roots, and then... everywhere. [Lumoof has elected to be a Subdomain of Aeon] [Strength of all Aeon¡¯s domain abilities strengthened] [Strength of all Aeonic Classes enhanced] [Strength of all Aeonic Familiars enhanced[ [Lumoof has gained the ability : Avatar of Aeon] [Lumoof¡¯s soul has now been eternally bound to you] [You have gained the ability to see through Lumoof¡¯s eyes and share in his senses] [You may communicate with Lumoof anywhere in the world] I suddenly felt... dirty. ¡°Lumoof.¡± I said, I mean, why? ¡°Did you have other choices?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He said. ¡°But I knew for a long time that my choice would be to empower the one who changed the world. So, those choices do not matter. Not yet.¡± At that moment, I felt guilty. Like maybe I should¡¯ve been a lot more trusting. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°If Edna is your shield, then I shall be your voice and your fist.¡± He said. - Now Lumoof was also Level 150, and he gained a vast array of druid-like abilities courtesy of the Avatar ability, it was time to help the rest get to that level. I¡¯d have to spend some time subtly guiding the ley lines. - Meanwhile, our attempts to dig underground throughout the continent yielded lesser cities. There were many other buried cities we discovered that were not as lucky or well equipped as the Margmarian Dwarves. There were a few interesting finds, like ancient weapons, magical formations, but most of them were just not as pristine as those found in the Margmarian city. Perhaps there would be more on the other side. - < Another one steps into the domain > > Indeed. < I responded to Lilies. > If you know it, the temples know it. < < They would. > - Alvin left and returned to the Northern Isles, with his powers returned, he has a locust problem to solve. Already the last 2 years had been exceptionally annoying in terms of food security, since these damned pests were really persistent and their numbers were high. Kei didn¡¯t go with him. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you chose to stay when you two seemed to have gotten closer.¡± ¡°Nah. If I spend too much time around him I¡¯ll hate him again. That¡¯s just how it is.¡± Kei shrugged. ¡°Besides, I need to help Stella with her void mana stuff. What you found out was really cool.¡± I¡¯m still waiting for that zaratan to return. Lilies has sent word, but it seems it will be some time before that turtle even comes back. Stella¡¯s void mana control, and also amount was insufficient to open a large portal across the worlds, and she also made an interesting observation. Some ¡®paths¡¯ were easier than others, and over time, she said, she was pretty sure each of them was getting stronger. In fact, one of them was significantly easier than the rest. Why? Why were some paths easier? Spaizzer Thanks for reading. Also, I''d like to give some shoutouts for a few fics. Do you like monsters? Do you like monsters invading earth? (Sorta) Read this! -> https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/43958/breaker-of-horizons Do you like time loops? I do. So here''s a relatively new timeloop, that was on trending recently. If you haven''t read it, you should - > https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/41477/truth-seeker-a-litrpg-timeloop Nutty Friends Year 171 It was strange to see and feel through Lumoof once more. ¡°Your eyes are glowing.¡± Edna said. ¡°That¡¯s because Aeon is here.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Edna laughed. ¡°So do your eyes glow every time he is there?¡± ¡°I think so?¡± The way it works is that there¡¯s two states to the Avatar. In the off-state, I can only feel, hear and see through him, but I cannot control him. In the on-state, he became the vessel of my power, and it was like my entire presence was there. To have humanoid sensations again was really rather awkward. These feelings were so familiar. This very act meant Lumoof could speak to me mentally, and I had access to his mind, should he choose to reveal it to me. All in, it was strange. ¡°I consider this progress.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°Consider how useless I was during the battle with the demon king. This means I can be of some use! Sorry, I mean, Aeon can be of some use!¡± Lumoof laughed as he joked about it. Though he looked younger, his jokes were still very... old. Edna merely shrugged. ¡°Good point.¡± The avatar, combined with my existing Court of the Deitree essentially meant I could participate in any battle relatively risk free. In short, Lumoof¡¯s decision to elect himself as my subdomain pretty much solved one of the key problems I faced. Projecting force at a distance. In fact, I¡¯d be keen to test whether this avatar even works across worlds. My view is, it should. It goes through the system. The system is this ever present thing that transcends all. - Through the avatar, there were many things that I saw for the first time. The insides of my dungeons. How Freshka looked through the eyes of a local. The random unnamed spaces where I did not place my [eyes]. How noisy it was in the cities. Because it took some time for me to rectify the ¡®drained¡¯ dungeons, both Edna and Lumoof could stop their dungeon diving. It also didn¡¯t make sense for both of them to be present and slow down the growth of the other level 125-130 Valthorns like Roon, Johann etc. Lumoof and Edna had a lot of practicing to do, in that their domains leaked a presence that pressed on those around them. Those in the higher levels, such as the Valthorns are less affected by it, but when they walked in the streets, it often caused unintentional faintings, and some crazed mumblings. There are also cases of hysteria and inexplicable yellings, cured by a big dose of calming tea concentrate. ¡°So this happens all the time?¡± Lumoof asked, surprised by how easily those weaker than him seemed to suffer from just being around him. ¡°Yes?¡± I always thought it was my [Haunted Forest] skills, but I suppose the domain itself has a kind of ¡®authority¡¯ presence. It worked a lot less to those of a higher levels. Edna was a lot better at controlling her own domain energies, but that¡¯s also partly because her domain is her own and she got hers a few years earlier. Lumoof¡¯s domain is linked to mine, so to some extent, it feels a little ¡®foreign¡¯. With two ¡®demi-gods¡¯ on my side, I felt quite good. - Alvin returned to the northern isles with little fanfare. The northern temples wisely chose to keep the entire incident quiet. Once he returned, he swiftly crushed the locust nests with his restored power. That was the end of the locusts. - Lausanne, Kei and Stella continued their experiments with the daemolite and void mana. Stella was approaching level 70s as a [void mage], spurred on by her recent exploits with daemolite and the ¡®astral paths¡¯. I have a few speculations. One, void mana may not be the only way to travel through space and time. The gods must have used something else to send the heroes here, and I do not think they use void mana, since star mana and void mana reacted violently with each other. Even with the daemolite as the battery, she was only able to open a small hole, and she saw nothing but a bright light. Still, she was able to maintain her connection for a bit longer than before, even if it¡¯s a tiny bit. Some paths were easier than the others, and the one that ¡®brightest¡¯ to me, was the easiest. - > You seek our knowledge of the void? < Vallasira finally returned, and he magically appeared in a pond in the Valley of the Unrotten. He seemed to have some kind of ability to just ¡®teleport¡¯ to any sufficiently large body of water. < Yes. I have a human [void mage], and I now possess some knowledge of the starways. > > The starways are but one way to travel through the stars. < Alright, point noted. < Can you teach? > > ...if she is worthy. Bring her here. < Stella came and saw the giant zaratan for the first time. To her, the Zaratan was a massive being, the size of a small building, with a head the size of a truck. She walked closer to the zaratan, and briefly, Stella¡¯s hand touched the legs of the massive zaratan. I sensed some kind of magic at that moment, yet I do not recognise it. The two shared a look. > It seems she is. I shall take her away for a while. < < For how long? > > Years if needed. The art of the void is vast, and I will need to seek counsel and guidance. < ¡°Stella, are you willing to go with Vallasira?¡± Stella nodded. Vallasira bent his legs and a magical stairs appeared that led to his back. There was a small island on his back after all, but I saw a hut magically appear then. Stella climbed. < I will take her to the other worlds, and allow her to experience the ways of the void. > Stella briefly spoke. ¡°Tell Kei and Lausanne that this is my training power up arc. I¡¯ll be back!¡± If I could my mentally roll my eyes, I would. But I humored her. ¡°Certainly.¡± Kei laughed when I repeated Stella¡¯s words. Lausanne didn¡¯t get it so she just looked lost. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a thing from back home, where main characters go on training arcs and emerge more powerful. It¡¯s just a trope.¡± - Year 172 I was still tweaking the ley lines to create a new Level 120 and Level 130 dungeon. In fact, I was hoping to go further and create a Level 140 dungeon. These fickle natural mana flows are really hard, and are a bit like believing in feng shui or some qi-flow bullshit. It¡¯s really unpredictable. - Kei prepared for the next demon king, mainly by practicing. Now that she felt and saw Edna and Lumoof¡¯s presence, she too wanted to get that strong again. By Patreeck¡¯s own calculation they are around 50% of a hero¡¯s strength on an overall basis, though effective strength against a demon king would probably be lower. If Level 150 makes them 50% stronger, does that mean I¡¯m already as strong as a hero (in a non-demon king situation)? Kei quickly demanded to have access to those dungeons, as she would like to be there for Alvin the next time. But after thinking about her situation, I thought that wasn¡¯t the best use of her current skillsets and condition. So I called her to the valley, alone. ¡°You and I have something in common at this point.¡± Kei paused. ¡°And what would that be?¡± ¡°We are both beings with long lives.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want you to lose your life so easily. Help me with my goal. With our long lives, we should aim for something bigger than just stopping one demon king.¡± Kei sat on a wooden stool in the circle of trees. ¡°I wish to end this cycle of heroes and demons. If I can¡¯t stop the cycle, then I wish to hide the world away from their influence, and end the destruction that comes with the cycles. I have some ideas how, but these goals require those with long lives, as the pieces that we need to move are slow, and our knowledge of the greater world incomplete.¡± Kei sighed. ¡°If I was still a hero, the gods would know, wouldn¡¯t they?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That book the previous heroes left behind, was it one of your ideas? To help free the heroes from the cycle?¡± ¡°No. They came up with it. But it aligned with my goals.¡± ¡°You¡¯re telling this to me now, because you think I¡¯ll be wasting my abilities if I go fight with Alvin against the next demon king, isn¡¯t that right? Withs my immortality, I should make the most of it.¡± The golem paced the room and just sighed. ¡°...I need some time to think about it.¡± - Meanwhile, I noticed that all the starways are brighter now, though one of them, the one that was previously the brightest, somehow got even brighter. All of them are brighter. What does this even mean? Too bad Stella¡¯s still on her power up training, so I have no way of reaching her. - I checked on Reefy. He¡¯s expanding his domain and he acquired some new fish-fighters. They looked a bit like an underwater lovechild of a fish and a goblin. < What are those? > > Seapeople < < Seapeople? > > Yes. People that live in the sea. They can talk a bit. I created them. < Wait. Wait a minute? How did a Reef Mind thing create people? < How? > > System created skill. [Seafantry]. Creates these seapeople. Like your soldiers. < < Ooooh that is nice. What can they say? > > Yes. No. Enemy Spotted. Food Spotted. < Ah. So they are more like beetles than actual people. Not exactly intelligent creatures. < That¡¯s good. How¡¯s everything? Is everything okay? > I suppose I sound like a parent checking in on a child that has been playing alone for some time. > Yes. Nothing that can threaten me. Everything else has been killed. < Well, the area that Reefy inhabits is mostly a big blank space to me, but so far, it seems he¡¯s keeping everything under control. < That¡¯s good. > - The Demon King Durthal was slain is Year 167. So, effectively, on a 10 year cycle, the demon king should descend in year 177. The rifts will appear 2 years before that. Our attention shifts to the South, and also to the West. Central, North and East had their demon king events recently, so if there is some kind of ¡®rotation¡¯ going on, it should head to the untouched continents. Of course, that¡¯s just me. The data indicates that there¡¯s no such rotation happening, nor does the demon king complete a full circuit of all continents. It¡¯s not unusual for it to hit the same continent twice or even three times in a span of 50-60 years. The other temples and continents maintain a policy of non-engagement, and generally refuse to deal with me publicly... except for the church of Aiva. The Aivan church one again secretly sent an envoy. ¡°Our god decreed that we should seek your force¡¯s training. Our god wishes for our temple to grow in strength. For our military to move up.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°We will switch sides and break from the other three churches. Our god has decreed it fine to split.¡± This... was not predicted. But should I cooperate with the churches, even if I worked against their gods? ¡°I will need some time to deliberate this offer.¡± Was it a trap? ¡°Edna, Lumoof, what do you think of this offer?¡± I summoned all of my Valthorns with Level 100 or above, and also a selected group of other individuals and presented the envoy¡¯s argument. The Aivan church offered a formal alliance and to cut off with the other three churches of Hawa, Gaya and Neira. Alka, my field scientist responsible for my crystal bombs was the first to posit an argument. ¡°If we look at the records we have access to, the ancient cities worshipped different gods. That suggests that the gods themselves are perhaps transitory in nature, that their influence over the world rises, and also ebbs to some unknown cycle. If the Aivan church is fading, then this alliance is useless to us. As it is, the Aivan church offers us only trade, which is already happening secretly.¡± ¡°Formal recognition would pave the way for our spread on the other continents.¡± One Valthorn suggested. ¡°Which god needs other gods for recognition?¡± Lumoof shot that down quickly. ¡°Each god stands on their own merit.¡± Alka nodded. ¡°Thus, the offer for alliance, and military training is lopsided. The Aivan church gets most of the benefits, and few drawbacks.¡± A point which I agreed to. The Aivan church has nothing to offer me. One of the other Patreearchs, a Level 104 [Aeonic Faithweaver], one of Lumoof¡¯s juniors, argued differently. ¡°That may be true, but we should not see this as a cost-benefit analysis. Our role as a religion is to spread, and we often will incur losses to do so. Taking this deal allows us to claim that even the great Aivan church has been humbled. That our single faith is stronger than the other 3 gods. That is a great victory for that reason alone.¡± Also a point I agree to. Accepting this meant one of the churchs signalled to the rest of their followers that I am superior to the 3, and that will shake the faith of those who believe in the 3 other gods. It¡¯s a loss to us operationally, but morally and spiritually, a win. There was a murmur of agreement among the Valthorns too. ¡°Doesn¡¯t this also mean we also agree to deal with Aiva as equals? We are different from them, their gods nowhere to be seen, occasionally dispensing divine messages and blessings.¡± ¡°And they would take this as an opportunity to learn our abilities and strengths.¡± ¡°I am sure they already know some of our strengths anyway.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see what¡¯s the problem if they know our strength. They should fear us, and know that we are superior.¡± ¡°We should only engage if this arrangement is one where we are seen as the superior one. That this is our ¡®kindness¡¯ to the Aivan church.¡± ¡°Blood has been spilled in the past. Some kingdoms will see this as a weakening.¡± ¡°The crusades and the naval blockades ended three decades ago. We have generations of young that do not remember the blockades. We even have Arjan here, who was born after the blockades.¡± Arjan was a relatively young centaur, only in his late 20s who reached Level 100 recently. His combat experience was mostly through the dungeons, but his stratospheric rise began when he was 10, when somehow, despite not having parents who were Valthorns, he himself acquired the [Blessing of the Soul Tree]. ¡°If we never let go of past feuds, we should slaughter every single kingdom on our continent. Every kingdom has gone to war with each other some time in the past.¡± That was also a valid point. Surely there must be a time for peace. ¡°Are we missing the forest for the trees? Aeon¡¯s goal is to break the cycle. That¡¯s why all of us are here. Does this get us there? No, will allying with the Aivan church help this cause? We will go to war with the heroes, and the gods one day. If the Aivan church will be our enemy, then let it be so. We now speak from a position of strength. Let us not make friends, and later stab them in the back. If they are our enemy, it will be better on our consciousness, and the honor of our class as [Knights], to be clear of our position.¡± That was a knight¡¯s argument, and Edna nodded. But is there truly no path for us? Must the cycle be broken through ¡®war¡¯? As I thought about it, it wasn¡¯t a question anyone present could answer. No, the only person that can answer, is perhaps their head priests. The triumvirs. I summoned the envoy. ¡°I wish to speak to your triumvirs and your god. All 3 of them, and they must come prepared with the means to communicate with your god.¡± The envoy quickly responded, ¡°That... that¡¯s too much.¡± ¡°If your god decreed that the Aivan church is to have a pact, then your god or those who speak for him should come and speak to me himself. Else, it certainly doesn¡¯t seem sincere, and your god clearly does not regard me as equals to send someone to do their own task. Send them here, or there is no chance for this to work.¡± The envoy gulped and nodded. He left quickly, on the fastest ships to return east. - Kei finally gave an answer to my request. ¡°I will go and fight with Alvin, and support him where I can. I would like to request for your strongest bombs, becauseI know that my place is not in direct conflict with the demon king. I will still go, but I will not risk myself unnecessarily. I think.¡± It wasn¡¯t a very good answer, clearly she wanted to have her cake and eat it too. But very well, I don¡¯t get many chances to have immortal friends and allies. I need a lot more than just Lumoof, Edna and Lilies. ¡°Then you will have it.¡± Sacred Lotus Year 173 Alvin remained in contact with Kei this time, and through him, we learned that the northern temples pretty much let the ¡®kidnapping¡¯ pass. With Alvin¡¯s restored powers, he regained his harem and went back to his baby making ways. Though, from what he said, he claims he treats them better. Alvin shared stories about his ¡®mates¡¯, the oracle girl, the priestesses, the adventurers and various elven companions. He had a thing for their long ears. Kei just sighed. - I was working on my own version of the parasite. Now that I learned that it¡¯s possible to create parasites that can consume one¡¯s mana, I thought about whether the parasite could be used for medical purposes, Consider that if a curse fed on a person¡¯s mana spring, would the process of ¡®drying¡¯ out the mana cause the curse to die off? Of course, this required another massive collection exercise, where my Valthorns gathered various types of plants, bugs and fungi, for my biolabs¡¯ analysis. Many of them I¡¯ve seen before at one point throughout the decades, and also had analysed them, but perhaps researching them and testing them for their mana consumption ability wasn¡¯t something I considered. Truly, it is hard to imagine what could be done, until it was already done. I also had to figure out how to create things that can ¡®tunnel¡¯ or ¡®embed¡¯ itself into another person¡¯s soul spring. Like, how did the parasite do it? The soul realm¡¯s meant to be a place where one doesn¡¯t easily enter, unless you are a tree that dabbles in soul-related matters, like me! I mean, could I put a parasite into another person? So... I tested it. I had a bunch of criminals, hah, we still have those despite my near omnipresent surveillance state, especially those on death row, for experiments. They failed... at first. The first few attempts didn¡¯t go well, but then I soon started encasing the plants with a specially attuned mana. Just like when I attempted to fix Jura¡¯s hand. It worked for a while... and then fizzled out because the tree-parasite samples I had couldn¡¯t generate their own mana so they could not sustain the attunement. Alright, I found one way to do it. How did the parasite do it? Did they start with the assumption that the parasite will eat up all ¡®defenses¡¯? Is mana actually a form of soul defense emitted by the soul spring? Or is it something about the material which allowed it to do so? In a way, this was similar to the rift mana attunement, since each rift had a particular resonance. It seemed to me that the demons are masters of mana frequencies, if their parasites could even resonate with their host. I wanted to know whether there are natural equivalents, surely the demons are not the first to adopt this strategy in the world. So, I instructed my artificial minds to ¡®datamine¡¯ my large library of books, and my records of all the biological samples I had. My biolabs also started large scale breeding programmes of naturally occurring parasites. My goal was to cultivate mana-attuned parasites that could mimic the resonance-mimicking qualities of the demons. At the same time, I revisited Hytreerion¡¯s physical structure. I wondered whether it was a ¡®materials¡¯ thing. That perhaps the demonic ¡®flesh¡¯ is just naturally mana-sensitive and thus adopts the mana of its host. This meant my earlier success with the ¡®capture¡¯ of the demons was also due to their naturally ¡®mana-sensitive¡¯ state. My earlier difficulty with converting other objects may be due to the materials they are made of. Hytreerion gained some levels during the battle with the demon king, but has since then stagnated. Levelling him up has been challenging, simply because he was too large to explore a dungeon. In fact, both of my Titans are massive. Patreeck¡¯s physical structure, his [Grand Mind Tree] was also too large. Could I get a ¡®titan¡¯ level performance without the size? I suppose they won¡¯t be titans, then? - As calm and relief returned to the wider world, we were back at our technological research. > How long will Vallasira take the girl away? < I asked Lilies one fine day, when they shared about their experience dealing with dead bodies decaying in the lake. Lilies revealed that they maintained a large number of flesh-eating creatures that lived in their lake, and they consumed the corpses given by the corpse. < We won¡¯t know. > I thought a few years was a bit long, but I guess it¡¯s common for training arcs to be decade long. > What was the longest period of peace you¡¯ve seen? < I asked, curious. < Depends on the definition of the term, ¡®peace¡¯. > Lilies responded, being rather technical about it. < We had periods were the demons did not bother us for centuries, as they were consumed with battles elsewhere. > > Huh. < < But if you consider periods when the fewest died to the demons... perhaps this is it. Except that bomb. > > What would you have done if that bomb was a little bit nearer? < I wondered how they would cope with the apocalyptic sludge. < We would give up the surface, and retreat into the lake. But almost everyone who lived on the surface will die, and we would have to start over. > > That would be bad. < < Indeed. > Lilies was rather nonchalant about the whole affair. < We hear of your ¡®avatar¡¯. Would you like to come visit? There are places we can show you, and something we¡¯d like to give you. > > Oh. < That was a good idea. Being a tree, my visual sensation of the world has always been through my trees, but I have not been able to see Lilies up close and personal, since my trees were all on the shore. In fact, I could even visit the other continents if Lumoof went there! > I will have him visit. < - The Aivan church sent a message, delivered by another envoy. It merely said that the Triumvir needed to consult with their god, and that their divine consultation will take some time. Oh well. - Lumoof arrived with little fanfare. I wasn¡¯t a fan of big welcoming ceremonies, and so I made a general ban, unless there was some kind of big victory or achievement. Lilies was incredibly understanding, somehow a part of them had those experiences, perhaps they inherited those memories from the dead people. ¡°I¡¯ve actually never been here.¡± Lumoof explained as I saw the lake through his eyes. Slowly the many lily pads moved to form a bridge to the shoreline. Lumoof didn¡¯t wear any particularly special attire, and his basic adventurer outfit made him look ordinary. There were thousands of other travellers, merchants that were waiting for the scheduled ¡®landbridge¡¯ to the larger pads that formed Lilies¡¯ main city. ¡°Well, it¡¯s my first time too.¡± Lumoof was accompanied by two Valthorns who were also disguised as ordinary adventurers. They were just folks in the mid tier, in their level 50s and 60s. Honestly, in any real combat, Lumoof¡¯s sheer levels meant he would be carrying their asses. They were in the middle of the line and finally it was their turn. Still, this was only possible after Lumoof mastered his control over the subdomain, else everyone would feel his overwhelming presence. There were some folks checking papers at the entrance, and they collected a tax based on goods brought in. Lumoof paid, and they were waved in. I felt the very faint wobbliness of the lilypad for the first time, and it was unnerving. I had a huge urge to get back to land. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to enjoy it.¡± Lumoof mentally responded at my discomfort. ¡°I forget how being on a boat felt.¡± Centuries of being landbound... The lilypad was very stable. The lake itself didn¡¯t have large waves, and the lilypad¡¯s movement was extremely smooth. Yet my senses still felt it, the subtle ripples at the edges. The lily pads closest to shore were smaller, but as one progressively approached the center, the pads became larger, and the buildings more massive. Some were carved out of the flesh of the lilypad itself. The largest lilypads were extremely thick and wide, and some of them naturally hollow, like lotus roots. The citizens in the city expanded the hollowness to form rooms and living spaces, so the windows and doors were frequently roundish or oval, reflecting their origins. The taller towers were made from harvested materials, and they were a special class, the [Lilypad Builders]. They molded the lilypad itself into the supporting structures, such that the buildings are bonded to the lily. There were some other Valthorns present, often on regular trade missions, or just training, As Lilies¡¯ lake is well within the central continent, they were considered to be one of the ¡®allied¡¯ states, and were one of the few functionally independent states on the continent. After all, Lilies was one of my few immortal friends, and I didn¡¯t want to drag them into the whole politics. Still, the citizens who lived on their lilypads were quick to shift gears and align themselves with me. ¡°Greetings visitors, I will be your guide today.¡± A lady in a dark grey vest approached us and said with a bow. She passed a card over, which indicated that she was one of the many sanctioned tour guides for the Lilypad City. Lilies said we could engage any of their day-tour guides, so we did. Lumoof nodded. ¡°Greetings indeed.¡± She smiled, and led the way. ¡°So, is this a common arrangement, for a guide to explain everything?¡± Lumoof asked. ¡°It wasn¡¯t before, but in the recent decades, there was a boom in travel by the nobility, and so we set up dedicated guides to benefit from the tourist money.¡± The guide explained with ease. ¡°Many other sights around the continent have similar services these days, though we are one of the first, and our city clearly has way more history than the others.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Lilypad city is one of the few cities in the world to have survived centuries of demons and monsters.¡± We know that. ¡°So some of our practices are often strange to outsiders. The few things we will cover today, are our floating deaths, our lake harvests followed with a lakefood tasting and have lunch, a brief tour of the recent building sites to view the unique work of our [Lilypad Builders], and then lastly, a tour of the Lily Temples and the Deep Stairs.¡± I was familiar with the practice of floating deaths, it was something we researched back when we designed our own death ceremonies. Yet, to see the dead floated out to the lake and then sunk for myself is still something. I had heard of the flower garlands and accompaniments that went with corpses, but to see how varied it was, and how wealth determined the size of the boats that carried the corpse was also eye opening. ¡°It¡¯s a fascinating ritual.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°I presume this is Lilies¡¯ method of harvesting souls?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Lilies was a soul tree, and indeed, it harvested souls when the corpses were sunk into the lake. Indeed, now that I am in the Giant Lilypod City itself, I could feel Lilies presence, it was everywhere. In a way, the lake itself is Lilies, not just the city. Their roots therefore must cover the entire lakebed for it to be so. Then, we had lunch. A collection of fishes, some small lotus plants and seeds, stir fried. After that, we visited one of the newer lily pads, and walked their magical rope-bridges. I was afraid of the rope bridges. The swaying when the two massive lily pads moved so subtly made me feel dizzy. Lumoof wasn¡¯t, and yet he noticed my discomfort. ¡°I suppose a tree must feel uncomfortable with such movement.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I really felt dizzy, and Lumoof made it quick. The Lilypod Builders were part-druid, part-builders, since their little rituals and movements resembled that of druids, where they called on magic to ¡®grow¡¯ the Lilypad into the supporting pillars. These were the beginners. The lady soon brought us to a beautiful demonstration of a master, where the lilypad itself seemed to bulge up and then peel apart to reveal a beautifully completed structure. Then, the Lily Temples. It was located on the largest, and some say the oldest lily pad. A massive structure molded from the flesh of the Lily Pad itself, it was an imposing, ominous sight. ¡°This is where the King convenes with the Will of the Lake.¡± The guide explained briefly. Lumoof nodded. ¡°So this is their valley.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Here, I could feel Lilies¡¯ presence was strong, but not the strongest. I believe their true body somewhere beneath the lake, no, it¡¯s spread throughout the lake, they are the collective will derived from the mass of roots and tubes underwater. Smart, and explains how they survived for so long. ¡°Could we go in?¡± Lumoof asked the guide, and the guide shook her head. ¡°Access is only for those chosen by the will.¡± It was then a strange, masked man approached the group. ¡°Guide, the Will have spoken that this man will be allowed entrance.¡± He wore a mask that formed the shape of a fish, but it was a fearsome one with massive teeth and two black eyes. Strange. Lumoof nodded but asked about the two accompanying Valthorns. ¡°My friends?¡± ¡°Only you.¡± This time, the fishmask man led us into the temple. There was nothing inside, except a large spiral staircase that led downwards into the lake bed. We walked down... and the fish masked man stopped. ¡°This is where I stop. Please go ahead. The will awaits.¡± The staircase got narrow, and the walls closed in. Lumoof had to keep going. But it kept going and going down, and it took an hour to get to the very bottom, where we reached a large room at the end. It was very dark, but then a faint magical light turned on, and revealed thousands of skulls, overgrown with roots. Then, all the thousands of skulls moved, each of them had one little fire in their eye socket. It spoke in unison, in a choirlike voice quite familiar to me. The skulls rattled and their jaws moved. ¡°We welcome the avatar of the tree, to the roots of our ancient body.¡± This wasn¡¯t their true body, but perhaps this was close enough. If their intent was to scare the living hells out of anyone, this was pretty effective. ¡°We are made from the minds and memories of the thousands that died, and we cull and select the best of the dead to form us.¡± Lumoof nodded, here, Lilies¡¯ presence was overwhelming, but he was unfazed. He too, was already a step into the divine. ¡°We thank you for coming, and we wish to show you an item. Something we found recently, when it washed up on our shores.¡± Lilies said again, and the skulls shuffled around. Then, one of the roots moved and dragged out a large chunk of broken wood. At a glance, it looked like any other driftwood, but when we examined it in greater detail, we noticed strange marks. It¡¯s a set of symbols. ¡°It¡¯s etched with words we do not understand. Runes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s from another ancient time.¡± ¡°Yes. But we fear to reveal it to the wider world. So we keep it here.¡± Lumoof examined it, and then pointed at a row. ¡°These symbols I''ve seen once, in Margmar. I can¡¯t remember where ..¡± But I could, and I quickly tapped my memory. It matched those on the temples. ¡°Oh. You have seen them!¡± Lilies said in surprise, and this time, I sent the images through my rootnet. Lilies received them. Still, I had so many questions. Why would it appear on a wooden log? Unless it¡¯s only disguised to look like a log? Perhaps it¡¯s a trick. The fact that the log survived for so long unnoticed meant it wasn¡¯t meant to be noticed. How did Lilies pick it up? ¡°What made you notice it?¡± ¡°When it wouldn¡¯t break when we wanted to consume it.¡± Ah. Lilies consumed driftwood, that¡¯s something I didn¡¯t know. When the driftwood resisted, they examined it closer. A simple discovery by accident. ¡°I see.¡± I spoke through Lumoof. Lumoof held the log in his hands, his strength augmented by his levels. ¡°We will have to put these through a biolab.¡± Lumoof then said. ¡°I feel a faint presence... something divine.¡± I felt nothing, but then Lumoof was the priest and he was a lot more sensitive to such things than me. No, actually, if priests are naturally more sensitive to divine energies, would they be able to detect the presence of mind-alteration from the gods? ¡°We feel it too.¡± Lilies responded, one of the skulls moved. ¡°Which is why we kept it here and do not speak of it. This area is shielded by our strongest magics, and yet, we do not even know whether the gods still can see it.¡± ¡°So what if they can see it?¡± I asked. I mean, so what if they can see? I do not fear the gods, clearly their powers are restricted if all they can do so far is summon heroes, send divine messages and some subtle mind alterations. ¡°Their powers are weak.¡± ¡°Do not take them lightly, ages ago their powers were strong, if not stronger.¡± ¡°Then what happened?¡± ¡°We do not know.¡± Are the gods fading? No. I somehow don¡¯t think so. There must be something else. One of the skulls moved, and some skeletons appeared. They took the driftwood. ¡°Do you have a way to take it back? Without it ever touching the sunlight? It is an old saying, that all things that are under the sky can be seen by the gods.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we just hide it in a bag?¡± Lumoof asked plainly. ¡°Preferably not. Their eyes can see through magical items, but strangely, not through thick layers of earth.¡± ¡°How strange that the gods are stopped by mere dirt.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°Perhaps it is a lie.¡± ¡°If they could see it, they must have noticed when it floated on the lake.¡± I thought briefly. ¡°But yes. If you let us create a tunnel directly here, we could transport this log secretly.¡± Out of respect, just like with Reefy, my roots did not travel through or under the realm of other spirits. So my roots merely connected to Lilies at the edges. ¡°Let¡¯s make the tunnel.¡± Arctreec Meetings Year 174 We managed to transport the log, secretly, through a chain of tunnels, never once close to the surface back to Freshka. It took almost a week of getting my best underground beetles to carry it and walk the distance. I had Lumoof escort the log the entire way, just in case there¡¯s any divine shenanigans, but thankfully, none. The log itself was the bigger problem. We studied them in underground labs, so that they never get anywhere near the sky. The log... revealed nothing. Though we detected the faint presence of the divine in the log itself, there was nothing to see. We didn¡¯t give up, so we conducted more tests. It¡¯ll take a while, so, inspired by my meeting with Lilies, I decided it was a worthwhile idea to explore and meet with the other spirits. - The wind of the North was cold, and I felt the sensation of the cold winds on Lumoof¡¯s skin. I was unaffected, and by extension, so was Lumoof. I could share my [Main Body Environmental Adaptation], and though the weather didn¡¯t affect me, I did not enjoy the feeling of sailing at all. The wobbling of the ship as it crashed into the rough waves of the northern seas, it was an uncomfortable, nauseous feeling, and so I often disconnected it. But we were getting nearer. The waves got smaller, as we closed in on the island covered in ice and snow. Massive ice chunks floated all around us, and everyone kept their eyes open for monsters. But Lumoof¡¯s presence scared them away. ¡°Travelling with a small ship this far north is normally dangerous.¡± Johann said to Lumoof. It¡¯s a really small crew, only 10, all my high levelled Valthorns, all given a familiar from my [Court of the Deitree]. Just so that I can pull them back if shit went south. The ship had been magically reinforced. Two of the crew members were a mage and a druid, and they used their powers to strengthen the hull, and create a protective sphere to withstand the impact of the high seas. Lumoof¡¯s eyes glowed, as I shared more of my powers, and took in more of the environment. The subtle presence of another being at the Domain level should be easily detected, and indeed, it pricked my senses like little snowballs hitting an imaginary skin. The Frozen Tree. ¡°It should be there.¡± Lumoof pointed, our domain senses led the way. Already, we saw monsters prepared to greet us. Most of them level 60s to 70s. Giant White Bears, Wolves. Birds. Hundreds of them waited, but did not attack. The small ship closed in on the shores of the island, hidden away in the north. This was the home of the Frozen Tree, land of the master of frost. The Tree itself is hidden in a thick blizzard, and the island perpetually dark from the snowstorms. It was essentially a little no-go zone for most adventurers, and the Frozen Tree promised no gifts, no rewards for reaching it. Only the insane, or those who wanted to meet spirit trees, like Gerrard, would make the journey. ¡°Do we wait here?¡± The mage and druid asked, as they surveyed the hordes of beasts that observed our arrival. Edna looked around. ¡°Lumoof? Aeon?¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ll go alone.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°At most, with Edna.¡± Edna thought about it momentarily. ¡°I don¡¯t see why they need to wait here. If anything happens Aeon can just warp us back. Let¡¯s all go. We can leave the ship.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± The monsters did not dare to approach us, here, even though both Edna and Lumoof restrained their domains. We decided to do so, as we wondered whether the Frozen Tree would find it offensive that we came with our domains pressing against theirs. Best to play nice. We could feel the gaze of the various beasts, all staring. Waiting. Perhaps they were waiting for a signal from the frozen tree, whether to attack, or leave us be. This time, unlike their earlier excursion to the main northern islands, this island was far away from civilization, so everyone came fully equipped. Magical equipment, clothing and weapons. The druid waved his wooden staff, and a bubble of comfort sprung out around us. An ability called [Bubble of Home], which simulated our home environments and kept out the cold. It drained at his mana a little bit, unlike my natural passive. The walk was uneventful, a climb up what was a rather gentle, snow covered slope, and then, a crater in the middle surrounded by a perpetual blizzard. As we approached, snowballs and icicles smashed into Edna¡¯s shield. ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like it welcomes us.¡± Edna said. ¡°It is just a challenge. Tree spirits are flighty, after all. Spirits won¡¯t let just anyone approach it so easily, well... except Lilies, but that¡¯s an exception.¡± The druid responded. Even then, Lilies¡¯s true body is hidden. Only the surface was exposed, and that was hardly Lilies¡¯ true body. We waited momentarily, as I channeled my senses through Lumoof. I felt a presence that now permeated the entire snow-filled crater. Once we went a little further, it was likely we were within range of the Frozen Tree¡¯s full abilities. Edna noticed too, and quickly signalled everyone to prepare, and no talking. We pushed ahead, the presence of the frozen tree more pronounced. The little metaphorical snowsballs that gently touched on my domain, was now a torrent of snowballs. The other members of the expedition were clearly feeling uncomfortable, as they lacked the ability to shield themselves from a domain¡¯s oppression completely. Still, we pressed on, and the blizzard was not a huge problem. We saw more beasts, all of them either white or a light grey, and they all kept their distance. Where were the ice giants that Gerrard saw? Eventually, we came to a large frozen lake, with a massive ice sculpture in the shape of a tree in the middle. It was smaller than me, for sure, but through Lumoof¡¯s eyes, it¡¯s still an imposing sight. It¡¯s a little like seeing a towering Christmas tree for the first time as a little kid. It seemed the rest of the Valthorns shared the sentiment, as they all gawked at the beautiful ice sculpture for the first time. The frozen tree. Well, I channeled my senses through Lumoof and my spiritual vision saw that the ice sculpture is... hollow. It¡¯s just a magical creation. The real spirit is beneath... Is that a rock? No. I wasn¡¯t sure what it was, hidden underneath all that ice and water. Is it really a tree? The ice tree changed shape, and grew, and then a human shaped ice appeared. ¡°Visitors.¡± It said, strangely human. I thought I should do the greetings, so I spoke through Lumoof. ¡°Greetings, I am Aeon, and I¡¯m speaking through my Avatar, Lumoof. These are my companions for the journey to your island.¡± ¡°Greetings. What do you seek here, Aeon?¡± ¡°I merely wish to meet and speak to a spirit I¡¯ve heard of, after all these while.¡± I suppose I could locate the elven tree spirit too, but it seemed that it was lost a few decades ago during the Rottedlands era. It didn¡¯t respond, and for a brief moment, I felt like we were magically touched. [Domain has blocked attempted scrying...] Edna gave me a look that told me she got it too. At that moment, we felt the entire island shake. The tree of ice grew, and then two giants made of ice emerged next to the tree. ¡°You are not heroes.¡± ¡°We are not heroes.¡± I answered, or repeated. The two ice giants were imposing, but I thought we could take it. Edna didn¡¯t look too bothered. ¡°But I believe you have met Gerrard.¡± ¡°...Gerrard?¡± The ice-sculpture seemed to be struggling to recall. ¡°Oh. That one. The one who came with the fragment of ancient times.¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve come to meet, share, and perhaps, learn of what you know.¡± I answered honestly. The part about going against the gods, that¡¯s a secret for another day. I needed to know where this spirit stood. The ice sculpture thought, and then pointed at Edna and Lumoof. I felt another attempt at scrying, and it was more powerful. Again, [Domain has blocked attempted inspection]. ¡°This day came a lot earlier than I expected. Only the two of you may stay.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± The eight retreated, and then I activated my recall ability. In an instant they were all warped back to the valley. Still, the sudden transportation across the continents caused half of the eight to vomit, and the remaining half looked incredibly uncomfortable. - Edna looked around, and the blizzard¡¯s intensity increased. The Frozen Tree said, and two ice chairs appeared. Edna sat, and so did Lumoof. ¡°Where should we begin?¡± It asked. ¡°No. The right place to start is... who are you, Aeon?¡± ¡°I am a Tree Spirit of Freshka.¡± The frozen tree seemed thoughtful for a moment. ¡°Allow me to elaborate. A tree spirit does not behave the way you do. From what I have heard, you seem to have an expansionist streak, and your growth, relative to other tree spirits, have been exceptional. I also have not detected your presence in the world until... 70 years ago, and it seemed with the passing of every demon king, your presence is clearer in the fabric of the world.¡± Fabric of the world. This was the second spirit to have said it, after Lilies. How do they see this fabric? Is it that sensation of prickling? I¡¯ll have to ask Lilies some day. ¡°Something about you is foreign. It¡¯s almost as if you have a bit of mortality in you.¡± ¡°I have memories of another life. A mortal life.¡± There was a long, awkward silence. Maybe it wasn¡¯t very long, perhaps just a minute of silence where we could hear the wind howling around us. ¡°Ah... an accident.¡± The Frozen Tree answered. ¡°...Like a part of me.¡± What. Suddenly, a different voice appeared and asked. ¡°Did they make you roll a wheel, or was it a dice? Or have you picked a card from a deck?¡± ¡°...a wheel.¡± ¡°I see. Let¡¯s properly introduce ourselves. I¡¯m Aispeng and Aria.¡± The Frozen Tree answered. ¡°I am what they call a merged soul.¡± Like the wolf and the shaman? ¡°It¡¯s where a local object plays host to a foreign soul, and then, perhaps due to that soul¡¯s weakened situation, is absorbed by the host.¡± That strange voice answered. ¡°Aispeng, is the will of the ice crystal, and I am Aria, the will of a former... traveller.¡± ¡°Aria?¡± ¡°Yes. We are also not a tree, we are actually an ice crystal.¡± That strangely female voice answered. I wondered if Alexis fused with me back then, would this be the outcome? ¡°I guessed that, from how the entire crater is filled with your presence.¡± ¡°Anyway, it is strange and perhaps fate to meet someone like me. So, allow me to being explaining how I got here.¡± Aria answered. Lumoof just nodded on my behalf. ¡°I wasn¡¯t a hero but when I got sent to this world, I lucked out on my card draw and could reincarnate as a mage, a half-elven mage. So, even though I didn¡¯t have many advantages, I still fought the demons together with the heroes. Mainly because I thought they might have a way to get me home. They are heroes and they have fancy powers. Thinking back I still felt this was really silly to me. We defeated the first demon king, but then I got overconfident and died when we faced the second demon king.¡± Once more we just nodded. ¡°I thought I died, but the fates were cruel and decided to bind my spirit to a lump of ice and crystals. I spent the first 200 years growing as a glacier on this very island, consuming whatever animals or fish in this area. That¡¯s me. How about you?¡± Aria¡¯s voice was strange, compared to Aispeng which sounded more shrill and alien. Her story sounded quite similar to Kei, and in Kei¡¯s case, she turned into a golem. ¡°...but you were not a hero? How did you keep up?¡± ¡°I was not, but I didn¡¯t fit in with everyone else either. The heroes were the only ones who knew of home, so I stuck with them. Silly me, I thought I could try to be useful with my magical skills, but I was wrong. The demons detonate themselves after their loss. In fact, this island is where I died along with the other heroes. The bodies of those heroes are down there, beneath all this ice.¡± I see. ¡°Well, how about you? How¡¯d you end up as a magical tree that¡¯s now a demigod?¡± ¡°I died, rolled the wheel, and got a tree as my start. Spent half a century doing nothing but watch the world burn, really. I spent another few decades in various stages of burning and regrowing, but I got stronger over time.¡± ¡°Wait. You were directly reincarnated as a tree? That meant... You kept the fragments, right?¡± ¡°...yes.¡± ¡°That... that explains a lot. I lost mine when I died the second time, and it took centuries just to level. How many did you have? Three? Five?¡± ¡°... a lot more.¡± I didn¡¯t see a reason to share the exact number. ¡°I see.¡± Aria answered in a knowing voice. ¡°So how long have you been stuck here?¡± ¡°Maybe.... Three thousand years Or more? I lost count. The days just flash by.¡± ¡°How¡¯d you ¡®see¡¯ and ¡®talk¡¯?¡± I mean, the first problem I had was actually seeing and talking. How did a lump of ice overcome those problems? ¡°Uh... magic?¡± ¡°What kind of magic?¡± ¡°I received a skill for an Ice-Form somewhere around level 50 or so, and my talking and seeing problems went away then. Before that all I had was vibrations as my ice expanded, and I essentially saw the world through vibrations as my ice expanded.¡± Oh. I suddenly didn¡¯t feel so bad about my half year of misery. ¡°So yeah, since I had absolutely no sense of time, I have no idea how much time has passed, other than people dying and heroes dying all the time. Thankfully I still received the notifications.¡± ¡°You could count the number of demon kings and multiplied by 10. That¡¯s a good approximation.¡± The Frozen Tree thought for a while. ¡°I don¡¯t know. My notifications were all lost.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have a clock?¡± I mean, that was the puzzling part to me. ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± Huh. A timer isn¡¯t a default skill for them? Maybe it is because trees have an inbuilt biological clock to respond to the seasons thus it is a necessary thing for a tree, but for a lump of ice, the time or year doesn¡¯t really matter. ¡°So...¡± ¡°So, anyway, now that¡¯s out of the way, I can tell you what I know. I honestly don¡¯t know much about the world because I¡¯ve been freaking stuck here!¡± Aria complained rather childlishless. ¡°Aispeng keeps my personality and soul asleep almost all the time, except when dealing with visitors.¡± I soon learned that the Frozen Tree is the metaphorical equivalent of a hermit. It lived here, alone, and didn¡¯t intentionally seek out others. Apparently, its earlier experiences with people left it a little scarred, so it decided to just exist quietly, away from everyone. It did, however, make a lot of ice-weapons infused with a bit of its¡¯ crystal, which it distributed to those who it saw as worthy. Those ice-weapons functioned like an equivalent of a familiar, and allowed Aispeng to gain a bit of experience every time the weapon was used to slay monsters. Over time, it got stronger. The Frozen Tree survived monsters, demons, and even defeated a few demon champions, and gained its domain after about 1,300 years. Relatively fast, thanks to its¡¯ ice-weapons circulating out there in the world. ¡°I don¡¯t think the weapons I make can do that.¡± ¡°Are you sure? Have you tried?" Aria asked. "I made a lot of weapons before. Pretty sure they don''t give me experience when used." "Strange." Aria responded. "But the system is confusing like that..." "So... you are from earth?" I asked. "Earth?" "Yes, earth." "No. I believe my homeworld is called Bumi." "...I see." It suddenly occurred to me that the heroes may all come from alternate earths. If so, truly the idea of defeating the demons at the source may be too tall an order. The first order should be to hide the world away and make this world safe. A counterattack can be made if we have a safe ¡®home-world¡¯. Aispeng and Aria learned of the world from its limited interactions with heroes and adventurers that came to see it. Aspen harbored a bit of distrust of the heroes after some tried to attack it after it gained its domain. It was by sheer luck that it managed to hide most of its presence deep underground, that the heroes could not fully destroy it. Heroes clearly don¡¯t have exceptionally good detection skills, their abilities have all been counter-demons. But what if one did? ¡°I realised that the gods also have short term memories. Once the next generation of demon kings came along, they seemed to have forgotten about me. ¡± ¡°Hmmm...¡± Why do they do that, then? What¡¯s the point of sending heroes after someone who ascended? And then forget? Is it really because of short term memory, or something else at play? The system itself? ¡°But they didn¡¯t send anyone after me?¡± Edna wondered. ¡°Maybe they didn¡¯t realise you gained a domain. The gods are not exactly a responsive bunch. They only seem to react to certain types of events, like demon kings... and perhaps they only target non-humanoid beings who gained their domains.¡± Hmmm... Are the gods therefore speciesist? Do the gods dislike non-humanoids? That certainly is a possibility. If Reefy were to gain a domain one day, it would have to face heroes? I shuddered at the thought, because that would just cause Reefy to interpret all heroes as enemies and it would react violently at all subsequent hero encounters. Reefy isn¡¯t the type to back away from a fight, and Reefy taking the aggressive role could be a point of conflict in the future. There wasn¡¯t much else to talk about, at least, not during our first meeting. I would like to continue speaking to another fellow spirit, and Aispeng already had an item to create that sort of communication channel. The ice spirit gave us a large mirror made of ice. ¡°This is a magical ice-screen. It¡¯s synchronised to an ice screen here, so what appears on the other side will appear here.¡± Gerrard should have asked for this. But I suppose the heroes with their default chatgroup functionality wouldn¡¯t need it. Anyway, Aispeng also gave us a few of its ice-weapons as souvenirs, and on my end, we also brought a mix of herbs, our own wood weapons and stuff. I would take the weapons home for studies on how to replicate the experience gained from weapons. My suspicions were that it had a familiar in the form of the weapon. The return was easy. - Stella returned, and she was different. She aged, quite significantly. She came back on Vallasira¡¯s back, her body covered in scars. She lost one arm, and one of her legs had a stub. Her face was partly burnt. ¡°What in the world...¡± It was Vallasira who spoke. < Time flows differently in the other worlds. She has spent the equivalent of 40 years across two different worlds. > Kei and Lausanne came to see her, and were shocked. ¡°40 years I¡¯ve spent on the other worlds, and she gave Kei and Lausanne a hug. I missed you two.¡± ¡°What is it like, in the other worlds?¡± Kei asked. ¡°It¡¯s a long story, and right now, I yearn for the comforts of... home.¡± Stella responded. Kei frowned at the word. ¡°This isn¡¯t home.¡± ¡°I thought about it during those 40 years there, and I believe I truly found myself here in this world. I¡¯d say its home enough.¡± Still, I let the three girls catch up, and checked on the zaratan. Vallasira nodded. < I must go and rest. Much has been spent to train her. > >Thank you. < Well, I would interrogate Stella later. < May you succeed. Even we, need a safe world. > Tendrils Across Space Year 175 Back home, Lumoof and Edna had a meeting. They had questions, of course. ¡°Aeon, regarding that conversation with Aria...¡± They were concerned, of course. Strangely, not of the origins but whether I too, sought to return ¡®home¡¯. ¡°Do you seek to return, the way it obsessively possessed Stella, and the previous heroes?¡± A valid concern. ¡°Yes. I admit that I have memories of another life. You may even consider me like her. But I firmly believe I am one of this world. Those memories are so faint these days, and I no longer believe there is a place there. My goal remains, to stop this foolish cycle.¡± Lumoof breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°The faithful would not take well to losing their god.¡± Nah. I¡¯m a semi-divine being here, and honestly I do quite enjoy this state of perpetually playing an RTS game. Why would I return to that old life? ¡°No. But does it cheapen it, to know that your god has otherworldly origins?¡± I asked. ¡°No.¡± Lumoof said firmly. ¡°All gods are otherworldly. I have looked into the histories of the other churches, and none of them ever set foot on our world. Only their avatars and their spokesmen.¡± - A year of preparation, as one of the rifts opened. With my new Astral vision, and Stella¡¯s return, we could see that one of those tendrils that stretched out into the great beyond was far brighter than the others. In fact, when the rift itself opened, that tendril glowed in a light reddish color. It¡¯s as if that signified the pathway was used. Then my magical sensors rang as they detected the rifts again in the Southern Continent. I quickly passed this information to everyone who mattered. ¡°Quickly! Get eyes on the ground and find out what kind of demons we are facing!¡± It took about two weeks to locate the rift itself. At such distances my sensors are not accurate. The demons from the rift were typical hellhounds and horned demons with claws. ¡°Strangely typical. Nothing particularly different about this batch of demons?¡± It was too easy so we kept up the surveillance. I felt that the past few demon kings have been throwing curveballs, so something must be up. At the same time, we also monitored the daemolite¡¯s astral tendrils as the rifts activated. They didn¡¯t seem to particularly change. I therefore made a preliminary assessment, that the daemolite is nothing more than a ¡®there¡¯s a planet here¡¯ kind of marker. Where the rift opens on our world is still in the control of the demons, I suppose they have a way of controlling it. It¡¯s like here¡¯s a ticket to earth, but you can still choose which airport to land? Of course, could I interfere with the tendrils? If I cut off the tendrils, or find a way to confuse the tendrils, will the rifts be redirected or fail? It seems there are still things I cannot see, even though the rifts are clearly little magical tunnels through space and worlds. So, now that Stella returned and I¡¯ve also restored her body back to an optimal state, we discussed this idea. ¡°Interfering with the tendrils as they come to our world... I¡¯m afraid I did not acquire that skill.¡± Stella said flatly. ¡°My training focused on opening the doors to the other world with void mana, and do what the demons are doing.¡± "So..." "I know how to open portals, but closing other''s portals... not so much." Okay. What use is this information? As it is, if their homeworlds are filled with demon king level creatures, assaulting their homeworld with Stella''s portal clearly is a suicide mission. I should only attempt this when demon kings are trivial opponents. But if I never get to that power level, closing down is my best option. "But you can open portals, right?" "Yes. Temporary ones, large enough for a few people, and no more. I still need to wait about half a year before doing it again." "Alright, there is something I don''t understand. You said you spent years on the other side. How does that work?" "When a portal or rift is open, the time of both worlds are temporarily locked together, as if flowing at the same speed." ¡°And how big is your portal?¡± ¡°Uh... for a few people.¡± That wasn¡¯t much. ¡°Can it fit Hytreerion?¡± ¡°Hytreerion? Who is that?¡± ¡°My walker.¡± Ah. I forgot that Stella may not know about my walker. ¡°I will introduce you to it later. But first, what constraints do you have with your portals? Is it mana?¡± ¡°Yes. Void mana is one of the key constraints. I don¡¯t have a lot.¡± ¡°But we have daemolite and those can store void mana. Let¡¯s try it.¡± ¡°That means I have to recharge the void mana myself. For all of them!¡± That¡¯ll take months!¡± Well yes. That is expected. ¡°There¡¯s a lot we need to plan. We will first consider and test out a few with daemolite, whether it really augments your range. Next, if it succeeds, we will build larger formations with daemolite in order to allow your to channel more void mana, and for longer periods.¡± ¡°Normal runes don¡¯t work with void mana.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll find one that works. Point is, we¡¯ll have to work with the restrictions we have.¡± ¡°Third, I want to attempt disruptive void mana injections into those tendrils. There¡¯s some we can test now, and so we should test it as soon as possible.¡± Stella rolled her eyes. ¡°Oh lord I¡¯m going to be busy.¡± ¡°Well, you went on a training arc, naturally we need you to show off your newfound powers.¡± ¡°All I did was go to different worlds and explore their powers...¡± ¡°Wait.¡± How should we truly leverage Stella''s ability to travel worlds? Am I thinking about this too... typically? I suppose anyone who had Stella¡¯s portal ability would use it to escape from the demons, but from what I understand, the demons are also attacking the other worlds, and just like us, they have their own cycles. One world had it on a 15-year cycle, and another one also had a 10 year cycle. They too, summoned heroes to meet their foes. Few things I clearly don¡¯t understand is, if time moves relative across worlds, then why the cycles? Surely some worlds move ¡®faster¡¯ than others, and thus should have either significantly longer or shorter cycles? Stella couldn¡¯t answer this, it was a theoretical question that sought to understand the underlying mechanics. Her training arc focused on her individual levels and skills, and she¡¯s a Level 75 Void Archmage with a smattering of portal-related skills. I also did not understand why the other worlds had the same rules as ours. That they have classes and levels too. So, I summoned everyone for a big brainstorming session. How do we properly use portals to gain an advantage? Edna was first to wonder, ¡°Is there a way to take advantage of the time difference between worlds? Is the speed difference between worlds constant?¡± Stella touched her hair and thought for a while. ¡°No. It¡¯s like a wave. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower. Each world moves and bobs on its own speed on the greater interplanar void. I¡¯m not sure of the difference, but each world moves along its own uh... cycle.¡± I suppose its like how the distance between planets changes as they move across their own orbital planes? ¡°What sort of creatures are there?¡± Lumoof asked. ¡°Do they struggle with the demon kings?¡± ¡°Their situation is not that different, they face demon kings and their gods summon heroes.¡± ¡°Their gods. Are the gods different?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. They are called differently, but they do have similar practices.¡± Are we dealing with a god that is present in multiple worlds, or is each god just locked to one world? No. In order to answer this question, I must first be able to not just sense divine presence, but discern who¡¯s divine presence. All the attempted divine forces I¡¯ve seen so far did not differentiate who and what did it, so, it could be it¡¯s just a single god at the back of it all, and all these other gods nothing more than shadow puppets. Or, if there are multiple gods, I want to know which one is friend, which one is a foe. I¡¯d have to ask the other spirits for ideas. > Can you tell the difference between the gods? < First I went to Lilies. > Each time you detected divine presence, can you tell who did it? < < ...no. > Okay no. I went to Aispeng and Aria next, and activated the new icemirror. ¡°Hi. Quick question, do you know how to tell the difference between the gods?¡± I felt like I was asking a colleague for some corporate work related thing. At least, the way I asked it. It just laughed. ¡°No.¡± Huh. Do the gods hide themselves behind divine energy? Or is there a way to tell? Perhaps there in a unique signature in every use of their divine powers that can be linked back to them? Anyway, that went through a path I wasn¡¯t expecting, so I went back to Stella and the gang. ¡°So, how else can we capitalise on our new portal?¡± ¡°I think it is an effective escape route. We can send some of us over each time, to avoid the damage of the demon king.¡± At that point, I had to wonder. ¡°Question. Can your portal transport heroes?¡± I wonder whether I could essentially pool the heroes of all the linked worlds together, and use their combined might to crush the demon king. It would significantly improve the survival rate of heroes, even if that does lead to the related problem of too many surviving heroes. Stella paused. ¡°I... I¡¯m not sure. It¡¯s loaded with void mana and unless there¡¯s a way to package them so that their star mana doesn¡¯t interact with the void mana that flows throughout the portal...¡± Wait, if I could forcibly pull a hero into the portals, could I instantly kill them that way? At this point it was Kei who thought of the implications. ¡°Can a hero be forced into a portal without their permission?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I stored this possibility in the future. If I could create a small void portal, I may have a secret weapon against misbehaving heroes. ¡°How different are the magic and weapons of the other worlds?¡± Stella thought about it for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s very similar from what I¡¯ve seen, but I have not seen their higher tier magic or items.¡± ¡°We have lots of gaps in our knowledge.¡± ¡°Yeah... cause most of the time I¡¯m with the zaratan, practicing my portal magic and learning the way of navigating the ever changing paths.¡± Stella sighed. ¡°If you guys desire, I could arrange a trip.¡± ¡°But how would we come back? Stella¡¯s our only chance to return and if we lose you, we¡¯re done for.¡± ¡°...that¡¯s true.¡± ¡°So, you must condense your knowledge and teach a few more. If we have a few more void mages, then we can safely make that trip to the other nearby worlds.¡± Stella paused and quickly disclaimed that statement. ¡°The concept of ¡®nearby¡¯ changes. Each world bobs along the great void ocean and the distance between worlds changes. So far only two worlds are reliably close by, perhaps drawn together by some unknown force, but there are worlds that get close, and then drift away. Uh... I think it¡¯s a bit like the worlds have their own orbits, but these three worlds are like a stable-system, which is why the zaratans just mainly travel to these worlds.¡± Kei frowned, she did not leave for the South yet. Instead she spent her time with Stella now that she returned. ¡°That sounds like planetary movement.¡± ¡°Yes. That¡¯s a close metaphor, but rather than circular orbits it might be fairer to say that certain worlds behave like comets with unstable orbits, while these three worlds have more stable, more ¡®circularish¡¯ orbits that never get too far from each other, even if the distance oscillates.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°So when a ¡®portal¡¯ opens, it¡¯s as if both worlds are frozen?¡± ¡°Kind of. It¡¯s some weird void-world thing. I can¡¯t quite explain it either.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the void world?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the space between worlds? It¡¯s really more like a massive, massive jungle where there are paths to each world and unless you know where to look, you are more likely to get lost. Which... leads us back to the demon¡¯s tendrils... I believe they are kind of like trail markers, so that the demons can continue to find the world no matter where it moves along the void.¡± Stella speculated. ¡°If so, if we managed to get rid of the daemolite, can we pretty much hide the world from the demons?¡± ¡°Probably. Potentially. I¡¯m not sure. The demons may have a different understanding of the void, that may result in a difference in how the void presents itself to them.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand any of that.¡± The crowd of the senior Valthorns responded. Stella paused and thought. ¡°How do I say this... uh.. Erm... In a way, what you see in the void is shaped by what you believe it is.¡± ¡°That¡¯s crazy.¡± Kei answered. ¡°It¡¯s a bit like a projection. I don¡¯t know how else to say it. The void¡¯s this bundle of everything and nothing, the primordial soup really, so what you choose to see, you can see in it. So uh, it¡¯s really quite a crazy, trippy place. Vallasira helped guide me to see the void as a big dark forest that connects the world, but the demons may see it differently. Everyone will see it differently.¡± This was going too far. ¡°Let¡¯s come back to the issue of portals. We can test whether it¡¯s possible to return using other means.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°If Lumoof is willing, he can be the guinea pig. I am interested to know whether my shared senses, and my recall ability, transcends worlds.¡± I could sense the glimmers of understanding in those present, like it just clicked into place. Sure, maybe Stella can¡¯t open another portal, or something happens to Stella, but if I could ¡®recall¡¯ them even from another world, then the risk is minimal. Lumoof gulped uncomfortably. ¡°Aeon, travelling worlds isn¡¯t something I consider a priestly thing to do.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, I¡¯d like to see the other world for myself, so, it has to be you. Think about all the new people you can convert to my cause!¡± ¡°Ah yes.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll need some time to prepare. If we¡¯re going to hold the portal for a long period of time, I need to charge up the daemolite as well.¡± - It took Stella two months to charge up a roomful of daemolite with void mana. Even then, I could see the tendrils pulse, and each pulse seemed to coincide with something. I wasn¡¯t sure what, but perhaps its a sign that the ¡®rift¡¯ was transporting things? ¡°Alright. The world you are going to is called Varash.¡± Stella gave Lumoof a briefing of what could go wrong, and an overview of the other world. The area has been arranged to facilitate the interworld portal. He had an emergency kit, equipment and supplies enough to survive for months. Stella prepped, and then opened the portal. From my perspective, using my spirit vision, it felt like a piece of paper was cut up, and pulled apart. Reality was being bent to open the portal. It wasn¡¯t big, the size of a garage door. Perhaps a truck could drive through it, but Hytreerion wouldn¡¯t fit. I would need to find more compact means of invading other worlds. Lumoof gulped, and then stepped in. Stella¡¯s portal did not require any specific mana regulation. It seemed that her ¡®spell¡¯ did it for her. Still, when Lumoof stepped through, she suddenly jerked and quickly drew on the stored void mana. At that time, I tried to share Lumoof¡¯s senses, and was glad to find that I could still see. For a flicker of a moment, all Lumoof saw was bright flashing lights, similar to Star Trek¡¯s warp, and then, stop. Grass and a faint pinkish sky. Lumoof was in another world, and the portal flickered behind him. I felt my mind split suddenly. I could see through Lumoof, and home, but doing so drained on my mental resources. I could hear Patreeck¡¯s voice in my mind. ¡°Master, your mind activity is spiking incredibly.¡± Trying to see through another world, and home was too much for my mental faculties. Not both at the same time. I temporarily surrendered vision of home, and handed control to Patreeck. I focused on Lumoof¡¯s senses. ¡°I¡¯m on the other side.¡± Lumoof said. It was a struggle, the worldly distance meant I felt like something was constantly hammering on my head. ¡°This... this is another world.¡± ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s test it out.¡± I switched back home, and that instant I was pulled back across the world. The mind-bending headache vanished. ¡°Stella, close the portal.¡± The portal closed, and then, I tried to reach out to Lumoof again. I could feel him, but I could not tell where he was. It¡¯s like he was located off map. ¡°Hmmm. Alright. Lumoof, are you there.¡± I decided to not use the shared senses, and just tried mentally communicating with him across such distances. There was a time lag. A really long time lag. 30 minutes. ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± Each message took 30 minutes, and I presumed that Lumoof was replying instantly. Even the system had a ¡®speed limit¡¯. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s test out. [Recall].¡± At that very moment, I felt a mind-splitting headache again, and a good 30 minutes later, Lumoof popped out, and instantly started vomiting. He looked green and pale, and I felt like he took damage. I quickly hauled him to a biolab for healing. Stella was truly impressed. ¡°Alright, so interworld travelling works for your ability.¡± Lumoof took two days to recover, and we had a post mortem. ¡°So we learned a few things. One, the system itself is a means of transportation across worlds.¡± That was my first conclusion. My ability clearly hitched on the system to pull them across worlds. ¡°Second, is that my abilities work across worlds.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t this just mean all the worlds obey the same system?¡± Kei wondered. ¡°Then why is earth so... different?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know.¡± Stella sighed. ¡°I asked the zaratans whether it¡¯s possible for me to get home, and they said it is, but it¡¯s going to be very hard. They don¡¯t know of any hero or person that has ever returned, though a few have attempted it.¡± The fact that all these other worlds obey the same system leads me to believe they are actually all in the same universe, but perhaps each of these worlds are just in their own astronomical ¡®bubbles¡¯. Whereas Earth may well be on an entirely different plane of existence. That means, all these demon worlds or other stuff, isn¡¯t really a different dimension, but just different pockets of a universe that is structured very differently from ours. Lumoof frowned. ¡°That trip back was really nasty. I felt like I was being flung through the sky.¡± ¡°If we do send something or someone across, it should be a somewhat permanent arrangement.¡± Edna proposed. ¡°More to collect resources or harvest certain types of materials?¡± ¡°But what¡¯s useful there?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have to see.¡± Stella quickly added. ¡°Before we get there, I want to say that when Lumoof went over, it drained a lot more void mana than I expected. Significantly more, and I suspect it¡¯s because he is either leaking more mana, or he¡¯s just stronger overall. If not for the batteries of void mana, the portal would have collapsed.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying if we send someone weaker, it¡¯ll cost less?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it certainly didn¡¯t cost me anywhere near that amount of mana to send someone over.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t it just be a not-me penalty? Some spells have a penalty when the subject is not themselves, that¡¯s a common thing.¡± One of the senior mages opined. ¡°We can easily test it out. Let¡¯s send a mouse or some animal over.¡± They tested it on a few smaller animals,then some larger ones, and Stella¡¯s theory was quickly proven true. Sorry, animals. It did cost more to send stronger creatures, and it scaled with power. I wonder how this happens. A door is there, and why does it make a difference what walks through it? More specifically, why did it scale with strength, not size? Was there something in the great void that interacted with power? Or levels? - The envoys of Aiva returned with a message that more time was needed. For a bunch of gods, they sure are indecisive. Or maybe... it¡¯s just time dilation from their perspective? That they are talking to their followers and they experience these huge ¡®lags¡¯? - The southern continent continued to face regular demons. More hellhounds, and typical giant winged demons with massive axes or swords. They also finally spotted a champion, which, boringly, was just a massive winged demon with two axes and a perpetual flameshield. - Stella started a void magic school, and we helped fund it, of course. A plot of land, slightly further away from Freshka than the other schools was allocated and they started building. There was a bit more interest now that Stella is an actual [void archmage]. Previously, everyone thought it was a path that led to death, so, a successful magician in a once disregarded path was awarded a reputation as a pioneer. The motivations were simple. Many wanted to go to other worlds, and the idea appealed to some mages at a spiritual level. Like, to be one of those who could step to another world. Void magic, and the practice of it, required a tremendous amount of healers on standby. That meant they naturally worked closely with Lumoof and the rest of the other Treeology priests. Every other day we have a case of the [void curse], and to my great pleasure, some of the priests had their classes changed to [cursebreaker]. As part of growing my understanding of the void magic, I also took the chance to look at Stella¡¯s inner soul realm. Her soul spring was... a deep blackish liquid, that¡¯s incredibly smooth and actually sparkles at some angles. It¡¯s as if the night sky were made into a liquid. The pieces around her well or spring seemed to be made of a kind of black marble, it had glimmers of faint stars in them. I thought back to my two new mini-gods. One immediate difference was that their soul spring was significantly larger than before. I would say easily five or six times larger, and they had a solid platform that surrounded their soul spring. I¡¯ve not seen this platform ever, except in these two. Black. The entirety of Stella¡¯s mana pool was now void mana, and yet her body, physically, wasn''t significantly different. Stella explained it during one of her first classes with future void mages. Void mana needs to be ¡®stabilised¡¯. It¡¯s a bit like a combustible ¡®gas¡¯ or ¡®petrol¡¯, it needs to be controlled, and stored correctly, and adapting the body to store void mana was one of the first tasks. In short, void mana had a ¡®stable-state¡¯, and an ¡®unstable-state¡¯. Some mythic beasts naturally have the means to process void mana and then store void mana, like the water-worldwalking zaratans. Still... no particularly obvious solution jumps out. Void mana seemed particularly only used for the manipulation of the void. It feels like I found one of the keys that lead to the answer, and now I need to find the correct lock, among the thousands. Torches through the Forest Year 176 Stella¡¯s attention temporarily focused on training new void mages, and also recharging the daemolite crystals harvested. I¡¯ve mostly decided that the daemolite will be destroyed at a later date, and for now, they are used to study. The value of the other worlds temporarily outweighs the risks of maintaining the status quo. The other worlds represented opportunity, and potential allies. A chance to learn of things done in other worlds, their history, and how the demons and heroes interacted in the past. A chance to see and compare things. Daemolite¡¯s ability to store void mana meant we could augment her range, to reach the further ¡®worlds¡¯ that occasionally drift into range. Still, it¡¯s a long process of experimentation, and training new void mages isn¡¯t something we can achieve in a year or two. In the south, more rifts appeared. I know this first hand, because the wispy tendrils through ¡®space¡¯ seemed to glow more frequently, and I noticed all the different tendrils grow a little brighter. I wondered how they achieved this, and Stella couldn¡¯t explain it either. The way the demons used their void magic was different. Stella certainly couldn¡¯t see ¡®tendrils¡¯, not the way I could. To her, this ¡®outer¡¯ world is really really dark and all she saw was little faint markers. A dark forest. Maybe the wider world is just a dark forest, and gods are just magical equivalent of superpower civilisations taking shots at each other. All hiding, and keeping themselves unseen, because once they are seen, they are attacked. Then again, it didn¡¯t make sense. If it¡¯s truly a dark forest this world should be doomed. Back to the South, the local militia of the respective southern nations seem to be holding their own. The typical nature of the demons meant the local forces were quite well equipped to deal with these ¡®normal¡¯ type demons. It goes without saying that all of us wondered whether we will get a ¡®normal¡¯ demon king, and what that meant. Kei, now eager to regain some of her power after she¡¯s seen the level that Edna and Lumoof achieved, set out to the south. She hoped to challenge a few demon champions and regain some semblance of power, so that she can be of some use in Alvin¡¯s fight with the demon king. Oh well. It can¡¯t be helped that she felt a need to assist her one and only remaining friend from earth. On the domestic front, I gained a special type of tree while I kept tweaking with the ley lines. [Unique Tree Type unlocked : The Trees of the Earth Veins. Helps to channel and direct ley lines. Requires gems and crystals in large quantities, and also tends to spawn monsters] It reminded me of the [Ginseng Tree], another of the trouble tree types that have the whole [monster lure] functionality. But I¡¯m not the same tree from that time, and I have the ability to station far stronger defenses, with dedicated commanders. I functionally have no real limit in terms of artificial minds, now that there are tens of millions of connected trees all across the continent. Sadly my ginseng tree limit did not change much, in spite of my levels and domains. At about 15 ginseng plants simultaneously, this was my 2nd real bottleneck in massively increasing the output of high tier individuals. Both unlocking the said individual, and then subsequently having the dungeons needed to train them up to the necessary levels. Restrictions. Right now, I feel like I¡¯m hitting quite a few limits. Like in terms of Soul Forge, I¡¯ve not had a new color for quite a while. In terms of Titans, I¡¯m still hesitating on activating my 3rd Titan, simply because I¡¯m not sure what I¡¯ll need in the future. Patreeck has been exceptionally helpful administratively, but his levels too, have stagnated. Hytreerion¡¯s only seen one large scale battle against the demon king, and even in that battle he didn¡¯t really show any exceptional performance. Reviewing their performance thus far, the Titans are pretty much ¡®champion-class¡¯, despite requiring a hero¡¯s soul fragments. In fact, in all combat forms, they just fail to live up to the strength of a real hero or a [domain]-class individual. Thus, as bad as it sounds, I felt that Hytreerion had been a mistake. The titans, despite their strength, are meant to be utility providers. ¡°But we don¡¯t have level limits.¡± Patreeck clarified. ¡°It¡¯s just that... well, it¡¯s hard for us to level.¡± I wondered whether Hytreerion could get to level 150, but because its¡¯ size, there¡¯s no way it could go into a dungeon. Dungeons so far are all relatively ¡®small¡¯. Even the largest of the dungeons I¡¯ve seen and created so far are just big enough for Hytreerion to squeeze in, but it¡¯s effectively useless in such a tight spot. I would have to reengineer Hytreerion¡¯s loadout to be more of a utility player, with more support functions and to serve as a staging and resupply function for the real damage dealers. The very nature of their capped levelling meant they would never keep up. So, I thought greatly about Hytreerion¡¯s role again. He¡¯s huge, and that mean he functioned more as a tank, and perhaps a powersource. Were there advantages that size had, that could not, or not as easily replicated by levels? Because levels clearly overpowered everything else, so why should anything be big? Surely there must be merit to being naturally big. So, what would that be? Firstly, I would think about materials. Certain materials have overlapping roles with equivalent skills or levels gained but size meant massive mana crystals, and runic formations. Sure, size meant more space to duplicate skill functions. So, firstly, Hytreerion would need to be reequipped as a mobile mana bank, and also store runes. It¡¯s also easier to have ¡®conflicting¡¯ magical formations separated by the sheer size of Hytreerion. The walkers were all massive creatures and they can grow even bigger with levels. Like equipment slots, they should be carrying larger, titan-sized equipment. Things that individuals could carry, but render them unable to do anything else. Titan-Sized anti-demon ballistas were one of the first few ideas. Or could I equip Hytreerion with enough magical crystals to make him a walking bomb? Give the demon king a taste of their own medicine. I would have to rejig Hytreerion¡¯s internals such that it could contain a massive multi-layer bomb. Still, I decided to put the idea up for discussion. Using the log obtained from Lilies, I subjected it through a huge amount of scans and tests. Then, we ran some tests on how they interacted with the Blackstar Gems. We wanted to know the degree of protection these Blackstar Gems provided, whether they would be able to protect the lower leveled individuals from divine influence. I wasn¡¯t sure what I expected, but the log shook violently after a huge amount of blackstar gems were placed around it. It... needed more tests. Right now, only Patreeck, and the domain have any chance of resisting divine forces. I wondered whether I could enhance, or at least replicate a bit of that mind-checking ability, perhaps package it as a familiar? Like a voice next to my followers that helps keep the gods at bay. I have more questions, of course. Is my domain a type of ¡®divine¡¯ power? If so, the domain abilities that Lumoof, and Edna both have should encounter some resistance from these Blackstar gems. But then, it didn¡¯t? Why is that the case? Is domain not the true ¡®divine¡¯, and that there is another tier above us? That perhaps domain is the realm of the demigods? In terms of power levels, that idea made a lot of sense, since gods summoned heroes, and whoever managed the demons could create demon kings. So, to place them a realm above the [domain] is a sensible one. In terms of levels, would Level 200 be that threshold? Or is it higher still? ¡°Should we send our senior Valthorns to take on the demon champions too?¡± Lumoof suggested. ¡°At this point, with the Court of the Deitree, you could teleport us back at any time. I¡¯ll go with them.¡± One of the small ¡®flaws¡¯ of the Court is that I have to activate the recall. The recall function cannot be activated by the Valthorns themselves, so I would need to send Lumoof with them in order to activate the failsafe. ¡°Defeating the demon champions will speed up their levelling.¡± Duh. So I decided that it was worth it, so Lumoof and a group of 15 Valthorns, all with the Court of the Deitree to journey down south and help suppress the demons. The mission was simple, fight demon champions, level up, and run before the King comes along. It was also my chance to see the South, through Lumoof¡¯s eyes. In terms of bombs, Alka¡¯s continued research in the underground cities yielded slightly improved bombs. After all, the idea of bombing the hell out of the demons is hugely appealing, and I suppose one day I¡¯d like to make a Tree of Fruit Bombs. Between Kei and Aria, we are now acquainted with two beings who are naturally crystalline in nature, so Alka¡¯s been really keen to obtain crystal samples from Aria, for testing. The goal, of course, is to find and make even better bombs. On hexes and soul magic, my progress has not amounted to any real improvement in weaponry, though I am making some improvements in my conceptual understanding of their raw components. The main challenge has been the corrosive nature of hex, which distorted any surrounding runic formations. I have yet to figure out how to ¡®store¡¯ a hexbomb for long periods. All the hexbombs we¡¯ve made so far have a shelf-life of no longer than 1 year, and after that the crystal would be destroyed and we have a puddle of hex to clean up. That said, I am getting a lot better at processing hex. Hex and curses are linked, since my [Curse-breaker] clearly improved my ability to process and clean up areas filled with hex. From an etymological point of view, the two words do have similar meaning. Is a hex essentially a ¡®curse¡¯ made of the soul? The Treelogy Priests quickly whipped up the small continent of high tier Valthorns into a PR campaign, to expand our clout among the southern Continent nations. After all, we are already planning to send Valthorns there, might as well get some good press out of it. We sent out communications with the southern nations that were in trouble, and arranged to send them where they can make a big spectacle by slaying the demonic threat on their lands. Of course, we chose those kingdoms and nations where their relationship with the four churches are already frayed and tested in the recent decades. The journey to the south took the Valthorns took a month, and then they started whooping ass. Lumoof mostly stayed back, blessing the Valthorns with various enchantments, and I didn¡¯t pay attention to the battles, since the demon champions were relatively easy foes for a group of level 100s. The Four Churches mostly retaliated by seriously deploying their own forces to help suppress the demonic threat. But as always, the defense of the southern continents were mostly left to the local kingdoms. Most kingdoms quickly formed coalitions to fight the demons together. The churches after all lacked the flexibility to deploy their high leveled individuals, they already didn¡¯t have many of them in the first place. Their best generals are around Level 50s to 70s, and usually demon champions require a few individuals at that level. So, they compelled the hero Alvin to move out of his harem palace. Like, fucking finally. I still don¡¯t understand why the hero doesn¡¯t just rush off and kill the demons. I don¡¯t recall Harris and the gang being so lazy. It¡¯s free levels, and at no risk. Year 177 Reefy was located on the southern part of the Central Continent, and I suspect his magical senses have improved recently. > The demons are here. < < They are underwater? > I asked. I had to treat Reefy¡¯s words a bit more literally. > No. But I feel them. Invaders. I will kill them. < < uh.. Good? > > But they don¡¯t come underwater. They don¡¯t... swim? < < I think they do? > I believe the champions do swim over the oceans. Well, at least the walker-series of demon champions could swim over the oceans, but I wasn¡¯t sure about this current generation of stereotypical winged demons with massive axes. I¡¯d actually like to capture one of these demon champions, if possible. I wonder what it¡¯ll be like if I managed to convert one of the demon champions into my own. Would the axe or sword remain? Are those demonic axes a physical body part of the demons, or a magical creation of the champions? Why do they disappear when killed? I wonder what¡¯ll be like if we get an underwater demon king. That¡¯ll be something of a sight, but I suppose since all the demon worlds we¡¯ve seen so far lack water, I think that¡¯s quite unlikely. The demon kings are clearly ¡®grown¡¯ in their home environments before they arrive here. The best they could do is a shapeshifting demon king that takes on an underwater form. Thinking about it, if there are underwater civilisations beneath the oceans, they should theoretically survive since the beginning of time, unless a Rottedlands-class incident occurred. But I have not heard of any? Is it because they are hiding? Or is there something else down there that prevents the creation of a long-lasting underwater civilisation? Or perhaps it¡¯s just the immense pressures of the deep sea that makes it impossible for intelligent creatures to emerge? The Southern Continent endured the demonic waves relatively well. I saw more rifts open, my vision of the astral ways indicated that one rift now glowed, but I couldn¡¯t interact with it. Not without void mana. Stella felt it too, her own senses for the starways spoke to her. Her skill had an interesting name. [The Ways Through the Forest Between Worlds]. It really reflected how one¡¯s understanding of the world reflected in the skill¡¯s nature. Or was it the other way round? To her, she described it like there was a path of torches through the dark forest. More importantly, thanks to the path, she could now look back at the path to their homeworld. She opened just a tiny, tiny hole. It¡¯s somehow easier, despite the distance. She could tell it¡¯s really far away, but with the figurative ¡®torches¡¯, it somehow meant it didn¡¯t cost as much void mana for her to open a portal to see their homeworld. The demons clearly had a way of ¡®lubricating¡¯ the astral path. A small peephole and she saw a world of red and fire. Literally fire and brimstone. Demons with wings. It¡¯s as if the gods copied a stereotypical demonic homeworld and pasted it in this world. We monitored it for weeks and months, the torches got brighter and there were more of them. ¡°It¡¯s soon.¡± Stella said, and honestly I knew it was coming. The tendrils appeared to glow and pulse in a bright white and red. I made sure my sensors were all honed in, I wanted to collect every single data point I could get. I notified Lumoof to be careful in the South, and that I would recall them immediately if the demon king spawned too close for comfort. We both saw it. To Stella, it appeared like a fireball that surged through the path. It consumed the torches, growing each time, and then it reached the South. I felt the world twist and turn. To me, the tendrils appeared to flash and glow, like a filament of light. It was incredibly bright when I used it, and I saw like a blob move across that filament of light. [Demon King Ethrezen has arrived] The world suddenly felt significantly hot. Areas filled with snow capped mountains started to melt, and avalanches of mud crashed into their nearby cities. In the deserts, oasis suddenly vanished, and the water evaporated into violent thunderstorms, followed by torrents of rain that flooded. Dry forests burned, and I felt the entire continent was suddenly filled with flash fires. Farms and orchards too quickly started to burn. The intense heat generated strong hurricanes and whirlpools, and strong winds battered the coast. In the South where the demon king landed, it seemed the regular demons now had a halo of flame, their once regular-looking axes replaced by red-flaming axes. The regular hounds turned into fire-breathing hounds. The demon champions had wings of flame, and their aura of flame burned most that got close. ¡°Do we stay or retreat?¡± Lumoof mentally asked. ¡°We can beat the demons with ranged weapons, but fighting at close range is a bit risky.¡± I may have flame resistance, and Lumoof certainly shared that resistance, but the other Valthorns didn¡¯t. My sensors and artificial minds made some calculations and concluded the demon king was quite far from them. ¡°Stay, but engage carefully.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Meanwhile, the hero, Alvin, finally arrived in the South. Spaizzer Hey there. Thanks for reading. Since it''s the start of the month, I''d like to promote my own patreon a little bit. I currently have 3 chapters ahead on my patreon, and 2 patreon-exclusive side stories (one on Astra, and about the journal), for a hopefully entirely reasonable US$3 a month. You may find my patreeon here -> MY PATREON Once again, thanks for reading and thanks for your support. Disruptreeve Incidents Year 178 After locusts, it was a global heatwave. Strangely the heatwave made some places colder, some places hotter. Global climates are strange things, whatmore with the complicated interactions with magic and mana. ¡°I¡¯m not melting.¡± Aria said through the ice mirror that seemed unaffected by the heat. I was once burning, so, the heat didn¡¯t really bother me anyway. At least, I thought of checking in on the two-in-one ice spirit. ¡°But thanks for asking. Aispeng''s powers keep the island cold and snowy, and it¡¯s strong enough to overpower the demon¡¯s global influence.¡± Local specific powers are stronger than global generic powers. That¡¯s like a principle for magic. The main problems were the volatile winds that now whipped the oceans of the world into a craze. Traditional trade ships that relied on the gentle trade winds to move from continent to continent now had to contend with more chaotic and dangerous winds. But for the more experienced and higher levelled captains, the stronger winds were a net advantage since they could predict and use these strong winds. I checked in on the other growing spirit. Reefy just felt rather uncomfortable. > It¡¯s kinda hot. It¡¯s not nice. < I recall some reefs are particularly sensitive to heat, so I wondered whether Reefy felt anything. < Will you be alright? > > My energy sustains the reef. Without it, they die. < < Will you need help? > I offered to supply cold water through the roots. My roots were designed for heat transmission anyway, and it worked both ways. > For now no. But I want to kill the demons. They did this, right? < < Yes. > > Can you pull them underwater? < < It¡¯s in the South, it¡¯s too far for me. Maybe next time? > > Next time then. < Lumoof and the group helped to fight off some of the demon champions. They were stronger, empowered by the presence of the demon king. Still, their flames meant their close range engagements were limited, and strictly ranged attacks only. I could theoretically possess Lumoof and engage the demon champions in close range, but that would defeat the purpose of letting my Valthorns level. Besides, the challenge of fighting a demon champion at range helped their levelling. Kei was also battling it out with the demon champions, but her tactics were rather underhanded. She fought like Techies from Dota, she planted her crystal bombs in a particular location and lured the demon champions to the bombs, and then nuked them. It worked really well with the mostly stupid demon champions. Their presence was overpowered by Alvin¡¯s exploits on the battlefield. He did not directly engage the demon king, and the demon king seemed rather content to stay in one place. My mages attempted to use farsight and scrying to view the demon¡¯s activities, but it seemed this demon king had spying protection. Was the demon king so confident that it was willing to wait for the heroes to get close? Alvin and Kei regrouped, and they attempted to fight the demon king for the first time. Kei had one of my Court of the Deitree familiars too, just so that I could recall her if she was in a bad situation. It didn¡¯t go very well, as Kei later narrated the battle to me. The Demon King really was a typical demon king, in a sense. It was massive, had six massive arms each wielding some kind of flaming weapon or shield, a cow-skull head with four massive horns, a body covered in some kind of black scale armor and eight floating fireballs of different colors, each of them capable of independent attack. It¡¯s a demon king designed for direct combat. Alvin and his ranged missile arrays didn¡¯t do very well. His missiles numbered in the tens of thousands. He rained fury on the battlefield, but the demon king¡¯s flaming shield detonated the less powerful missiles before they got near. His stronger penetration missiles detonated on the Demon King¡¯s shield-arm, and they made a large hole, but not sufficient to seriously injure the demon king. Reviewing the battle, I concluded that Alvin was underleveled. His abilities, in the Level 120+ range, was not sufficient to single handedly take on the demon king at full strength. Kei succeeded as my bombs helped weaken the demon king, but Alvin? He was too weak. Even with Kei¡¯s bombs assisting at the distance, it wasn¡¯t enough to tilt the balance. Alvin lost badly. He attempted to retreat, and it was then the demon king radiated a big reddish flare that interrupted the hero¡¯s teleportation ability. The flare latched to Alvin like a chain. The demon king closed in, and Kei slammed the panic button. Kei activated a crystal that contained a short range teleportation spell, and teleported to the nearest city. She then [messaged] one of the Valthorns, for a recall back here. Home. [Alvin died. You received a fragment.] I had a total of 91 hero fragments now. 9 more to go. Once more, the world erupted in panic. The hero has fallen! I swiftly recalled Lumoof and the team too. ¡°The demon king is not moving.¡± My sensors got better at nailing down the demon king¡¯s location. The way its energies distorted space, the way it¡¯s abilities spread into the world and heated everything up. The demon king was a presence, and it¡¯s not afraid to say it. I looked back at the path between worlds. It¡¯s a lot dimmer now, but I wanted to observe something else. The torches were smaller, almost fading away. The demon king itself was some kind of rift conduit, I felt its energies leaking into the pathways between the worlds. The gods will summon the next batch of heroes soon. I told Stella too, that if she wanted to see the path home, she would have to focus and pay attention. We would need to see what happened, whether the heroes came the same way as the demon king. If they left trails, we could follow their path. ¡°What... what do we do now?¡± I¡¯ve had this question so many times. When the previous heroes also died at the hands of the demon king, they came with this same question. History has clearly shown that all we have to do is wait, and watch the cycle repeat itself. It¡¯s quite annoying to face these same things, like that coworker that never seems to learn despite telling them countless times, or like being that long employee teaching new interns for the umpteenth time. Is this how it feels?¡°Observe, wait, and prepare.¡± What else was there to do? What is there to do when it rains? We hope our preparations so far are adequate, and observe the situation. If it floods, we flee to higher ground. ¡°You alright?¡± Lausanne and Stella both asked Kei. Kei rested at her house in Freshka after the whole fight. She was injured, but not much. ¡°...I¡¯m not sure, honestly.¡± Kei answered. ¡°I thought I would feel more sad, I know I felt quite sad when I heard Hans died, but somehow this time, I feel a little bad. Like, I¡¯m more tormented that I don¡¯t feel sad, than from the sadness of his death itself.¡± ¡°That sounds quite serious.¡± Lausanne said. ¡°Mentally serious.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure if it is because I actually helped, so I felt like I did what I could. Whereas for Hans, I didn¡¯t help at all. Not that I could do anything then, but still... I feel kinda bad gaining a few levels too, even though all I did wasn¡¯t much.¡± Lausanne shrugged and Stella just patted the golem-girl on her shoulders. ¡°So how long do you need to get out of your funk?¡± ¡°Uh... I¡¯m fine. I think... I think I just gotta deal with this feeling.¡± Stella shrugged. ¡°Sounds like what you need is some monster-bashing. It helps with my negative emotions, and I think it¡¯ll help with yours.¡± ¡°When did you ever become such a monster-hunter?¡± Kei laughed. ¡°Uh... It¡¯s complicated. But seriously, try it. Hunting monsters is fun. The adrenaline and the satisfaction of bashing something is really... wow.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s the meek and quiet painter I used to know?¡± Kei wondered aloud. ¡°It¡¯s gone when I lost my classes for [Void Mage].¡± Stella answered. ¡°Seriously, come, monster hunting. Shoot some monsters up, like the boys y¡¯know.¡± Kei had a facepalm moment. Lausanne just stood there. ¡°What the hell did you see in those 40 years?¡± ¡°A lot of really mundane stuff. Mostly a lot of warping here and there. I guess that messes with my brain?¡± Stella laughed. ¡°This image of three ladies smashing monsters for fun isn¡¯t exactly what I had in mind.¡± Kei frowned. ¡°Two ladies and a golem. Technically you are sexless.¡± ¡°I¡¯m emotionally and spiritually still a woman.¡± ¡°I believe spirits are sexless. No, correction. Your soul is sexless.¡± Stella emphasised. ¡°You can ask Aeon. Apparently when we boil ourselves down to our raw soul particles, we are all sexless. You believe you are a woman because you inherited memories of a woman, but if you let yourself embrace your new body, you will think differently.¡± Kei just laughed. ¡°Alright. Alright. Let¡¯s go smash some monsters. This conversation took a really weird turn.¡± Lausanne just rolled her eyes. ¡°Did you meet some kind of eldritch creature on the other side that you¡¯re now all kookoo?¡± ¡°I suppose exposure to the void should theoretically make me more susceptible to insanity.¡± Stella mused. ¡°But monster-smashing time!¡± ¡°You¡¯re surprisingly calm when there¡¯s a demon king that¡¯s in our world.¡± Kei said. ¡°We have Aeon, Edna and Lumoof. They¡¯d give the demon king a good fight if it wants one.¡± ¡°You have a surprisingly high level of confidence in their ability.¡± ¡°They survived the last demon king, and they levelled for sure. They may struggle, but I think they can force a stalemate.¡± ¡°This demon king has an axe. I think it¡¯ll probably have some anti-tree chopping perk.¡± ¡°Oh. Let me know when they send a Woodcutter Demon King, then I¡¯ll panic.¡± ¡°That would make a fascinating thought experiment. I wonder the kind of skills and stats that kind of demon king would have...¡± ¡°Is that something we should be thinking about? Let¡¯s go smash monsters. A level 50 dungeon would be good.¡± The Demon King moved, but remained in the Southern Continent. It seemed rather disinterested, and it raided kingdoms throughout the South with its army of demons. It attacked, destroyed cities and towns, and then retreated back. I didn¡¯t quite understand why it did so, strategically, but now that the demons have their ¡®mind¡¯, I suppose their behavior would change. Refugees and escapees abound. In fact, the escape began once the hero died. Most of the royalty sent their children away to escape the problem, and some came here, to the Central Continent. It reminded me of my earlier days of being a refugee center. The masses, all fleeing for their lives. The fear. The refugees that arrived on our southern shores were mostly the less wealthy sort. The nobles and those with sufficient funds would not antagonise the 4 churches by escaping to the central continent, so they escaped to the other continents instead. So, it is those who don¡¯t have the flexibility and financial power for a longer journey to the other continents, those who can only afford the shorter trip here. They took whatever they could, to make the trip. Generally I left the management of refugees to the respective local governments that receive these refugees, so each jurisdiction treated their refugees slightly differently. Some had a talent-harvesting or collection mechanism where new refugees are assessed for their skills and qualifications and deployed to fill missing needs. Some just place them in dedicated refugee towns and let them fend for themselves. In these places, the refugees then take charge of buying supplies and food from their nearest towns and cities, with whatever resources or cash they have. The life of a refugee is one where they make do with what they can get, and I do think the people of this world have been culturally ingrained to be ¡®hardy¡¯. It¡¯s an admirable trait. The Valthorns generally ceased recruitment from fresh refugees a while ago, due to the suspicions of loyalty. Patreeck¡¯s mind reading abilities are after all still limited to only the vicinity of Freshka. The refugees themselves usually have some combat ability, though not at a very high level. Usually they would have 5 to 20 levels in some combat class, which, strangely, makes them more combat-proficient than my local group. The newer generation of central continent citizens are on average, less combat capable than their predecessors, as the presence of beetles throughout the continent have reduced the amount of monster attacks they face. Instead, for the average citizen, their main threats are petty crimes and thuggery from their local rulers or criminal gangs. For most part, lesser criminals do not attract the attention of the Valthorns. On the other hand, the specialised military forces are significantly higher levelled due to their privileged access to dungeons and the effects of my assisted training, and the average Valtrian Order soldier pretty much outclass everyone except for the above average adventurers. As a result, there is a power-gap between the common populace and the Valtrians, and the Valthorns are quasi-nobles, despite their lack of a noble title. A military aristocracy, in a way. Refugees generally have a very awkward relationship with the Valthorns they encounter, simply because in their other kingdoms, the nobility controls the army. Here, the federal army is an independent entity and that¡¯s something that needed some time to adapt. That said, based on Patreeck¡¯s data, almost all refugees eventually settle in the Central Continent, with only a minority returning to their home continents. In terms of the total number of citizens, the Central Continent has increased between two to three times since 50 years ago. The growth in terms of total number had been primarily caused by the generally higher reproductive rates of humans, at least compared to dwarves, or elves. In terms of actual percentage growth, lizard-people and treefolk dominated, due to both of these races coming from a low base, their ability to have multiple children at any time and the effect of the Treeology Priests¡¯ various saps and syrups significantly improved their survival rates beyond their infant-years. I don¡¯t have the exact number of people on the continent prior to the Rottedlands, but it seemed that records suggest that it took only 3 decades to repopulate the continent, and it seems we are about 50% more than prior to the Rottedlands. Still, it¡¯s hard to really estimate the total lives lost with unreliable data. We saw the starways dim even more, though there seemed to be some kind of string, or line that came from our world, and there were flashes of light that moved through that ¡®string¡¯. It seemed to suggest that the demon king is able to access the starways from its end, and not just reliant on their gateways on their homeworld. I shared my memories of the demonic gateways with Stella through Patreeck, but it didn¡¯t do much. She did not recognise the magical words or enchantments on those gates. Throughout the continent I kept my magical sensors ready, and just as before, I spread the Valthorns out. The heroes will arrive soon. When they do, I want to know whether they are here. It¡¯s important to get them before monsters or any strange criminals get to them. I will need to keep my eyes open for the path they took. ¡°What if we can¡¯t see it?¡± Stella asked. ¡°That¡¯s a datapoint too. It meant they used a different method.¡± ¡°Huh. True.¡± ¡°More importantly, what if you can¡¯t go home? That it is impossible?¡± Stella just sighed. ¡°Uhm... oh well?¡± ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± ¡°Yeah. I think this world isn¡¯t too bad. It¡¯s in better shape than the other two worlds.¡± ¡°Have you met any other spirits on the other worlds?¡± ¡°Uh, I mostly stayed with Vallasira, and only went to the cities occasionally, myself. The good thing is, they speak the same language. Strange, how the language of both worlds are identical.¡± ¡°It could be a skill.¡± I wondered. ¡°A passive?¡± ¡°Pretty sure it is. Feels like maybe I¡¯m actually talking gibberish but the system auto-translated the content to the recipient?¡± New Buds Year 179 My sensors were glued to the skies, waiting for the moment. The forest was dark, and then momentarily, a flash of light. The darkness of the void momentarily twisted and swirled, and a ring of light appeared. Ten flashes of light shot out, like little meteors streaking through the dark night sky. Despite our best efforts to observe the phenomenon of a hero summoning, the magical energies were extremely subtle. [Ten heroes have been summoned]. Another 10 landed, and instantly I sounded the alarm. I wanted eyes on the ground to look for them, whether they are on the Central continent, or elsewhere. ¡°I didn¡¯t see much...¡± Stella frowned, upset at how the path back to her original world eluded her. It was faint, and there was that strange ¡®ring¡¯ like thing. Something I¡¯ve not seen before until I had this ¡®astral sight¡¯ ability. Still, while my forces kept watch for the heroes, we both tried to ¡®follow¡¯ that path back. Myself and Stella. A few of the other senior Valthorns, Kei and Lausanne all dropped by at times. ¡°What kind of people do you think we¡¯ll get?¡± Stella asked, she tried to make conversation while we tweaked with the daemolite and attempted to retrace the path of the heroes. There was no path. It¡¯s as if someone just airdropped the heroes. No, someone just drop-shipped the heroes. ¡°Probably the same type. Young kids, 14 to 18 years old, too young to know how shitty the world truly is , and easily controlled by the gods.¡± ¡°That bad, huh?¡± Stella said. ¡°Kei¡¯s pretty alright, isn¡¯t she?¡± ¡°She has this weird hang up about helping former earthlings.¡± ¡°Some people are helpful like that. I think too much skepticism and suspicion would just paralyse her. It¡¯s good that she still cares, even after what she has seen and been through. I know I certainly don¡¯t have that kind of mental strength.¡± ¡°You survived 40 years in other worlds, I think you deserve some credit.¡± Our experiments didn¡¯t really seem to go anywhere. It¡¯s frustrating that the gods have even more unique powers that even void mana can¡¯t breach. ¡°Heh, practicing magic for 40 years hardly counts as hardship.¡± ¡°Well, you did lose some body parts?¡± Which have all fully healed. ¡°Shit happens. You know... bad mistakes when practicing magic. In fact, if it wasn¡¯t for your familiar skill, I¡¯d probably be dead. The healing abilities of your familiar saved my life a few times.¡± Stella just shrugged when it didn¡¯t work. ¡°A part of me suspected this wasn¡¯t going to work. The rules of our home world were too different. Our planets and galaxies don¡¯t float on some kind of interstellar fog.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s one data point for earth being an entire alternate universe and demonic worlds existing within our present same-universe. But, that raised the next question, why do the gods summon all of the heroes from these alternate universes?¡± ¡°My guess?¡± ¡°Yeah. Go for it?¡± ¡°We¡¯re blank slates. Clean, untouched by mana ever. Maybe it¡¯s just easier to control us that way.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t every soul a blank slate when they die?¡± ¡°Hmmm... that¡¯s true. Then the next likely thing is that there¡¯s something interfering with the gods¡¯ ability to capture fresh, clean souls from this world. Maybe they just can¡¯t see this world very well. Maybe our homeworlds are godless, so that makes it easy for them to pick and choose who they want.¡± ¡°Then why do they need administrators?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know?¡± Stella laughed. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s just specialisation, I guess?¡± ¡°Ever wondered how they came to be? LIke... how did those reincarnation administrators, become reincarnation administrators?¡± ¡°My bet? The gods made them. They¡¯re not ¡®real¡¯ individuals, just a system personified and anthropomorphized.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°Wild, right? I mean, back home we have AI and machines that could mimic people, why wouldn¡¯t the same thing be doable via magic¡± That¡¯s really true. The gods could easily achieve self-aware and mostly autonomous operators. If I can create artificial souls, the gods surely can go further. Within two weeks it was clear that the heroes did not spawn on the Central continent. It was also a good point that none of them died soon after summoning. ¡°I want to spy on the heroes.¡± Kei said. ¡°Huh? Why?¡±¡°I want to see what kind of shit the temples throw at them at the start, whether it¡¯s the same as us.¡± Stella immediately rebuked her. ¡°You do know that volunteering yourself to be a hero¡¯s secret guide is a huge death flag, right?¡± ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about.¡± Kei rolled her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s a story trope, come on! Mentor occupational hazard! Ever heard of it?¡± Stella repeated. ¡°I say, don¡¯t do it.¡± ¡°Why is it that you believe all these norms?¡± Kei responded. ¡°If anyone should go, it¡¯s either Edna or Lumoof. Edna and Lumoof can get teleported away if they are ever in danger, and they are far stronger than you are.¡± ¡°Who won¡¯t go, because their place is here.¡± Kei responded. ¡°My place is to assist the heroes. I¡¯m just going to spy on them.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a golem, Kei. You¡¯re not a [spymaster] or [ranger]. Is this really the best use of your time? Going with the heroes to play babysitter is not going to be a good idea. You¡¯ll stunt their growth, too.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t participate. I¡¯m just going to watch from afar, and prevent deaths, if any.¡± Kei said. ¡°Enough have died from this, and I don¡¯t want any more foolish deaths.¡± ¡°There are a lot of foolish deaths.¡± Stella said. ¡°The world¡¯s full of it.¡± ¡°I know, but this is the one I choose to do something about.¡± ¡°Why, because heroes¡¯ lives matter?¡± ¡°Uh... I guess?¡± Kei was young, and she wasn¡¯t very politically aware. ¡°I feel like I should contribute, even if it isn¡¯t much.¡± Stella just had a facepalm. ¡°You know, back home, there¡¯s so many people who died for whatever reason, starvation, sickness, lack of jobs, depression. It never occured to you that the world is usually a shittty place?¡± ¡°I guess?¡± Kei shrugged. ¡°I just want to do this, so just let me, alright? I can¡¯t save everyone, that¡¯s the kind of thing maybe some like Aeon can do. I¡¯m just going to help prevent some deaths. What¡¯s the big fat problem about it?¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯re just a little.. Hmmm... ungrateful, I guess?¡± ¡°Look, when you see a doctor and the doctor saves your life, sure, you owe him, but do you reorient your entire life around the doctor¡¯s whims? No, right? There¡¯s a part where we draw the line and say, alright, that¡¯s your life, and this is mine. No, in fact I feel this is my way of paying it forward.¡± Stella paused for a while, and then laughed. ¡°I guess that¡¯s why you¡¯re a hero.¡± ¡°Eh, I actually don¡¯t think that¡¯s a criteria after all. Look at Alvin, he isn¡¯t really that honorable or what.¡± Kei left on some ships to the Southern Continent once news of their location came. The group of ten was essentially split in two. One group on the Eastern Continent, another group on the Southern Continent itself. I outfitted Hytreerion with multiple mana batteries and crystals to help it act like a mobile mana battery, and then, with the help of many blacksmiths, artisans and mages, built a massive magical cannon array on top of it. Alka named it the Mana Cannon Version One. This was essentially the first idea, to essentially convert Hytreerion to a massive cannon. Hytreerion as it is already has an energy blast, a power inherited from the demon-walker, and on its own, generated quite a bit of mana. It¡¯s power still paled, when compared to the hero weapons, but at least it could regenerate on time. ¡°This is a utility?¡± I wondered. ¡°Not really.¡± Alka laughed. But the real utility is the battery. Normal folk are unable to channel huge amounts of mana, unless they have specialised skills. So, the first real utility test is whether Hytreerion can act as a mobile teleportation gateway, together with Stella¡¯s existing void powers. The idea was whether it¡¯s possible for Hytreerion to act as a mobile-link on the other worlds. Of course, this is putting the cart before the horse, because we don¡¯t even have a way of opening a portal or rift large enough to the other side. ¡°But once we have the power source, we can figure out what to do with it.¡± Another aspect of the utility was ¡®terraforming¡¯. Essentially, the other worlds, some of them are very hostile to life. The intense aridness of the demon worlds meant my forces would be fighting in an environment that is uncomfortable. It¡¯s a penalty we didn¡¯t need. So, in terms of beetles, and to a lesser extent, Hytrerion, we wanted to see whether we can have ¡®environment generators¡¯. Beetles that have little combat ability, but spend their mana or energy to ¡®empower¡¯ their surrounding beetles. This included a wide range of possible functions, from adding humidity to the world such that my beetles¡¯ joints and limbs operate better, to stacking ¡®auras¡¯ such that they can overcome the negative environment on the other worlds. What we discovered was that it''s impossible for beetles to carry ¡®aura¡¯ functions. We needed ¡®dedicated¡¯ commander-beetles. Like Horns, but taken to the extreme. I also wondered whether it¡¯s possible to have an [Aura] titan? Something that boosted the combat abilities of my allies, and the thought instantly triggered the system to award it. [The Aura Turtle - Titan] [A turtle with multiple crystals on its back, each crystal generated a different aura. Default Turtle generates healing aura, mana recovery aura, damage reduction aura and endurance/stamina aura. Additional Auras gained with level, consumption of magical artifacts and upgrades]. ¡°Huh.¡± I had to think about this though, is this really a good idea? I only have two titans left. I finally recreated a Level 120 dungeon after tweaking with a few ley lines. I had to subtly guide four ley lines to meet somewhere deep underground, and so, a new dungeon for my Valthorns to power-level. This time, I tried to mess with the dungeon¡¯s settings a little bit more, so that the energy is focused on just spawning high tier monsters, rather than just mobs. Essentially, I hoped for a dungeon full of mini-bosses. A town quickly sprung up outside the dungeon, to serve and support the Valthorns making the dive. ¡°Which is better, hunting champions, or dungeon diving?¡± I asked the Valthorns one day. ¡°Depends on what kind of dungeon, really? If it¡¯s the trap-filled dungeons with all sorts of funny tricks, I prefer the Champion any day.¡± Roon laughed. He¡¯s still at the Level 130ish level. It¡¯s hard for them to level, strangely. Clearly the effects of the multiple hero fragments are more pronounced than I know. Kei sent word that she found one group of heroes. 4 of them. One of them had gone missing, but they couldn¡¯t find him. The heroes are practicing on monsters and smaller demon swarms in the south. ¡°Missing?¡± Edna wondered. She was based in the underground city, right outside the Level 120 dungeon. Just in case a monster escaped the dungeon. ¡°Is he dead?¡± ¡°No. I didn¡¯t get a notification.¡± I checked with Stella, just to be sure. ¡°How many fragments do you have, Stella?¡± ¡°Uh... lemme count. I think 13? 10 from the bunch I was summoned with, and 3 from Kei¡¯s batch. Why?¡± ¡°One of the heroes went missing, and I wanted to know whether he¡¯s dead.¡± ¡°Huh. Strange. Heroes don¡¯t go missing, normally? Not on some secret training mission or anything?¡± ¡°Kei isn¡¯t sure. If he isn¡¯t dead, that¡¯s a good sign. We just need to wait and watch out.¡± There was another group on the Eastern Continent. 5 of them. They too managed to survive their initial scare with regular monsters. Kei quickly relayed that this batch of heroes were ¡®conventional¡¯ heroes, as in two of them was a super-knight, and the other two was a super-mage. The missing hero was a super-mage too. Conventional heroes and conventional demons, eh? It felt like there¡¯s a larger supercycle of demons and heroes. Are the gods just playing some kind of Magic the Gathering campaign throughout the expansions and blocks, and are just moving through the gimmicks of each block? Stella sat. Kei messaged to say she will continue to observe them. Back home, we continued on with our weapons program. Alka and his group of artificers and mages were very busy, with multiple concurrent projects running. He preferred it that way, the multiple projects seemed to allow him to gather magical inspiration from many places. They worked on many types of ideas for anti-demonic weapons, from suicidal golems, flying golems to ¡®airdrop¡¯ rigged crystal bombs, and just better crystal bombs and weapons all round. My woodsmiths and blacksmiths made thousands of anti-demonic spears, and enchanted them. The Central Continent had a thriving defense industry, linked by my network of carrier-beetles. Throughout the continent we built multiple weapons stockpiles. It was overpreparing in a sense, but high quality weapons took time to make, and even master smiths and workers labored months on a special weapon, or a special knife, or a special rod. Some enchantments took just as long, especially those that required the threading of multiple different spells. We didn¡¯t have the hero¡¯s overpowered [Hero Forge] to shortcut a lot of that. If I needed superweapons, I needed to make them early. 10 years early. The Demon King continued its raid on the kingdoms, and the heroes rushed to gain levels. The Eastern group apparently started to sail to the South, to join their compatriots, the regular monsters of the Eastern Continent insufficient to feed their growth. I wonder whether they have an experience multiplier for killing demons. I suspect they do. . Kei commented that the Southern group reached level 60 within a month. Level 60 is enough for a champion, at least, with their hero powers, but the demon king needed them at the level 100 range. If they were too weak, they¡¯d die quickly. The missing hero was still missing. I wonder what would happen if the missing hero never appeared? Would the gods summon new heroes? Or the demons would destroy the world until they find that hero? - > Are they coming? < Reefy asked. < No. > The demons are still on their continent. > I have new spiky weapons I¡¯d like to use on them. I don¡¯t like this heat. But I gained skills now. I have [Perfect Waters]. < What in the world does that do? > My environment is always perfect for reefs! < < Ah. That does sound useful for a reef. > > Of course. But can you get me some of the demons. I wonder whether my fishes will eat them. Are they food? < < No, Reefy, they aren¡¯t food. They¡¯re just... enemies. > > Spiky corals then. Poison hurt them? < < Some. > I don¡¯t recall seeing a hero with a poison focus, or maybe I just can¡¯t remember. Maybe it¡¯s a bit dumb to have a poison focus when the demons aren¡¯t even human, so the poisons just don¡¯t hurt them. < Most likely not. > > Ah. No poisonous corals then. Just really hard and pokey corals. < < Yes. That would be optimal. > I thought back about the Tainted Demon Core captured from the demon king. It remained a puzzle I am unable to crack, even as I levelled. Demonic mana remained key, at least, master of it. The Rottedlands on the Central Continent are extremely small now, a tenth of what it once was. This space was ¡®preserved¡¯, mainly to hold the ¡®hybrid¡¯ plants that I can control, and for my Valthorns to continue their combat practice. With the smaller size, the relative strength of the demonic hybrids that spawn naturally dwindled. This is a limited space for me to practice the mana these hybrid plants sometimes produce. ¡°Perhaps an artificial mind fused with a hybrid may be the solution?¡± Patreeck proposed one day. I sometimes wonder why I can¡¯t think of these solutions myself. Did I try it before? Well.... it didn¡¯t work. The artificial mind collapsed soon after exposure to the demonic mana, like trying to boot up a faulty computer. Or maybe, a computer with insufficient parts. Why? Or perhaps... like a computer, it¡¯s not... Wait. Is it a power source issue then? But artificial souls generate their own mana. Is that why there¡¯s a conflict between a hybrid plant that passively generates tiny bits of demonic mana? It¡¯s like a computer getting both AC and DC power simultaneously, so it fried the computer? I suppose it¡¯s time to revisit the fundamentals of this ¡®artificial mind¡¯. Like, what is an artificial mind, and what differentiates them from regular people. Why are they limited? ¡°I suspect the issues maybe... about the creation of life.¡± Patreeck theorised. ¡°That a full soul is essentially a life and a living being.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t feel like you are a living being, Patreeck?¡± ¡°Well, no. I am always a part of you, even if I am capable of independent thought, master.¡± Huh. Perhaps it is that sense of self? Their soul, being incomplete, like a very good AI, but lacking that last spark that truly makes an AI more than just an AI. But... What am I trying to achieve here? These are dangerous grounds. Do I want to ¡®create¡¯ life unwittingly? My goal is to achieve control over demonic mana, and thus, hopefully, gain another color for my soul forge. Already, one of the ideas I had was to use the huge stockpiled void mana and attempt to unlock a new soul forge color, but I suspect the system required me to generate my own void mana, not just rely on ¡®stored¡¯ mana. It was a deconstruction of the artificial souls. Artificial souls are pieced together from the remnants of the dead. To use a computer term, they are salvaged from the usable parts of many ¡®dead¡¯ computers, and pieced together into a whole. But, they lack the ¡®core¡¯ which differentiated a person from a ¡®machine¡¯. I¡¯ve developed quite a significant understanding of these parts over the decades, through my analysis of hex. The hex is when these parts are combined in such a way that generates ¡®toxic negative thoughts¡¯. In other words, hex is pretty much weaponised negativity. Again, what else can the parts make? Can the parts be better made, than how I currently ¡®know¡¯ them? After all, I learned it by way of skills and levels. There should be better versions. Psychiatree Year 180 ¡°Nine of them spotted.¡± Kei spoke via long range message. ¡°All of them are around level 80s, and they are still challenging the champions. The King seemed content to let them do so, and continued its destructive acts.¡± It¡¯s a pattern, repeated since long ago. The King almost always waited for the heroes to level up. This was a quirk that I did not understand. Was it a rule? Or are the heroes ¡®invisible¡¯ before they turn level 100? But clearly the demon champions are able to find the heroes. So why? It really feels very game-ish. One instance suggested some observational flaw or quirk. But now after numerous demon kings, it really felt like this pattern suggested a ¡®game-like¡¯ arrangement between the demons and the gods. I really hope the Aivan church agrees to send the triumvirs over. I do want to interrogate the damned Aivan God why the fuck are we playing this game. But there was that hero that did the whole-sneak attack thing, but that was because there is an existing group of surviving heroes. If so, the demon king must have a trigger to engage in their hunt. ¡°No luck on the missing hero?¡± The missing hero... was still missing. But if say he is alive, and he is levelling up, he can¡¯t stay hidden for long. Not with the demon king¡¯s divine-hunting sight. I recall Harris once said that the demons can sense their presence, and the higher levels they are, the stronger they glow to the demons. ¡°No.¡± Kei sighed. ¡°I hope he¡¯s fine. The other heroes have attempted to contact him but he refused all communication.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve made contact with the heroes?¡± ¡°Yes. We spoke a bit.¡± Kei said. ¡°At level 80ish they are able to spot me. There was no way I could remain hidden for long.¡± ¡°And what did you tell them?¡± ¡°Almost everything, really. But nothing about you.¡± Kei was quick to repeat. ¡°Just about hero stuff, really. About the things we¡¯ve seen... I mean, about life as a hero... and our lives after we win. And the gods.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t kill you there and then?¡± ¡°They seemed to mumble something about Ken saying the same thing. Ken¡¯s the missing hero by the way, and he¡¯s.. Uh, he pretty much went cold turkey and had no contact with the rest of them after the first week together.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Ken, eh. ¡°So... how are the heroes taking to their new roles as saviors of the world?¡± ¡°Quite enthusiastic. It¡¯s actually quite embarrassing to hear it. Was I so naive and innocent?¡± Kei sighed. ¡°Yes. Yes you were. In fact, you still are.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± - Roon and the others kept at their dungeon raids. The dungeon at Level 120 was large, and their foes were a mix of giants. According to their post-raid reports, the space after the dungeon gates were significantly larger than before, and the dungeon exhibited some kind of spatial distortion which magnified it¡¯s size. I too, have some spatial abilities with my [Secret hideouts] and Subsidiary Tree rooms. Roon and another of the Matreearchs managed to hit Level 135, so they are only 15 levels away from their own domains. The monsters were large, but ultimately they can be defeated. Still, after my earlier experience with the collapsed dungeon, I started work on another set of ley lines, and I hope to have a new dungeon active before this one collapses in the future. These dungeons, their rewards are mostly the remains of the dungeon monsters, and they are often set aside for my blacksmiths and mages to experiment, to craft into weapons and armors. There is a gradual upward drift in the quality of the equipment among the Valthorns, as they get a wider variety of equipment over time, instead of just my own items. Things I made, or blessed by me personally are strong, but my items tend to have anti-demon effects. Equipment made from the monster¡¯s remains in the dungeon tend to be more varied. Those who made a living outside the dungeon also soon made more ¡®mobile¡¯ setups, once they were informed of the temporary nature of these high tier dungeons. These were pretty much the best craftsmen and smiths the entire continent have to offer, and it¡¯s something we noticed, that the higher levelled they were, it is more likely that they have passion in what they did. For these level 80+ craftsmen, they relished working with the unique materials that a high tier dungeon provided, and so they moved where the materials were. That said, for these craftsmen, almost 80% of their time is spent making equipment to process the materials, and only 20% on the materials themselves. There¡¯s a whole lot of preparation work that goes on before the craftsmen lay their lands on the harvested items. Many of these higher tier monsters are ¡®new¡¯ to us, since the dungeon generated these monsters somewhat randomly, so even ¡®harvesting¡¯ the monsters took a lot of experimentation. At higher tiers, the dungeon monsters resemble more like frankenstein-ish mixture of creatures, materials and skills. In fact, I would personally say most monsters look their best at around Level 80, where they conform to what I believe is usually considered a monsters¡¯ ¡®normal¡¯ appearance. At level 120, take a cerberus, would have strange laser-eyes, teeths or claws made of some rainbow metal, and sometimes, even heads that regrow when chopped off, as if its some lovechild of a cerberus and a hydra. It¡¯s like the dungeon system has an archive of what items or effects it considers as a high level effect, and just mashed them together to form whatever random miniboss. They usually had a few gimmicks too, like a cerberus where one eye used lasers, and one of the heads caused explosions. I wondered whether a level 150 or 200 dungeon will look more ¡®proper¡¯, once every part of the monster is upgraded with higher tier materials. It¡¯s just a theory of course. According to Edna there¡¯s no great difference in their appearance between level 120 and 130, just more skills, more gimmicks, tougher, and stronger. The whole ¡®moving¡¯ ley lines thing also made me think of that volcano I acquired early on. If there are natural sources of energy, I suppose using my own world knowledge, the greatest power source right now would be the sun. The stars and the sun would generate the most power, so I wonder what level would a sun-powered dungeon be? Could I even ¡®create¡¯ gods outright? I mean, if a dungeon had level 150 monsters, wouldn¡¯t that mean these monsters are mini-gods in their own right? If so, how can a dungeon contain them? This suggested a few likely outcomes. One, is that it is impossible to create dungeons beyond level 149, unless the dungeon itself is some godly being. Two, it is possible to create level 150 monsters, but controlling them is impossible, so a dungeon break must happen. Three, it is possible to create level 150 dungeons, and it is possible for the dungeon to still control level 150+ creations despite their domain, or perhaps, these creatures do not have a domain. It is possible if the monsters are ¡®soulless¡¯ despite having that kind of power level, that they are just super strong automatons with strength at that level. Which made me wonder... ¡°Any of the druids attempted to ¡®enslave¡¯ or ¡®tame¡¯ the dungeon monsters before?¡± I mean, the dungeons generate high tier monsters, but druids and beastmasters naturally have abilities to acquire ¡®companions¡¯¡± I also remember that old story of the elven hero with the ability to ¡®enslave¡¯ spirits, including spirit trees. It was something that I am still afraid of, even if I have the domain as a shield. I wondered when a hero¡¯s skills and a domain clashed, how does the system resolve the conflict? Like, a hero with a special spirit-capture ability, against me, a spirit tree with a domain? Anyway, the druids soon explained that they have attempted to capture the dungeon beasts, but have only managed to tame those in the lower tier dungeons, around Level 80 or so. They have not had any success with the monsters from the higher levelled dungeons. They suspected that it¡¯s due to their diversified focus, and so their success relied on their huge level differentials. A pure monster-tamer. That sounds like something from an isekai story. If I am able to ¡®convert¡¯ a demon, could a very powerful monster tamer or beast master control the demons, and at even higher levels, take control of the demon champions and kings? It¡¯s essentially the same issue with heroes and me, isn¡¯t it? If a powerful beast master can control the demon king, a hero must be able to control me. ¡°That train of thought implies the demon king to be a [domain] holder, which, from our data thus far, nothing seems to suggest it is a [domain] holder. In fact, we don¡¯t even know if the demon king has levels.¡± Because the King doesn¡¯t talk. - The heatwave meant druids and mages were in huge demand, as they had to help use their weather abilities and skills to help ¡®reduce¡¯ the impact of the heat. Our master builders had to rush to the shores, and areas that suffered huge floods and rainfalls to help redirect the water, on top of my trees. My trees soaked up the water easily, after all, my roots naturally transported water and I used this to great effect, to help direct water from areas that faced torrential rain and floods, to areas that faced exceptionally dry weather. The response to the weather changes were mixed. Some just moved to places where the effects were milder. Like Freshka itself, it is quite insulated from the effects of the heatwave due to the presence of many druids¡¯ skills that helped ¡®soften¡¯ the effects of the demon king¡¯s energies, on top of my own heat-channelling abilities. The farmlands within the same region as me pretty much survived the heatwave unaffected, at this distance my abilities easily overwhelmed the global effects of the heatwave. Further out, there¡¯s been some fires and destruction of farms. Small damage, generally, as my influence wanes somewhat at a distance. That said, the nobles and royalty were generally pretty pissy about the weather, and they¡¯ve hired mages and druids to keep the weather pleasant. Strange that they get so pissy. I observed less of such behavior from the older kind. One group that I needed to assist a little more were the treefolk. They seemed rather sensitive to the weather, and needed to consume more water to offset the increased evaporation and heat. Trees generally help to cool their surroundings through evaporation, but that does mean that they lose more water and treefolks needed to constantly replenish water, a problem when the rivers themselves are drying up. So far, no area has faced terrible droughts yet, thanks to my roots performing their role of distributing both heat and water to where they are needed. Funny that all my fire resistance and training from previous demon kings meant I could resist this effect relatively easily. Truly, what doesn¡¯t kill you, makes you stronger. The elves, humans and dwarves were uncomfortable, but they generally did well. The lizardpeople enjoyed the heat, but they preferred the ¡®humid¡¯ heat, not the ¡®dry¡¯ heat, so those close to the coast actually found the heatwave pleasant. The lesser races like those winged garudas and harpies didn¡¯t enjoy the more turbulent winds from the heat. Fishing was down significantly, as the heat made the waves more dangerous throughout the world. That said, if a fisher and sailor were to set out now, they would generally level... if they survived. Trade was wobbly, and so was fishing. But the oceans were generally calmer out in the open oceans. A master captain with a great ship could still make the journey. ¡°Our pirates and privateers are stranded on the islands.¡± Well, one of the drawbacks of a land-based continental force is my naval forces aren¡¯t amazing. Even with all the training and special centers, they just don¡¯t have the opportunity to really challenge themselves for sea battles. Unless I do mock battles with Reefy? Mock battles sounded like a good idea. < Reefy? > > Yes? < < Do you want to do practice battles? > > Practice... battles? < I shared images and scenes through our somewhat connected ¡®roots¡¯. Of practice duels, mock battles and so on. The purpose was to practice strategy and tactics, gain familiarity on whether combat is effective or not. < Why don¡¯t just kill? > > Not enemies. Friend. Just to get stronger. < Reefy seemed to struggle to process fighting their friends for a while. It seemed to have a rather convenient categorisation of friends and foes? Or did it just classify people to their threat levels? < Don¡¯t understand. Share images again. > I did so. Reefy still seemed rather confused. - In the meantime, since Aria and Aispeng are ice spirits, I wondered whether they have abilities that can offset the heat. They do, but it¡¯s an aura ability so they can¡¯t ¡®share¡¯ it. The northern isles, despite being naturally colder, had ¡®stronger¡¯ heatwaves, and this manifested in stronger blizzards and winds. In a way, this demon king¡¯s abilities isn¡¯t really a ¡®heatwave¡¯, but more of ¡®extreme weather¡¯. Did the demon king copy some climate change rulebook somewhere? - The heroes kept on with their battles and they had their first encounter with the demon king. It did not go well, but it seemed the demon king did not give much chase. [Ellis Myers has died. You received a fragment] [Jenna Kari has died. You received a fragment] Kei had apparently attempted to help. ¡°You idiot.¡± Stella screamed over the message spell, she had two fragments too. ¡°Don¡¯t risk your fucking life.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already died once. What¡¯s another time?¡± ¡°I thought you promised us!¡± Apparently Kei had a promise with the girls? Huh. I sure didn¡¯t see them being so close. ¡°...I know. I feel like shit though.¡± Kei said. ¡°I can¡¯t just stand and let them fight.¡± ¡°Kei, we¡¯ve talked about this. There are battles that are out of our leagues. Each of us needs to do our part, do what we¡¯re good at.¡± Stella repeated. ¡°I¡¯m a [void mage], and I¡¯m good with portals. That means I¡¯m not going anywhere near a battlefield. You¡¯re a [biocrystalline golem], and you can make crystals do all sort of stuff. But you¡¯re not a 100% combat class, and you don¡¯t have hero powers. Don¡¯t fight battles you can¡¯t do shit in. We all want this shit to end, but we need to work together dammit. Another act out of line and I¡¯ll get Aeon to [recall] you.¡± ¡°...sorry.¡± ¡°Good.¡± The death of two shook the group of 7 left. They were nervous and afraid. What seemed comically easy once they levelled, suddenly was hard again. The gap between the champions and the king was large, and only now they understood it. Kei had to be their counselor. But in the south, there were other temples, and some heroes sought help from the temples instead. ¡°Should¡¯ve sent priests here! Right now they need the calming abilities of the priesthood!¡± Kei complained. That was something I¡¯ll take note of. Certainly Lumoof could help to provide serenity and calmness in face of loss. These are young teens in need of emotional support, and that¡¯s certainly a neglected aspect of their journey. - ¡°Do we have counselor classes?¡± I asked Lumoof and the group. Actually, if heroes get out of this with PTSD, is that why they end up indulging themselves in all their harems and all that? It¡¯s a way of coping with the shit they¡¯ve seen? I¡¯m not in their place, and I¡¯ve not seen their struggles. But on reflection, it does seem almost all of them are broken or chipped in some way. I knew his answer before he answered thanks to our mental link, but I let him say it out anyway. ¡°We do have [Priest of Tranquility], and certain skills like [Calm Composure], [Emotional Appeasement]...¡± ¡°Then we must find ways to train this further.¡± I¡¯ve been growing class seeds all this while, but I suppose I needed to experiment and create these ¡®counselors¡¯ or ¡®psychiatrist¡¯ classes. I looked at my own [Tree of Prayers]. These helped in the past, just as my [tea] did. I needed to make them mobile, without using Lumoof. The people of this world are naturally resilient and seemed to endure the destruction really well without emotionally breaking down, but the heroes clearly are cracking, even if they outwardly appear fine. Timeless Trees Year 181 The heroes tried again, if anything, out of a desire for revenge. The demon king killed 2 of them, and they were going to live, this time. They hunted champions and gained more levels, and all of them were now in their level 100s, if only in the early level 100s. The 2 fragments each of them had made them level faster, and made them stronger. ¡°They know I¡¯m talking to you guys.¡± Kei said. ¡°So? You¡¯re free to have friends, right?¡± ¡°I think they¡¯re alright, but some of them are suspicious why I¡¯m reporting everything to you. And rightly so. The way I¡¯m behaving is very much a spy. In a way, I am a spy.¡± Kei laughed awkwardly. ¡°I thought you told them everything?¡± ¡°Yes, but still, they continue to maintain some distance.¡± Kei paused. ¡°If I were in their shoes, I¡¯d be suspicious of a girl or golem who claims to be a former hero and somehow reports on their activities back to someone they don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Then stop staying there. I think they no longer need your help. Not anymore. The longer they stay, the more suspicious they get.¡± ¡°...you¡¯re right.¡± Kei had one last conversation with the heroes before their fight with the demon king. They¡¯ve reached level 100, and just as before they¡¯ve unlocked their star-mana forms. There¡¯s 7 of them at level 100+, against one demon king, honestly, the odds are pretty good that they¡¯ll win. She spoke of hero-made items from previous generations, and whether the heroes wanted a trip to the Central Continent before their 2nd encounter with the demon king. They refused. Well, some of them wanted it, but they already unlocked their own [Hero¡¯s Forge] and could make their own hero items. ¡°You think they¡¯ll live?¡± Stella asked through [message], as Kei made her way to the shore. I could recall her at any time, but she wanted to wait for the heroes to actually fight the demon king before she left. ¡°What did you think of the demon king?¡± ¡°I saw it briefly, I was really far away but I think... I think they have a good chance of winning. But I think half of them will die. It¡¯s still a bit too early¡± ¡°Huh. Are they prepared for a self-destruction gimmick at the end?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know whether they remembered. When I reminded them they just brushed it off.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Stella asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure whether what I told them got through to their heads. Lately they just seem... I don¡¯t know how to put it...¡± ¡°Stubborn?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Confident?¡± ¡°Not that either...¡± ¡°Middle-grade syndrome?¡± ¡°...that might be it.¡± ¡°But they are late teens, right?¡± ¡°Yes. One of them reincarnated as a half-dark elf so age is a little bit more flexible but yes. Late teens, mentally.¡± ¡°You were there, once. You should know why they don¡¯t listen.¡± ¡°Fuck that.¡± We felt the effects of the battle from a distance. The heroes pulled out all the stops, and my magical sensors felt the churn of magic in the air, even so far away. The weather seemed to sense this, and the world waited for the outcome of the battle of heroes. The instability of magic lasted for a day, and this time, I felt sensations that were very familiar. It felt like those old, healed wounds had been torn open. But I was still physically fine. Why did I feel it then? [Demon King Ethrezen has been slain] [Kenny Hills has been slain. You received a fragment] [Elly Pato has been slain. You received a fragment] [Nancy Pelos has been slain. You received a fragment] Only three deaths. That meant four of the heroes survived. The four survivors were Prabu and Colette, both archmages, Hafiz the Knight and Chung the Archer. There was an explosion at the end, but somehow they still managed to survive it. Kei, of course, felt the explosion. The explosion¡¯s shockwave could be felt a world away, and she ran at full speed towards the center of the explosion once it was clear the explosion was done. The entire area had been turned into a volcanic wasteland, but the four were alive, but weak. All of them suffered heavy burns and their skins charred. They lived. Both archmages were unconscious, but they somehow managed to sustain a multi-layered magical shield that collapsed once Kei approached them. The burns were so bad that they could not speak, not yet. She quickly stabilised them with her familiar¡¯s healing abilities. Despite how horrific the burns were, they were heroes, and the healing quickly restored them. Exhausted and weak, even though somewhat healed, Kei escorted them out and brought them to the nearest town where they got food and shelter. - ¡°Well that¡¯s over.¡± I gathered the Valthorns. ¡°As usual we¡¯ll have to face the issue that the heroes may be hostile, or may be friendly. We will initiate our hero-preparations procedure again.¡± We had this preparation since the crusades, mainly to consider how to fight heroes on our home ground, should the temples order another round of Crusades. There¡¯s four of them. Five if we count the missing hero. We know that two of them are mages, and they have good shields, shields strong enough to stop the demon king¡¯s last bomb. They also survived the demon king, so that should put them in the Level 120s. In a straight combat, we¡¯re in trouble. Even with both Lumoof and Edna, I think it¡¯ll be a long shot if we even win. So, avoiding combat should be the first priority. At least the propaganda from the temples are not outright hostile these days, so hopefully the heroes don¡¯t turn out that bad. They would have to mop up the rest of the demons too. There are still demon champions and large hordes of demons left unchecked. The heroes will get to them soon, perhaps in a month. ¡°We should start aid.¡± Lausanne proposed. ¡°It¡¯s a good way to win friends through the reconstruction process.¡± ¡°This is usually the period when they start maneuvering for territory and start their own kingdoms. We¡¯ll need to be careful not to get tangled in a case where the kingdoms use our support as a weapon or shield against the heroes.¡± One of the Lords presented some diplomatic implications. ¡°Agreed, but we can just decline or pull out should that happen?¡± Lausanne proposed. ¡°Then we as a faith will look weak, because we can¡¯t resist the heroes. It¡¯s a signal to the temples that we are afraid of the heroes.¡± ¡°No no. Let¡¯s step back here. We¡¯re not going as a missionary force, and we¡¯re not going to be some ¡®pillar¡¯ to stand up against the heroes or the other temples. We¡¯re sending workers, craftspeople, farmers, druids to help fix the damaged lands, and if we encounter any hostility we will pack up and move.¡± Lausanne repeated. ¡°We can do this without having a need to appear as a political entity.¡± ¡°Then what you are suggesting is a clandestine aid operation? Any action we do will be viewed through national, geostrategic or geopolitical views. How strong, how weak we go.¡± Lumoof paused. ¡°I believe it may not be a problem if we go weak.¡± ¡°Then we won¡¯t be winning over allies in the South, so why go?¡± Lausanne took a step back. ¡°I think we need to draw a line here, on whether we¡¯re going for political reasons, or going for the purpose of assistance. I¡¯m voting to go, and provide assistance and help the nations rebuild their lives a bit faster.¡± The debate went on for a while. I was alright either way, whether the council decided to go or otherwise. In the end, Lausanne volunteered for a small assistance group, supported by the priests. I also needed more [Domain] level servants, and Johann, Roon and a few of the druids kept on grinding the level 120 dungeon. They were at the edges and stagnating, around the early Level 140s, and yet it¡¯s not moving much. ¡°Level 120 isn¡¯t enough, Aeon.¡± Roon vented. ¡°We¡¯ve done this for months and we¡¯re not levelling. Something¡¯s not right.¡± Patreeck and my artificial minds quickly made comparisons between their experience and that of Edna and Lumoof. The analysis revealed that there wasn¡¯t much difference, except they didn¡¯t participate significantly in the conflict with the demon king. Does the system actually require some kind of ¡®significant-event¡¯ record in order to move past certain levels? But... What about me? The fragments help override the system or give it a boost? I needed more power to feed the ley lines. I wondered, just wondered, whether heroes could supply the power needed to summon super-tier dungeons. No... back about the idea of the sun. Could I create a portal to the sun and then use that as a magic source? Of course, I asked Stella about the possibility of creating permanent portals. In theory, yes, but the further it is, the more difficult it is to be permanent, simply because the void and space is subject to so much interference and fluctuations that the mage or portal-maker has to constantly adjust their skill or spell in order to account for those changes. A super strong solar-flare or a magical supernova could rip your portal to shreds, if at the wrong place and at the wrong time. The way between worlds is a forest, and perhaps also a sea that¡¯s constantly moving. The path is a bit like trying to create a bridge made of floating ships through a volatile sea. It¡¯s easier if it¡¯s nearer, since the distance travelled isn¡¯t too far. I wondered whether it¡¯s better to just, well, be the ship and float on the sea, but anyway, it¡¯s certainly possible to establish a ¡®permanent¡¯ portal, given enough mana, time and having the right skill sets. Distance increases this complexity by introducing disruptions and fluctuations. Both source and destination also play a part in the complexity of the process. I thought about it, and then Stella went back to research. I thought of other ways of cracking the problem with the creation of high level dungeon. I decided I would experiment using my roots as electrical cables, and move the mana from the various ley lines to a single location. The thing is, a dungeon¡¯s power source cannot be a living thing, and so, if the mana came from me, it would reject that source and only consider the non-living thing. It also has to be at a certain level of stability and quantity, which caused the dungeons to reject mana batteries as a source of augmentation. So, I needed a magical root that absorbed the mana from various leylines, and then dumped that at a particular location where the dungeon could then use. I tested it out with a few dungeons, and creating the roots that were independent of me weren¡¯t that difficult. Essentially, make the root, but then cut it off once ready. It didn¡¯t work, even though the mana was still moving through the roots. I tested it out too. What other ways could I trick the system into accepting the mana as a valid source of power? Could the solution be something extremely simple that I have never considered so far? The heroes recovered quickly, the wounds and physical damage were gone. But Kei was worried. ¡°We need to get them checked for parasites. They could have parasites like Alvin. Alvin¡¯s parasite was initially dormant too.¡± ¡°Why do they have any symptoms?¡± I asked, curious why Kei suddenly asked. ¡°No... No they don¡¯t. But it¡¯s just... what if they did. We have to check.¡± ¡°With your familiar¡¯s healing skills, did you detect anything unusual?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then why are you worried?¡± ¡°Because it just feels uneasy. They look alright, I think. Physically they are back to tip-top shape. But you never know. They could have some accumulated, hidden damage that only something as strong as your magical biolab can pick up.¡± Stella rolled her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s like taking a kid to an MRI because he hurt his knee. If there¡¯s no symptoms, leave it?¡± ¡°Aeon¡¯s testing doesn¡¯t have side effects like MRI, so it¡¯s really a risk free test.¡± ¡°Get them to a priest or a healer and have them checked for any soul damage?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve done that, but the priests are so low level I¡¯m not sure they are even able to see through the heroes¡¯ natural protective defenses.¡± ¡°Then there¡¯s nothing to be worried about.¡± Stella said. ¡°That¡¯s a death flag.¡± ¡°Being a hero is a death flag. No. It¡¯s a death sentence.¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± The mop up operation of the remaining demons lasted just a month or two after the heroes¡¯ recovery. Still, they didn¡¯t expect to see Kei back then, so they thanked her for coming to their aid. - I kept digging underground, and by now I explored about 30 to 40% of the underground areas of the continent. During this time, we also dug up the area near the where the elven capital once stood. It was supposedly destroyed during the Rottedlands era. ¡°Something doesn¡¯t seem quite right.¡± I mused to the Valthorns, summarising the underground explorations. Alka, my chief researcher nodded. ¡°Indeed. The amount of remnants we dug up seems rather small for what was a large capital.¡± ¡°Could everything be destroyed?¡± A senior druid proposed. ¡°So many other kingdoms were destroyed that day.¡± ¡°Indeed, but most of them left behind a lot of noticeable debris or damaged structures.¡± Alka soon ordered a far bigger archaeological study of the area. Within a month, we mapped out the debris and places where the damage was found. Indeed, there was a large circular area where there was very little debris or ruins. It was strange. ¡°What are we theorising here?¡± Edna asked. ¡°Is it possible for the destruction to be so uneven?¡± ¡°It could be something that exploded and then destroyed the city before the demon king¡¯s sludge reached this place.¡± We soon created a lot more magical sensors in that area in hope of cracking the clue, but we didn¡¯t detect anything at all. Perhaps whatever magic that caused this has faded after the decades. ¡°If something happened, we were too late.¡± Alka wondered. - The death of the demon king meant the seas and oceans returned to normal. Gradually. The storms closer to the southern continent were the first to recover from the turbulence. It will still take some time for the traders to resume, usually those merchants that were forced to change their jobs or businesses in order to adapt to the turbulent weathers would still need some time to research which trades are worthwhile, while some of the more ¡®confident¡¯ or ¡®foolhardy¡¯ merchants would immediately jump back. These are usually the first to move anyway. - During this time, Patreeck picked up some interesting individuals through his mind-reading abilities. These guys had magical camouflage abilities that hide their presence, but they could not mask their very clear ¡®thought-bubbles¡¯. ¡°The artifact is acting funny. That missing hero is not here.¡± On closer look, I felt like I¡¯ve seen that thing before. A hero-locator. No, more importantly, there was something pressing against my presence, and I pressed back. The little mental or magical tug of war happened only shortly, then it disappeared. ¡°False positive. Again.¡± The two talked. I remembered how I felt like they seemed really high level all the way back then, but now, not anymore. Based on my much more refined magical sensors and my [inspection], I suspect they are in their level 60s, but had special equipment to support their tasks. They paused. ¡°Someone just used [Inspect] on me.¡± Ah. They have a counter-detection ability. That¡¯s interesting. It functioned just as how my [domain] protected me? ¡°Me too. Stop talking. This meant whoever did that could hear us.¡± ¡°Oh. What do we do?¡± ¡°Retreat.¡± At that point, Patreeck asked. ¡°Should we pursue and follow? Once they are out of my mind-reading range it¡¯ll be hard to find them.¡± Patreeck¡¯s mind-reading powers essentially revealed all ¡®hidden¡¯ characters, a bit like a detector. ¡°Yes. But don¡¯t kill them. I want to know what they are plotting.¡± I quickly called on my high leveled Valthorn Rangers and Scouts. They had counter-espionage skills, though they are a little underdeveloped due to my extensive tree network. My rangers gave chase, and they seemed to know it. They fled. In fact, they actually disappeared out of my sight for a while and managed to throw fake trails that led my Rangers and Scouts on the wrong path. Their skill or ability had a time limit, because about two towns away, deep in the woods, my trees could see them appear out of their illusions. ¡°The hell was that.¡± ¡°We¡¯re too careless.¡± Well, they still are. ¡°We should¡¯ve known a supposed deity could see through our invisibility charms.¡± ¡°Okay. Okay. Let¡¯s calm down and review what we have. We didn¡¯t detect any sign of the hero.¡± ¡°Aeon has a depository of hero-items. So our artefact is probably detecting that.¡± ¡°So he¡¯s not here.¡± ¡°He might still be in the south, then.¡± They took out their bag, and I saw something that looked pretty broken. A circular disc that was cracked. ¡°When did that break?¡± One of the spies asked the other. ¡°I.. I don¡¯t know. I was too busy running away.¡± ¡°We need to report this.¡± At this point, I decided to let them believe they managed to lose my scouts. I kept my eye and watched them make the entire journey to the Eastern seaboard, and then got on some ships. Throughout the entire time, I learned a few things. They are part of an organisation called the Laenza, and they¡¯re trying to find heroes. I wasn¡¯t sure they were helping them, or trying to kill them, because it seemed they were prepared for both. ¡°Find more info on this... Laenza.¡± What we soon found was that there were actually multiple members of the Laenza even on our central continent, but most of them were only mid-tier individuals, around level 30s to 50s. They had attempted at various times to recruit individuals of higher levels but with mixed success. There¡¯s very little they could offer the nobility that they could not already obtain in some way or form from the existing structure. Those we interrogated revealed nothing unique, other than the Laenza is a group dedicated to assisting heroes in their tasks. Or kill them, if they were detrimental. They also had a magical ring that was hidden by magic, but soon revealed itself when brought close to me. It seemed that my [domain] had an anti-illusion effect. I wasn¡¯t sure what it did, but for now, it went into the magical labs for research. More importantly, what did they want with the missing hero? Barking up the wrong tree? Year 182 We looked back at the stars again now that the demon king was defeated. We noticed the path that the demon king used turned extremely dim. It just seems like these ¡®paths¡¯ are all taking turns, each getting stronger over time. Once they reach a certain strength, the demons would then open a path. I also don¡¯t understand how the demon king actually moves across worlds. Like, if Stella took so much energy just to send Lumoof to a nearby world, it must take a few magnitudes more to send a demon king that far. Unless, like Stella herself, the demon king is able to create a portal on its own. So I looked back at the Tainted Demon Core with far more interest. Is it possible that the demon core isn¡¯t actually a core of some kind, but actually a ¡®mobile-void-generator¡¯ of some kind? ¡°Doesn¡¯t that explain the explosions? If the demon king kept the void energy within itself, a crack in that shielding caused the void energy to react explosively with its surroundings. Especially if star mana was used extensively to defeat it.¡± That was how Alka somehow succinctly explained a problem. ¡°It also posits that, if we were able to defeat the demon king entirely without the use of star mana, it may be possible to avoid the explosion at the end and preserve a pure demon core for our research.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a horribly difficult thing to do.¡± Stella was rather fascinated by the idea and looked at my tainted demon core with great interest. She tested it and attempted to use void mana with it, and it did have some reaction. But again it was complicated by the hybrid mana it required. ¡°I think your demon core¡¯s just broken and distorted by whatever it experienced.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying this thing that I have is a dud.¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying it is broken. It¡¯s like a... ermm.. Paint that¡¯s meant to be white, but now it¡¯s mixed with some other color and can never be white again. It¡¯s like trying to repair a broken mirror, really.¡± ...fuck. Unless I break it up and try to rebuild it again. ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s broken?¡± ¡°I think so. When I channel my void mana into it, I can feel it trying to do something but its just not working properly.¡± ¡°Can you fix it?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t try. Void mana is inherently dangerous and this thing looks like it can blow up really, really hard.¡± Defeating a demon king without heroes. If that¡¯s what it takes to get a functional portal generator and get access to the demon¡¯s interdimensional technology... But even so, maybe I could use it differently. Could something that powerful be configured to corrupt the pathways? What are these pathways? Are they just markers through some space? What is this ¡®path¡¯, if not a magical data packet through space? Could I build a massive firewall around the planet and filter out all these things? That these daemolites are nothing but trojan backdoors? ¡°Do you think it¡¯s possible to hide the world, Stella?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. But I suppose I can try to see whether I can interrupt or disrupt it? Move the rift around?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. If you could redirect the demons to the moons and let them stay there and float around harmlessly. Or crush them in the depths of the oceans. If it were me, I¡¯d try to see whether I could tweak and control the rifts, if I can¡¯t block it out entirely.¡± Stella nodded. ¡±I suppose I¡¯ll try. The zaratans hoped to never have to face hostile demons ever again.¡± ¡°When you were there... did you see other demon kings too? And other heroes?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, actually. The zaratans made sure to leave the moment the demon kings were about to arrive. I think there are other heroes there, but I have not met them...¡± No. More importantly, if there are other heroes, is it possible to gain fragments from them? Or is the system intelligent enough to differentiate me and those heroes? That I am a summoned person from Earth to this world, not that world, so I am not entitled to the fragments of that world? What else was duplicated? No, if anything I¡¯d like to meet other spirits. There must be others, from those worlds. If we could gather a collection of like-minded spirits, we¡¯d have a force that could stand toe to toe with the demon king and obtain that demon king¡¯s core. No. What if we¡¯re thinking this the wrong way? If I had a core like that, I could find a world that¡¯s not yet touched or seen by the demons. Colonise that world, and gradually move the inhabitants of this world over there. Eventually, that world could grow into a powerhouse that could reinforce these worlds that faced periodic demon kings. Or, I could use the portals to find a world rich in magic, and create powerful dungeons where great heroes can be forged out of mere mortals. Surely the level of natural magic and ley lines in each world is different. I shared these ideas with my confidantes again. Stella merely wondered. ¡°It sounds like you truly intend to create a multi-planetary empire to compete with the demons.¡± ¡°Well, yes. If I cannot hide or avoid fighting them, then I must have the firepower to push them back so decisively that they can do no harm. And once I can do it for one world, I will expand it so that I can do it for multiple worlds.¡± ¡°Sounds like the true beginnings of a multiplanetary god.¡± Stella quipped. ¡°I mean, no offense, but yeah. It¡¯s kinda scary.¡± ¡°Scary?¡± ¡°Yeah. Being so close to a being that''s a borderline god is scary. I mean, some days I don¡¯t realise it so it feels normal, but some days, it just dawns on me that you could kill tens of thousands without batting an eye.¡± ¡°The heroes could do that too. Any high level individual could.¡± She was silent for a long while. ¡°That¡¯s a good point. The whole level dynamic really changes the whole equality thing. There¡¯s no equality when there¡¯s at least a magnitude of power difference between people of different levels.¡± ¡°The system is merely facilitating such differences, but there are other ways such differences can play out. Even in your world, money and political positions do make some more powerful than others.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s indirect power, through their ability to mobilise others. Here, the level system meant every single person could gain levels and cause a whole load of pain. There¡¯s no equality at all when the power levels are so different. It¡¯s like asking humans to grant equality to ants. It¡¯s never going to be equal, at best, is fair.¡± Stella just laughed after she finished that sentence ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m not really trying to debate such weighty stuff. I just wanted to say you¡¯re scary. No. People in this world are scary. You guys are like superheroes with superpowers. I mean, this entire levelling system makes superheroes out of normal people. It¡¯s a wonder this world didn¡¯t destroy itself.¡± ¡°With your own levels, you¡¯re not very far away either. You are powerful in your own way, archmage. So it¡¯s rich coming from someone who can walk to another world.¡± ¡°Uh... Yeah I guess that¡¯s true. By the way, do you.. . uh... ever talk about it?¡± By now, the news that I had the memories of another world spread to almost everyone in the senior Valthorns, and that included Stella. ¡°About?¡± ¡°Your life before this. Before... tree?¡± ¡°What is there to talk about?¡± ¡°I mean... you don¡¯t miss home too?¡± ¡°...no? Perhaps some of the tastes and pleasures, yes, but I had few friends, and some family. We were alright and maybe they will be sad, but I believe they will be fine.¡± ¡°You sound... confident.¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do, is there? At least, for the first two centuries, the idea that it¡¯s even possible to get back did not ever occur to me. This seemed to be a one way street.¡± Stella frowned and looked a little sad. The years had taken their toll, especially those 40 years in the other worlds, even if her levels somehow granted her vitality. If she wants to live longer, she¡¯ll need to reach the higher level 100s. ¡°Yeah. I suspect it¡¯s really like that. But I¡¯ll still try.¡± ¡°Well, what level are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m capped at Level 95 cumulatively, most of my levels are in [Void Archmage] and some of my earlier [Artist] class...¡± She exploited the trick with void magic¡¯s destruction of the soul spring to free up her levels. Simply because when the ¡®level bricks¡¯ are destroyed, you lose levels. ¡°Hmm, you have a higher natural cap.¡± ¡°I do?¡± ¡°Level 95 is 10 level higher than normal.¡± ¡°The heroes don¡¯t have a cap.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t but they are heroes. They get special rights.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s my [Late Bloomer] skill.¡± ¡°No. Skills rarely change your level caps.¡± It¡¯s strange. Possible that Void-related class and skills just use ¡®less space¡¯ in the soul spring, that¡¯s why she could level more? ¡°In any case, I¡¯ll need to train you up to the higher tiers.¡± I gave her the soul-strengthening seed the next day, and had her continue researching the Tainted Demon Core. I wanted to be sure, like, very sure, of what it is, and that it is ¡®star mana¡¯ that ¡®corrupted¡¯ it. I needed to be sure, because I would have to form a strategy on this conjecture. There was strange news coming from the temples. The temples somehow claimed that the gods summoned 9 heroes to fight the demon king, and five perished in their battle. There was no mention of the missing hero, nor do they acknowledge it¡¯s presence. I had wondered before how the temples know about the heroes. I believe they get notified, perhaps those closest to their gods get informed by way of a ping, just like I did. Or perhaps they have some artifacts that allow them to receive such notice. My senior priests clearly did not get the notification, so, how did the other priests know about the heroes? ¡°Can we find out how the temples know of the hero¡¯s arrival?¡± I asked the leadership team. One of the Lords quickly responded. ¡°Some say the gods themselves bestow the leaders with a message.¡± ¡°It is a saying. I want to know for certain.¡± The diplomats and the Valthorns would activate their intelligence network to gather the data. Perhaps some of the priests will talk and reveal their secrets. Year 183 The demons were eradicated, and the four heroes were ¡®free¡¯. ¡°I¡¯m coming back.¡± Kei said. ¡°And the four heroes are coming with me. They want to see the journals.¡± They arrived by ship at our southernmost city. There was no fanfare for them, I forbid it. In fact, they arrived so quietly very few knew they were heroes. ¡°Well, you¡¯re on the Central Continent.¡± Kei nodded. ¡°So, next we¡¯ll need to get the four of you to Freshka, where the journals are kept.¡± Chung, the hero archer, immediately asked. ¡°Are we walking? Or magic?¡± Colette, the archmage shrugged. ¡°I could use teleport, but what¡¯s the fun in that? We have all the time in the world now.¡± ¡°It¡¯s more efficient.¡± ¡°Usually taking the long way means we gain more levels and get to earn some extra skills. Who knows what we''ll discover?¡± ¡°I¡¯m more worried if this is a trap.¡± Kei shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s not.¡± ¡°I trust you enough, Kei. But you cannot say for sure it¡¯s not a trap.¡± The archer responded. ¡°Your patron may have other plans. I¡¯ve seen enough of this world to suspect Ken may be right after all.¡± Ken. The missing hero. Kei didn¡¯t press it. ¡°I don¡¯t think Aeon will do that. It¡¯s certainly not in Aeon¡¯s interest to make enemies out of 4 heroes.¡± Chung didn¡¯t reply. ¡°Let¡¯s just go, but we¡¯ll keep our guard.¡± My trees subtly detected the presence of magical shieldings. They were on guard, even with Kei. ¡°And please, no communication with your patron without us present. It¡¯s just... suspicious.¡± Kei nodded. The archer¡¯s quite tense, like he was going to shoot arrows at any time. The other three seemed quite relaxed though. Kei walked to the port¡¯s Valthorn office and spoke to one of those present, with the heroes nearby. ¡°Alright it seems it¡¯s already ready.¡± They walked to a building that¡¯s arranged similar to a large bus interchange, where multiple convoys of beetles were parked. There were different platforms, each headed for a different destination. At the end were the ¡®express¡¯ and ¡®charter¡¯ services. Given the relative safety of the central continent, my beetles took on more utility and support roles. That meant they functioned as the blood of the transportation network, the engine that kept people and goods moving. Colette laughed. ¡°This is so Ghibli. Beetles as an express bus. Seriously.¡± Kei somehow laughed with her. ¡°I actually never thought of that.¡± ¡°What¡¯s Ghibli?¡± Prabu asked. ¡°Never mind.¡± The beetle convoy had 8 large carrier-beetles. They were each the size of a truck, and they had a fully furnished cabin on their backs. The smaller, regular sized beetles act as escorts and protectors, but very few bandits ever attempt a raid on the beetle convoys due to the retaliation from my constantly watching artificial minds. There are multiple artificial minds dedicated to just managing the logistic networks of beetles. Kei just repeated the itinerary to the 4 heroes. ¡°Freshka¡¯s quite far from here, so it¡¯ll take about four days from all the way in the south. These beetles will need one stop, just to restock, but you can just chill out and wait.¡± The four heroes mostly played various games found in the cabins. The cabins each had four beds, and a living area for the passengers to relax. There was some food, mostly preserved foods, stored in little magical containers to keep them fresh for the journey. Sadly these preservation spells don¡¯t last very long so there¡¯s a need for a restocking station. Colette, the female archmage, was extremely interested and kept asking Kei about everything. ¡°So these things are magical fridges.¡± Kei nodded. ¡°Magic solves a lot of things. Those gems emit a constant ¡®cold¡¯ and ¡®freeze¡¯. They just need to be recharged before every trip. Food¡¯s prepared offsite at dedicated kitchens and just loaded onto trays.¡± ¡°It¡¯s like airplane food.¡± Colette was very amused. ¡°It¡¯s so cool.¡± The other archmage-hero, Prabu ate it happily. ¡°It¡¯s a little jarring, from the levels of poverty throughout the southern continents, to this.¡± Kei sighed. ¡°It¡¯s not as widespread as our world. You guys are getting the best treatment, by the way. These cabins are reserved for the wealthy and nobility.¡± ¡°It starts that way, right?¡± Colette smiled. She was really young, I think she looked like she¡¯s only 20. That meant she was... 16 when she was summoned? Prabu on the other hand was just munching down all the snacks in the cabin. ¡°Oh god junk food. How I missed junk food.¡± One of Kei and Stella¡¯s great contributions to the economy of the Central Continent. Junk food and snacks. That meant sealed packs of dried deep fried fish skins, or potato chips, or snacks. ¡°Seriously this is good.¡± We had to use magic to get some of the effects, and we are not able to truly mass produce them the way our industrial factories were able to, but every few months, our smiths and inventors made steps that took us closer to that eventuality. Our contraptions were getting more sophisticated, our machinery more robust and complex. Chung was always tense throughout the four days, even though he did partake in the games and the snacks. ¡°It¡¯s way too peaceful. I... I¡¯m not used to it.¡± Kei shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s not a perfect place, but I imagine this to be life under a robot overlord.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not exactly a glowing review.¡± Chung responded. Kei merely smiled. The four days passed by quickly, and they were then closing in on Freshka. Now that they were closer, I saw their features a lot better. They still nursed scars from the battle, their healing was well done, but incomplete. A lot of the subtle magical fluctuations I could not fully see through my other trees were now obvious to me. Their presence and auras also pressed against mine, and mine held. ¡°It feels kind of... stifling.¡± Chung said, he clearly felt my presence, and I too could see through a lot of the energies that were clashing. Some kind of [Damage Aura] and a type of unknown wind-like energy. Kei nodded. ¡°Ah. Yes. Uhm, I suggest you retract your auras if you have them.¡± Prabu nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t see a need. Mine feels like it just coexisted with the presence.¡± The beetles went over the outer hills of the valley and the entirety of Freshka was now in view. A large expanse of green, with a few towers, representing the city, the School of Treeology, the Academy, and the Treetiary College. There were smaller areas, the newly setup Void school, and the expanded merchant areas. Gigantic trees were everywhere and they towered over various areas of the city. Freshka was now home to almost 2 million people, and it sprawled throughout the Freshkan valley. There were sectors, each meant to support the academic institutions. ¡°Wow.¡± Prabu, Colette and Hafiz all went gaga for a moment. ¡°This is like the biggest city I¡¯ve seen.¡± Kei laughed. ¡°It¡¯s not the biggest. Some of the northern capitals are larger in terms of population. But it is the most impressive because of the massive trees everywhere. And it¡¯s not where you all are going.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°We¡¯re headed to the real valley. The one that¡¯s hidden. You may choose to visit the city later. After your goal.¡± The tree that held the journals waited for the next set of logs. Leaves out of a magical book Take a leaf out of a book Year 183 (part 2) The beetles stopped outside the tunnels. The place was unassuming, but the heroes could tell the presence of my camouflage and illusions abilities here. ¡°This looks like the perfect location for a trap.¡± Chung said as he took in the tunnel. Kei nodded. ¡°That is the intention. Aeon is located somewhere that¡¯s perfectly defensible.¡± Prabu just tapped Chung¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s alright. We survived the demon king¡¯s deathbomb, we can take whatever this tree can throw at us. No need to be overly suspicious.¡± Colette smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I think it¡¯s fine for Chung to be suspicious. We can¡¯t all fall for the same trick, right?¡± Hafiz just grunted and started walking. The tunnel was relatively short for them and they were out on the other side, and in my own personal valley. The home of my giant trees, and the still burning flames of the dark mana. These days they are a lot smaller, so it''s just little embers, small flames that lit up from the branches. I liked the flames. It gave the valley a very unique look and feel. A burning valley, yet not hot because the heat had been transmitted outwards by my roots. Colette¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Oh this is so...¡± ¡°Anyway, the journal is in one of the trees. We won¡¯t be seeing Aeon, not unless you guys want to.¡± Kei said and led the way to the tree. The tree had a magical door, and they walked through to see the book. The book was a large tome, it grew slightly after Kei inserted her own memories some time ago. ¡°Well, it¡¯s here. All you need to do is touch it and it¡¯ll interact with you. I¡¯ll leave now so you can have your own time with it. The rest of the hero items are downstairs.¡± The tree had expanded to have a few floors internally. The journal was first, the rest of the items left by the previous heroes downstairs. Chung held up his hand. ¡°I¡¯ll do it first.¡± Prabu shook his head. ¡°No. It¡¯s clearly magical, so I¡¯ll do it.¡± Prabu walked up and touched the journal and he just stood there. ¡°Prabu?¡± He just froze there. Chung immediately turned to Colette. ¡°Is he alright?¡± ¡°He¡¯s alive.¡± Colette said. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of magic swirling inside.¡± Prabu turned. ¡°I... I need a while. I need to process this.¡± He magically moved a chair close and he just sat down, one hand on the tome. ¡°Just, uh... relax?¡± Colette, Chung and Hafiz shrugged and soon settled on the chairs and cushions in the tree. The entire area was decorated like a comfortable library. Prabu just sat and closed his eyes. After an hour or so, he stood and turned. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m alright now. You guys want to give it a shot? I need to pee now.¡± ¡°What was it?¡± Chung asked. ¡°It¡¯s... it¡¯s like the condensed memories and personalities of the heroes before us, and their lessons. What they saw, what the gods said, what they¡¯ve seen from the demons. It¡¯s just like... a bit of everything. Even Kei¡¯s in there.¡± Chung nodded, and sat down where Prabu sat, and he too touched it. He froze, and sat there for an hour too. At some point his face changed to show various emotions. Like pain, like sorrow. In the end he stood. ¡°...I was wrong. Ken needs to see this.¡± Chung looked at Colette and Hafiz who were both still waiting for their turn. ¡°Huh. Hell of a drug for it to change your mind.¡± Colette looked at Hafiz. ¡°You think we can both touch the book together? Doesn¡¯t make sense that only one of us can touch it at the same time.¡± Hafiz just nodded in agreement. He waited for Colette, and they both pulled a chair close and touched it together. Chung stood, and around the same time Prabu came out of the washroom. Prabu went straight for the snack bar at the corner. ¡°How did I miss the snacks?¡± Chung rolled his eyes. ¡°Seriously, Prabu. Is it time for snacks when we just saw that?¡± He pointed at the book. Prabu snorted and started eating. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°All I¡¯ve seen made it pretty clear we¡¯re just pawns. May as well enjoy ourselves first.¡± Prabu munched. ¡°And I¡¯ll start with eating snacks when I want to.¡± The archer merely rolled his eyes. From here, in the tree that held the journal, I could observe and listen in to their conversations. The archer and the archmage took opposing sides of the snack-covered table. Chung just frowned. ¡°That¡¯s a very negative way of looking at it.¡± ¡°Those before us clearly thought that way, though.¡± Prabu munched. ¡°Some of them descended into debauchery and having many lovers, perhaps as an act of vengeance.¡± Chung¡¯s frown continued. ¡°It¡¯s just an excuse. The gods may have put us in a spot by giving us this shambolic hero role, but we are still responsible for our own actions.¡± ¡°Not if they are clearly influencing our minds.¡± Prabu just kept eating. ¡°Now that we can step back and reflect on what we¡¯ve been doing, we¡¯re pretty crazy. Young teens sent to another world on a mission to fight demons with superpowers. The way we are dedicated to that cause and kept on doing it despite the horrors we¡¯ve seen, I¡¯m pretty sure the gods have a hand in it. All four of us didn¡¯t crack at the deaths or the horrors. I¡¯ve seen so many mutilated body parts.¡± Chung didn¡¯t seem to expect that from his compatriot.. ¡°So the god¡¯s magical influence is clearly not just to make sure we do our job. It¡¯s probably to assist us to face the horrors of the world too. It hardened our senses, numbed us to death and gore. I mean, it does seem like the gods¡¯ touch attempts to hammer these ¡®goals¡¯ into our mind, and somewhat converts us into these robots. Okay, robots are a touch too strong, the gods make us obsessed with demons, and I see in our predecessors that they attempt to deal with that obsession with other obsessions and vices. I already see it in me, with snacks.¡± Chung snorted. ¡°Does being an archmage make you so suddenly intelligent?¡± ¡°Occasionally. I¡¯m pretty sure the system made me a mage because I¡¯m smarter than I look. And you¡¯re an archer because you¡¯re all tense and all that. Like a highly strung bowstring. Like, you gotta like chill, man.¡± ¡°Fuck you.¡± It got a laugh out of the archer. ¡°I¡¯m serious Chung. The demon king¡¯s dead, but with all that tension you are carrying, your muscles gonna knot itself up and choke you to death.¡± The archmage handed him a bowl of snacks. It¡¯s deep fried crunchy leaves coated with some kind of mixture. I probably should ask Lumoof to have a bowl one of these days, so that I know what it tastes like. ¡°There¡¯s always the next demon king.¡± ¡°That¡¯s like saying you statistically have a 0.0001% chance of dying when you take a bus.¡± ¡°Which happened to us.¡± Prabu paused and realised he seemed to have said something stupid. ¡°You¡¯re right there.¡± Chung took a bite this time, instead of abstaining. ¡°You know what, this is actually pretty good.¡± ¡°I know, right.¡± Prabu nodded. ¡°But seriously. We need to do something, I mean, we know the demon king can see us. They can see us once we have crossed a certain level and stuff. The demon king will be hunting us.¡± ¡°We could do what Kei did. Camp here and if the demon king comes for us, blow the shit out of it and then we land the finishing blow.¡± Prabu said. ¡°I honestly thought that was a very clever move. We engage in battle on our terms and stack the odds in our favor.¡± ¡°But that means working with this... tree.¡± ¡°What¡¯s so bad about that? We¡¯re pretty much divine mercenaries. Ken seemed to think so, and now we know he¡¯s pretty much right.¡± Chung paused. ¡°I should drop him a message.¡± He activated a magical glowing ball, and spoke to it. ¡°Hey Ken. I know you¡¯re out there, but just wanted to let you know that we¡¯re safe, and we¡¯re on the Central Continent now. And uhm... you should get here and see this journal left by the old heroes. I think it''s quite similar to all that stuff you¡¯ve been talking about, that this whole thing is a ruse.¡± The ball of magic transformed into a glowing arrow with a letter wrapped on it, and the arrow just wooshed into the immaterium. Prabu just smirked. ¡°We should ask Kei to come in. She saw this before.¡± ¡°I think we should have our own discussion first. Just four of us before we ask her to come in. She was a hero, sure, but we¡¯re not sure how much her new form is subject to the control of this... tree.¡± ¡°You¡¯re implying she¡¯s not who she says she is.¡± ¡°She could just be a golem of crystal combined with the copied memories of the real Kei and the real Kei is long dead and we¡¯re dealing with essentially, identity theft.¡± Prabu rolled his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re sometimes just a step away from being as crazy as Ken.¡± ¡°I know. We are best friends, you know.¡± ¡°Seriously.¡± Colette and Hafiz were done too. Colette didn¡¯t seem particularly phased, but Hafiz was straight out weeping. But they both soon collected themselves and sat with the other two heroes. ¡°Didn¡¯t take it very well, dude?¡± Chung said. The knight or paladin, I wasn¡¯t sure what his exact subtype was, nodded. I wonder how Hafiz would stack up against Edna, and whether their powers were comparable. He let out a huge sigh. ¡°...bad. It¡¯s so bad.¡± Colette could still smile though. ¡°Felt like I was in a movie, you know, like watching their lives flash by before me. I found it rather sweet that they took the effort to make this memento for us who came after them. It¡¯s a really good idea.¡± Chung then asked. ¡°Alright. Important question. Did you share your memories with the book?.¡± Hafiz, Prabu and Colette nodded. Chung frowned. ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± Prabu thought for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Not everyone should share, actually. It¡¯ll be a good thing to test whether this will have drawbacks.¡± Chung nodded. ¡°Exactly. You¡¯re not stupid after all.¡± Prabu materialised a wooden staff and attempted to bonk Chung on the head. He blocked it with a wooden plate. The female archmage took a bite. ¡°Alright. I feel we all need some time to digest what we saw today. So, let¡¯s just go check out the previous heroes¡¯ items instead. It¡¯s just downstairs.¡± They all nodded. - Nothing much happened when they went downstairs. They were rather fascinated with the Harris era items due to the summon-mechanics it employed, and Kei¡¯s ¡®tower-mechanics¡¯. ¡°We¡¯re like vanilla heroes.¡± Prabu complained. ¡°Two archmages, a knight and an archer. Seriously.¡± ¡°We¡¯re missing a healer though.¡± Chung responded. Colette frowned. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m missing some context about all these game stuff you guys speak of.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just game-classes.¡± Prabu said. ¡°Kinda like traditional RPGs.¡± She frowned. ¡°Traditional RPGS are weird. I only played a few mobile MOBAs, and they don¡¯t split classes this way.¡± Prabu paused. ¡°That¡¯s actually a good point. Guess this world gods are like from the older generation where their rules are more 3E than mobage.¡± They didn¡¯t take anything. Not yet, anyway. They wanted to think about it a bit more, and the rules left by the previous heroes required them to essentially exchange their own hero made items, or add their own, before they can take those made by the prior heroes. - They returned to Freshka where Kei placed them in a nice inn. When it was late at night, Chung snuck out alone. Prabu and Colette slept, while Hafiz walked the city alone. I followed them, of course. Chung ran all the way to an open field outside Freshka, where there¡¯s nothing but shrubs. Then he activated a set of skills, and then, activated a magical glowing ball, again. ¡°Ken, you there?¡± He asked softly. He had a magical bubble that protected himself. ¡°...are you really safe?¡± A voice was on the other side this time. Ken. I could still listen in, after all there were shrubs and grass all around, and he neglected to cover the ground. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s... it¡¯s quite safe here. No, it¡¯s so safe, it''s jarring when compared to what we¡¯ve seen the past few years.¡± ¡°Hmmm. So, that book that you saw, I should see it?¡± ¡°I think so. It¡¯s similar to what you talked about. I mean, they don¡¯t have your angle to it, but I think, I think their perspective would be valuable.¡± ¡°Think I can sneak in?¡± ¡°With the right spells, probably. I¡¯ll make a hero item with a marker so you can find it.¡± ¡°I see. Got it. How are the others doing?¡± ¡°As you expected, they¡¯re taking this way too easy. No, actually, I¡¯m even surprised at how easily I am accepting all this.¡± ¡°I knew those guys weren¡¯t entirely honest with us. Who the fuck gets outworlders to do their dirty work if they have nothing to hide. If they are gods, they should have tonnes of entirely gullible followers to manipulate, so it didn¡¯t make sense at all why they needed us.¡± Chung just nodded quietly. ¡°Where are you?¡± ¡°You know I won¡¯t answer that.¡± ¡°That book says that the demon king can sense our star mana. When our levels cross Level 100, the demon king could probably sniff us out.¡± ¡°I suspected that. The heroes and demons are opposite polarities of a magnet meant to collide. They must collide or they will mess things up.¡± Chung sighed. ¡°So what do we do? After I saw that book, I¡¯m convinced you are right, but I don¡¯t see a way out of us. Not without dying. It says something that all previous heroes die, and I think we¡¯re meant to die.¡± ¡°We¡¯re designed to die. We¡¯re essentially disposable band aids. I feel we have two ideas if we don¡¯t want to die.¡± ¡°Which is? Get stronger and defeat the demon kings consistently?¡± Chung stated the obvious. ¡°No. We know the gods tell us that the demon king changes every time, and so, each demon king will stack against us differently. I feel, we should figure out a way to trick the gods to summon more heroes.¡± ¡°By letting them think we are dead?¡± Chung paused. ¡°You mean like Kei?¡± ¡°The golem? That¡¯s not my ideal result, honestly. I would like to keep my powers, not just retain a fragment of memories in some other form.¡± Ken responded on the other side. ¡°We¡¯ve got slightly less than 10 years to prepare, and personally, I want to know whether we can run away. If we do, or somehow vanish from the eyes of the gods, do the gods summon new ones?¡± Chung looked around. It¡¯s dark in the middle of the night, but he¡¯s well covered with a heavy cloak. The wind was strong, but it didn¡¯t affect him all that much. ¡°Huh. Want me to look out for it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a mage too. I¡¯ll figure it out.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to do this alone, you know.¡± Chung said. ¡°I know, but I want some independence to pursue slightly more... unconventional ideas.¡± ¡°Blood magic?¡± ¡°Maybe. I¡¯ll let you know.¡± - Freshka. The heroes walked around and explored the city, and noted the presence of strangely modern facilities. Of all the cities on the central continent, Freshka is the most magically-modern. There are magical equivalents of most common machines, like fridge, magical wagons and trains, magical lifts, with a healthy dose of trees between everything. Kei walked with them. ¡°There¡¯s a theatre!¡± Colette¡¯s eyes immediately homed in. ¡°What do they play? Anything from our world?¡± Kei shook her head. ¡°Nah. The lords and nobles of this world love political drama, so the theatres here are more like episodic sitcoms. The nobles come to watch the writers of the imaginary story of nobility go through the challenges of life.¡± ¡°Seriously.¡± Colette frowned. ¡°The paying group are mostly wealthy nobles, and they have huge egos so they love stories about them, even if indirectly. Theatre is something enjoyed by the elites, not the masses.¡± Colette stomped her feet. ¡°Things like this really reminded me how horrible this world is.¡± The other three boys chuckled. - Kei brought them to one of the Valthorn-maintained segments of Freshka. She knocked, and led them to one of the houses that very much resembled a modern home. They saw a middle aged lady sitting on the table. ¡°Astia, these are the heroes.¡± Kei said to Stella. ¡°Heroes, this is Astia, she¡¯s from earth too, but, as an accident.¡± ¡°An... accident?¡± They met, and Stella gave a brief overview of how the accident happened. At this point, Kei is also aware of the Frozen Tree, but not aware of Aria¡¯s true nature as another ¡®accident¡¯. Edna and Lumoof wisely kept their mouths shut about Aria and Aispeng. The discussion between the heroes and Stella was polite, and didn¡¯t touch on much. Stella did not mention her nature as a void archmage either, perhaps she thought they would have known, if they made any research. ¡°Well. At this point, this is it.¡± Kei said. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve brought you here, and introduced the surviving outworlders to you.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t introduce us to the tree?¡± Chung wondered. Kei paused. ¡°You want to meet the tree? I mean... I could ask, but...¡± Chung paused and looked at the other three heroes, they shrugged. Prabu paused and then asked. ¡°Actually, we were wondering whether we could somehow cook up an arrangement like you.¡± ¡°Me?¡± Kei responded. ¡°No. I mean your strategy of softening the demon king with traps and bombs. That¡¯s smart stuff.¡± ¡°It worked because we could detect and pinpoint the exact location on the central continent. If the next demon king doesn¡¯t appear on the central continent, that would not be possible.¡± Kei said frankly. ¡°This detection ability, is it something that can be shared? Is it an artifact or a tool?¡± The archer asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but my gut feel it¡¯s something like Aeon¡¯s own sense. If it is his senses, then it wouldn¡¯t work outside of the continent.¡± ¡°Unless we move him to another continent.¡± Prabu said, and I mentally flinched at the idea. Seeding the Fields Year 184 The heroes eventually left, well, they split up, really. Prabu, Colette and Hafiz decided to travel to the northern islands, and they wanted to do a ¡®world tour¡¯, at least before the next demon king comes along. So, a few middle-ranked Valthorns, in the level 60s were assigned to just bring them to the sights of the Central Continent. Like Kei¡¯s battlefield, and the Rottedlands. And some other stuff like volcanoes, some beautiful beaches and reefs. But not in Reefy''s area. That was a no go. I did not want Reefy and the heroes to ever meet. Not now, not yet. Not when Reefy¡¯s still generally murderous. The archer hero, on the other hand, took a ship back to the Southern Continent. It seemed that he had other plans, and it involved some magical preparations. Throughout the entire thing, it seemed they remained oblivious of my ability to see them even from this distance, these days I feel that¡¯s truly my superpower. The ability of a massive hive-mind of trees to watch the entire continent at once, so long as there is a tree or a grass or a bush present. The two archmages however, were not exactly just having a holiday. They were brainstorming for some kind of an idea. ¡°Look, from what we see in the heroes¡¯ memories, there¡¯s clearly merit for preparations. All the heroes that fail do not prepare all that much. We must over prepare for the next demon king, even if it¡¯s skillsets are different. So, I propose to build a super flexible arsenal.¡± Prabu spoke one day while they were touring the northern shores. They would sail to the other continent soon. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m interested, go for it.¡± Colette said. ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± ¡°The demon kings have as many shots as they want at us, and they just need to get us one time to win. The demons bring an adapted arsenal each time, each more honed and better at killing us.¡± Colette frowned. ¡°Alright spit it out.¡± Hafiz clearly nodded at the other archmages¡¯ words. Prabu simulated some kind of global map. ¡°We become weaker over time, especially during a battle with the demon king. We also don¡¯t know where the demon king will appear. So, my idea is, we need to have small ¡®recharging¡¯ bases everywhere. Places where we can run to instantly restore our health, our star mana, and also equip ourselves with powerful gear. We need to build mini-mechas for ourselves, with different weapon loads.¡± ¡°And this will help us when we¡¯re outclassed by the demon king?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll make us more durable, and we can fight longer. Our levels are the main thing that we have that gives us a chance to survive. If we can gain more levels, we can live.¡± ¡°We¡¯re still pretty soft.¡± Hafiz said. ¡°We¡¯ve seen how it took two shields to protect ourselves.¡± ¡°Our hero items, for example, amplify our powers and make us stronger, and yet, our [hero forge] has odd limits. Like the size of our items, and the nature of powers that we can infuse into it, and how many functions.¡± ¡°And?¡± Colette was impatient. ¡°We need to find allies who can help us make superweapons.¡± I was really tempted to tell them I¡¯m trying to do that too. But I suppose this is like being one of those old farts in a really big company watching a young one join the company and try to do something they¡¯ve tried doing a long time ago. At some point, I¡¯ll probably lose track of all their names too. Especially when the names start repeating, because it¡¯s inevitable after so many generations that these hero names will start repeating. Maybe I¡¯ll get a Tiffany, or a Kayson, or a Rei. And maybe a Mambo Number 5. This is part of aging right? As a tree everyone and everything starts repeating itself like the seasons going through its regular cycles. Even the heroes are starting to feel same-ish. Like they start to fall into these ¡®tropes¡¯ of the friendly one, the resisting one, the crazy one... Just rehash and remixed versions of the same few underlying components, at different ratios. The schemes too feel similar, and feel like something I¡¯m trying to do too. Like, the whole superweapons idea is essentially my own mini-nuclear crystals. - > How do you deal with it, for things to feel like everything''s meant to repeat itself? < I didn¡¯t know why that made me talk to Lilies, but I suppose, it¡¯s life. Despite me, trying to hold on to life and meaning, I am cursed to watch things repeat. Because it is just how it is. I even feel like I had this question before. < It is life as it is, fleeting, ever changing, and yet remains the same. It is the irony of our long lives, that we have more to do with it, and yet find that everything has been done in some way or form. > > That¡¯s shit. < I mentally sighed. It tends to result in my branches and leaves swaying in the sighing motion. Even heroes with their unique powers eventually fall into types, and I wonder if I''m like a voracious light novel reader at the tail end of my journey, feeling like everything has been done before and nothing is fresh. < Does it bother you? > > A little bit. < I responded. I tried to remember that life has meaning, even if it¡¯s been done before. So what if all these people try to do the same thing? If it works, it works. Must every new hero attempt to change all norms? No. If the heroes want to try something that may work, then they should. Just because those before failed doesn¡¯t mean they can¡¯t succeed. I¡¯m at a different level now, and my powers to push the arc of the world grows with each level. If the heroes want a way to sufficiently deter the demon king, I should assist them. > Do you bother doing the right thing? < < Sometimes. When we feel like it. > Lilies responded. < The tide of fate pushes everyone. > > At our levels of power, can we not resist? < < The world¡¯s gods have changed, as you have found yourselves. What more of us? > > if you put it that way, why bother doing anything? < < We feel like it. Some of us. > > I certainly don¡¯t see you as one of whims and fancies. < < Some of us are. We try to capture them, these fleeting emotions, from our own, and from that of the dead. Each of us holds a little more strongly to some types of ¡®memories¡¯, ¡®emotion¡¯ and ¡®moment. > Huh, so each of Lilies is a hivemind of different feelings. < While all things eventually form part of the cycle, but if you see it as your contribution to the cycle, like we are the spokes of the wheel, like we are the sun and stars that holds the world together. Though they do become parts of the cycle, part of a recurring movement across the stars, the sun does not stop from playing its part. It is not duty, it is not right. But it is just the way it is. We bend the world in years, decades and centuries. We are gardeners of the world, tending to the plants even though they wither eventually. So they may flower so momentarily, usually when we are not looking. We care for the garden as a whole, and would sacrifice a few for the betterment of the garden. Right, is a relative concept.> That was a long one from Lilies. < Right is relative to the powers and goals we have, if we have one. Right is measured against what we care and feel are important, if there are such things. Even in the cycles of great things, they have a path. For most mortals, the world would force a few steps back, before letting them move ahead. This see-sawing motion of resistance, and breaking resistance is instrumental to growth. We as plants, we defy the natural forces of the world to rise to the skies. The higher we go, the stronger the forces push back. > This feeling of sameness. It¡¯s the forces of inertia trying to exert itself on me? Wait. How did I even get to this point? I felt like mentally slapping myself. ¡°Patreeck, can you check whether I¡¯m alright? Any gods trying to meddle with me.¡± ¡°No, master.¡± ¡°Strange. Why am I thinking such weird thoughts?¡± - The heroes clearly tried, and Kei volunteered to approach the local Valthorns authority for some building permissions for the heroes¡¯ bases-all-over-the-world plan. ¡°So you¡¯re essentially planning to leave some kind of hero item in these locations?¡± The Valthorns asked Kei. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a strategic risk for us. What if they turn against us, or other heroes not aligned to us activate these hero items and destroy whatever that¡¯s around us? What if they use these locations as waypoints for their teleportations?¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t do that with existing hero items.¡± ¡°But these structures can be activated from afar? Lady Kei, you know very well that this is a strategic risk. The committee will not approve this, and you will have to go to Aeon to get dispensation.¡± ¡°But the heroes...¡± ¡°This is something Aeon and the high council must decide.¡± The Valthorn officials responded. ¡°Matters of strategic risk cannot be decided by provincial officials.¡± Bureaucracy permeated the entire central continent, overseen centrally by my council and senior leaders. My artificial minds generally oversee the bureaucracy, though they are more concerned with threats, internal corruption and dissent. ¡°Then I will have to go to meet Aeon? But the heroes are leaving soon!¡± ¡°They can return once approval is obtained.¡± - My artificial minds helped to track the expected timeline of the next demon king. It was relatively easy to do, now that my ability to view the astral star-ways meant the timing was super clear. I could see them come, literally. They are at least seven to eight years away. That¡¯s good. The heroes still have a lot of time for their plots. - Ardi, Lausanne¡¯s human husband, passed away from old age. He lived a long life for a human, about a hundred years, and already his lifespan was extended by his levels. He was in the early Level 60s. Perhaps he would¡¯ve lived a few more decades if he reached Level 80s. They held a small funeral for him in Freshka, where his body was buried in accordance to a simplified version of Hawa¡¯s death ceremony. In the recent, later years of his life, his age really showed, unlike Lausanne, who was a pure blooded elf. Lausanne even today looked only a little bit older than the day she left on her big journey around the world. Arlisa and Lauda too returned to see their father. Laufen, as the mother-in-law, also attended the funeral. About a week after, Laufen sat down with Lausanne. ¡°Do you regret it?¡± Lausanne sipped her tea. ¡°I don¡¯t know yet. I remember telling you I wouldn¡¯t, but now that it happened, I¡¯m not so sure.¡± Laufen merely held her daughter¡¯s hand. ¡°The thing about us elves, is that when our children marry someone not as long lived as us, we will often witness the aging and death of our great-grandchildren. Like Arlisa and Lauda, as half elves they will live much longer lives, but eventually, they will die before we do. It is a very sad thing to witness our children¡¯s children and their children leave before we do.¡± Lausanne just sat quietly, as she digested the gravity of the truth. ¡°But I believed in the beauty of the moment. It¡¯s something humans and those with shorter lives like the lizard people are incredible at. Their ability to throw caution to the winds and just be at the moment. Us elves and the treefolks too, have a distorted sense of time, and we worry too much about the future.¡± ¡°...yeah.¡± ¡°So, go spend time with Arlisa and Lauda.¡± Laufen smiled. Lauda did not inherit her mother¡¯s love for spear-combat. Instead, he was more of an academic, and reminded me of Roma, who¡¯s now a senior executive at one of the central continent¡¯s many trading companies. He hated her mom¡¯s dungeon expeditions, and preferred more leisurely pursuits like writing, and arts. ¡°Preferably not both together.¡± The two siblings, born so many years apart, did not see quite eye to eye. They were born in different times, and with different expectations. Lausanne at one point was rather stressed that she was one of the strongest in Freshka, but now, I had Edna, Lumoof and many others who are now stronger. Perhaps, it was the weight of duty, that as one of the strongest, she felt, even if a tiny bit, responsible to this nation that I built, and not ¡®free¡¯ to live the life she wanted. In a sense, I believe I neglected what they wanted personally. That weight lifted, Lauda was able to grow up with a more confident, less stressed mother, and that too, reflected in how relaxed Lauda¡¯s disposition was, compared to Arlisa who was confused, easily stressed, despite her natural talents. Training people is really a gamble. They don¡¯t always turn out the way you want them to, and they often have plans on their own. This is something I concluded, and so the way I could maintain a steady talent pool, was to expand the talent pool, and keep looking. People like Edna, or Lumoof, young or old, so long as they had the drive and the spark, I was willing to give them a shot. Because I¡¯ve seen many talents fizzle out after a good early run. Lumoof, as an example, was one of those old guys who had a second wind. Now he¡¯s the 2nd strongest. Life was strange, and a lot of it required opportunity, drive, motivation, and the right mindset, at the correct time. Some of these talents had to be given time to stabilise, to mature on their own before they are ready to be pushed further. It¡¯s a numbers game, and also about spotting them as they rise up. Talent was something Freshka was dedicated to training. It was why I wanted all these different academies, to train different people for different things. But like Arlisa, it was also important to acknowledge those who had all the talent, were spotted and quickly groomed, but then just fizzled out. Some are like that. Perhaps something sniffed out the fire in them. Perhaps the comfy environment of the academies stifled them. That they needed to be out alone, struggling against the world to succeed. People who seem to have similar circumstances can perform wildly differently. Despite that, I still saw the merit of having a robust talent-collection network. One Edna or Lumoof easily outweighs the cost of training 100,000 students who never get there. In truth, about 50-55% would end up as above average individuals in the level 50s to 60s. About 30-45% would drop out, usually plateauing at about level 40s, and a smaller 2-5% would rise up to about Level 80s. This is despite these individuals already pre-selected for some talent. This also took years, especially with the ¡®50-55%¡¯ bunch. They worked hard, and had some talent, and yet the journey remained tough. Throughout the Central continent we have multiple ¡®smaller¡¯ academy towns. Feeder schools to train even younger kids in just basics, and recommend anyone with an iota of talent for further development. With the relative safety and prosperity of the central continent, especially in the past few decades, we noticed a subtle but soon noticeable decline in young children, and more young children pursuing more trade and mercantile exploits. As quality of life improved, it seemed that families were also getting smaller. I thought this was just a modern world phenomenon, but it seemed even in a world like this, generally improvements in living standards did lead to decline in childbirth. Which is extremely strange, and I needed to investigate more. There are clearly better facilities to support young children, and there are centrally funded nurseries and creches. And yet, families are just getting smaller. Year 185 ¡°I¡¯ve got bad news, and good news. Bad news first.¡± Stella said, concluding her years of experimentation into the [Tainted Demon Core]. ¡°That Tainted Demon Core you got, I¡¯m very very sure it¡¯s busted. It¡¯s damaged and cannot be repaired, not with my level of ability. Not without causing a detonation. After multiple tests, I¡¯m sure whatever caused it is due to damage from an unwanted interaction with star mana. There were few really convincing scars throughout the core.¡± I mean, it¡¯s not the first time she told me it¡¯s busted, but I requested that she did tests to be absolutely sure. It took a lot of time, of course, and I had to assist her over the past few years with the ¡®hybrid-mana¡¯ and supplied tiny bits of ¡®star mana.¡¯. ¡°So, we have a dud. Confirmed. Now, the good news,, from what I saw and can reasonably conclude, your idea that the Demon Core is a portal generator is very likely to be correct. From the internal structure and the design, I¡¯m now about 90% sure the Demon Core is a massive shielded void battery and portal key. There are some undamaged component elements of it that responded so naturally with void mana, and there were magical pathways that tried to access some records or ¡®pathways¡¯ in an inbuilt library that¡¯s unfortunately mostly damaged.¡± That explained the sensation that the Tainted Demon Core wanted to do something, like starting a computer that had some hardware failure. It was accessing the still functional parts of the Demon Core, but unable to fully complete it¡¯s startup. Stella, of course, knew I had earthly memories by now. ¡°It¡¯s pretty much like a starship¡¯s hyperspace reactor, stellar map and guidance module rolled into one.¡± ¡°Alright. Very sure it¡¯s star mana damage?¡± ¡°99%.¡± Stella said. ¡°So, if I want the demon¡¯s way of sending someone like the demon king over, I¡¯ll need to kill a demon king without using any star mana.¡± ¡°Well... whether the demon king is alive or dead doesn¡¯t really matter, isn¡¯t it?¡± . Northern Pre-infestreetions Year 186 We hear stories of the heroes completing their tour of the northern islands. They spent close to half a year visiting various kingdoms and cities, and apparently created some defensive devices too. Then came the stories about assassins. The heroes were attacked by assassins armed with hero-items. This wasn¡¯t in any of the official channels, but it was clearly noticed by my Valthorn¡¯s network of spies. So much so that one of the top spymasters came to me with a request to send more people to the North. ¡°You have the floor, Master Intip.¡± ¡°The North has been one of the more difficult places to crack. The natural archipelago means news travels slower via conventional means, and magical messages are often disturbed by the magical winds.¡± ¡°We face those challenges elsewhere.¡± Lumoof responded. Certainly, islands, and magical disturbances are not exactly uncommon. ¡°Indeed. But we¡¯re facing assassins. Already ten of our informants have been killed, and our own agents are on the run. We need high tier individuals in the North, not just the regular rank and file in the level 30s to 50s.¡± At this point I asked. ¡°Do we not have higher level spies?¡± ¡°Spies are essentially a thief and an informant. Their classes are fundamentally criminal in nature. The spies we have essentially recruited from the noble classes, who traditionally served their lords to spy on their neighbours.¡± Internal disputes between my vassals, essentially. They die quickly, and often, so the good ones don¡¯t last very long. This was a flaw, clearly. I did not realise that my dependence on my trees as my main intelligence network meant there was no real program to develop my espionage and spy forces, even if I could grant them higher-ranked classes, they still need opportunity, and challenges. But it¡¯s too late. I¡¯ll have to fix it for future conflicts. ¡°Alright, so what do we do now.¡± ¡°We can send our higher levelled Valthorns in. Those in their early level 50s, and train them in some spy-skills.¡± Master Intip proposed. ¡°This would give our spies the combat competence needed if there¡¯s a fight with whoever¡¯s killing our informants.¡± Edna paused. ¡°These... assassins, are they related to the Laenza?¡± Kei, who happened to be in the meeting, ¡°When I was there I encountered and engaged the services of another organisation. The Rosewood Alliance.¡± Master Intip nodded. ¡°The Rosewoods are one of my primary suspects, but we are still attempting to establish a motive. They¡¯ve used to work with us, at least, on a lower level, but something has changed recently, and they¡¯ve refused to talk. Those that we captured didn¡¯t say much, except they won¡¯t work with us.¡± ¡°Any suspicions?¡± Kei paused. ¡°Is it because of the heroes?¡± At that point, Kei repeated what her experience was, and what she said to the Rosewoods. The spymaster clearly nodded. ¡°I suspected it had something to do with our earlier mission, but we were not aware of the contents of that conversation. It¡¯s clearly something that should have been shared a lot earlier.¡± The spymaster glared at Kei and Kei shifted uncomfortably. ¡°It seemed they already knew it¡¯s us, then, and also had something to do with the heroes. How does this tie in with the assassination attempts on the heroes? How did these group of assassins have hero-items, and what are their motives?¡± ¡°My sources claim it is an ancient feud, they are a cult of demonic worshippers that attempts to harness the demon¡¯s powers to bring salvation.¡± That sounds really familiar. ¡°They are often mixed with those who used blood magic, but a few decades ago those who used blood magic separated from them, and they¡¯ve pretty much disappeared for a while. But few know the truth.¡± Edna frowned. ¡°If they have hero items they can threaten any of us. These hero items are not so easily found, so how did they get their hands on it?¡± ¡°And hero items are all really bulky if they need to be recharged.¡± ¡°This doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± Lumoof repeated. ¡°If their goal was to annihilate the heroes all along, Alvin was there right for the picking.¡± Edna jumped it. ¡°It¡¯s possible that there¡¯s another group, these Rosewoods who are working against them. These two forces are battling it out in the dark.¡± ¡°Lady Edna, are you speculating that the Rosewoods consider us aligned to these... hero-hunters?¡± ¡°Possibly, but our past action of healing Alvin should clearly suggest we are not affiliated.¡± At this point I jumped in. ¡°There¡¯s also the Laenza... what¡¯s going on with that?¡± How many ¡®parties¡¯ are at play here? ¡°The Laenza are more of a loose alliance of hero-friends, but there are bad elements who¡¯ve infiltrated them who are from these hero-hunters.¡± Our spymaster explained. ¡°They used to be more of a supporting cast, hoping to ally with the heroes for benefits should they survive, but they¡¯ve weakened considerably after some bad bets.¡± One of the Lords stepped in. ¡°Alright, the Northern Islands are a collection of small nations, the largest of them hold the biggest islands. Are they all pro-heroes?¡± ¡°No. Some of them are outright anti-heroes despite being part of the 4 temples. There¡¯s an odd relationship where the temples tolerate their heretical behavior.¡± ¡°And how do they get away with it?¡± ¡°They justify it politically. That it¡¯s not a religious disagreement, but a political one. That they disagree on heroes on political principles.¡± ¡°That kind of shit gets accepted?¡± ¡°The ways the 4 temples blend propaganda, rhetoric and the twisting of words is quite an artform.¡± The spymaster commented. Lumoof actually laughed. ¡°To be fair, as religious leaders, we are often asked to take sides on political matters. So many of the kingdoms and vassals of Aeon had asked for special status and recognition in the name of faith.¡± ¡°Alright, so what now? We need more resources in the North, correct? More firepower. But that doesn¡¯t solve our problem of lacking information and losing our network. Having the swords to back up our people is one thing, but these people were there for decades.¡± One of the Lords brought the conversation back on topic. ¡°Indeed. But it is the best we can offer at the moment. It is also a risk, because with hero-items on the table, it is possible that these hero hunters may use them on us if they feel sufficiently threatened.¡± ¡°Wait, wait. Let¡¯s take a step back. What are we trying to achieve in the North?¡± ¡°Build a network of informants, in order to have valuable military and hero-related information. Keep ourselves informed on their movements, so that we can prepare for any unusual movements.¡± Was this really necessary? - ¡°Aria.¡± I activated the ice mirror that linked me with Aria. Lumoof was present, so that I could speak through him normally. ¡°Do you have informants in the North?¡± ¡°Nope. I¡¯m a hermit, remember? All I do is hide in my part of the world.¡± Ah. I had hoped they had informants in the North, given her general proximity. - < Lilies, what do you know of the North? > > Only the tales of merchants and adventurers. < Ah. Another rejected one. - Is spying really the only way to gain information? ¡°Are there any nations in the north, with proper diplomatic relations that we can contact? That can act as our informant of the north?¡± Surely there are magical solutions to this, perhaps magical farsight or something to that effect? My mages quickly commented, yes, there are such spells to allow ¡®remote-viewing¡¯, but they are costly and require more mana than normal. This led me back to my earlier research on ocean-crossing roots. Previously I had limitations, in that my trees had to surface at certain distances. Given that there are vast swaths of oceans where there¡¯s absolutely no land, this made this method unrealistic. Next, was the idea with Stella, for a ¡®permanent¡¯ portal. That meant opening a portal linking my continent and the North, and then, through that permanent portal, extend my trees to the north. Stella posited it is not yet possible, since she would still have to close the portal, and that meant large segments of my trees would be disconnected from the network. Was this really a solution, or just a stop-gap? ¡°So, why do you want to open a portal there?¡± ¡°Spread my trees? Having my trees there means I can access the magical energies there.¡± I answered, ignoring that trees also extend my vision and intelligence network. ¡°Do you have some kind of magical feeler?¡± ¡°Yes, pretty much.¡± I wasn¡¯t lying. My magical labs are essentially magic sensors. ¡°Why not test it out?¡± Stella proposed and so she opened a magical portal, with the assistance of other young [void mages]. My roots went through it, and I could see a new place. I felt the cold, and my trees felt the chill too. A familiar sensation. Cold. I quickly spawned more trees, and Stella watched more trees appear along the path of my roots. The portal opened somewhere in the largest island in the north, but even so, the overall population of the islands tends to cluster around the coasts. I didn¡¯t know where I was relatively speaking. The portal just opened somewhere in the proximity of the northern islands, but I just kept expanding. ¡°Alright, close the portal.¡± The portal closed and it severed my roots. I instantly felt the loss of those new trees on the other side. It hurts. Losing trees hurts. ¡°Ah. Open it up again.¡± Patreeck immediately shielded me from the cries and sorrow from my other trees. It seemed that even till now, I am vulnerable to the sensations felt by my trees. Stella nodded and opened it up again. I sent my roots over, and didn¡¯t find the trees. ¡°Hmmm... it seemed that my portal drifted and did not open in the same place.¡± Stella mused and the other void mages joined in. ¡°That¡¯s not good.¡± ¡°Unless we have something like a beacon, it may be hard to lock the portal to a specific location. Void magic is inherently volatile like that, but the portal will hold.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you open a normal portal?¡± ¡°I only have void mana, you¡¯ll have to get someone else to do it.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± I gathered the archmages, and they commented that maintaining a long term portal would drain huge amounts of mana, so it¡¯s not feasible for them. ¡°Surely if Stella can do it, you guys can open a portal too?¡± ¡°Well, it will consume more mana and will transmit our presence to the whole world.¡± Oh. That¡¯s a distinction between a normal magic portal and a void magic portal! Void magic is imperceptible to others. Which, then Stella quickly debunked. ¡°Not exactly. I can sense the use of void magic by my students. If I¡¯m not wrong, if there¡¯s someone who could use void magic, they would sense my portal on the other side. After all, I¡¯m doing the magical equivalent of connecting to points through the void-space.¡± Huh. So no one uses portals to invade because using portals is like telling the whole world I¡¯m here. But how does a portal differ from a teleport spell? I mean, it looks like there is, but is there? ¡°A portal is a folding of space. A teleport is a folding of self into a shell, and then sent through space. There¡¯s a distinction in the execution of the spell.¡± An archmage explained. Taking this concept, do the demons open a portal through the rifts, or are they ¡®teleporting¡¯ to our world? ¡°A portal for sure. Those rifts are portals.¡± ¡°If the demons can do it, why can¡¯t we?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have their level of magical understanding.¡± Stella said. She¡¯s been levelling up since her limiter was cleared, and now she is approaching level 110s. I gave her special permission to join the Valthorns in the level 120 dungeon raids, to help her level up. ¡°Alright, okay. Can we apply the teleport concept to travelling through worlds?¡± Stella nodded. ¡°I¡¯m not opening a portal when I travel through worlds. I¡¯m only floating through it on a little ship. But I can¡¯t remotely send someone on my ship, when I¡¯m not on it.¡° ¡°Unless we teach everyone to be a void mage.¡± ¡°Well, yes.¡± - Alka, my field scientist, wanted to experiment on the star-mana and void-mana interactions. Of course, the idea is simply to replicate the mechanics of the demon king¡¯s deathbomb. Alka, being more of a generic mage, had to spend a lot of time figuring out how the demon king¡¯s tainted core worked. He had to make smaller experiments first, in an attempt to understand the concepts used in the massive tainted demon core. Not all of it was relevant, after all, if Stella¡¯s understanding is correct, this core is mainly a battery, and also a world-portal. We¡¯re trying to understand how it reacted with star mana, which is not part of its original design. Or is it? I¡¯m not exactly sure whether the demons are that deliberate in the way they engineered the demon core, such that they blow up on exposure with sufficient accumulated star mana. ¡°If this core is designed to blow if star mana hit it, then wouldn¡¯t it be possible to just hit it with star mana, cause it to blow up, and take down the demon king with it? We saw from our own earlier battle that the demon core is hidden somewhere, and has a threshold it hits before it blows. It can endure a certain number of star mana before exploding.¡± ¡°Or the demon king¡¯s own energy regulates and suppresses the core from blowing up.¡± Kei retorted. ¡°If so, the idea of extracting a demon king¡¯s core is probably futile because it will blow up once taken out of it¡¯s suppressed state.¡± With no one to ask, and no clear understanding of how the entire core worked, it¡¯s a risk we would have to take when that day comes. For now Alka kept experimenting. Hopefully, with the additional knowledge, we could figure out whether it can be safely extracted. His experiments, as always, caused explosions of various sizes. Explosions are good, after all, this entire research is about making better bombs. It built on years and years of continuous experiments, even when I wasn¡¯t particularly paying attention, and he came up with bigger stuff. Bigger, stronger bombs by weaving magic a little tighter, timing them a little closer, and using improved amplification spells and designs. A long process of small incremental changes. Void magic and the interactions with star mana offered a chance for a quantum leap. The change when man moved from conventional explosives to nuclear bombs. Alka¡¯s initial experiments, though, somehow scared him. The way star mana and void mana interacted was just naturally explosive, and there was something exponential at work, even if we didn¡¯t understand it. ¡°This may destroy the world.¡± Alka privately relayed his worries. ¡°We should never get to that point.¡± Alka¡¯s calculations, at least based on our data points, that amount was significantly higher than what we or what we think the heroes are likely to have, but we don¡¯t know what¡¯s the upper limit of the heroes. But they could achieve it. The heroes, and the right amount of void mana could pretty much destroy the entire world. ¡°I would not ask you to get there. Our goal is to end the cycle, not end the world.¡± Alka nodded, and went back to his experiments, but Patreeck mentioned concerns of his mental state, as he walked ever deeper into more and more complex magic. - Back on topic on the Northern Islands. ¡°So what do we do?¡± One of the lords complained of the sixth meeting about the north. ¡°We¡¯ve had so many meetings, and no conclusion. Are we sending muscle, or are we not sending muscle?¡± ¡°I thought we already established we are going to send, but we are now trying to figure out how to avoid hero items being used against us?¡± Another one responded. The spymaster shrugged. ¡°The hero item is essentially a great leveller for the north. On the Central Continent we can count on Aeon¡¯s overwhelming power to offset the hero item¡¯s advantage.¡± I could open portals, but already, I could sense my power projection is not great. The portals did not ¡®transmit¡¯ power very well, quite unlike the demonic rifts. There clearly was a qualitative difference in the demonic rifts and the portals. Why did the rifts allow me to ¡®transfer¡¯ or ¡®project¡¯ power to an entire world with just a small loss, but the portals imposed greater power-loss via transmission? Was it a quality of the portals, that they had lower throughput? I brought up this issue to the group, and Stella, surprisingly, nodded. ¡°I think it¡¯s just the ¡®size of the ¡®pipe¡¯. As you know, portals cost mana to maintain, and the more power you push through the portal, it¡¯ll also cost mana. Just as how it cost a lot of mana for me to send Lumoof to the other side. I believe the same is with the portals.¡± ¡°So if you open a full-powered portal, I could increase the power output on the other side?¡¯ ¡°Theoretically yes.¡± A test soon proved it to be true, he felt the trees on the other side gain strength they didn¡¯t have, but again, the portal lasted two hour before closing, and fully consuming the mana of all the gathered void mages.¡± Instead of using the portals, I thought about Lumoof. Lumoof was my avatar and my link of power through him is linked in the system. Could he function as a conduit? A wireless connection? So, I summoned him, and sent him through a portal. Thankfully, it¡¯s still within the same world so the spell didn¡¯t cost all of their void mana. Then, I activated the active avatar state. At that moment, Lumoof, who was alone in the middle of nowhere, glowed, and then he levitated, and a magical frame resembling a tree appeared around him. The roots of the magical tree embedded itself into the ground. I am now in the North. Lumoof could only enter into this state a third of the time, the rest of the time he would have to rest, but between Lumoof¡¯s self and the portals, I could theoretically use Lumoof as an anchor to send more people through, especially in combination with my Vine-Ropeway Network which allows me to send anything between two connected trees. ¡°Aeon, with this, you could theoretically invade any of the other continents?¡± Lumoof mentally pinged, in this state our conversations are through our shared mind. ¡°Indeed, but doing so means you are disabled and are locked into this tree form. It is less useful than your normal form.¡± ¡°I certainly don¡¯t see it that way. We could use it on other worlds too, and expand your tree¡¯s reach there.¡± Indeed. Lumoof would be the key in any demon world invasion, such that I do not have to fear the collapse of any portals. Ah. Back to the meeting. ¡°Send the muscles. You will have reinforcements.¡± I declared to the group. ¡°Lumoof is already in the North, and through him, my presence will be there.¡± We will focus on those plans some other day, but for now, it¡¯s time to crack the North. After decades of being locked to the Central Continent, it was time to make full use of my avatar, and infest the North with my trees. Treeatise of Aiva Year 187 The north was a chain of islands, but that honestly didn¡¯t stop me. It seemed that no one sensed Lumoof¡¯s presence, well, except Aria and Aispeng. ¡°You¡¯re in the Northern Isles?¡± They asked through the mirror. ¡°Yes, through my avatar.¡± My trees gradually expanded, and I added artificial minds to support the amount of monitoring. Here, I detected a second ¡®barrier¡¯ or ¡®bottleneck¡¯. There was a limit of how much information that Lumoof can send and process. It¡¯s still a decently high limit, we could simultaneously look at about 20 places, and I couldn¡¯t ¡®switch¡¯ views instantly. That meant there was still value in having a real root connection. Somehow, all of this information flowed through Lumoof, and it taxed his mental capacity heavily, even with the assistance of the extra minds. A person, even if he was a high leveled avatar, was not meant to be ¡®full on¡¯ ¡®god mode¡¯. My trees spread discreetly, they adapted to the appearance of the local flora and my trees spread quickly. At first, a lot of it was just pointless chatter. We had to filter that out. It occupied too much of Lumoof¡¯s brain-time. I tried creating an artificial soul there, through Lumoof, but I couldn¡¯t send the souls I gathered here to Lumoof. That said, Lumoof was in fact, a portable soul collection machine with the ¡®avatar¡¯ ability. This meant, if he fought with the heroes, he could actually facilitate the gathering of Titan Souls! Yay! He¡¯s like a massive soul vacuum cleaner, and he¡¯s collecting the north. ¡°Come to think of it, do you collect souls?¡± I asked Aria and Aispeng. After all they are spirits in their own way. ¡°No. Not our department.¡± Aria responded. Then where did all the souls in the North go? Surely they must go somewhere, or do they drift along? I tried using my soul powers to interrogate the collected souls. This power was rarely used because when I could see and eavesdrop on almost the entire continent, that was a much more reliable information source than interrogating the dead with their incomplete memories due to death. After all, incomplete information without context can be dangerous. Still, in the north, I needed to quickly gather information, and soon I chanced upon the dead souls of two operatives. ¡°Kill. Hero.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Hero. Enemy. Mission. Rewards. Dead.¡± So there¡¯s a reward if the hero dies? What kind of reward? ¡°Big money. Levels. Special. Class.¡± A special class for those who killed heroes? That actually makes sense. ¡°Power. Immortality.¡± ¡°That¡¯s awfully vague.¡± Lumoof remarked mentally, as he too was a participant in my interrogation of the dead. Even if they had pointed us in a direction.¡± ¡°I faintly recall killing heroes results in a curse.¡± But only if they were killed before their designated demon king perished. Thus, for this generation, they are all targets. ¡°That is probably also true, but worth it. Given the risks, the rewards should be fairly good.¡± ¡°If so, surely there must have been successful hero-killers in the past.¡± If there were, they managed to hide themselves from the historical records available to us. But then again, why do I need records when I have Lillies and Aria? I quickly asked the two about whether they know of the hero killers. It was a no from both of them. Lilies commented that they have never met hero killers. Hmm. Surely there are people who killed heroes, even if entirely by accident? It can¡¯t be that the heroes are so lucky, right? Or they are. ¡°It¡¯s not easy to kill heroes, though.¡± Kei frowned. ¡°We¡¯re pretty tough once we hit level 100. We get all sorts of natural defensive perks and most of us have abilities to ignore low-level damage. We¡¯re also usually immune to one or two elemental types which we are aligned to, and we get most status effects negated.¡± ¡°Most.¡± I wondered. ¡°It¡¯s possible for a hexbomb to kill you.¡± Kei shifted uncomfortably. ¡°Well, yes. A hexbomb would be bad. Wait. Are you saying there¡¯s a plot to use hexbombs to kill the heroes? We need to warn them! They may not be aware of hexbombs!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure they are. They¡¯ve seen the journals, no?¡± I retorted. ¡°Harris¡¯s generation faced hexbombs and a world riddled with hexbombs as a demon-champion countermeasure. We¡¯re lucky those days are over.¡± - The first of the Aiva Triumvirate arrived via ship. They were led by one of the Triumvirs, Grandmaster Engka, and they came in one of the finest ships we¡¯ve ever seen. A beautiful warship of a glistening paint of gold and bronze, and loaded with magical enchantments. Accompanied by a small delegation of Aivan Templars, his arrival was a secret, of course, but everyone noticed the presence of a warship like that. ¡°Not a hero-item, but very high quality as they go. It¡¯s been in their care for centuries, and painstakingly maintained, even if their craftsmen and ship workers couldn¡¯t quite repeat the mastery of the ancient times.¡± Lausanne explained her experience, and she was one of those tasked to greet the Triumvir. The ship was parked in one of the larger port cities on the Eastern coast. ¡°Nice to meet you again, Lady Lausanne.¡± Engka gave a small nod as he stepped off. ¡°It seemed that Aeon truly meant business.¡± Lausanne didn¡¯t quite smile, ¡°It¡¯s been a while indeed, though I must admit I accepted this assignment at great reluctance.. Allow me to introduce the officer in charge of the escort.¡± Engka laughed. ¡°Still bearing old grudges I see.¡± There was something faintly divine in his presence. To my spirit sight, it seemed like there¡¯s something else swirling with him. ¡°This is Lord Johann. The master ranger in charge of your security.¡± Lausanne introduced. Johann outranked Lausanne as he¡¯s in the Level 120s, and was fully informed of the greater details of the visit. Though the Aivan Templars had their own escort, we were not taking chances. Already their arrival sparked rumours, and I had my artificial minds on high alert. There were secret messages bouncing between the locals and people from out of town, and then ships headed our way. ¡°I see I¡¯ll be in good hands.¡± Engka smiled. The templars unloaded crates after crates of items. The dockworkers quickly loaded them on the beetles, the specialised transport for this visit. These were some of the toughest beetles yet. ¡°But tell me, are we expecting company?¡± Lausanne glanced at Johann. Johann merely smiled. ¡°No. But we are prepared.¡± A few of the higher ranked rangers were also nearby, shadowing their movement. They are there for security, and to catch anyone who takes the bait. My spirit vision sensed some unusual magic in those crates. Things that felt similar to that log I had, but different. Engka himself also had some interesting magical gear, and I sensed at least two hero items on him. If they were so small, this meant these were either single-use items, or hero-items made for normal people. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get moving.¡± Johann said, and a few administrative team members sorted the templars to their respective caravans. The chatter in the background was intense, as many soon asked why were the Aivan on the Central Continent? We were expecting company soon enough, as my magical sensors detected uncommon types of magic activating across the continent. The agents planted are finally moving, and my minds were watching, marking. Spies from the other temples, the Laenza, some of the southern kingdoms. And secret requests to the assassin guilds throughout the Central Continent. Sadly, they were all met with a swift rejection. The guildmasters of all these assassin guilds had an understanding that their presence was merely tolerated so long as no Valthorns were targeted, and they had sufficient brain juice to not interfere with my things. Those old enough to remember my punishments decades ago would know better. Still, with the guilds themselves staying away, these foreign players directed the requests to the assassins personally with hefty rewards. The smarter ones know better than to accept. Even if they succeed, they know they can¡¯t escape. But there are always fools tempted by the huge sums of money. I view this as a net positive. My Valthorns may be high levelled, but they do need anti-assassins practice. And a good reminder to those who have forgotten. The memories of men fade so easily. ¡°How¡¯ve you been?¡± Engka asked as Lausanne sat in the same cabin. It¡¯s a large, lush and well-furnished cabin similar to the ones used by the heroes. ¡°It¡¯s been decades.¡± ¡°Much better now that I¡¯m no longer running demon hunting missions.¡± Lausanne responded. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that bitterness, is there?¡± Engka smiled. ¡°I am after all here at the invitation of Aeon itself. So, how much do you know?¡± Lausanne smiled. ¡°Not much, but I don¡¯t mind. It¡¯s better when I don¡¯t get involved with your business. I am here merely at Aeon¡¯s behest, he figured that you¡¯d enjoy some banter.¡± Engka laughed. ¡°True. The matters of the Triumvir are never simple. That is a wise choice, a wise choice.¡± He then looked at Johann, who was on a lookout. The caravan of a hundred beetles passed through the valleys, and were soon closing in on some patches of forests. My artificial minds pinged that some assassins were going to strike there. I waited, and let my Valthorns do their work. They have to detect their presence themselves, and Johann made some hand signals. A few of the subordinate rangers fanned out. Engka looked at Lausanne again, as he watched the rangers. ¡°I must say, Aeon¡¯s ability to cultivate talent is truly second to none. I would trade my hero items if I can convince some of your rangers to serve me. I¡¯ll even accept you.¡± Lausanne responded. ¡°No thanks.¡± ¡°The Aivan is really short of capable, high levelled folks. Surely Aeon can share?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°I can count the number of level 70s we have in one hand. That¡¯s how bad we have it. A little bit of pity?¡± ¡°No. And certainly that¡¯s not something you should be revealing so casually.¡± Lausanne seemed to have some bad memories of the man, and I wonder whether it was a mistake to get her to be the liaison. She didn¡¯t reject it, though. Engka laughed. ¡°Oh, anyone level 70 and above serving for the Aivan church is a public figure through and through. You even met them.¡± Lausanne didn¡¯t reply. The caravan now took the roads through the forests. The assassins struck. The Valthorns intercepted. They were slightly slower to pick them up. The assassins were quite low levelled, some in their level 30s. A few of the assassins backed off, deciding that it wasn¡¯t worth it once they saw who they were dealing with. Those who went for the attack found arrows lodged in their heads within seconds. Operatives hired by groups unknown. ¡°Do they always try to kill you?¡± Lausanne asked. ¡°As you should know, I have many enemies, and I believe most of those who try to kill me are my allies.¡± The caravan would take 3 days to cross the continent to reach Freshka. - ¡°The Aivan triumvir is here?¡± Kei stormed and asked Edna one day. She didn¡¯t know until the caravan moved. ¡°Why?¡± Edna paused, and obtained my permission to tell her. ¡°Because they reached out to us, for a ceasefire. An alliance.¡± ¡°No. My sources tell me the entire Triumvir will be here. They never meet unless something of divine importance.¡± Edna nodded. ¡°Yes. It is of divine importance.¡± ¡°What is Aeon trying to do?¡± ¡°A talk with a god. The truth to whether there is a way to end this.¡± Kei stared at Edna, her mind spun as she processed it. ¡°I want to be there.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± - Diplomatic messages and secret messages flew across the world, as they speculated about the Aiva¡¯s intention. The other three churches were particularly tense and they sent strongly worded messages to Engka. Engka smiled when he received them. ¡°Isn¡¯t this amusing?¡± Lausanne shrugged. ¡°The Gayan Master of the Temple just demanded that I clarify my presence on the Central Continent. I got similar messages from the Hawa and the Neira too. Pathetic, when all of us together couldn¡¯t even muster a force to stand up to Aeon¡¯s overwhelming power.¡± ¡°Are you here because of power, then?¡± ¡°My personal stance on this, yes. We are weak, and we acknowledge that. It¡¯s especially clear now that you could invade the Eastern Continent and win.¡± ¡°That just makes me even more suspicious of your presence.¡± Lausanne responded. - The caravan arrived in Freshka safely. There were a few more smaller assassination attempts, but nothing too big. The caravan of beetles were led to a special clearing site made at their request. The crates were unloaded, and the templars started work. We had mages, builders and crafters on standby to make any structure or amendments to the site as required. They built a circular temple with a central clearing, and I will speak through Lumoof. I would have to stop my Northern observations for this, but I will do so once they are ready. ¡°The other two Triumvirs?¡± Edna asked. ¡°They will be summoned here.¡± Engka showed a magical ring. ¡°This is the Ring of the Triumvirs, and allows me to summon the others here.¡± They walked to my valley. Edna was with him, and she was fully armed in her best equipment, just in case. Engka bowed before my massive tree, I could see his legs shiver, and he seemed pale. ¡°I had doubts, but now I do not. Greetings, Aeon.¡± ¡°Speak.¡± ¡°I will commence the Ceremony of the Heavenly Gate, to open a means to commune with our God, Aiva. Three of us will be there to keep the gate open, and we will sacrifice three divine items to maintain it. But once commenced, we will be very vulnerable, and will require your protection.¡± ¡°You have my word.¡± Indeed. I had the entire area on lockdown. Who dares to mess with my ceremony. ¡°But that¡¯s not the main point, really. We have never performed this ceremony, and we only learn of it now. Could you ask a question on our behalf?¡± I wondered what it could be. ¡°Why are we left to die?¡± Engka said. - The site was ready, three hero items in the middle, filled with star mana. Engka twisted his ring, and his ring glowed. For a moment, I saw with my astral sight the world momentarily twist, and then, two others appeared. ¡°Grandmaster Amdar, Grandmaster Mianas, let us begin.¡± They both looked around and noticed that everything has been prepared. They sighed and nodded. They formed a triangle, the floor has already been marked. There were runic formations on the floor that I did not recognise, and it seemed that this was new to the grandmasters too. No matter, they started chanting, and the strange energies within them, however miniscule, vibrated and then glowed. This was entirely invisible to everyone else, only visible in the spirit vision. It shone out and linked together, and then the three items burned, melted, and transformed into a levitating blob of the night sky. Lumoof had been called back, and he waited. I would activate the Avatar if needed. Still, I early summoned Stella to watch on a hunch. Then we saw it, the blob twisted, and a door opens in the astral starways, so small and tiny. A light reached out, a stringy light crawled out, and then the front bulged into a wisp. The string was still there, present. At that moment, the entire world felt it, it was an oppressive feeling. Everywhere, even in the further towns, people were vomiting and some fainted. < A feeling long forgotten. > Lilies spoke through the roots. < They live after all. > I would reply later, my focus on the ball of light that stood before Lumoof. Lumoof and Edna was unfazed, their domain protected them and allowed them to stand. Kei fainted briefly, but quickly caught herself. Stella, strangely, only vomited. The wisp formed into a face. ¡°Greetings, Aeon. I go by my names across the many worlds I touched, but here, I am Aiva, and long ago, Deyar. My time is limited, my true self many worlds away. Let us speak quickly.¡± ¡°Greetings.¡± I spoke and saw through Lumoof. ¡°You have questions. Quickly.¡± Aiva asked. ¡°The time we have for this gate is short.¡± ¡°How can we stop the demon kings and end this cycle of destruction?¡± At this point, this was really the main thing on my mind. ¡°We don¡¯t know. We have tried, destroyed some demon worlds, but we failed in the end. The demons are infestations of corruption. They can be delayed, they can be defeated, but they will eventually return. They are drawn to the worlds of the living, but more importantly, they are drawn to us, the gods. They have a vendetta against us, and we fight them across a thousand worlds. They find your world through the remnants of their champions, and also, so long the world lives, they seek to corrupt it, and eventually turn it to a demon world. So long as a world lives, they will look for it. Each demon world weakens us all.¡± ¡°Can we hide the world from them?¡± The wisp paused. ¡°Possible, but not something I can do. Quickly. Next.¡± Good. That¡¯s something I¡¯ll figure out then. ¡°Why do the gods attack me?¡± ¡°I speak not of the others, but we often mistake native powers as nascent demonic presence. It is hard to tell what is a corrupting cancer, and what is a robust defense from where we are, our knowledge and information distorted by void, distance and limited perspective. I sensed some demonic energies in you, but am relieved that you remain the master of them. So many worlds lose the ability to defend themselves from the demons, the body weak and in need of external assistance.¡± ¡°Can you call them off?¡± We needed a united front. ¡°I will try, but they are far away.¡± Aiva responded. ¡°Why do you control the heroes?¡± This was something I wanted to ask for a long time. The wispy face bobbed. ¡°Oh? Well, the medicine must do what it is meant to do. Strong medicines can often damage and harm the flesh, and so, they must be controlled. We cannot inject medicine and then hope that the medicine will find its own target. We tell it what to find, and mark them such that the demons are drawn to them. It is a balancing act, if we inject too much medicine in the patient, we may damage the flesh more than the demons.¡± ...fuck. The heroes are nothing more than tools. I felt something attacked my [domain], like something was scanning me from my leaves to my roots. I felt something stir in the distance, my magical sensors started to ring. Edna, Kei and Lumoof seemed to take it quietly. ¡°Why let them die?¡± ¡°Because even gods could not be everywhere at once. Our powers are strongest close to us, but the great void of time pushes and pulls on many worlds, and this world has drifted on the void sea further and further away from my sphere of power. It is a great relief to see a native god emerge at long last, however weak you are now. Take my followers, and they shall treat your word as my own.¡±¡¯ ¡°Wait. Your eminence, are you sure this is a good choice?¡± One of the Triumvirs could not help it. He had to ask. I don¡¯t blame them. Aiva¡¯s magical face turned to face the three Triumvirs who struggled to maintain the spell.. ¡°Yes. I am too far to properly protect you. I will repeat. Aeon shall take my followers. That includes all of you.¡± Aiva¡¯s floating face responded and the three Triumvirs shook. ¡°I have enough to protect.¡± Seriously. I already have a continent, but then again, if I am going to end this cycle, I do need more. ¡°As you grow, you¡¯ll have the capacity for more. The distance between us in this great void continues to grow, and it is an eventual fact that one day, my powers will no longer reach this world. It is far more just and fair for me to say truthfully, that my powers wanes in this world, and better for those who believe in me to seek an ascendant pantheon for protection.¡± The Triumvirs could not respond. I had another question. ¡°How long do you have? Will you still summon the heroes?¡± Aiva paused. ¡°Perhaps a century or two, much depends on the flux of the void. An ancient pact binds us, the old gods, to defend these worlds. We have to, even if we don¡¯t want to.¡± There was a shocked look on the faces of everyone present. ¡°What pact?¡± ¡°It¡¯s... complicated. You will know once you ascend.¡± ¡°What are you?¡± Like what are the gods? Where are they? ¡°We were once like you, though our paths meandered in different ways. Time is running out.¡± The blob was shrinking. ¡°But here, a small parting gift from me. From a predecessor. Good luck and goodbye, Aeon. I, for one, eagerly await your ascension to the divine realm. We are weary from the eons of war, and we could use some new hands. One not bound by the ancient pacts.¡± The blob of light flashed and entered Lumoof. I felt a bolt run through the link between me and Lumoof. [You¡¯ve gained 2 levels. You are now level 199] [All tree-type laboratories upgraded] Whoever wanted to interrupt us was too late, and it seemed a familiar weapon was used against me. A hexbomb. It flew from the South, but it was small, probably hastily gathered. I activated multiple shields to block it, and the bomb was stopped even before it got near the valley. The blob was gone, and the runes vanished. The three Triumvirs collapsed, exhausted from the gate. Kei looked at Stella. ¡°Holy shit.¡± Everyone in the world breathed easier, as the divine presence vanished from the world. Spaizzer STEAMFORGED SORCERY Ever wanted a steampunk LITRPG? Because there''s one out right now. It''s written by Actus, and it''s a STEAMPUNK world. Did I mention Steampunk? Because I know some people like that kind of stuff. Please check it out! Thanks for reading :) Steering Committree Year 187 (continued) The Triumvirs heard it from their god, and they were honestly lost for words. How do they even explain that the Aivan church will now be assimilated? Do the prayers now go to me, instead of Aiva? There was a lot to think about. Edna and Lumoof¡¯s first comment was, ¡°A true god is incredibly intimidating.¡± They had not felt such a strong sensation. Already, messages were flying everywhere throughout the world, requesting for information on what had happened. ¡°Indeed. I now understand the huge gap between our power.¡± If the levels each resulted in an exponential bump in power, perhaps the Gods would be someone in their... level 300s? Or maybe 400? The Triumvirs of Aiva were incredibly puzzled, and distressed. ¡°We... we must discuss this.¡± ¡°None of you leave.¡± I said to everyone present, including the Triumvirs. A cage of roots emerged around the entire area, and coated it with all the anti-magic aura. ¡°And no messages.¡± Everyone nodded. ¡°First, I want to hear everyone¡¯s thoughts. What do you think of assimilating the Aivan faith to ours?¡± The Triumvirs were at a loss for words. ¡°I need a lot more time to process this. It is too sudden to find out that our god has decided to abandon us.¡± The problem of assimilating, no, taking over the Aivan faith is a lot more complicated than it seemed. If I could nod, I would. ¡°Indeed, and has such things ever happened in the history of the world?¡± Lumoof could answer that. ¡°No. In our records so far, that has never ever happened.¡± I looked at Kei and Stella who were both present. I spoke as if I wasn¡¯t one of Earth because the Triumvirs were present. ¡°Both of you came from the other worlds, and have seen similar schisms in faith. Surely your histories would enlighten you the moments where a faith or a temple is torn apart due to differences. What happened then?¡± Stella was the one who answered, She was after an adult when she came, so she had a more thorough education on the histories of Earth. ¡°War. Civil war.¡± ¡°I ask of you three, and of your knowledge of your priests, and your people. Do you think they will accept an outright conversion to my faith so easily?¡± The three Triumvirs all shook their heads. Engka was the one who stood to respond. ¡°No. Many have believed in Aiva for years, decades, perhaps even centuries. So many priests preached of Aiva¡¯s greatness and kindness, of Aiva¡¯s powers, of Aiva¡¯s sense of duty to our world. I am afraid that what that lady said was true. If we were to follow what Aiva willed of us, the Aivan church will break apart. No. I am convinced that they will go to war against us, even if we are the Triumvirs.¡± Indeed. ¡°Exactly. This message, if spoken, the other priests of your faith would say all of you have been corrupted, your minds altered by my powers. You three will be hunted and killed.¡± The three Triumvirs could imagine it already. Such a message could never be accepted. What Aiva asked was for his followers to abandon what they have known their entire life, and I saw that it was impossible, even if his logic had a sense to it. Stella looked at the Triumvirs, and then back at Lumoof. ¡°Aeon, what... what are you proposing?¡± ¡°We say nothing of what Aiva had said.¡± Everyone gasped. ¡°I asked that everyone present to seal those divine words in your mind.¡± The Triumvirs looked at Lumoof. ¡°...but?¡± ¡°Your god commanded you to obey me. And my first order is for you to keep everything that happened a secret among secrets. We shall maintain our separate faiths, and the Aivan church will continue. Let no one, other than your successors, ever learn of what Aiva has said.¡± One of the Triumvirs immediately kneeled. ¡°Thank you Aeon for your wisdom.¡± The other two immediately followed. ¡°Aiva may desire that I take over, but it is not in my interest to do so.I have no desire to wage war against the Aivan church, and have no need for the church¡¯s followers.¡± The central continent continued to grow, and I wasn¡¯t about to just accept the shit that this god decided to throw my way. ¡°But we will have peace between us, and in the future, friendly relations. But I may have requests for you, that I hope you will assist me to carry out.¡± The three Triumvirs nodded. ¡°That should be fine if we keep it discreet and find ways to establish a secure communication channel between us. A ceasefire and a peace treaty should not be an issue either.¡± I saw so many potential pitfalls in absorbing the Aiva faith, and already the world has lost enough. It doesn¡¯t need another crusade, one triggered by the supposed capitulation of the Aivan faith. Those who believed did not see reason or arguments, and people will act based on their feelings and their conviction, even here. When religions back home broke apart due to fundamental differences, it always led to war. We don¡¯t mind wars. We even allow wars between our vassal kingdoms. But the Aivan war has the potential to trigger serious questions of the possibility of the faiths coexisting peacefully, and it would be a war aimed at me, and it would be a war we don¡¯t need. No, more importantly, I did not want what I am implying should I absorb the Aivan faith, a similar fate awaited the other 3 temples. I want my faith to be one that can coexist with the other four, and that we can all work together. I also saw problems even if they did accept my faith. I was limited by the natural geography of the world, and so, even if they believed in me, I wouldn''t be there to protect them. It would not be fair for the Triumvirs either, when they would have to defend my cause and the only way I can do so is to send my Valthorns across the sea and fight a war. Not until I figure out how to properly cross the oceans. Using Lumoof as an avatar is like a stopgap, and I would like a far more permanent arrangement. One of the Triumvirs apologised. ¡°I had not expected Aiva to escalate from an alliance to an outright absorption of our faith.¡± ¡°At this point, what is the sense among your people? Would they accept an alliance?¡± ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s a mix. Many admire the strength of the Aeonic faith, and the powers that backed it. But out of principles and loyalties, many prefer to remain with the other three. An alliance may also trigger some dissent, though I expect it to be more ¡®mild¡¯. That said, it would be riskier for the Aivan believers on the other continents where the other three temples are stronger.¡± ¡°Then we shall not rush into it.¡± I decreed. ¡°Let us have peace, and we shall be friends. Allow our forces to travel to kingdoms who follow your faith. Perhaps in time, an alliance will be a natural evolution from friendship.¡± I have the time to play the long game, and there was no need to rush things and create so much bad blood. A war won by friendship will last longer, anyway. The Triumvirs returned to their temporary lodges, relieved. They would have a lot to figure out, like how they planned to secretly tell their successors. The words of their God by convention was to be recorded in a magical item, and so they had to keep it safe. I made sure they all received a familiar from me. - I turned to Stella. ¡°You saw it, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The pathway through the stars, that temporarily bridged this world, and the world where Aiva resides. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that the temples had a way to open the pathways of the stars too, and it used a different mechanic compared to void magic.¡± ¡°Good. I believe this means all the 4 temples must have some variant of such summonings or ¡®meetings¡¯ with their gods. It makes sense that it is not widely known, after all it communicates with their god, which can be very, very far away.¡± Stella paused and looked at Lumoof strangely. ¡°What are you implying?¡± ¡°We need to gather all of the methods, and figure out how they work. So, I¡¯ll need a team of infiltrators to sneak into the secret temples and libraries of the other three temples, and get those information.¡± For Aiva, I could simply just ask them to give it to me, after all, I am now de-facto owner. The puppet master behind the strings. ¡°Oh no.¡± Stella was horrified. ¡°Looks like I must take training spies and infiltrators much more seriously now.¡± Edna and Lumoof merely smirked. ¡°A proper raid on the temples of the other 3?¡± ¡°Not just that. We must first find where such information is kept, and who would have it. Don¡¯t worry, I believe this will be a long process. For now, you may focus on studying the techniques used by the Aivan church.¡± The Triumvirs gladly parted with the techniques, after all, - I needed spies and thieves. A lot of them, and I needed them to be good at what they did. I have the ability to create higher tier classes for spies, but ultimately, spies gain levels by doing spy-stuff. This meant sneaking into places and taking on roles where they are in real danger. As it is, we have spies who are doing missions in the other nations across the oceans, but the survival rate is pretty low. They usually die when caught. ¡°We could give them the Court of the Deitree.¡± Patreeck suggested. ¡°But the slots are limited.¡± That would mean we could recall them if they are ever caught, but that didn¡¯t feel like it would work. I decided to go back to my [dungeon creation] ability, and tweaked it. I wanted to know whether I could create infiltration dungeons where the spies have to figure out how to sneak to the end. It didn¡¯t quite work. Failing, I decided to create mock dungeons instead. I hired craftsmen and mages to build dungeons filled with non-lethal traps, for my new practice spies and thieves to ¡®practice¡¯. ¡°The thing with spies and thieves, is that they could easily doublecross us and we wouldn¡¯t know any better.¡± Kei and Stella both frowned. ¡°I mean, you heard about the whole double-triple-agent thing, right?¡± ¡°Of course, but who cares.¡± Next, we set up multiple ¡®competing¡¯ spy guilds. The idea was that these spies would play both spy and counter-espionage roles, and they would have to compete against each other on a non-lethal basis. Then, from the pool of promising and loyal spies, I chose one, a man named Varida, and used [Gift of Accelerated Growth]. This pushed his level to level 60, and he gained a bunch of skills overnight. Varida became the Central Continent¡¯s 2nd level 60 spy, after Master Intip. Yet, even with the new levels and skills, Varida still needed practice, and experience. Knowing the skills is one thing, applying them out in the field is another. One thing that particularly annoyed me about spies was their ability to speak to each other using some kind of magical code. If it was not for Patreeck¡¯s constant recordkeeping, and continuous decryption, we would have missed a lot more spies. Each spy required far more resources and mental-capacity to track than most other classes, simply because each of them had skills that interfered with my surveillance. Someone with a low level stealth ability would take twice the normal bandwidth, but a high levelled spy needed the tracking of a single artificial mind. So, if there were multiple level 60+ spies, or a hero-tier spy, it¡¯s possible for me to miss them, or only detect them if they did something. A hero-spy could probably sneak all the way to Freshka, at least, until they ran into Patreeck¡¯s range and the bubble of my domain powers. The good part so far, is that spies can¡¯t maintain their abilities full time. So far both of my level 60 spies have skills that are only active for up to 4 to 6 hours, with a cooldown of a day. That meant I could still spot them once they dropped their skills. Yet, that was a time consuming, tedious thing to do that I delegated to my artificial minds. As it is, I have so many trees on the Central Continent that I can support quite a lot of artificial minds, perhaps in the thousands. Technically, because these minds do most of the mundane administrative oversight work to allow me to function as a divine being. That meant keeping eyes on prayers, on people, on other tasks. Each artificial mind can do alot, but now they take up space. The Valley of the Unrotten, once filled with giant trees, were gradually replaced by the artificial minds. They are the buzz in the background, the constant hum of their thoughts, they each observe their own part of the continent. Some followed individuals, like spies, or supported the continental beetle transportation network. Some worked on my many little improvement projects, like beetle weapons, or insect adaptations. Some checked on my own Valthorns and the priests, ensuring that they were safe and performed their duties properly. Thousands of little artificial minds, each a name, but in the background. Patreeck, as the special one, lorded over them all. But I considered whether there was a point to having another one. Two super-minds instead of one, to expand the range of our powers, and to compute more things. My artificial minds were my magical equivalent of having a big-brother surveillance state. I am the big brother of central continent, as much as a part of me loathed myself for it. The world will be watched, the gods are watching, even if they are far away, and these days, I suspect everyone is trying to spy on each other. That said, a surveillance state was primarily ¡®defensive¡¯. It kept control of the ¡®state¡¯ that it held. ¡®Offensively¡¯ I would have to either expand to that continent, which is bottlenecked by one single Lumoof, or use spies. - I sent Lumoof back to the North, and continued our surveillance of the forces at work. The nations of the Northern Islands are highly fragmented, despite their outward unified appearance. The bickering happens beneath a veneer of civility. Here, where seas, straits, channels and lakes separate the islands, the assassinations become a favored way of fighting. The heroes left successfully for the other continents and are now working on other things. But even they were curious about the whole god-summoning incident. ¡°I got a message from Colette.¡± Kei replied. ¡°They wanted to know what happened. I only responded that you spoke to the Aivan God.¡± ¡°Good enough.¡± ¡°They want to know the contents.¡± ¡°Tell them to ask the Triumvirs. We are not at liberty to disclose.¡± Push the problem to someone else. - The Triumvirs made an announcement about a week after our meeting, that a special conference was held with the Faith of Aeon and that a great peace treaty has been agreed in principle, that all aggressions arising from faith should thus formally cease. The formal terms will be signed at a later date. It sent messages flying, as the other three temples demanded to know the details. At this point, the three Triumvirs have not left, and they sought my guidance. ¡°Act as if I don¡¯t exist.¡± I responded. ¡°You three are to lead Aiva like normal, and that means you must be free to make decisions on that basis, so long as it does not contravene our agreed peace treaty.¡± The Triumvirs had to leave quickly, as those back on the Eastern Continent will have plenty of questions. But they first leaked that it was a peace treaty brokered by the Aivan God, and that the two faiths have agreed to peace with no reparations on either side. Peace wasn¡¯t so bad, and most of them could accept it. The Aivan church would have to cough out some sums from their own treasuries to compensate the kingdoms that were most devoted to the war, but that was it. Peace as the God¡¯s will? That was plausible, believable, and certainly, it aligned to what most kingdoms wanted. A war with a continent an entire ocean away? What good does that do? It was easy, in this case, to claim it was their God¡¯s will. A lie, but necessary one. I have bigger problems to fry. - ¡°I¡¯m not feeling too good.¡± Kei admitted privately to Stella. The whole thing with the gods made her feel a sense of dread. ¡°And there¡¯s no one I can talk to.¡± Stella patted her back. It¡¯s a useless gesture, she¡¯s a golem so she doesn¡¯t feel any physical muscle soreness. ¡°Oh come on now. There¡¯s me.¡± ¡°You were not a hero. You don¡¯t know what it feels like to suddenly be told that we¡¯re just nothing more than ¡®medicine¡¯. That we are unstable medicines that would harm the flesh.¡± Stella sat next to her. ¡°It¡¯s something you and the other heroes have realised to some extent, so I personally believed you would have expected it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s one thing to suspect your parents don¡¯t want you, and another to hear it straight from the horses¡¯ mouth.¡± ¡°I would never have imagined you would think of the gods as your parents.¡± Stella sat. ¡°That¡¯s honestly quite creepy.¡± Kei caught herself. ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s a bad analogy. I guess it¡¯s like your crush telling you to buzz off, I guess?¡± ¡°That¡¯s still kind of weird.¡± Stella laughed. ¡°But cheer up. Now that you know they don¡¯t really care, there¡¯s no reason to take their requirements all that seriously.¡± ¡°I mean... how do I put it.¡± Kei looked at Stella, her eyes were a little watery. ¡°I think it¡¯s predatory, what they are doing, they pick us and send us across the worlds, tell us, us young, impressionable souls seeking validation, value and recognition, that we are destined to be heroes, instill within us this sense of grand purpose, magically influenced our minds such that we stick to the goal.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve known that.¡± ¡°Yeah, but hearing it said so matter-of-factly really is different.¡± Kei said. Stella smiled. ¡°Heroes are just like young innocent fresh graduates who are sucked into the corporate feel-good mission statements and sent out to the world, only to discover that their support isn¡¯t great, and the purported values are nothing more than just something written to satisfy some arbitrary rating system.¡± Kei turned and looked at Stella. ¡°Shit. Corporate life is like that?¡± Despite their age, I still occasionally forget that all these heroes never had any working experience. This ¡®hero¡¯ stint is probably their first job. ¡°That¡¯s what my friends say, and you seem to be manifesting similar symptoms. Burnout from work. A realisation that everything is just corporate speak.¡± Kei had a look on her face. ¡°Wait, are you saying I¡¯m having a quarter life crisis?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been at this hero thing for a while, and then you moved on and now focus on helping the heroes. Now you¡¯re wondering why you¡¯re doing it all in the first place. That sounds like a quarter life crisis. You¡¯re feeling lost, even without the gods¡¯ mind control.¡± Kei gently smacked Stella on the arm. ¡°Stop it, you¡¯re making me feel worse.¡± ¡°Am I wrong?¡± Stella sat. ¡°I mean, we¡¯ve known each other for how long?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t seem that interested in being my friend at first, though.¡± Kei responded. ¡°I¡¯m just slow to warm up.¡± ¡°Really.¡± A Garden Patch Year 188 The North was in a frenzy, after a rumor that the missing hero was in the North. Strangely enough, I found him before anyone else did. Once Lumoof was back in the North, my trees continued to spread. My trees soon covered most of the largest island in the North, and I started to spawn subsidiary trees in the unpopulated places in the North. The North, being a colder place, had most of its populations concentrated on the coastlines and along key rivers. That meant there were large pockets of uninhabited pine and spruce forests. There were also some parts where they were considered ¡®taigas¡¯ or snow forests or boreal forests, where I could expand my roots and connect to more trees with little need for holding back. There''s a lot of hidden things in the North. Within a month of expanding I discovered so many hidden dungeons buried under snow and ice, and even more buried cities and towns hidden under no more than a few feet of dirt. The harsh cold and winters seem to deter adventurers, and in the cold environment spawns monsters of quite a high tier, generally level 40s to 60s. Some were familiar, like the dire wolves and snow foxes I''ve seen during the great blizzard spell. Snow. Ice giants were common in the hilly, ice-covered peaks, like those we¡¯ve seen on Aria¡¯s island. ¡°Your presence seems to fluctuate a bit.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Sensing the presence of others is a hard thing. Like the heroes, I couldn¡¯t sense their presence until they were close to my main body. I concluded that ¡®domain-presence¡¯ was something that only the main body possessed. Ice. Forests. An entirely new continent. I wondered what other secrets are buried beneath these dirt. No, more than that, could there be submerged continents? Are there the equivalents of Atlantis in this world? If so, could I find them with my roots? Right now, my roots still could not cross the oceans. If there was any Atlantis-equivalents, they would be in the vast oceans of the world, submerged by some grand magic. Thus, I asked my mages and Valthorns to perform research on long lost cities and submerged civilisations. Ah, back to the North again, I¡¯ve gone off tangent. My trees spied on the cities, and the villages. It was a lot easier to spy on villages that were surrounded by trees and forests, but these were places where nothing much happened. Usually. Then I found the missing hero in one of these quiet villages, deep in the mountains. We did not recognise him at first, after all, he just seemed like a regular person who hunted in the woods, collecting snakes and lizards. It was a magical orb that appeared one day that gave him away, it appeared suddenly from the aether, like an invisibility spell was dispelled, and it floated in a wooden lodge. ¡°Ken, are you there?¡± Ken was a plain, somewhat handsome man, and my allocated minds were listening when the conversation happened. There were many clues in hindsight, because in this village, everything seemed new. The lodges were surprisingly well built, and the facilities were strangely modern. There was also a huge wall, and a very large stone building that I couldn¡¯t look through. Ken was not alone. ¡°Your friend¡¯s calling you again.¡± A half-elf girl responded. Ken smiled and just patted her head. ¡°Thanks.¡± He went to the room and sat down. ¡°Chung. What is it?¡± ¡°Where are you?¡± ¡°I told you, I¡¯m not saying a thing.¡± ¡°Look, right now, all the temples are looking for you secretly, and there¡¯s even the nasty guys out there. The hero-hunters, the wannabe hero-friends, some secret spy and assassin guilds. There¡¯s a lot of people on your tail. They are already on the fake trail I left in the South, but they¡¯ll figure it out soon.¡± ¡°I know, but I¡¯m close to my breakthrough. Just give me a bit more.¡± ¡°Dude. I can¡¯t keep doing this without you telling me what the fuck is going on, alright.¡± Ken took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m going to give up my hero-class.¡± ¡°...wait. How?¡± Chung on the other side sounded pissed. ¡°I¡¯m going to commit heresy, of course.¡± ¡°Heresy?¡± Chung¡¯s voice sounded uncomfortable. ¡°The former hero, Astra, used blood magic. That was enough for him to be excommunicated. I plan to do the same.¡± ¡°Wait, Ken. Are you sure? Is this really worth it? Remember that I told you about how Astra was marked? No, Ken. Don¡¯t do this.¡± ¡°Look, my friend. This whole thing is a scam. The journals you¡¯ve seen already hinted at it to you. We¡¯re not heroes. We¡¯re just tools. I am not planning to let myself be sucked into some stupid overarching system of the gods. Not now, not ever. I¡¯m quitting.¡± ¡°Ken, the demons will come anyway. Why not just be a hero and defeat the demon king?¡± ¡°And what? We have 10 years and then the next one. No. I¡¯m calling it off.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t work like that. Not with Astra either.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll figure out how to deal with the demon king once I¡¯m not a hero. I¡¯m sure after I do this, the Gods will meddle with your mind and make you look for me as an enemy. I want you to resist that. Can you do that?¡± ¡°Ken, this is insane! What if I can''t resist them, and I¡¯ll be forced to hunt you down? No, don¡¯t do this-¡± Ken pressed something on the Orb, and it went poof. He got out, and looked at the others with him. I could now detect the faint presence of blood magic, masked under layers. It was then, a strange magical creature appeared from his shadow. A small spirit-snake. ¡°Was it a good idea to lie to him like that?¡± The spirit snake asked. ¡°I thought you two were good friends.¡± ¡°He is, but it wasn¡¯t a total lie. We don¡¯t know what the Gods will do.¡± Ken answered with a sigh. ¡°Come. It¡¯s time to summon the rest.¡± The snake coughed. He took out a small red-knife that glowed in my spirit vision. Ken withdrew multiple other items that were all hidden in his spatial pocket, and placed them around the village. All of these items were strange, with markings I have not seen before. I quickly mentally noted them down. At that point, I noticed something strange with all the other ¡®villagers¡¯. They all had a spirit snake companion of some kind, and they were all behaving unnaturally. It took a bit more effort, I increased the number of trees present to improve my resolution, and then I noticed it. Ken¡¯s shadow was linked to all of them, a faint magic. The villagers were all possessed. They moved perfectly, they seemed to know where to put everything without requiring instruction. Some of them were mages, and they muttered something under their breath. The stone structure in the middle opened up to reveal thousands of snakes and lizards. They all moved into position, and Ken walked close to the snakes. With his red knife, his beheaded all of them, one by one, as the villagers started chanting. All of the earlier items all glowed and then, as he slaughtered the snakes, I saw strange snake-like and lizard-like shadows run around, but never able to leave that small area. The ritual lasted three hours, and Ken¡¯s red knife was soon drenched in the blood of all the lizards and snakes. During that entire time, the possessed villagers chanted. Then, he lifted up the red knife, muttered a few words, and then, I saw all the shadows drain away and sucked into the red knife. Then, all the blood and remains of the snakes and lizards melted into a reddish paste, then swirled into the knife. In a quick but practiced motion, Ken then stabbed himself in the heart with the blob. At that moment, I felt like I had a stinging migraine, and I felt my mind- [Domain Preventing Mental Attack] Then, I saw Ken¡¯s body glow red. The knife glowed and I thought I saw the shadows of the thousands of snakes and lizards. If this was blood magic, this was a very strange one. I tried to use more powerful surveillance visions then, and changed one of the trees to a subsidiary tree. I now saw fragments of spirits and souls, all in that red knife. I tried to [identify] the knife. [Blood Knife of Sacrifice - A knife used for sacrifices. Collects fragment of souls, spirits and essences] Well, thanks, but it didn¡¯t tell me what exactly was happening. No, if it collected fragments of souls, what was it trying to do? A massive red snake made of blood then surged out of his body, in its fangs were a big white marble block. It rolled and coiled, and the white block seemed to attempt to move. But the red liquid blood snake wrestled with the white block, they tossed and spun and rolled, the snake¡¯s body smashed into the structures in the village. Then, Ken¡¯s body glowed again, but then, this time, a massive shadow with thousands of snake-heads popped out of his body, and it smashed into the white marble block. The white marble block¡¯s outer layer melted, and what¡¯s left was a white spherical core. Ken moved, and with a swift, well practiced slash, the red knife slammed into the spherical core. The knife hit the white core head on, and then, the white core shook violently. [Warning- The Hero Ken- Error. Status unclear.] I saw the red snake swirl around the white core, it shrunk, and formed a red cube around the white core. The multi-headed snake shadow followed next, it shrunk into the size of a small lizard, and then melted into that red cube. It instantly changed the bright red cube to darker red. The knife shattered, and then instantly melted. All the villagers collapsed at the same time, like puppets whose strings were cut. Ken¡¯s body stopped glowing, and he stood as the molten red liquid from the knife swirled around his body, and coated his skin and flesh. His wounds healed. He didn¡¯t move for a good 10 minutes, somehow he managed not to fall. Perhaps it was magic, though that¡¯s probably the least of the things I should think about. His eyes opened, and he looked around. He briefly closed his eyes again, and then when he opened, the snake appeared once more from his shadow. ¡°The Ritual was a success. Though I feel we have... company.¡± Ken looked around. ¡°Really? I don¡¯t see anyone.¡± The snake looked around too. ¡°It¡¯s... never mind.¡± ¡°Great. Now I can live in peace.¡± He seemed to activate a skill, and in an instant, his hair grew long, and his facial features changed slightly. His skin turned more scalish. The magical orb immediately started vibrating, but Ken did not respond. ¡°Ken? Ken? Are you there? What happened?¡± He looked at it, tapped it. ¡°I did something, I¡¯ll let you know in two to three months whether it¡¯s successful. But if it fails, I think you¡¯ll get a notification.¡± The orb sent a magical arrow that flew up into the air, and then disappeared. Ken tapped the orb again, and this time, the orb vanished into some kind of pocket space. The villagers were still unconscious, and Ken left the village that day. The shapeshifted Ken did not say a word since then, as he wandered from town to town, never stopping for more than a week. The villagers who regained consciousness did not seem to remember why they were there, and what they did at all. ¡°This hero probably possessed some kind of mind-control or possession ability through those snake-shadows.¡± ¡°What are those snake shadows?¡± I had no idea. As a tree that lived so long and seen so much, it absolutely annoyed me that there¡¯s still so many new things I¡¯ve never seen. I suspect whatever that ritual was, it was otherworldly in origin, because it was able to remove or tamper with a hero class. That said, I still kept watch. Could he be a threat? After all, he was able to tamper with a hero class. What did he do then? I saw the fragment of souls... no. I had an epiphany then. I had been trying to ¡®remove¡¯ the hero class by force and magical power. This was when I developed a speculative theory, that he absorbed more soul fragments, and some kind of essences, and those essences flooded and merged with his hero class in his soul spring. He wasn¡¯t removing the hero class. He was corrupting it so that he could be free of its influence! Using the soul-ish qualities of blood magic to ¡®enhance¡¯ and ¡®corrupt¡¯ his own soul such that he was free of the heroes? The other idea was that they somehow used the soul-fragments as some kind of ¡®abrasive¡¯ or ¡®removal-agent¡¯. Like using soap to bind to the hero-class and then pull it out. ¡°We¡¯ll need to find a volunteer to try it.¡± Patreeck. ¡°But it¡¯ll have to be a hero. Looking at it, it would probably kill anyone else who tried to do it.¡± I agree, that ritual looked really complex, but I had enough data to attempt to replicate it. But how did Ken get the people necessary to do so? I also have other questions. Like, who was that snake-spirit? I tried to follow Ken as he moved through the cities. There were parts I couldn¡¯t see him, here in the Northern Islands, my network of eyes and ears are full of holes. What did he do? Thankfully, he dropped his guard about two months after the incident, as he was taking a break. The snake spirit curled out and sat on the log. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Not as bad as what you described, I think I¡¯m ready. We got lucky, I think, that the [hero] class was relatively low level.¡± Ken sat as he munched on a loaf of bread. It¡¯s hard. ¡°Alright, hit me with it. What¡¯s next?¡± Ken said as he finished his loaf of bread. ¡°Great. Now we need to prepare for our next step of the bargain. We need to send the swallowed class to my world. That¡¯ll be a lot harder. A lot, a lot harder. Well, for one, I do not have a foolproof way of sending something back home.¡± The snake confessed. Ken paused, ¡°Wait. You do have an idea, then? Is this the ¡®so-crazy-enough-to-work-idea¡¯? Because if it is, then we should use it.¡± ¡°I do, but it involves you dying. That¡¯s not what we agreed on, and I wouldn¡¯t do it because I¡¯m stuck with you.¡± Ken laughed. ¡°Then tell me the alternatives, but still tell me that idea that involves me dying. Because I need to know. Just in case.¡± ¡°Never mind. I still don¡¯t get where you have all these strange concepts...¡± ¡°There¡¯s this website called tvtropes...¡± Ken said. ¡°Where they explain the common story paths and events.¡± ¡°Is this website an oracle?¡± ¡°Well, not really, but it¡¯s more like a...¡± ¡°An astrologist¡¯s predictions?¡± ¡°Something like that.¡± Ken sat. ¡°Anyway, I feel much more clear-headed now that the demons aren¡¯t always appearing in my dreams. It¡¯s safe for me to speak with Chung, right?¡± The snake shrugged. ¡°Yes. But later. First, we must investigate that presence we felt last year. I must know whether it is the Gods.¡± Ken frowned. ¡°Seriously, why do you care? Why get involved in their schemes again, after all you¡¯ve said about their plots? After all you said about how they¡¯ve surrendered your worlds.¡± The snake remained silent. ¡°I want to live peacefully, find a place somewhere where I can raise a family, and watch my kids grow up. Maybe work as an enchanter or an artificer.¡± Ken said. ¡°All these plots, in the end, are just the games these powers play. Now that I''m out, I have no intention of getting back in.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have to, but... but I just want to know. I want to send word home, if we ever find the gods.¡± ¡°I met the gods when I reincarnated.¡± ¡°Those are different.¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll just ask for news once we get to town. If we can use your abilities to ¡®control¡¯ some people in the towns, that¡¯ll help.¡± ¡°I used up quite a lot of my magic when I performed the ritual. I¡¯ll need more time to recharge, it takes longer for me to replenish my magical energies in this pathetic spiritual form. You¡¯ll have to do it the old fashioned way.¡± ¡°Alright, alright. Just pray I don¡¯t trigger some stupid town-gathering quest chain. I¡¯m not jumping from one hero-storyline to another type of storyline.¡± This Ken seemed... genre-aware. That¡¯s strange, I suppose I¡¯m looking at a hero who has some light-novel knowledge and he¡¯s applying it to get himself out of trouble? They left and headed to town. Sadly, the town they were in was all cobbled up with stone and rocks, and I couldn¡¯t follow them all the way. - The three Triumvirs returned to their respective cities, and the peace treaty was formally announced. Our growing network of spies revealed that the other temples were quite relieved that it was nothing more than just a peace treaty, and some small trade-ish agreements. The status quo held, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. - Spaizzer Have you ever seen a fic with ART? Well, here''s one. ENDURING GOOD Please check out ENDURING GOOD by powered_by_coffee! The art''s gorgeous, and it''s a fic about cultivation! And it''s rational too (Sort of, kinda). It''s currently on rising stars too (because it''s endearingly... good?) (Oh dear a pun). Anyway. Please check it out, and give it a click a clickyclick. I know I''ve been doing a lot of shoutouts lately, but hey, we''re a community, right? (insert anakinface here). Reunion at a Tea Party Year 189 It was a little bit more annoying to expand my trees to the cities in the North. Unlike the Central Continent where trees are plentiful and common, in the Northern Islands, the cities were not tree friendly at all. That said, there was still room for shrubs and less ''obvious'' trees like wall crawling plants. But this was inherently slower, and I felt a sense of repulsion for the treeless cities. Even in the cold weather there were ways to integrate plants into the terrain, and I would have used my root-network to use my roots as a form of heat distribution system. That would create a warmer environment that could support more verdant cities. The lack of parks within the city area itself was also absolutely disgusting, only certain cities have them. It seemed though, there were at least two agencies at work. One, led by the Rosewoods. Their agents were generally well equipped and trained, and they were the counter-hero-hunters. But even they had not-so-loyal operatives. Then, there¡¯s the hero hunters. Those that wanted to kill the heroes and gain some special class, though there was no data on what that special class was. Also, it¡¯s a little pointless for me to kill a hero if I can¡¯t gain classes. So, if anything, it should be a humanoid thing. ¡°Would you kill heroes?¡± I asked, he was motionless, as he rested in a giant tree. His body was linked to the giant tree, and through him, I controlled the rest of the trees. ¡°If you ask me to, yes.¡± Lumoof answered. There are days where I still feel uncomfortable to be at the receiving end of such devotion and loyalty. ¡°One day I will.¡± I said. It is inevitable. ¡°We will be ready, even if we have to die to do it.¡± Edna responded too, at the same question. As my surveillance expanded, I was able to ¡®support¡¯ the other Valthorn operatives. I provided cover fire and protected them in the event of any conflict with the other forces. Here, in the North, I decided against using my beetles, since we are supposed to operate without being detected. I also did not want to reveal that I had somehow stretched my trees to the North. At least, not yet. I would use beetles if I had a more secure root-link to the North. My operatives, with my support and intel, were able to thus confront and attempt more ¡®high-risk¡¯ infiltrations. This was when I encountered one of the Rosewood Hotels. A large wooden structure six stories, and a large subterranean presence. There was a magical quality to it, a very faint but strangely familiar one. It was when my roots touched the hotels that I felt and then knew who it was. [Domain blocking mental attack] "What was that?" I immediately put the name to the sensation. "...Meela?" It¡¯s been so long. Has it already been a century? Yes. It has been a century since they left. The sensation immediately made me wonder and think about how they¡¯ve been after all this time. Their soul contract would have maybe... 900 years left? I thought about Alexis, and her constant plots. Was she still angry, or has time mellowed her thoughts? No, I had to talk to them face to face, and then called Edna, Roon, Johann and a few other of the high levelled Valthorns together. For old-times sake, I asked Lausanne to come along too. She and her mom was probably the only one left who remembered them. A group of 12, I briefed them about Alexis and Meela, and then Stella opened a portal, again, and sent them through to the other continent. Lumoof transformed back to his normal state, the giant tree opened up to let him out. ¡°We¡¯re going to meet an old friend of Aeon.¡± He said to the group. - The Rosewood Hotel in Roshendam stood. To anyone who does not know, it is just a luxury inn, one of many throughout the Northern Islands. Those that do know, understand that it is also the base of an influential espionage and assassins group, also named the Rosewoods. Lumoof, fully geared for war, walked through the door, and instantly I sensed it. The entire hotel is her. Meela was here, somewhat, and already the employees in the hotel all stared. The receptionist, a half-dwarf, merely glanced and quickly bowed. ¡°Greetings, esteemed guests, and welcome to the Rosewood Hotel, do you have a reservation?¡± Lumoof walked close to the receptionist, ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± The smartly-dressed receptionist glanced at the other members of the group, mainly Edna and Lausanne. Lausanne looked around and merely smiled. ¡°I¡¯m actually here for a meeting, and I would like to have a discussion with Lady Mika.¡± The dwarf receptionist nodded. ¡°Lady Mika has been expecting your group for some time.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± The other staff members and guests of the hotel quickly walked away. They behaved as if something was going to happen, and perhaps, there was. Already, I spread my roots and trees and attempted to surround the hotel. The half-dwarf smiled, ¡°Well, for such high-ranking guests such as yourself, please give me a moment and let me prepare.¡± But the place was built with enchanted stone and skill-infused roads. My roots couldn¡¯t penetrate them so easily. The walls of the hotel were sturdy, easily made to be a fortress, even if it appeared like a luxury hotel. Lumoof smiled back at the half-dwarf. ¡°That would be most appreciated. Please assist us to arrange a meeting room, I believe we have a shared history, and will have much to discuss.¡± The dwarf smiled, and picked up a magical crystal. ¡°Call the Board.¡± There was some inaudible noise from the magical crystal. The dwarf nodded in response, and then placed the crystal back on the table. ¡°Alright, right this way.¡± The dwarf hopped off a stool at the back of the reception counter and then led the way. A magical wooden staircase descended from above, and at the end of it, a door that was previously closed by wood. ¡°Will everyone be coming, or just the few of you?¡± The dwarven receptionist asked. ¡°The boardroom is large.¡± Lumoof looked at Edna, and Edna nodded. ¡°Just five.¡± Edna, Lausanne, Roon and Johann joined the walk upstairs. The rest waited at the lobby. The dwarf signalled to a bunch of other employees, who promptly led them to an area with comfortable sofas. They went there as told, but some insisted on standing up. Upstairs was a straight walkway. I sensed that the walls were probably moving, and there are hidden rooms around us. Still, nothing that we could not handle. We were led to a large boardroom with a long oval shaped table. There was enough place for at least fifty, and it had high ceilings, magical lighting and all the amenities one could expect of a boardroom. A few pots of tea were also prepared, with matching cups. A meeting with tea. That¡¯s nice. Fragrant too. It seemed that Meela had been waiting, but I sensed this wasn¡¯t really her. No, that¡¯s not right either. It is her, but this was like just a part of her. I suspected then, that Meela probably had a way of ¡®splitting¡¯ herself to all of her branch hotels. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve met someone that works for Aeon, and it¡¯s been a while since we¡¯ve met, Lausanne.¡± Oh! She probably doesn¡¯t know Lumoof is my avatar and that I could see through him. Lausanne smiled. ¡°It¡¯s been a while too, Lady Mika. You look a lot better than I¡¯ve last remembered.¡± Meela¡¯s wooden form sat on the chair, and she gestured for the rest of us to sit. ¡°You too, Lausanne. Come, there¡¯s really no need for hostilities today, it must have been a long journey and we have so much common history that we should at least give diplomacy a chance. Please, sit.¡± I smirked at Meela¡¯s opening line. Lumoof gladly took the seat, and so did the others. Lausanne was first to ask. ¡°So, uh... only you?¡± ¡°Alexis?¡± Meela smiled. ¡°She¡¯s out hunting. It¡¯s a busy time for us, with the hero-hunters about. What brings you here, really?¡± Lumoof took the lead. ¡°We¡¯re here to meet the power brokers of the region, of course.¡± Well, that wasn¡¯t exactly a lie, but it dodged the point of revealing our own clandestine activities. ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure you would be very busy then. It seems your agents have been doing a lot more than just meeting people.¡± Meela smiled, her voice was strangely firm. ¡°But I suppose I shall lead in establishing friendly relations, I owe that much to Aeon. So, what do you want to know?¡± Lumoof just smiled and lied through his teeth, a gift of the priestly class.. ¡°We are genuinely looking to meet those who hold sway over the Northern Islands. There has been incredibly concerning news of attempted assassinations on the heroes, and even more blasphemous tales of a supposed tenth hero.¡± Meela grinned. ¡°Patriach Lumoof, certainly Aeon can tell you with high reliability on whether there is a tenth hero, so there is no need to pull that trick with me. I may take the appearance of a young lady, but I have lived decades in the North. Yes, there is a tenth hero, and we are also looking for him. The hero-hunters want to get to him first, of course, for the rumored gift.¡± ¡°A gift?¡± Lumoof feigned ignorance. ¡°Well, I know nothing of a gift.¡± ¡°Yes, the Gift. Which we still don¡¯t know anything about, because nobody has killed a hero. Not that we know of.¡± Meela said. ¡°We actually thought you guys would be the first to earn it.¡± ¡°We?¡± Meela pointed at Edna. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to finally meet the famous Vanguard of the central continent. Thank you for not killing Alvin or my partner.¡± Edna didn¡¯t reply, but she had a look of annoyance on her face. ¡°Anyway, we are bound by [soul contract] to Aeon.¡± Meela finally got to the point. ¡°So I really don¡¯t see a need for us to be hostile with each other. Our goals may differ, but I¡¯m sure we can find common ground. Tell me, what exactly are you here for? If you¡¯re looking for the hero, we don¡¯t have him.¡± ¡°No. We¡¯re here to make friends.¡± Lumoof deadpanned. Meela paused. ¡°Aeon sent you to make friends?¡± After a while, she laughed. ¡°Ah, I¡¯ve forgotten Aeon¡¯s dry sense of humor. Surely, that can¡¯t be true?¡± ¡°Well, he also asked us to check on you, whether you are alright.¡± She smiled and played along. ¡°I¡¯m fine, thank you.¡± Lumoof nodded. ¡°That¡¯s good. How is Miss Alexis? Does she still hate Aeon?¡± Meela stared, ¡°Wait. Aeon really sent you just to check on us?¡± ¡°Yes. He sensed you recently, and wanted to talk to you. I think he thinks of you two every now and then.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°He felt your presence here.¡± There was a moment of silence. Meela didn¡¯t say a word as she seemed like she was processing the statement. Lumoof, being the trained priest that he is, gave Meela the space to process her thoughts. He could tell when someone was going through some complicated emotions. I felt, maybe I too was a party that contributed to that. I thought about them occasionally, and I sometimes missed Meela¡¯s rather cheerful presence. Now that I¡¯ve said the truth of my origins to Aria, and my senior Valthorns, I wonder whether things would have been different if I had revealed the truth then. But I consoled myself that circumstances were different, and I didn¡¯t have the power or security that I have now. No, more important, I had a slightly different mindset. Back then, I hadn¡¯t experienced the destruction of New Freeka, nor had I resolved that this cycle had to end, even if I did contemplate it. In truth, it was all the little deviations that led to that branch of the story. ¡°...this is weird.¡± Meela responded after that moment of thought. ¡°We struggled, but I like to think we are fine now.¡± Lumoof smiled and gently nodded. He allowed her words some space, and then finally answered ¡°That¡¯s good. Aeon said to me, that he still wished to respect the agreement back then, that the two parties do not bother each other and will continue their separate ways. But with his recent growth and scope, an interaction between the two parties is inevitable, so he hoped to come to some kind of arrangement. There are also some things that he wished for your input.¡± Meela nodded with a smile. It actually seemed genuine, rather than a practiced one. ¡°Even after a century, the agreement holds. In this world, only the spirits of nature can uphold and comply with such long agreements.¡± Lumoof didn¡¯t need to respond to that statement, as Meela soon continued. ¡°Yes, I understand his concerns. It is something we have been thinking about since we heard of his resurgence in the Central Continent. What does Aeon have in mind?¡± He paused, and glanced around. Everyone had heard of it, Lausanne too, even though she was no longer in the higher ranks of the Valthorns. ¡°Is this room secure?¡± Meela snapped a finger, and the walls had an additional layer. These were anti-magical sheets. ¡°Mostly secure. A hero could still listen in.¡± ¡°Good enough. He intends that we cooperate, on matters involving the demons, the gods and the heroes.¡± Lumoof placed his hands on the table, his eyes locked on Meela. A gaze that Meela returned. ¡°I¡¯ll explain what Aeon¡¯s goal is, and it is only known to the inner circle of the Valthorns, and Aeon has said that he wished that these words are not shared to anyone else, other than Miss Alexis. Will you accept these terms?¡± Meela leaned in. ¡°Well, yes.¡± ¡°Aeon¡¯s grand overarching goal is to end the cycle of demons and heroes. The world has suffered too much, the earth weakened by the centuries of constant warfare. Ruins scattered all over the world, buried and destroyed. He is tired of this entire scheme, he is tired that this world has to serve as a battlefield of the gods and the demons. So, he wants to break the world free of this seasonal disaster. Will you help us?¡± Meela¡¯s eyes widened and she processed it. She leaned back on her chair and she spun around for a while. Her eyes darted back to Lumoof again. She stared and scanned the eyes of every other person present, and then locked on Lausanne. ¡°Lausanne, do you know of this?¡± ¡°Only fairly recently.¡± Lausanne said. She was thankful that she didn¡¯t accept the ¡®soul-strengthening seed¡¯ then. A pawn in the war of gods and demons? That was too much for her. ¡°Doesn¡¯t this mean he will go against the gods, and also the demons? Is he prepared for that? It explains a lot, no, it explains his secrecy, and the things he has been collecting and gathering. No, this explains all his behavior since those days too. The perpetual paranoia.¡± Meela seemed to have a huge trove of data and information that she had collected, and I felt a little slighted at the term. I was always paranoid. It¡¯s partly why I like to work alone. But I can¡¯t. Not anymore. Edna chimed in. ¡°Aeon believed that yourself and Lady Alexis, as former heroes, can add some insights and provide some perspective to how such a plan can be accomplished. Together with other former heroes and accidental summons, he wished to form a team capable of something more daring.¡± Meela looked at Edna. ¡°This revelation must be discussed with my partner. I will say it frankly that I am willing to assist where I can, but the Rosewoods are a partnership.¡± Lumoof smiled. ¡°We understand, this is quite a bombshell to receive during an unexpected reunion.¡± ¡°It is.¡± Meela said. ¡°I must call my partner now.¡± Everyone stood and they gave a gentle nod. ¡°Thank you for the meeting. May we receive favorable news.¡± Meela nodded, and ushers came to escort the group out of the hotel. They offered refreshments, of course, but no one took any. - About a week after the meeting, the demonic rifts opened. There were two more years left on the clock for the next demon king. This time, it was on the far Western Continent. I summoned my Valthorns, for a brief strategy meeting. It¡¯s time for us to go on the offense, and start ¡®chasing¡¯ demon kings and get a bit more of that sweet demon king experience. Fighting champions is a contentious point. In terms of challenge, the higher level dungeons and their bosses provide an equal if not superior challenge. Yet, dungeons at that level have long cooling periods, and fighting demons will be a large part of my Valthorn¡¯s future combat career. ¡°Our plan is simple. When the heroes fight the demon king, we want to be there. I want those with the Court of the Deitrees to fight and support the heroes, so that all of you can get stronger. If any of you are at risk of death, I will warp all of you back. It¡¯s possible that I couldn¡¯t react in time, or if any of you feel too weak, let me know. Those level 100 and above will be deployed to chase down champions, and destroy them.¡± Priming the land Year 190 We focused on preparing for the upcoming fight. We were going to hit the demon king hard, and hopefully get some levels out of it. I wanted my Level 200, I was so close, and I would empty my entire arsenal at the demon king if it gets me there. So, first things first, Kei got in touch with the heroes to negotiate an arrangement. ¡°Hi Colette and Prabu, where are you two these days!¡± Kei said. It took a while, but what Aiva said now faintly at the back of her mind. ¡°We¡¯re actually in the Western Continent already to hunt the champions.¡± The Western Continent, home and stronghold of the Neiran Temples. Or was it? My spies told me some of the Neiran top dogs have moved to the South. But I wasn¡¯t sure, Neira was probably one of the more secretive temples, but also one of the weakest, despite being spared of most of the demon¡¯s attacks. Perhaps Neira was even more distant. No. Maybe Neira doesn¡¯t even bother anymore. At this point, I really wonder which god still looked after this world. Whatever little that means. Kei nodded. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s great. So, remember that question you asked a few years back, about having an arrangement to fight the demon king?¡± ¡°Uhuh.¡± Prabu nodded. ¡°Aeon would like to volunteer his elite forces to support your next battle with the demon king. I¡¯m not sure whether you guys want our assistance, that¡¯s why we thought of asking.¡± The two mages paused. ¡°Hmmm I need to talk to Chung and Hafiz, but it shouldn''t be a problem. More hands should help. At least, we could use some help with the champions and all the other small fries while we focus on the King.¡± ¡°Alright!¡± Kei nodded. - Next step was figuring out how to deploy and project sufficient force that we could have an impact on the demon king. The system clearly favored those who contributed to the fight, and it is a reasonable assumption that our level gain is correlated to the contribution. So, this meant we needed a few things. One - a way to send my forces to where the demon king was at a short notice. It was possible to use my own tree-networks and Stella¡¯s portal to send a small force there quickly, so that meant the logistics of manpower was partly solved. One of the things I wanted to test out was whether Lumoof was able to function as ¡®home¡¯ when using the Court of the Deitree¡¯s ¡®recall¡¯ function. It didn¡¯t work, and they still automatically returned to my main body. I suppose the system for the Court is still programmed to only consider my main body as ¡®home¡¯. It¡¯s too bad. If it worked, I essentially could use Lumoof as a warp point and then dropship the rest of my forces around him. I could even use him to send people across worlds, as long as he was on the other side. Perhaps some other upgrade to the Court of the Deitree will allow this. No matter, I had to work with what I have at my disposal. I also needed to figure out how I could throw huge amounts of crystal-bombs at the enemy. Thanks to Alka¡¯s persistent experiments over the past few years and almost decades, we now have a rather huge arsenal of crystal bombs. Similarly, we experimented with my vines flinging the crystal bombs through a void portal. It worked, as long as the components of the crystal bombs did not involve star mana. It¡¯s a crude solution, but I didn¡¯t like the fact that everything depended on Stella and her band of void mages in training. A single point of failure meant if the next demon king had some kind of anti-magic or anti-void energy ability, we wouldn¡¯t be able to use it. No, there was also the risk that the demon king, a creature with at least some void magic ability, would be able to interfere with Stella¡¯s magical portal. So, we had to consider alternatives, as backup. Through a bit of upgrades and outfitting, we finally managed to get Hytreerion to gradually swim to the Western Continent with a huge arsenal of crystal bombs. But thanks to it¡¯s incredibly slow speed, it would take half a year for him to actually arrive there. We also arranged for ships loaded with crystal bombs too. The idea was to plant the bombs everywhere and then detonate them when the demons are near. Stella didn¡¯t seem particularly pleased with the idea. ¡°This has the problem with landmines written all over it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s partly true.¡± But of course, these crystals are magically activated. They shouldn¡¯t cause such problems, right? Wait, no. Actually, all bombs have this problem. It¡¯s possible that some crystal bombs don¡¯t detonate and are instead embedded in the ground. Some day, they will get accidentally triggered by some hapless adventurer. Or their demon-sensing runes get confused and blow something up. Everything decays over time, even magic. So, once they decayed, their behavior is unpredictable. Institutions decay too, and I noticed it in the Valthorns. As the central continent accepted my dominion, there was a shift in the behaviors of those who are admitted to the Valthorns, especially those who grew up knowing that I am the supreme authority of the land. Arrogance. Minor abuse of power. Some of these were hidden when they were just part of the Valtrian Order, but the promotion to the Valthorns revealed some of this. Worse, I was only made aware of this after a few incidents I witnessed while doing other things, and commanded my artificial minds to highlight all of them. There were many small instances. Arrogance was not punishable, even if it did make us unlikeable. For the minor abuse of power, it was hard to really assess whether it was the person who provided or granted the payments were trying to curry favor. There were benefits to being in high places, and I saw how the Valthorns would recommend their friends or families for certain roles. Not exactly unallowed, but it¡¯s nepotism. As an institution, now that the Valthorns and Valtrian Order is considered mature, I needed my artificial minds to play the role of an ¡®opposing¡¯ or ¡®offsetting¡¯ force, of identifying those who are outside them for admission. But I went off tangent with my thoughts there. Back to crystal bombs, was excessive use of magical artifacts the equivalent of using landmines? Maybe, but I argue that danger posed by the demon king, as a beast of significant destructive power, offset the risks of using magical artifact. One day when I, or the non-heroes under my wing, gain sufficient power to challenge a demon king without such bombs, I will remove them from our combat plans. But now, the bombs are a necessity, even if I¡¯m doing the magical equivalent of carpet bombing. The destruction of the demon king easily killed more than my bombs ever will. Stella nodded, though she did make a rather poignant statement. ¡°He who fights with monsters, might take care lest he thereby become a monster.¡± ¡°Nothing to worry there, for I am already a monster.¡± I am, by all means and definitions, a monster tree with magic and godly powers. Stella sighed. ¡°In our pursuit of peace and the end of this cycle, we will turn a war between man and demons, to a war between monsters and demons.¡± ¡°Eh, that¡¯s not accurate. The gods were always the puppet masters. In the larger scheme of things, you¡¯ve heard from Aiva yourself, that this is a war between gods and the demons. We are just the background, the terrain and the natural environment rebelling against that stupid war.¡± ¡°But on the ground.¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s better, actually. It¡¯s better for the citizens that the war is fought by monsters. We can take the losses a lot better.¡± Druids gathered giant birds and flying creatures. Most of them were small, but master trainers and animal tamers can ¡®grow¡¯ their tamed beasts to larger proportions. I looked back at my Titan choices. If I had an air force, the air force could functionally perform as my bombing squads. Drop the crystal bombs from the air and fly off. Or could I have suicide bombers? No. It wouldn¡¯t be suicide bombing if we used ¡®summons¡¯ and ¡®spirits¡¯ that can respawn to deliver the crystal bomb payload. Magical summons would be the best weapons delivery tool. - Through some magical modifications, we managed to upgrade Hytreerion to be a floating ship with cannons. A battleship. More oil rig than ship, it carried large cannons that could throw the crystal bombs a certain distance to their target. Its range wasn¡¯t fantastic, so it wouldn¡¯t be able to shoot far inland unless more upgrades were made. For Lumoof, he moved to the Western Continent, our expansion plans in the north put on hold. That can resume after we capture whatever experience and levels we could from the demon king. Hell, maybe I can get something that can solve my damned ocean problem. It was also my first time in the Western Continent. One thing I noticed was that the culture of the world is actually relatively aligned. There are kingdoms everywhere, and the differences in cultures are usually in the small things. Like the way they eat certain foods, and the other small stuff. Kings are still Kings, and nations run the way they were run elsewhere. That meant the local lords as pretty much local gods. Like the Northern Islands have Aria and Aispeng, I wondered whether there¡¯s a tree spirit or some other spirit here in the Western Continent, and whether I could rope them into the fight. The kingdoms of the Western Continents are putting up pretty good resistance against the demons. Many of them had large standing armies, courtesy of their relative safety during the past few decades. Instead, they were mostly focused on fighting each other. From what I understood, they were still in the period of ¡®warring-states¡¯ when the demonic rifts appeared. Nothing to unite a nation in war than a bigger bad guy. Oh well, no matter, Lumoof arrived in a port city called Pelabuhan Dikelang, on the Eastern Shore of the Western Continent. The first thing I noticed was that the Neira priests have really lovely outfits. We came, formally, as reinforcements at the invitation of one of the friendly kingdoms on the Western Continent. We came by ship, because we did not want to reveal our possession of void portals. Our goals were multifold, of course. The main objective is to participate in the battle against the demons, gain levels. Not-so-publicly, our goals are to make friends, get more information on the powers of those who rule Neira, use the demonic attacks as an excuse to freely explore places that was previously not-so-accessible. Even more secretly, it was the best chance to mix my spies into their society, get to know some of the individuals, and see how we could gradually grow our influence on the Neiran Temple. Our goal, with Neira, Gaya and Hawa, was to learn their methods of communicating with their gods. The Neira priests were hostile, but they did not attempt to fight Lumoof or the entourage. The gap in our strength was clear to anyone who bothered to do some research, even if politically, we generally allow the other temples some dignity by not openingly comparing our relative strengths. There were some boring formalities of introducing ourselves to the local rulers and all that, but that was a task I allowed Lumoof and the group to do. Even in the face of demons, there are sycophants and asskissers. These were tiring for me to deal with, so when there were political matters, I allowed Lumoof to handle it. Lumoof wasn¡¯t the wisest politically, but he had enough sense to give empty but pleasant sounding assurances most of the time, such that the asskissers realise that they were going to have better luck with his subordinates. On this front, this was also one of the problems we have with diplomats, spies and our other agents. Away from my eyes on the central continent, all I could do was trust them to know what to say, to know how to spot those who seek to curry their favor with the powers they possessed, to know that just as we seek to gain from them, they too will gain from us. There, I have to believe that they have the experience and skills needed to spot what they should spot, and know of their biases. There were no eyes to watch them when they are away. Well, except through Lumoof. - While Lumoof handled the preparations on the Western Continent. I also spoke with my fellow spirits. ¡°I intend for my warriors to join the fight against the demon king. Would you be willing to make some weapons for them?¡± I asked Aria and Aispeng for the best weapons they could make. They agreed, and forged 10 weapons made out of some magical ice, which I offered to the 10 of my strongest Valthorns. For Lilies, they made 5 sets of magical staffs made of fused bone and metal, which amplified both healing and death-elemental magic. I also asked the fused wolf-shaman for some things, but it had nothing to offer. That was fine. I decided not to ask for anything from Reefy. I think it would probably be mistaken what my intentions are. - The demons that spawned this time were mostly smaller, impish creatures. They look like dark-red versions of goblins, with small reddish wings that seemed to do nothing but let them hop a little bit higher. Claws. We also encountered one demonic champion, a large two-headed reddish ogres with tentacles fo. I think we were gonna have the Demonic Corrupted Orc Hordes for the demon king. If so, are we gonna get some kind of corrupted orc shaman for a demon king? ¡°I must admit I am absolutely clueless about what you are talking about.¡± Both Kei and Stella probably didn¡¯t play the popular gaming series. Of course, we also met the heroes. This time as fellow combatants. ¡°I¡¯m actually pleasantly surprised that Aeon would help us.¡± Prabu said face-to-face to Kei. Lumoof was there, of course. Edna was on her way, by boat. One of my concerns was what if the demon king was early? In that case, we would avoid combat until we could get our full forces in order. ¡°You made it sound like he was rather hesitant.¡± Kei smiled. ¡°Well, just consider it a pleasant change of heart.¡± ¡°Just to be sure, there¡¯s no catch, right?¡± ¡°Nope. Just help fight the demon king, and they¡¯ll leave right after.¡± Kei repeated. Of course, the prize is the demon king itself. ¡°So, what¡¯s the strategy?¡± ¡°Wait for the demon king to spawn, and lure the demon king to you on favorable grounds.¡± Kei said. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve seen in the journals how the demon king can see us. It¡¯s possible to pretty much shout ¡®we¡¯re here¡¯ with the use of star-mana. Hopefully we get a dumb one that would fall for the trap, then we¡¯ll soften the demon king up and you guys can land the finishing blow.¡± The part where Jura and Lovis landed the finishing blow was happily omitted. There was no need to highlight that it was my people that did so. But it is a common story on the Central Continent, so maybe they¡¯ve heard it. The mage-hero nodded. ¡°Sounds doable. We¡¯re setting up our own magical formations too, hopefully it¡¯ll help. But if the journals are right, there must be a trick.¡± The heroes, too, were scattered. Only Prabu, Colette and Hafiz were here. Chung seemed to be working on some kind of secret project, but he promised that he would magically teleport to the Western Continent once his project was ready. As for Ken... With Lumoof preparing for the demon king, I lost my ability to see through the trees of the Northern Islands, and so I lost Ken. I was not very confident I could find him again, especially with that snake-spirit, but I weighed my priority and decided that gaining levels from the next demon king outweighed whatever risk that they posed. ¡°Well, we can¡¯t predict the trick, the best we can do is prepare as hell, and fight like crazy.¡± Kei said. Prabu paused. ¡°True, not like we have a choice with all that godly mind control all over us.¡± ¡°Try some tea.¡± Kei offered. ¡°It might help.¡± Fighting Trees Year 191 The astral paths open. The path of light that glowed brightest repeated what happened before. Stella and her team of void mages attempted, however little, to meddle with the demon¡¯s path. I watched as her dark energies attempted to tamper with the path, and the void mana drained out of her. She was not strong enough to fight the complex powers of the demons. But she tried repeatedly, and she levelled up from the attempts. ¡°It¡¯s a lot more complicated than I thought.¡± Stella commented. ¡°It¡¯s like they¡¯ve just dug this river from their world to ours, and they are just ¡®floating¡¯ on it.¡± ¡°Huh. Some kind of space travel lane.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s also not just void mana. There¡¯s something else in this ¡®space¡¯ river. But it¡¯s not star mana for sure. If I¡¯m right, the demon king¡¯s core is nothing more than a ¡®cocoon¡¯ to allow something so large to float through it.¡± Stella¡¯s ability to ¡®visualise¡¯ the path has also improved since 10 years ago, partly due to her levels and new skills. ¡°Or it may be that the astral path is like a rope, and the demon king is hanging onto it like a ropeway, using this demon core as a tether.¡± ¡°Oh? That¡¯s new information.¡± If what we saw previously was just streaks of light, she¡¯s gained some ability to see what was in the streaks of light. I still couldn¡¯t, so sadly for me, I¡¯m just relying on her narration to figure out what exactly it looked like. This is normal to me, of course. I lived most of my life in this world without full vision, just partial, spiritual vision until I gained the Tree-Eyes ability. ¡°I¡¯m not even sure what I¡¯m seeing. It¡¯s like recognising words but not truly comprehending the meaning.¡± Stella said. ¡°So it¡¯s like you have two eyes but you can¡¯t see Mount Tai.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± She kept trying, of course. She injected a bit of her void mana into the sky. And failing. ¡°It¡¯s not working. It¡¯s either my powers are too unfocused, or and by the time my powers reach the path, it¡¯s just less than what it was.¡± She complained. Wait. What was that again? ¡°You said it¡¯s less by the time you reach it?¡± ¡°Yeah. It''s kinda like... it dissipates before it reaches the path.¡± ¡°Would being closer to the sky help?¡± She thought for a moment, and nodded. ¡°No harm trying.¡± That was how I made the tallest Giant Attendant Tree, as tall as I could manage, complete with a wooden, vine-powered ropeway lift to the top. I made it such that there was a large flat surface at the very top, a platform for the kinds of rituals Stella and her team of void mages could ever need. It was really, really tall, and with my magical augmentation and energies, it was probably the closest I¡¯ll get to a space elevator, even if it¡¯s still pretty tiny. I could even feel like the top of the tree was pulling away from me. Her team attempted it again, and still it was not successful. ¡°It still dissipated. But at least, I¡¯ve only lost about half of our magical strength.¡± Well, to truly escape the world¡¯s planetary shell would require something that¡¯s on the moon or even further. ¡°Do you think you¡¯ll do better if you attempted to interfere with the astral paths from the moons?¡± She thought about it again, she initially shook her head wildly at how crazy the idea was but then I could tell a part of her agreed with the idea. ¡°That¡¯s really, really crazy levels of distance.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s possible. With enough magic you could open a portal to the moon. Even then, the moon may not be ideal as the moon may has it¡¯s own sphere of interference.¡± ¡°Well, yes.¡± I¡¯ve rarely seen Stella¡¯s face look so conflicted. Even more than actual moral dilemmas. ¡°But give me some time to mentally prepare. I¡¯m not prepared to open a portal to the moon. Not yet.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be cool?¡± ¡°What if it just opens a vacuum and sucks everything up?¡± ¡°You know that doesn¡¯t happen.¡± Stella sighed. ¡°I need some time with the idea.¡± - I wondered then whether I could spread my trees on the moon. With the right amount of magic, assuming that magic works on the moon, we should theoretically be able to terraform the moon into an inhabitable space. In fact, if I could convert the moon into a safe space, that would be a less ideal-long run solution. ¡°It¡¯s quite strange that you consider terraforming the moon as a possible idea.¡± Kei complained one day. ¡°I don¡¯t see why you¡¯re complaining? The demons clearly only pop up here.¡± ¡°What if they follow you there?¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll deal with that problem later.¡± I mean, why do all these heroes worry about all this stuff when it hasn¡¯t even happened yet? ¡°We¡¯ll try it, and see whether it works.¡± ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s true. Actually I¡¯m not against the idea of terraforming the moon. I¡¯m because it¡¯s like... uh, the moon? No. Wait. That doesn¡¯t make sense. I guess I just assign a weird sentimentality for the moon, like it should be what it is.¡± ¡°Eh, back home, men have always dreamed of colonising the moon and Mars. Here, a tree dreams of greening the twin moon.¡± ¡°You know what, that actually sounds quite cool.¡± Kei admitted. ¡°Hopefully Stella sees it your way.¡± ¡°Oh she will, she just needs time to process the idea of portals to the moon. She¡¯s like that, her first reaction to any idea is to say no. Usually.¡± I¡¯ve seen Stella enough to know that her first choice is to do nothing, or hide. This part of her, she still took a while to undo, and in some ways, I really resonated with that. - Stella, as predicted, agreed to the idea a week later, but after suitable preparations were made. For now, she continued her attempts to ¡®challenge¡¯ the demons¡¯ astral path from the top of my Tower-Tree, as she felt she could still make improvements to her technique. She tried repeatedly, and at one point, she actually succeeded in interfering with one single transmission. She wasn¡¯t sure what happened though. At the same time, Lumoof and the team of Valthorns on the Western Continent continued to hunt the demons. We witnessed a few rifts, and the rifts are actually vulnerable weak points. I did not activate my avatar ability, as the heroes were also fighting along. I did not want to reveal the full scope of my avatar powers to them. So, we allowed the other Level 100+ Valthorns to lead the battles with the champions. They needed the experience and the levels to prepare them for the real thing. Lumoof and Edna mainly played a supporting role, and often just stayed back. Kei, of course, understood this. As for the heroes, they thought it was just kinda weird. They, of course, could not really understand how slow normal people levelled when compared to them. They claim they get it, but they don¡¯t feel and live how slowly it takes for any regular person to level up. With their divine blessings, they usually just need a champion or two to gain a level. Demonic ogres and giant ogres were actually pretty pleasant to fight. They fought very much like regular humans, only with exceptional strength and power, and they also had a few skills. This went on for about two months, and during this time my ships and Hytreerion also finally got into their position. Near, but not too near. I wasn¡¯t sure what gimmick this demon king would have. Maybe it¡¯ll just cut off the world¡¯s magical communication network again. Hopefully we don¡¯t get that. Everyday, Stella would recharge the void batteries, and kept battling the demonic paths. It didn¡¯t seem to make any impact on the number of demons, but she gained levels even from failing, so there was no real reason to stop. Then the path glowed brightly. It¡¯s coming. Stella wasn¡¯t afraid, so she tried again, this time with everything. She wanted to see whether she could disrupt the path so that the demon king couldn¡¯t properly enter the world. Her void energies formed a shovel and attempted to cover the path of light that cut through the void forest. The path glowed, and little sparks of flames lit up along the path. She attempted to put out one of the flames, and she managed to cause one of them to dim slightly. The path glowed, and then seemed to bend at where the light was dimmer. Then, a glowing ball of light appeared and moved quickly along the path. Stella held on and used her void mana and attempted to mess with the path. It was either now or never. She pushed, and her void mana caused the path of light to dim ever so slightly. The glowing ball, however, smashed into her void mana at full speed, and from the skies above, a void-energy shockwave hurled right at Stella. I immediately wrapped my roots around her to protect her, and created multiple wooden shields. The void energy shockwave smashed through my shields, but thankfully, I had many, many layers of them, and they were stopped. Stella was safe, but shaken by how suddenly it happened. ¡°Fuck that.¡± On the Western Continent, my sensors detected the rift energies gathered at a particular location, but then it shifted and moved at the very last minute, like a car that made a last minute swerve. [Demon King Bagradva descended] It appeared right over a river, and the water where the demon king descended instantly vaporized. Through Lumoof, I could feel it¡¯s presence, it was like a hot fire. It didn¡¯t appear where we wanted it to be, but now we had to lure it to the few designated battlefields across the Western Continent. The heroes knew it was coming too. ¡°Well...¡± Colette said, and then, a magical gate appeared right next to him. Chung walked right through, fully armed and equipped. ¡°Shall we get with the plan?¡± Prabu and Hafiz both nodded. Chung passed the other three heroes some stick-like artifact, then took a glance at Edna and Lumoof. ¡°So you two are the supporting fighters?¡± Lumoof smiled. ¡°Yes. Hope we are not much of a bother.¡± Chung shrugged. ¡°Oh well, let¡¯s get with it.¡± The heroes quickly moved to position, and they periodically activated their star mana forms. Our spies and scouts tracked the demon king¡¯s movement, and it seemed to have picked up the heroes¡¯ location and moved towards them. This was a good sign, since it meant it wasn¡¯t intelligent enough to recognise the trap. Either that, or it would learn from this experience and not fall for it the next time. More crucially, through Lumoof, I called my Valthorns together and I spoke to them. I¡¯ve sent them to war many times, but few as risky as this. Perhaps, only the war with Kei. ¡°My faithful Valthorns, once again I call on you to fight the demon king, and this time, through Lumoof, I will be right at your side with my full strength. I do not intend to lie that all of you will be safe. You¡¯ve seen for yourself those who have sacrificed their lives in earlier battles, and I make no guarantees for your survival. We will go to war with the demon king, whose powers we do not fully comprehend. Though risky and many will die, it is a step we must take, only through challenging the demon king itself, we can gain the powers needed to stand our own feet, and stop our world¡¯s toxic dependence on heroes.¡± Everyone present nodded. Kei merely listened, as one of those who would play a supporting role. She would not join the fight. Not now. ¡°First we beat the demon king, then we break this cycle of destruction. Only then, peace will truly come to our world.¡± Through Lumoof, I nodded. ¡°We all know the plan, so let¡¯s do it. Let¡¯s bomb the demon king!¡± They roared. - The Valthorns split up. They all had their part to play. Lumoof immediately joined the heroes in a pre-built fortress, this time, it was dug out of the ground itself. There was no point to above-ground structures that would be vaporised by laser beams, unless specially enchanted. ¡°It is moving as predicted. Each flare and use of star mana powers, it adjusted its position and direction.¡± The scouts explained. The heroes had their own monitoring artifacts, and archmages like Prabu and Colette had magical farsight. Chung, being the archer, had a set of magical birds that could spy for him. ¡°So, time to show off what you¡¯ve been working on?¡± Prabu asked. Chung nodded. ¡°Yup.¡± At a large empty clearing, he pulled out a large contraption that seemed to unfurl itself into an array of massive ballistas. Prabu just stared. ¡°Wait. You built a huge ballista?¡± ¡°Yup. But not just any regular ballista. This is a combination weapon of at least 20 hero-item equivalents. Sadly. Only single-use. Use it once and it¡¯ll break apart.¡± ¡°This is your plan?¡± ¡°It¡¯s very, very difficult to make a combination weapon, mind you. Had to workaround the stupid [hero forge] restrictions.¡± Chung complained. ¡°What about you guys? Did you make the mecha zords that you wanted?¡± Prabu shook his head. ¡°Nope. We just built a large number of magical batteries and healing devices, all around this continent. We¡¯re not going to repeat the earlier mistake of taking on the demon king without preparation.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Chung nodded, ¡°Pray that it is enough.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not the type to pray.¡± The demon king and its horde of ogres crossed one of the designated battlefields. We¡¯ve rigged the place with so many magical crystals that it should cause some harm. All of the crystals were hidden underground, and made to be magically ¡®linked¡¯ such that they cause all the crystals nearby to detonate simultaneously. Burying them was hard work, and it took months of my druids¡¯ time. We activated the crystals, and Alka waited for news. He was like a scientist who¡¯s waiting to see how his invention performed against the real thing. He was excited, stressed and just a big bundle of nerves. We felt a sudden pulse, and the battlefield exploded. Our scouts watched from afar, but the demon king was unharmed. There was a huge red sphere that protected the floating demon king. It was a massive demon king, and had a rhino-shaped head and a big, buff body with a dark maroon hide. A glowing tattoo covered its entire body, the demon king held up a large flaming axe made out of flesh and metal on one of it¡¯s thick arms, and roared. The earth shook, as massive chunks of rocks were lifted from the ground, and then melted into round spheres of lava. With those molten balls of lava, it was used to bomb the land in its path. This detonated or destroyed the crystals that were hidden in the ground. Ah darn. It was smart enough to destroy the land in front to eliminate any traps. We had to move on to the next stage. Our ranged weapons. We had limited ability here, the only truly ranged weapon we had in the area was Hytreerion, and an assortment of middle-range weapons like super-large ballistas and other similar classes of weapons. The demon king has a shield or barrier ability of some kind, and it looked like it¡¯s better for us to use our ranged weapons during the fight with the demon king. The shield was most probably rechargeable, so if we were to use them now, we would just waste our weapons and traps. Therefore, we decided to just wait as the demon king approached. The heroes too, got ready. They had their own weapons and traps too, and they understood enough. ¡°Well, time to do it again.¡± Prabu said, as his body shimmered from the glow of star mana. The four heroes all transformed, their bodies surrounded by their unique star mana armor. The demon king approached closer, the heroes and demon king were now in combat distance, and it raised its axe up high. That instant, both Stella and myself felt the fabric of space twisted. All the rifts moved, and it now appeared above the demon king itself. The astral path burned with a strange light. At that moment, the rifts twisted and expanded. Then the heads of monsters appeared from the rift. These were large, as large as champions, maybe even more. There was no notification, but Lumoof quickly used [Inspect] on the giant monsters that appeared. [Summons of Bagradva - The Demon Worm] [Summons of Bagradva - The Demon Fox] [Summons of Bagradva - The Demon Hawk] The three monsters that appeared quickly split up. The hawk soared, while the demon worm immediately went into the ground. The fox landed smoothly next to the demon shaman king, and the fox also roared. ¡°I¡¯m the archer, so I¡¯ll go for the hawk.¡± Chung immediately moved to his large ballista and the ballista glowed. ¡°Wait, shouldn¡¯t we discuss this?¡± Prabu said as he activated a magical shield. Colette and Hafiz both looked a little lost, but the ground started shaking. Hafiz, the paladin or knight, activated a shield ability, as the ground tore apart. The worm had started to engage. Edna looked over at Lumoof and the rest of the Valthorns. ¡°Well, it¡¯s already started. Shall we?¡± Lumoof nodded and through him, the avatar activated. I immediately could sense where the worm was, my tree¡¯s root senses. It would be the easiest to destroy. ¡°Heroes, I¡¯ll handle the worm.¡± Lumoof glowed and transformed into a tree, and instantly we flooded the ground around us with roots. From our experience with demonic worms and centipedes, the roots would effectively disable the worms from tunnelling. The worm moved quickly, but the roots extended and chased after it. We created multiple giant trees everywhere, and beneath the ground, the roots of these trees formed a cage underground. My roots attacked the worm and found it had thick shells. Yet, my roots broke through easily, and I unleashed a barrage of root strikes that skewered the worm underneath. The worm compressed, and then detonated with a small boom. However, my roots were able to withstand the underground explosion. The demon shaman king immediately turned and faced myself and Lumoof, and it charged at us immediately, instead of the heroes. Edna got in position. ¡°Alright.¡± She charged her shield with her mana, and then waited. The demon shaman king¡¯s burning fire axe came crashing down and there was a huge wall of flames. Edna activated her shield, and the shield glowed in white. The axe landed, but it did not break. Edna stamped her feet then, my roots immediately wrapped around her leg and supported her. I felt her drain mana from my roots, as her shield glowed and grew even larger. The axe didn¡¯t get through, and her shield released an energy blast. It hit the demon shaman king right in the chest. It didn¡¯t really hurt it, there was a reddish layer of magical protection around the demon king. There was a look on the demon shaman king¡¯s face, but I wasn¡¯t sure what it was. The demon king was massive, and it was way larger than Edna. Perfect for root strikes. The larger the body, the more places I can hit. Roots flew from the ground and smashed into the demon shaman king¡¯s reddish magical shield. At the same time, Edna charged ahead with both shield and spear. Edna¡¯s spear glowed and she stabbed the demon shaman king. Her spear met the demon king¡¯s shield. The magical energies from the tip of Edna¡¯s spear hummed and clashed with the red energy shield in huge sparks of light and color, and she pushed. The demon king¡¯s fiery axe came down, but rather than dodge it, Edna took it head on, her spear active, and activated her domain skill [Duty Beyond Life and Death]. Her body instantly glowed in a faint yellow, and the axe smashed into her arm. There was an explosion around her, but the buckler on her arm did not break. Her ability allowed her to absorb the demon king¡¯s attack. I thought I saw her faintly smile when her [domain] skill activated. The demon pulled the axe back, and hacked again. But Edna had abandoned defense altogether, and she retaliated with a spear stab. I helped with more root strikes through the immobile Lumoof. The spear landed a few more hits and then shattered. She took out another spear from her magical pocketspace. ¡°How does she take the attack like that?!¡± Prabu seemed surprised but took the chance to activate more magical spells on the demon fox. Hafiz, the knight-hero charged ahead with his glowing star mana sword and attempted to slash the demon king. The hero¡¯s sword met the energy shield. The star mana energies on the sword sparkled and then, the demon¡¯s shield cracked. Hafiz pushed and the shield shattered. The demon king took attacks from myself, Edna and Hafiz once the shield was done. The sword from the hero caused a cut across it¡¯s massive body, my barrage of root strikes and Edna¡¯s spear-stab caused small holes along it¡¯s chest. It roared and the tattoo throughout its body glowed. The wounds we made closed, and the fiery axe moved autonomously and hacked the knight-hero. Edna took full advantage of her near-immortality to help block the demon king¡¯s attack with her magical shield. The shield cracked and broke apart, and then met her arms. She parried it, despite her relatively small size, and then stabbed the demon king. The knight-hero ducked below the axe and landed a few star-mana powered cuts on the demon king. He activated some kind of magical slash skill, and his sword flashed. He chopped off the demon king¡¯s arm. Through Lumoof, I immediately called on my roots to wrap around the demon king, and I felt the roots connect and touch the demon king¡¯s skin. I attempted to drain it¡¯s mana. The demon king glowed. I knew then it was one of those area-clearing abilities. ¡°Shields up!¡± Colette and Prabu shouted, as they activated magical barriers. Chung immediately stopped engaging the Demon Hawk and with a magical step, retreated next to Colette. Hafiz activated a magical armor that coated his entire body, but even so, he retreated. The demon king emitted a bright flash of light, followed by an energy blast that incinerated everything around it. Well, except Edna, she ignored the attack and just stabbed the demon king. The energy blast burned some of her equipment and singed her skin lightly, but it quickly regenerated. When the bright light subsided, the demon king¡¯s dismembered arm had regenerated. Edna¡¯s spear was vaporised by the attack, but then, she punched the demon king with her energy infused fists. She shouted. ¡°I¡¯m not dealing damage!¡± ¡°What the hell is that overpowered ability?¡± The heroes shouted in unison, clearly unaware of Edna¡¯s short term combat immortality. Still, despite her multiple punches, those punches didn¡¯t do much damage. It merely annoyed the demon king. Edna was quite similar to me, in the sense that she has tremendously high defensive abilities, but her offensive abilities lagged far behind. Hafiz immediately ran ahead and summoned two star mana swords. He threw one of them at Edna. Edna was the only one nearby, and she grabbed the sword. She slashed and managed to land a few cuts. Then the sword ran out of star mana and turned to dust. The demon king punched, and this time, Edna was knocked back really far. She may not take damage, but they could still push her. The demon fox took the chance to rejoin it¡¯s master. I immediately mentally spoke to the heroes. ¡°Let Edna do the tanking. You guys keep attacking the demon king.¡± They nodded, and the two archmages charged up a bluish energy ball, and fired it. The blue energy ball transformed into a glowing piece of ice and smashed right into the demon king¡¯s regenerated shields. The shield instantly shattered. Edna moved in. Edna pulled out a magical ice sword from Aria, and slashed. The ice sword landed five hits, and then shattered. She pulled out another set of spears, and stabbed the demon king when the energy shield was down. I also followed up with a few root strikes. Once again, I attempted to wrap the demon king with my vines. Our attacks did some damage, but it was Hafiz¡¯s star mana sword-slash that dealt most of the damage. But I could tell the heroes were at least impressed that we were holding on and could even contribute. Around the same time, I immediately got my mid-range and long range weapons to be ready. Hytreerion got into position, and a few of my other Valthorns prepared the magical artillery, loaded with an arsenal of crystal bombs. The hawk in the sky launched thunderbolts. It¡¯s dark-red feathers were lava and lightning combined. Chung¡¯s magical arrows chased the hawk through the sky, but Chung also tried to launch an attack at the demon king every now and then. The hawk took a hit, and it crashed on the ground. Right before it flew off, my roots immediately surged out of the ground and wrapped it, and attempted to drain as much of its mana. The hawk struggled. Chung immediately charged up a magical arrow and blasted the hawk through the head. The hawk disintegrated to magical dust. We were left with the fox and the demon king. The fox roared and blasted out an energy wave. It leapt towards Edna, it¡¯s claws armed and ready. The fox clawed and slashed Edna, but it didn¡¯t hurt her at all. However, it freed up the demon king from Edna¡¯s annoying presence, and the demon king took the chance to charge at the rest of the heroes. The demon king¡¯s shield was back again. As it charged, it attempted to move the earth around the battlefield. I felt the demon king¡¯s magic tug at the ground strongly, but my roots had covered the entire battlefield, and together with Lumoof, we fought back and kept the ground stable. It roared in frustration, and then used lightning instead. Lightning from its axe surged towards the heroes. Both Colette and Prabu somehow automatically activated magical shields and the lightning axes smashed into the shield. It exploded and both the archmages were knocked back. Yet, the same attack also gave Hafiz an opening. The knight-hero slashed the demon king from the back, and left two large gashes that ran down it¡¯s massive body. It roared, and glowed again. This time, I felt a stronger twist of magic in the air. The two archmages were a little drowsy from being knocked back, and they got up. They immediately put up shields. Hafiz¡¯s body glowed in armor and he too slashed again. Edna continued to battle with the fox, and she was winning. The fact that the fox could not hurt Edna meaningfully meant she ignored her defense and just kept on attacking the fox. I wrapped the demon king with my roots again. It¡¯s glowing body twisted and struggled. This time, it turned to face Lumoof. It shot out a focused beam towards Lumoof. I activated all the shields as I could manage, and the beam pierced through almost all of it. But my shields was sufficient to deflect the beam slightly off center, and merely hit Lumoof right in the leg. It vaporised his legs, and my roots immediately stepped in to start healing the wounds. I would have to mend it later. Lumoof yelped in pain, but he grit his teeth. ¡°We can continue.¡± He insisted, my roots managed to stop the bleeding and started repairs. My roots entered the wound and supported his body momentarily, but permanent repair will need to happen after the battle. The demon king stopped glowing and the gashes healed, again. Yet, the change in the magic in the air was clear. Each regeneration drained it. It swung its axe around like a hurricane, and surrounded itself with a fiery tornado. It activated more magic and the earth itself turned to lava. The lava burned my roots, and I quickly flooded my roots with water drawn from a river not too far away. The ground turned into a mix of lava and water. The ground started to release steam as the water evaporated, and the lava cooled. The demon king stomped the ground, and the ground shattered. Pieces of hardened dried lava rock cracked out of the floor. The heroes activated a range of ice-spells, as they pulled moisture out of the team and formed them into icicles, and launched them at demon king. This also helped clear out the mist. It was then I noticed Chung¡¯s contraption was already destroyed. Some of the dirt and lava rocks broke free from my weakened roots and these dirt chunks transformed into lava axes mid air. The demon king magically hurled them towards Lumoof, Edna and also the heroes. The sky swirled above as the heroes also activated some kind of blizzard spell. Ice shards started to rain down, and these ¡®shards¡¯ homed in on the demon king. They smashed into the demon king¡¯s red shield. These ice shards didn¡¯t crack the shield. The lava axes met one of my wooden shield skills and exploded. At that time, the demon king raised both its arms, and then the sky parted. Edna dodged the lava axes, she made sure to avoid the places where the ground was soft. The lava may not kill her, but she could get trapped and be effectively disabled. A massive deep red fireball came crashing down. ¡°Fuck.¡± The heroes screamed as they grouped together and then activated various shields. I instantly surrounded Lumoof with layers and layers of wooden shields and barriers. The entire battlefield exploded, and it destroyed all my giant attendant trees. But the heroes survived. All four of them huddled together. Only one shield remained. Had they used their shields separately they would have died. For Lumoof, the fires burned through most of the shields, but thankfully my avatar mode meant he shared my fire resistance. Had it been any other element, Lumoof would be in trouble. Yet the explosion left the demon king frozen in a daze. It stood motionless. This was Edna¡¯s moment, again. Edna immediately took out more spears magically and stabbed the demon king. Her attack snapped all of us to action. I called on Hytreerion and my mid-ranged Valthorns to start their barrage, while I also activated more root strikes. The heroes attacked. From afar, my crystal bombs zoomed across the skies and then landed around the demon king. They exploded on impact. The heroes¡¯ magical spells landed on the motionless demon king and left multiple wounds. My root strike pierced through some of the weakened parts of the demon king¡¯s skin. The knight-hero left more cuts and gashes across it¡¯s body, and then attempted to behead the demon shaman king. His star mana sword stopped halfway. The demon king glowed, everyone retreated except Edna. She went in, activated her Court of the Deitree and surrounded herself in wooden armor, and started punching. Her fists were shaped like spears, augmented by the wooden casing around her. The demon king regenerated, again. Edna punched, and the demon king smashed Edna with its molten club. The rest of my Valthorns, those in the Level 120s to 130s launched ranged attacks where they could. Roon and Johann, who was initially located a distance away to coordinate the mid-ranged weapons, now came to join the battle. Their attacks didn¡¯t do much. All of us lacked the firepower to deal game-ending damage, as our attacks stopped by the shield that came back online. Chung launched a rain of magical star-mana arrows at the demon king and the arrows slammed into the demon king¡¯s back. The torrent of star-mana arrows cracked the shields. ¡°It¡¯s shields are down!¡± Chung said. The two archmages launched magical energy blasts, and reactivated their blizzard spell. This time, the ice shards slammed right to its body. The demon shaman king raised its axe, and this time, a rift appeared in the sky. A demon-dragon came out. [Summon of Bagradva - Demon Dragon] The dragon roared and shot huge beams. ¡°Focus on the demon king!¡± Chung shouted. ¡°It¡¯s already dying!¡± The dragon immediately landed on the ground with a slam, and attempted to attack the heroes. But before it could do so, my roots surged out of the ground and constricted the dragon. Thousands of vines and roots emerged and pulled the dragon down. I drained the dragon¡¯s mana, and Lumoof coughed as the dragon¡¯s energy flowed through his body. The heroes kept attacking the demon king. The demon king¡¯s axe slammed right into Hafiz¡¯s shield and cracked it. The ground shook slightly, my regenerated roots absorbed the vibrations. The steam turned to mist, as the heroes¡¯ blizzard reduced the temperature greatly. Hafiz¡¯s glowing star mana sword slashed a few more times, and finally, with a great glowing slash, he finally beheaded the demon shaman king. The severed head immediately sprouted a snake-like body. ¡°What the shit it¡¯s not dead yet!¡± Chung screamed in frustration, and used star mana blast. The energy blast missed as the head slithered away quickly. I activated my roots and attempted to wrap it. ¡°I¡¯ll hold it. Take a shot once it stops!¡± My roots wrestled with the snake-body of the demon king¡¯s head. It was strong, but I was just a bit stronger. My roots were twisted and it stopped. I tried to crush the body but couldn¡¯t, all I could do was hold it in its place. Colette and Prabu launched a combined super-dense ice-blob, and it exploded right at the head. The head turned to ice, and then the entire head and the snake body disintegrated. The summoned dragon also immediately disintegrated. At this time, we felt a magical pulse coming from the original demon king body. We knew what it was. ¡°It¡¯s gonna blow.¡± No. My roots immediately wrapped the original body, and pierced it. It was weaker now, and my roots searched for the core. We found it. The demon core. I wrapped it with huge amounts of roots and vines, and started to drain the mana. Lumoof coughed and winced in pain as his body endured the huge amounts of demonic mana and other kinds of weird energies from the demon core. I felt my head hurt, and I felt like I got hit with a jackhammer, and then fed a few bottles of alcohol. Both drunk and dizzy. Was this mana poisoning? But I kept on draining mana from the demon core, and then the pulse finally stopped. [Demon King Bagradva has been slain!] [You have gained 9 levels. You are now Level 208] Yet, immediately after the notification, I felt the effects of the mana poisoning sink in, and I felt like I needed to sleep. For a short while. Spaizzer Thanks for reading, and I hope this battle demonstrates how far they''ve come, and also how much more they need to go. There''s a poll on patreon to vote on the three choices Aeon gets next chapter. It''s gonna close soon. Also, I''d like to shoutout Zendran''s snek core fic. The Great Core paradox! https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/40888/the-great-cores-paradox Tree ways to the End Year 191 (continued) The battle was over, and I rested for a few days. Lumoof, thankfully, recovered from the damage far faster than I did. It seemed that in ¡®avatar¡¯ mode, all the mana was transferred to my main body, so I bore the brunt of the mana intoxication. Patreeck and the rest of my artificial minds assisted to regulate the excess mana, and stored them in the potato batteries. We will come back to it someday. I hope. Edna had to take a long, long nap and spent days doing nothing but sleep. Though her ability gave her combat immortality, once the one-day timer was up, she was pretty much a puppet whose strings were cut. She could barely walk or move. But it was worth it. She gained a lot of levels, and hit Level 165, and gained even more abilities with it. Her new ability [Regenerating Guardians] granted her the ability to create 5 guardians that shared her toughness. Lumoof too, gained some levels, but most of it only enhanced his connection with me such that he could withstand more of my power. But more importantly, was those that we wanted to groom. Roon, Johann, Alka, and Stella all gained levels from the victory for their contributions to the combat effort. Roon, Johann and Alka were now in the higher level 140s. It¡¯s likely that we could breach the level needed to obtain their domains by the time of the next demon king, No, more importantly, I returned to my notifications. I activated the menu and instantly a long list of notifications appeared. [You have gained 9 levels. You are now Level 208] [Level 200 grants Minor Pantheon Powers. Minor Pantheon Powers are dependent on subdomain choices.] [Further skills once a subdomain power has been chosen] [Subdomain Power Choices- you may choose one out of three choices below] [Subdomain choice - Tree of Life. This choice leads you down the path of regeneration, evolution, immortality and life creation. Each of your main body and your cloned bodies gains significant regenerative abilities, This choice allows the creation of cloned bodies under the Tree of Clones. Your trees gain the ability to adapt to all kinds of environments, and terraforming ability. ] [This subdomain choice will lead to creation of life, greater-monster minions, evolution-alteration, healing, endurance, regeneration, clones and multi-body skills in the future] [This subdomain grants the Pantheon Power - Immortal Tokens - Domain-level individuals who join your pantheon can be remade and regenerated even if they are killed. On death or destruction, their souls will return to you for ¡®respawn¡¯. The respawn time depends on how strong they are. Stronger deities require longer respawn times. However, choosing this ability will mean the death of these pantheon members will no longer grant Titan Souls, and you will not be able to gain any stored experience from their familiars. These domain holders can still die if all your tree of clones and your main body are destroyed.] [Choosing this subdomain also unlocks the Trees of Clones - You may now create clones in addition to your own. The number of main-body clones increases with level. You cannot die unless all cloned bodies are destroyed. You can regenerate any destroyed bodies after a small recovery time. Each clone body and your main body are magically intertwined and you may move items and people between them, subject to a distance-adjusted mana cost, with a discounted or minimal cost for Aeonic-related items, classes and individuals and also familiar-holders. Clones initially take the form of a basketball sized seed that can be transported and planted elsewhere. Tree of Clones may be placed anywhere and naturally terraforms their environment. They do not need to be physically linked as their connection is through the system] [Subdomain choice - Will of the World. This choice takes the first step in merging with the world that you are in. This choice removes any distance or depth restrictions for roots and trees. You will thus be able to spread your roots anywhere in the world, through oceans and under them. You may also create underwater trees. This choice leads to terrain and elemental magics and abilities, significantly improved offense and damage for you and those touched by your powers, creation of elementals, weather control, terrain shaping, and wielding the land as your weapon.] [This subdomain grants the Pantheon Power - Strength of the World - this grants significant stats and strength boost (at least hero tier), improved elemental resistance and enhanced abilities with the four main elements. Pantheon members also gain the ability to terraform and gain ability to temporarily transform into elementals] [Choosing this subdomain unlocks - Elements of the World. This is a path where you gain access to the controls of this world. This includes more accurate astral maps, ability to move the world in the void sea, bend space and distance around the world and its neighbours.] [Subdomain choice - Crown of Magic. You gain the ability to use all kinds of spells without requiring skills or classes, and simultaneously generate star mana, void mana, blood mana and any other mana type you discover. This path leads to ¡®global¡¯ and ¡®multi-world¡¯ spells and abilities. You will also be able to override any hero-item restrictions and use them to their full potential. Your magical laboratories and sensors gain increased sensitivity and functionality. Your main tree can now learn magic just by sight, and certain types of hero-abilities. You can also grant magical abilities to a limited number of individuals] [This subdomain grants the Pantheon Power - A Land of Magic - Domain Members can access and store their unique mana types in areas where your trees are present. They may also pre-cast and store skills and spells in the land itself, thus skipping any casting time and mana cost restrictions. Your trees will function as magical amplifiers for their abilities] [Tree of Magics - You may create Great Magical Trees. Each of these magical trees can generate a choice of star mana, void mana, blood mana, or any other mana type discovered. These Great Magical Trees can weave and cast multiple magical enchantments that apply over an area as large as a continent. Magical Trees can significantly enhance existing ley lines, link distant ley lines together, cast wide scale protective spells and interfere with other magic.] [Crown of Magic also allows you to Forge Magical items without restrictions. These weapons and items can generate their own mana, act as the locus of area enchantments and amplify magical powers. You are also able to fuse Titan-Souls with deity-class (or higher) magical items to create unlimited-class weapons that can grow, gain their own levels and transform into weapons that can exceed even the gods] - I sat down and looked at the three choices. [Tree of Life] allowed me to bypass the Avatar limitation and free up Lumoof to truly be my mobile avatar. It also pretty much makes me functionally immortal, especially if I can get my seeds off world, to the other two worlds, or any uninhabited world. This was a good choice for expanding to the demon worlds and the other continents, and is essentially a step towards an intreedimensional empire. A true multi-world force. I could, through this ability, even take on demon kings on other worlds, thus speeding up our levelling speed. The pantheon ability also made it less risky to put any lesser domain holders like Lumoof, Roon, Alka right before the demon king. That said, this ability was quite useless with Edna, since she could already take all the damage. The second choice, Will of the World, had the main benefit of bypassing all distance restrictions all over the world. With this, I could invade all the continents at the same time. That said, this choice did not allow me to spread my roots to the other worlds, and my main body still remained the single point of failure. But the boosted stats to all my domain-wielders meant this ability synchronised really well with Edna¡¯s [Duty Beyond Life and Death]. She could endure all the hits the demon king could dish out and then keep dealing damage with her significantly improved offensive abilities. From the battle with the demon king, it was quite obvious that the heroes did a lot of the damage, if not most of it. Even my root strikes, which were generally super effective against demons, did not do exceptional damage against the demon king. If I wanted to kill a demon king with myself and the rest of my pantheon members quickly, this seemed like a decent choice. It also negated and weakened a range of the demon king¡¯s elemental attacks, so it wasn¡¯t a total tradeoff against survivability either. The last choice, led us down the path of magic. It seemed to overlap with Stella¡¯s void magic, perhaps this meant I could amplify her power to actually deny the demon king, and the global magics suggested I could also use them to hide the world or redirect the demon kings. This choice enhanced survivability indirectly through the stored spells and skills, which felt like an exploitable mechanic. The growing weapons that had no limits also felt exploitable, though I needed more time to think about a good way to abuse it. The ability to ¡®grant¡¯ hero tier magical abilities was also an interesting choice, again, I didn¡¯t know what exactly that meant until I¡¯ve used it. Did it mean I can functionally create heroes? I could link ley lines together with the ability, so that was also a very good interaction with my dungeon ability, which would allow me to create even stronger dungeons for my Valthorns. This path had the most unknowns, because I didn¡¯t know what magic was capable of at that level. This choice potentially had the means to break the cycle through some kind of great magic, or perhaps, it¡¯s possible to ¡®seal¡¯ off the entire world from the demons, buying us some time to grow and recover. Alternatively, the enhanced magic could possibly interfere with the demon king¡¯s void magic. - All these choices were interesting, and I brought the matter to my senior Valthorns for their input. Edna was first to answer. ¡°Honestly, can we delay it until Stella, Roon, Johann and Alka all gain their Domains? If we could see what domain abilities they receive, we could choose what we lacked.¡± Lumoof nodded at Edna¡¯s suggestion. ¡°I must say I agree with that assessment. We really don¡¯t know enough.¡± Kei and Stella, who were both present, stated their case. ¡°We can extrapolate the powers from what they have now. It¡¯s likely Stella¡¯s domain will be some kind of void ability, so perhaps Stella can create even more powerful portals?¡± Johann nodded. ¡°I like the regenerating and immortal ability though. It meant we could pretty much fight the demon king with not a care in the world since we can¡¯t die. We can actually win the demon kings purely by attrition, a really interesting reversal of the situation. I believe this seems to be a long-term idea, and plays well with Stella¡¯s void powers. We could send a clone to the demon world!¡± ¡°The Will of the World is immediately more useful, though. It would functionally enhance our grip on the world.¡± Alka said. ¡°The lack of depth restrictions meant we could dig even deeper, and even below the heat. There must be treasures and more lost cities we have not seen.¡± Kei then added. ¡°Doesn¡¯t it mean Aeon¡¯s trees can be everywhere? That meant he could use his beetles everywhere!¡± Stella paused and then added. ¡°What if all of this is just an illusion of choice? That all these choices eventually result in the same thing, even if the journey to achieve those choices is different. Take how the tree of clones essentially extended Aeon¡¯s range, the same way the Will of the World does.¡± ¡°That does make some sense.¡± Alka nodded. ¡°If so, should we think of this as ¡®which ability we can¡¯t replicate or substitute with other abilities or spells¡¯? If a few of us will eventually reach and acquire our own domains, then some of our domains must be able to substitute these skills.¡± ¡°Is that an argument for Tree of Life? Since immortality is not easily replicated.¡± Lumoof asked. ¡°Eh. I thought it didn¡¯t really say anything. I think the immortality ability has substitutes, like my own.¡± Edna¡¯s [Duty Beyond Life and Death] was case in point. ¡°Then its¡¯ the underground ability.¡± Alka said. ¡°The Will of the World. We could find all sort of stuff! Maybe there¡¯s a secret even at the center of the planet!¡± Kei smacked her face. ¡°Given what I¡¯ve seen, I¡¯m actually afraid you might be right.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure there are magical abilities for that. It is possible that your [Domain] ability as a scientist may grant you the ability to find such treasures hidden beneath the ground, regardless of what¡¯s in your way.¡± Edna quipped. ¡°That¡¯s certainly not the only use.¡± Alka protested. ¡°Merging with the world sounds like Aeon will be the planet itself.¡± ¡°The magical ability to cast global spells.¡± Stella then suggested. ¡°We should take that. It sounded like it worked well with my abilities and would improve my chances to delay or deny the demon king.¡± ¡°A mage with [domain] could possibly do such spells too. If we think of demon kings as domain-class, we have seen demon kings use global abilities. No, actually, are you trying to wriggle out of having to get your own [domain]?¡± Kei looked at Stella. Stella shook her hands in protest. ¡°In the long run, all these choices probably make little difference.¡± Stella said. ¡°But looking at the medium term, over the next few decades, these choices would affect how we survive the demon kings.¡± Johann nodded. ¡°I think the Tree of Life makes good sense. If none of us can die, we can all aim and plan.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t that just trivialise death?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure the regeneration time of a [domain] holder will be quite long. Maybe years or decades.¡± Kei said. ¡°This world does seem to take inspiration from games and ancient myths, and it¡¯s not unusual for ancient evils or great powers to recover from destruction over very long periods.¡± That reminded me of so many stories that started with the rebirth of the evil god. ¡°Oh, so we may not die, but we waste a lot of time.¡± ¡°Time that may save lives and other worlds.¡± ¡°I¡¯m against the magic route.¡± Roon said. ¡°I feel that once a sufficient number of us can take on the demon king, and with immortality, we can effectively continue fighting the demon king. No, fighting the demon king is even better since we become stronger with each fight. It¡¯s a risk free route. The earlier civilizations were destroyed after a long war of attrition.¡± ¡°Yes but we will have to keep fighting forever. The magical route essentially offers a chance to close this issue by blocking us. No. The magical route also means we may have spells that create larger, more sustainable portals. With that, we may be able to invade the demonic world.¡± ¡°That still sounds like playing defense.¡± Roon responded. ¡°Being immortal allows us to go on the offense.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know that.¡± Stella answered. ¡°What if we invade the other worlds and find that there¡¯s no solution there? The Gods clearly have tried something, but they too failed in destroying the demons. Hiding may well be the only true way to avoid this fight.¡± ¡°Until when?¡± The ranger responded. ¡°We cannot hide forever.¡± ¡°What if merging with the world allows both?¡± Alka wondered, as he tried to steer the conversation away. ¡°There must be something more to this ¡®merging to the world¡¯ thing. If Aeon becomes the world, Aeon may also be unkillable. With that solid foundation, we¡¯ll just need time to have Stella and the rest of the void mages gain their own domains.¡± ¡°A really long time, mind you.¡± Stella protested. ¡°Void magic isn¡¯t so easily taught.¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t have a point. We have 20 void mages in your void school, and Aeon can give you upgraded classes.¡± Alka said. Kei paused and took the conversation in another direction. ¡°Aeon, is it possible that at Level 250, you may actually encounter these choices again?¡± I thought back to my Level 150 domain choices. [Nature], [Spirit], and [Astral]. I chose [Nature] then. As I thought about it, I thought it may be more accurate that both Will of the World and Tree of Life are essentially paths that went deeper along the path of the [Nature] aspect. [Living Magic] seemed to take a detour through magic, taking a bit from both [Spirit] and [Astral]. So I answered Kei¡¯s question. ¡°Not exactly. These level 200 choices were not what I got for my level 150.¡± Edna circled back. ¡°I stand by the earlier suggestion. Hold on the choice until more of us get our domains. There¡¯s no time limit, right?¡± Everyone took a look at Lumoof who remained mostly silent. Lumoof shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me, I¡¯m Aeon¡¯s number one faithful, and if it¡¯s me, I believe in Aeon¡¯s wisdom to choose.¡± A growing garden Year 192 With the battle against the demon king behind us, I moved Lumoof back to the North. The first order of the day was to find Ken again. Where did he go? And we couldn¡¯t find him. So, we made sure to keep all my artificial minds on the lookout. It¡¯s possible they sailed to the other continents, and if so, there¡¯s no point looking for them here in the North. Around this time, we received a letter from Meela. Another meeting with her, and Alexis. - We met again in that same hotel, this time, only Lumoof and Edna. There really was no need to bring anyone else. ¡°Patriarch Lumoof, we meet again. This is Alexis, my partner and co-leader of the Rosewoods.¡± Meela nodded, and this was when I saw Alexis again after so long. She was a tall, slender woman, her face was that of a human, with the exception of the beetle-like iris, and two little feelers on her forehead. She had humanlike fingers, but the tips were like little claws with tiny hooks. Alexis nodded, and Edna too gave a knowing nod. Lumoof made a guess on her class. [Assassin] Meela noticed the way Alexis and Edna looked at each other, and immediately explained. ¡°I believe we¡¯ve met under less than pleasant situations. But let¡¯s put that behind us and look forward.¡± Alexis was still tense and she sat down. Edna could single-handedly defeat everyone in this room, and everyone knew it. Lumoof smiled and sat on the chair. ¡°Indeed, I was also told by one former hero that you two tried to attack her.¡± Meela nodded knowingly. ¡°It was clear that she¡¯s a former hero after that event, our lack of intel from the central continent made us blind. It¡¯s very unfortunate that our meeting devolved in that manner.¡± Lumoof took a cup of tea and sipped. He wasn¡¯t worried whether it was poisoned. ¡°Oh, she was equally surprised to learn that the two of you were former heroes of another generation. It seems to us that the number of former heroes in the world only keeps growing.¡± Meela laughed. ¡°I suddenly feel a lot less special.¡± Lumoof only nodded. ¡°So, let¡¯s start. I would like to preface our discussion with Aeon¡¯s view. As he promised many years ago, he has no intention of meddling, and wishes to respect that both of you have separate lives.¡± Alexis immediately leaned in. ¡°Define meddling. Is he not meddling, when the two of you are here?¡± Meela merely sighed at the response. Lumoof was calm and he expected the question. ¡°It¡¯s important to look at context and the overall picture. Aeon¡¯s ultimate goal is to break this world from the cycle. To do so, he has to occasionally step in to ¡®save¡¯ the heroes, especially if they are cursed, in order to minimise the destruction from the demon king. Though, as we could see from Alvin¡¯s case, he didn¡¯t do that well against the previous demon king. Nevertheless, after our incident in the North, Aeon decided that he needed to move in the North, as it seemed that these islands are home to quite a bit of the anti-hero factions, if only to maintain the balance.¡± ¡°Sounds like an excuse to expand his power.¡± Lumoof nodded. ¡°Oh, we make no excuses there. Aeon in its pursuit of power, will have to expand to everywhere in this world.¡± Alexis immediately turned to face Meela. The room already had anti-magic shielding. ¡°The world will run out of time.¡± Lumoof said before Alexis can continue. ¡°Aiva told us that the god¡¯s powers fade.¡± Well, we only heard from Aiva, we don¡¯t know whether the other gods are actually ¡®fading¡¯ or not. ¡°In a century or two, Aiva will no longer support the summons, and the world may end up without heroes to face the corruption of the demons.¡± ¡°Wait. What?¡± Alexis looked at Meela. Meela didn¡¯t respond to the statement. ¡°Aeon is aware of your past disagreements with his methods.¡± Rich, and hypocritical now that Alexis is an assassin that killed many others. But she¡¯s a smart girl, and I like to believe her intellect could be useful. ¡°But let¡¯s work together, at least, to overcome this challenge. Past enmities can be managed.¡± Alexis sat down. ¡°You¡¯re not lying.¡± ¡°We met Aiva herself.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure whether to refer to Aiva as male or female. Honestly it could go either way, though the church of Aiva tends to refer to Aiva as a goddess, even though that isn¡¯t exactly in their scripture. ¡°Her presence was real.¡± ¡°Can you tell us why Aeon has all the hero fragments?¡± Alexis sat. Lumoof mentally pinged me, and I agreed. ¡°It was something he kept from everyone until recently, but he is what they call... collateral damage. An accidental tag-along during the hero summons. The fragments were awarded to all those who tagged along.¡± There was silence, as Alexis and Meela both processed it. It was a long silence. ¡°You¡¯re telling me now, that he understood all our references all this time? And he never said a word?¡± Alexis had a look that was mostly anger. ¡°Yes. Infuriating as it may be, it was Aeon¡¯s decision in the early days.¡± ¡°This is ridiculous.¡± Alexis looked at Meela. She stood and slammed the table. ¡°You believe this shit?¡± ¡°I must say I do.¡± Meela looked back. ¡°It makes a lot of sense, taking account of his paranoia with his knowledge of our world, he is quite like some of the more paranoid heroes.¡± I didn¡¯t feel I was paranoid. I thought I was reasonable in protecting myself. ¡°Why?¡± Alexis stood. I took over Lumoof, as Lumoof¡¯s eyes glowed. I spoke through him. ¡°Because a tree cannot move. If the entire world knew of my origins, would they turn on me? Maybe yes, maybe not. But I did not take chances, not with what little power I had then. I am unlike the rest of you, who can afford to run, to hide, to alter how they appear with magic, or with the right spells, to move to another world. If we made a wrong move, I am a sitting duck. I have been on the receiving end of so many hexbombs, that I no longer bother to count them. The truth costs me a lot more. I am willing to admit the truth, because now, I can afford to. The world is not a pleasant place. You¡¯ve seen how assassins tried to kill heroes even with the overwhelming power of heroes. What could a tree, an immobile tree, do?¡± Meela sighed. Alexis was silent. ¡°Meela and Alexis, we meet again after so long, and I would have preferred we met under more auspicious and pleasant circumstances. But the reality is this, we have just a few centuries left to chart our path, and prepare for the moments when our crutches are off.¡± They were listening, even if they felt intimidated. ¡°It may seem long, but it¡¯s only 15 to 20 demon kings. That may not be enough to level enough of us, such that we can survive subsequent demon kings without the support of heroes consistently. Not just one demon king, but for the rest of this world¡¯s existence. Without divine support.¡± Meela nodded. ¡°I understand, and so, what¡¯s the plan?¡± Alexis turned. ¡°Meela.¡± ¡°Aeon is right. If the summoning of the heroes will stop, this world is truly fucked. Like it or not, we can¡¯t ever reach that level. We certainly don¡¯t have the right skills or items to even stand up to any regular hero, what more the demon king.¡± Meela defended me. ¡°We¡¯ve worked at this for a century, and you¡¯re still only level 90, and I¡¯m barely above level 100. If Aeon is able to even graze the level of the gods, then we need to work with him.¡± I said frankly. ¡°Honestly, I am willing to let the two of you continue as is. There really is no need for both of you to make massive adjustments to the new lives you have built over the last century. But I hoped to rely on both of you for intelligence, for support should it be needed, and mainly, to put things bluntly, don¡¯t get in the way. What I want at the moment, is an intelligence sharing agreement, and a non-interference with our actions here in the North, or wherever you may operate. I can dictate that by force, if I need to, but that¡¯s an unnecessary waste of manpower.¡± With the Valthorns, I could field far more power than they have. There was no need to have them enter combat, or enter into a formal alliance. They just had to stay out of the way, and if they don¡¯t, I¡¯ll have to force them to. Meela turned. ¡°I can agree to that.¡± Alexis stood and looked at her partner, there was a hint of displeasure in her statement. ¡°We should discuss this.¡± ¡°Non-interference should be a clear yes, Alexis. This doesn¡¯t change anything significantly, not with the proverbial [Soul Contract] on our souls. Intelligence is also an acceptable trade, we have an interest in keeping the world safe and supporting the heroes in their mission. We can do more working with Aeon, than against him.¡± Alexis wanted to respond, and then she sat back down. She didn¡¯t look too happy, but she seemed to accept it. ¡°You mentioned there were others like us? Like Miss Kei?¡± Meela asked. The point that I haven¡¯t quite decided on, was whether I should expose them to Kei, Stella, or any of the other future heroes who may come under my umbrella. ¡°Yes. How about you, have you seen any of your own?¡± ¡°...Yes. We have two under our care at the moment. But tell me, what¡¯s their role in this? How do they fit in?¡± Two? Hmmm. I¡¯m beginning to suspect accidents are more common than I thought. I decided I could share some information. ¡°They¡¯re mostly helping me where they can, and how they could apply their own knowledge to improve things. One of them worked on portals. Another is helping with crystalline bombs which we will deploy against the demon kings.¡± ¡°Ah, I¡¯ve heard of the bombs.¡± Meela said. ¡°Fascinating stuff. Alexis even got her hands on a few undetonated ones. Now that we know Aeon was from Earth, it really explained some of these unusual combat strategies.¡± Alexis asked. ¡°How does Aeon plan to end the cycle? We¡¯ve heard the goal, but does he have a plan in mind?¡± Lumoof shrugged. ¡°This is partly why we are here. We don¡¯t have a firm plan, we are attempting quite a few things, but if we had more minds, with different viewpoints, we could have more leads. Some of the ideas are quite outrageous.¡± Alexis stared at Meela. ¡°So all that rhetoric of a grand goal, and Aeon doesn¡¯t have a plan.¡± Meela smiled back. ¡°Well, don¡¯t all great plans begin with a vision?¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a vision that will lead us to hell.¡± ¡°Are we not in some kind of hell-world already?¡± Meela responded. The two of them seemed to be pretty tense with each other. Maybe they¡¯ve been together for too long. It¡¯s hard to imagine a friendship that¡¯s a century-long would still be cordial. Lumoof and Edna just watched. No point jumping into their fire. What I found strange was that they did not respond to the ¡®portals¡¯. Did they hear it, or were they also working on something similar? Strange. - Stella finally completed her examination of the demon king¡¯s core. It¡¯s a dud. Again. ¡°The core received star mana damage, and it¡¯s clearly messed up whatever that was in there. Sorry, Aeon. Not good enough.¡± I felt like stomping my feet. We worked so hard and it wasn¡¯t enough! Of course, Edna expected it. ¡°It¡¯s not like we did most of the damage.¡± ¡°Your domain skill really delivered though.¡± I praised Edna then. ¡°We just need to work on damage.¡± We both needed to work on damage. Even my fragments didn¡¯t seem to make much of a difference against the demon king. It¡¯s likely that the fragments are only effective for non-demon kings. This, of course, suggested that demon kings are not ¡®demons¡¯, but in their own class entirely. We also examined the mana I drained from the core to prevent that last minute meltdown. It¡¯s a lot of void mana and demonic mana mixed in, and the trees and potatoes that I used to hold these manas were corroding rather quickly, and I needed to constantly ¡®heal¡¯ the potatoes so that these void mana didn¡¯t leak out and blow the whole place up. But the mana type nor the ratio didn¡¯t tell us much other than what we already know. The demon king contained void mana within itself, and most of this was about to blow. Luckily, this time, I was able to absorb significantly higher quantities of mana to avoid any catastrophic blowup. In the first place, it was already weakened and had already consumed a bit of its void and demonic mana. Oh well. Maybe the third time we¡¯ll get it. - Our spies were helpful, but they were not able to extract Neira''s secret god-communion methods. More correctly, they were not even sure it existed. Among the mid-tier leadership team, they were not aware of any means of seeking out their god. They have the understanding that they will be contacted by their god, not the other way round. This, of course, made me wonder, why do their followers even pray, then? If their prayers do not actually go to their respective gods, then what is it for? Yet, despite the prayers never reaching the god, those who pray somehow receive blessings? How does that work? I attempted to make sense of this whole ¡®prayer thing. As I understood it, Lilies once said a domain is a higher-order access to the system. But looking at what I¡¯ve seen so far, it¡¯s probably not just that. At this point, I theorise that a domain holder essentially ¡®creates¡¯ a spot for itself in the system. This was why Lilies felt my presence spread throughout the system. If so, when prayers are given, I believe these prayers are then recorded by the system, and there¡¯s a ¡®code¡¯ or a ¡®programme¡¯ in the system itself, created either indirectly or directly by a person¡¯s ascension to the higher levels of domains, that then absorbs these prayers and then responds to them. In other words, the system functioned as an automated ¡®god¡¯ system on behalf of the gods. The god may have set criterias for the system, or the system itself interpreted a set of criterias from the god¡¯s behavior that formed the basis of how it responded to prayers. I mean, that has to be how it worked, because I¡¯m not linked or giving powers to those who have [aeonic] classes, and yet they clearly derive some power that is modelled after mine. The system did that, not me. I did not assess these believers whether they were worthy or not, it was the system who did it. The system, as the only ¡®impartial¡¯ operator in the world, made that judgement call. Thus, it¡¯s likely that even if Aiva drifted out of range of her normal, direct powers, the benefits from an Aivan blessing or class would continue. No, thinking about it, would it be a good idea to link the world to where the gods are, if they are friendly? Such that they can use their powers more directly here. Certainly that would be good for the world, in the sense that Aiva can then protect this world directly, but not good for me, since they probably would not tolerate me being so close to them. A portal worked both ways. - The four heroes came to the Central Continent again, this time on their own accord. They¡¯ve finished the clean up of the demons in the West. I didn¡¯t like that they wanted to come, of course, but they were heroes, and they could just teleport to our continent if they wanted to. So, rather than resist and fail, since there¡¯s four of them, I decided to just allow them entry. ¡°I want snacks. All types of them.¡± Prabu told the attendants at the port. The attendants hurried to retrieve snacks from the warehouse. A Valthorn quickly reached out to me. ¡°As the heroes are not invited on an official visit, should we charge them the cost of their lodgings and food?¡± This was a diplomatic headache, of course. Previously they came at Kei¡¯s invitation, and so I agreed to waive the cost of whatever they consumed. I decided to call on my council for their input. ¡°I think we should absorb it, for now.¡± One of the Lords advised. ¡°Most kingdoms absorb the cost of hero visits. After all, they never really stay for long. Most end up starting their own kingdoms.¡± ¡°I think we should be more concerned if one of these heroes wanted to start their own kingdom here.¡± Another Lord responded. ¡°But until then, most kingdoms put on their best face forward.¡± ¡°What if the heroes start to mate with any of the younger princes or princesses around the Central Continent? That could cause some of the kingdoms to stray from influence.¡± ¡°And is that likely?¡± I asked. ¡°It¡¯s possible. Many kingdoms historically attempted, with some successes, to absorb heroes into their royal families as a way of enhancing the unique status of the royal family. Granted this has not happened yet in the recent Aeonic era, but it was a common thing, historically. Some heroes end up usurping the throne via marriage.¡± Fuck. A hero as one of the Kings? There¡¯s no way I could keep them in line if that happened. Prabu munched on a plate of snacks. ¡°I love snacks so much I¡¯m going to stay in the Central Continent.¡± Fuck. Theoretreecal Basis Year 193 ¡°We want to make a deal with Aeon.¡± Prabu and Collete said to Kei. It¡¯s been close to 6 months since he arrived on the Central Continent, and he¡¯s been visiting. On and off, they did travel to the other continents, but in the end, they returned. Kei sighed. ¡°Are you sure this is a good idea? I don¡¯t speak for him, so I¡¯ll have to take you to him, if he lets me.¡± Prabu was firm. ¡°Yes. Both of us talked about it, and we decided, no, I decided I want to stay here. Colette¡¯s just staying here with me.¡± I wondered whether these two were an item. Kei¡¯s magical lips curled. ¡°It¡¯s really not a good idea to base your decisions on which continents have the best snacks.¡± ¡°Eh. Am I such a caricature that my entire thought process is summarised down to my love of snacks?¡± ¡°Well, no. But is it?¡± ¡°No. I like snacks but I¡¯m not stupid. I also like modern conveniences, and on that front, this continent is far ahead of everyone else. Especially here. If there was a place I wanted to stay, it¡¯s here.¡± ¡°Have you thought about what you want to offer Aeon as compensation?¡± Kei said. ¡°Back when I was still alive, I helped Aeon with magical research.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen Freeka¡¯s colleges, and I think the College needs a proper magical teacher. We both can do that.¡± ¡°You know these mortals can¡¯t learn heroic magic.¡± Kei frowned. ¡°They can learn by exposure. Just having heroes as lecturers should be a huge selling point for the college. I honestly don¡¯t mind being mascots.¡± Prabu laughed. ¡°I used to wear costumes for my school plays. So yes, I mean it, I want to live here.¡± Kei looked at Colette. ¡°How about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll travel around, but I¡¯ll probably drop by and just rest here too.¡± The knight-hero, Hafiz is out to set up his own sultanate in the Western Continent, while Chung the archer went back to the Southern Continent to continue his work on magical contraption again. I suspected they were probably more than friends, but they didn¡¯t do anything strange while here. Maybe they used some magic to hide themselves from my prying eyes. ¡°We only have a few years of peace.¡± Colette said. ¡°Before we¡¯re back to that old disaster, again. There¡¯s still so much to see, and so much to eat.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve seen most of the big sights.¡± ¡°There are things hidden in plain sight.¡± Colette responded. ¡°Like how we¡¯ve never seen Aeon¡¯s true body even after we¡¯ve been here so long. There are things we will only discover if we spend the time to find it. These magical senses are tuned to demons, and very little else.¡± Of course, that¡¯s really understating how overpowered their normal senses already are. ¡°Can you please ask Aeon?¡± Kei led them to me the next day, and they saw my main body for the first time. They instantly backed a few steps as my presence and theirs clashed. ¡°The true body is really nothing to scoff at.¡± Prabu said with a bow. ¡°We humbly greet the great deity of the central continent.¡± ¡°I have heard of your request, and it is granted, with some conditions.¡± They stared and waited for me to continue. I then listed down my requirements. I wanted them to stay out of politics and avoid giving any tacit or implied support to any of the nobles, I didn¡¯t want a political upheaval in my land, and I was concerned that the nobles would be able to gently maneuver the heroes against me. The heroes are political newbies. They could find themselves indirectly led to a path where they are then forced to make a choice. The only way they could stay in the Central Continent, is if they are directly under my control, and no one else. At the same time, they had to work. I tasked them, mainly, with creating heroic items, and also working as guest lecturers at FTC. Just like Kei, when she was still a hero. Prabu accepted it without hesitation, and was more interested in debating the specifics of his compensation for his goods and services. - I then approached both Aria and Aispeng, and also Lilies, on the specifics of a pantheon. < Would you join my pantheon? > I asked Lilies, and Lilies could not answer. They have not reached that point. > We don¡¯t know. It is a commitment far above what we are ready for. < < Why? > Lilies couldn¡¯t answer, either. But I sensed turmoil and conflict through our linked roots, I felt its many minds in fierce debate over the invitation. - Aria and Aispeng frowned. ¡°So level 200 is a pantheon. If we get there we can get it too. But we¡¯ll have to wait a few decades. But what happens if we reach level 200 and can we leave the pantheon?¡± I honestly answered. ¡°I don¡¯t know. The system does not answer such questions, but I would theorise yes. A pantheon may not be a fixed thing. Only those who selected a subdomain, like my priest Lumoof, are stuck with me.¡± ¡°What exactly is a pantheon? What are your powers over us?¡± Aria asked. ¡°I also don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll know more when Edna joins my pantheon.¡± ¡°Hmmm. Then we will wait until then. We certainly are not friends of the demons or the gods, so I don¡¯t see the problem in joining with you, if it¡¯s not a permanent, irrevocable arrangement.¡± - In truth, any of my domain choices should make the world safer. If I had all of them that would be even better. I hoped level 250 allowed me to get all of them. - During the middle of the year, I got a ping from one of my artificial minds. My artificial mind drew attention to an individual who arrived by sea. The man had long hair tied up into a ponytail, and wore simple armor. ¡°The Central Continent. How does it feel?¡± The man asked. There was a small snake on his shoulder, a real, living snake with dark green skin, but my watchers were already on the lookout for anything snake-related. The snake had glowing red eyes. ¡°We¡¯re being watched.¡± ¡°Is it?¡± The man looked around, but didn¡¯t seem to see anything. ¡°I don¡¯t see any assassins or spies.¡± ¡°It¡¯s everywhere. I can taste a faint presence.¡± ¡°Oh great. We¡¯ve walked into a trap.¡± ¡°No. I don¡¯t think so.¡± It¡¯s easy to tell this was Ken. ¡°Heh. So is this trip a mistake? We still can back out now. No, if this is a flag, we should back out.¡± ¡°No. The source of the divine energy we felt was here. Even now, I can still taste the residual divine energies in the air. We move.¡± ¡°I taste nothing.¡± Ken rolled his eyes. ¡°Your senses are crude, human. Come, we shall move to the source of this energy.¡± We continued to watch Ken travel from the northern coasts of the central continent, slowly to the center of the central continent. It took them about two months, but Ken finally arrived at Freshka. ¡°There¡¯s something here reaching out to our minds.¡± The snake said once they approached Freshka. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± ¡°You sure don¡¯t know much for a supposedly all-knowing snake.¡± Ken laughed. ¡°I¡¯ve never sold myself as an all-knowing snake.¡± ¡°Is it? I recall back when you latched onto my soul, I remember quite specifically that you said you have the knowledge of the world and you can help me.¡± ¡°My world, not yours.¡± ¡°Great, I fell for a marketing misdirection.¡± Ken rolled his eyes. The snake didn¡¯t answer. ¡°Ah, Freshka! I heard Prabu¡¯s here. I should meet him.¡± Ken said. ¡°Is dropping by unannounced a common practice in your world? It would be an act of disrespect to us.¡± Ken shrugged. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. Prabu¡¯s pretty chill.¡± ¡°He¡¯s still under the control of the gods. They may not be. Not when they detect my presence.¡± ¡°Ah yes. That twisted backstory of your world, right?¡± Ken said. ¡°But you know what, I¡¯ll still meet him. I¡¯m not at risk, you are.¡± The snake was silent, and Ken smirked. Ken immediately activated a messaging orb. ¡°Hey Prabu.¡± ¡°Oh, hey! Ken! Where¡¯ve you been?¡± ¡°Long story, but guess what, I¡¯m in Freshka. Wanna meet up?¡± ¡°Wait. what?! Sure, dude! Sure! Uh, you wanna meet at one of the city¡¯s restaurants?¡± I thought I felt a little bit of echo as I heard Prabu speak through my eyes, and also through Ken¡¯s observer. ¡°Yeah. Sure. Tell me where.¡± They met at an upscale restaurant in Freshka, complete with a private dining room. Of course, the whole place was bugged with my trees. Prabu arrived first, as Ken took a while to find the place. When they met each other, Prabu immediately frowned. ¡°Who¡¯re you?¡± Ken paused, and then realised his disguise was still active. He activated some kind of spell, and now he transformed back into Ken. ¡°Sorry. I¡¯ve got a disguise on, since there are a lot of people looking for me.¡± Prabu frowned. ¡°With that ability of yours, how do I know I¡¯m actually talking to Ken, and not someone who just looks like Ken.¡± Ken rubbed his chin. ¡°That¡¯s a good question, I actually can¡¯t prove that. It¡¯s entirely possible that Ken¡¯s still back on earth and I¡¯m just a copy of Ken who can shapeshift with flesh-alteration magic. Or it is also possible magically that something ate Ken and stole Ken¡¯s memories, and now this Ken-eating monster now masquerades itself as Ken.¡± Prabu smiled and sat. ¡°Alright, Mr looks-like-Ken-but-may-not-be-Ken, so I¡¯ll still call you Ken for short, what¡¯s up? We saw the notification, and your message. Chung will want to know that you¡¯re still alive.¡± Prabu then pointed at the snake. ¡°And also, that snake of yours, where is it from? It feels... familiar.¡± Ken immediately placed the snake on a chair. ¡°His name¡¯s pretty hard to pronounce, but I call him Snek, because he looks like Snek. He¡¯s a spiritual hitchhiker. He¡¯s been with me since the very first day we arrived in this world.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°It took a while for him to wake up, part of the perils of dimensional travel.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t trust the gods to keep both of us safe. Not with the power they¡¯ve given us.¡± Ken remarked flatly. ¡°What is it?¡± Prabu stared at the snake, and the snake coiled up. ¡°And why are you willing to do so now?¡± Ken smiled. ¡°Because I¡¯m no longer a hero, and it separated from my soul after it consumed the hero class.¡± ¡°The snake ate your hero class?¡± Prabu¡¯s eyes almost popped out at the second sentence. ¡°How? And why? Seriously, why? What were you thinking?¡± A knock on the door, and Prabu tapped a button. The door opened and three waiters came in. They served the food, drinks and snacks, and left when they were done. ¡°Yes. Where were we? Hero class, what were you thinking?¡± Ken looked, and smiled. ¡°Well, I¡¯m pleasantly surprised that you didn¡¯t instantly try to kill me or the snake.¡± ¡°What? Why would I?¡± Prabu leaned back, slightly offended. ¡°Well, let¡¯s cut to it. We all know there¡¯s some mind control element. It restricts what we think and what we do. I didn¡¯t like that, and Snek helped me to remove it. It¡¯s a win-win situation, since Snek comes from a world that¡¯s devoid of heroes.¡± ¡°Wait. Are you saying Snek is a demon?¡± ¡°Not quite. Have you ever wondered what would happen to the world if the demons win?¡± ¡°Everyone dies?¡± ¡°Well, no. The demons kill those that they encounter, but what if they somehow manage to hide?¡± ¡°I thought the demons could find those who live?¡± Prabu frowned ¡°They have refined senses, yes, but they are not perfect, and certainly not omniscient. There are things they don¡¯t know, and in the snake¡¯s case, they got lucky.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Their world was swarmed by flying demons, but they, the snakes and few others, are a species of subterranean creatures. They lived underground and surrendered the entire surface to the demons, and they built their cities deeper and deeper. But, the gods only recognised those who were humans or humanoids as worthy of protection, so sentient snakes and other beasts were abandoned.¡± That was fascinating. ¡°The flying demons and the demon king that made the surface into a demonic world, and yet beneath it, these snakes lived. And they remembered the loss.¡± ¡°That¡¯s...¡± ¡°The gods discriminate by species.¡± ¡°No. The demons have tunneller demons too. Why didn¡¯t they use those?¡± This time, it was the Snake-Spirit that answered. ¡°Because the demons have a system. Each demon king that wins a world claims that world for its type. The demon gods created a rotational system to allow each subdemonic race a chance to invade a world, but if it fails, another subdemonic race gets the opportunity to send their Kings. My world was claimed by the dragon-demons.¡± Prabu asked a question I always wanted to know. ¡°Then, do you know what are the Demon Kings? How do they become what they are?¡± ¡°In every world, the demons will create a massive pool or spawning pit. This is the Heart of the Demons, and it is linked to the Core of the world. The hearts steal power from the world, to create a demon king. It takes almost a century for the heart of the demons to create a demon king.¡± This story is different from the one told by the parasite. Prabu frowned and asked. ¡°To be fair, it sounds like your world has managed to coexist with the demons.¡± ¡°We do not consider it coexistence. Not when all the surface dwelling species have been eradicated, and those who fled to the tunnels have changed over the millennia. Our world is a demon world, and we feel the pain of the Core that feeds the demons.¡± The demons were created from the energies of the captured worlds, and use it to create demon kings. ¡°The world¡¯s energy fades in strength, each demon king it spawns kills the world a little more, and we fear what happens should the demons consume all of the world¡¯s energy.¡± The snake answered. ¡°But because we come from a world where the core¡¯s energy has been tainted by the demons...¡± Prabu shook his head. ¡°Sounds like a pretty tragic background story.¡± Ken actually laughed at it. ¡°I know, right? Anyway, their world needs a hero, so, since I didn¡¯t want to be controlled by the gods, I agreed to give my hero class to them. So, I¡¯m a free man now. Win-win situation.¡± ¡°Free only because someone else will be fighting for you.¡± Prabu frowned. ¡°We could have used another person on the battlefield.¡± ¡°Eh. You four are doing fine! I heard of your incredible battles.¡± ¡°Those are all exaggerations. Those who were present in the battle all know it didn¡¯t go like that.¡± Indeed, there were no spectators. The risks were too high, and everyone present was at a higher level. I lost too many lower level folks when I deployed them during the previous battle. It was also extremely difficult to scry the battle with so much magical interference. ¡°The four heroes defeated the demon king.¡± Ken said. ¡°Though, the central continent seems to have a different version of the story, where the warriors from the central continent supported the battle?¡± As usual, the temples had their own versions of the story, and we too had our own versions. Each side made statements to its own benefit. Prabu smiled. ¡°We had help.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Ken waited. ¡°So, why are you here, really?¡± ¡°Someone called the Gods here.¡± Ken said. ¡°Snek wants to know.¡± Prabu frowned. ¡°And why is that?¡± The snake shook his head. ¡°Let¡¯s just say it¡¯s a curiosity.¡± ¡°Are you not afraid? That someone who could call a god here can easily crush you.¡± The snake nodded, it¡¯s voice was angry. ¡°So it could. But we want to know. We want to ask why we were abandoned.¡± Ken looked at the snake. ¡°Sometimes I wonder whether that¡¯s how the demons came to be. These abandoned races, ascending and then are on a quest for vengeance against the gods who abandoned them. Why are they obsessed anyway?¡± The snake didn¡¯t answer. We don¡¯t know why, and it seemed the snake did not, either. Prabu frowned. ¡°There¡¯s so many holes in your explanation. How¡¯d you even manage to latch on Ken, when we are summoned? That¡¯s a kind of power I¡¯ve not seen before. Your ability to extract the hero class, what exactly did you do?¡± The snake looked at Ken, and it was Ken who answered. ¡°These snake-folk, they practice a kind of blood magic.¡± Prabu¡¯s face twisted. ¡°Ken, you agreed to work with someone who sacrificed lives for magical power?¡± Ken sighed. ¡°Prabu, it¡¯s hard to explain, but yes. There¡¯s a lot more nuance to blood magic than you know, and these snake-folk have a very high level understanding of it. I¡¯m now free of the hero class with no side effects.¡± ¡°And how was that achieved, exactly?¡± The snake and Ken seemed to share a look. ¡°It¡¯s complicated.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not making a convincing case, Ken.¡± The snake then said. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of sacrifice involved. Willing sacrifices are key.¡± Willing? Didn¡¯t I recall the snake using some kind of mind-puppetry or mind control? Ken leaned forward. ¡°We¡¯ve talked about something not relevant for a while. Prabu, I need your help.¡± ¡°Help? What kind?¡± Prabu asked. ¡°The rumors were very messy. Some of them said there was a heavenly meeting, some said it was something else. We want to know, did somebody summon the gods?¡± Prabu laughed. ¡°Ah. The Aivan God¡¯s meeting. Yes, what about it?¡± ¡°Do you know how to trigger it again? Snek says it may be his ticket home.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Where did it happen? Here?¡± ¡°Yeah. Somewhere outside of the city. It¡¯s off limits, though.¡± ¡°Can you smuggle me there?¡± ¡°No.¡± Prabu shook his head. ¡°Trust me, you don¡¯t want to try weird shit in this continent. This isn¡¯t a place you can fool around. Even if you¡¯re a hero.¡± ¡°Why, some officer of the kingdom¡¯s gonna stop me?¡± Ken said. ¡°This continent¡¯s a competent religious-military state with a supposedly divine religious figurehead. You¡¯re a hero with divine powers. Heroes win.¡± It seemed that Ken had a very different impression of the continent, and Prabu immediately frowned. ¡°Those words are best not tested and said outside of this room, ever. You underestimate the rising god at your own peril.¡± ¡°Wait, it¡¯s not a competent religious-military state? All those soldiers in fancy uniforms and high levels? That¡¯s the impression I got.¡± Prabu frowned. It was the Snek who stopped at Prabu¡¯s words. ¡°Wait. How powerful is the deity of the land?¡± Ken looked at Snek. ¡°Waitaminute, what are you implying?¡± ¡°Sawabesarulars you damned fool.¡± I didn¡¯t know how, but the Snek somehow managed to look like it had an epiphany as it cursed at himself. I presumed that was his name, since it was clearly pretty difficult to pronounce correctly. ¡°Four hundred thirty three years of waiting for the right moment, and you miss this shit. Stupid, elementary mistake.¡± ¡°Spill it Snek.¡± Ken looked serious. Prabu¡¯s frown turned into bewilderment. ¡°The competent religious-military state is competent, because there is a singular, ascending god at its core. You had the logic backwards. It is not the competence of the military order that maintains the illusion that there is a God. There really is a god, and it is god that imposes competence. All those military guys with high levels, the massive background presence in this entire continent, it could only mean we were watched. All the damned time.¡± Ken¡¯s face paled. ¡°Wait. But Chung didn¡¯t say much about this Aeon. The temples certainly painted Aeon as a pretender.¡± ¡°Of course they would!¡± Snek screamed. ¡°Have you no sense of politics?! Even we spirit-snakefolk know about talking shit about your enemies! This is an absolute failure of your information collection!¡± ¡°It¡¯s my fault, now?¡± Ken slammed the table. ¡°Well, yes. All we know about the central continent has been anecdotes and biased information from the temples and the merchants. Your friends didn''t say much either. You, with your supposed treasure trove of tropes, seemed to happily categorise the entire Central Continent into this caricature of a military regime.¡± ¡°Tropes are never wrong. Only subverted!¡± Ken slammed the table again. ¡°I got the trope right!¡± ¡°But we got the wrong decisions, you damned fool!¡± ¡°What the fuck are you two talking about?¡± Prabu said. The food was getting cold. Prabu¡¯s plate was clean. Snek turned to the hero. ¡°Do you know what level is Aeon?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but his two generals, a priest and a knight, joined our battle with the previous demon king. The priest was able to have Aeon descend on the battlefield through him. They really pulled their weight during the battle.¡± Ken looked. ¡°Wait. Wait a minute. The natives are not useless?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so?¡± Ken looked at Snek. ¡°This flies against everything you ever said about natives having no chance against the demon kings. That we all need hero-classes to win. You¡¯re wrong too, alien-snake-person.¡± The Snek paused. ¡°Our world never had anyone who was able to reach those levels. Even I, the one chosen to take a spiritual form and make the journey to the god-watched worlds, am no more than level 80. We didn¡¯t think it¡¯s even possible for natives to fight.¡± Huh. They didn¡¯t need super high levels to break themselves free of the hero class. No, maybe it¡¯s easier to break if the hero class was low levelled. Prabu looked equally puzzled. ¡°Where¡¯s this conversation heading?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Prabu. We just had a few of our key assumptions rebutted.¡± ¡°We should stay here, and watch a bit more.¡± Snek said, suddenly. ¡°If this is true, I have much to learn about this world. A lot more than just a hero class.¡± Prabu frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not accepting freeloaders. You gotta get your own crib.¡± Spaizzer Hello everyone, I''m going to promote my OWN fiction today. So, writing Trees is pretty stressful, and it''s pretty taxing mentally since I gotta keep track of all the different loose plot threads and past powers (entirely my fault). That''s mentally tiring, so, to let off steam, I''m writing this. Every chapter''s usually written in about 10-30 minutes, usually during my office-lunch hours, so... yeah. It''s not a work of art, but I''m hoping it''ll be fun. It''s a pretty dumb story, and it''s very trope-ish and silly. But if you wanna read something that''s the equivalent of cultivation junk food, I think this is it. It''ll contain harem elements too. https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/48389/the-royal-path-of-cultivation Tree and the Snake Year 194 A few more years to go, and I¡¯ll be 200 years old in this world. That¡¯s really long, though honestly, it only felt like a few years. Time is relative to lifespan. For a person who will live to 100, 10 years is 10% of his life, but for a tree that could live to 1,000 years, it¡¯s only 1%. The levelling system, therefore, is clearly rigged in favor of those with longer lifespan, though the levels itself allow those with shorter lives to live, far, far longer. Like Edna.. Roon and Johann were just one level away from Level 150. Roon was an [Aeonic Sharpshooter], and Johann was an [Aeonic Master Ranger]. Both were ranged combatants, unlike Edna. Alka was level 143 [Aeon¡¯s Field Scientist]. They were a little restless. After all, they were so close. I totally understand how they felt. After all, I lingered at the edge of that level for a long time, too. There were new people, of course. Every year we admitted more into the Valthorns, and from that, an even smaller group that received the [Soul Strengthening Seeds]. Looking at the entirety of my talent pipeline, I had three bottlenecks. One - Individuals who were able to reach their level caps of Level 80 to Level 90s were not many. Not everyone had the disposition or the personality to strive, and keep pushing. Some just wanted to back off and just relax. This problem was mostly solved by expanding my recruitment to cover the entire continent. With hundreds of millions across all the cities, it¡¯s very possible to get the talent needed. Two - training my talents to the level caps, and then beyond that, to the domains. I could cheat with [experience seeds] and give them upgraded classes and upgraded skills, and my gift to level them up to level 60, but all of these were like giving a powerful car to a driver who may not be sufficiently well equipped to use them. They needed a good foundation, and then only the powerful skills could then make a difference. Three - The soul strengthening seed that broke the level cap. There was a finite number of soul strengthening seeds I could make per year. The fact that these damned ginseng required long gestation periods only made this even more painful. But I wondered, why did it have to be me? So I approached both Aria and Lilies for help. ¡°This here is a [soul strengthening seed], made from ginseng. Are you guys able to make similar items?¡± ¡°No.¡± Aria said. Lilies responded and then produced a lotus root. - We would select Tree of Life. In the end, I thought the ability to invade other worlds, and establish bases in other parts of the world to be too enticing for me to let go. Not just that, it fundamentally allowed me to engage with heroes with a lot less fear, since now, they¡¯d have to kill all of me, not just the main tree. No, the first thing I wanted to do if I chose Tree of Life, was the damned moon base. ¡°You cannot be serious.¡± Stella looked at me. ¡°You want to send a seed to the moon?¡± ¡°Yes. I am.¡± ¡°You¡¯re destroying the natural environment of the moon.¡± ¡°Is this a conversation about preserving the natural environment? Because as far as I know, trees are natural.¡± ¡°Not native to the moon.¡± ¡°The moon¡¯s uninhabited.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know that.¡± ¡°Then more reason for me to go to the moon.¡± I argued. ¡°Can a tree go into space? No, can a tree go to the moooooooooon?¡± Stella frowned and smacked her head. ¡°That¡¯s lame.¡± ¡°I¡±m a tree. I am unable to walk. If I were an animal, I would be lame.¡± Stella rolled her eyes ¡°...fuck you.¡± ¡°So will you open a portal to the moon, or not?¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll try. I¡¯ll need some time to prepare.¡± - I selected my level 200 domain, and I felt power surge and flood through all of my body. I felt my Heart, deep underground melt, and then, it split apart into five parts. One, immediately embedded itself back to where it was. I had four more seeds. [Seeds of Aeon]. They were small, the size of a basketball. At the same time, I felt the other powers of the domain activate. [Lumoof has been added to your pantheon automatically] [Pantheon invitation sent to Edna, Lilies, Aria] Eh. Strange that the system knew to invite them [Edna has accepted.] [Aria and Aispeng have accepted.] There was nothing from Lilies. Not that he wanted them to urgently accept. They were probably still debating the specifics of such a pantheon. [Skill upgraded: Tree of Prayers now also emit a healing aura around them] ¡°Eh. That¡¯s another skill.¡± - I watched Ken and Snek stalk my Valthorns around Freshka. They were extremely amazed when they saw Edna walking on the streets. They were almost caught a few times, but I told my Valthorns to ignore them. I wanted to see what they would do. ¡°That woman is special!¡± Snek said in amazement. ¡°I could feel her radiant power here. We must see this tree. To think this background energy that we felt all the way in the Northern Isles was all from this place!¡± ¡°The tree was in the north?¡± Ken asked. ¡°Yes. It was.¡± ¡°When?¡± ¡°For a long time. I thought it was just some residue of this world, like something normal.¡± Ken laughed and sneered. ¡°You have eyes, but you could not see Mount Tai. And you¡¯re a fish out of water, no, a snake out of the forest.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a snake-person-turned-spirit! We live underground, we survive mostly on magic and our diet consists of underground monsters.¡± Snek clearly was on a different conversational wavelength. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s possible for me to take a spiritual form?¡± Ken wondered. ¡°Think about it, a spiritual form. I¡¯ll be a ghost! If I¡¯m a ghost, nothing can kill me.¡± ¡°Of course it is, but as I said, there are risks. Nine out of ten attempts to take on an ethereal, spiritual form fails, catastrophically.¡± The snake said. ¡°And of course nothing can kill you! You¡¯re already dead!¡± But these two guys got in trouble, not with my people, well, maybe they are my people indirectly. There was an Aiva delegation in Freshka, as part of our peace arrangement with the Temple of Aiva. An Aivan high priest immediately stopped and saw them while they were in town. ¡°You.¡± He pointed at Ken without knowing who he was. ¡°I sense a foul ghost lingering about you. What are you doing, stalking about town with that ghost.¡± Ken was defiant. ¡°Last I checked, having a ghost for a friend isn¡¯t a crime.¡± The Aivan high priest discussed and whispered to his guards. ¡°It isn¡¯t, but I can still punish evildoers as I see fit.¡± ¡°No, you won¡¯t.¡± Ken said, and he ran. The Aivan priest and his group of guards ran after him. Bloody hell. Ken moved quickly, apparently he picked up some [Rogue] classes. Snek, unfortunately, shielded him from Patreeck¡¯s pervasive mind reading. But Patreeck could still pick up random thoughts and little bits that they didn¡¯t manage to protect. Snek spent most of his spiritual powers to protect Ken, and Snek¡¯s was partly exposed. There were moments when we saw little glimpses of what Snek desired, and it was a bit of wonder and intrigue. I found it interesting that Patreeck¡¯s power could even be used on spirits. I didn¡¯t manage to use it on the demon parasite previously, but maybe that was because it was inside Alvin. He managed to lose the Aivan priests. ¡°Damned holy people. They really don¡¯t like you.¡± ¡°It is not my fault they confuse me with the undead.¡± Snek responded. ¡°I really don¡¯t understand this world¡¯s culture of despising certain forms of magic.¡± Ken shrugged. ¡°People have prejudices. You are probably just blind on your own.¡± I had enough of observing them from afar, and so, I sent Roon to confront them. We knew where they walked and lived in Freshka. Roon knocked on their door, they borrowed some money from Prabu and rented a place of their own. ¡°Who the hell?¡± Ken wondered and activated [Detect Presence]. ¡°Shit, it¡¯s the Valthorns. Have we been discovered?¡± Roon knocked again, and then said. ¡°I know you¡¯re in there, Mr Ken. I¡¯m Roon of the Valthorns. Aeon wants to see you. Both of you.¡± Ken stared at Snek and whispered. ¡°How¡¯d he find us?¡± Snek shook its tiny snake head. ¡°You mean, what finally made him decide to send someone and get us.¡± ¡°Ugh. Are we dead?¡± Ken turned to the door and shouted. ¡°What does he want?¡± Roon said. ¡°He just wants to see you, and your spirit-companion. He has some interesting questions.¡± ¡°He knows.¡± Ken whispered. ¡°Should we bail? Do you think Prabu exposed us to him?¡± Roonhad preempted that. ¡°There¡¯s really no use running, Ken. We¡¯ve been watching you for some time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lie. My [Rogue] skills didn¡¯t pick up shit.¡± Ken responded. ¡°It only means your skills are too low levelled.¡± Ken looked around. ¡°Can we run?¡± Snek shook its head. ¡°Think, you fool. We have a high levelled operative outside our door, and I think this Aeon could easily catch us anywhere we go. Our odds are fucked either way. We should cooperate.¡± ¡°Are we in danger?¡± Ken shouted. Roon smirked at the question, and then knocked on the door. ¡°You¡¯re not, don¡¯t worry. But as for your spirit companion, it really depends on what your friend is willing to share.¡± Ken looked at Snek. ¡°Oh, you fucked.¡± Ken opened the door, and saw a carriage was already prepared. One of the continent¡¯s finest. A small convoy of beetles. ¡°Good.¡± Roon smiled. ¡°Please get in the carriage.¡± Ken nodded and went in. Roon followed. The carriage was magically enchanted by our mages for comfort, and security. ¡°Where are we going?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I say so earlier? You both are going to meet Aeon, of course.¡± ¡°What does he want?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Roon shrugged. ¡°You¡¯ll have to see for yourself.¡± Snek stared at Roon. ¡°What level are you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s classified.¡± Ken looked at him, ¡°Certainly below level 150. But I¡¯m guessing it''s very close.¡± They had seen Edna and Lumoof both in Freshka, so they must have got a sense from their relative power levels. Roon smiled. ¡°Good one.¡± ¡°What changed?¡± Ken then said. ¡°My friend here says you¡¯ve been watching us for some time.¡± ¡°Oh, I wasn¡¯t watching you, but in Freshka, someone is always watching.¡± ¡°Freaking police surveillance state.¡± Ken responded. - We brought them deep into the Valthorn¡¯s Keep, and brought them before one of the larger Tree of Prayers. Snek was immediate. ¡°This isn¡¯t Aeon.¡± Roon smiled. ¡°Very observant, snake-spirit.¡± Lumoof then walked in, and sat on the chair opposite them. Roon gave Lumoof a nod and left the three. Snek eyed him intensely. ¡°Greetings, and a very belated welcome to Freshka, the administrative capital of the Central Continent.¡± ¡°You...¡± Snek said. ¡°I didn¡¯t see it before, but...¡± Lumoof eyes glowed, and I descended upon my avatar. At that moment, both Ken and Snek felt an oppressive pressure. ¡°Greetings, Ken and Snek.¡± My voice was amplified by the avatar power, and it sounded like a thousand men said a single word. The little snake spirit just whimpered. Ken looked at Snek in shock. ¡°Uh.¡± ¡°I have much to ask of Snek.¡± Ken paused. ¡°How¡¯d you know...¡± ¡°This is my city, and nothing here escapes my eyes.¡± I said and as I stared at Snek through Lumoof. ¡°Tell me the truth, Snek, and nothing but the truth. What are you, where are you from, and what are you doing here?¡± Snek¡¯s little snake body whimpered, and Ken just stared. He had most likely never seen Snek behave in such a manner. Eventually, I lightened the pressure, and the small snake managed to move. I could use the entirety of Patreeck¡¯s mind reading powers at this distance, but I wanted to see what it was going to do. I wanted to apply some of Patreeck¡¯s power, to force a bit of honesty. But I decided to hold back, and wait. The snake adjusted itself, and then said. ¡°I am Sawabesarulars, a snake-person turned Snake spirit from a world consumed by demons.¡± ¡°Is that the truth?¡± I applied Patreeck¡¯s power, and the Snek vibrated from the mental shock. Patreeck said yes. ¡°Good.¡± Snek nodded, shaken but it steeled itself. Ken immediately said. ¡°Wait, you¡¯re using some mind reading powers?¡± ¡°Your snake has some kind of possession ability, it is but a taste of its own type of power.¡± I responded. ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡± Ken asked. I ignored the question and just looked at Snek. ¡°Sawabesarulars, continue your explanation.¡± ¡°Our world was lost to the demons about five hundred and sixty-three years ago, when the Gods stopped summoning heroes to our world. Our gods, Gayas, Deyar and Marak all abandoned us simultaneously, and we were invaded by the Dragon-demons. The surface world was mostly lost, and the few surface dwellers that remained lived in hiding, in fear of the consuming dragons.¡± I checked. It was honest. ¡°We retreated to the subterranean tunnels, and that was where the survivors lived ever since. We dug deeper and deeper tunnels, and our people changed. But we always wanted to return to the surface. So, about five hundred years ago, our people hatched a plan. The idea was simple. We knew that there were multiple worlds, and gods summoned heroes to them. We learned this from the zaratans who once lived in our world. At least, before the surface water was consumed.¡± Again, no lies. I commanded Patreeck to continue, and only alert me if it lied. ¡°We had great leaders, and great mages. But only heroes could defeat the demon king.¡± Patreeck sensed an uncertainty here. ¡°We thought, if the gods wouldn¡¯t send us heroes, we would have to steal them from elsewhere. Our leaders and ancient masters had a good grasp of the higher magics of the world, and were masters of spiritual-blood magic. We knew that it was very difficult to send a person from one world to another. But if a person was in a spiritual form, it was easier to endure the perils of the dark void.¡± The snake continued. ¡°I, along with many other mages and wizards, were sacrificed as part of a blood ritual that stitched all our souls together. This transformed us to a spiritual existence. That was the first step. Next, we had to gain levels. A powerless spirit could not hope to steal a hero-class.¡± I paused and asked. ¡°How did you learn how to steal a hero class?¡± ¡°In our ancient history before our fall, our mages once helped a hero lose her class. It involved using soul fragments of other souls to significantly empower an underlying soul, such that it could shake off the hero-class that was latched to it. It was harder to do, if the hero class was at a higher level, as each level gained in the hero class enhanced its grip over the soul.¡± ¡°Continue.¡± Huh, so the solution was really that simple. Make the soul strong such that it could get rid of the hero class? If I gave someone a really powerful ginseng, could it achieve the same effect? ¡°So I was made into a spirit, and next, we waited. We waited for the moment when the twin-headed Dragon Demon-king of our world was sent to another world. The demons had magical rifts that opened paths to other worlds, and when those rifts were open, I snuck into the rifts. But I didn¡¯t come out on the other side.¡± Ken looked. ¡°I waited in the dark void, for the moment when the heroes would fly through. There were many near hits, but many of these heroes rebuffed my attempts to speak to them. But finally, when Ken and his group travelled from the other side, Ken agreed to talk to me, and it seemed we got lucky that he wanted nothing of this too.¡± I looked at Ken. ¡°Lucky for you, the spirit you picked up doesn¡¯t seem exceptionally malicious. Didn¡¯t your parents tell you not to talk to strange creatures when travelling through the void?¡± The former hero sniggered. Patreeck confirmed he wasn¡¯t lying, at least. He could still fake it, but I didn¡¯t see a need to. ¡°So you got what you wanted. What¡¯s next?¡± ¡°I need to send the hero class back, of course. The only way I knew how to send a hero class back, sadly, involved consuming a powerful soul.¡± ¡°Did the gods say why your world was lost?¡± ¡°No. Maybe.¡± Maybe if one of the gods got out of range, all of the Gods decided to pull out together? ¡°I came here to look for answers. We felt it when a god descended, and I had questions. My people wanted to know why we were forsaken.¡± Ken nodded and added. ¡°I thought I should see his journey to the end, that¡¯s why I came here with him. He¡¯s spiritually bound to me, and he can¡¯t stay too far from me.¡± ¡°I see. Tell me more about your blood magic.¡± Ken¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°Wait. Why blood magic?¡± Snek was in thought and failed to protect Ken¡¯s mind. Patreeck, at that moment, read the now-not-a-hero¡¯s mind. ¡®Fuck, it¡¯s really an evil competent military empire with an evil god at its helm. We¡¯re so fucked. We¡¯re dealing with the Empire and this person is the Emperor.¡¯ I was amused at the thought. Snek continued. ¡°Our blood magic involved the use of souls and spirits for augmentation. The idea was the soul of many is stronger than the soul of one, and it should be possible to enhance one from many. Our origins were troubled by malpractice, forced sacrifices and wrongful use, but over the years we focused on the key elements of good blood magic. That involved wholly willing sacrifices, and clean rituals. Consent and willingness was a fundamental concept, a powerful component that can significantly change the nature of a blood magic ritual. If we failed to consent, the ritual would generate hex.¡± If consent and willingness negated the harmful effects. ¡°How do you know someone truly consented?¡± ¡°We would do test-rituals to confirm consent. A smaller ritual involving just the blood of the participants. Consent and willingness is written in our soul and our identity, and parts of it can be detected in the blood with the right ritual.¡± ¡°Fascinating.¡± Ken¡¯s mind was just full of suspicion. ¡®Oh god is this magical tree going to sacrifice people en-mass? What have I done? No. No. Play it cool. Don¡¯t alert the Empire. Find the resistance.¡¯ Snek was entirely cooperative. ¡°May I ask you some questions too?¡± I nodded through Lumoof. ¡°Sure, if it is reasonable.¡± Spaizzer I''d like to shoutout a few works. I''m kinda cheating because I fucked up the links to my previous shoutouts so I wanna make it up to them. So uh, help me check out the stories? After all, I only post once a week, and you guys gotta read something else while you wait for the next chapter, right? RIGHT??? SO: First - Zendran''s Snek! Want more Snek? Check out - Great Cores Paradox Next - Asviloka''s Zu mari. It''s essentially a crazy xianxia story - Zu Mari - Time Looper Also, if you''ve not seen it already, the incredibly entertaining tale of the alchemist cultivator The 3rd Law of Cultivation - Qi = MC2 Tree of the Moon Year 195 Snek wanted to know how we stood up to the demon kings. I was frank, we didn¡¯t. At least, not yet. It was a very depressing conversation, as Snek wanted to know what levels were needed to be able to fight toe-to-toe with the demon king. In truth, if Edna was alone, she would survive the first day, but she¡¯ll be dead on the second. So, Level 150 was not enough. No. Even level 200 was not enough. We would need an army of us to do so. To think that the ancient dragons were able to hold the demons back, they had to have many creatures of that tier of power. Or were the dragons naturally so powerful? It was a very high bar. Level 200? They would have to gnaw at the demons for decades before they get there, and on top of that, fight the demon king itself. Without the hero fragments, it would be very difficult to actually reach such levels. But my two compatriots did it. Both Edna and Lumoof did. In Edna¡¯s case, she served me for about 50 years when she achieved her [domain]. Lumoof, relatively speaking, got there faster, because of the boost from the dungeons. Could we transplant this to their world? After decades and centuries of hiding, they were not used to fighting. All they fought were the natural spawns that emerged from the tunnels, and there were powerful monsters even deep underground. The demon-dragons of their world were not exactly interested in total annihilation, either. They seemed to only care about great crystal spires, the largest of which served as the spawning pools of demon kings. Snek had seen at least three such spawning pools on their worlds, nursed by the energies harvested from their world¡¯s core. There¡¯s clearly a mechanism in the background, where a world will transform to a demonic world under certain circumstances. Snek doesn¡¯t know. ¡°Told you you should not have done shit.¡± Prabu said. ¡°Now you¡¯ve got yourself entangled with Aeon itself.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting the Empire.¡± Ken defended himself. ¡°Which signs did you miss? The extremely powerful subordinates? The strange compliance from even the peripheral states? The magical beetle creatures that¡¯s clearly controlled by someone that can reach the entire continent?¡± Ken frowned. ¡°When you put it like that.¡± Snek on the other hand, seemed absolutely converted. It¡¯s almost embarrassing how much of a fanboy he had suddenly become. ¡°Aeon is the hope we¡¯ve been looking for.¡± Ken sighed. ¡°I really want to send you back, now. I can¡¯t stand all this praising Aeon shit. Seriously. What do I need to do to send you back?¡± ¡°No. I need to learn more from Aeon. Our world would do much better if Aeon could help us.¡± Snek was a fanboy, and I felt secondhand embarrassment from eavesdropping. ¡°Where was the crafty clever snake I met?¡± Ken smacked his face. ¡°I miss the snarky snake.¡± ¡°As you¡¯ve once succinctly described it, I had eyes, but I could not see Mount Tai. I have now seen the difference between heaven and earth, and there is much for me to do.¡± Snek answered. Prabu laughed. ¡°That¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen a spirit turn into a fan-animal. Ken, you¡¯ve outdone yourself in training your pet.¡± ¡°One must know their place in the world. There are mountains beyond mountains.¡± Ken sighed. ¡°And I regret exposing you to xianxia quotes.¡± Prabu, the archmage was literally in tears. ¡°You absolutely deserved this, Ken. You know, you did all this to avoid the whole hero-shenanigans, and here you are, entangled in the bigger shenanigans.¡± ¡°Yeah. A snake¡¯s attempt to save their own world. I don¡¯t see how one hero class is enough to change the scales though, at least, from what we¡¯ve seen in this world, the demon kings clearly can take on multiple heroes.¡± The snake spirit responded. ¡°We don¡¯t need to. The demon king, at maturity, would be immediately sent to invade another world. The demon¡¯s defenses on our world are the demon champions, the greater guardians, and the demonic spawning pools¡¯ spires.¡± ¡°The spires are defenses?¡± Prabu was curious. ¡°Yes. They are.¡± Ken sighed. ¡°What have I done to deserve this?¡± ¡°Bad karma, dude.¡± - Stella was ready, and the crystal batteries charged up. We avoided using daemolite, even though those could store more void mana, simply because we didn¡¯t want to leave any trails for the demons to follow. Edna held one of my clones, the [Seed of Aeon], and we waited. Lumoof waited next to him. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s open a portal to the moon.¡± The portal manifested, and I saw a thread of darkness that seemed to stretch ever further. We had a portal to one of the moons. Lumoof gulped, took the seed from Edna, and looked at Stella. They nodded. Now was not the time for hesitation. He stepped close to the portal, and Stella and the other void mages felt the void mana drain from the crystals. ¡°Portal is ready and stable.¡± Lumoof stepped through, and I felt a searing pain from Lumoof, as if we were suddenly exposed to something extremely harsh. My priest was now on the moon, and even though the atmosphere was non-existent, and his skin burned from the harsh, unprotected light of the suns, the sight was breathtaking It was like how the astronauts sent back the first pictures of Earth. I activated a range of shields, and I knew that any lesser druid would have died the moment they stepped through the portal. There was no ¡®life¡¯ on the moon. Nothing for a druid to work with. There was no breathable air, but Lumoof was sustained by magic, and a bubble created from my adaptive powers. He placed my [Seed of Aeon] on the dirt floor of the moon, and I sensed that different, extremely parched dirt. The seed buried itself into the dirt. ¡®Should I go back?¡¯ Lumoof mentally asked, and I noticed the lag wasn¡¯t as noticeable as the other worlds. ¡°Not yet. We¡¯ll start by exploring the moon, whether there¡¯s anything to see.¡± Lumoof walked, and damn the moon was huge. For most part, there really was nothing to see. It was just vast plains and mountains of dirt and rock. Here, we had an unblocked view of the stars and the suns, and it was unforgiven. My wooden shields were hammered by the rays of the burning light, and I regenerated them constantly. ¡°It seems we can put the contentious theories of the moons to rest.¡± Lumoof said as he observed the moons in the sky. ¡°There are five moons after all.¡± We mostly only saw two moons, these two being the largest and the closest. But there have been claims of multiple, smaller moons that are further away. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure. There may still be moons we have not seen, and the other three moons, are they really orbiting the planet? And are they really moons or just extremely large asteroids?¡± ¡°That difference is academic.¡± Lumoof stated. There was mostly nothing to see. And then there was. In one of the valleys, we saw a crater. The moon was covered in craters, but this one was different. There was a big pile of silvery bones right at the center of the crater. This was a crash crater. Bones. It wasn¡¯t hard to tell what it was. Four wings, claws, horns on the head. It looked quite like a type of dragon, and it was massive. The largest dragon bones I¡¯ve ever seen, and strangely, most well preserved as well. Strange that it did not decay under the battering of the sun¡¯s harsh rays. There was not a single bit of flesh left. It was just bones exposed to the harsh sun. It shone. ¡°How¡¯d it get here?¡± Lumoof was just as amazed as I was. The fact that it crashed seemed to suggest it somehow flew here? All the way from the planet? It¡¯s large. ¡°Maybe there¡¯s some scales or other such stuff that¡¯s in the dirt around us. We should dig.¡± I sensed my [Seed of Aeon] still gradually settling in. It takes time for the seed to sprout in these parched lands. ¡°Agreed. But let¡¯s wait for the tree to settle in. These bones won¡¯t go anywhere soon.¡± I didn¡¯t want to touch them. Not yet. I mentally marked the location on a makeshift map of the moon. Lumoof kept walking. Patreeck said then. ¡°We should tap into the bone¡¯s memories when we can.¡± Yeah. That¡¯s right. The bones could show me a glimpse of what happened in the past. I wondered whether these dragon bones could show me something different from what I¡¯ve seen before. If anything, dragon bones could be used to make very powerful weapons, at least, if I follow how the stories normally go. Hopefully these would be more useful than the previous batch of dragon bones. We went further, and walked more of the moon. I had to take over at parts, as Lumoof needed to rest. The moon was covered in craters, and the moon-dirt was all loose, the texture was powderish. There was no water on this moon. I would have to magically create them as part of my terraforming programme. I felt mana flow to my [seed of Aeon] as it created its first root on the moon. [You have acquired a new title : Tree on the Moon!] Ah! Titles! I¡¯ve forgotten such things existed. They usually did nothing. - It took months for my new clone trees to even make it¡¯s first tiny sprout, as most of the mana was used to change the environment. ¡°We should make a cocoon, rather than a full terraform of the moon.¡± Stella insisted. ¡°Moon base, not change the moon. Atmosphering changes may bring about widespread weather changes and may cause things to decay.¡± That was also a valid opinion. I should test out the impact of terraforming the moon on a smaller scale before applying it to the entire moon. In addition, I wasn¡¯t fully sure how my new terraforming powers under [Tree of Life] actually worked. This part of the project would take a while, since I would have to take some time to check the impact of my new powers on an entirely foreign moon-environment. ¡°Maybe you should do this first, on an asteroid.¡± Stella suggested too. ¡°An asteroid is far more replaceable.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a waste of my clones.¡± I said frankly. ¡°It¡¯s not like I can¡¯t recreate my clones, but it is still a waste. If the plan is to create a moon-base, then let¡¯s do a moon base. Remember, the whole purpose of starting out with a moon base is to amplify void magic.¡± Indeed, void magic as a whole is a relatively fragile type of magic. They decay too quickly, and easily get weakened by a whole lot of other factors. Stella¡¯s earlier attempts to interrupt the demon king from my supertall tree tower was insufficient. The natural next step was to go even further, and thus we decided on the moon base. If we could interrupt the demon king¡¯s arrival, that¡¯ll be a good way to win. - - My spies embedded within Neira and Gaya had rather upsetting news. We still could not locate any records of attempted communication with their respective gods, and my agents even managed to comb through their ancient records. Nothing. Not a single mention of a way to speak to the gods, other than prayers. Gods find them, not the other way round. With, of course, tied in with what Snek wanted to know. How did we speak to the gods? ¡°I can¡¯t share that. It is a secret of the Triumvirs.¡± I was on friendly terms with the Snake spirit, but some things should remain secret. They were also not aware of Stella¡¯s portal magics, and that was a good thing. Stella¡¯s ability to open void portals remains a secret known only to the top of my organisation, just like my ability to create clones. I really wondered whether I should help Snek. I barely knew them, and though he had been honest, I wasn¡¯t sure I should. ¡°Shame. My people have many words they want to say to them.¡± At Prabu¡¯s recommendation, Ken also got a chance to visit the journal, but sadly, it didn¡¯t work for him. He didn¡¯t have star mana and the journal could not open for him. It was also their first time to the Valley of the Unrotten, and Snek was particularly sombre. ¡°This reminded me too much of my world.¡± Ken merely sighed. ¡°That¡¯s quite depressing.¡± - Back on our homeworld, we discussed where to put the other three more cloned bodies. No, what exactly to do with it. ¡°The other two nearby worlds are a clear candidate.¡± Edna said during the discussion. ¡°We could send the high-levelled Valthorns to those worlds, and help fight the demon kings there. This meant we could essentially gain experience from three demon kings over the same period of time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a whole lot of fighting.¡± Lumoof sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m keen to do that much of that.¡± It was true, and at Lumoof¡¯s advice, I¡¯ve also increased the dungeon-battles for the other Treeology Patriarchs and Matriarchs. A few of them have gone past level 100 recently. The most recent battle with the demon king made it clear to me that he wasn¡¯t that fond of battle. With my clones on other worlds serving as ¡®gates¡¯, I could definitely send some of my priests and Valthorns there to gain levels. Edna had another private opinion, one she shared only with me and Lumoof. ¡°One tree on the Eastern Continent. For the Aivans who now require our protection.¡± Another idea was to wait for the demonic rifts, and hijack the rifts to send my seed to the demon worlds. In short, I would invade the demon world with my seed, and use my seed as a springboard for a full scale assault to retake the demon world. I could use my seed, together with the [forest rod] to speed up the terraform, and quickly establish a defensible position. I¡¯ll most likely need Lumoof to be in that demon world for some time. Alka, my scientist, also had a view to use the clones offensively. He proposed that the clone trees be deployed on the continents where the demons were most likely to appear next. Three clones for the next three demon kings. That way, we would be able to significantly support the battles against the next few demon kings, and relieve the pressure on Lumoof. Of course, this would mean I would also be able to establish a surveillance network on the other three continents. Something that my spymasters would love. Nay. While that was appealing in a way. I do prefer having the two seeds go to each of the other nearby worlds. Currently, I was already able to learn a lot through my spies, my network of minions and vassals, and through trade. But the knowledge of these two worlds could be radically different, and the combined magical knowhow of the three worlds was likely to be more useful. Not only that. I wondered whether there are others like me in those worlds. An alliance of spirits across the three worlds would be fantastic. I¡¯d have to send Lumoof for an information gathering visit. Why, it¡¯s time for my old priest to have his own isekai adventure on another world. He gave me a look filled with horror. Spaizzer MERRY CHRISTMAS IN ADVANCE, OVERLORDX120 (Before I forget the week after) :P Next, we have Avitue''s Unliving and Blood Demon''s Retirement! Follow the footsteps of a girl, who gained unasked for immortality, through tragedies and ages, into a living legend. Tired of politics and bloodshed, she retired, to travel the world with her own two legs, looking for a new purpose... In life. Please check these three fics out, because, well, they''re awesome people and they write alot and are both really good. Also Hi guys, I''d like to just plug a work from a fellow author signed at Aethon. Apparently Amazon''s system is all messed up, so shit''s going pretty bad over there. So, please check out, UNCONTROLLABLE, a new LitRPG by @Sean Oswald (author of Watcher''s Test). In the ''Class Shift'' Series, an unlikely hero finds himself in a new world where his Class and very appearance shift at random. Now available on Kindle, KU, and Audible narrated by Daniel Wisniewski. Amazon: https://mybook.to/classshift1 Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Uncontrollable-Audiobook/B09F1GN4PC Dream of Trees On Another world Year 196 Lumoof in another world Lumoof looked at the vastness of the grasslands, the strangeness of the green grass, same, but not the same. It was a different species of grass. The air had a faint taste of blood. This was another world. Lumoof had been here before, very, very briefly, but this time, he would be here a lot longer. ¡°I got the [Dimension Traveller] skill, and title.¡± Lumoof mentally said. This was his 2nd alien world, after the moon, and now in this strange new place. The portal took a lot out of Stella, and almost half of the crystals shattered during the trip. ¡°There¡¯s a skill like that too, eh.¡± I responded, the lag wasn¡¯t as pronounced as it was before. I suspected it had to do with the domain. The higher level I was, the lower the interdimensional lag became. Lumoof nodded, and his shoulders sagged. He may be old in terms of spirit and mind, but physically he had the appearance of a mature, middle-aged man. The levels and domain had returned life, vitality and de-aged him. He took in the air, looked around, and started to walk. I could send the [seed of aeon] to him via my transportation ability, so as it is, he didn¡¯t need to carry anything. He walked, and there were some animals nearby. They took a look, and just left him alone. ¡°Stella and Kei told me these stories. Isekai.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°I¡¯m living it right now.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Then the first thing I should do is find a town, and register with an adventurers¡¯ guild.¡± Lumoof said with a sly grin. ¡°That¡¯s par for the course.¡± ¡°And I¡¯ll rescue some beautiful ladies and build a small zoo of female beast-girls?¡± ¡°If that¡¯s your thing, yes.¡± Lumoof laughed. ¡°It¡¯s not. But I must really admire the creativity of the writers of Earth. It¡¯s really something that they could come up with such ridiculous stories. It¡¯s also uncannily accurate. But let us find this city of adventurers.¡± I knew from Stella that each world seemed to have the same language. Lumoof didn¡¯t have to walk very far from the grassy fields when he saw a sign that pointed to a town. There was also a distance indicator, but we were not very sure what it was. There were trees and smaller scrubs, they were similar to those of our world, but had small differences, like their flowers were different colors or different designs. ¡°I don¡¯t quite understand why there are such differences, if the system is the one that regulates the magical spawning of monsters, animals and life generally. There should be the same, if they were based on the same templates. Like, why does the system want each world¡¯s fauna and flora to be different?¡± ¡°Variety?¡± Maybe each world has a unique ¡®seed¡¯ code that the system then runs through a creature-generator. I feel such a setup was more likely, as it gives each world¡¯s fauna an internal coherence. Our senses detected a travelling group from far away. They looked like merchants, and they had guards. Four soldiers, and four merchants. We waited for them to approach. ¡°Hey traveller.¡± Lumoof said as they approached. Lumoof was not armed, all his equipment and armor was kept in magical pocketspace. He wore a casual, long flowing thick robe. ¡°What is a priest doing here?¡± The soldiers were alert, they lifted their weapons. One had a spear, the other two had swords, and the last one had a bow. ¡°I happen to be lost.¡± Lumoof gave his best priestly, friendly smile. ¡°A strange manner of magic sent me here. Do you happen to know where I am, and what¡¯s the nearest town?¡± The soldiers were apprehensive. The merchants came out of their wagon. ¡°I don¡¯t recognise that robe, which temple are you with, priest?¡± Lumoof smiled at the merchant. ¡°Ah, very very few do. I¡¯m with a tree spirit, we¡¯re an obscure temple. Very few would know of us.¡± The merchant stared at Lumoof, and we felt the prickling of a skill. [Domain blocked attempted inspection]. ¡°And it¡¯s not nice to use a skill when I didn¡¯t.¡± The merchant¡¯s face paled, and he bowed. ¡°My apologies, Great Priest.¡± Lumoof¡¯s spirit stirred a little at the title, and I felt his subtle annoyance. Clearly the failed inspection was an answer of its own. The merchant explained that we were in one of the kingdoms, and the nearest town was along the road. I didn¡¯t bother remembering the name since it¡¯ll probably change in a few years. Lumoof feigned his best polite smile, and thanked the merchants. He declined the merchant¡¯s offer to travel with them; there was something about the opportunistic words from the merchant that irritated Lumoof. ¡°It seems it¡¯s that way.¡± - The town we visited was small, perhaps similar in size to the early days of Freeka. About 3,000 or so people lived in a wide area. The houses outside the town¡¯s walls were simple, and ones within were made of stone. They¡¯ve clearly prepared for the houses outside to be destroyed. ¡°Stop, visitor. Identify yourself.¡± Lumoof nodded. ¡°Lumoof. Priest of Aeon.¡± ¡°Never heard of it.¡± The city guard barked some orders and another guard came by. ¡°State your business. Lumoof once again flashed his best business smile, and explained that he was a lost priest, flung to this place by magic. The guard didn¡¯t know how to process him. ¡°No documentation at all? No one who could vouch for you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s magic, you can¡¯t always carry documentation with you.¡± So, they talked a little more, as Lumoof waited in bureaucratic limbo. A senior guardsperson came and the guards discussed. ¡°It seems we are only seeing humans here.¡± Lumoof mentally spoke, and I didn¡¯t notice it until Lumoof mentioned. ¡°I wonder whether there are non-humans.¡± The guards left and then a bit more bureaucracy later, a man that looked like one of the political leaders came. ¡°Priest Lumoof, thanks for waiting. I¡¯ll be frank, we¡¯ve never heard of the temples of Aeon.¡± I chuckled mentally. This was entirely our chance to play the hidden master or expert. Lumoof flashed his best friendly smile. ¡°It¡¯s no surprise, we are a hidden temple. Most of the time. In fact, this is the first time I¡¯ve ever left my temple. I actually just want to return to my temple, but I do need food and shelter while I find my way back.¡± ¡°I see.¡± The man seemed somewhat affected by Lumoof¡¯s friendly smile. He nodded. ¡°In that case, please wait a moment.¡± ¡°Not a problem, I¡¯ve already waited for so long anyway, what¡¯s a little more?¡± The man and the guards huddled and discussed, and in the end, the man returned with an iron plate. ¡°This is a temporary identification for you, Priest Lumoof. Please return it when you leave.¡± Lumoof smiled, ¡°Thank you.¡± The town was small, and all human. Lumoof wasn¡¯t going to ask anything. He knew people enough, that things about the lack of ¡®others¡¯ to be best breached when they start the conversation. Life seemed rather slow here, though there were a lot of blacksmiths repairing weapons. ¡°You need a weapon, priest?¡± Lumoof shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m just new here.¡± The blacksmiths didn¡¯t pay him any attention after that. The inn was basic, and it was more like one of the resident¡¯s homes that had extra rooms and certain segments converted to a makeshift eatery. Inns were fantastic places for gathering information. Lumoof discovered a problem immediately. ¡°I don¡¯t have money.¡± Lumoof frowned, but he walked back to that same man who gave him his plaque. ¡°Can I sell this so that I can have some money to spend?¡± He took out a small iron dagger, it was very fine, but not enchanted. He had a lot more things like that in his own pocketspace. The man seemed to stare at the dagger in amazement. ¡°This is very good quality stuff. The steel was quite finely made.¡± Lumoof wanted to roll his eyes. Of course it was. A level 80 blacksmith made it. Lumoof faked the most sympathetic look on his face. ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s a gift from a friend, but sadly I¡¯m in need of money so I do need to sell it.¡± It was one of Lumoof¡¯s skills, to help persuade and convince others to like him. The man nodded. ¡°I understand. Come with me.¡± The man returned to one of the larger buildings in the town, and came out with a small pouch of coins. ¡°Here, some official coins for you.¡± Lumoof checked it briefly and smiled. ¡°Thank you.¡± The inn was rowdy, and the beer was bad. But Lumoof could hold his drink, and he listened to the townsfolk chatter. We picked up a few things quickly. This world had gone to shit, in a way. There were three large alliances. The humans, the centaurs, and the sandpeople. Each was at war with the other two, but none ever attempted to fully conquer the world. The demons came less frequently to this world, only once every fifteen years. The heroes were summoned in groups, and each of the three alliances would usually have the same number of heroes. In a strange twist of fate, we had come full circle. I was the alien yeeted to a strange new world, and now I sent Lumoof to discover a strange new world. ¡°Strange.¡± I said, and so at night, we walked out to one open field, and through Lumoof, I activated my avatar, and created my special tree type, the [astreeal monitor]. The astreeal monitor immediately looked up, we saw. There were fewer strands of light in the sky, these little trickles that linked the world to the demons. They were all fainter, a bit further away. Lumoof looked, and he sighed. ¡°Perhaps there is a secret here, why there¡¯s less of them. Our goal here is to learn of the other world¡¯s magic, and make friends with potential allies.¡± We removed the tree, and returned to the town. ¡°You there.¡± A knight in magical armor approached us on our way back. ¡°Identification.¡± Lumoof handed the plate as commanded. He wasn¡¯t planning to resist. The knight stared at the plate for a while, and then returned it. The bed was bad, but it¡¯s too bad we couldn¡¯t go back freely, at least, not with Stella¡¯s ability. I could teleport him back but then we¡¯ll have to wait until Stella¡¯s ready to send him to another world. A waste of time. ¡°We should go to a capital city and see what we can learn.¡± Lumoof suggested and I agreed. It wasn¡¯t hard to get a wagon or a caravan to the capitol. Most traders were headed there anyway. - Back home, my seed grew well. The moon-dirt was really unpleasant, but my magic over the last year helped to transform bits of it into something a bit more usable. My clone body was now the size of a small shrub, and it contrasted with the lifelessness of the moon. It¡¯s greenery stood out like a sore thumb. It¡¯ll get faster as time goes on. I also noticed it took longer for me to create a tree, any type of tree, in this environment. That was strange, because I remembered it wasn¡¯t that long back on the demon worlds, when my vines and roots snuck through the rifts. This posited a few possibilities. My tree creation abilities through [Subsidiary Tree] or [Giant Attendant Tree] or other similar classes, had a check whether the terrain was suitable for trees. If the answer was yes, then the tree could be created almost immediately. But if not, then it¡¯ll have to magically ¡®terraform¡¯ the dirt, then only the tree was created. The second possibility was my ability actually tapped into some magical energy in the planet. If the planet, or in this case, the moon, was devoid of mana, then creating a new tree took longer. There were a few other possibilities, but I thought these two were most likely. - The capitol of this kingdom was honestly not impressive. For someone like Lumoof who''s seen the best of the Central Continent and a few others, it¡¯s actually underwhelming. In many ways, it was comparable to just a large city. There were scars of war, still seen. Lumoof learnt there was a large battle a few years ago. Even though the demon king¡¯s invasion was less frequent, the demons were still described as extremely powerful beings. ¡°We¡¯re here, priest.¡± The convoy leader said, and Lumoof gladly made the last payments. The city had a smell, and strangely, there were no identification checks. The guards just waved everyone through. He headed to the adventurers¡¯ guild. There was one, even here in this different world, and noticed it was mostly humans. There were few mixed ones, but they clearly hid their mixed heritage with hoodies, hats or other bodily coverings. Lumoof, through a skill, managed to roughly sense the strength of those in the guild itself. They were mostly low level, in their level 30s and 40s. The stronger few were in the 50s and 60s. Lumoof smiled, and approached the receptionist. ¡°I¡¯d like to hire an escort to the biggest city of mages on the continent. Do you know where I should go, and how do I get there?¡± The receptionist thought for a moment and gave a name of a city that I didn¡¯t bother to remember. Lumoof sold two knives, and then took another wagon to this magic city. It took a month, but it was actually impressive. The magic city was carved out of a large crystal mountain, and Lumoof immediately sensed very strong magical energies. It was extremely raw power, it¡¯s as if a part of the core itself was on the surface. Lumoof sensed strong magical defenses, comparable with the best of theirs. ¡°Welcome to the Magic City of Man.¡± Those who greeted Lumoof said. ¡°Here, we research the heights of magic and cast spells that the Centaurs and Sandpeople could not hope to match.¡± An adventurer that travelled with Lumoof immediately whispered. ¡°...that¡¯s not exactly true but let¡¯s not talk about it publicly.¡± More importantly, Lumoof sensed a presence that was within the crystal mountain itself. Was it a spirit? But he didn¡¯t sense the presence of a domain, or were our senses mistaken? Here, in the magic city of man, we learned more of the three great forces. As it turned out, the Sandpeople had a great pyramid of Rock that survived the assault of countless demon kings. It is their ancient relic, apparently inherited and created by their god. It was a fortress and a bunker, and it was said the demon kings assaulted it for decades and failed. The Centaurs possessed the Great Vanishing Country, which the great Centaurions controlled. The entire country itself could vanish, and the power to activate the great relic was passed down the Centaurions. With such strong relics and artefacts, its no surprise each of the three great forces managed to thrive, even with the assault of the demons. The peoples of man worshipped Maelas, the Centaurs and the nonhumans worshipped Gayaar, and the Sandpeople and Scorpios worshipped Nair. One god for each group. We immediately wondered whether Gayaar and Gaya were the same, but it¡¯s hard to say, without actually tracing the lines of heavenly power. ¡°Our world lacked such great artefacts. Perhaps, only the great elf spirit could vanish and hide their city temporarily. But if these nations could hide an entire country, they could preserve their strength even with the demon kings.¡± Lumoof said. I thought about the dwarves of Margmar, and realised that may not be true. The Margmarian dwarves had great powers and powerful relics too, but even they died in the end. The Ley Line Lense remained an unusual relic, even if I didn¡¯t find much use for it. No, even the dragons with their incredible might. Dragons that managed to even somehow land on the moon. This world just did not encounter a demon king of the right power. All of this could be lost just as easily. Within centuries, if not decades. Such power was no guarantee, even if it did help. At least, Lumoof noted, that the rulers were prepared. He noted multiple magical defensive towers, and mages on the lookout at all times. All of them seemed quite relaxed, though. ¡°Are you here to learn magic?¡± One of the city¡¯s receptionists approached him and quickly asked. ¡°Though, given your age, it might be a little too late to learn advanced stuff, but you can still learn a few tricks to impress your kids.¡± Lumoof smiled. ¡°Ah, what kind of magic can I learn? Where do I go to know more?¡± The Magic City of Man, Maelga, was segregated into rings that went closer to the peak of the massive crystalline mountain. The city itself was carved out of the crystal, and most of the academies here actually grew the crystal itself. The mountain was growing, literally. It was so damned obvious in hindsight, in fact, I should¡¯ve known it was possible when I considered that it was a relatively common activity for children in the more wealthy parts of our world. Children sometimes grew crystals out of sugar or salt. This entire city had large groups that focused on cultivation of these crystals, and parts of it were harvested. The towers were made out of a combination of magic, skill and materials harvested from far away. We saw large caravans that hauled smaller crystals and other materials here. ¡°Growing magic crystals is a sacred art available only to the high mage-priests of Maelas.¡± Of course, that was the first thing we asked. If it¡¯s possible to grow magic crystals, which I¡¯ve not seen anyone in my main world do, then I could totally grow different types of crystals. No, It may even be possible to grow powerful variants of crystals. Wait, was Aria and Aispeng essentially growing ice crystals all this while and I didn¡¯t notice to ask them for more details? Lumoof looked a bit sad, and then we approached another group of assistants and administrators. The rest of the magics were mostly normal, like spellcasting, forging and so forth. Then we saw a part of crystal manipulation and crystal forging. I bet Alka could find really interesting ways to use this new knowledge. ¡°Maybe it would be better if he was here.¡± Lumoof noted. ¡°Yes, but we need to make sure that this is a safe place for someone like him. He¡¯s too valuable to just leave him here where others could hurt him.¡± Alka was not a combatant. As a [Field Scientist], he got a lot of skills that supported his research, but he remained vulnerable to combat. Back in Freshka, Alka¡¯s always protected by an invisible army of spiders and beetles. Not only that, there¡¯s always eyes to protect him. Here, I¡¯m not comfortable with that. Maybe once he obtained his domain and gained the ability to reincarnate. Lumoof took on the role of the mature man who came to the big city for the first time, and feigned ignorance at every turn. To do so, of course, he dressed like a villager. We explored the city molded out of crystal mostly unimpeded, most of the mages just sighed when they saw us approach. We eventually arrived at a large crystal building that resembled a massive nest. ¡°This is the Hall of Maelas.¡± A guard said. ¡°No entry unless invited.¡± ¡°We should send spies here.¡± Lumoof said as we rested at an inn. It¡¯s nice. ¡°They lack the background, they¡¯ll get detected. If anything, Stella or Alka fits this place best.¡± Lumoof paused. ¡°What about Kei? This place is a mountain of living crystal. As a bio-crystalline golem she would be of huge interest to the locals.¡± But Lumoof realised the problem. ¡°And of course, it¡¯ll be a huge mark on her, as many will ask where she had been all this while?¡± Later that night we joined the inn¡¯s bar, and gathered a bit more info. It¡¯s still about 8 years to the next demon king, and there are still two living heroes, one of the sandpeople, and one of the humans. The human hero had apparently started a small kingdom of his own, while the sand-hero just turned into a hermit. My senses still suspected there was something deep in these mountains, even if I wasn¡¯t quite sure what it was. It may be possible that a spirit lived in these mountains, and my gut feel that there must be. - Spaizzer Here''s ULTIMATE ROOSTER EVOLUTION!!!! Don''t you like roosters? Isekai Tree Year 197 Another otherworldly episode of Lumoof Lumoof spent time in the other world, making friends and establishing connections, and I redirected my attention back home. Home. Snek shared all he knew about the demons. Since demon kings were not outright creations but were instead ¡®grown¡¯ in these large spawning pools, I wondered whether this meant their power level was usually determined by the world that spawned these demon kings. The core¡¯s energy, or the world¡¯s energy was drained to feed the demon king. Essentially, these demons figured out a way to channel an entire world¡¯s ley lines to create demon kings. I was amused that this actually meant that some of the earlier accusations against me that I was a demon god could therefore be true, since using ley lines to create dungeons is probably in the same category as creating demon kings from ley lines. No, more importantly, could I do the same? Currently, I¡¯m essentially using ley lines to create dungeons, which then translates to experience, to more powerful subordinates. If Snek¡¯s understanding is correct, after all, he could still be wrong since he is just an observer of the demon king¡¯s spawning pools, it should be possible for me to ¡®grow¡¯ a demon king using the powers of a world. Essentially, I could remove the dungeon part, and essentially somehow use the ley line to create stronger subordinates directly. Of course, this is the magical equivalent of me knowing that birds can fly, and then theorising that I should be able to fly too if I have wings, and now I just need to go about actually creating the wings. I certainly don¡¯t know the nitty gritty details about plane designs at all. Patreeck and my artificial minds got down to work and helped consider the issue and possible hurdles I would have to clear. One - ley lines are currently difficult to manipulate. The demon kings must have a means of manipulating ley lines in order to create more demon kings. I believe this is true, because the [forest rod] is one such strange item. On this aspect, I would either have to steal the demon¡¯s way of manipulating ley lines, or invade that demon world and see how these strange artefacts are made. Two - Demons have a way of directing energy and mana into creating life or creatures at that level of power. I think it is probably the harder hurdle. For me, I am not able to do so, and yet, I suspect my [soul forge] colors may essentially be the one of the components. If each color of the soul forge created a more ¡®complete¡¯ soul, a full soul forge should, in theory, create a whole soul. Essentially, I could create artificial souls that possess sentience and sapience above my existing artificial souls, and for them to then function as a vessel of the power from these ley lines. Based on what Snek described, these spawning pools seemed to be large, growing things. It may be a good idea to ¡®invade¡¯ a demon world just to gain control over these spawning pools. These demons were also thematic, and that implied that each spawning pool had to be configured differently in order to produce demon kings with different types of powers. I suppose in our world¡¯s terms, it is the equivalent of one country without planes that witnessed another country¡¯s planes, and now it tried to make those planes by collecting the pieces of the planes and piece them together. Or maybe just capturing the factories that made the planes. It¡¯s possible that the schematics are offsite, and the factory is just an assembly plant. In any case, it was an idea I kept at the back of my head. - It was just Ken, Snek, Stella, Edna, Kei and Prabu in the room, when I introduced Stella and Kei for the first time to both Ken and Snek. Lumoof was still in another world. Snek paused and looked at Stella. ¡°She has void energy swirling around her. Have you discovered the way of the zaratans?¡± The zaratans disappeared from Snek¡¯s world. Stella smiled. ¡°I was taught by a zaratan.¡± Snek was amazed. ¡°That means you could send me home.¡± Stella shook her head. ¡°Possible, but I believe we should first match our astral maps.¡± Snek gladly shared. This snake spirit was incredibly cooperative. The mages of Snek¡¯s world did have a map, but their maps were derived from whatever knowledge they stole or spied from the demons. We were able to roughly, using the ¡®dragon-demon¡¯ world as a point of reference, to roughly estimate the likely locations of Snek¡¯s homeworld. ¡°No. Your world is too far. Beyond our astral vision, and so, I sadly see no way of getting you there.¡± Ken watched Snek and Stella interact, but then he asked. ¡°Wait a minute, all this talk about going to other worlds, is only relevant to Snek. I want to know, is it possible to send us home?¡± Stella shook her head. ¡°Sadly, it seems earthlings and other earth variants exist in a different layer of space entirely. Only the gods are able to pierce that veil... for now.¡± ¡°Could Star Mana do so?¡± Prabu asked. To the archmage hero, star mana was the solution for everything. In most cases, that¡¯s usually right. Kei then added. ¡°Unfortunately, Stella¡¯s void magic is incompatible with star mana. We¡¯ve seen it react horribly when used together. So your trip is one-way.¡± For now, I suppose. They could die and their gods reincarnate them back to where they started. The news that Stella couldn¡¯t send him home was disappointing for Snek, but it was not the end. There was a moment of silence as everyone was in their own thoughts. For Stella, and myself, Snek¡¯s own stellar maps expanded my own view of the multiverse. We knew, at least, it was located really far away, and somehow these demons are masters of these void paths. ¡°There will be a demon king in four years. It may be possible for you to sneak through those rifts.¡± If it¡¯s the correct world. Each demon king is linked to a different world. Snek was aware of the need of mana-modulation and resonance to access those rifts. ¡°Alternatively, I could wait until the right demon king appeared. One from my world. With the right items and ritual I could separate from Ken and he would be free to do whatever he wants.¡± Ken, strangely, seemed to have an epiphany of his own. ¡®But what if Snek and this tree plots something. It¡¯s better- Wait what I am thinking? So what if they have a plot? Why should I even care? All I want to do is get out of this shit, that¡¯s why I gave up the hero class. Does it matter if I live under an autocratic god-emperor of the world, so long as I don¡¯t have to deal with it? No, if I want to live quietly and retire with a family, that¡¯s actually good!¡¯ Ken¡¯s sudden change of heart seemed to make him smile. ¡°Yeah. I actually want to just live somewhere safe and quietly for the rest of my life. Maybe it¡¯s a good idea for us to separate.¡± No one heard him say it, well, maybe except Snek. Since no one responded to Ken¡¯s statement, I merely continued with my proposal. ¡°I think it''s best to wait till the right demon king appears and figure out what¡¯s the best way to send you back. We will have many demon kings to face over the next few decades anyway, and if it is on a rotational basis as you speculated, then your world will come around.¡± We actually don¡¯t know whether the paths to the demon worlds that faded away eventually return. The data of past demon king types has been insufficient to prove that there¡¯s a larger ¡®cycle¡¯ in the background that rotated the demon kings like some constellation movement. My gut feel is there¡¯s more than just the 8 or 10 lines we see in the sky. The gods said there are thousands or millions of demon worlds. So why are only these few worlds targeting our own? No, what I also don¡¯t understand is, why not just flood a world with thousands of demon kings? Is there some rule or perhaps a magical reason why they can¡¯t come here directly? - Stella came and shouted in one of the rooms where my Tree of Prayers was. ¡°Aeon. Aeon. You must see this. There¡¯s a world that suddenly popped into our astral line of sight, and it¡¯s moving quickly! We must visit it before it goes away.¡± Awfully convenient, but I suppose before this, I didn¡¯t even know they came. We activated the monitor. It¡¯s funny that I considered this world home. Actually, I feel it is my home, and its the same for Stella. We saw a moving shadow, small and barely noticeable. I would not have noticed it. It may have been there for some time. ¡°It¡¯s lucky that I saw it there. It¡¯s thanks to Snek¡¯s starmaps that I saw something faint that moved.¡± It was far, but reachable, at least from what I understood of Stella¡¯s limits. But it moved quickly, and based on what I could tell, it would move out of Stella¡¯s range within a year or two. It¡¯s very dim, and as with worlds across space, they appeared like little bubbles. It was unique that the bubble was mostly dark, with little bits of light left. The other worlds, like the one Lumoof was in, were bright. ¡°It¡¯s a moving world.¡± ¡°Yes. We should investigate it quickly. Pull Lumoof back and we¡¯ll send him there now.¡± Stella insisted, while I can still reach it. ¡°Or send Edna.¡± ¡°No. It had to be Lumoof.¡± Lumoof spent a lot of time in the magic city of Maelga. ¡°We have a small window of interacting with this world. Given it¡¯s situation, it may be very different from what we¡¯ve seen so far.¡± Indeed. I could pull Lumoof back if I¡¯m uncomfortable with the risks. All I needed was my seed to be deployed to this strange world. I immediately pinged Lumoof. ¡°Lumoof. We have a situation back home. I¡¯ll need to send you elsewhere.¡± Lumoof nodded. He hurried off to make arrangements and said his goodbyes. It took three weeks for Lumoof to create a story that he would be away for some time. Luckily, no one asked too many questions. I pulled Lumoof back. I shared the view of the strange alien world that we saw. ¡°You want to send me there?¡± ¡°Yes. Stella said she will be able to send one. It has to be you, because I want to see what¡¯s there.¡± Lumoof nodded reluctantly. Stella immediately made preparations. I decided to name the world with the three large factions as Threeworlds, and the stray world as the Cometworld, since it¡¯s behavior was comet-like. The fact that it drifted in and out of view suggested it had a path that it travelled through space. I was fascinated, and intrigued by what a world like that would be. ¡°But Threeworlds? The magic city? There¡¯s still so much to discover...¡± I could have put my clone tree somewhere just to lock my access to the world, but I decided it was better to wait. I wanted a good location, and I wanted to see whether it¡¯s get certain special effects if my tree was located on some extremely powerful ley line. ¡°We can return to Threeworlds later.¡± Threeworlds and that other world seemed to be somewhat ¡®tidally-locked¡¯, that our homeworld and these two worlds seemed perpetually close by. I think it wouldn¡¯t leave us for a while. Lumoof stared. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± Stella quickly gathered her resources, and prepared far larger quantities of crystals than ever before. The spell strained her energy, and I had to support her with my vines. The portal opened, and my vines went through. ¡°Quickly!¡± Stella shouted as she felt her void energies fading. The relatively faster movement of this cometworld through the void sea increased the cost and difficulty of the portal. It was essentially trying to throw a line at a moving speedboat. It¡¯s land. I saw floating... islands? Lumoof stepped through, and I felt searing pain. It was a familiar one, a sensation of being torn apart. No, it¡¯s like one was hanging by the side of a speedboat, or one of those tourist things, where the boat lowered a paraglider such that their leg¡¯s partly in the water. I felt something smash into Lumoof¡¯s body, and I tried my best to shield him from it. Lumoof went through. - When we arrived, there were no trees, no grass. Just dirt and dust. The air was hot and burning, but filled with magic. Unpleasant, angry magic. It was as if mana itself took a personality, and it was unpleasant. The ground was unstable, and rumbled constantly. Huge chunks floated in the sky, and the sky was reddish. I felt it instantly. This was a dying world. We saw a light, and it streaked across the red sky and smashed into somewhere off the horizon. Minutes later, a flash of light, and a shockwave of hot wind. There were more lights in the sky. I shielded Lumoof instantly and encased his body in an armor of wood. ¡°What should we even do?¡± I activated my avatar form, and Lumoof turned into a massive tree. I spawned trees by the hundreds, and more magical labs. If there is somewhere or something left in this world- I activated a dome of wood, there was another shockwave from another meteor. The red sky was filled with it. The sun was red, and it was large. My sensors tried to sense for any magic, but there were too many of these shockwaves, they contaminated the data. It¡¯s like trying to listen for the footsteps of ants when there¡¯s a band playing right next door. Boom. Another shockwave. ¡°We should return, Aeon. There¡¯s most likely nothing here.¡± ¡°Wait.¡± I said. If Snek can survive in their world, there must be survivors. Even if all I can do for them is evacuate them offworld, that may be good enough. As my roots spread, I felt something touch me from the deepest of my roots. It spoke to me directly. Child of another world... Who¡¯s that? But before anything, I felt like I was entranced. We are dying, the sun father nears its end. Our world doomed. Save our children, they are there. [You have received a living map of the Cometworld] The map appeared before me like- The ground cracked, and it tore. A part of it started to float. ¡°We have to move. Quickly.¡± The map instantly marked certain red spots, which I presumed where this voice wanted me to go. Lumoof closed his eyes and then brought out a magical scroll. [Greater Teleport]. We were instantly warped, and I was suddenly on another cracking island. It looked like a city, or at least, a castle. I saw people. No, they were... dogs? They had the head of a dog, and they were each a different type of dog. They looked at me in horror. ¡°A monster!¡± ¡°Kill-¡± A meteor smashed into one of the castle¡¯s towers, and incinerated it instantly. People were fleeing, but they didn¡¯t know where they were going. We saw another meteor. Lumoof instantly jumped onto one of the walls, and created a wooden shield. The meteor smashed into the wooden shield and disintegrated. My first direct hit from the falling meteors, and I realised, it contained star mana. Within these meteors were star mana. My shield would not have disintegrated so easily. Not to something as simple as falling rocks from space. I turned, and saw more dogpeople, they looked like mages, with their stone staff and crystals. ¡°You.¡± Back home, Stella was in no condition to send anyone back. She had collapsed after Lumoof went over. How do I... No. The clone seed was one of the ways I could save these people. I could exploit the Tree of Clones to send someone to me. Unlike the moon, which never had any trees, this world once had trees. I knew that from the brief avatar state, and from when my roots touched the ground. ¡°Lumoof. Place my seed in the ground. Now.¡± Lumoof leapt off the walls and landed on the dirt. ¡°Are you sure? This world is dying.¡± Another meteor crashed elsewhere. This was a world experiencing a meteor-pocalypse. ¡°Lumoof, are you suggesting we let these people die?¡± I mean, I usually don¡¯t care, but I suppose seeing a world dying right before my eyes was something else. This was like watching a movie where someone used a black hole in the center of a planet. ¡°I can always make more seeds, but let us not waste time.¡± My seed was planted in the ground, and it absorbed the mana from the ground, and quickly turned into a massive tree. The dog people looked in wonder. I had never used the Tree of Clone¡¯s transportation ability. I didn¡¯t expect to have to do an evacuation of an entire planet, but I suppose there¡¯s a first for everything. Our childrens die. I felt the voice again through my roots. Lumoof immediately shouted. ¡°This world is dying, we will send you somewhere safe. Come quickly! Tell everyone!¡± The dog people talked among themselves, and some walked to the tree. The first dogpeople to volunteer looked like a warrior of somekind, he had armor and a spear on his back. He touched my clone tree, and a large tree-door appeared. I sent him through, and felt it drain my own mana. When he appeared on the other side, Edna had already mustered a group on standby. The dogpeople looked shocked, and the first thing he saw was the blue skies outside. ¡°The skies. They are still blue!¡± He said. I would talk to them later. The dogpeople looked apprehensive, but Lumoof was persuasive, and more went through the door. More meteors were crashing, and more of the land cracked and splintered. Essentially, this was a planet that was in the process of crumbling. Within months the whole planet would turn into separated chunks. The rest of the dogpeople of this town went through, I couldn¡¯t tell who was what, it seemed some of them were more important than the others, but eventually almost everyone went through. There were a few of them left, who stayed behind. Not out of suspicion, but to help. The dogpeople had faced the falling stars for weeks. It started with a strange twisting of space, and the stars changed. The sun was once golden, and the skies were once blue, but it turned red, and the world started breaking apart. Many cities have been destroyed by the falling stars since then. There were no demons here, just nothing more than plain old stellar catastrophe. This was no time to hold back on relics, so Lumoof used [Teleport] scrolls liberally and moved to the other cities. The map was real time, and the red dots marked surviving cities. Each day more of these red dots vanish. I didn¡¯t know why, but I felt really sad. Our childrens die Sadly, the inter-dimensional transportation can only be performed at my main tree of clones. ¡°You must go too. We need your portals, else more will die.¡± I told Stella three days after we were at the Cometworld. By now, the dogpeople had briefed the rest of my Valthorns of what happened in their world. They were still an official secret, of course, and they never left my Valley of the Unrotten. Instead, the Valthorns set up an entire refugee camp in my valley. It was nostalgic, of course. My valley was once the refugee camp of the surviving New Freekans. Stella, with her portal, worked with Lumoof and opened portals between the continents and cities of the Cometworld. Most of these dogpeople, they called themselves the Canar. Together, for weeks and months, we sent the Canari people to our world. We didn¡¯t really negotiate much, it seemed the people there had acknowledged their doom, so Lumoof¡¯s presence was perhaps that of an angel of salvation. The sunfather collapses We couldn¡¯t save everyone. Every day I saw more red dots vanish, either because of meteors, or from the sundered earth. The earth cracked more every day, and eventually, the last red dot was gone from the map. Everyone I could save was saved. Millions more have died. 350,000 Canari went through those portals over the course of months, and arrived at my Valley of the Unrotten. We immediately found an isolated, quiet place on the central continent, and transported them secretly there through our network of underground tunnels. Then, I sent both Lumoof and Stella back, and in the world of the Cometworld, my tree of clones was the last living thing that remained. Stella returned, exhausted, and rested. The next day, she vented her despair. ¡°I could¡¯ve done more if we found them earlier.¡± At this juncture, I thought about what would have happened if I chose [Crown of Magic] or [Will of the World]. With Crown of Magic, I should be able to create more void mana and therefore open those portals myself. Not just that, in theory, I should be able to use those spells through Lumoof. With Will of the World, I¡¯d probably try to move our world closer to it. The Cometworld¡¯s meteor shower intensified, and the world cracked. A huge chunk had separated, and the weather had turned almost unlivable. But my tree of clones was not something so easily destroyed. My roots extended deeper into the ground. There was something I wanted to do. I sought out the voice. I may not be able to reach the core of my world, but I should be able to reach the exposed core of this Cometworld. Horizon of Trees Year 197 (continued) The Cometworld crumbled, as large chunks that blanked the red sky drifted apart. I spawned my trees quickly, and my roots spread out through the rocks and dirt, and grabbed the earth. There were still meteors that rained from the red skies above, but thanks to this large chunk of rock that drifted overhead thanks to the loss of gravity, it functioned as a meteor-umbrella. I wasn¡¯t even sure whether it¡¯s just gravity, or just some weird magical forces in this world. I certainly could feel it, as it tried to tear my roots apart. My trees had spread as far as I could, during the attempts to rescue as many of the Canari people, and I spawned more [Giant Attendant Trees] wherever I could. Still, a stray meteor that I failed to block could single-handedly destroy my Giant Trees. These meteors contained powers that exceeded their size, and it was getting stronger. The sun¡¯s redness turned even redder, and it felt larger. The heat was immense, and part of my mana was spent cooling down my entire network of trees as I attempted to reach the exposed core of the cometworld. There were no monsters left. No one. Just the pull of some unusual magic tearing the entire world apart. It wasn¡¯t godly, either. Magic didn¡¯t work anymore. The tearing energies here seemed to interfere with magic, which was why I sent Stella home. I popped my trees as fast as I could, and it was a race against time, before the chunk of earth I was on would be torn away. The meteors smashed into one of the floating chunks, and it split in half. A part of it drifted back to the glowing exposed core. I didn¡¯t know why, but I felt drawn to it. A large meteor slammed into the exposed core of the Cometworld, and large chunks were torn out. The parts that glowed flew up and turned into rock almost instantly, and I saw the core shrink in size. I attempted to reach it. Too late, child of another world. I felt a really strong pulling force on the ground, and even as I increased the number of roots, it ripped them apart. I was trying to hold the ground together with flimsy tape during an earthquake. The path to the core was lost, and I felt a bit weaker. No, my trees in that world felt a bit weaker. The core was smaller, with most of the bits around it drifting apart. I saw the exposed core glow, and then it exploded into multiple fragments. A strange white fragment flew right towards me. It was a white ore the size of a tree trunk, and it flew and dropped close to one of my other subsidiary trees. My roots immediately wrapped it, and pulled it to my tree of clones. No time to analyse what it was, because I sent it back. Once I did, the core seemed to glow again, and then... crumbled. A layer in the sky shattered. It was like a protective dome that once existed over the entire planet faded away, and the entire world was blanketed by a burn. All my lesser trees were destroyed, and the ground burned briefly, and then stopped. There was nothing to burn. Nothing left. Yet my main tree of clones survived, the reddish sun continued to batter my tree of clones with searing hot energy, but it did nothing. My tree of clones shared my resistance. A part of me floated in space, and I watched the red sun glow, and grow. It grew even larger, and took up a larger part of space. Meteors now flew at me directly, drawn to me by some kind of magic. I felt the air was thick with a kind of mana and magic that I didn¡¯t quite understand. It was like star mana, yet different. I couldn¡¯t get my magical sensors to check it, they were destroyed too quickly by the perpetual ambient rays. No, more accurately, everything disintegrated... except me. The red sun grew over the course of the year, and then, in a sudden moment... vanished. Gone. My tree of clones drifted alone in space, in seemingly perpetual emptiness and darkness. ¡°The world vanished.¡± Stella looked in horror back from the safety of our home. ¡°How?¡± There was nothing... absolutely nothing at all. All the stars in that world seemed to have disappeared as well. In the emptiness, back home- [You¡¯ve obtained a title : Witness of a World¡¯s Death] [You¡¯ve obtained a title : Otherworldly Rescuer] - The Canari people got a title. [Otherworld Refugee]. Both Lumoof and Stella all gotten the title [Otherworldly Rescuer] as well. Titles seemed mostly useless to me, but the fact that the system awarded them meant there had to be some use. Anyway, Lumoof had to break the news to the Canari directly. ¡°Your world has died.¡± The Canari howled and wailed. By now, they had relocated to a secret mountainous area in the central continent. Perhaps one day they will be introduced to the wider world, but for now, there are too few of them. There were secret convoys that brought food to them, while they adapted to the new world. The Canari also had to organise themselves, in order to communicate with me. Edna and Lumoof were both so powerful that to them, they were pretty much living gods. Strangely, they didn¡¯t seem to notice me much, and mostly paid attention to Lumoof. But I needed Lumoof elsewhere, now that the Cometworld was lost. I wanted Lumoof back in the Threeworlds. I had Valthorn druids assist to build temporary housing for them, while their own builders and workers built something more to their own liking. We had a meeting, mostly to discuss the future plans, and also to better understand the past. The meeting was held in a makeshift wooden hall in their part of the world. Their people sounded happy, but I wasn¡¯t sure since I couldn¡¯t exactly read the facial expressions of the Canari, mainly because I was entirely unfamiliar with them. In a sense, this was a problem I faced with the lizardfolks, and treefolks too. At the very least, these Canari had tables and chairs, so this part was normal. ¡°How¡¯s everything?¡± The Canari split into one large faction that largely embraced this new world, and two smaller factions. One that seemed a little suspicious and wanted to go back, and a third group that strangely, wanted to die. These last group seemed to say that they should¡¯ve died with their world, with everyone else that died. Stella called it ¡®survivor¡¯s guilt.¡¯ I honestly didn¡¯t know what to say about it. It seemed quite similar to what the heroes and those who survived great destruction experienced to some degree. All I could do now was to pop some [tree of prayers] and keep their stress levels manageable. I know for a fact that the people of this world were hardy, and seemed to take the frequent destruction and death in stride. So, the Canari¡¯s was somewhat different, and I wasn¡¯t sure why. I also attempted to introduce my priests to them, to help these groups manage their anxiety and trauma, but most of them only pushed the priests away. They didn¡¯t want help, even if they needed it. There are people like that everywhere, and all we could do was ease them into their new environment. Some will always cling to their old world, just like how some reincarnated heroes still dream of home. I focused on those who accepted reality. ¡°It happened out of nowhere.¡± One of the Canari folk explained to us. He was a level 65 [Lorekeeper], and spoke of their world history. The world of the Canari had demons, and they came rarely, once in a while, with no real certainty or regularity. Even so, their description of demons seemed relatively weak, that their ¡®champions¡¯ can defeat them. Their best warriors in the high level 80s was enough. I suspected its the demon champions, and not the demon king proper. ¡°That¡¯s so strange.¡± Stella said frankly. ¡°Why the demon champions, but not demon kings?¡± As the world moved so quickly across the void sea, was it possible that perhaps, the demon kings just could not establish a stable ¡®portal¡¯? It explained that they had enough time to open a small path that champions could walk through, but not enough for the Kings. ¡°Our world is usually at peace, and our wars are fought with each other, and monsters.¡± The Canari Loremaster. ¡°We don¡¯t know why our world suddenly behaved that way. We had wars and we had fights, but nothing seemed to have changed.¡± A Canari Astrologer gave a differing view. ¡°Other than the stars vanishing from our skies.¡± The gods that they worshipped were based on the sun, the land, the moon and the darkness beyond. They didn¡¯t have a notion of otherworldly visitors, other than the demons themselves, which they thought were just nothing more than creations of darkness beyond. So, they didn¡¯t even know about Zaratans. As we spoke to more and more Canari, all of them had no idea. They didn¡¯t know why. All they could do was observe the eventual destruction of their world. Some posited wild theories that the world was angry. Or that someone offended the sun. The sun was once a different color, and the sky, too. But somehow it just died. I thought of the white ore. - The white ore stood in my main tree, hidden inside my [secret hideout]. These days, there¡¯s no one in my main body¡¯s secret hideout. All of them live outside. Laufen lived with her grandson, Lauda in Freshka. Lausanne usually teached at the Valthorn academy when she¡¯s not chilling with her friends. I took a good look at it. [Shard of A Destroyed World] Well, here goes nothing. My vines inserted it into a pod, and I had a vision, and I heard it¡¯s voice again. Our sun died, for no reason other than age. We are an ancient world, and our world lived for too long. Our sun was never meant to live long, for it burns bright, and burns quickly. I shielded my children for as long as I could, but death comes even for a world like me. I saw a shortened clip, of a sun growing and then fading. The grand mechanisms of fate granted me a final hope, a portal to another world. A hope for my children, instead of the nothingness I offer. For that, thank you. [You¡¯ve received a skill: Canari Knowledge and Biology.] [Your astral map has been updated] The world sent me a goodbye memo. That sucks. But I was drawn to a sudden increase in my astral map. I saw, for a sudden moment, wide swaths that were revealed to me. This cometworld travelled in a long arc through the void sea, and I understood that these worlds may have moved since then. I felt like a xianxia protagonist, suddenly realising the existence of the world beyond worlds. Now I realised how large the multiverse was, it truly narrowed my focus. I didn¡¯t think it was possible for me to save the thousands of other worlds out there, and nor do I intend to, My goal should be this world. Home. I would protect my home, and I would stop the demons from entering my world. The greater world can be a later problem, but my first and main focus should be to save this world. I may consider reinforcing Threeworlds and the other neighbouring world, as a means to properly protect this world. The path of the Cometworld through the seas also revealed that it came in close contact with some demon worlds. There are way too many demon worlds. There was something else in the Shard. A strange mana I didn¡¯t understand, and refused to interact with me. Did the Shard leave something else in there? Ugh. But the fact that this world could even talk to me told me something very important. It¡¯s possible to talk to the world, and that means it must be possible to talk to my world. If I elected [Will of the World], did that mean I would merge with the thing at the center of this world? What other kind of power did an entity like that have? From what I¡¯ve seen, the core has some way of creating shields, since the core shielded their world from the harmful effects of their dying sun, and also has the power to give skills. I remembered that some of the elves and treefolks worshipped variants of the ¡®nameless mother¡¯, and these were likely references to the world itself. Did every world have a will at the center of it all? > Lilies. Do you know of the will of the world? < < It sleeps at the heart of our world. > > Have you ever spoken to it? < < No. > > How do you know of it? < < We felt it once, a long long time ago during a period of great destruction. > Huh. What was the relationship of the gods and the will of the world? Is the Will of the World a god? > What is the will? < < We don¡¯t know. > Great. If it¡¯s not a god, then it must¡¯ve been a creation of the system itself. I didn¡¯t understand why there are ¡®gods¡¯ and ¡®demons¡¯ in the first place. Like, our own world didn¡¯t have them, but the ancient people invented them to explain the world. But the other world called the Canari their children. Did this mean that the will of the world was responsible for the creation of the inhabitants, and thus, all of those who lived here were creations of the will? Wait. If we extend this train of thought, does this mean that the gods needed otherworldly heroes because the will of the world interfered with their meddling of the natives? Or maybe, only some will of the world interfered, so for those worlds, they needed to use externally sourced heroes. Looking at it in another way, from what Snek described of how the demons used the energy of the core to create demon kings, this suggested that the demons¡¯ ultimate goal was to capture the will of the world, in order to create more demon kings. But why? Why create more demon kings? What was the end goal for the demons? What was the end goal for the gods? < Some things just are. > Lilies answered frankly. < LIke a reef that grows, it grows because it must, there is no why. > Was that a jab at Reefy? Let¡¯s assume that Lilies is right. The demons invade other worlds, take control of their world, and then just use it to invade more worlds. If so, they are essentially a virus. Then the gods? Each god is a sentient, sapient creature with its own intellect. So, each of them would have their own goals, but clearly, each god has a limited sphere of influence. If they are higher levelled versions of me, their ability to touch multiple worlds are clearly constrained but simple practical issues like distance, unless the system allows certain overrides. Stella was also thinking about it, and she posited a fascinating possibility. The void sea was expanding, in the same way earth¡¯s distance between galaxies expanded. A slow ¡®expansion of the multiverse¡¯, so worlds where the gods could reach were getting less, as each of them drifted further and further apart. Certain worlds, where they are close enough such that they are clustered and locked together by local ¡®magic-gravity¡¯, remain reachable to each other, but those further apart were being ripped apart. The expansion of the universe was an issue over millions, billions of years on Earth. But perhaps here, there is a magical equivalent at play. If so, this implied that each world would eventually be unreachable to the others. Even demons will eventually disappear. Trees and the Body Thieves Year 198 Lumoof was back on the Threeworlds to continue making connections, and also travelled to find a good place to plant my seed. The little incident with Cometworld really made me feel the vastness of the world, that time and some space energies can tear a world apart so easily. But, what was important, occurred back home. We saw the rifts open. One of the pathways had lit up, and that meant the demons had arrived. I was sure I didn¡¯t see any of it on the central continent, so that was a good thing. ¡°It¡¯s in the South.¡± Stella said as she observed the skies from the highest peaks. My tree on the moon was growing well, and was growing faster. At Stella¡¯s advice, I agreed to encase my tree in a sphere of roots, essentially I created the first wooden biome on the moon. I didn¡¯t get any accomplishment for that. Still, it wasn¡¯t ready for habitation yet. I thought of converting the moon into a safe space for the Canari folk. They still struggled to adapt to their new life, though most of those struggles were mental and structural, rather than physical. They had to rebuild their institutions from scratch, and come to terms to live in entirely foreign lands. It¡¯s not easy to forget one¡¯s entire life in another world, and even worse when they remembered that they can never, ever, go back. It¡¯s a horrible feeling. I would deal with them later. For now, I focused on looking for the demons. - Snek and Prabu met up frequently, and Prabu could feel the demons. Snek too. Snek was sensitive to the starways, as a creature that managed to travel into the space between worlds, and he came from a world infested by demons, so it knew what it was like. ¡°As it always has.¡± Prabu sighed. ¡°And it will come for me. Chung¡¯s already making preparations for the demons.¡± Colette had returned to the Central continent to be with Prabu, and she slapped Ken the moment she saw him. She called him a ¡®reckless-piece-of-shit-that-abandoned-his-friends¡¯. Ken took it like a man, and admitted his faults. ¡°So, this snek is an otherworldly creature that the gods may not approve of.¡± Colette said frankly, but somehow Snek didn¡¯t seem afraid. Not this time. Prabu displayed his work over the past few months and years to Colette. Here, in the Central continent, and also in the special Tree Of the Heroic Journal, Prabu made heroic items for the next generation, and for himself. Weapons of war. Ken acknowledged it was a good idea. ¡°The strength of a civilisation is its collective memory and collective capacity. I wonder why it took so long for heroes to come up with an idea like this.¡± Prabu answered. ¡°Because it leads to nukes and mutually assured destruction.¡± ¡°You two are walking nukes.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s why it¡¯s not a good idea.¡± ¡°Have you ever wondered whether it¡¯s possible to mitigate the effects of a nuclear apocalypse with some global power. Something that Aeon has?¡± Ken wondered. ¡°What are you implying?¡± Prabu stared at Ken uncomfortably. ¡°I mean, like, could we just nuke Snek¡¯s world to death, and then send Aeon to fix it back after the world was effectively glassed.¡± Snek glared at Ken. ¡°Human, that is not an idea to be entertained.¡± Ken continued, ignoring the Snake. ¡°Think about it. Remember how the Protoss glassed the Zerg-infested worlds to control their spread? What¡¯s stopping us to do exactly that! Especially if we could theoretically fix it back up.¡± ¡°You¡¯re killing a bunch of innocents too?¡± Prabu said. ¡°I¡¯m amazed that such an idea even came from you. Here you are, accusing this continent of being the literal Empire, and now you come up with this shit? What did you think this is? The death star?¡± Snek agreed. ¡°Don¡¯t burn the bridge if you think of crossing it later.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a thought experiment. In the long run there really is no loss. Especially if we could find ways to evacuate the innocents and then bomb them to hell. It¡¯s the only way to be sure.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not. There are millions of demon worlds out there. You can¡¯t bomb all of them.¡± ¡°If not, is there a way to just... I don¡¯t know, break all these interworld travelling altogether? Interrupt how the demons travel here.¡± Ken said, and of course, he had a similar idea as us. Stella¡¯s goal was to interrupt the paths. Snek paused. ¡°You¡¯re suggesting to destroy the void space, rather than to close the paths.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± It was the xianxia equivalent of severing the pathways to immortality. Destroying the world tree that linked the nine worlds. ¡°That¡¯s absolutely a nuclear option.¡± Prabu said. ¡°But it will end the problem.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it does.¡± Prabu said as he looked at Snek. ¡°It just stops the many worlds from getting help, either from the gods, or from each other.¡± That was something worth thinking about. - We finally received reports of the demonic sighting, and it¡¯s not good. It was honestly the hardest kind of opponent for my Valthorns. ¡°The entire village was infested with corrupted men and women. These demons are all parasites, and they converted the humans into these demon knights!¡± ¡°What.¡± Edna said. ¡°Corrupted?¡± ¡°Yeah. Some of them seemed still human, but they had demonic parts on them. They would still behave humanly but then would then attack.¡± Many of my Valthorns are powerful, and they have slain many demons. But corrupted men and people were a lot harder. How did they know who was still human? Not just that, it¡¯s possible they faked it. ¡°We did not engage.¡± ¡°Can they talk?¡± ¡°Yes! That¡¯s what makes them so unnerving. We were not sure whether they were humans or elves or demons anymore!¡± Our spies were really disturbed by it. Around the same time, the Churchs of Gaya and Hawa both announced an immediate lockdown of the Southern Continent. They declared that they will handle the demonic infestation on their own. ¡°Fuck?¡± That wasn¡¯t helping. If anything, we needed everyone on the field to figure out how to deal with these corrupted humans. ¡°Can you capture some of these infested demons? Knock them out? Send them to our nearest allied state.¡± ¡°Will try, commander Edna. The men are quite disturbed by this. Some of them don¡¯t have any visible demonic-infestation marks.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± Edna nodded. This was really the worst kind of demon. We could use some psychic abilities to suppress the demons, or perhaps, in the old-priestly way, exorcise the demons from these infested folks. But Lumoof was still in the Threeworlds. I had to make do with the rest. I called the rest of my Patreearchs and Matreearches for counsel. ¡°Yes we have some exorcist skills, mainly to remove foul spirits and curses. We could try them out.¡± Matreearch Arcila advised. ¡°We will await the test subjects.¡± - Our forces in the Southern were quite strange. Level 60s or so, but even then they were surprised by how suddenly these demons attacked. Perfectly normal looking towns could hide a demonic infestation, and they would spawn randomly. In actual combat, my Valthorns could easily defeat the demons. The problem was the morale took a real hit. It was really something emotional to see a demon pop out of a perfectly regular looking commoner, and a lot of the spies were emotionally affected by it. It made them paranoid. Every single living being could be a demon. A cow could have a demon hiding in it. A playful cat. A friendly innkeeper. My former heroes were all stunned by it. ¡°How?¡± ¡°It¡¯s safe to say that any place where the demons appeared are likely to have been completed corrupted, even if they appear outwardly normal.¡± Our lords reported, and the counsel was sombre. It was a difficult thing. At least, if they died, it was a clean, clear death. This group of demons took the Alien route. They manipulated the hosts. ¡°Is there a puppet master?¡± Kei asked. ¡°Most possession stories have a puppet master at the back, someone that holds the strings. Can we use our magic to find it?¡± We were still struggling to get samples. ¡°Also, what if it¡¯s like a virus. t corrupts people by touching the demonic flesh?¡± Kei added. At that moment, I wondered whether my guys could be corrupted too! The senior Valthorns frowned as she heard the briefing. Roon, Edna and Johann all shared an uncomfortable look. They would face hard choices in the future. ¡°How do we know who is safe?¡± Matriarch Hoyia, one of the decarches, asked. ¡°We need a group to smuggle ourselves there, and see for ourselves. This corruption is not suited for spies. We should go and see.¡± ¡°I assume that you are volunteering?¡± A lord said, and Matriarch Hoyia nodded, albeit a little reluctantly. I mentally pinged Edna. ¡°Domain holders have some resistance to corruption. I think you should go and see for yourselves.¡± Edna then nodded. ¡°I will go with you.¡± Matriarch Hoyia looked relieved at Edna¡¯s offer. If Edna couldn¡¯t protect her, very few could. The meeting ended soon after, and the two met up for a chat along the hallways of the Valtrian Keep. ¡°Thank you for offering your protection, Lady Edna.¡± Hoyia said. She was, like Lumoof, far older than Edna in appearance. But, in reality, she was not much older. Edna achieved her high levels and domain, so her aging has ceased. Hoyia, on the other hand, was a priest of Hawa before she switched over. Some of her skills carried over, though she did suffer a small penalty for her conversion out of her faith. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Edna said. ¡°It is a matter of national interest, and as one of the [domain] holders, I should see it for myself. Aeon said us domainholders have increased resistance to corruption.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Hoyia frowned. ¡°I hope it is corruption or possession we can remove, and not body-consumption and assumption.¡± ¡°You mean body snatchers.¡± ¡°Yes. Because that¡¯s the most horrible outcome. We have individuals that look like us, but cannot be saved. It¡¯s a real hit to morale.¡± Kei and Stella were in the hallway too. ¡°If it¡¯s body snatchers, then we are truly fucked.¡± Hoyia shook her head. ¡°Not quite. Us as Aeonic Priests have access to Aeon¡¯s familiars, and we have access to a lesser version of Aeon¡¯s [spirit vision]. One of my theories is if these are body snatchers, there should be no souls left, and we should be able to pick out who the demons are.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Stella nodded. ¡°Infra-red goggles, essentially?¡± Kei tapped Stella lightly. ¡°They won¡¯t get that.¡± Edna and Hoyia both nodded a little. ¡°Greetings Lady Stella and Lady Kei.¡± ¡°My concern is, if the demons are in the process of ¡®consuming¡¯ the souls, and we need to decide who can be saved, and who can¡¯t under battle conditions.¡± Hoyia continued her conversation, and both the former earthlings squirmed uncomfortably. ¡°I¡¯d imagine being eaten inside out may not be the most pleasant sensation, and for us, we¡¯d have to wield the scythe of judgement on people who look very much like us.¡± Edna nodded. ¡°It¡¯s a task meant for the most heartless of us.¡± I thought back to Ken¡¯s earlier idea of glassing the entire world. Would I have to order the glassing of entire villages with this? ¡°I¡¯d rather hope we not get there, so I¡¯d first like to gather some samples and observe these demons in action.¡± Hoyia said. ¡°I would prefer if Alka goes with us. His remote labs would be very useful.¡± Edna smiled and shrugged. ¡°Alka¡¯s staying put. But we¡¯ll have an army of mages and his other assistants with us.¡± - There was a huge clampdown on trade and movement of people in the Southern Continent as the temples combated the demons. They began huge inquisitions, where entire villages were captured and interrogated. The temples took different approaches, and what happened reminded Stella of our own world¡¯s history with witchhunts. Entire villages were torched. In cases where the temples employed judgement, it led to a whole lot of false accusations, especially in larger cities. Those who were strange, had different hobbies, or were of an entirely different species were outed and accused as demons. ¡°I sometimes forget that I¡¯m in a medieval fantasy world.¡± Stella said. ¡°Sometimes. I thought here, in the central continent, I saw something that resembled an early-modern society. But then, this just really reminded me that outside of this place, it¡¯s all fucked. That even with magic, the nature of people is just... ugh.¡± ¡°Those who use such a thing to accuse those they don¡¯t like as demons should be punished too!¡± It was hard to tell who was a demon, and who was not. Partly because, well, the demon possessors bled like normal. At least, at a first glance. So, Edna, Hoyia and a delegation of my Valthorns snuck into the Southern Continent. It was easy to do so with Stella¡¯s portal ability, and I also used Stella¡¯s portal ability to temporarily extend my trees to the south. A repeat of what I did in the northern Islands. - Edna¡¯s report came a week later. ¡°We located the demons. Hoyia¡¯s suspicion is correct. Spiritual vision is able to fully discern those that have been fully corrupted by the demons. Our problem is really with those in the process of corruption. Exorcism works to a limited degree, but is more likely to cause the demons to trigger some kind of self destructive behavior. Hoyia was injured from one interrogation incident. We may require Aeon¡¯s dedicated interrogation chambers. The biolabs would be very useful here. We may need to request Lumoof to return.¡± An assessment I agreed with, but it still annoyed me that I needed Lumoof everywhere. If I could spread my roots everywhere in this world then I wouldn¡¯t have to deal with this restriction. But oh well, what¡¯s done is done. I¡¯d have to improvise. Stella could only maintain the portals for a few days before she needed to rest, and she rotated with her other void mages. Her other void mages were gaining levels, but somehow they still lagged behind her. With some coordination, Edna and the priests honed in on one village that had been confirmed to have demons, and Stella opened the portal. I placed my roots through it, and then my trees. We had to work fast, I spawned my biolabs, and Edna moved swiftly to capture a few of those where we saw had ¡®vanishing¡¯ spiritual presences. In those where there were no more ¡®spirits¡¯, the entire inner organs had been converted into a demonic hatchery. There was a demonic creature that controlled the flesh, and it crawled and swam through its host. They made these small, circular baby-larva, and they attempted to infest my biolab. But my mana was too overwhelming so they were swiftly crushed. They were like little leeches or maggots. With my trees, I also managed to observe it in action. It attached itself to a person¡¯s leg, and often the person did not notice it at all. It¡¯s bites had a numbing effect, such that the person did not feel pain for the first few minutes. Demonic parasitic leeches that possessed people. With those that had been fully converted, I was able to have a conversation. ¡°You¡¯re a demon.¡± The infested woman denied it. ¡°No. I¡¯m Larri, a housewife.¡± The demon often left the brain untouched, instead, the demon had functionally attached itself to the brain such that the brain supplied the knowledge and the information. ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me.¡± My vines wrapped around it¡¯s leg. ¡°I can see you wriggling in this person¡¯s body.¡± I wish I had Patreeck¡¯s offensive psychic abilities here in the south. I could use it on the demon. Hoyia came and used [Exorcise]. It hurt, but the demon was so firmly embedded in the body and flesh that it was pointless. The woman screamed. ¡°KILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± It¡¯s arms exploded and transformed into a whip, It attempted to attack Hoyia. My wooden shield parried the strike, and my vines wrestled the demon¡¯s appendages. ¡°She¡¯s no longer a half-elf.¡± Hoyia took out a staff and then manifested a root. The root pierced through the body. The body wriggled, but the demon was not dead. We had to hit the parasite exactly. ¡°I see why the temples and the spies are having problems. We need to hit this thing.¡± My turn, my vines pierced through the lady¡¯s body and my vines entered. Then I dug out, through it¡¯s severed neck, a hairy worm. ¡°This is the demon.¡± It struggled and wrestled, the female body collapsed like a puppet. Hoyia frowned. ¡°It can move in the body?¡± ¡°Yes. And it¡¯s not easily visible, even in spiritual vision.¡± Spirit vision told us that it¡¯s a demon or demon possessed, simply by the extinguished soul. But it did not tell us where it was located within the body. I needed something that was the magical equivalent of battlefield X-Ray and MRI. Else, it¡¯s possible that this larva could even infect someone directly. I cut the body of the lady up, and more larva appeared. They were in small blobs. I took some for studies. Even in their small size, they could leap and hit someone. Edna frowned at this. ¡°The temples are just burning entire villages to the ground. I¡¯m afraid I see merit in their approach.¡± Me too. There had to be a better way than glassing a continent. Treemunity Year 198 (part 2) One of the junior Valthorns developed a simplified process to check on demons, especially when demons were not available. Something that apparently, a few other places had independently developed. If a demon consumed or destroyed a soul, essentially, that is just a body, but without the ¡®will¡¯ in it. A person¡¯s skills and abilities were tied to the soul, so the theory was, most of these lesser demons would not be able to ¡®copy¡¯ skills. Accordingly, they may appear like a person, but if they are unable to use any of their skills, they were quite likely to be demons. It was quite clever. Of course, it¡¯s likely that demons were still able to ¡®copy¡¯ some skills, especially the ¡®champion¡¯ class. So far, we have not seen any of these ¡®champion-class¡¯ parasites, and honestly, it kept me awake. What could a demon king that¡¯s entirely focused on ¡®possessing¡¯ people do? Could it even possess a hero? I thought back to Meela and Alexis, and wondered. Was their demon king a ¡®corruption¡¯ king too? Or at least, a variant of it? Why else was Alexis consumed by the flames of the demon? That batch even had those talking demon-knights! That was at least one hundred plus years ago. Have we finally looped the cycle? I would have to approach them and ask them for more info. I recall Alexis didn¡¯t have much knowledge of the demons that possessed them. Also, these demons were able to ¡®read¡¯ memories of the bodies they captured. From this alone, I immediately considered Stella and Kei as very high risk. If they were captured by the demons, that would be a really, really bad outcome, especially if the demons are then able to share their memories back to where they came from. I also wanted to know how these demons spread. They seemed to jump from person to person, and we noticed that they invaded drains, gutters, toilets and other naturally ¡®dirty¡¯ environments. We also found them in the waters, where they were, strangely, eaten by fish with little consequence. They were able, with surprising adaptability, to infest travelling merchants and somehow remained dormant or at least, non-hostile within them, at least, until they reached a new area. All these observations suggested each of these parasites had intelligence, one corroborated by how they responded to my abilities. How do we fight them effectively, while minimising deaths? - Ken, Prabu and Colette met up in Freshka, and by now, my Valthorns have shared a dossier of the demonic body snatchers with them, and a rough summary of what we¡¯ve discovered so far. I wanted the heroes to live, at least, if they could gain enough levels. Both Prabu and Colette have accepted my familiars as part of the deal to allow them to live here, and it was advantageous for me to keep them at a high level. ¡°How does the trope normally go? Body snatchers eh...¡± Ken said. ¡°There should be a kind of magic that should be specifically effective on them.¡± Prabu shrugged. ¡°And what would that be?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, we¡¯d have to run some experiments. The common ones are usually electrical shocks, or some strange foods. Maybe we could get some anti-parasitic drugs? Or maybe just some strange rare chemicals.¡± Ken said as he tried to approach it from a trope-angle. My Valthorns were already capturing these demonic larva specimens to conduct my own tests. We wanted a widespread way to hit these demons, and we wanted to know their weaknesses. They had weaknesses for sure. There was one very immediate sample that worked really well. Using Stella¡¯s gateway, we sent three ¡®possessed¡¯ individuals to Freshka, and Patreeck blasted the possessed individual with his psychic power. It worked really well, since the person literally convulsed, and the demon actually crawled out of the possessed individual¡¯s mouth in an attempt to avoid the psychic blast. It was pretty much nightmare material as everyone squirmed. Well, almost.. Only the knights or those who usually had the [Still Heart], or [Calm Mind], or [Horror Resistance] or other similar passive abilities didn¡¯t react to it. Luckily, as long as the person¡¯s not dead, they do not ¡®spawn¡¯ additional larva. In order to make a person into a living hatchery, they¡¯d have to fully ¡®convert¡¯ the person, so in such cases, it¡¯s straight-forward. Kill anyone who doesn''t have a soul. Since they are just demons that had the appearance of people. Snek suggested that it should be possible for certain classes to fight off such parasites, usually through boosting their own spiritual power. Their world, at least, prior to the conversion to the demon lands, were filled with naturally occurring parasites and body snatchers. But this was like multi-generational adaptation to parasites, not something that¡¯s possible for the people of this world to acquire on a widespread scale. Wait. Unless I massively distribute [Skill seeds] with these skills. But I would need these skills in the first place. No, I¡¯d need to know which skills work best against these demonic body snatchers! Stella was extremely fascinated. ¡°This is essentially planning to develop some kind of anti-demonic possession ¡®vaccine¡¯, and now you¡¯re in the concept phase of testing which skills work best?¡± I had a lot of skill seeds, and with them, I could make class trees and skill trees. These were old abilities that I still used on a smaller scale, but if this worked, it would essentially create ¡®safe¡¯ villages. ¡°How are you proposing to test the effectiveness of the skills against the demonic possessions. No one here is going to volunteer themselves, and where do you get the demons? You¡¯d have to have a hatchery!¡± On a high level, the idea was really rather repulsive. It meant I¡¯d capture one of these demon-possessed persons and keep it alive as a hatchery for demonic larvae, and then test out the demonic larvae on different individuals of different skills, and monitor them. Not just that, it¡¯s essentially a test that I can only perform in Freshka, since Patreeck¡¯s psychic/mind blast could effectively sterilise anyone infected with the demons. Stella, of course, wondered. ¡°Could we replicate this psychic attack on a smaller scale?¡± - The heroes, on the other hand, went in a different direction. A good solution, too, but not one I could apply on a large scale. It worked well only for them since they had the star mana. Chung, the archer in the south, asked for help. In fact, the idea even came from him, since he was on the ground. ¡°We know demons don¡¯t like star mana, and star mana is effective against them. Can we inject the villagers with star mana, as a ¡®wave¡¯ essentially? Is there a spell like that? If there is, can you make that spell into a hero-item and give it to me? I really, really hate having to kill all these guys that look like humans. I didn¡¯t fucking sign up for this shit.¡± Prabu and Colette, the two archmages, went to work. They end up with a kind of ¡®star-mana-electromagnetic-wave¡¯, essentially Star Mana X Ray guns. It tingled for us, but it killed the larva and demons effectively, and got to work to make large quantities of them. They also planned on creating large versions of the weapon. Something large enough to cover entire cities, so that they could ¡®clean¡¯ the entire city and areas in a single blast. It was possible, but they needed time. Time that meant more cities were getting infested with demon possessed folks. - The temples of the South Continent, however, publicly rejected all offers of assistance and claimed they had it all under control. They didn¡¯t. Instead, they torched entire villages once they realised it wasn¡¯t helping very much. The larva was able to remain dormant within a body, so just because one passed a skill check didn¡¯t meant it did not carry the larva! Entire cities became infested with demon-possessed individuals, even with the skill checks and spell-checks. Chung had to essentially sleep alone out in the wilds, surrounded by multiple forcefields, because he got so paranoid with people and animals. Anyone could be possessed by demons. Anyone! Then, the kingdoms started going to war with each other, and the temples. Trade and travel essentially slowed down to a halt, and cities that relied on food from trade had no choice but to go to war. ¡°Look, the cure is worse than the disease.¡± Glassing entire cities, and it¡¯s not even effective since the larva could still be in the waters. ¡°How is the cure worse? They¡¯ve become demons! They should die.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know who can still be saved?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not taking that risk.¡± Paranoia, suspicion and madness turned nations to chaos. Kings, mages and healers tried their best, but when anyone could be possessed, it was not easy to even compel anyone to work. Some cities enforced massive lockdowns, banning visitors outright. It took three months before the heroes all moved to the south, and Prabu and Colette had finally completed the first version of their new star-mana emitters. The emitters could even kill dormant larva. They were greeted by feral monsters, as the emission of star mana on a wide scale merely triggered the possessed to run wild. At least, now, they resembled demons. The heroes killed the demons. The only problem was, emitting star mana on a large scale drained huge quantities of star mana, and the heroes could not be everywhere at once. There were too many infested cities, too many infested towns. Even if they methodically cleaned cities after cities, the demons could still return. They needed something to hold the fort while they pushed their emitters outwards. Skills that helped resisting demonic parasites and body snatchers. - Edna made an observation while in the South, covertly. We were unannounced, but the temples knew we were there, but they were too busy fighting their own fires to give Edna¡¯s delegation trouble. ¡°The demonic suppression aura weakens the larva and slows the rate at which they take over individuals.¡± We could plant my Giant Trees everywhere, since those suppressed the demons. I wasn¡¯t particularly fixated with using my clone seeds on other worlds. Edna shot down the idea. ¡°No. Your clone trees should be reserved for the demon king. We shouldn¡¯t deploy it yet. We can handle it. We¡¯ll just need to deploy more Valthorns and higher ranked priests to suppress the demon¡¯s presence.¡± But the aura fluctuates, especially for creatures that need sleep, and true enough, the demons were still able to return. We needed a better way to spot them, especially since these parasites have incredible natural camouflage and infiltration abilities. An entire village attacked Edna¡¯s delegation when she approached. The team had to kill them all, and they all needed a pep talk. Then, we saw a man who seemed to be surrounded by thick demonic energy. A champion. He looked every bit human, well, other than the armor of demonic flesh that gave him wings. ¡°To think that the natives still resist.¡± . Hoyia saw and was bewildered. ¡°He still has a soul inside! It didn¡¯t consume it.¡± ¡°Consume? Why consume when we can enslave? Is that not our role?¡± The demonic champion fired a beam of fire, and Edna immediately stepped in to create a shield. Fire didn¡¯t work. ¡°Hmmm... let¡¯s see... this human can do this.¡± The demon charged ahead and swung its sword. ¡°[Double Cut]¡±, The sword blurred into two, and slammed into Edna¡¯s shield. Yet, at that moment when they were close, the demonic flesh detached from the human, and latched onto Edna. It attempted to infiltrate Edna¡¯s body, and then, just as suddenly, Edna¡¯s body made a glow of light. The demonic champion was incinerated by the power of her [domain], and turned to cinders. Edna frowned as she later reported back. ¡°This is not good. Demon champions can use possessed skills. Luckily it went for me, instead of the others.¡± Everyone was horrified as they tried to imagine the champion possessing them. This meant the checks done could still miss the demon champions, since the demon champions were able to go beyond physical control, and even turn the possessed person to a puppet, and use its skills in conjunction with its own demonic abilities. Could a demon king, therefore, possess a hero? - ¡°You can¡¯t be serious?¡± Prabu vented as we shared the news of the demon champions with them. ¡°I feel like we¡¯ve just made a few steps forward and this demon champion sent us all back to square one.¡± Ken didn¡¯t join them as he, without his hero class and without any star mana, was pretty much sitting ducks. ¡°I don¡¯t think you need to panic. The demons clearly are designed to attack heroes wherever you are. So, even if you miss them, they can¡¯t help themselves and will attack you.¡± Snek agreed with the assessment. ¡°Our own records agree with that. Demons can¡¯t help but attack heroes. It¡¯s in their very nature. So, it¡¯s almost confirmed that you did not miss any champions so far.¡± ¡°...I¡¯m not convinced, but alright.¡± Prabu said. ¡°Anyway, can you arrange a shipment of snacks?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not critical at this time.¡± Kei answered. ¡°It is. I¡¯ll work for 5 years if you can send snacks here. Help me negotiate with the Order, please?¡± Ken and Kei shrugged. Ken sighed. ¡°Prabu, you know, if you keep doing this snack thing, you¡¯ll be relegated into the disposable joke or fodder character trope, and you¡¯ll die. Don¡¯t play that part, please?¡± ¡°Fuck that trope shit. I want my snacks!¡± - We had a few spies infected by the demons, and we brought them back for further investigation. My familiars apparently helped to detect the demons, and because my familiars also occupied a link with the soul, they contested the demonic parasite¡¯s attempts to possess my spies. My spies received regular familiars, and the demons won, two out of three times. But, even though they won, it took them longer to gain control of the spies¡¯ body, and this gave the others time to get help, or, in our case, put them into a magical coffin for further studies. It had to be done, and we captured more and more of these demonic larvae. With sufficient samples, we sent them to Freshka for further studies in my biolab. I also created a small section in the Rottedlands, secretly, to attempt to ¡®breed¡¯ these larvae in non-human bodies, such as hybrid demon-monsters. It created a few rather strong monster-demons, but nothing we couldn¡¯t handle. We needed a solution, as our news in the South indicated the infestation spread really, really quickly. The heroes literally could not sterilise cities faster than the demons can ¡®infest¡¯ one. Worse still, some of the templars and warriors of the Gaya and Hawa temples were infested, and against the backdrop of a full rebellion by the kingdoms, it was getting, really out of hand. - Lumoof continued his time in Threeworlds¡¯ magic crystal city. He played the role of the charming, affable and clumsy old man wonderfully, and some of the local mages were quite smitten with him. He spent quite a lot of time gathering information about the world generally, but the knowledge of magical crystal growth remained elusive. Those who held the secrets gave it in bits and pieces, and never the whole picture. Perhaps that was how it was structured over the years, that all these little pieces were separated in order to prevent total theft. ¡°Sir Lumoof, this way.¡± A mage was more than happy to introduce some interesting types of magic to Lumoof. To the locals, Lumoof seemed to be a wealthy but foolish old man, and they were happy to make money off him. It was small money for us. After all, his expedition is pretty much funded by the entire central continent, which was, on an overall level, more developed than this world, even if this single city was pretty unique on its own. They demonstrated some magical formations and ice spells, all tethered to crystals. They had slightly different magical formations, and they were really good at using some of the natural properties of these magic crystals. ¡°What do you think, Sir Lumoof?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice. I¡¯ve never seen it. How much would it cost?¡± ¡°Ah, this formation would cost 344 Gold Coins. Or we would be happy to trade for an artefact of sufficient quality.¡± Lumoof nodded. ¡°I see.¡± He retrieved another magical sword from the inventory, made by a level 50+ magical smith. ¡°I was told this was worth about 450 gold. If you can throw in another few more manuals...¡± The mage stared with greed and nodded. ¡°Certainly.¡± Alka and a group of high-ranked mages assisted Alka would receive all these scrolls and they would study them. They were aware of our expeditions to another world, even if they didn¡¯t know of the full details. Anyway, once they studied the scrolls, they would proceed to replicate the spells and formations back home, and this added to our body of knowledge on magic and formations generally. It was a very laborious process, but it worked. I hoped this would allow me to unlock the knowledge needed to truly comprehend the demon king¡¯s core, but from what I could see, progress remains very, very far away. Even with a platoon of researchers and mages, it¡¯s a very long process. The journey to get from the iron age to the space age is long indeed. Spaizzer Thanks for reading. Break announcement - I''m off on the WEEK of 1st FEBRUARY 2022. There will be a chapter next week, and then I''m a week off, and then returning on 8 February 2022. Parasitreec Relationship Year 199 The war in the South intensified, and by now, it felt like everyone was fighting everyone else. Yet, the two temples continued to enforce the blockade on the Southern Continent. Only, this time, to keep the people in. The temples did not want the demons to spread to the other continents, so they called on the other continents to reinforce the blockade. ¡°This is ridiculous.¡± Edna spoke to us and the council. ¡°We need to act decisively, the temples are not doing a good job, and a lot of the kingdoms have openly gone against the temples for the recent madness. This demonic parasite is going to spread, and it will spread quickly.¡± Madness, as in, glassing of entire cities because of the suspicions of corrupted men among them. The champions also were more crafty than normal. They were adapted to the minds of men, and were able to hide. My spies tell me, some are already on the other continents. It was a matter of time. ¡°I don¡¯t get it. The heroes are clearing up cities.¡± One of the Lords considered the facts. The heroes met a few champions too, and they made short work of them. ¡°Every time a city gets cleared, refugees rush to it by the thousands, and inevitably, the demons return.¡± Edna explained. ¡°They only managed to build one single large scale star mana emitter so far, and that only cleaned up an area the size of Freshka and it¡¯s immediate surrounding areas. Even that, caused huge political conflicts that the heroes clearly missed.¡± The heroes were rather oblivious to the politics of where they placed their ¡®miracle cures¡¯. Cities and kingdoms wanted it, and so, the city that possessed such an artifact had to protect it with their lives from the other kingdoms who wanted it. Matriarch Hoyia, who was also on the call, said ¡°With every previous demon king, the worlds generally agree to drop their arms against each other and support the heroes with the demons. Not this one. There¡¯s not even a semblance of unity against the demons, and everyone seems to think that someone else is a demon.¡± I thought to myself then, that this is what it will be like, in a world without demon kings. Everyone is fighting each other for the slimmest of advantages and wealth. Felt like an absolute shitshow. No. It felt like earth. It was a sad thing to think about, that, even if we stopped the demon king, the world would just revert to its natural state. So, I didn¡¯t. I focused on the larva that we cultivated in our little patch of Rottedlands, and we experimented with them to a great degree. It was really easy to kill them when they were outside. We could squish them like maggots. The problem was still, how do we kill them when they are already in a host, without harming the host. Anyway, as we researched, rather than actually gain the ability to create a similar larva-type parasite, I instead gained a different type of parasite. [You¡¯ve gained the skill : Normal Tree Parasite Creation. You may now create tree parasites of your own. These parasitic trees take the form of vines that grow on the skin and flesh of living beings. They leech on the lifeforce of their hosts.] I checked. They did nothing else. What the fuck. All that and these parasitic trees did nothing else? It doesn¡¯t even let me gain control like the demons? I need to upgrade the skill, then? Is that it? Anyway, we conducted more experiments on the larva, with different kinds of materials and injections. It didn¡¯t yield much. ¡°Maybe we¡¯re not doing it correctly.¡± Alka suggested as he helped to run another separate batch of tests on these demonic parasites. He didn¡¯t ask questions where the parasites came from, of course. ¡°We should be testing a response on live persons.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°From our earlier knowledge, we know certain skills and abilities can delay and stop the demons from taking control, but this is not very useful since we can¡¯t give skills on a large scale. But, we also know that mental attacks work very well on these demonic parasites, as they are attuned to thoughts.¡± I allowed my field scientist to complete his thoughts. ¡°Can we drug it to death? Not to kill it, but essentially turn it useless by overwhelming it with stimulation.¡± ¡°With psychedelic sap?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Alka said. ¡°We should try it out. A dose of strong psychedelics on someone possessed by demons.¡± I ran this through my council, the earthlings and my leaders in the South, just for their thoughts. ¡°Overstimulating the demonic parasite... could be worth a try.¡± Stella said. ¡°If it¡¯s better than killing the host.¡± One of the Lords theorised. ¡°There¡¯s always been a drug trade, even in the South. If this theory holds any water, those kingdoms where there¡¯s higher use of these psychedelics should see lower demonic-possession?¡± ¡°The South doesn''t have that kind of data.¡± Another Lord countered. ¡°Not everyone has a bureaucracy that tracks everything.¡± I felt like that was a jab at me, or at us generally. ¡°We can send a batch to Matriarch Hoyia and let her test it out with our forces there.¡± Edna nodded. ¡°The idea is these things should essentially drive the demons wild?¡± Matriarch Hoyia had another view. ¡°What¡¯s our goal here? Even if the drugs work on the demons, we still can¡¯t get it out. Once the drugs go away, will the demons return?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know, but some studies would be good?¡± Alka said. ¡°These demons are really fragile things, even if they have some ability for self repair. I¡¯d like to know if these drugs could at least destroy their ability to interact with the body. Our tests on the larva itself so far seem to cause it to convulse and then die, but outside of a host these demonic parasites seem to die to everything.¡± ¡°If it doesn¡¯t get the demon out of the body, I really don¡¯t see the point. But I will conduct some studies.¡± Matriarch Hoyia answered. At the same time, I wondered, could I use my [dream academy] or similar skills offensively on these demons? Psychic or mental attacks worked, but I rarely see those in this world. In fact, outside of Patreeck, I really cannot remember many other instances of psychic attacks. - Then we had our first instance of near-attacks, from a nearby kingdom. It was only through Hoyia¡¯s priestly abilities that an actual pointless conflict was avoided. ¡°Demons! These guys are here to spread the demons!¡± Hoyia immediately used one of her priestly skills on them, one of her strongest pacification abilities. Each patriarch and matriarch developed slightly different skills. Like Lumoof seemed more towards devotion and empowerment, Hoyia was more of the ¡®peace¡¯ and ¡®calm¡¯ type, so her ability at level 100 was something called [Hour of Calm], which gave the entire mob present an hour of peace and calm. Hoyia and Edna quickly used that moment of sanity to have a conversation with the generals. Sadly, these abilities don¡¯t seem to work on demons, since, well, demons can¡¯t actually be reasoned with. As it turned out, some of the templars were infected by the demonic parasites, and they have been spreading the parasites. Accordingly, they suspected Edna and Hoyia to be the same. Truth was, out in the fields, we are not sure either. Hoyia and Edna both could use some level of spiritual sight due to the Court of the Deitree, but even that¡¯s not foolproof. It¡¯s possible that some of our guys had dormant demonic larva in them, and if we wanted to check this, they had to go under the biolab regularly. Using Stella¡¯s portal, we did these checks every three to four days, and so far, so good. But it is possible for demons to infest my guys over those few days, especially the weaker guys. I only had faith in Edna, due to her domain. But even then, what if a demon king tried to possess her? My only saving grace is that, if anything happened, I could revive her with my Tree of Life. Not so for the rest of them, who are lost if they can¡¯t reach the domain stage and join my pantheon. The Kings are paranoid, and rightly so. Everyone was a suspect, and the demons are quite adept at stealth since they like tunnels and hidden parts. These larva, were pretty much parasitic pests and they were very good at crawling through hidden places. Across the continent, mages created various barrier spells, and these were pretty successful at keeping out the demonic larva itself, but not if these demons were already inside someone. We needed something to force the demon larva out, and so we experimented on more types of drugs. Some of them worked really well, like my dose of psychedelic drugs seemed to trigger the demons, but their side effects were rather terrible on their hosts. We wanted something milder that still caused the demons to show themselves. Then we stumbled on one little part of the solution. Well, we stumbled on it over a cup of thick coffee. Edna and Hoyia travelled to a town in the South that was really big on coffee production, and through Stella¡¯s portal, I also extended some trees there in order to help ¡®scout¡¯ out the terrain. At first, we didn¡¯t notice anything. But then Patreeck and the group of artificial minds noticed that the demonic larva was strangely absent from the coffee factories and cafes. Most of us were not trained to think about what was missing, instead of seeing what¡¯s there, so we started doing some tests. Moderate quantities of coffee confused the demonic larva¡¯s tendrils, and the confused larva tried to escape the coffee-laced environment. It would then be ejected from the body, usually through poop. The host had to consume moderate quantities since a small amount was insufficient and the larva could still endure the mild level of coffee, so this was not picked up in our earlier observations. In fact, we didn¡¯t test coffee as a possible solution initially. ¡°So we need to mass produce coffee shots and make everyone take them.¡± ¡°But kids can¡¯t take it.¡± ¡°Small victories are better than none.¡± This solution, sadly, only worked on humans, elves, centaurs and dwarves. We still did not have a solution for demonic infestation for other races such as lizardmen, drakes and treefolk, though both treefolk and lizardmen infestation so far have been rather mild. Interestingly, there¡¯s also a race that was very resistant to the demonic parasites, almost to the point of immunity. Minotaurs. Their bodies produced certain kinds of liquid that regularly flushed out parasites, and the pulses of energy throughout their body seemed to interfere with the demon¡¯s ability to ¡®control¡¯ them. But minotaurs were an extremely small group in the South, and they¡¯re wary of all humanoid races. I had yet to introduce the demonic parasites to the Canari, since, well, it didn¡¯t seem right for me to subject them to the horrors of our homeworld. With the discovery of coffee as a possible solution for ¡®cleansing¡¯ the body of parasites, we had to quickly grow large quantities of coffee. As it is, the central continent already has some coffee plantations, and we had some existing coffee stockpiles, but its certainly insufficient if we were to push for a wide-scale consumption of coffee. As we pushed the kingdoms that were affiliated or in a ¡®hidden¡¯ alliance with us to consume more coffee, the temples seemed to have discovered our solution, and they too started widely promoting the consumption of coffee. As a solution for the South, which had a large population of humanoids, the coffee worked for a few months, since it essentially forced the larva to make a choice. ¡°Infest¡± or ¡°Leave¡± the body, rather than remain dormant or hidden. The widespread consumption of coffee reduced the demonic parasites¡¯ hold, and brought about the end of internal wars, and an odd tradition of visitors and travellers having to down a dose of coffee before entering new towns. I believe this would probably be a new tradition unique to the South, since they bore the brunt of the demonic infestation. The temples, of course, began touting the discovery of coffee as their success, a claim, which we disputed, but did not strongly pursue. What¡¯s the point, anyway? Also, the demons adapted, and took a more ¡®adversarial¡¯ stance. Once possessed, the demons immediately infested and surfaced, rather than remaining dormant. This helped clear the confusion and fog on who were demons, and who were not. The kingdoms continued to struggle with the demon champions, since these champions were still very powerful, but it was easier when one didn¡¯t have to watch their back all the time. The heroes, thus, continued to push towards the demon-infested nations. There were large swaths of the south where the demons have fully ¡®conquered¡¯ the kingdoms. The risk, of course, was that there were some that have yet to be infested by the demons, but the heroes advanced with their star mana serving as a beacon. They burned brightly, and the demons were moths drawn to the flame. ¡°Two more years.¡± The demons were slain 8 years ago. At least 2 more years to go. Year 200 Coffee didn¡¯t work that well on treefolk, drakes and lizard-people. This was a secret, of course, but we couldn¡¯t keep it for long. Once news of infested drakes and treefolks went out, it only resulted in more speciesism, as trade and deals with the treefolks, drakes and lizard-people essentially dropped to zero. They were pretty much the pariah in the southern continent. That sucked. We needed something that worked for them, and it was partly because of how their bodies processed coffee. The caffeine that overwhelmed the demons were absorbed by certain organs unique to these three races, and thus ¡®spared¡¯ the demons. Strangely, even minotaurs got ostracized even though they were close to immune to the effects of these parasites. The Hawa temple, which counted humans, elfs and dwarves as the majority of its believers, outright commanded that these other races be banned from all of its allied territories, and led to large refugee camps as these races were forced out of their homes and villages. It annoyed me very much that our solutions amplified racial issues. We tried stronger doses and so on, but it didn¡¯t work. We needed something with caffeine that the bodies of these races didn¡¯t absorb. So back to the drawing board. I tasked a few lizard-people and treefolks to lead the research, since, well, I sensed that some of the human and elven researchers didn¡¯t give the issue the same weightage as before. That also annoyed me. - Meanwhile, the heroes attacked more of the demon-infested kingdoms. The demon champions had already taken over as the ruler of the various kingdoms, and they ran the kingdoms with their stolen skills. It was annoying to fight them, because the demons were already strong with their own abilities, which augmented the basic strength of their hosts, and on top of that, they were blessed by the ¡®stolen¡¯ [king] class skills, or [general] or [strategist] skills. Some of these [king] skills gave these demons usable skills! They could steal skill! They could even stack the skills and make the regular demons stronger than usual. It didn¡¯t occur to me to think about how to exploit the demon¡¯s natural abilities, until Alka, who was still busy with Lumoof¡¯s purchased otherworldly research, offhandedly suggested. ¡°Capture one of these demon champions. We may learn how to use its power against the demon king.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± That made so much sense to me. I felt like an idiot. I always was, of course. That¡¯s why I rely on those smarter than me. I immediately pinged Stella and Edna. Stella, to open one more portal, and Edna, to tell me where the nearest demon nation was. I would like to find one of these demon champions, if not more. ¡°We don¡¯t know. It¡¯s not as if the demons say they are demons. They just somehow know that they are demons.¡± That was also a good question. How do these demon parasites identify each other as demons? If there is a mechanism, can we copy it, and alter it such that the demons identify us as demons? With such an ability, we could essentially smuggle ourselves into the demon worlds, and explore it without fear. Actually, taking that to the extreme, if everyone in the world was ¡®identified¡¯ as demon, could we pretty much ¡®co-exist¡¯ with the demons? Spaizze Treeple-agents Year 200 It wasn¡¯t very hard to identify the demon-infested kingdoms, since, with the recent events, they declared themselves quite publicly. The demons as a whole was not a functional kingdom, since the ¡®citizens¡¯, comprised of possessed demons. They, sadly, cleverly used the population as a meat shield. The population all had demonic larva in them that were not fully ¡®infested¡¯, such that these populations could still interact and talk like normal, though, with some mental controls. Those who struggled or resisted the demonic control were quickly fully infested, or killed. When I started offensively expanding my trees into these demonic-parasite kingdoms, I noticed a glaring weakness. The demons could not detect my presence. They had some sense of their own, but as parasites, they mostly leeched off the senses of their hosts. And if their hosts did not notice me, they didn¡¯t either. That meant, with Stella and void mages, I could observe the demons without outside intervention! First thing I noticed was how absolutely ordinary some of these villages were, except for a few villagers who clearly had demonic appendages throughout their body. No one reacted to it, even those we could still detect the presence of a soul. Even as a ¡®dormant¡¯ or ¡®larva¡¯ form, the demons were clearly able to alter or change minds. There was no other reason why these people, who clearly retained some of their own cognitive abilities, accepted these ¡®demons¡¯ so easily. I therefore classify the demons into three categories, though the line between the infested stage and transformed stage is very thin On top of these three stages, we have the demon champions, who are at the larva-possession stage, but are able to either steal, or mind-control and simultaneously merge it with their own demon champion abilities. Those who were still in the larva possession stage continued to live relatively normal lives, though they focused on eating. Now that they did not have to keep up any semblance of a society, they abandoned things like paperwork and trade. The demonic parasites reorganised their society such that the larva-possessed collected food centrally. That said, they continued to produce weapons and equipment, which these demons used. These demons were able to use equipment, including magical equipment. Could they use hero items? As we continued to observe, we noticed the transformed demons taking charge. We kept spreading our trees, and noticed even more cities infested with demons, and finally found the prey we wanted. A champion. No. There were two of them. We knew they were champions, because the transformed demons deferred to them. The way all these humanoid demons obeyed their commands. Both the human King and Queen had a champion in them, and if we strained our magical sensors a little, we could pick up their masked magical powers. Their strength was self-evident, it rippled outwards in little motions. ¡°These human bodies are so fragile.¡± The possessed King said to the Queen. ¡°Would you rather possess a lizard, then?¡± ¡°If it is a big one, yes.¡± The King laughed, strangely human. How did they speak? ¡°Or are you referring to the Lizardfolk?¡± The Queen did not respond. ¡°No matter. Let us wait for the True King.¡± We knew, with certainty, that these champions could not possess me. I saw how the champions were torched by Edna¡¯s soul. I wanted to capture these demon champions, and so I asked Stella and the void mages to rest for two days. I needed them at their best when I pushed my powers through their portals. It wasn¡¯t hard to find them after the two days. The two champions were incredibly confident. They walked about their ¡®kingdom¡¯ with no guards, no defenders. Not necessary, when the demons as a whole respected and obeyed their inherent hierarchy. I initially tested the concept on the demon parasites, the lesser larva to the effects of my mana. It killed them. They were just fragile to most things when not in a host. But I had a feeling it would work on the champions. ¡°Alright, be ready, because I¡¯m going to attack a demon champion.¡± I told Stella. I had my labs and everything on standby. ¡°Ready.¡± Stella understood my plans to study the demon champions, though she didn¡¯t quite agree with having a war of the parasites. The two champions were apart. One was with some of the possessed, and the Queen was with a small battalion of demonic knights. These knights were no longer human, though they looked every bit like it. I readied my artificial minds, and went for it. Somewhere nearby, I immediately created two [Giant Attendant Trees]. These helped amplify my aura and power. Then, at the same time, roots shot out from the ground, and immediately wrapped the two of them. They reacted quickly, but their response was to attack my roots. The two demon champions both released a huge burst of flame that burnt the entire city, taking down a huge number of other demons with it, but it failed to burn through my trees. ¡°Heroes?¡± The King yelled as it transformed, and the demonic appendages fought the hundreds of vines and roots that spawned from the ground. It was like two masses of snakes or eels with different colors wrestling in shallow waters. They were no match for me. Not with my current levels of power. They struggled hard, and they resisted. But I didn¡¯t mean to kill them. I flooded them with my mana. The eyes of the possessed King widened in fear. ¡°-no!¡± It was time for the corruptor to be corrupted. It¡¯s time for reverse wololo~ Stella struggled, but she worked with a team of Void mages to stabilise the portals as huge amounts of mana was pumped through the portals. A few fainted, and they had to swap. But now, her school of void mages numbered in the hundreds, and this was within the same world. My mana flooded the demon champions, and in the end, one of them decided to self-destruct, than to submit to my influence. The body of the King splattered into mush. The champion that inhabited the Queen was not so lucky. My roots and vines penetrated the body, and found the champion¡¯s true body. A large hairy worm-like creature lived in the husk, and my mana flooded it. The champion struggled, and I sensed its¡¯ panicked flailing. It killed its host at that moment, but the body was still ¡®alive¡¯. Shit. Was it going to run? A chrysalis of wooden vines and roots emerged around the captured body, a vessel for the conversion. The demons in the surrounding area and the nation, who were not destroyed by the demonic flames, went wild, and they ran towards our location at full speed. I spawned beetles by the hundreds and thousands, and blocked them off. Horns went through, and helped lead the defense of the wooden shell. The demons rushed by the thousands, and the beetles fought off the demonic hordes from the surrounding nations for hours. My artificial minds supported the battle, as I focused on capturing the demon champion.. It took hours, as my mana gradually worked its way through the demon champion¡¯s real body. Strangely, no demon champion came. Not even from the nearest kingdom, which hosted more demon champions. Just more regular stuff. The demonic larva attempted to infiltrate the beetles, and some succeeded. But the beetles had extremely strong, demonic-resistant carapaces, and it was easy to tell which beetle was infected, since we would lose control of the beetle. Horns, for example, couldn¡¯t be infested, simply because my artificial minds were all linked to me at a fundamental level. My domain powers maintained the link with them, and that linked burned any attempted infestations. The battle lasted for two days, and Stella was exhausted. She didn¡¯t sleep for two days, as my own trees and vines back home supported her. The demon champion finally caved. [Natural Mana Overwhelming has converted a Demonic Infestor Champion] [You converted the demon into an Aeonic Infestor Champion.] [The Skill Natural Mana Overwhelming has been upgraded] The wooden chrysalis opened, and revealed that same human queen, but different. Her eyes were green, and her voice ethereal. She retained some of her-demonly features, but there were parts where it was clearly wooden. Her skin now had a greenish tone, instead of the original dark-red of the demons. The infestor kept the host, though the host changed as a result. Stella was already at her breaking point, it was only my own energies that kept her awake. Since it was done, I allowed her to rest. Another group of void mages then took over, and opened a portal to let the converted Champion through. The champion seemed to understand instinctively, and stepped through the void portal. It was now in Freshka. The infestor looked around, and the void mages stared. They were visibly afraid. Two of my Valthorns were there, ready for any eventuality. Roon¡¯s bow and arrow glowed, ready to fire. I felt it was safe, as Patreeck¡¯s psychic power descended on the infestor. Nothing. It bowed and knelt. ¡°Greetings, Aeon. I am your humble slave.¡± Roon stared, still worried. ¡°Stand, and speak. Who are you?¡± ¡°I am... I am nameless, Aeon, but this vessel was once named Queen Ally Ardiasan of Erat. I was once an infestor champion from the Demon World of the Infestors, spawned from the powers of the Infestor King.¡± I felt my mana permeate the converted demon. ¡°So Ally, then.¡± ¡°If you so will, I will be Ally.¡± The former demon answered, and at that moment, I had more questions than ever. ¡°Do you remember where you came from?¡± ¡°Not much. We are created by the Infestor King, or what the people of this refer to as the Demon King. The Demon King created us as lesser versions in his image, with his powers to corrupt and to control.¡± ¡°What is the Infestor King?¡± Ally stood, unsure how to reply. ¡°I know little of its power, save that it has corruption and the ability to control others through it¡¯s tendrils.¡± ¡°What do you know, then?¡± ¡°We are here to infest, spread our kind far and wind, we are to use the knowledge of the people against itself, prepare for the King¡¯s descent and kill the Puppets.¡± ¡°The Puppets.¡± I repeated. ¡°Yes. Heroes. Puppets. Same thing.¡± Ally answered. Roon and Johann stared at the infestor. ¡°Aeon, this is not a demon?¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s... a converted demon.¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible to convert demons?¡± Roon asked. I¡¯ve forgotten most of them have not seen my attempts to convert the demons. ¡°Yes. Hytreerion was made from the shell of a demon walker.¡± I added. It was quite strange that Ally didn¡¯t need any of that, despite being a demonic champion. Or wait. ¡°Ally, are you able to infest anyone or use your powers?¡± Ally wanted to, and then stopped. [Aeonic Infestor Champion requires a power source. You may attach a Titan Soul or an artificial soul to power it. It is currently relying on residual energies stored within its body, and will need to rest near a tree to recharge. While in this low-power mode it is unable to infest anyone.] ¡°Oh.¡± Darn. The Infestor Champion had a memory box and thought unit, but still needed a power source. Now that I robbed it of its original power source, it needed something from me. This sucked, since it meant I couldn¡¯t scale this operation. But I realised this infestor champion essentially was a spy¡¯s greatest weapon. I could deploy Ally to other worlds and help me gather information that I could not gather myself. In a way, Ally¡¯s even better than Lumoof, since, well, Ally could seamlessly blend into the existing folk. ¡°Ally, do you kill your hosts?¡± ¡°Do you want me to, master? As infestors, we have two modes, possession and infestation. Infestation kills the host.¡± The only problem was, I couldn¡¯t see what Ally was doing. ¡°Tell me more about how you steal powers?¡± ¡°As infestors, we attach to the Soul Springs of our hosts, and hijack it. We are all innately able to ¡®confuse¡¯ the soul spring, into thinking our commands are the soul¡¯s commands. We exist on two levels, at a physical level, and at a soul level, we can inject ourselves into the soul. This injection process, of course, drains a lot of magical power, but, we also simultaneously steal power from the soul springs of our host. When we kill our hosts, we grab hold of the pieces of their soul spring, and attach them to our own. But, it doesn¡¯t always succeed, and using these powers require mana like normal.¡± ¡°Wait. Get into the biolab.¡± Ally nodded, and got into the biolab as commanded. I saw a constantly shapeshifting, bloblike creature that resembled a jellyfish. It was hollow in the middle, like it was waiting for a power unit, or a ¡®soul spring¡¯ to power it. There were smaller rocks that floated in between the multiple blobby tentacles of the Infestor Champions, and realised these were the stolen skills. Skills taken from the Queen. I couldn¡¯t see how it interacted and inserted into another soul, because, in its current state, it lacked the means to do so. The tentacles and the blobs moved constantly, and there was no permanent form to the body. This was unlike how the others had a defined shape to the lake of their soul. I doubt the shape was what gave it the ability to possess another, and I probably would have to insert a Titan Soul in order to fully understand what these demon champions could do. That, of course, sounded like a waste of a titan soul. Well, maybe not, because from what I observed, Titans are most useful in a utility role. Patreeck¡¯s usefulness has exceeded Hytreerion by a lot, so to use Titans for combat roles was frankly a waste of time. In that case, would using the Titan Soul on Ally, an ¡®infestor¡¯, be a waste? Do I have other, better uses for the Titans? Meanwhile, the kingdom which the champions once ruled turned into a frenzy, like a zerg swarm without their cerebrates. Wild, primal, and they rushed towards us. This was strange behavior, as each parasite is able to some degree of thought and self-regulation. Surely, they did not require a champion to function. But it did. - While the war against the parasites continued, Lumoof was still in Threeworlds. ¡°Sir Lumoof, this way.¡± A merchant led him to a large room that displayed one of the largest, most detailed maps of the Threeworlds. Lumoof had a sense something was off, but he wasn¡¯t worried. No. If anything, he wanted them to bite. It was something he had planned for a while. The three merchants gathered and started explaining the map, and Lumoof looked at it intently. This was helpful, at least, to strategize where to plant my [clones]. There were dungeons, magical ley lines marked, to the best of their knowledge. It was a commission that took the past two years, and a lot of our ¡®treasures¡¯. Lumoof nodded, as the merchants started to furl up the map. It was made with some kind of magical cloth, and with shrinking spells such that it shrunk to the size of a regular scroll. The merchant passed it to Lumoof. ¡°Payment, Sir Lumoof.¡± Lumoof nodded, and withdrew a magical sword from his pouch. The other merchants all stared, some seemed to be mouthwatering. The goods exchanged hands, and the merchants stared at the magical sword. They used some inspection abilities, and some kind of merchant-valuation ability. Yet, at that same moment, the doors slammed open, and about forty mages walked into the room. Lumoof quickly held the map, and in an instant, it vanished, sent back to Freshka. The merchants looked around, and they were all clearly puzzled at the mages. They stared at each other. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± We¡¯ve known something was up, especially when we detected a few failed [Inspection] type skills. Lumoof had a cloak that confused such skills, but it wasn¡¯t perfect. So, it was a matter of time before the Maelas priests sensed something was up. In fact, I was surprised that they took so long to even attempt to arrest us. Here¡¯s an old man walking about asking for information, learning spells and so on. The mages were armed, and one pointed his staff at Lumoof. ¡°Lumoof, on the orders of the council of High Priests of Maelas, you are to be detained on the suspicion of espionage.¡± Lumoof lifted his arms. We were ready for this, and we would go along with the capture. The mages used a kind of crystal shackle, and shackled Lumoof. But all that happened was... [...detecting attempted skill-control. Domain overriding.] The crystal shackle shone, and then, like a whimper, it crumbled. The mages stared at each other. One of the high mage-priests immediately walked over, and took out another shackle. The second shackle crumbled too. ¡°That¡¯s... not supposed to happen.¡± Lumoof smiled. ¡°Anyway, gents, it¡¯s fine, come, lead me.¡± The mages stared at each other, unnerved at how easy Lumoof went along with the capture. No, we wanted to be captured, because it was a convenient excuse. From what we know, the High priests questioned their suspects within the depths of the Crystal Mountain, where they keep their strange artefacts, and that was somewhere we wanted to go anyway. The mage-priests were shocked, of course, because it now seemed like they were escorting Lumoof, rather than capturing him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I have no intention of resisting.¡± Eventually, we entered a cave, high up on the Crystal Mountain. Here, we took a look, and it was beautiful. ¡°Can I just appreciate the view for a moment?¡± Lumoof paused. The mage priests looked at each other uncomfortably, and then glanced towards the high-priest for guidance. The high priest nodded. ¡°No more than two minutes.¡± Lumoof nodded, and just looked at the view. It really was beautiful to see the entire city of Maelga, with crystals everywhere. It was part-crystal mine, part-magic academy, and the glowing magical crystal lights paired with the faint fog and haze from the dusts only gave it an eerie, mystical aura. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± Lumoof nodded, and we went into the mountains. Spaizzer I like breaks. I should take more breaks. Also, I think ranobes is somehow synchronising this novel, so hi. Visit my patreon for more :P PAY ME MONIES. I POOR. Haughtree Year 200 The depths of the crystal mountain were magical. They had a magic lift, and the walls, the crystalline walls glowed in many colors. It was beautiful, and the ambience truly seemed magical. ¡°This is quite beautiful.¡± Lumoof said to the mages, who all seemed a lot more afraid of him than the other way round. Something about the shackles crumbling seemed to remind them that Lumoof was not just any old man, even though he had kept his domain in check for the entire period he was here. The high-mage tried his best to play along. ¡°It is. Everyone who stepped into these lifts for the first time remarked how beautiful it is. Even the heroes.¡± Lumoof nodded. ¡°Ah yes, the heroes. They came from another world, right?¡± The high-mage gave Lumoof a suspicious look. ¡°You seem familiar with them.¡± ¡°I have met a few.¡± Lumoof nodded. ¡°Are you from the nation of the Sandpeople, then?¡± ¡°No.¡± Lumoof smiled, and the High-mage just gave him a stare. But Lumoof was used to such things. The lift eventually stopped gently, like it slowed down on a very measured drift. They hardly felt it. The door opened, and they were led into a chamber made of crystals. The entire chamber was shaped by the crystal growth, and for me, looking through Lumoof, this chamber reminded me of ice-palaces and chambers carved out of ice. Only crystals, and it wasn¡¯t cold. In fact, it was quite warm. The chamber led to smaller hallways, similarly carved out of ice. There were crystalline lights, embedded into the crystal walls. ¡°This way.¡± Lumoof nodded, and he was led to another chamber with a chair. ¡°Sit here.¡± Lumoof complied. This seemed to be an interrogation room, but the high mage looked at the shackles, and hesitated. The mages stared at each other. ¡°Should we use the shackles?¡± The high-mage shook his head. ¡°No, we¡¯ve wasted two already. Just call the Interrogators.¡± The mage scurried out of the magical door. They used wooden doors, embedded with crystals. We could see that it was some kind of mixed item, part wood, part crystals. I wondered whether I could grow Crystal Trees, like how Kei is a crystal golem in the shape of a lady. Maybe I could experiment with that dryad body I had stored all these time. The Interrogators, despite their fearsome name, were three skinny looking humans with long crystal spears, and many smaller pins and needles, all similarly made of crystal. They had different colors, and from a casual glance, I sensed that each of them was imbued with a different type of spell. A torture set. Interesting. A far more elaborately dressed woman came immediately after, and I sensed that she was higher level than the rest. At least level 80. ¡°Let¡¯s make this simple, Sir Lumoof.¡± The lady started. ¡°I have my interrogators with me, and I want to know, who are you, and who do you work for, and what do you want? You¡¯ve been buying magical spells, collecting various locational information for the past few years. Who are you sending it to? The sandpeople? Or the centaurs?¡± Lumoof merely smiled. ¡°Can I get your name?¡± The lady shrugged and laughed. ¡°I¡¯m the Fourth Archpriest of Maelas, Yaddah.¡± There was an air of magic around her, strong, but nothing particularly impressive. Not when she was compared to my near-domain level mages. ¡°Well, since you asked so nicely, I¡¯m Lumoof. I serve the temple of Aeon, and I came from a faraway place.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve checked, there¡¯s no such thing as the Temple of Aeon.¡± ¡°Oh, there is.¡± Lumoof smiled. ¡°Now, if you want the juicy details with all the fruits, I would like to meet the true ruler of Maelga. I would happily explain then.¡± Yaddah stared. ¡°You wanted us to come to you.¡± Lumoof smiled. ¡°Well, it¡¯s hard to get the bureaucracy to pass a message, isn¡¯t it? What better way to get direct access to the top, by making you come to me?¡± ¡°I could kill you here.¡± Lumoof shrugged. ¡°I think you know well enough that you can¡¯t. In fact, maybe only the true ruler of this living mountain can hope to even hurt me.¡± Yaddah¡¯s fists glowed with magic, and she punched. A wooden barrier emerged and blocked it. Vines instantly absorbed the magic in her fists, and those vines quickly wrapped around her arms, and she stared. She flinched as she felt magic drain away from her arms. ¡°...who are you?¡± ¡°Were you listening? My name is Lumoof, and I serve the temple of Aeon.¡± The vines let her arms go, and Yaddah staggered backwards. The Interrogators stared dumbly. They were not used to their subjects being able to use their skills. Lumoof didn¡¯t move and just stretched his legs. ¡°It really does annoy me when young ones don¡¯t listen to what us old folk have to say.¡± Yaddah stood, but she realised the power gap. ¡°So, now that I am here, deep within the mountain, I want to talk to the true ruler of this mountain. Can you get me an audience? I certainly hope we can have a friendly meeting, rather than one where I¡¯m forced to go on a warpath.¡± Yaddah dusted her robes. ¡°I see we have invited the snake into the house.¡± ¡°Eh, I¡¯m not a snake. I¡¯m just a priest of Aeon. I don¡¯t bite.¡± Yaddah looked at her team. ¡°Stay here. I¡¯ll go call the Crystal Holders.¡± The interrogators looked afraid. ¡°Milady-¡± Lumoof immediately interjected. ¡°There really is nothing to worry about. Can I have some tea while you sort out the details?¡± Yaddah looked at the Interrogators. ¡°Well? Go get some.¡± She pointed a finger at Lumoof. ¡°And you don¡¯t get too smug. You don¡¯t know who you¡¯re dealing with.¡± My priest just stretched and yawned. ¡°But-¡± The Interrogators looked at Lumoof again, and decided it was better to just get him some tea. The tea was not bad, and Yaddah came back about three hours later. The Interrogators kept watch, but they felt so uncomfortable around Lumoof that they decided to wait outside the door. ¡°The Crystal Holders will meet you now.¡± Yaddah said with a commanding tone. ¡°Then you¡¯ll know better than to offend us.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± They led Lumoof through more narrow crystalline pathways, and down more crystalline stairs, and then, another lift. A lift that went even deeper. Then deep underground, we walked out of the lift into a massive cavern, with glistening crystals on the roof. The crystals had many colors, and around us, we saw giant crystal golems. These were massive things, and they looked like these golems could open up to be even larger. There were a few more pathways that led to this cavern, clearly the way we took was not the only way in. ¡°Feeling scared yet?¡± Yaddah smirked. Lumoof shrugged and she couldn¡¯t believe her eyes. ¡°...you¡¯re acting.¡± We¡¯ve fought demon champions. Golems are just creatures in the same class, and then we arrived at a platform. There were eight large crystals, and eight individuals seated right before them. ¡°Archpriest Yaddah, this is the individual that wants to meet us?¡± Lumoof looked around, and here, I felt the conflicting presence of something. It was that something that hid underneath the mountains, it was here, but it darted everywhere. Hopping from crystal to crystal. These eight men were just spokesperson. The equivalent of my Valthorn councils, but not... me. ¡°Where are you looking, spy?¡± One of the individuals said. The voice was feminine, but here in the dim cavern, where the lighting came from the glow of crystals, it was hard to make out her features, unless we activated our skills. My spiritual sight identified her as human. Lumoof looked around, and we tried to follow the ¡®presence¡¯. ¡°Looking at the real power behind all of you.¡± One of them slammed the crystal table. ¡°We are the real powers here.¡± Lumoof smiled. ¡°All of you are just like me. The hands and legs. The executors of divine will.¡± Lumoof paused briefly, and then said. ¡°Minions.¡± Three of them glowed, as I sensed them gather their magical power. Still, our eyes focused on that presence, and at that moment, a ninth crystal, one larger than the eight others, rose up, out of the crystal floor. The ninth crystal was shaped like a throne, and a golem sat on it. We felt that presence gathered in the golem. The golem was just a puppet of the spirit of this crystal mountain. Yet, the golem looked incredibly life-like. No, at a casual glance, the golem seemed every bit human. The eight immediately bowed. ¡°We greet the Immortal Crystal King.¡± Yaddah knelt, and she gave Lumoof a smug look. ¡°You fucked now, old man.¡± Lumoof smiled, and respectfully clasped his hands together. We didn¡¯t kneel. ¡°Greetings.¡± The presence was similar to Lilies and Aria. Maybe just a bit stronger. The golem radiated his [domain], and the aura of the crystal king¡¯s domain closed in, and attempted to smother us. All of them cowered in its presence. This was nostalgic. I did the same thing to my Valthorns. The Crystal King stopped, and stared with its purple eyes. The eight cowering minions immediately attempted to explain. ¡°Your majesty, this is a spy. He claims to be a priest of Aeon, but we¡¯ve checked and it does not exist.¡± ¡°No.¡± The King answered, and he sounded human. This was some really good puppetry. ¡°Who are you?¡± His domain did not pierce through Lumoof¡¯s skin. Instead, it was pushed back. Lumoof gave a nod. ¡°Greetings, Immortal Crystal King. I am Lumoof, a priest of Aeon. Finally, we have been hoping to speak to the true master of the mountain.¡± ¡°We?¡± The King narrowed its eyes. Lumoof nodded, and I descended. My domain pushed against the Crystal King, and everyone, including the other minions of the Crystal King cowered. ¡°...what?!¡± ¡°Greetings, Crystal King. I am Aeon, and Lumoof is my avatar.¡± I spoke as Lumoof¡¯s eyes glowed green, and my presence was clear for all to see. A greenish glow of light, shaped into a tree appeared around Lumoof. The golem narrowed its eyes, as our two domains met. The usually quiet and motionless air of the cavern was twisted by our energies, and it whipped it up into a small, twisting gale. Yaddah, the archpriest and the eight Crystal Holders were all horrified. ¡°I have been meaning to speak to you, though, it is hard to get you through all of your institutional red tape.¡± I bet those who want to talk to me feel the same way. The Crystal King¡¯s face was serious. ¡°Speak, you have my attention.¡± ¡°I come from another world, just next to yours. I come in search of allies, in my bid to defeat the demons that plague my world.¡± ¡°Is that not an affair of the gods?¡± At this point, all nine other humans dared not speak. They were all quiet. This was not their stage. ¡°The Gods will abandon us, in a century or two.¡± I said. The Crystal King looked. ¡°I do not care of the cause. What do you want exactly?¡± ¡°Knowledge and skills. Cooperation. Friendship.¡± The King glared, and stated bluntly. ¡°Denied. I have no reason to cooperate and share my knowledge with those of another world. Every creature or beast of other worlds eventually attempts to invade us. Even the summoned heroes are not much better. No. We are an insular world, and we will remain so. No trade with outworlders. Friendship with another existence from another world? Impossible.¡± ¡°...And what of trade?¡± I asked, inward I was shaken by the immediate refusal. But Lumoof kept a stoic face. ¡°No. I refuse.¡± The Crystal King said firmly, and I felt my spirit sink. What was this straight-out stonewalling? ¡°Any guarantees I can offer? What can I do to change your mind, and work together?¡± I certainly come in peace, but it seemed they didn¡¯t believe me. ¡°No. There is no negotiation to be had with otherworlders. I reject your presence in my lands. Leave and return to where you came from. The human-lands of this world will not receive you.¡± I felt angry. Why? What was the cause of this... this... selfishness? What¡¯s the word for it... The Immortal Crystal King was blunt. ¡°I shall apply the full force of my powers should I ever see you again after today. I do not accept foreigners from another world. Leave.¡± The crystal king flexed his domain, and his energies strengthened. I wondered. ¡°Why? You accept the heroes!¡± ¡°They are part of a bargain we struck with Maelas.¡± I felt there was an undercurrent of fear. ¡°Must it be this way?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The Crystal King said. ¡°Go. We are not friends. No. Friends do not exist for existences like... us. There are those stronger, and those weaker. The strong take, the weak obey.¡± Is that a challenge? Should I just take it, then? Darn. There seems to be something at the back of all of this. Some history from long ago? No. Conflict should not be the first thought, especially when we have no reason to be enemies. Lumoof¡¯s attempted capture was a small matter, really. Nothing was really at risk. ¡°Let¡¯s talk this through. It is not my intention to come and occupy your world.¡± ¡°You will learn, and eventually, you will occupy. That is how it is, that is how it will be, and I reject your attempts to plant a seed here. Go. Leave. I shall entertain you no further. Leave peacefully, and that is the end of it.¡± ¡°And if I don¡¯t?¡± ¡°Then it will be war. Our eventual outcome is war. It is the same with the others, as with the demons, and as with those before us. War is inevitable.¡± If it¡¯s inevitable, why shouldn¡¯t I just raise war right now? But no. I calmed myself and focused. What is my goal? My goal is to end the cycle of heroes and demon kings, not for all worlds, but at least, for my homeworld. War with other spirits and forces are unnecessary, unless it leads to the end of the cycle. This group of people seem to have knowledge of crystals, which I can use in the future, but do I want to go to war with them just to have this knowledge, which may or may not lead to breakthroughs? Would a war here, with this mountain, be a worthwhile investment of resources? I stared, and for a moment, the entire cavern shook as our domains clashed. My power radiated outwards like a wave, and met the opposing force of the Immortal Crystal King. My greenish energies lit the dark cave with my mana. The human minions stared, with their jaws wide, and two of them had fainted. I knew for certain I was stronger overall, but even then a battle would be hard to predict, since this is their home base, and this crystal king most likely have more combat abilities. The strangely human Immortal Crystal King squinted his eyes, and took a step back. Ugh. Fucking fucking fucking fuck. Why the fuck is this damned crystal so irritatingly... Aloof? What was the word I was looking for- Lumoof mentally responded to me. ¡°Let¡¯s go, milord. There really is no need to wage this pointless war. We can have other means. Or find somewhere else. They are not the only masters of crystals.¡± I sighed. ¡°Very well. We will leave.¡± The Crystal King looked to its cowering minions. ¡°Escort this otherworlder out of my mountain. Don¡¯t let him in ever again. Notify me if he ever dares to appear at my doorstep.¡± Such arrogance, but I had no real beef with this guy. I wanted knowledge, and there really wasn¡¯t any need to destroy this mountain just because he refused to cooperate. In the end, my end goal was the demons and this cycle. Focus on the end goal, I told myself, using that to calm myself down. I did not have to destroy other functional civilizations to get there. I tried to relax, and reminded myself that not everyone saw things my way, and that is alright. It¡¯s normal that some people are just not cooperative. It¡¯s normal. Perfect, perfectly normal. I tried to convince myself, really, because I felt mad. Maybe mainly because I got rejected. It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m a salesman, and I don¡¯t have to make every single sale. Not everyone is like Lilies or Aria. The minions stared at Yaddah, and Yaddah gulped. She had been commanded, and so she did. She escorted Lumoof, respectfully and quietly. Not a peep. Year 201 Back home, it was a game of whack-a-mole, as demons kept popping up despite the efforts of the heroes, temples and us to clamp down on the demonic parasites. We were generally gaining ground, as we discovered more and more ways to detect them, and counter them. The food-makers and coffee brewers around the world made condensed ¡®caffeine-sweets¡¯ and ¡®caffeine-pills¡¯. The coffee makers and sweet makers even gained unique skills. [Anti-Demon Coffee] and [Demon-Preventing Coffee Sweets]. It was really cute that those who made food actually contributed to the war effort. I suppose this was a feature of the system, that the system does respond to changes, but it took a while for it to hit the necessary threshold to ¡®award¡¯ a skill. Anyway, with foods and consumables that deterred the demons from infesting, the tide was somewhat shifting, and it was slowly returning to good old conventional demon warfare. Normalcy! How I missed it so. At the same time, I also granted one of my Valthorns a class Lovis once had. [Aeon¡¯s Demonslayer]. I suspected that it¡¯ll help to sense demons, and it did, but it¡¯s effectiveness was linked to the person¡¯s level. It wasn¡¯t very useful on a large scale, since, like the heroes, it was tied to a particular individual, and so was largely ¡®local¡¯. But it was good for interrogation and detection of demons among areas previously cleared. Despite our progress, we knew it meant nothing if the demon king wasn¡¯t killed. As the ten years deadline slowly passed by, we waited for the demon king. I really, really wanted to know the kind of demon king we would face. Visitreetions of the demon world Year 201 The demon king took its time, and we waited. So, I went on the offense, and wanted to claim a few more demon champions for myself. Just like the [Forest Rod], which I clearly wish I had more, I wanted more of these infestors. I could find uses for them. Someday. Ally stood like a machine back in Freshka, and I quickly commanded it to ¡®sleep¡¯ in one of my bio pods, safe in the valley. I didn¡¯t want an infestor like her walking about the city, mainly because I felt such abilities were more suited to be hidden. A spy is most effective when no one suspects a spy. Thus, only Stella and a few others were aware of it, and I made it a point to make them know it. ¡°What are your weaknesses?¡± I asked Ally, like, I tried my luck whether it¡¯s possible to directly ask a former demon the answer. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± It wasn¡¯t so easy, sadly. We watched the star-ways with great interest. One of the paths glowed bright, but it wasn¡¯t yet ready for the demon king. There were tell-tale signs when the demon king was about to cross, and so far, we have not seen it. Down in the Southern continent, we continued our great game of demon-parasite whack-a-mole, and eventually, I managed to catch two more demon champions. One was a general of a destroyed kingdom, named Genid, and another was a King, King Rhoma of the Sanndea kingdom, which is no more. Since everyone alive was infested and incurable. These two demon champions did not reveal anything new. They were similar creations of the Infestor King, and had no memories. As our reach expanded in the South, I finally managed to catch something I was looking for. A rift. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Stella asked as my trees approached a rift. She sensed some unusual magic fluctuations, a little more drain than usual. ¡°Another demon champion?¡± ¡°Not exactly. While waiting for the demon king, I¡¯ve decided to go on the offense.¡± Stella¡¯s eyes squinted, and then widened as she realised what I¡¯ve just meant. ¡°Wait. You need the entire team here-¡± My roots and vines approached the rift, and slowly tested out its magical resonance. Like the previous demons, I needed to know the exact mana frequency to confuse the rift, such that it would let me through to the other side. ¡°Why?¡± Stella asked as she felt the energies passing through the void portals. ¡°I have nothing to lose, and I realised, with my seeds, that I should use them offensively. Playing defense is tiring.¡± I have two seeds left. From what I gather, it does take a while for any ¡®destroyed¡¯ tree to respawn as a new seed, but with both Threeworlds and the other world remaining close by, I was willing to do it. It¡¯s my first attempt at launching an offensive attack. From what I learned from Snek, I suspect that the demons most likely do not have means of communication with other demon types, and that each demonic world is largely independent, though there were some means of coordinating invasions. I needed a solid presence in one such world, if I wanted to know what exactly happened. I couldn¡¯t learn about the demons without seeing them in one of their controlled worlds. The last time, I needed the forest rod. I wouldn¡¯t use the forest rod now. With the [seed of aeon], I could use my clones as disposable ¡®scouts¡¯. My only risk was if they ¡®possessed¡¯ my clone bodies, but I suspect that¡¯s impossible. I spawned more artificial minds, just in case. I needed the backup. ¡°We don¡¯t know what our homeworld is like. We were created, and before we could see or sense, we were flung to this world through the rifts, sent to infest anyone who feels strong.¡± I also learned that my infestors used to have some kind of ability to ¡®see¡¯ strength, that¡¯s inactive as they are currently unpowered. Could they infest something like me? I suspect probably not, since a soul tree like myself should be invincible in its native domain. When asked, they seemed to answer. ¡°We don¡¯t know, but we are programmed to try.¡± Huh. That was rather strange. I soon found the resonance needed to get myself through the rift gates. My roots and vines went through! Stella immediately winced as my roots went through. The first thing I attempted to do was see. A gate. I saw a gate. The gate was on a platform, and around the gates were those same void crystals. They were some other demonic structures around those void crystals, and this time, I was able to sense some magic flowing through it. But immediately beyond the dry platform was water! This demon world was not dry! If anything it was more of a corrupted world. There were demonic trees and large gigantic monsters that would not be out of place in the rottedlands. I saw large blobs, filled with hundreds or thousands of those demonic parasites being hauled by large demonic creatures. They were pushed through the rift-gate, and they appeared on the other side. The blob didn¡¯t survive the transfer, but the parasites did. I immediately extended my roots and my vines into the water, and I felt the pollution and dirt. No, this was some kind of muck. I¡¯ll have to analyse the details later. The last time I sent my roots through the rift, some demons saw it and immediately cut us off. I wasn¡¯t going to let that happen to me now. I immediately deployed my [seed of aeon], right here, right next to the rift gates. I felt my seed sink into the water, and then little roots extended out of the water. I sensed my seed¡¯s root searching for dirt and earth. Barren. Even though there was water, the ground or dirt felt lifeless and weak. It was a little like the moon, but different. The moon was just naturally empty, it¡¯s surface covered with moon dust that needed to be rehabilitated gradually. This world was drained, as if every bit of life that once was, had been sucked out by the demons. I knew through my clone that the demons did this to their captured worlds, and that meant, Snek¡¯s world was on a timer. Eventually the demons would drain the world until it had no ability to support life? Was that how it always went? I had to check with Lilies. < Lilies. You said the demons won before. Do you remember how long those demon-ruled periods were? When was that? > > We do not recall the exact time as we were dormant, but from what we know, it was not very long. Almost one hundred years. We hid within the depths of the lake, and time was lost to us. It was then we heard the will of the world, once. < < What happened? Do you remember how it stopped? > > The gods summoned their chosen. < Hmm. That didn¡¯t quite answer the question. We didn¡¯t know how long Snek¡¯s world has. It could be hundreds more years, or thousands. Or maybe it¡¯s already lost. Either way, my seed spread roots into the lifeless soil, and rather than gathering nutrients from them, I attempted to sense magic. These demons were not as alert as the previous ones. I suspect this was because the parasites themselves seem to have rather strange senses when they are not in a host. In a way, they¡¯re quite blind. But eventually one of the demons that carried those blobs noticed the little roots and vines coming through, and they immediately closed the rift. I felt a jarring sensation, similar to how a livestream would get stuck when switching from a wired connection to a wireless connection. It came back a short while later, as my seed now supplied me with my senses. I was already on the other side, and my vines, now connected through my seed, continued to observe the demons. I decided to take advantage of my past hybrid demon-tree knowledge, and changed my roots to appear somewhat demon-tree like. I had to support my seed from the system, and I could feel the seed grow when I feed it mana. It¡¯s not getting enough mana from its ambient surroundings, just like my tree in the destroyed cometworld. Luckily, the moon-tree has grown sufficiently that it is no longer a drain on my overall mana, even if it still depended on my mana to grow outwards. In short, even though I have clones, each clone still needed to generate its own ¡®power¡¯. If it doesn¡¯t, due to the poor environment, it would then draw down on the primary reserve, which was my own mana pool. I would have to develop plants able to collect mana in this polluted demonworld. My roots moved through the dirty waters, and we sensed the presence of metals I¡¯ve not seen back on our homeworld. As my roots spread out from the gate, I noticed that the demons were actually quite concentrated in certain areas, and there were still vast swaths where there was absolutely nothing. Just plain dirt. Lifeless dirt and polluted waters. The waters were shallow, and that was good. It¡¯d be a pain if I encountered oceans in a demon world, since that was a problem in itself that I have yet to solve. I spawned a few discrete smaller trees in these sparse places. In doing so, I limited the number of beetles each of them could support, but no matter. I wanted to see the demon world for myself beyond what I could see from the gates. I didn¡¯t encounter any resistance, and my roots found the dirt. The parasite-world had a single, bright blue sun that was really small. It was probably further away than our normal sun, which meant the weather would have been cooler, if not for the thick smog that seemed to coat the air. Even with these small trees I sensed the presence of strange minerals in the air. I wasn¡¯t sure whether this was native to this world, or whether this was an output of the demons. I didn¡¯t manage to collect such data from my previous incursions to the other demon worlds. With more and more discreetly placed trees, I was able to spawn some labs to begin analysing the magic in this world, and the first thing that immediately stood out to me was how little magic was in the air, and there were no... ley lines. That was weird, and it reminded me of the moon. No. Even the moon wasn¡¯t so empty. Are ley lines essentially magical ¡®blood vessels¡¯ of the core, and ley lines essentially supply ¡®life¡¯ to the world? I thought of the ¡®strategy-demons¡¯, and their demonic rods. They were essentially using the world¡¯s ability to create life to create demons. I was doing the same thing with dungeons. The world did it normally too, through the spawning of natural dungeons. I know, from my own experience in Treeworld, that ley lines are rare. The moon, too, doesn¡¯t have any noticeable leyline, but I initially suspected this was because I have not expanded much on the moon. That¡¯s because I still detected some faint magic that moved in the depths of the moon. But here, in this demonworld, there should be ley lines, or very faint inklings of them, especially once my roots started spreading really far and wide. What¡¯s happening? - Back home, I immediately summoned Snek for an audience. ¡°Tell me about the lines from your home. Are you aware of them?¡± ¡°Yes. These are the magical energies of the world?¡± ¡°Have you observed any change in the magical energies of the ley lines since the demons took over?¡± Snek frowned. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have information on this. We are aware of some changes in these magical strands but I did not look into it.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you were an expert on your world.¡± ¡°...I lied, oh great Aeon.¡± The little snake spirit prostrated on the floor. ¡°I merely have a high level knowledge of it. To have knowledge of everything in my world is not something one snake can achieve.¡± - I spread my roots and trees more and more, and eventually stumbled on something I¡¯ve seen in the dreams of the heroes. Pillars and spires, filled with dark red blobs, and looking at it for myself, I saw the spires were linked to large pillars and spikes, these were embedded into the ground, like stakes. There were also large vats and pools right next to the pillars filled with some kind of colored muck. The blobs on the spires themselves all seemed to contain smaller, almost like baby-demons. I felt a draining effect in the land itself, and thankfully, I was resistant to it. It felt like a vacuum cleaner sucking on my toes, and it didn¡¯t really hurt. It was just slightly irritating. It wasn¡¯t the only one such structure I saw. As I spread my trees as far and wide as I could in this new demonic world, I saw many more such structures. I was looking for the thing that created the demonic champions. I soon found other rift-gates, and as my trees spread, I realised there were at least ten of them, each of them had a whole bevy of void crystals around them. I watched the rift gates open, and the demonic parasites were sent through. This part was not new to me. What was new was what happened after the rift gates were closed. I saw demons that replaced the crystals, and they replaced them by the hundreds and thousands. Each rift gate was supplied, continuously, by a supply chain of these demons who did nothing but carry these void crystals. So, I followed this supply chain. It took some time, at least a month, since the supply chain was very, very long, and eventually I came upon what was the largest spawning pool I¡¯ve ever seen. The waters were different. They were black with streaks in them, like a very thick soup. Around the holes were massive spires that joined up at the top in the shape of a ring. From my viewpoint, it looked like a supermassive rift gate that was exactly above the hole. My roots sensed something lurking within these lakes, and here, that sucking effect was extremely strong. But, more importantly, I felt its focus that went deep underground. I felt it draw energy from the depths. I spread my trees around this lake, and noticed some parts where demons emerged from the lake, hauling smaller void crystals. This lake produced void crystals or were they mining them from deep underground? I tried to dig underground, like how I dug back home, and I soon found that this hole stretched downwards, and I sensed pain. A pain that came from the world itself. I followed the pain, and kept digging. The demon¡¯s hole was still there! How did they manage to dig so deep? As I went deeper, and deeper as I could manage, I sensed a powerful presence, wrapped in a shell. I knew it was powerful, because it¡¯s energy was like a constant hum and it pressed on my roots. The hum became a constant grinding noise as I went deeper, and I realised it was the nascent demon king. It was further down. Much, much further down. The core of the world was the womb of the demon king. Spaizzer On a personal note : Life''s hard. So tired. Having kids are tiring. Think before you make babies. :P Beneath the Tree’s Shade Year 201 Continued We saw the path through the void sea lit up, and this time, I tried to see what was happening from this side of the world. I saw a massive tower emerge from the ground, right next to the huge hole that led to the world¡¯s core. The tower was pitch black, mixed with little bits of other colors, and I felt huge amounts of strange magic being pulled through that pillar. It was absorbing something... from somewhere. The smaller spires around the massive hole glowed, as if it stored the energy that was being pulled. I switched to my astral sight, and I saw a dark blob appear right above the demon¡¯s world. There was a black pillar of energy that linked to that physical tower. I felt a huge, splitting headache and Patreeck immediately stepped in. As I concentrated on the sky above the demonic world, I saw it. A huge black sun of void magic. It had many other little pillars that I couldn¡¯t quite see, like... easily hundreds or maybe thousands. What was this? The demon¡¯s power source for void magic? Or is it an actual demonic god? That pitch black tower seemed to pull void mana from the black sun, and I felt the air tense with void energies. It was void mana, the very same void mana that Stella used. At the same time, my magical senses were attacked by a huge surge of power that came from the core itself. This part wasn¡¯t void magic, but a different kind of energy. It was also familiar, like the one I saw from within that shard of Cometworld. It surged out, and then, alternatingly split to the smaller pillars around the hole. One pillar was void, another one was this core energy. Void mana from the black tower was then transferred to the pillars, again, in alternating patterns. The ring above the hole started to float into the sky, and expanded. Then, I watched as the spires formed pairs. One spire that contained the core energy, and another spire that contained the void mana from the black tower, mix together to form this weird mana. The pairs glowed and then the floating ring in the sky spaced out. The pair of spires each shot a beam of energy to the ring in the sky, and I felt the world bend. From the center of the circle, a huge rift opened. The ground rumbled, as the demon king moved out of its cradle deep in the core of the world. It rumbled for a long time, the demon king didn¡¯t move very quickly. At that very moment, I saw that tower of darkness glow again, and there were three astral paths in the skies above. One that led to Treehome, where my main body was. Another one that led to that black sun, this path was filled with a constant flow of void mana, and this third one was another black object. It resembled- I wasn¡¯t sure what I was looking at. It looked like a constant moving blob. Maybe it looked like a lava lamp? I wasn¡¯t sure what it was. At first, I didn¡¯t know they opened a path to this blob. But there had to be a purpose, so I watched. No one opened a pathway to this faraway place, bending space and dimensions for no reason. There had to be a purpose. The ground rumbled, and rumbled some more. Then, this formless blob that constantly moved separated a small, tiny droplet of pitch black darkness, and that darkness went through the pathway. It came out of a rift right above the ring, and I saw a black and dark red crystal descend and fall into the deep pool that led to the core. But this crystal had a familiar energy. It was a part of the demon king, I was sure of it.. The crystal descended into the pool, and the rumbling intensified. I felt the demon king¡¯s body stop somewhere, and then, I tracked the two energies approaching each other. The crystal and the body, fusing somewhere along that massive hole. The pathway that led to that blob closed first, and now there were two left. One that led home, and one from that black sun. The black sun continued to pump void mana through the path, and I noticed that even though I could very visibly see this astral path, it had a far more robust structure. I needed Stella to see this. Maybe she could learn how to reverse engineer this portal! Just then, I felt the two separated energies of the demon king, the crystal and the demon king¡¯s body from the core completed its fusion. It was noticeable, and familiar, as I felt the fabric of the world bend to the presence of this emerged being. The gestation period within the cradle of the world was over, and so, a demon king was born. The ground vibrated strongly, and I felt it rupture. Massive chasms emerged, as the demon king suddenly shot upward. The ring in the sky burned, and through my astral sight, I saw the path to Treehome lit up. The demon king shot out of the boiling sludge and straight through the massive rift. The rift immediately started to shut down, but the chasms around the hole-to-the-core continued to widen. The pillars around the hole-to-the-core started to collapse and break, a few even exploded, from magic-overload. The draining sensation I felt a while back, vanished entirely. Instead, all I sensed was pure emptiness and nothingness. Even in my deeper roots and trees in the little subterranean tunnels, there was a real sense of emptiness. Like all life had been sucked out, all value drained. This absence of ¡®magic¡¯ and ¡®life¡¯ seemed to cause the dirt and the demonic spires to start collapsing, the earth itself breaking apart. That didn¡¯t make any sense. The pillar of void energy was still there. Maybe what was holding this world together was.. Wait. It¡¯s like Cometworld again. The core energy holds the place together and... Does that mean the Core generates some kind of ¡®stability-mana¡¯ that allows the rifts to travel such great distances? Was I looking at this wrong this entire time? That void mana may be the liquid or the juice of interplanar travel, but the core¡¯s energy is what allows for stable travel? It was something I had to test out, but we had a demon king to fight. Back home, the path lit up, and Stella watched with great interest as the path opened, and the demon king descended on the Southern Continent. [Demon King Exikant has arrived] This demon king wasn¡¯t hiding at all. The rift opened, and the sky rained with demonic larva. On the parasite-world, the rifts opened and larva was dumped through them by the hundreds and thousands. Even if coffee afforded some protection, the larvae were now able to resist the coffee¡¯s influence, since these larvae were empowered by the Demon King¡¯s presence. But, the demonic parasites also exhibited a strange behavioral weakness. They all wore their demonic presence publicly, no longer hiding it. I wonder whether this was a conscious decision by the demon king, or just something out of instinct, or just driven by their new state of power. Even the simple larva now could take a punch, and their bites now had power. In their transformed stages, they were at least three times stronger than before. Which was pretty weak, since I have all my anti-demon buffs, but it still caused them to attack. The rain of larva happened mostly in the southern continent, but it also happened in the lower parts of the central continent. Thankfully, together with my artificial minds, we were able to spot where the rifts opened and target those areas specifically, blocking off entire areas with large domes of wood. This meant the raining larva slammed into my wooden barriers and then was quickly picked off by my spiders and beetles. The overwhelming presence of my giant attendant trees meant my anti-demon auras also significantly weakened the larva, such that their threat levels remained low. The southern continent had it rough. The star mana emitters still worked well, but for those less protected areas, it was honestly really bad. Families would wake up to someone in their family transformed into a demon. It¡¯s like a zombie apocalypse, with demons! A few of the allied nations where I had discreetly placed giant attendant trees, protected by [camouflage], fared slightly better. The effects of my aura continued to suppress these parasites, which slowed their ability to spread throughout the population, and protection to be raised against them. The priests and the healers were not entirely stagnant either, and they were able to invent an ability. The sheer existential threat of a demonic parasite seemed to strike fear in the priesthood unlike the other demons before them, and the priests, somehow, managed to invent an internal [holy fire]. Strange that my own priests attempted to create something similar but didn¡¯t manage to achieve it. I suspect it was the lack of fear of these demons and a lack of conviction. Apparently it was invented a year ago, but it just took a while for the skill to spread, due to how sensitive and important it was. Essentially, it allowed priests to protect themselves and those not-yet converted to a demon with a flame that protected their soul. My spies managed to bribe a priest who possessed the skill, to demonstrate the ability to us. It was not hard for me to understand, since it''s essentially a derivative of a soul-ish ability. Matriarch Hoyia immediately learned it just by watching it. For priests, they are generally able to tap into this ¡®pool¡¯ of power that sits in the system. There were two types, a generic ¡®priest¡¯ pool, and a more specific ¡®god¡¯ pool. Each priest, depending on their levels, rank and relationship with their god or patron, withdrew from this heavenly pool into their own ¡®local¡¯ pool, within their body. What the priest did, was essentially draw on the generic pool, and just ¡®ignited¡¯ it around the soul as a ¡®barrier¡¯. So, instead of using the heavenly powers as ¡®god-mana¡¯, they pretty much burned it. It¡¯s a waste of power, and in a way, the equivalent of burning money. But, it protected their souls from the consumption of the demons. The parasites are forced to attack them and are unable to consume them. The problem was, this meant the lower-level priests couldn¡¯t use their other abilities, and did not offer any protection to the normal folk. With this knowledge, I experimented on my [familiars] and was then able to create [soul-protection familiars]. These were able to go beyond my earlier familiars which only gave resistance and slowed down the demon¡¯s infection, and, using the familiars¡¯ connection to the system, battle it out against the demons. A few tests indicated it was successful, and I rolled it out to the Valthorns operating in the South. It meant they would have to lose their normal familiars and the generally more useful generic abilities. The demon king immediately raised armies to war, along with champions, but my trees had spread really far into the demon lands, and I spotted them demon king. In any case, I called up Edna. She knew that the demon king arrived. She could feel it in the air, anyone with a domain could. ¡°Yes, Aeon?¡± ¡°I found the demon kings.¡± ¡°Kings?¡± There were three of them, each slightly different from one another, but I saw a thick web of magic that tied the three demon kings together. They were one and the same, and yet separated into three bodies? How was that possible? He saw only one that left the parasite-world, did they separate once they landed? Still, the three demon kings each resembled humanoids, but each of them had large wings. It seemed to me like poor design, I expected a parasitic demon king called the Infestor King to have far stronger powers, instead of typical demon knights. Or was that their trick? Take the form of humans and lull the heroes into thinking that these are just normal demon kings? In any case, I observed their powers, and was prepared to share my findings with the heroes. I liked Prabu and Colette enough that I feel they were worth saving, and the fact that Prabu could, at least, have a reasonable conversation with me was something. These demons did not destroy the trees I planted in the area, nor did these parasites, and that was another strange thing I observed. The earlier demons were far more destructive of their general surroundings, and I wondered, just wondered, could we co-exist with these demon kings? If, say, I was able to construct a pool where these demon kings could remain sleeping. But I didn¡¯t know whether keeping a demon king would stop the other demonic worlds from noticing us. Did the demons identify our worlds by some form of scanning mechanism? That each demon king emitted a signal to the other worlds that said to the other demon worlds that this world was occupied? Actually, on that train of thought, could it be possible to mislead the demon worlds on this? Find a way to fake the demon¡¯s signals, such that they believe this is a demon-controlled world? If I could do that, I could buy time, both for recovery-post-invasion, and to build strength. I didn¡¯t learn anything from watching the three demon kings. They didn¡¯t move much, and seemed to be waiting. I wondered whether this was normal for demon kings. That said, I wondered whether it was time for me to disrupt the rain of larva from the side of the demon world. If I could cut off reinforcements, I could make it a battle on two fronts against the demons. There were still many other demon spire spawning pools throughout their world that continued to pump out demonic larva. I haven¡¯t tried anything drastic yet, as I was also trying to find where the ¡®champions¡¯ were made. My hope was to ¡®capture¡¯ one such spawning pool, and see whether it¡¯s possible to make my own champion from scratch. My gut feeling is that it is possible to create the body of the champion, but I¡¯ll still need titan souls to fuel them, but no harm trying. Anyway, the Southern Continent¡¯s war against the parasites had some good developments, again, by sheer necessity. The world¡¯s citizens are more resilient and inventive than I gave them credit for, and at the same time, it also reminded me that just even with the best facilities, and all the money a continent can throw at a problem, sometimes, it is those who truly needed such things that found ways to invent something that worked. The heroes made more star mana emitters, and that helped keep certain spaces safe. Add to that, the soul-protection developments made by the priests, and even stronger variants of anti-demon coffee-based cooking, condiments and sweets helped the Southern continent nations to endure the demonic wave, and slowly began their counter-attack. The Valthorns also felt more confident to operate in the South, now that they were no longer afraid of the demonic parasites. New skills and spells, such as [Inner Fire], [Soul Sanctuary] and [Soul Guard], all invented by and stolen from the Southerners in the past one year, helped protect many from the demonic parasites. So, Edna finally moved to the front and joined the heroes in their push towards the demon kings. Roon and Johann joined her too, as they were both on the verge of their domains. Both, with my [Court of the Deitree] familiar, in case of any emergency-teleportation. I also deployed more Valthorns to support that final push, though most of them would sit out the battle. I pulled Lumoof back from the Threeworlds, and readied for another battle with the demon kings. Together, we made a push into the demon-occupied kingdoms. Where the demon kings awaited. Spaizzer Something shorter because i''m not really feeling it. Also, since it''s already march, time to shill my patreon. There''s 3 more chapters on patreon + some patreon-exclusive side stories. Also, I want to shill one of the stories I follow actively. VIRTUOUS SONS Virtuous Sons is my favourite cultivation-style story, which tells the story of both Griffon/Lio, and Solus (Sol), in their adventures through the Mediterranean, become more powerful, and a lot of awesome shenanigans. It''s very well written, and the worldbuilding is freaking, fucking, absolutely amazing. I personally read it every time it gets updated, and I''m also a paying patron. So, please check it out, because It''s really, really something amazing. READ VIRTUOUS SONS. Intreeference Year 201 (Continued Part 2) I didn¡¯t look forward to battling these demon kings again. It felt like just yesterday I sent both Lumoof and Edna to the battlefield. ¡°Don¡¯t say anything.¡± I said to both Roon and Johann. ¡°No death flags.¡± They nodded. I was superstitious. These demon kings did not leave the general area where they arrived, which was a large capital city that had been entirely infested with transformed demons. They didn¡¯t speak either, and the demon champions that served them also did not speak. It seemed they gained some kind of telepathic ability, which I vaguely sensed, but could not interrupt or crack. ¡°Alright.¡± I lost three senior Valthorns four decades ago, and I was not prepared to lose more. Even now that wound felt fresh in my heart. Each demon king had a gimmick. What was this demon king¡¯s gimmick? The split bodies? Or an ability to regenerate? Ken, at least, understood our intention to rehearse our game plan. It made sense to him that if there are gimmicks, then those fighting the demon kings should be familiar with the tropes. ¡°If it¡¯s split-body, it¡¯s likely to have some kind of ¡®kill all three or the rest will regenerate¡¯ type of ability.¡± Ken said. ¡°This is common in games.¡± Prabu nodded. ¡°So we have a small window to deliver enough damage to all three.¡± ¡°Yes, essentially a DPS-check. That means damage per second, and we¡¯re trying to deliver sufficient damage within a short time frame to overwhelm the regenerative ability.¡± As a former game designer, I was familiar with the phrase, though both Kei and Stella never heard of it. ¡°Alright. So what¡¯s our game plan if that¡¯s the case? Should we test it out?¡± Ken thought to himself. ¡°You could hold back, destroy one body first and see what happens. If it really has that sort of function or skill, then only unleash hell on all the bodies.¡± It''s also likely that each body has a unique ability. Or maybe not. I''m not sure how deep their scope of powers could be. ¡°There¡¯s four of us.¡± Colette said. ¡°There¡¯s three of them, and they should be weaker with their separated bodies. We have gained levels since the last time. We should be able to bring this demon king down faster.¡± ¡°Ah yes, that¡¯s a common trope too. They might fuse and have some final form.¡± Ken paused, and then continued. ¡°Usually parasite-type demons can uh... copy or replicate their enemies ability to some extent.¡± ¡°So we should field as few combatants as possible?¡± Prabu asked. "Wait. Are we safe from possession?¡± Ken frowned. ¡°I think the answer is likely to be a no. Think about it, these guys were designed to kill us, and they¡¯ve taken up a parasite form. We are their number one enemy. They must be tailored to possess heroes. These guys must be able to do so.¡± That was a good point, and it was Snek who gave a good suggestion. ¡°Then you heroes should find ways to store a soul-bomb.¡± ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Ken looked at Lumoof. ¡°I hear the priests are doing it already, but their skills and spells are at a far lower level. Can Aeon deploy something far more powerful?¡± I¡¯m not sure, but certainly worth trying. Snek pointed it to their type of reinforcing blood magic. ¡°There are some aspects of blood magic that reinforces the soul.¡± The heroes were chosen because of their strong souls, or more correctly, they were enhanced such that they had strong souls. I remember looking at Meela¡¯s soul a long time ago, and noted how much stronger it was than the others. But would this help against the demon king. In the case of Edna and Lumoof, their souls have changed since they gained their domain. Both of their soul springs had a building that now surrounded the spring, like a water fountain located within a temple complex. If I looked at my own, it¡¯s possible that the building that now surrounded the spring is essentially my domain. It protected my soul from outside forces. Snek¡¯s type of blood magic essentially collects the rocks and bricks from the dead souls, and uses those materials to reinforce a person¡¯s soul spring. There has to be a way it can be done. I tried to remember all the past times when I defended myself and then remembered about Alexis¡¯s attempted possession of my own body. What had I done then? Nothing, actually. My soul just protected itself. But there had to be something that can be done such that some similar strength can be embedded into the heroes. ¡°I will be safe.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°If the demon king ever tried to possess me, all you gotta do is take control.¡± That¡¯s true. Lumoof was likely to be safe, and I knew it, because there was a very strong link in his soul realm to mine. He was my avatar, and a demon attempting to possess Lumoof competed with that. Edna, Lumoof and the Valthorns caught up as I mulled more ideas. Lumoof spoke of the Threeworlds, exploring the Centaurs and the land of the sandpeople. But that was a story I would catch up on at a later date. I decided to experiment on Prabu when he managed to teleport back for a short while. One of his snack-collection trips. He agreed to a dip into one of my soul forge-linked biolabs. ¡°I¡¯m going to try and give you some anti-demon king resistance. It will hurt. Alot.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Prabu agreed. ¡°You sure?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± I remembered that time when I tried to fix Jura¡¯s soul, and attempted to stir the waters around Prabu¡¯s soul spring. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± He asked through our magical link. ¡°I¡¯m attempting to reinforce your soul.¡± Unlike the domain holders, the heroes have these large jugs that floated in their sky, pouring star mana. These added to their own mana from their soul spring, and again, the size of the springs were massive. Lumoof and Edna may have the domains, but in terms of star mana, these heroes have us beat. No contest. Maybe because Prabu¡¯s a mage, so his mana was also higher than normal. It was possible for me to manipulate the space outside of his soul spring, and I attempted to do so. With the experience of the priests with their soul protection, I called on my domain powers, and injected it into Prabu¡¯s body. It really drained me, and it was painful for him, but soon I saw a small plant emerge right outside of his soul spring. It sucked quite a bit of his mana, and then stopped. [A Grafted Soul Tree¡¯s Presence]. I immediately sensed it forming a link with the familiar I¡¯ve previously given to Prabu. ¡°Huh.¡± I knew that this was only possible because I¡¯m much stronger than before, and because of that strength, this chunk of myself could survive the turbulent, star-mana flooded world of a hero. Planting something in someone else''s'' garden takes far more energy than my own, at least, an order of magnitude more than taking out a foreign object. This much was obvious. This was why it takes a lot less energy to heal or remove something foreign. This tree was a foreign object, and was still tiny, because it''s weakened by the eroding forces within the body itself, instead of nourishing it. Unless I could mislead the body into thinking it''s not foreign? Wait. I should be able to do that, from my experience meddling with Jura¡¯s hand. The soul clearly can forget what belonged to it, and what didn¡¯t. If I messed with that... I drew more power from everywhere, and just like trying to convert Ally and the demonic infestor parasites, I tried to alter Prabu¡¯s soul realm to accept my presence. He was a hero, and previously, they had resistance to all sorts of powers. But with my second, focused domain, the barrier and protection of the hero was tough, but not invulnerable. I just needed more power. His body shook. And on another continent, I could hear the other heroes wondering what took Prabu so long. The fabric of the world bent around us, as I conducted this little soul-surgery, both from the power deployed, and the actual warping of the hero¡¯s soul. But it was successful. I¡¯ve planted something in his soul, and now, the tree that was once tiny, transformed into a thick bramble of thorns surrounding his soul spring. The energies of the star mana and his vast soul flooded that tiny tree, and made it grow. It transformed into [Living Wall of the Soul Tree]. It should suffice, I suppose. Prabu rested for a day, and went back. I also wanted to experiment on Ally, but at the same time, even if I gave Ally a titan soul, who do I test her on? I made a note to come back to Ally some other day. - The demon kings launched their attack once we got close enough. That was our plan, actually. Like with the earlier demon kings, we wanted to bait it somewhere rigged with our crystal bombs, and soften up the demon kings. The first hit using these stationary traps would also help to give us insights into how these demon kings operated, and test out some of Ken¡¯s suspicions. Perhaps he was right, as the demons did tend to conform to story norms. We rigged an entire area with our crystal bombs, and waited for the moment when the demon kings got near. We expected it, at least. We knew that the demon king cannot resist attacking the heroes. It¡¯s just how they went about it. The demon kings entered into the blast zone, and an entire area the size of a city, rigged with crystal bombs flashed. These were more powerful bombs, the result of incremental improvements in Alka¡¯s methods over the years, and studies from Lumoof¡¯s purchased magical items. From afar, the heroes and my senior Valthorns watched the sky lit up, a pillar of blue light. It¡¯s powerful enough that our magical sensors all the way on the Central Continent detected them. The heroes watched keenly. ¡°I still feel them.¡± ¡°No notification, that should be obvious enough.¡± Chung responded as he charged his hero items. They were all stronger now, closer to level 130s instead of the earlier level 120s when they faced their second demon king. This would be their third demon king. Colette¡¯s hero items floated out around her, they were all magical staffs, wands and rods of different shapes and sizes. They were all stronger than before, but even they felt the gaze of the demon king. Prabu¡¯s hero items were two massive staffs packed with more gems than a jewelry store, and Hafiz was one large silver shield. The three demon kings took the hit directly, and even despite the amount of power packed in them, it did not deal lethal damage. The three demon kings were merely surrounded by a charred sphere of flesh. Two beams burned through the skies and smashed into the spheres, and the spheres exploded. ¡°Good shot.¡± Chung nodded as his bows glowed, and arrows flew towards the demon king. The arrows stopped midway, as Chung made a gesture with his fingers. He activated some kind of magical vision. At that very second, I felt something just blast out from those spheres, and it touched everything. It was very familiar. The Rottedlands bomb, just a smaller, but more focused one. Lumoof immediately had to step in here, or this parasitic demon king would infest the terrain and use it against the heroes. Lumoof immediately went into avatar mode, and I soon found I had my own battle to fight. One of the demon kings had fused with the ground itself, and transformed into a parasite and corruption emitter! We spawned trees as fast as we could, and I already had artificial minds readied for the task. Multiple giant trees spawned and my roots fought the corruption in the ground itself. Lumoof winced when I pulled mana from the Central Continent and emitted it through his body into the roots and trees. Some parts, already infested by the demon king, emitted noxious gasses and waves that melted whatever came in contact with it. Ken, Stella, Kei and the Valthorns that sat out the direct conflict watched the spectacle at home through [dream academy]. ¡°Oh. So the demon king infests the land.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean it can infest Aeon?¡± Stella asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s stupid enough to try that, though.¡± Ken said. A part of me felt it was funny. This was just a repeat of the Rottedlands corruption, with the exact same methods. I called on my first domain power, [Roots of Life], and also my [Tree of Life], and pumped my mana through the roots. This time, I pushed back. A tactic that put me into a coma for two decades wasn¡¯t going to work twice. Not when I fought it for twenty years. My trees gained ground quickly, and I quickly stopped the demon king¡¯s noxious gasses from saturating the place. That demon king in the ground started to attack directly, once it noticed its corrupt energies were dispersed easily. It formed black tentacles that shot towards my roots, and one of them stabbed it directly. I felt it push its corrupt energies into the tree, and I pushed back. LIkewise, I spawned more trees and my roots rushed towards that body. Underground, my roots and the demon¡¯s tentacles fought an intense battle, as both of us attempted to overwhelm each other with our respective energies. Above ground, the heroes engaged in combat with the other two bodies, and they defeated one. Ken was right, somewhat. There really was a gimmick, as the remaining body would split and regenerate the second body after a short while. Edna found herself mostly fighting demon champions, as the two demon kings seemed to be mostly airborne, zigzagging in the skies and dodging the two mages and Chung¡¯s arrows. Hafiz played defense and protected the three heroes¡¯ as they launched their volleys. Roon and Johann tried to assist too, but like Edna, they focused on the demon champions, and only took a few pot shots at the demon king. It was hard to keep up with the two airborne demon kings that seemed to shapeshift at will and move like it¡¯s not subject to gravity or the rules of motion. For a brief moment, each of us fought our own battles. I fought the infestation in the ground with Lumoof, the heroes against the two airborne demon kings, and everyone else dealt with the mobs and demon champions. I internally felt it was a little... easy and predictable, but I knew this wasn¡¯t it. There had to be a trick. They always did. So I was always on the lookout. I was expecting a trick. The demon king that infested the ground then did something that I immediately thought was stupid. It manifested itself out of the ground, and then threw itself at Lumoof. I launched multiple barrages against the demon king as it barreled towards Lumoof, who was bound to the ground in avatar form. No. It essentially charged at us. Really? I couldn¡¯t stop it. I didn¡¯t have enough power or damage to really, really make the demon king stop, even if I hurt it quite a bit. I placed barriers between us, and even activated all my offensive abilities. The demon king took the damage, and continued to charge at Lumoof. It smashed through the walls and shields, slowing it down only by a little bit. My vines appeared and wrapped around it, but it still pushed through. The heroes were too occupied with the two airborne demon kings, who had summoned even more airborne demons to counterattack. I felt that demon king slam into Lumoof, it¡¯s spiritual presence colliding with my overlaid presence over Lumoof. Strangely, rather than possess Lumoof, I felt like something immediately reached out into my soul... [Domain Detected Soul Intrusion. Activating Soul Defenses...] At that second, I felt my mind go hazy, like a massive migraine. In a flash, all my potato storage and tubers were emptied, and even [Dream Academy] temporarily went offline. The entire central continent suddenly felt the equivalent of an electrical short circuit. With mana. Beetles stopped. Magic seemed to briefly just went out of commission over the entire central continent as my trees sucked up mana from everywhere. Dungeons temporarily flickered, their ley lines wobbled from the sudden spike in mana-demand. Lumoof¡¯s body then suddenly flashed like a supernova, and the demon king that wrapped around Lumoof was blasted with this strange multicolored light. The power that was released at that moment was far higher than anything I¡¯ve ever felt, and comparable to the strongest of the heroes¡¯ attacks. That demon king body was incinerated instantly. I was stunned. How was this possible? Demon kings were not meant to be insta-killed. In my mind, I wondered then. How the fuck do I do that intentionally? How do I repeat this? This was an ability that could break the balance of the game. I realised maybe I was a little too excited. After all, this wasn¡¯t really a full strength demon king, since this was a demon king that had split itself to three. But if I could one shot one-third of a demon king, I somehow felt that was actually an encouraging sign too! Even if I didn''t know what exactly happened. Lumoof immediately fainted, and though he was alive, that single attack flushed his body with too much mana, and the pain was too much. My sensors immediately detected extreme pain throughout his body and realised he had signs of extreme mana sickness. I instantly teleported him back to Freshka for healing. This was too much for him. That meant I lost track of the battlefield for a good 15 minutes. ¡°Stella!¡± I shouted to her mind, with Lumoof back in Freshka, my connection to the south was lost. ¡°Portals!¡± ¡°On it!¡± Void portals immediately opened and my roots reconnected to all the trees I planted in the South. ¡°Roon, Johann. Retreat!¡± If only domain tier could resist corruption, that meant they were vulnerable to the demon king¡¯s possession. There was always another demon king for them to fight if they survived this one. There¡¯s no need to go all in. I could send them to the Threeworlds or that other world to fight other demon kings. I thought of pulling back through the [Court of the Deitree]¡¯s teleportation ability, but that was a one-way trip. What if I needed them for something else. Thankfully they retreated quickly without much issue, and I focused on fighting the other demon champions. But as that happened, I vaguely sensed a gathering pool of energy where the demon king was incinerated, and I saw a small, almost ethereal presence. It¡¯s not physically visible, but I definitely could see it, because it¡¯s like a spiritual template. I saw the heroes destroy one of the demon kings then, and I noticed something similar gathering in the air, where the other demon king''s body died. The heroes wouldn¡¯t be able to destroy this thing, not unless they had some soul-linked powers. This is a spiritual template. I knew then this was the foundation for the demon king to rebuild its own body, and I saw energies leaking from the last remaining body that channeled to the other two destroyed bodies. I immediately understood how the demon king would have regenerated itself if all three bodies were not destroyed. Too bad the demon king were clearly not prepared for my presence, and my roots touched the spiritual template, the foundation of all healing, and summoned my soul forge. It would be a pain to use my powers through the portal, but if I could destroy the template, it would eliminate the demon king¡¯s ability to regenerate its split bodies. ¡°We need time to gather our mana. A lot of mana was drained to blow up the demon king.¡± Shit. I could see the demon king regenerating but I couldn¡¯t stop it because I lacked mana? ¡°How long do I need?¡± ¡°A few hours, at least.¡± I thought, if I couldn¡¯t destroy it, then I could at least interrupt it. That wouldn¡¯t need that much mana. ¡°It would increase the time needed to gather mana.¡± ¡°But better than facing three demon kings.¡± I noticed the heroes were gradually getting tired, and essentially the parasite demon king with three bodies was playing a game of attrition. If the demon kings could survive until the heroes were exhausted, they would be able to kill the heroes. I injected my soul-forge energies into the demon king¡¯s soul-template, and though the miniscule amount was not able to destroy the template, I was able to easily interfere with the energies that attempted to gather there, and quickly dispersed the energies. I think I¡¯ve just bought extra time for the heroes. This, of course, drew the attention of the last remaining demon king, and rather than continuing its constant airborne dogfight with the heroes, it turned, and bombed the roots and trees that interfered with the regeneration. I blocked with my shields and my barriers, and they withstood the first attack. Barely. The second attack destroyed them, but it¡¯s alright. I was prepared to regenerate my trees as long as necessary. ¡°Your opponent is here.¡± Colette said as her array of magical weapons zapped the demon king. It turned, and lunged towards the heroes. The demon king turned, and then pulled the remnants of the demon king¡¯s energy back to itself, instead of regenerating. The spiritual templates themselves folded into the main body, and then the demonic parasites all around us immediately went wild. This was a pattern repeated throughout the world, as all the parasites all over the world simultaneously attempted to transform, or take over their host, and then, they would attack those around them, attempting to repeat the act. It was a stupid thing. Why show your hand? Though I clearly noticed that the demons were learning, their learning and improvements were disorganised and random. It¡¯s almost as if they were some kind of self-learning network that just tries things and attempts to figure out how it performed. Were they just trying other strategies randomly? In any case, this stupid move merely allowed the rest of the world to kill the demons and end the parasites once and for all. I would have ensured that the parasites remain hidden, but I suppose I should count my lucky stars. Back with the demon king, it immediately went airborne and transformed into this massive floating blob. Demon champion-parasites attempted to latch onto the heroes, and a few bit them, but they were not infested. They had sufficient levels and protection for it. Edna decided to retreat, as she had limited airborne powers. I too, had limited airborne powers. At this point, I merely decided to stay back and provide any defensive support, but with Lumoof out of commission, I wouldn¡¯t be able to deploy my full strength. It¡¯s all up to the four heroes now. The demon king used more conventional abilities then, but I noticed it was weaker than the earlier demon kings, and the heroes successfully whittled it down. Chung¡¯s magical bolt slammed into the demon king, and it shattered, revealing a tiny blob. ¡°It¡¯s either going to blow-¡± The tiny blob charged forward at incredible speed, and I barely blocked it with my wooden shield. It smashed through my shields like it was nothing, and then slammed into Prabu and Colette¡¯s protective magical shields. It then expanded in an explosion, and transformed into a big purple blob around the heroes. The heroes attacked it repeatedly, but it somehow pushed through the magical shields, and stabbed the heroes. It did what a parasite was always trained to do. Possess a hero. It had inserted itself into the four heroes, and now it was up to them to resist it. All four heroes were in pain, as I attempted to help them. I knew, somehow, all four heroes were in a mental battle with the demon king. As Ken put it, this was the cliche of heroes ¡®fighting from the inside.¡¯ My roots and vines emerged and wrapped around the blob, and drained its power. It was a lot of toxic, dirty power, just like that previous time I tried it with the heroes. I knew the demon core from this demon king was likely to be corrupted as well, but now that I''ve seen how the demon king was created, I may not need to fight it directly. The void mages were trying their best to support the portals. I was pushing as much power as I could, but I didn¡¯t have much anyway. Most of it was used. But then, a ray of light shot through the purple blob, and then, an explosion of light. The blob was vaporised. [Demon King Exikant has been defeated]. All over the world, a kill switch went off in the demon parasites, and they all died instantly. The four heroes fell, and my roots immediately reached out to grab them. They were alive, but weak. My roots and vines cradled them, and immediately injected them with healing abilities. At the same time, the rest of us felt a surge of relief. The era of demonic parasites was finally over. Treepercussions Year 201 (continued) The parasite war finally ended, and almost everyone was glad. Our contribution to the final battle meant we had levels. Naturally, its the best part. [You¡¯ve gained 6 levels. You are now level 214] [Multiple Skills upgraded. Root or vine based attacks now gain the ability to attack, touch and damage souls directly.] [You¡¯ve obtained the Level 210 Domain skill : Tree of Life¡¯s Evolutionary Push] [You are now able to inject a skill of your choice into a person, and this skill will be inherited by their offspring for two successive generations. Subsequent inheritance depends on luck and individual performance. The skills are collected through skill seeds, and/or harvested from the dead. You gain the ability to create a special Tree - Tree of Evolution. The Tree of Evolution is the site of your evolutionary experiments.] That first ability to attack the soul directly seemed immediately less useful against the demons, maybe, except the demon king itself. No. Actually that made it super useful since, if the demons used the spiritual templates as their basis for multi-body forms and regeneration, I¡¯ve now gained the ability to disrupt directly, so it could work together with the soul forge to deal more damage to the soul. I¡¯d probably have to figure out how to abuse that ¡®touch-the-soul¡¯ part later on. As for the second ability, it didn¡¯t take long for me to realise that it¡¯s probably meant to stack over multiple generations. That meant if I could insert one skill into person A, another skill into person B, and another skill into the offspring of A and B, I could have three skills in the same person. The offspring of A and B¡¯s offspring, meaning the third generation could inherit a total of six skills, plus one of its own. If the amount of skills I could inject was more than one, this could get out of hand really, really quickly. This was pretty much genetically enhanced soldiers that we have already been indirectly meddling with, taken to the extreme. I would have to start injecting skills and matchmake- I mentally slapped myself. I shouldn¡¯t meddle in the love choices of my followers. I would let them choose it themselves, and must spread the skill to everyone in the Valthorns. I also wondered whether I could use this on domain holders, and I would try this out once I checked in with the rest. ¡°Master, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that much of a problem.¡± Patreeck intervened. ¡°I believe the treefolks would be more than happy to procreate with anyone of your choice since they don¡¯t have rigid customs on marriage. Same with the lizardfolks...¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Genetically engineered supersoldier treefolks and lizardolks. ¡°Let¡¯s start this with them then, on a smaller scale.¡± There were also the Canari, which also didn¡¯t really marry and seemed to rotate mates over decades. It¡¯s weird, but I suppose that¡¯s just their biology. ¡°Got it.¡± Patreeck acknowledged. - Both Roon and Johann got their domains too, and I felt their presence in the background. Theirs, due to their nature, were naturally more subdued and hidden, unlike Edna and Lumoof¡¯s more easily detected powers. They leveled to exactly Level 150. Roon got the Domain of [Sniper], and the first ability, [Shot from the Stars] was a rather nifty ability that allowed Roon to effectively shoot a bullet or projectile of their choice into the sky, that can land anywhere in a continent-sized area as he so desires. Effectively, it¡¯s like a portal with an arrow or a bullet. It does mean that Roon could effectively shoot anyone anywhere on the continent. It seems like a rather pointless ability, but surely there¡¯s a way to abuse it. Maybe with a nuclear bomb, or together with Alka¡¯s bombs. It seemed like there were no real limits, other than some distance-scaled mana cost per shot, so, maybe the trick was to repeatedly fire bombs over a distance, essentially a continent-wide fire support and a superweapon delivery method. Johann got the Domain of [Ranger]. The first domain skill he got was really quite weird, I suppose. [Immortal Sentient Companions]. Essentially, Johann¡¯s ranger-buddies like his hunting dog and his bird would not die even if their bodies were destroyed, and they gained the ability to level on their own, like a beastmaster with its tamed beasts. They both were immediately offered and accepted their membership to my pantheon. ¡°How do you feel?¡± I asked both, as they came to terms with their new power. ¡°Strange, but powerful.¡± I didn¡¯t feel that different when I received my first domain, but then again, I wasn¡¯t human. Or maybe it was the cloud of demonic mana that made it hard to feel like I was different. Lumoof did describe it as a sense like they were now connected to something else, and Edna said there was something in them, like a power source within them. For me, I wasn¡¯t exactly sure what it felt like. I suppose each one had a different relationship with their domain. I also think it¡¯s very possible to have the same domains, which made me wonder, ¡°what happens when two folks with the same domain meet?¡± Perhaps the domain would just nullify each others¡¯ power, and they would have to rely on non-domain powers? Lumoof and Edna were more than happy to have more join our ranks. ¡°Well, now that Aeon¡¯s pantheon protects you from permanent death, you two can join more of the otherworldly activities! Lumoof seemed particularly happy to have someone who could accompany him.¡± Johann stared. ¡°Really.¡± ¡°Yes! Come with me and let¡¯s visit some sandpeople!¡± Lumoof laughed. ¡°Scorpions-people.¡± Johann rolled his eyes. ¡°It won¡¯t be that bad.¡± ¡°I highly doubt it.¡± Johann said. ¡°If the human-faction hated us...¡± Edna patted the two on the shoulders. ¡°Eh, eh, today¡¯s a time for celebration. Here, a drink!¡± Edna gave both a mug of what was supposedly the best beer on the continent. It¡¯s title is heavily disputed, of course. ¡°Welcome. You¡¯ve, finally, finally made it.¡± Both Johann and Roon let out a long sigh of relief, like they¡¯ve been holding this tension in for a long time. ¡°I¡¯m just relieved I¡¯ve finally made it.¡± It was Roon who first answered. ¡°We¡¯ve been working at this for decades, and I am just, so, so fucking glad I¡¯ve earned the right to stand at this level. I almost thought we were not good enough.¡± Indeed, both Johann and Roon have been in my service for more than half a century, their names were known to me personally about 50 years ago when they participated in the Alvin-kidnapping project. It¡¯s been a long time for them. Lumoof tapped Roon on the shoulder. ¡°Your efforts have not been in vain. The system rewards effort, constant, persistent effort.¡± ¡°I almost felt like we were never going to make it.¡± Johann said. ¡°We were at the edge of it. Level 149 for so long. It¡¯s like edging for so long and never actually getting there.¡± Edna chuckled at the sexual innuendo. ¡°Well, you can go beat yourself out after this.But really, levels are really sparse once we cross that line. The things we must achieve to gain a level increases.¡± That¡¯s because they don¡¯t have hero fragments. These stupid hero fragments are clearly overpowered as hell. ¡°So. We truly begin our duty to end this conflict of heroes and demons.¡± Roon said. Lumoof smiled warmly. ¡°This is just the beginning.¡± Johann stared at his hands, they trembled. ¡°We were so near to the demon kings, and even with my power now, I feel like... it¡¯s still not enough.¡± Edna answered. ¡°Oh, trust me. It¡¯s not enough at all. The domain merely gives us the right to join the battle as participants, but we are still lacking the heroes¡¯ and their god-given powers. But it¡¯s alright, that¡¯s not how we really want to end this war.¡± ¡°Then?¡± Lumoof tapped them on the shoulder. ¡°This war rages on multiple worlds. Aeon doesn¡¯t intend for this to be a direct conflict. Not if he can avoid it. Aeon¡¯s intermediate goal is for us to gather more like us, across the many worlds.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Come, let us retreat to Aeon¡¯s main body in the valley.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°Now that the two of you have the protection of your domains, there is a lot to share about the world, the gods outside, and the full extent of our plans.¡± Roon and Johann looked at each other. They knew the powers of the domain at a general level, and Lumoof merely repeated it. They then walked to my main body in the valley, and Lumoof repeated my earlier discussions with them. I informed them of divine related matters, such as the divine wooden stump that we retrieved, and the shard I took from the core of the Cometworld. About what I¡¯ve seen on the Cometworld, and the Threeworlds. I also gave them an audience to ask me anything. Anything at all, and I repeated my emphasis on ending this cycle. About why the world and the gods are just stuck with this makeshift solution of playing whack-a-mole with demon king. I¡¯ve once theorised that the gods are just like me, still limited by space and time, but just significantly high up on the power level. Perhaps due to age, because they have been doing this for multiple millennia. Of course, as I shared this, it truly dawned on them that they were now on the path to divinity. I wondered how many humanoid gods there were out there, and I concluded probably a lot, since the gods so far seemed to prefer humans more than others. Johann was just quiet the whole time, as we shared almost all that we know of the demons, and the gods. Details that we may have mostly glossed over. Roon stared, nodded and just said at the end of it. ¡°I need some time to soak all that in.¡± They both needed time. They¡¯ve known they were on the path to be gods, but they just didn¡¯t expect how pervasive the influence of the gods are. That gods could be reading their minds and they didn¡¯t know about it. As a result of hitting level 150, both Roon and Johann¡¯s Aeonic-variant classes vanished and were subsumed into the domain. The domain was both class, and a rank, and it overrode the classes. All their classes vanished. A few days later, once they felt better and more in control, they took a dip in the biolabs for further investigation. I did the same for Lumoof and Edna too, as they gained some levels from the incident. Edna only gained one level from the battle, partly because her contribution was really not much. Lumoof on the other hand gained a bit more. He gained 5 levels, and an additional domain ability. The additional domain ability was [Empowered Faithful], which ¡®enchants¡¯ 5 non-hero, non-domain individuals to gain exceptional temporary powers. He also gains the ability to see through his empowered faithfuls. Both Roon and Johann¡¯s souls were now similar to Lumoof and Edna. Their souls possessed a temple-like platform that supported their soul spring. There was also a large boulder-sized stone around their soul spring. - The four heroes took a few days to recover from the battle, and then the mop up of the demon parasite started immediately. The temples took the chance to quickly proclaim their victory over the demons and started a big propaganda campaign on their exceptional contributions to the war effort. The temples sacrificed a lot for this war. The parasites cost them a lot of manpower, and eroded a lot of trust in the institutions. Naturally they needed this ¡®propaganda¡¯ win to reinforce their own positions. Within the Central Continent, naturally we spoke of our achievements and contributions in the south at length. After all, it is our home base, and the people who live there should feel that we¡¯ve done our part. As for the Southern Continent itself, I decided to let the temples have their win. They were already politically unstable and I felt that adding my propaganda to the South wouldn¡¯t really help us anyway. I didn¡¯t need their resources, and I didn¡¯t want to trigger a continental war so soon after this one ended, by fueling the already brewing discontent. Colette and Prabu, naturally, returned as soon as they were able. Snack-withdrawal was quite a thing. The two heroes requested an audience within days. ¡°What can we do for you?¡± Edna asked. ¡°We wanted to discuss Lumoof and Aeon¡¯s abilities during the battle with the demon king.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°We saw that Aeon used some kind of vaporisation ability on the 3rd demon king¡¯s body. What was that?¡± Edna shrugged. ¡°Simple. Have you seen how a demon champion attempted to possess me?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Oh. Then you wouldn¡¯t know. A domain protects the soul from possession, and it also protected Lumoof from the demon king¡¯s attempted possession.¡± Of course, that simplified it significantly, but these mages do not possess the ability to see soul-type magic, so that was sufficient. ¡°Is such a thing possible?¡± Colette looked at her partner. Prabu shrugged. ¡°I suppose?¡± The mages left it at that, but I could tell they were still thinking about it. It wasn¡¯t something they accepted so easily, since the power to vaporise a demon king body in a single blast was really something else. At the same time, I told Patreeck and my artificial minds to figure out how to replicate that power. If I could do it again, it would be a trump card against the demon kings. - The destruction of the demon king caused the energies that maintained the path between the two worlds to collapse. As it collapsed, it seemed to generate a shockwave of energy through the dark forest. I didn¡¯t see this from our world, but it was visible here, from the demon world. This shockwave traveled slowly, and it took months for the energy carried by the collapsing void path to hit the demon world like a really bad solar flare. I watched as the skies itself turned dark abruptly and blue bolts of lightning descended from the skies. These lightning blasts vaporised most things that it touched, like spires or some of the rift gates. I immediately attempted to protect the rift gates from these lightning, and spawned my trees around them to deflect the blue lightning. The lightning zapped my trees instead, and was powerful enough to cut one of my subsidiary trees in half. It even sent a bit of pain through the root network, and I realised these lightning storms were made from the same energies as that void-core mana mixture. These lightning destroyed vast quantities of the demon¡¯s structures, and also killed the demons easily. Each blast of lightning came with a shockwave. We then noticed that these lightning were concentrated around that deep hole that nurtured the demon king body, and that black tower filled with void mana received the brunt of it. The lightning smashed into the void tower and the other smaller towers. I also immediately attempted to capture some of these towers by spreading my trees around them. Some demons noticed and started attacking my trees, and so, I spawned my beetles on the demon world and commanded them to defend my trees, and also some of them to attack. But I noticed the beetles performed badly on that world, even with the research I¡¯ve done over the decades. No, more accurately, the demons were just stronger there. This was their world after all. So, I decided to send my artificial mind commanders to the battlefield. I teleported Horns, and a few other beetle-commanders to the swampy demonworld, and began an intense war of attrition to conquer some of the spires. The spires spawned demons to fight back, and here, the spires themselves contained demonic energies. Even with the vast destruction from the blowback lightning, the demon world still had defenders! Horns, and along with the other beetle-commanders, empowered the beetles and led them to war. I felt second-hand embarrassment watching him sometimes. ¡°Trees For the Tree God! New Soil For the New Worlds! Come my brothers, let us liberate this world for our lord protector Aeon!!¡± ¡°For the Deitree!¡± The worst thing was the beetle-commanders all seemed to be carbon-copies of Horns, and mimicked his behavior in strange ways. Horns even stylised himself, first of Aeon¡¯s Beetle Lords. I just prayed I didn¡¯t get a nascent rebel on my hands. Their additional auras helped the beetles fight at a stronger footing, but I had to deploy [Giant Attendant Trees] when faced with the defensive demon champions. Here, they did not deploy parasites, instead, the demon champions were large four-legged walkers that resembled the demon walkers, but their bodies were made entirely out of the hardened crystalline spires. This was when I realised I made a mistake. I deployed my [tree of clones] too near to the rift where we first opened the gates, but not near what I wanted to capture. That meant, in the future, I needed to keep at least two or three seeds, so that I could deploy one closer to where the key demonic structures are, so that my [tree of clones] could directly exert my power. Instead, even though I¡¯m in the demon world, after a certain distance, my power weakened and now I couldn¡¯t fully exert my power. I needed my full strength to attempt a capture of these structures. I thought of using the seed I planned for the Threeworlds, or withdrawing that tree that still floated on the remnant Cometworld. Would it be worth it? The recent levels did not give me more seeds. As I needed more firepower on the demonworld, I also called Hytreerion, and teleported him to the demon world to help suppress the defending demonic champions. All because of my initial poor main-tree placement, and now, we have to wage a long battle, as the void-thunderstorm continues to batter the surface of the demonworld. I¡¯ve even lost hundreds of beetles to the storm. I was able to capture multiple rift gates closer to my main body, but most of them suffered some damage from the void lightning blasts, and would need some repairs. The one nearest to me was the one I was able to wholly protect. Still, I also managed to capture some of the nearer spires by flooding them with my mana. Each spire took a lot of mana, since they were really dense with demonic mana and flushing all that demonic mana out took a long, long time. ¡°Is it worth it to use my other seed here?¡± I asked Patreeck and my other artificial minds. I wanted the black tower and that structure that opened the rift, because they felt powerful. These things were used to store void mana, and also create those large rifts. ¡°What do we aim to achieve by capturing those structures?¡± But did I have a use for them, even if I did capture it? I suspect that a large ring-shaped structure may contain star-maps that would expand my knowledge of the astral realm, or the void tower would allow me to learn how to create such void mana. But was it worth it? I¡¯ve used one seed on the demon world, one seed on the moon, one seed on the cometworld. I have one left, and I feel I should keep one as an option, should something like the cometworld appear once more. I could withdraw one of them, but that¡¯s also a recharge-timer before I would get a usable seed. Or, deploy Lumoof to the demon world. I didn¡¯t like that very much. I preferred Lumoof to be out mingling with these foreign civilisations, rather than toil on the demonworlds. I had to weigh the opportunity cost of not having a seed of aeon, should a rare opportunity appear, versus the capture of these structures. ¡°But these structures may not be unique.¡± Patreeck said. ¡°If these structures, or similar structures on all demon-possessed worlds, we do not really need to capture them now. We merely need to collect sufficient seeds, and claim it later. As it is, we can learn from the structures that we have already captured.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± For now, I focused on the assets and structures that I did control. We captured about six riftgates on the demonworld, and I needed to study them. The Forbidden Fruit Bomb?? Year 202 ¡°I¡¯m going to a demon world.¡± Alka said, his face absolutely horrified. He wasn¡¯t the only one, of course. A battalion of his research-mages would go with him. Stella too. ¡°Yes.¡± Thanks to my trees sprouting around the rifts, I noticed that some level of life had returned to the demonworld. Very minor, but much better than none. My giant attendant trees also made the place around the riftgates far more hospitable. ¡°Am I going to die, there?¡± Alka asked. ¡°No. Certainly not.¡± I assured him. ¡°If anything happens I¡¯ll send you back. There is some of my forces there.¡± In truth, there is an ongoing, prolonged war on the parasite-demon world, all thanks to my poor main-tree placement. Horns, my beetle commanders, and a small platoon of artificial minds were still helping me run the multiple battles happening at the edges of my territory on the demon¡¯s world. It¡¯s also Hytreerion¡¯s longest ongoing combat experience, and it proved that a large mobile forward base actually had offensive value, since it didn¡¯t get much of a chance on our homeworld, where we are the defenders. ¡°How did Aeon get to the demon world?¡± Kei and Ken asked. ¡°I snuck him through the rift.¡± Stella said. Kei rolled her eyes at that. ¡°Seriously!¡± ¡°I thought those portals don¡¯t last that long?¡± Ken asked, but he was not aware of my seeds, and that was fine. Snek seemed particularly interested, and wanted to know whether this meant there was a way to help retake his world. Personally, that sounded plausible. It would help me greatly if there was a native force I can rescue, but the thought of facing airborne demon-dragons on their homeworld didn¡¯t sound like a good idea. I was horribly outmatched on the aerial front. Ken and Snek nodded. ¡°It¡¯s smart to take the battle to the demons, but...¡± It¡¯s not the only demon world. We all know that. So, my presence on this demon world is unlikely to affect whether another demon king would invade my world. Alka mumbled, and they all wore suits of armor meant to protect them from most eventualities. Some druidic and magical equipment too, just to ensure that they can still breath, if anything happens. The void-storms have mostly subsided. Alka immediately went to Lumoof. ¡°Why not you?¡± ¡°You have things to study, and the skills needed. Aeon has a presence there. Naturally it¡¯s you.¡± Lumoof laughed heartily. ¡°Time to take to the field, Field Scientist.¡± Alka seemed somewhat panicked. ¡°I did not imagine I¡¯d be going to a demon world in my job description. This is hazardous!¡± ¡°Not any more hazardous than working with bombs.¡± Lumoof assured him. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Aeon had already said this is in a safe zone.¡± ¡°How are there safe zones on a demon world?!¡± Alka seemed surprised. Stella shrugged, as she awaited the use of my inter-tree teleportation ability. ¡°Alright. Move it.¡± The squad was ready. This would take some mana, but not more than when I sent Hytreerion over. I felt mana drain from my network of trees- -and they were all sent to my clone on the other side. It wasn¡¯t far from the rift gates. Alka, the group of mages and Stella stared at the greenery around my main tree, my own clone had already begun terraforming this segment of land into something habitable. This was far easier than the moon, actually, because there was something here a long time ago, and the world¡¯s energy seemed to be recovering once the spires and all that collapsed. The moon base was growing, but the speed of the terraform was significantly slower than the demon world. The beetles soon led them to the nearest riftgate. I¡¯ve left all of them untouched, as I wanted some of the mages to look at them before I start flooding them with my mana. ¡°This doesn¡¯t look particularly alien.¡± Stella said. ¡°There are trees.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been transforming the land for a few months.¡± They stopped and stared at the structures before them. ¡°This is a riftgate, the demons use this to open gates to our world, there are many others like it throughout the world, and a super large one that¡¯s partly destroyed.¡± Stella immediately looked at the gate with far more interest. ¡°I¡¯d like to know how it works, whether we can rebuild it for our own purposes, whether we can use them to amplify the portals of the void mages, and whether there is a star map contained within.¡± Alka walked up and used some kind of skill on the rift gate. ¡°Hmmm.. it¡¯s not some unique material for sure, but there is some really complicated formation and rune work within the structure itself. Which does raise the question, how did the demons build it?¡± ¡°Or they didn¡¯t.¡± Stella proposed. ¡°This was stolen from somewhere.¡± ¡°Or they did, and the demons possess intellectual and crafting abilities higher than what we¡¯ve ever seen.¡± Alka said. ¡°Are all the others like it?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I¡¯m asking because I want to know whether they are all exactly identical, or just similar but not exactly identical. Because the second implies the work of a craftsman, while the first, implies the presence of a replicator.¡± I suspect it¡¯s likely to be a replicator. ¡°So, do you want to see the second rift gate?¡± I asked. There was one nearby, but that site was occasionally attacked by demons, so it¡¯s heavily defended by beetles and spiders. Since I¡¯ve started my invasion of this demon world, I¡¯ve set up dedicated research labs on creating better beetles. Demon-world compatible beetles, in order to better fight battles against the demons. The second rift gate was not identical. There were subtle variations, but Alka could tell that the inner inscriptions were almost the same. We didn¡¯t stay long, since this location was a little more risky. Of course, the revelation that they were not identically copied suggested that the demons possessed mastery of this level of craftwork. I thought back to the two demon cores I possessed, and tried to check them. I wondered how this knowledge was transmitted across worlds? Were they embedded inside each demon king, such that each demon king was a walking colonisation module on top of an invasion force? If so, they must come from that black blob in space, and then, be inside this core. ¡°It could be written in flesh, too?¡± Patreeck naturally challenged my view. We previously did extensive comparative analysis, using the two demon cores to map what was damaged and try to see if we could somehow build a complete whole from the incomplete two halves, but we still did not understand what exactly was happening. Now, with the patterns collected from the rift gates, we attempted to see whether there was any relevance, mainly to see whether there were similar patterns we could then extrapolate from the rift gate¡¯s set of patterns. There were some relevant parts, but as a whole, it didn¡¯t really give any significant breakthroughs. ¡°Is this part of the Tree of Life¡¯s set of powers?¡± Alka asked Stella while she did her own analysis of the rift gates and the surrounding daemolite crystal structures. She came accompanied with a small group of her students. Other void mages who were amazed, perplexed and afraid all at the same time. ¡°Yes.¡± I answered on her behalf. ¡°Dayum.¡± Alka said. ¡°You all are one of the first few non-demons to ever step on this demon world. You¡¯re all pioneer space tourists.¡± There was a loud bang, and they instinctively ducked. Demonic champions at the front lines, and some of the stray magical projectiles blasted across the skies. Stella smirked. ¡°Very funny.¡± Alka complained for a while, but he continued to conduct more tests on the structures. ¡°How frequently can we go back?¡± Alka asked. ¡°Once a month.¡± I could probably send them back every week or two, but that would leave my mana drained. Alka looked at Stella, and Stella shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me. My void portals don¡¯t reach this kind of distance.¡± ¡°That¡¯s really comforting. So Aeon¡¯s our only ticket out.¡± Alka complained a little more, and then continued to test. My field scientist seemed to be a perpetual grumbler, but I suppose that dissatisfaction with everything comes with intellectual prowess. Of course, Prabu and Colette were very interested to go, but I wasn¡¯t very comfortable with it. I even hesitated on telling them about it, because I knew the gods were listening, one way or another. But I still told them, because I wasn¡¯t the weak tree I was a few decades ago. With Tree of Life, I felt a lot more comfortable with being more transparent and open, at least with those whose powers I use and rely on. Even if things go south, I now have my clones in three other places, even if two of those clones are in rather vulnerable locations. With the benefit of hindsight, it was clear that I needed to invest in my team, and build trust. Even if that trust could go south. - Since Roon and Johann both gained their domains, I gathered my four domain holders, and then brainstormed our revised combat strategies. We needed to figure out how to best exploit our domain powers, especially with future demon kings. Roon and Johann also received the full briefing on what happened with Aiva, and my own history as a former outworlder. In their entire career, they¡¯ve lived to serve me, and the domain is their ultimate promotion. The point where they ¡®grow up¡¯ and now, can stand for themselves. The path is still long, of course. But the forest is strong because there are many trees, and this is a journey for all of us, together. Their domains gave them additional power and stats, so they would continue to play the role of providing cover fire. In terms of pure damage, both of them were just slightly ahead of Edna, who had a higher level, and additional domain skills. They could move quickly, detect enemies from afar, and shoot high powered projectiles. ¡°Ever wonder who would win if we had a test fight?¡± Roon looked at Johann. Edna just shrugged. Edna would be on the receiving end of their attacks in any spar, but her defensive abilities meant she could endure their attacks almost perpetually. Johann frowned. ¡°Actually, even with our new abilities, we can¡¯t even get past Aeon or Edna¡¯s shields. I think that¡¯s our first goal.¡± ¡°Oh come on, a casual fight will be fun!¡± ¡°It would... but...¡± ¡°Actually, if you two would like a test fight, why not compare kill counts on the demon world?¡± Lumoof smiled and proposed. ¡°Make yourselves useful for a change.¡± Johann and Roon looked at each other, and Edna laughed. ¡°Oh darn, that¡¯s a good idea.¡± - < The fabrics increase. > Lilies noticed, naturally. They were very attuned to the powers that thread through the world. < One of yours? > > Sort of. < I responded. > It¡¯s been a while. < < Time has hardly passed. > Ah. > We¡¯ve reached the demon worlds. < Lilies was silent, as I shared about what I¡¯ve seen on the demon worlds through our root connection. I shared scenes of the demon king, the portals, the spires. After a long while. < We have seen but we do not recognise anything there. > - ¡°Alright, we¡¯re ready. Turn it on.¡± Alka said, after two months of studies. Roon and Johann had a swell time hunting demons and keeping them away from our magical researchers and the captured structures. There were also some demon champions that appeared, and they also helped to push some forces closer to the intact spawning pools. ¡°I have not actually tried. I don¡¯t know how to.¡± I admitted. I may have ¡®captured¡¯ the rift gate, but I certainly did not know how to operate it at all. ¡°Did you manage to figure it out?¡± Alka rolled his eyes. ¡°I mean, we¡¯ve been studying its structure for two months without actually turning it on. Stella, if you would do the honors.¡± Stella laughed. ¡°Certainly.¡± She started on a monolog. The rift gates buzzed with activity, as it drained void mana from the void crystals, and we watched it open, charge up, and then just as abruptly, close. It¡¯s like starting a car engine that just cranked, roared and went dead. Alka and Stella¡¯s eyes were glued to the gate, and Stella frowned. ¡°Hmmm. These rift gates piggy back off that central path built by the main gate. They are just links to that same void-space tunnel. There¡¯s only one main highway between this demon world, and ours, and these rift gates are like little feeder roads linked to this main highway.¡± The main highway collapsed. That explained why the demons stopped coming after the demon king got killed. But this does mean that if the path didn¡¯t collapse, the demons could perpetually invade. Not just that, if I could recreate these paths, it would mean permanent paths to other worlds. It would essentially enable the worlds to travel to each other, and if I could control them, it effectively functions as an escape route for the inhabitants of the invaded world. ¡°But these rifts are the first to appear. How does the demon find which world to invade?¡± Alka wondered and then immediately asked. ¡°No. There should be signs. How long does it take? What¡¯s the gestation period for the demon king?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know whether it¡¯s consistent. According to Snek, his world seemed to take about 20 to 25 years per demon king. But, I would suspect the time spent also depends on the type and design of the demon king, the amount of magical energies available in each world, and perhaps many other unknown factors.¡± Alka frowned. ¡°A sample of one or two tells us nothing. But let us assume that on average it takes 25 years per demon king, which would mean that there are twice to thrice as many worlds that are linked to us.¡± Stella retorted. ¡°If we use the number of worlds linked to us by those faint astral paths, and presume that all of them are currently carrying a demon king that would be sent to us once it is ready, which is at least eight to ten of them in the sky, it actually suggests that it takes about 70 to 80 years.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a wide range.¡± There were no astral paths in this world. Not after they collapsed, but there were many paths still from Treehome. Those faint paths that grow brighter with each year. If these rift gates were like feeders into existing astral paths, could these rift gates be used to open a rift to their world, by exploiting those linked to our home world? I predict that the paths will return to this world, but I would really like to know how that was done. How did the demon worlds find their targets? Could we mess with that interplanar worldfinder, and add Treehome as some kind of ¡®do-not-disturb¡¯ world? ¡°What if we move these rifts back to our world, and try to use these rift gates to tap into those astral paths?¡± Stella and Alka thought about it. Alka¡¯s eyes widened, and I could almost see the gears turning in his head. ¡°It¡¯s worth trying. Can we move this rift gate back home?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± I can move objects too. Naturally, I could move these structures back to Treehome. Stella then considered. ¡°It does mean that Aeon may invade them, even before the demons open a rift to our world. And, it would force the demons into a defensive battle on their world, by taking over all their rift gates. We would need to figure out how to activate the astral paths, or reinforce it to some degree with the core mana...¡± ¡°But it¡¯s possible! This... the possibilities are so interesting..¡± Alka laughed. Stella smacked the madly grinning Alka on the shoulder. ¡°You just transformed from being afraid of coming to this world, to proposing a pre-emptive invasion on a demon world.¡± ¡°Eh, Aeon¡¯s already invading one demon world, what¡¯s a few more?¡± ¡°Aeon would have to use a [seed] though, and Aeon doesn¡¯t don¡¯t have many of those. It¡¯s still a good idea in the long run, but I think there¡¯s a lot more to study.¡± Alka laughed. ¡°Details details! Let¡¯s focus on the final outcome first. An offensive battle would be greatly beneficial for us, since, well, we have bombs. A lot of them.¡± ¡°Are you...¡± ¡°I¡¯m proposing we bomb the hell out of the demon worlds before they even invade us. We don¡¯t even need some sophisticated targeting. We need an air force, and then open a portal, and just keep sending bombs through it.¡± Stella stared at the mad scientist, who once lectured me on the morality of bombs. ¡°And I thought you said you wouldn¡¯t go that far.¡± ¡°Aeon noticed that there¡¯s a big tower of void mana when the demon king was about to appear.¡± ¡°And...?¡± ¡°And Aeon¡¯s teleportation ability does not require the use of void mana, so large quantities of star mana can be transported through it without destabilisation.¡± ¡°Okay...¡± ¡°It¡¯s also right next to the demon king.¡± ¡°Star mana and void mana goes boom?¡± Spaizzer I would like to shoutout a work by one of my readers. Tim, someone I talk to here and there, have decided to write his own stuff, so please do give him a look. <3 https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/50608/kneel-a-guide-to-demonic-ascension Thanks for reading. Do have a look at the above fic ya :) Planned Rerooting Year 203 We moved one of the riftgates back to Freeka, and located it right in the valley. Alka and the rest of them returned, except Roon and Johann who continued the fight and expansion. It was frustrating to expand, because of how magically sparse the environment was, even with the recent gradual improvements. Since the demon king ended, I felt mana slow, very very slowly, trickle back to the world. As it is, my expansions essentially relied and drained mana from the Central continent, in order to support my trees and my forces on the demon world. This was because there was a shortfall in the natural mana and ¡®life¡¯ in the soil, so I had to top up that shortfall with my own mana. This was similar to the moon, but as my moonbase¡¯s trees grew, they were able to generate more mana passively, and a few years ago, was mana-neutral on my overall mana-production. The fact that I had to constantly support and regenerate my beetles and trees at the battlefronts also amplified the mana drain on the central continent. In the long run, though, things are positive. At the rate of natural mana recovery in the world, in a few decades, my trees would turn mana-positive, and I would be able to mount a more coherent and decisive push towards all the major structures of the demons. There was no reason to expand when doing so only increased the mana use, without the capture of any particularly unique structures. All these were lessons, for our next planned invasion for the demon world. Alka also had other ideas. One of which, was to develop a supermassive star mana bomb. Something with so much mana that we could throw at the tower of void mana, and hopefully disrupt the demon king while it is still gestating. I was somewhat skeptical of the star mana bomb¡¯s chances of actually destroying the demon king, because I¡¯ve seen the demon king¡¯s body gestating really deep in the ground, and I doubt a supermassive explosion would be able to reach deep into the world¡¯s core. Still, destroying the void tower would mean they couldn¡¯t come to our world that fast, since it would take out the fuel that supported the pathway to our world. It may buy us some time, for little to no cost. It may possibly also weaken the demon king, such that we would be able to survive it with better odds. Of course, Alka also proposed to sink the tower in that deep tunnel, and then detonate the bomb. The idea of detonating such a powerful bomb underground probably would be very damaging to the world, but it does mean an explosion closer to the gestating demon king. Possible, but more moving parts. It¡¯s more difficult to send a bomb in the tunnel where my roots or trees can¡¯t reach. I could, theoretically, have a tree next to the tower, teleport it right there. Anyway, Alka was thus focused on developing the bomb. He already had some ideas, gathered from his past research, on how to make a large star-mana bomb. Ideas that he quickly pitched to Prabu and Colette, and he shared our findings, as well. ¡°This is Aeon¡¯s idea?¡± Prabu immediately asked. ¡°Not really. More like mine, but he consented to the budget for a super star-mana bomb, meant specifically to activate on contact with the void tower.¡± The problem was, star mana, just like void mana, both had corrosive effects on their containers. The objects that hold these things could not hold them for very long, unless they were made by the heroes¡¯ through their special [hero forge], and in those cases, the mana stored evaporated very slowly over time. Even my specialised potatoes eventually decayed, and the stored mana leaked out, though they did last quite long. Only my own 300 star mana did not cause any decay, and I suspect that the soul may be the most common object that could hold star mana without these storage problems. That, of course, implied it could be possible to make living star mana batteries. Could I create artificial souls specifically to store star mana or void mana? I see Stella is able to accept and handle large quantities of void mana without much issues, even if it did make her soul transform into this pitch black mass of... thing. Despite how her soul looks, her body clearly didn¡¯t suffer for it. She was healthy by all measures, and her body, even though drenched with void mana, didn¡¯t seem different. Perhaps the soul had a passive effect of ¡®controlling¡¯, ¡®manipulating¡¯ and ¡®processing¡¯ mana, such that it didn¡¯t harm itself. It was a worthwhile idea, even if one I previously never considered because of how many artificial minds I could support. Nowadays, with a continent¡¯s worth of trees, and more, it¡¯s really not much of a problem to use artificial minds more freely, even if they were just made to be sentient batteries. ¡°Worth exploring?¡± I asked Patreeck. ¡°It really depends how much mana an artificial mind can store. However, based on what we¡¯ve seen, it¡¯s likely that they won¡¯t be as effective as a fully formed soul.¡± I paused as those words sunk in. Patreeck clearly had more data than me, even if he is functionally a part of me. If Patreeck¡¯s speculation are true, mana responded more strongly to the inner part of the soul. No matter, I had to try. I created one of my tuberous storage in an uninhabited part of the central continent, and created an artificial mind for it. This part went normally. Then I injected it with star mana. At least, the 300 star mana I had. I borrowed a little bit more from the heroes, and injected a little bit more. Then like a balloon that suddenly had a hole, it just shrunk, and died. ¡°1,000.¡± Patreeck said. ¡°That¡¯s too little.¡± I did the same, this time with void mana. We had void mana from Stella, and those I previously stole from the demon king. They were already in various states of decay, some of them only had less than 10% of the void mana originally. I wonder whether this could be some kind of evaporation loss, and the vessel only controlled the degree of evaporation loss? Or, is the soul actually producing mana, thus it offsets the evaporation loss? But artificial souls could produce mana too! Patreeck seems to think it¡¯s likely that fully formed souls can produce star mana or void mana, thus their production of these mana types keep their vessel full. Sadly, I had no way of testing whether mana-evaporation or mana-loss is better when there¡¯s a soul, because my artificial minds don¡¯t produce these mana types. With normal mana, it doesn¡¯t seem to have this issue. Or, is it likely that on Treehome, the environment has sufficient mana that there¡¯s no mana loss due to differences in mana density? I know that I have to support my trees on the demon world, or my new expansions on the moon... I checked my floating tree, floating in the pitch black darkness of the void, clinging to a massive shard of what was once the Cometworld. It doesn¡¯t need mana from me, because it produces a little bit of mana. My artificial minds quickly helped me build up some data sets, and then I realised that each of my clones produced a small amount of their own mana, and then, on top of that small passive production, it also absorbed and amplified mana from the environment. In places where there was very little mana, like the demon world or the moon, this part of my natural mana producing abilities were weak. In short, my clones were best strategically placed where there¡¯s a lot of natural mana, and that would significantly improve my mana amount. It¡¯s like finding the correct spot to put a wind turbine. Once my clones were placed, I couldn¡¯t move them, unless I killed my clones. There¡¯s also a gestation period for the seeds to reappear, and I would have to contend with losing my connection to that place. - ¡°So Aeon managed to invade the demon world.¡± Chung repeated on the magical communication device. It was a meeting joined by my senior Valthorns and the otherworlders as well. Well, except Meela and Alexis who¡¯s in the North. But anyway, now that we had something resembling a plan, we needed help. ¡°Yes, and Alka proposed that we attack the demon world before the demon king invades. I can see merit in the argument, since we can save lives by preventing the invasion in the first place.¡± There were no official tallies of how many people died during the parasite wars, but my Valthorns¡¯ observed that even in well-defended towns, the population was down by about twenty percent. So, the parasite war was probably one of the higher ones in terms of fatalities because refugees couldn¡¯t escape, and even if they did, they were suspected of harboring the parasites. It was a grim episode that I was glad ended well. Had they been more intelligent, we would be dealing with a persistent, ongoing issue. Prabu did most of the explanation, where he went over Stella¡¯s void portal abilities, my ability to resonate with the rift gates and sneak my vines through the gates, and then, lastly, my tree clones. Deep in my valley, the rift gate, now surrounded by hundreds of mages and researchers, was undergoing reconfiguration. ¡°So that¡¯s something from a demon world?¡± Chung and Hafiz were on the magical communicator. ¡°A rift gate?¡± ¡°Yes. The demons build these paths across worlds, and these paths gather in the skies above over decades. Alka and Stella think it might be possible to open these paths earlier, and invade them before the demons are even ready for us.¡± Alka then explained about the void tower, and the giant circular gate, which I suspected, was the primary gate. ¡°Don¡¯t we need that primary gate, then?¡± Chung asked. ¡°Alka and Stella suspect that it may not be necessary since the astral path is already there, just not fully activated. They want to use the world¡¯s core mana to open a small gate, and send one of Aeon¡¯s clones there, and well, bomb the shit out of them.¡± ¡°It¡¯s interesting.¡± Chung nodded. Strangely, the god¡¯s inhibitions didn¡¯t attack the heroes, because, after all, this was a conversation about destroying demons. Just not demons in this world. Alka and Stella were both well-educated on the [hero] class mental overrides, so we made no mention of gods. But we reminded Alka and Stella to not speak of the ¡®ending the cycle part¡¯, since that triggered the hero¡¯s mental blocks the last time I touched this subject with Prabu. For now, we were laser focused on defeating the next demon king, and that seemed to avoid triggering the overrides. ¡°What¡¯s our role?¡± ¡°The plan is frankly quite simple.¡± Alka repeated. ¡°We¡¯ll bomb the void tower and try our best to cause massive damage, and if it doesn¡¯t kill the demon king, Aeon will teleport all of you to the demon world, and you can fight all out there. We¡¯ll provide cover fire and clear the grounds.¡± Prabu nodded. ¡°I think it makes a lot of sense. We can fight the demon king offensively, likely in a weaker state thanks to the bombs. No need to hold back, no collateral damage because the demon world is uninhabited.¡± ¡°Are the demons stronger there? In their world?¡± Chung asked. Alka paused. ¡°We... I don''t have enough data to say for sure. From the one or two worlds Aeon has visited, it¡¯s possible that the mobs are stronger. We don¡¯t know whether there is any change in the strength of the demon king.¡± Chung was surprisingly cooperative. ¡°It¡¯s a decent idea in principle. Once the gate is active, then let¡¯s meet again and go through our plans.¡± With their agreement obtained, Alka and Stella now worked on actually getting the rift gates to work in reverse. From our world, to theirs. - Back on the demon world, Roon and Johann fought the horde of demons from the demonic spawning pools. We observed that some of these pools have ¡®regenerated¡¯ and were somehow repaired, and the speed of this recovery seemed aligned to the recovery in the natural ambient mana of this world. This swampy demon world used to be a world with life. And now, in the areas where my trees dominated, I began observing the effects, as some normal creatures spawned for the first time. Only small ones, because they were insects, but the fact that creatures were created by the system meant we were undoing the demon¡¯s hold. Horns and a small army of beetle commanders complemented Roon and Johann in the battle for the demon world. This was a long war, and Horns loved it. Horns lived for war, it seemed, and even though he got squashed a few times, he never stopped returning to the front lines. Hytreerion, my massive walker, was also pleased that it was useful for a change, rather than being mostly useless back on Treehome, since it was able to storm through enemy lines with its massive size. This was a war that would only gain in intensity, since the recovering ambient mana of the world meant both sides would gain strength. I could deploy more trees and more beetles, and for the demons, they could regenerate their spawning pools, spawn more demons, and spawn stronger demons. Still, the recovering mana also meant the demon forces noticed my trees near the massive hole of the demon king. A location I wanted but was not able to hold due to the sheer distance from my main clone body, as my trees and beetles were overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of demons. Thankfully, now Roon and Johann both were up for some scouting. The deep hole of the demon king, now flooded with normal demons, and they saw the collapsed towers and the rubble somehow had vanished. The entire deep hole transformed into a massive spawning pool. But because there were too many demons, they did not attempt to engage. Not with just two of them. It was likely that the demon spawning pool, given its size, was some kind of pre-demon king pool? Still, after that spying, and all the fighting on the demon world, they were both really emotionally drained, and Roon requested to return to Treehome. There was something about fighting in the lifeless world that was just more emotionally taxing than normal. Edna called it the ¡°Long Term Dungeon Syndrome.¡± Similar to fighters who¡¯ve spent too long in the dungeons, they would crave some normalcy. Oh well, I suppose I would need to start considering some kind of otherworld combat roster. Maybe that¡¯s what happened with Prabu and Colette, and their snack withdrawals. They needed an emotional base, and fighting long periods away from home drained that ¡®battery¡¯. - There was something else I had to work on, which was, core mana. The activation of the astral path seemed to rely on the core mana, though it is possible to wait for the rifts to open, and then only invade. But we wanted the option to invade at our own time. So I had to figure out core mana. I intensified my analysis of the Cometworld Shard, and concluded that I needed to dig deep. Much, much deeper. What kind of creature would have core mana? I already reached my limit on Treehome in terms of depth. I couldn¡¯t get deeper, even with all the intermediate trees in the way. This was the secret at the center of the world. > Lilies, do you know how to contact the will of the world? < < No. > Ah. I got similar replies from Aria, who didn¡¯t even know about the will of the world. I only have one seed left. Unless I could gain more levels, I¡¯d have to use it strategically. ¡°Lumoof, when you were on the Threeworlds, were there any really, really deep places? Like chasms or cracks that led all the way into the core?¡± Lumoof, naturally got what I was trying to get at, and shook his head. ¡°Not that I know of, unless the Sandpeople and the Centaurs are hiding it. Do you want me to ask?¡± ¡°Then we should aim elsewhere. Let¡¯s go to another world.¡± I suppose Lumoof¡¯s job scope now expanded to also look for sources of core mana, usually in really, really deep places. There had to be a world where there¡¯s already a natural crack in the world. Such things were common in fantasy after all. Places where the world ended, and it led to the great beyond. Threeworlds, Cometworld and Treehome had been typical planets, but not all worlds are like that. If I wanted core mana, I needed to find a world where the core... isn¡¯t in the center of a spherical world. Lumoof nodded. ¡°Yes boss.¡± Maybe the next world won¡¯t have my answer, but we had to try. Our next best choice was a stray world similar to the Cometworld, where it¡¯s core was exposed in some way. I then thought about my little trigger happy Reef friend. > Reefy. < < Yes? > >Do you know any deep, deep place?< >Deeper. Much deeper. < Like, far deeper than the Marianas. Even my own underground trees have gone a lot deeper. I contemplated that question for a moment. Is the Will, someone? >Well. Yes. Maybe.< >If you could, please.< I actually have no idea what Reefy¡¯s been up to underwater, but it seemed to be pretty stable, so I presumed it to be alright. Spaizze Aeon’s Expeditionary Force Year 204 Snek proposed that we dig underground, in the demon world. For the same reason as Snek¡¯s homeworld. In Snek¡¯s world, they, the snakes, migrated underground to avoid the demons. If there were survivors, they¡¯d be hidden underground, or in places where the demons could not reach. That¡¯s a decent idea, and from what I know, digging underground seems to be the archeological equivalent of traveling back in time. So, we started to dig underground. The first month we found absolutely nothing, at least, around where I started to dig. This process of digging drained more mana too, since, underground, my trees don¡¯t produce mana. My subsidiary trees and normal trees produced more mana when there were ambient sources of mana in the ground, water, or some kind of light source, either sun light or starlight. Once again, in the mana-starved worlds, like the moon or the demon world, their production is curtailed. The first few layers we dug through felt no different from the surface. In fact, due to the poor quality of the soil itself, my [root tunnels] were a higher drain on my mana than normal. Alka wasn¡¯t here to help, since he was really laser focused on developing star-mana superbombs, so he sent some of his assistants instead. Well, these assistants were still high leveled mages and [magical researchers], and they explained that they couldn¡¯t tell the difference in the soil, so we had to go deeper. It may be due to our lack of the right set of skills to properly analyze soil. Which is kinda silly, because I¡¯m really good with studying the soil¡¯s nutrition, magical qualities and mineral content. But looking at it from an archaelogical point of view seemed to be a related, but different skill set. I wonder what would happen if a [geologist] reincarnated to this world? Could they find magic-oil? Would we start an era of magic-oil-freedom? ¡°Maybe we¡¯re digging the wrong place.¡± The mages suggested. In truth, I just decided to dig right underneath my tree of clones, since that seemed to be the easiest place, and after that, we expanded sideways, with horizontal tunnels. So, the researchers requested for [historians] and [cartographers] from our world, and attempted to use our own history to make a map of the demon world, at least, the part of the demon world that was under my rule. With their aid, we made an estimate of the places where cities were likely to exist. This was sensible, of course. Earth¡¯s cities liked to be next to rivers, and this world, while swampy, didn¡¯t have oceans. It was just a vast world of shallow lakes, small rivers, marshes and swamps. With our new set of estimates, we decided to dig underground, in a few of these places, where the rivers met the lakes. Our initial findings were bad. We found nothing. There had to be something, and I went to my other advisors for advice. My four domainholder Valthorns didn¡¯t have any idea, magic research really wasn¡¯t their forte. Stella suggested the use of some shamanic or land-communion power, which seemed to make sense, but I¡¯ll have to locate a person with the right skillset, that could be trusted with knowledge of the demon world. So I went and spoke to Lilies. Lilies, having survived the longest of us all, must have seen the changes in the soil over the generations. Perhaps they could give us a clue? < How to identify dirt or soil? > > Yes. Calculate their age, uh... < I wanted to say Carbon dating, but I haven''t the slightest clue how that actually works in practice. It¡¯s one of those things that I know scientists do, but I wouldn¡¯t be able to do myself. < No. Not possible. Unless the core itself leaves imprints on the soil. > Wait. It should. If the world of the demon king went through periods of growth and death, the soil itself would feel the effects of the rising and fading of the mana density in the land. But this affects the entire world, not just a certain layer of soil. But new soil, if created by acts of magic, are subject to fewer such wave-like mana patterns, would we be able to tell? Maybe most types of soil are essentially indistinguishable. We would have to locate the right type of soil or stone, which could retain the effects of such waves. < You seem to have an inkling? > > I do, but I¡¯m not sure if there¡¯s the right type of soil or stone in the world that behaves in that manner. < < In the other world? > > Yes. I¡¯d like to see how long it has been, and if we could tell whether a planet supports the birth of demon kings indefinitely, or at diminishing rates. < Lilies didn¡¯t answer that, likely because they never experienced that part of the end of the world. From Lilies¡¯ explanation, even if the demon king won, there¡¯s still a period of time before it actually ¡®takes-over¡¯ the world, and during that time, the gods could try to challenge the hold. This suggested that so long as heroes are continuously summoned, demons would never hold the planet. Eventually one hero would break the demon king¡¯s kill streak. Taking this thought further, it also meant that worlds only truly become demon worlds if the gods lose access to the world, and they could no longer defend it. Essentially the equivalent of taking life support off, and the world either finds a way to defend itself, or the world dies, consumed by the demon king. In any case, I also asked the Valthorns to speak to [miners] and [stone-collectors] whether they are aware of such stones. It would be easier to find something if we knew how they looked like in our world. ¡°We¡¯re just grasping at straws.¡± The mages new to the process of research said. ¡°That¡¯s what its¡¯ like to be at the forefront of magic research. We¡¯re trying to imagine or figure out how things work, with whatever clues handed to us.¡± The researchers laughed. ¡°Many of these clues are misleading! But it is very, very intellectually stimulating. Occasionally. Most of the time is really a lot of boring cataloging and data collection work.¡± One of the good points of Stella, Ken¡¯s influence on the magic researchers was the introduction of more robust data collection methodology, mainly using our own world¡¯s logic of statistics and data. I just hoped we didn¡¯t draw the wrong conclusions. I wasn¡¯t very good at statistics, so my own guidance was very high level, and could even be wrong. A layman¡¯s comprehension of statistics and the conclusions they draw from the data may not be correct, even if they seem logical from a layman¡¯s view. Still, more data is always welcome. Patreeck and my artificial minds could easily shift through the data. In fact, one of the things Patreeck suggested was a physical ¡®avatar¡¯ for Patreeck and the artificial minds, such that they could interact with the reports and data directly. As it is, my artificial minds can mentally communicate with each other through my roots, thus forming a network. My subordinates, like Horns, were also connected to the network, but their connection was not through the roots, but through telepathic speech, and telepathic communication, was inherently slower and more prone to misunderstandings. In short, our current data collection method required either someone to read the data, and that data gets ¡®mentally-copied¡¯ by Patreeck, or the artificial minds borrowed one of my regular-eyes, which were capable of regular vision, to read the data directly. Useful, but could be expanded. They were able to collect sound data directly, but because my artificial minds views the world mostly through my senses, ie my spiritual vision, sound and also a vibrative-sense, reading documents was out of the picture. They were already able to manipulate vines in my [biolab]-focused artificial minds and get readings from them directly. Again, the demon world itself was more prone to magical disruptions. Demons have been consistently attacking my trees throughout the demon world, sometimes with those demon-spire-walker champions, and these champions had some type of magical interference. At this point, I estimate the ambient mana in the demon world to be about five percent (5%) of Treehome. From Patreeck¡¯s initial estimates, the breakeven point where the mana cost of supporting the subsidiary trees was equal to the mana generated by the trees themselves on the demon world was somewhere around 25%. ¡°Could the blowback be detected?¡± Patreeck asked. ¡°The collapse of the astral tunnel through the void. That collapse carpeted the entire world with a single but very noticeable wave of magic energy.¡± Ah, so rather than rely on the wave-like pattern of the declining ambient mana in the world, use the collapsed astral tunnel¡¯s energy as a ¡®time-marker¡¯? That seemed possible, but I would need to find materials on the demon world that would show the effects of such things. Again, I would get the guys to pay attention to their surroundings, but if there¡¯s nothing, there¡¯s nothing. For my artificial minds, I needed a new kind of mobile-artificial mind that also functions as a laboratory, for their research functions, with a direct-link to the root network through their legs. At least, they would need to stop and connect with the network directly to upload the bulky datasets. With my evolutionary powers from [Tree of Life], I started looking at creating smaller versions of Hytreerion, crossed with the qualities of the Treefolk. The Treefolk could connect to the Rootnet. In fact, that was one of their unique selling points, though we blocked them from the network. This part of the process wasn¡¯t exactly hard. Modifying existing things in order to fit my need, and growing them in my [biolabs]. In fact, they were quite cute. Like little Tachikomas made of wood and trees. It would take about a few months to properly form them. - ¡°Threeworld, this time?¡± Stella asked. She¡¯s been working on the rift gate, but it involved huge amounts of reconfiguring the runic patterns. She said she¡¯ll get better with time, but for now, she¡¯ll need another year or two. In my experience, there¡¯s bound to be hiccups, so if she completes it within three years, it¡¯s considered a success. Lumoof shook his head. ¡°Nope. The other world. Unless, there¡¯s something else?¡± ¡°Nope. Skies remain unchanged. For now.¡± I scanned the skies from my lone tree that floated nowhere, in the remnants of the Cometworld. So far, nothing. Stella paused and looked at her notes. ¡°Alright. Just you?¡± ¡°No.¡± I decided not to send Lumoof alone this time, so I got one of the higher ranked Valthorns to accompany him. One of Edna¡¯s juniors and disciples, a Level 110 [Aeonic Battle Knight] named Ebon. I figured that I would gradually rotate my level 100+ Valthorns on these adventures to other worlds to let them learn from the other worlds. I suspect the system seems to recognise and give value to a wider perspective, and thus rewards those who have seen other worlds. It may also be partly why I gained levels faster too, on top of my heroic fragments. Or maybe just a different perspective just gave a more holistic comprehension of powers, thus recognition by the system? In any case, I would send Lumoof to the other worlds, as part of my many other projects to get Core Mana. I also had [miners] dig into the depth of the world from the already deep depths. I had mages and others attempting to create a portal into the core itself. I will have core mana. Then we will take this battle to the demons. - The portal opened, and both Lumoof and Ebon walked out to what appeared to be a massive battlefield, with the stench of rotting corpses and blood in the air. Back home, Stella and her team strained a little more than usual. ¡°Weird, felt like I was trying to push through mud.¡± The battlefield was littered with corpses, some still looked relatively fresh. This battle wasn¡¯t very long ago. Maybe a week, or a month. ¡°Ooh.¡± Yet, the first thing I wanted to see was the sky. Lumoof then looked up, and we both saw the glowing, bright astral path, through our shared astral vision. Lumoof¡¯s expression paled instantly. ¡°The demon king is here.¡± ¡°Here?¡± Ebon asked, immediately he started to look around anxiously. ¡°No, I mean, he¡¯s in this world.¡± Lumoof clarified. ¡°Oh.¡± Ebon relaxed. He immediately started to survey the surroundings. ¡°If the astral path is open, then the invasion is still ongoing. We should spot some heroes, then.¡± The corpses were humanoid, at least, some looked like elves, and dwarves. Lizard people and drakes too. ¡°Where should we go?¡± Ebon asked, returning from his short walk around. ¡°I see their equipment¡¯s rust is quite early-stage. This battle must¡¯ve been just about two to three weeks old. Strange no one raided their equipment.¡± ¡°Demons don¡¯t need equipment.¡± ¡°Ah yes. I forgot since we had the parasites...¡± Ebon answered. Lumoof paused, and I briefly entered the avatar-mode. I felt my senses extend through the ground, and the world around us- There was a loud explosion in a particular direction, carried by the winds, and there were very visible magic flying through the sky. Lumoof and Ebon exchanged glances. ¡°If there¡¯s fighting, there¡¯s people.¡± Lumoof answered. Ebon nodded. Lumoof activated his domain skill on Ebon, and Ebon¡¯s body glowed, supercharged. He ran, his speed almost as fast as the heroes through the battlefield. It was quite far away. Both Lumoof and I could see through Ebon with Lumoof¡¯s ability, and we saw an army of lizardmen, at least 2,000 of them, battling an army of at least 10,000 humanoid demons. These demons were armed with reddish demonic weapons. They were awfully familiar, like the ones that gave me the [Forest Rod]. Was this a rehash of the demon-walker champions? The ones that triggered the huge calamity of the Central Continent? I felt a little tingle of fear through my senses. The lizardmen were outnumbered, and we saw the very familiar demonic knights and demonic generals. ¡°Lumoof. It¡¯s the demon king Sabnoc again.¡± Lumoof was a baby with the Sabnoc incident happened, but it was mandatory education for the Valthorns, on the origins of the Rottedlands. ¡°Sabnoc, here?¡± ¡°Maybe not Sabnoc, but those demons are from that generation of demon kings. There will be Hytreerion type champions!¡± ¡°Ah!¡± This world was faced with a large scale invasion of demons. Lumoof ran as fast as he could, which was really fast, but it still took him longer to arrive int he battlefield. The lizardmen were already fighting the demons, and they were the ones unleashing their magical spells and projectiles. Ebon smashed into the center of the demon army like a descended god, and his large gladius glowed green from power. Ebon, for the purposes of this battle, received one of the Court of the Deitree slots, which complemented his close combat battle skills with my own wide-area abilities, like [Rooting fields]. The lizardmen clearly didn¡¯t expect the assistance, and the sight of Ebon as a single, supercharged individual able to easily defeat 10s of these normal demons per swing seemed to raise their morale. ¡°Aura!¡± Lumoof mentally spoke to Ebon. ¡°Activate the demon-suppression aura!¡± He had a weaker version, but it helped slow down the demons a little bit, such to give the lizardmen army some breathing room. The demon knights and general-types clearly noticed Ebon, and they charged at him. But if Lausanne at level 30 could fight a demon knight, Ebon at level 110 could kill a few of them in a single swipe. They really were not much now. Only champions could give Ebon a challenge, so Ebon slaughtered the demons like the worthless things they were. When Lumoof arrived a little bit later, the victory was certain. Once in avatar mode, the demons were killed quickly, the full strength of my demonic suppression aura flooded the battlefield, and they were as good as motionless statues. The lizardpeople then easily cut down the army of demons, and the battle was over. A group of heavily armored lizardpeople immediately approached Ebon. ¡°We, the army of the Alderri City, thank you for your assistance in the battle with the demons!¡± Ebon, who was in heavy armor, nodded in his helmet. Lumoof moved to join Ebon. ¡°This is Lumoof, my superior. I am Ebon, a knight.¡± ¡°Greetings!¡± Lumoof said. ¡°I hope we did not interrupt much?¡± One of the lizardpeople laughed awkwardly. Their leader stared at the laughing lizardperson and he immediately quieted down. ¡°Ah. In fact... we were prepared to fight to the death to hold the demons back. Our reinforcements were delayed by a few days...¡± Lumoof nodded. ¡°Alright. Would you mind filling us in? I must admit I¡¯m new to the region.¡± That made the lizardperson leader''s eyes twitch. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t understand what you mean by that.¡± Lumoof smiled. ¡°We teleported here. From a really, really far place. So I need a briefing. Everything, really.¡± One of the lizardperson immediately asked. ¡°Are you the heroes?¡± That lizardperson was promptly slapped by the one next to him. ¡°Are you stupid?! Heroes are always young teenagers! These two guys look like war-veterans.¡± The leader stared and the two bickering lizardpersons immediately quieted down. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I will have to invite you back to our city and uh... let the proper person answer you.¡± ¡°Please.¡± Their city was really a fortress. A huge structure with thick, multi-layered walls meant for siege battles. Magical enchantments covered the walls, and there were magical formations and traps scattered around them. They were clearly geared for war. In fact, the guards were hugely surprised to see the army returning at all. The doors flew open and a group of elves and lizardpersons came out to greet them. ¡°General! How?! You¡¯ve pushed them back?¡± One of the elves hugged the lizard-leader. He patted the heavily armed young teenage elf on the head. ¡°Shush. We have honored guests who came to our rescue, I must take them to meet the council now.¡± ¡°But...¡± The elf looked tearful. The lizard general said firmly. ¡°I live, son, when I was meant to die today. It is already a miracle, so wait. Let me take the guests to the council.¡± The elf nodded and the general turned to Lumoof. ¡°Please, Lord Lumoof and Ebon.¡± The council was a group of humans, lizardpersons, and elves. About the same as the corpses we saw from the previous battlefield. Everyone was heavily armed. The general gave the introductions, and the council was blunt with its questions. ¡°Where are you from, exactly? There are no known individuals with your type of combat abilities left.¡± Lumoof thought for a moment, and decided to go for the truth. ¡°Another world. But we are not heroes. Just a neighbouring world.¡± There was an audible gasp from the entire council. ¡°How?¡± Lumoof smiled. ¡°Classified information. At this point, I can see that all of you need help. But, first, fill us in. What exactly is going on in this world?¡± One human leaned forward. ¡°We really do. Are there more individuals like yourself?¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± Lumoof answered. The human councillor looked at the rest, as if waiting for something. The lizardman councillor nodded and spoke. ¡°At this point, we need everything we can get. If there are no objections, I¡¯ll do the walkthrough.¡± We listened as the council-lizardperson explained that the demons arrived sixteen years ago, and the heroes went to defeat the demon king. At first, to the people of this world, it was business as usual. But the heroes that went to defeat the demon king did not do so, and it seemed like all news of the heroes had since vanished. The demons then resumed their expansion, and the entire world turned into a battlefield. Their priests attempted to divine the nature of what occurred, and they discovered that the heroes were defeated, and almost all of them killed. Except two, who were somehow captured by the demon king. Captured, and not killed, so no new heroes were summoned to the world. At that point, I suddenly wondered what would happen if Alexis was never killed. This world was a world with many high mountains and mountain passes, and so most kingdoms and nations had easily defended chokepoints. Thankfully, the demons did not have many flight-capable creatures, and even their demon generals were only able to fly a short distance. Thus, for the whole of the last decade and more, it was a continuous and never ending battle against the demonic armies. The world¡¯s nations stopped fighting, as every combat-talented person was drafted to join and defend the world against the demonic armies. ¡°What of the demon king?¡± Lumoof asked. ¡°The demon king appears to be a large stationary castle.¡± Lumoof cursed. ¡°It¡¯s Sabnoc again.¡± ¡°Sabnoc?¡± ¡°We had a demon king that created these demonic armies. It was called Sabnoc.¡± ¡°Hmm, this demon king is called Akkila.¡± ¡°How do you respond to champion-class demons?¡± Lumoof then asked. ¡°Our relics. The [hero] items. The joint command of elite forces handle these items and move them to where the champions are sighted.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± There¡¯s a regional joint command that moved these things around to help push the demon champions back. ¡°The hero items need time to recharge.¡± The councillors nodded. ¡°Yes. So over time, we still lose ground. The demons can outnumber us, and field champions repeatedly. Our warriors can gain levels, and we do have strong elites from those who survived multiple battles, but it¡¯s a balance that¡¯s not in our favor.¡± Lumoof nodded. ¡°So everyone who can fight, fights.¡± ¡°Yes. Our old luxuries had to cease. There really was no other way. Our people must fight, make items to support the war effort, or produce food and supplies.¡± One councilor interjected. ¡°Are you able to bring us to your world?¡± ¡°Are you thinking of leaving already?¡± Another councilor immediately stood up. Lumoof smirked. ¡°There are demon kings in our world too.¡± That same councilor paled. ¡°Surely with powerful individuals like yourself-¡± ¡°All it takes is one demon king with the right skill sets and we¡¯re still doomed.¡± Lumoof didn¡¯t let him finish. The entire war council nodded in agreement. The human continued. ¡°We must report of your presence to the joint command.¡± Lumoof thought about it for a moment. ¡°What if I just decide to go back?¡± The human immediately paused, and he prostrated on the ground. ¡°Please. Please help us. Our people have been fighting this war for a decade, and there¡¯s no end to it. We need hope. Something to buy us time.¡± ¡°Buying time for what?¡± Lumoof asked. A miracle, probably. The councilman did not answer, but then eventually answered. ¡°Buy time for us to live a bit longer.¡± The general too, immediately knelt. ¡°Please Lord Lumoof. Your presence and abilities on the battlefield would help us greatly.¡± Lumoof sighed, and I could sense the dilemma in his heart. ¡°It is not what I am here for.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll give you anything you want.¡± ¡°Tell me, is there a place where the planet¡¯s core is exposed?¡± The councillors shook their heads at first, and then immediately nodded. Lumoof could tell they were lying. Desperation. Exhaustion. Lumoof looked at Ebon. ¡°Well, let¡¯s leave this for later, I¡¯m tired from that battle, and we need a place to rest.¡± One of the councillors immediately ran out to make arrangements, and they were given the finest rooms they could manage. It was clear it had not been used or cleaned for months before this. Walking through the streets, everyone was focused on war, but the exhaustion and sense of despair was clear. Lumoof sat, and asked Ebon. ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°We should help. These people look like they need it. Way more than we do.¡± I thought back to the Canari people. I helped them too, and now that I have the power, maybe I shouldn¡¯t be so selfish. I didn¡¯t have to take the demon king either. All we needed to do was find the captured heroes and free them. Or kill them, if we couldn¡¯t. Spaizzer I injured my head pretty badly when I bumped into a stationary van. Yes, I''m a noob. So I''m feeling a little tired and will be taking a rest The Treeacher Year 204 (part 2) Ebon, as a knight, felt strongly about helping these people. As for me, I didn¡¯t want to take ownership of this conflict, and expand my already growing plate. I didn¡¯t want to play the role of another world¡¯s peacekeeper too. Still, I did agree that we could have a limited scope of assistance. Something more focused. Freeing the heroes, or failing which, killing them, such that the cycle of reincarnating heroes may continue. As it is, I have at least 30 to 50 individuals like Ebon in the level 100 category, and this really was another battlefield. Letting them fight another war on another world could help them experience things, and prepare them for the coming invasion of the demon world. Despite my reluctance to assist, Lumoof, and some of my Valthorns felt we have the capacity to do more. After the badly handled disaster that was the Crystal King, this was our other world left, and Lumoof felt we should try to make allies on this world. If we help now, we come as saviors. Allies. These opinions can shift quickly, and I wasn¡¯t sure what was the political, social and religious sentiment on the ground. A wider scope of assistance may also face pushback, and as the Crystal King said, we would be occupiers. Maybe he wasn¡¯t that wrong, after all. If the purpose of allies was as a backup if our world fell, then if that happened, we would retreat here as refugees. Eventually though, we would also transform into occupiers, demanding some of these lands as our own. Politics was hard. I¡¯d rather just fight demons. After a day¡¯s rest, Lumoof and Ebon returned to face the council, and Lumoof immediately asked for information on the heroes, and where they were captured. Lumoof could see the light in their eyes lit up, excited at the prospect of our assistance. In truth, they couldn¡¯t help. This was a border city, a fortress that faced the demon hordes. The information on the heroes, and on such grander strategic matters, were all deeper in their ¡®protected¡¯ hinterlands. So, they proposed to send two messengers, carrying scrolls written by the council, to guide and accompany us to one of their greater cities that still stood. It would be a two week journey by horse, but Lumoof shook his head at the council. ¡°Then let¡¯s use teleportation scrolls. Let not waste time.¡± The councillors were horrified at the suggestion. ¡°We mean no offense, Lord Lumoof, but we cannot afford to use scrolls. Teleportation scrolls are only for our elite forces to move to places under heavy attack.¡± That was a sensible use of teleportation. Lumoof coughed. ¡°Sorry, I mean, I have greater teleportation scrolls. I just need some of you to come with me, and link me with the right person. My scroll can carry five, I just need one of you who has been to that city to update the location.¡± Teleportation scrolls from our world relied on the mana-pathways in the sky, the same way [message] spells worked. These teleportation scrolls were a step further, and could use direct coordinate input, but it needed some tweaking. ¡°Oh.¡± One lizardperson and one human stood. ¡°Then we will go with you.¡± One of the councillors was a mage and he stared at the scroll for a moment. ¡°These are really interesting teleportation runes...¡± Lumoof coughed again. ¡°Shall we?¡± ¡°Ah yes.¡± - Lumoof and Ebon landed in a large teleportation platform in their magical capital, and when we arrived, we were greeted by an army, ready for war. There were three relatively high level soldiers, one was a naga, the other two were lizardpersons, with quite good equipment, their spears and axes were up and ready to strike. ¡°Councilman! Explain this unauthorised use of teleportation!¡± ¡°Stand down! We sent a message earlier! We are sending VIPs over!¡± The councilman said. The high leveled naga seemed to be a magic-swordsman, judging from the three magic swords he wielded. The naga immediately shouted through its helmet. ¡°The capital has not agreed to your request! The protocol states any use of teleportation must be centrally approved!¡± ¡°These two here possessed their own teleportation scroll! Surely that protocol does not apply!¡± Lumoof sighed, and then, a wave of his power flooded the entire area. ¡°My name is Lumoof, and this is my guard, Ebon. We are otherworldly visitors, ambassadors of our divine protector, Aeon. We¡¯ve come to speak to your mages and your priests, and discover what has interfered with the usual cycle of hero-summons. I do not wish to fight, but I can, if I have to.¡± The magic swordsman and the rest of the soldiers buckled, just a little, but the difference of power was clear, and when the naga sheathed his swords, the rest did too. ¡°...very well.¡± Lumoof looked at him briefly, estimated he was probably around level 85, and would give Lausanne a run for her money. These were folks that fought many battles over the decades, and have gained levels as a result. Lumoof nodded. ¡°Thank you, now let us see how we may aid this long conflict.¡± The level 85 barrier could be surpassed, by sheer force of will, but most mortals would never get there, even if they reached level 85. The barrier was a cruel one. I didn¡¯t see why the world had such a silly level limiter. It denied the world of their opportunity to save itself, even when these folks clearly, if they leveled enough, had the chance to do so, or at least, force the demons to a state of weakness. Lumoof once offered a counterpoint. ¡°In any system which rewards killing to gain levels, those who gain the levels will be those who killed the most. I would think if such powers were not limited in some way, the world would naturally die from its inhabitants killing each other in the pursuit of more power.¡± That didn¡¯t explain dragons, of course. Or dragons were counterbalanced by their need for huge amounts of rest and sleep that they never actually manage to kill that many people. Lumoof and Ebon were escorted from the teleportation gates, and out to the world. Their magical capital was filled with towers, but they were all shaped for war. There were clearly multiple magical defensive artifacts active, and we could feel their magical energies bouncing off Lumoof¡¯s domain. We looked up and saw at least three layers of magical shields. Each of these shields were quite weak on their own, but with three, they were a reasonably good defense, even if inferior to my wooden shields. Everyone was armed, except the children, and there were weapons hung and placed all over many parts of the streets. There were also many children. Actually, come to think of it, there were really a lot of children back in the border city too. ¡°What¡¯s with all the children?¡± Lumoof asked, and the councilman that accompanied us immediately answered. ¡°Someone¡¯s got to fight the wars, so we have many children.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but feel how insane that was. ¡°The Council of Kings combined their powers to create a continental-edict, which means all our children grow up faster than normal, and everyone also gained more experience. About three to four times faster. It¡¯s one of the few abilities that allowed us to hold on in this long battle.¡± Ah. That made sense. Lumoof nodded in agreement, and commented. ¡°I¡¯m impressed that the nations actually got their act together and responded to this threat coherently.¡± Actually, that was really true. I remembered the nations back in Treehome treating the demon king as the heroes¡¯ problem. But then again, these guys got lucky too, that they got a stationary demon king that pumped out demons, instead of the usual wandering trigger happy nuclear machine gun. I like this aspect of these people already. A sense of ownership for their lives, development of the necessary organisations and focus to defend themselves. It really further solidified my conclusion that I should not assist them excessively, and focus on a narrow scope. Like a child learning to walk, I¡¯d be doing them a disservice if I gave them the easy way out. Their bones would not be strong. If anything, the right thing to do is to help them without them feeling indebted to me, even if I and Lumoof did want allies here. The two forces of encouraging their independence and self-reliance, versus helping them and earning their gratitude battled in my mind. I didn¡¯t want to contribute a data point towards the argument that their problems will be solved by outside help. I¡¯ve seen enough of that in my world and it¡¯s irritating. I knew the knights and priests would generally prefer to provide aid where able. It is how they were trained and raised in the Central Continent. The lizard councilperson frowned. ¡°Well, it took two continents to fall under complete demonic rule and tens of millions dead citizens across thousands of fallen kingdoms for us to get our act together. If anything, this war-alliance was written in blood and bones of the dead.¡± Lumoof nodded. ¡°I see.¡± The group arrived at a massive temple that was clean, and as we looked around, there seemed to be a lot of students, all in robes. ¡°Junior priests. We need healers on the front lines, and we are mass-training.¡± Lumoof was visibly disturbed at how familiar it was. ¡°I must say, I can¡¯t imagine sending such freshly trained junior priests to the front lines.¡± As I saw through him, I saw him imagine the young students of the School of Treeology on the front lines, dying to the demons. ¡°They will level, and grow.¡± ¡°Many won¡¯t survive.¡± ¡°But those that do will carry the torch. Such is war.¡± ¡°It is horrific, indeed.¡± Lumoof said. We¡¯ve seen our own horrible wars. The recent parasite war has been horrifying indeed. Three heavily armed priests appeared. They had large shields on their back, and magically enchanted war-maces. ¡°Councilperson. Is this the guest?¡± The lizard gave them a nod. ¡°Yes. This is Lord Lumoof, Ambassador of Aeon.¡± The war-priests motioned Lumoof to follow them into the temples. ¡°Come. The highpriest will see you.¡± The temple¡¯s inner grounds were clean, and spartan. There were gems and gold once, but most of them had been stripped out. The sound of chants and prayer songs filled the halls, and despite it being to another god, Lumoof found it calming, and could not help but ask. ¡°Which god do you pray to?¡± ¡°Tharaz. The God of Perseverance.¡± Lumoof just nodded and walked behind them, and soon arrived at a room on the highest floor. Once more, it was probably once a heavily decorated room, but now, it¡¯s empty. The shelves were all bare. What¡¯s left were a few paintings and some writings. They got to the point immediately. ¡°Highpriest, these two claims to be from another world, and asks for information on the heroes.¡± The highpriest glared at Lumoof, but then quickly smiled. ¡°That¡¯s a bold claim.¡± Lumoof laughed. ¡°It is, isn¡¯t it.¡± ¡°Can you prove it?¡± ¡°Yes, of course.¡± Lumoof¡¯s aura gently filled the room, and the highpriest paled. ¡°...I see.¡± The highpriest and Lumoof sat down. Ebon sat at another chair to the side. ¡°Before that... are there really other worlds?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How¡¯d you get here? Scripture and the gods said only they could do it.¡± Lumoof frowned at the words, and but realised he could twist it. ¡°It¡¯s not exactly wrong. I would say Aeon, my god and my benefactor, is the one who sent me here.¡± ¡°Huh, but doesn¡¯t that make you a hero?¡± ¡°No. We¡¯re... different. Aeon is a relatively new god. The old gods are those that summon heroes, to yours, and to mine. We don¡¯t get the hero-type powers.¡± ¡°But you feel strong.¡± ¡°It¡¯s complicated, and not something I can share.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°Now, tell me about the heroes.¡± The highpriest sighed. ¡°Very well. Truth is, what we have was quite vague. We have this hero item that can locate the hero, and all we have is a location. We know they are alive because the hero item still works, but the fact that they didn¡¯t move suggests that they were either captured, or unconscious, or some degree of both.¡± ¡°A location? Was anything done to rescue them?¡± ¡°Well, no.¡± The highpriest said with embarrassment. ¡°Then?¡± ¡°Our data is already out of date. The last time we used it was eight years ago. The item ran out of the hero¡¯s mana a while ago, and so we don¡¯t even know whether it¡¯s in the right place, or whether the hero had moved. We didn¡¯t dare to send anyone to that location with our poor information, and the demon king¡¯s magical structures interfered with all our magical scrying and teleportation abilities.¡± Lumoof nodded, and realised this part could be relatively easy to solve. ¡°Can we get access to it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s considered one of our most prized possessions, even if it¡¯s unpowered. It would need the approval of the Council of Kings and Grand Marshals. But why?¡± ¡°Can you get it?¡± The highpriest stared. ¡°What are you really saying?¡± ¡°We may be able to recharge it.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°We have access to the hero¡¯s mana. A small bit, at least.¡± The highpriest¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°You are not lying?¡± ¡°No.¡± The highpriest paused. ¡°But... wait.¡± ¡°You need to gather your strongest men. All those level 80s and above. We will provide assistance, and cover, but the rescue will be done by your forces.¡± Lumoof said. He understood that I preferred that these guys help themselves. ¡°But that would leave some of our cities unprotected.¡± Lumoof looked at Ebon. The highpriest sighed. ¡°I will have to raise this to the council. Once we recharge the item, we can decide on the next course of action...¡± ¡°Good.¡± - We were still working on our star mana bombs, and the fact that the demon king of this was stationary raised some interesting questions. ¡°If it¡¯s stationary, why don¡¯t we throw a wide range of bombs at it?¡± Alka has been working on bombs so much that he pretty much joked that his first course of action was to bomb them. It¡¯s only half a joke. That said, the demon king could just ¡®pretend¡¯ that it was stationary. All the previous demon kings that resembled actual castles could float, fly, and move like giant walkers. The current stationary appearance may well be a ruse, or maybe it was just waiting for the heroes. ¡°If we don¡¯t try, we don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Do we really want to trigger an escalation of conflict? Like, this seems to be a rather uncomfortable, but stable state for the world.¡± I said frankly, again.. ¡°Attacking the demon king may jolt it out of its current stationary state and cause it to attack the kingdoms directly. Then it becomes our conflict, because we caused it. Worse if we can¡¯t rescue the heroes.¡± It¡¯s very easy to stray from our goals. As persons in power, we are frequently petitioned to assist with many things, with very convincing arguments. I relooked at my objectives. I wanted core mana, and my adventure to this Mountainous world was to find core mana. As a secondary goal, we would try to make some friends, and allies, so that we have somewhere to fall back to, like a backup. Yet, at the same time, I also realise they have a good thing going for them, and that was their scrappy temperament, perseverance, their self-reliance, and that sense of ownership. I didn¡¯t want to snuff that out by playing the role of the outworld helper, even if I know this path will probably mean more deaths for their world. Once lost, it is hard to get it back without even more deaths. At the same time, I recognise that I have some self interest in protecting this world, because since they are so close to me, that means if they fall to the demons, we could be invaded by the demons more often. This was just my speculation, because Stella¡¯s view was that it doesn¡¯t work like that. The demons seem to ignore distance when choosing their targets, because their choice of targets seemed random. Each world led to other worlds, and Stella was keen to visit the Threeworlds and Mountainous World for herself again, and see whether there were other worlds within the range of these worlds. Anyway, another secondary goal was to look for creatures and powers like myself, and make allies. There is a lot we can do with power. Using them correctly was a far more difficult question. Against these goals, I also posed the questions to my allies. ¡°As a knight, I would help where I am able. But I do see your point, so perhaps, we can come in as a defender of last resort.¡± Edna said. ¡°We should be invisible, such that they do not count on our help.¡± ¡°Are you willing to take over this conflict for them?¡± Roon disagreed. ¡°I think we may be overstretching ourselves? We haven¡¯t even really secured our world, and here we are trying to send forces to the other world. We¡¯re also waging a war on the parasite-world, and plan to invade a demon world. We should save our forces.¡± ¡°With Stella and Aeon¡¯s ability to teleport us back and forth, we¡¯re not really overstretching.¡± Edna argued. ¡°And stretching isn¡¯t really fair, because, well, we gain levels from all of this.¡± ¡°The question is simple, to me. If there¡¯s a demon on our world, and a demon on theirs, at the same time, where do we fight? The answer is clearly here, because this is our home. That¡¯s not our home, and it¡¯s not our battle.¡± Roon countered. ¡°If we accept responsibility for one, are we eventually accepting it for all?¡± ¡°I agree that home is where we should protect.¡± Edna nodded. ¡°But that does make our world¡¯s lives more valuable than theirs, isn¡¯t it? We have capacity. Many of our level 100s are just clearing dungeons.¡± ¡°It is a fact that our world is more valuable. They are unfortunate that they do not have an Aeon. So, it is even more important that their own people rise to the occasion.¡± Roon countered. ¡°We¡¯ve seen that a child born in the Central Continent grows up stronger than most in the other continents, and this sort of luck is true across worlds too.¡± ¡°They are level-limited. They can¡¯t, even if they want to.¡± Edna responded. ¡°But Aeon could...¡± ¡°It is a limited resource, but not that limited. I would be willing to give a few, if they are worthy.¡± I responded, I still have a few in stockpile. It isn¡¯t even an instant win, because I¡¯ve seen my guys who gotten the soul seed but never actually did much. I also like that this was in line with helping them help themselves, and did not involve putting the time of my people on the line. ¡°But I¡¯ll need Lumoof to get to know them better before giving them such an item. The last thing I¡¯d want is to empower someone who¡¯d go against me.¡± Edna smiled. ¡°Even if you give ten of them seeds, they¡¯re a long way from being able to stand against you, Aeon. It took us decades of constant grinding to get both Roon and Johann to the domain-tier. I think that¡¯s not something to be worried about. Not in the next half-century.¡± That was true. Even if they did turn against me, so what? They couldn¡¯t travel worlds. Our home base was safe. So I could help, with very little losses, all the upside with very few downsides. If it goes well, we get some friendly parties. If it doesn¡¯t, no major harm done. Year 205 It took a while, and a lot of discussions over at the so called council of Kings, and a few actual meetings with Lumoof, before they even allowed Lumoof to see the item for itself. Stella couldn¡¯t teleport the heroes, because their star-mana opposed the void mana too strongly. Not like me, where the star mana I possessed was relatively tiny, but it didn¡¯t matter. The object itself was a large circular metal disk with many rings. It looked like an ancient feng shui compass, only with a glass, clear center. It was created six centuries ago by an archmage hero, and over time, it¡¯s mana has been exhausted. It was clearly made only to accept star mana, not like the hero items that were made to accept normal mana. Lumoof was flanked by 10 of their strongest fighters. Some mages, some archers, and some knights. It was just security theater, really. There was nothing they could do if we tried anything. Lumoof touched the disk, and my avatar descended. All that was present felt my oppressive presence fill the room, and the entire building. I channeled my meager 300 star mana into the disk, and the disk clearly started to glow. It was thirsty. It was a really greedy disk. ¡°Hmmm...¡± Lumoof mused. ¡°It still needs more.¡± So, I had to borrow. Prabu gladly volunteered. I wrapped my vines around his body, and he sent his star mana into my body. I weaved it through myself, and through the avatar into the disk. The disk glowed, and this time, it was enough. Lumoof felt uncomfortable, though. The clear glass turned murky and swirled like a witch¡¯s cauldron, and then, it revealed a location and a vision to all that was present. The heroes were possessed, one resembled a giant demon knight, and another was inside a demonic cage. Their location was not far from the demon king too. ¡°Well. There you have it. The heroes.¡± Lumoof answered, as my presence faded away. ¡°Are you ready to free them?¡± Spaizze The Guiding Branch Year 205 Lumoof sat in their magical archives, there were just a few mages here. These archives used to have hundreds of mages, all pouring over where to push their magic. These days, every single mage was working in the workshops, making weapons, or fighting in the battlefields. ¡°Not here.¡± Lumoof sighed. Our quest for Core Mana in this new world was fruitless. Not here, not Threeworlds. It seemed that we would need Stella here, if we want to find somewhere else with core mana. ¡°Is this core so important?¡± One of the local dwarven mages asked. She had been tasked to attend to Lumoof¡¯s queries. Lumoof nodded. They had relatively good maps, at least, from a decade or two ago, before the demons invaded. I felt like I was missing something. Why was there a stationary demon king? It¡¯s not the first time the demon king had been stationary, but... why? - Some time later, Lumoof and Ebon met the group gathered for the mission of rescuing the heroes. This was the meeting They were all level 80s, the highest among them Level 87, a dwarven magical maceman of some kind. He was the stereotypical dwarf, with a grumpy attitude. Because of how extensive and long the war was, there were about fifty of them around level 80s, but only about twenty would join the mission. The initial concept was a small, dedicated strike team. ¡°Are you the upstart who called us here?¡± The dwarf said. Ebon hid his aura well, and shook his head. ¡°That would be my superior, Lord Lumoof. This idea of rescuing the heroes was our benefactor¡¯s suggestion.¡± Lumoof smiled at the dwarf, and the dwarf walked closer to Ebon, and sniffed. He returned the smile afterwards. ¡°Well, at least we¡¯re dealing with guys who can put their lives on the line.¡± Ebon shrugged, as they activated the fully-recharged hero-item. A group of mages explained the location of the possessed heroes. ¡°We¡¯ll do the rescue?¡± The group asked. ¡°Against possessed heroes?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The local archmages said. ¡°Our current situation has been a stalemate for too long.¡± ¡°But then our defenses? Who will handle it then?¡± ¡°The rest of us will have to just hold out.¡± One of the lizardpersons looked at Ebon and Lumoof. ¡°What if this is just a trap to weaken us. If all of us die, we just lost twenty of our strongest fighters. These guys are from another world, and maybe they are here to invade us.¡± The dwarf nodded. ¡°Exactly. Since they are suggesting it, shouldn¡¯t they help us out? Not just that, how are we expected to deal with the possessed heroes? We can¡¯t just kill them, right? We need the heroes alive. Somehow.¡± ¡°We certainly have no intention of anyone dying on this mission. We will go with you, though our role will be minimal, or only where your team does not have the capability. Are there any strong priests who are good with high-level exorcisms?¡± Lumoof answered. There was a collective head-shake. ¡°Our strongest priests are heavy healers and buffers. Exorcism isn¡¯t something we have to deal with.¡± ¡°In that case, if there are no further objections, I would like to handle the exorcism of the heroes. I would need the help of everyone present to just keep the rest of the demons at bay, and weaken the possessed heroes.¡± ¡°So we¡¯re bodyguards.¡± One of them answered. ¡°Perhaps.¡± Lumoof smiled. ¡°Ebon will stay back and support the defense, if there are any particularly strong attacks during this period.¡± ¡°One person is not sufficient.¡± ¡°Across all the theaters of battle, certainly. But if there are any huge threats, he is more than sufficient.¡± *** The plan was relatively simple. Small group teleports as close as possible, then rushes for the possessed heroes. The hero-item confirmed that the heroes were still in the same location, and twenty-two level 80s and an assortment of level 50s from their various armies joined the force, mainly as support. Level 80s put them in the same category as Lausanne, so twenty-two of them were a very decent fighting force. This group could take down demon champions easily, even without the hero items. Some of them had anti-demon abilities too, thanks to the decade-long endless conflict. The system favored conflict, and awarded those who struggled really long against it. Lumoof had to just tag along, and followed the group as they pushed through the demon territory. Not all of it were occupied, after all, these type of army-demons favored ley lines as their bases, where there were no ley lines, these places were sparsely guarded, even if there were regular demonic patrols. The only reason the locals haven¡¯t taken these territories back, was because of how vulnerable their location was to the demons from the nearby demon bases. ¡°You said you were from another world.¡± The group asked, as they made their way to their first rest spot. ¡°How?¡± ¡°My patron has a way of opening portals to another world. This world is just in the same neighborhood.¡± ¡°How is it there?¡± ¡°From what I can see, we¡¯re very similar. We also have regular demonic attacks, but we¡¯ve not had a situation like this.¡± Lumoof answered. ¡°I always thought heroes could never be possessed by demons.¡± One of the mages on the trip said as they discussed the idea of a possessed demons. ¡°Guess what the temples tell us isn¡¯t always true.¡± Lumoof laughed. ¡°Honestly, they don¡¯t know any better. The gods don¡¯t exactly communicate much.¡± ¡°But yours does.¡± ¡°Well... that¡¯s because my patron is a rising native god. Aeon lives on our world, and Aeon gets stronger over time. Have you spoken to your gods?¡± All of them shook their heads, and I was secretly impressed by Lumoof¡¯s clever sowing of doubt. ¡°How powerful is Aeon?¡± Lumoof grinned at the question. ¡°I¡¯m sure anyone here knows that power isn¡¯t so simple to explain, especially with the way classes work at high levels. In Aeon¡¯s field of mastery, I would say Aeon is unparalleled, just like how I¡¯m almost very good at what I do in my field. My companions are similarly powerful in their chosen field. Power isn¡¯t a linear scale.¡± They nodded in agreement. One of the knights present couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡°Sir Lumoof, may I ask... what level are you?¡± Lumoof smiled, as they took the bait. ¡°More than level 100.¡± There was a collective gasp. ¡°How? We all stagnate at level 80s.¡± The dwarf rolled his eyes. ¡°You don¡¯t really need us to protect you.¡± Lumoof didn¡¯t respond to the dwarf, and instead looked at the rest. ¡°The system limits most of us to level 80s, and only a rare few can break through with incredible force of will. But my patron, Aeon, is a Spirit Tree, a master of souls and spirit.¡± We had their attention. ¡°And he has a special fruit, that could break through the limitations of our soul, so that we can ascend even higher.¡± There was a collective silence as they digested the statement. The dwarf asked. ¡°Ebon. That knight of yours. He¡¯s level 100s too?¡± Lumoof nodded. We would rest in this quiet mountain for an hour. ¡°Do you still need the heroes?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Lumoof answered without a doubt. ¡°Even with our levels, the gap between us and the heroes is incredible. Even my patron, Aeon, cannot stand against the demon king alone. We still need the heroes.¡± For now. The group present digested Lumoof¡¯s words, but eventually one of them approached Lumoof during the break. ¡°How do we get that fruit?¡± Lumoof shrugged. ¡°It is Aeon¡¯s to give, not my decision.¡± ¡°Can we have an audience, somehow?¡± Greed. Lumoof sensed it. A lust for power. Lumoof smiled, and shrugged. ¡°Perhaps.¡± That started a torrent of inquiries, as the others all asked for it. They all believed they could go further. Lumoof just nodded, shrugged and repeated that it was not his to give. But Lumoof¡¯s abilities as a priest allowed him to measure the weight of each of their personalities, and he concluded that only three persons may be worthy. The dwarf, one of the knights, and one of the rangers. Rest time was over, and the group continued. We met more demons, but the group was strong enough that they crushed them easily. Only champions would really delay them, especially a small group like this. In a large-scale war, it is very easy to attack, especially with a small, highly powerful mobile force, but very hard to defend when the attacks could come from anywhere. It was this observation that led to the plan to attack the demon worlds preemptively. Offense is focused. Defense is spread out. The sheer speed which the group cut through the demon¡¯s territory and towards the possessed heroes was evidence. The group arrived at the possessed heroes¡¯ supposed location within two days. There were just one demon champion there, and a horde of the regular mobs. Easy pickings for the group. Of the two heroes, only one was able to fight, and even so, it couldn¡¯t use the hero¡¯s powers. Only a limited range of abilities, derived from demonic mana from the possessing demon. The giant demon knight fought the group, but the group of twenty-two level 80s outnumbered them. Lumoof stayed back and watched. He did use a blessing or two to help those in trouble, but this was their fight. The champion was slain, the demon knight-hero was quickly defeated. One of the mages blasted the ground and we soon found the cage. It was a massive demon, and the hero was wrapped in tentacles and demonic organs. ¡°Alright. This is where we step in.¡± Lumoof nodded, and he moved towards the cage. The living demonic cage wriggled, as it attempted to defend itself. Lumoof merely placed both of his palms on the demonic cage itself, and then, my Avatar descended. My presence instantly caused the demons around us to freeze, and their movements slowed to almost a halt. The wriggling cage whimpered, and my mana pumped through the Lumoof¡¯s body. The demon knight also wriggled and struggled, but with my demonic suppression aura, the mages quickly disabled it in a cage of magic. It wasn¡¯t hard to flood the demonic cage with my mana, this was easier than the demon king by a mile. My mana pumped through cage, and within ten minutes, I felt the demonic cage itself transform. The cage wriggled, and shrunk into a small wooden chest. [Natural Mana Overwhelming has assimilated the demonic hero-cage mimic. Demonic Hero-Cage Mimic transformed into a Tree-Cage-Mimic]. The hero trapped within collapsed, pale, unconscious but alive. A shot of healing later, color returned to his face, but he still needed to rest. ¡°Take care of him, let me deal with the other one.¡± The wooden chest jumped onto Lumoof¡¯s back. The group of fighters present stared. ¡°That-¡± ¡°Oh ignore it. It¡¯s part of my patron¡¯s powers.¡± Lumoof walked to the weakened demon knight, the effects of my aura essentially meant it was quite weak. I wondered whether I could¡¯ve saved Alexis back then, if I had the strength I had now. I probably could. Funny how things repeat themselves. I suppose when one lived for so long, we can¡¯t help but notice the way things repeat, just in different iterations and forms. Lumoof touched the demon knight at the head. It struggled, but disabled by the power of my aura and the spells of the mages. Again, we flooded it with my mana, and the giant demon knight shook violently. This one refused to be assimilated, and rather than let my mana overwhelm it, it attempted to kill the hero within. But my mana had already flooded every bit of its body, and I quickly protected the hero. The demon knight exploded to reveal an unconscious young human girl within. We also healed her, and it was time to get out. Getting out was easy. A small group was incredibly mobile. *** The demons did not launch any large-scale attack during the time, which was rather strange. Ebon didn¡¯t even have to fight during the three days. The heroes regained consciousness on the 2nd day, but remained groggy and were rather zoned out. They were already fully healed physically, but their star mana took some time to restore itself, and their souls were weakened from the prolonged possession. Everyone gave them space to recover. They were teenagers, thrust into the role of a hero by gods that treated them like disposable tools. Once we reached the city, the two heroes were in better shape, and began to talk about their fight. They were essentially underlevelled. Their entire party were only in their level 80s because they didn¡¯t farm enough demon champions. This demon king didn¡¯t produce that many champions in the first place, preferring massive armies. But these individually-weak massive armies didn¡¯t help them level. So when they got to the demon king, the demon king easily overwhelmed them and consumed them. It killed the rest, and captured the two of them. From what the heroes shared, I realised that the demon king may have a certain range of demon-creation abilities, as they could create these demonic cages and the possession demon. That meant the demon king was essentially the tactical mind behind the entire demonic invasion, even if some of it was delegated to the stronger demons. With the heroes returned, there was a sense of excitement in the councils. The heroes were still compelled by their hero class to defeat the demons, and they seemed eager to return to the field within two weeks of their freedom. ¡°They really are children.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°I felt it only a bit with Prabu and the rest, but these two really felt like children to me.¡± ¡°Teenagers.¡± ¡°Still children.¡± Lumoof sighed. ¡°Such great responsibilities in the hands of the young, and there¡¯s not a trace of guilt among the kings for letting them do it.¡± Defeating the demons didn¡¯t gain levels, sadly. *** Thanks to the success of the rescue mission, the council of King had increased trust in Lumoof and Ebon, and we were given access to many parts of the civilised worlds. The heroes, of course, realised their mistake and went about farming demon champions. With the heroes returning to the battle with their heroic powers, they made noticeable gains against the demons within months. We were given a small escort, and we visited many of their cities and temples, and more importantly, places where we suspected may have things of value. We found one soon enough, practically hiding in plain sight. In the center of one of the largest cities, there was a massive park with an ancient tree. Thanks to the war, there wasn¡¯t much maintaining it. The rest of the park was an overgrown mess, but we sensed it the moment we were in the city. We headed there immediately. Lumoof looked at the overgrown park, and we gradually made our way in. We didn¡¯t cut any of the trees or vines, but we felt the pulsing presence of something smaller. A tree spirit, like myself. Smaller, and not yet a domain holder, because Lumoof instantly detected it wasn¡¯t very high level. Only about level 80, despite it¡¯s extremely old age. ¡°Greetings.¡± Lumoof said. There was no response, and Lumoof got closer, and placed his hand on the tree¡¯s trunk. In an instant, I felt a mental connection. < Greetings. > I said through Lumoof. I was instantly flooded with images. > Greetings. < It sounded old, like a very tired old grandmother. < I am Aeon, a tree spirit from another world, and Lumoof is my avatar. > > Well met, Aeon and Lumoof. I am Tgtherian, a tree spirit. < < Yes. It is always pleasant to meet another of my kind. > I said. Generally tree spirits have been... nice. > Ah. Our kind are few. Many trees are cut down before our consciousness can fully form. < I reckon it took centuries for that to happen. A soul only takes root in a tree after a certain size and age. Tgtherian, didn¡¯t know much. It was about 1,800 years old, but it spent most of that time in this park, from a small sapling, and she gained consciousness and awareness about 1,500 years ago. She leveled slowly, even though she offered familiars to druids, shamans and rangers. She didn¡¯t have the hero fragments supercharging her experience. Because she was relatively ¡®young¡¯, she didn¡¯t remember about the Will of the World, or any other such things. A shame, but I suppose I can¡¯t expect every spirit I meet to be as powerful as me. Many would be below level 100. Now that I met another tree spirit, I wasn¡¯t sure what I was about to do with it. I decided to just leave her alone for now. *** Stella continued to experiment with the rift gates with Alka. Alka already made his first prototype star-mana bomb, and he came with a rather interesting idea. ¡°Aeon, do you think you can fuse a soul with the bomb?¡± ¡°You want to make a sentient bomb?¡± ¡°Yes. Our theory was that souls can reduce the decay from storing star mana or void mana. But I¡¯m also interested in whether it could function as a regulator of the star mana, if the storage function was handled by the hero-item.¡± Prabu made it with the [hero forge], but Alka wanted to see whether there¡¯s potential for hero-made items and souls to coexist together. Hero-made items didn¡¯t leak star mana that much, due to some unknown mechanism, so Alka wanted to inject a soul within it to examine how that worked. It didn¡¯t work. The hero-item rejected my attempts of inserting an artificial mind into it. ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Darn.¡± It would be quite overpowered if it could. *** On the parasite demonworld, we started deployment of my newly developed treechikomas, version one. That was the name I gave for the walking tree-labs that¡¯s a hybrid between a demon walker, a beetle and a lab, invented, or really, modified from a demon walker ¡®base¡¯. Courtesy of my Tree of Life¡¯s evolutionary powers. Treechis, for short. The Treechis, each of them with their own artificial minds, were assigned to scan and examine the demonworld in more detail, with more ¡®active¡¯ and ¡®live¡¯ testing with their ability to directly perform tests. The Treechis each had a different type of lab on their back, were each about the size of a small car, and they worked in teams of five. They would test the soil, test the mana, and perform examinations in contested territories. For now, they didn¡¯t produce any spectacularly groundbreaking findings, but all the little bits of new data helped push my knowledge of the demon world, and supported our researchers out in the fields. Along with the Treechis, we also began experimenting with specialisation of the Treefolks and Lizardpersons of the Central continent, through thematic use of my new evolutionary-inherited skill powers. Our goal was to create natural-born, ¡®skill-engineered¡¯ specialists, even if it did feel like I was robbing these guys of ¡®choice¡¯. Like, what if a Treefolk who was born with a natural skillset for healing and defense wanted to be a fighter? Or a lizardperson who inherited a bunch of spear skills wanted to be an archer? Then again, that¡¯s how it was in our world too. Not everyone had the physique to excel at certain kinds of activity. Oh well. For now, the treefolks seemed alright with the inserted skill-experimentation. I started with simple skills harvested from some fallen paladins and knights, such as [Demonic Resistance], and skills from some of the rangers, such as [Strength]. I wanted to see the implications of having inherited skills in young babies, and how they manifested. I didn¡¯t want super powered little babies killing their caretakers. Spaizzer AYY Gonna shout out a buddy''s book! If youve got KU or some spare audible credits, feel free to read! MORCSTER CHEF by @Actus is back with Book 2: ''Into the Fire''. Join Arek on another adventure against unexpected enemies and burnt crust. Book 2 on Amazon: https://mybook.to/morcsterchef2 If you haven''t tried this LitRPG series with a fun cooking twist yet, Book 1 is completely Free this week to celebrate. And you can add-on the audiobook for only $7.47. Book 1 Free on Amazon: https://mybook.to/morcsterchef1 Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Cleavers-Edge-Audiobook/B09M7JG4ST Untangling Roots Year 206 Lumoof announced their plan to return to the others, and strangely, they asked to watch his return. We consented, since, well, there¡¯s no real risk. It¡¯s not as if they could replicate it anyway. Or maybe they could if they had some kind of hero artifact with spell-copying abilities, but I highly doubt it. In any case, trying to get Stella to open a portal where we want her to is actually quite hard. One of the methods we found to help Stella ¡®find¡¯ where to place the portal, was to connect her to me, and via [dream academy], share Lumoof¡¯s location to her. It enabled highly accurate portals, across worlds, but only around individuals I could sense, like Lumoof and the Valthorns. It¡¯s also slow, because the process of sharing the location took a while. She described that each world was centered around the planet¡¯s core. Not the star or the sun, but the planetary core. So, a portal¡¯s position was calculated relative to the core, and the core itself has a bubble that protects it from portals or any spells. Anyway, the portal of void opened in the chambers. Everyone gasped as they saw a portal materialise out of nowhere. The heroes were busy hunting demons, and they didn¡¯t come. From what we understood, they were about level 100 now, it took a while for them to regain their pace. They¡¯ve been asleep and weak for so long, that even though they wanted to fight the demons as a result of their compulsion, their body struggled. ¡°Will you be back?¡± One of the dwarven strategists asked. ¡°With the heroes back in action... maybe not. Unless the heroes need our help to take on the demon king.¡± ¡°They did say they would appreciate the help...¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll see what I can do. But for now, duties back home require my urgent attention.¡± Lumoof gave everyone watching a wave, and they stepped through it. *** ¡°Lady Lausanne, free to talk?¡± Prabu and Ken approached her one day after her class at the Valtrian Academy. Lausanne¡¯s role in the Valthorns had declined significantly, and she had quite fully transitioned to the role of an administrator and trainer, a bit like what Jura did for her. ¡°Ah. Yes.¡± They met at one of the many cafes along the streets of Freshka. ¡°Is this confidential?¡± ¡°Quite.¡± Lausanne nodded, and took out one of the standard privacy artifacts given to all Valthorns. It created a small bubble of magic around them that blocked sound. But it didn¡¯t block me. Because a little bit of my roots were inside the bubble. ¡°We¡¯re thinking of pitching an idea to Aeon and Stella, and we want your thoughts on what do you think Aeon will think?¡± Lausanne laughed. Lausanne, Laufen and Yvon are all sought after, even as their roles have changed. They were the go-to-persons for the pre-pitch assessment. Essentially, the equivalent of having someone who had a lot of experience looking through their resume. ¡°Yes. That¡¯s what I do in my spare time these days. So. Hit me with it.¡± Ken coughed. ¡°We¡¯re thinking that Aeon should start the equivalent of the multiverse League of Heroes.¡± Lausanne stared, and then coughed. ¡°Sorry I don¡¯t understand.¡± Ken paused as he realised Lausanne may not comprehend references. ¡°So. Each habited, civilised world has their own heroes, and frequently, we are all stuck trying to fight each demon king by ourselves.¡± Lausanne caught on immediately. ¡°But Aeon can consolidate all the power, so that you can hit the demons with the power of heroes from multiple worlds.¡± Ken smacked the table. ¡°Exactly! That¡¯s what we want to pitch. This combined force can also function as a reclamation force, to retake worlds lost to the demons.¡± Prabu added. ¡°Each demon king¡¯s powerset is tailored differently, and the heroes¡¯, each of us have a different power meant to counter our generation¡¯s demon king. So our response to different types of demon kings are essentially less effective because our matchup sucks. But, if we get other heroes who are meant for different types of demon king, we could cover up for our shortfall.¡± ¡°Yes. Stella currently needs void mana for her portals, which meant us heroes can¡¯t use her methods. But Aeon¡¯s clone-body teleportation doesn¡¯t need void mana, which meant heroes could move through it. Aeon can essentially be the tree that links all the heroes together.¡± Lausanne nodded. ¡°I think Aeon would be keen to listen, but it does require friendly heroes. Heroes that can play by Aeon¡¯s rules. There are risks to it, I¡¯m sure you are aware that Aeon¡¯s naturally cautious with you guys, due to the powers you all have.¡± Prabu nodded. ¡°Aeon¡¯s actions are also often misunderstood, as his perspective is very broadly zoomed out. Aeon is probably not keen to play coordinator for heroes, so one of you must be willing to step up for that.¡± Prabu nodded and looked at Ken. ¡°Actually I have just the candidate. The guy who¡¯s superpower is his knowledge of tropes.¡± ¡°Fuck that.¡± Ken looked back at Prabu. ¡°Lausanne has a point, it¡¯s your idea. You have to manage it. You can¡¯t just propose ideas and expect others to run it for you.¡± Prabu responded. ¡°What if these other heroes try to kill me?¡± Ken said. ¡°I¡¯m powerless!¡± ¡°That could be your advantage, really. It¡¯s because you¡¯re now outside this whole setup that you could be the manager!¡± Lausanne answered and Prabu nodded along. ¡°I do think it is a worthwhile setup, and could serve to bring all these worlds closer.¡± ¡°...I¡¯ll need to think about it.¡± Ken wasn¡¯t keen on it. But I quite liked the idea of a combined hero-force, but that essentially meant I had to invest my tree of clones in both Threeworlds and this Mountainous World. I liked that I had one tree on the moon, another on the demon world, and another one on the remnant cometworld drifting through the vast void sea. They felt strange and unique enough to deserve one of my clones. *** Back home, the pathway to the next demon world was getting quite clear in our sky, and Stella was a little... excited. I wasn¡¯t sure whether Alka¡¯s research craze was spreading, or she was really thrilled by the prospects of visiting another world with the rift gate, instead of her own powers. The rift gates were tweaked to enable almost anyone to use it. At least, in theory, I should be able to dump an entire army of Valthorns on the demon worlds without the need to deploy my clone. The army was tense, and we gathered what was nothing less than an invasion force, really. What the demons did to us, we would go full reverse uno and invade them first. Our first victory condition was simple. Capture or destroy the rift gates, so that we can stop their ability to send mobs across the stars. It was the military equivalent of destroying their landing ships and aircrafts. Our second victory condition, which was not so critical, was attempt to defeat the demon king on their homeworld. This would require deployment of my clone, since only through the clone, I could send the heroes. But we had a debate whether to deploy my clone or not. My clone would significantly add combat strength to the demon world, but I wasn¡¯t sure whether I could sustain battle on two demon worlds simultaneously. Not yet, not until the mana from the parasite world recovered. My team commented that if I was not there, then it makes this battle far more risky. They did not have an exit plan. It¡¯s only this portal, and what if the demons interrupt it? For those with my Court of the Deitree familiars, I could even summon them directly. But that was a very small contingent. A point which I agreed with. I wasn¡¯t sure whether I wanted to invest my clone on this other world. I was torn between deploying it on the two worlds, or invading this world directly. Honestly, we also didn¡¯t know for sure whether that ¡®deep hole to the core¡¯ and the ¡®tower of void mana¡¯ was something common across all the demon worlds. As it is, Alka planned on the assumption that these towers were universal, that the mechanism of creating demon kings and the process of sending them across the stars were largely identical. Even if it didn¡¯t work out, there were ways to abuse a star mana bomb, and the technological knowledge from developing such weapons were useful. Anyway, in the end, we decided that my clone would be deployed at the last minute, once we confirmed that it¡¯s possible to assault the demon king. We would choose a better location this time. Ideally next to the tower of void and next to the deep hole. If all goes well, then the heroes would join us for the battle against the demon king. If not, they would stay back on our world and watch the chaos unfurled. All this knowledge was gradually uploaded to my tree of knowledge, the Registree. It¡¯s been growing since I got it almost sixty years ago. The hope was that through knowledge accumulation, even if we lose Alka, we didn¡¯t have to start from scratch. That¡¯s the hope. The good thing was, the Registree isn¡¯t a limited tree. Just a special type that I could make more of, so I made some extra copies on the moon. I couldn¡¯t place it in the Cometworld shard because there¡¯s no space. In any case, deployment of my clone was optional. The team, naturally, had so many questions about an assault, and they raised good questions. ¡°How do we find the rift gates?¡± We couldn¡¯t just blindly attack. They could be located all over the world of the demons, and there¡¯s no way we could hit all of them without proper intelligence. Especially since we¡¯re holding off my clone deployment until much later. That meant my own vision was out of the picture. ¡°What if it¡¯s not hospitable on the other side and we die immediately when we reach?¡± That¡¯s also a possibility, but should not be difficult to solve. My familiars could create a small bubble of atmosphere with some mana-drain, essentially living astronaut suits. On the rift gates, Stella thus started work on some kind of item that detects other rift gates, by tapping into their void mana signature. Essentially, she made a compass that leads to the nearest strongest source of void mana. That was the best we could do at the moment. I would like to have a global view of the demon world, but that would be impossible without some kind of satellite constellation to map the demon world. It¡¯s not like the habited worlds where there are existing maps to use. The skepticism and worry among the general forces were quite high, especially since I wasn¡¯t taking the field myself with my trees. But with all four of my domain holders taking the field, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem. At least Roon and Johann should be able to provide significant intelligence data before a full fledged assault. *** Horns and Hytreerion fought many battles on the demonworld. The boundaries of places controlled by my trees and those controlled by the demons fluctuate a lot, as beetles and demons met on the battlefield. I controlled an area on the demonworld that was slightly larger than the size of the Central Continent, and it was at the edges, where my ¡®influence¡¯ was weak that we saw all these changing borders. Horns actually got destroyed a few times, but he was able to eject his artificial soul before destruction, and then redeployed him in new bodies. It¡¯s a modification we made to his physical form, as he was really quite fragile when faced with demon champions that popped out with sufficient regularity. My new treechikomas were busy too, gathering more samples throughout the land. It was a large place, even if most of it was empty, and it would take years to completely build a database of the magical energies and data of the land. I could, in theory, deploy my lab-trees everywhere, but because such lab trees actually consume mana, I would just make the mana-problem on the parasite world worse, and that would increase how long it took to regenerate my beetles. I could wait decades for the mana of this world to recover, but I also didn¡¯t want to wait that long. In theory, if I could gain the mana of the Threeworlds and the Mountainworld, it¡¯s possible for it to spend more of that mana here. Looking at it that way, it sure seems like my moonbase and my Cometworld deployment had a ¡®mana-opportunity-cost¡¯. I lose the mana that could be generated by having a clone on these normal worlds, in exchange for the novelty and exploratory aspects of the Cometworld, where I could travel to other worlds and see those other places, and for the security of the Moonbase. Our treechikomas did find some good hints though. There were certain rocks with metallic ores that seemed to retain a kind of mana layer, but that didn¡¯t help us much in terms of identification of dates. Our digs into the underground also didn¡¯t reveal much. I also started to wonder about the system again. There was a missing piece in the game. Something obvious that I wasn¡¯t seeing or realising. So, I took some time to do a bit more thinking and tried to understand what was the demon¡¯s win condition. Let¡¯s say the demon king won, the demon king defeated the heroes, and the heroes no longer came to the world. Was that it, and they won? The world would automagically turn into a demon world? Essentially, that question could be explained as, what made a demon world... a demon world? Why did a normal world, perfectly able to spawn regular stuff before this, stopped creating the normal monsters and stuff, and started spawning demons? The only one who saw a world lose was Snek. Lilies didn¡¯t actually go through the full ¡®loss¡¯. ¡°I don¡¯t really know?¡± Snek answered. ¡°We lost our world to the demons, but we were so afraid that we spent our times running and hiding.¡± ¡°Wait wait wait. Do you know what happened to the demon king?¡± ¡°Not really. It was... there?¡± Snek answered. ¡°But honestly we were just trying to survive in the underground tunnels that no one checked.¡± ¡°But do you have any idea whether the demon king left?¡± ¡°...maybe? We¡¯re not sure, but I think it probably didn¡¯t, because the world started to produce demons, and probably other demon kings too. But we were too far from such places to actually know.¡± ¡°Wait.¡± I had an epiphany then. If the demon king sent to invade other worlds were products of existing demon kings, then didn¡¯t that mean there should, in theory, be at least one demon king still on the parasite world somewhere, playing the role of the ¡®Queen¡¯ or a ¡®Hatchery¡¯? Maybe the demon king is just a massive [forest rod] that captured the Core? This absolutely clicked. No. It explained how such a massive tunnel to the core was created. The demon king that won dug towards the core, and captured the core. Through that process, the world¡¯s natural spawning mechanism was ¡®converted¡¯ to produce demons. Each demon king was a massive colonization mothership too. But... how? That also meant that somewhere in the core of the parasite world, was a demon king. Perhaps no longer a ¡®demon king¡¯ because it has been deployed to control the core of the world. If this was the case, I needed to send the heroes to the parasite world, and attack the core. Free the core from the control of the demons, and that would greatly change the balance of power of our world. Maybe this would also significantly improve the natural mana recovery, and also get access to the core¡¯s mana. Of course, I then submitted this theory to my domain holders and the other senior leaders. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that just mean that demons that won essentially start digging downwards?¡± Lumoof speculated. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t happen, isn¡¯t it?¡± Edna, who was also present. ¡°Are you suggesting an attack on the parasite world? Aeon, with all due respect, we have no ability to attack two worlds at the same time.¡± ¡°I am aware.¡± Actually, this cycled back to the Mountainworld again. The demon king was not moving. Was it digging all this time? ¡°So we have three ways of checking. One, we send the heroes to the parasite demonworld, and attack the hole to the core. Two, we go back to the Mountainworld and figure out what the demon king is doing underground. If your theory is right, it should be attempting to reach the core.¡± Edna repeated. ¡°Three, we also have the riftgate to this new world. If we do fight the demon king on this new world, and our initial conjectures are proven correct, the heroes and us could mount an assault on the core of this new demonworld and see whether there¡¯s one there.¡± Three priorities, and I had to decide which one to pursue. I was keen on the riftgates, so that was a clear yes. But this would mean all my domain holders would be deployed there, in order to achieve my intended objective of denying the next attack. My seed would also be there for a while, at least, until the battle¡¯s over and everyone is safe back home. Ken¡¯s League of heroes would have to wait until this is over. Spaizzer Avitue has a new fic! READ IT Through boons and woes, anger and joy, By feats of wit, tactics and ploys, No lord to serve, forever free, The life of a mercenary. Free Lances: An Army Progression Dark Fantasy https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/52713/free-lances-army-progression-dark-fantasy The Uncertaintree Principle Year 206 - Lumoof and Edna was the first to go through. With their abilities, they had little to fear whatever that may be on the other side. The riftgate hummed in a strange sound, Stella and her team of void mages were excited to fire up the riftgate. Our hope was that we would eventually be able to manufacture these riftgates, but for now, I was content with salvaging and pillaging the demons for their riftgates. I found it silly that the civilised world was the backward one, that we had to resort to pillaging the demons for their interplanar technology. The Valthorns wargamed this entire operation about fifteen times, tapping into Patreeck¡¯s mind reading ability and my [Dream Academy] as preparations for this special military operation into the demonic lands. According to the void mages, the riftgate should theoretically be able to send through about 1,000 guys before it runs out of void mana, at which point Stella and all would have to recharge them. Stella cannot reach the demon world using her normal void portals, so the rift gate was crucial to ensure that a portal can be opened. Based on what we¡¯ve seen, these demonic portals travel both ways. It was time, and see whether our plans could survive first contact. *** I felt a buzz as we travelled through the riftgates. It was similar to that time when I snuck through using my own roots, but this time, it was Lumoof who went first. The sky was bright, like an extremely sunny day, and the first thing we felt was the incredibly strong sunlight that burned. Literally. It wasn¡¯t fire, or at least, fire immunity didn¡¯t seem to protect against these harsh rays. Lumoof instantly activated a wooden shield to serve as an umbrella, and even then, the naturally fire-resistant shield still got warm. Items that were not protected quickly caught fire. It wasn¡¯t just sunlight too. It was some kind of magical UV that seemed to heat everything up. For Lumoof, it was still tolerable thanks to his wide range of resistances, and Edna, she was protected by a magical shield. This was not a good development, since it meant the lower leveled, those in the level 80s and 90s would have to sit out from the invasion. The mana cost of sustaining a perpetual sunshield would mean their ability to fight would be severely impaired. Even my beetles, unmodified, would find themselves weakened by the incredibly strong sunlight. There was a bright, glowing white sun that burned overhead, and the place, at first, was just a vast desert canyon, sand, dirt and rocks of all shapes and sizes. ¡°Hold.¡± I told the guys back home, and shared our first findings. Our plans designed around a habitable environment had to be immediately scrapped. We had some plans designed around inhospitable environments, but that meant the strike force was now a much, much smaller one, composed of my level 120+ elites. Alka was keen to go through, but instead, I sent one of my Treechikomas over. I hoped to use it to conduct some experiments- It burned to death. So back to the drawing board. I had to design something with natural shieldings, and so, sent my minds out to scour our archives and Registree for such items and technologies. We should have some kind of natural shields, or design large walkers for it. Alternatively, we could immediately start tunnelling in the sand to avoid the rays, and try to bring the fight below ground. But Lumoof¡¯s initial assessment wasn¡¯t great. The ground was naturally sandy, and our tunnels would cost a lot more mana to maintain. ¡°Well, spot any demons?¡± Lumoof looked around, squinting. The large wooden shield acted like a massive umbrella. Edna looked around, and then we saw them, camouflaged by the sand and the dirt. Giant-sand-lizards. ¡°There.¡± Sand-lizard-demons, their backs looked like rocks, they blended really well against the canyon. The sand-lizards didn¡¯t move, they were frozen, unmoving. The only thing that truly made them demonic was very faint reddish lines that glowed with demonic energy. Edna didn¡¯t move, not yet, anyway. All of the sudden, the sand started to shake, and then, wind started to blow. We saw a wall of sand in the distance. ¡°Sandstorm.¡± Lumoof walked next to Edna, and a shield went up around them. The sand blasted through the surroundings, and the sand actually dealt damage. These were corrosive sand. ¡°Well, we¡¯re truly in hostile territory.¡± Edna smirked. ¡°Funny.¡± Lumoof joked as the wooden shields all had sand embedded in them. The sand smashed into the shields repeatedly, and they didn¡¯t do much damage against those powerful shields. ¡°The lizard should be attacking any time now.¡± They didn¡¯t. The sandstorm stopped almost as quickly as it came, The sands, once whipped up by the sudden gusts, now fell back to the ground. The sand-lizards did not move. Edna and Lumoof shared a glance, Lumoof asked. ¡°Should we engage?¡± ¡°No. Let¡¯s go find the demon king.¡± Lumoof and Edna activated their magical artifacts, and started to fly across the terrain. Indeed, moving on foot in this sandy terrain seemed like a huge pain in the ass. Everywhere was sand and rock. There was no sign of water anywhere, but plenty of sand-lizards. As they flew, they spotted other kinds of demonic creatures too. There were a few sand-serpents and worms, these were more like gigantic wurms with a rocky skin, and then there were these rock-like scorpions and insects too. ¡°This entire place is a demonic desert wasteland.¡± Edna commented, and had to stop as the flying artifact ran out of mana. Somehow flying in this place took a lot out of the place, and Edna noticed the magical artifact seemed to drain out quicker than others. Which, after a little bit of investigation, was due to the sunlight. The sunlight directly damaged magical items and also drained mana out of them. The sun, as strange as it sounded, had a strong magical-ignition quality to it, such that it weakened everything with mana. ¡°How does a world like this even hold demons?¡± We noticed that the demons frequently hid underground too. Even the massive rockwurms and the serpents all tunneled underground after a while, and they only surfaced momentarily. I knew that demons were generated by their spawning pools or the spires. But in such a world, where were they? Edna took out Stella¡¯s void-mana-detector, and it went round and round like a compass faced with magnetic interference. ¡°This is strange.¡± Was there void mana in the air itself? Or was the sun emitting some kind of void energy? I wasn¡¯t sure. The demons were strangely quiet, and mostly didn¡¯t move. ¡°Are they... only active at night?¡± Edna speculated. If the sun was so oppressive during the day, it was entirely possible that these demons would only move at night. Demons were not exactly the type that adapted to their environment. Lumoof, similarly agreed with that premise, but then he added. ¡°Then again, this world does seem exceptionally inhospitable that some level of adaptation is necessary.¡± It was an interesting idea, of course, to kill demons using a solar death ray. If only it didn¡¯t kill everything else in the process. In a way, this was like killing cancer with chemotherapy. It also kills the host, and is used when there¡¯s nothing else that could be done. Even then, demons adapted! ¡°What kind of demons are these?¡± The wind whipped up again, and Edna activated another layer of shields. The sandstorm was not as strong as the first one. No, more importantly, how do they even have rift gates in a world that seemed so hostile? Maybe there are places where there are no sandstorms. ¡°We wait?¡± Edna looked at Lumoof, ¡°Or do we keep going?¡± Lumoof used a few [Inspection] on the demons, but it didn¡¯t reveal anything useful. ¡°If these demons are nocturnals were true, then it may be a good idea to keep going.¡± They kept moving. Edna and Lumoof both had to constantly reinforce their shields. The air was hostile, and I began to suspect that the sun was both anti-magic and some kind of radiation. Lumoof, while moving, also picked up some of the sand and dirt, which was immediately sent back to our world for testing. Somehow, it was quite hard to test them, and with stronger prodding, we soon discovered that the sand and dirt of this world had mild anti-magic qualities, and they generally drained and destroyed mana from their environment. This entire world was an anti-mage world. *** I had Lumoof enter Avatar mode, and then, though Lumoof, created some trees in the surroundings. I felt noticeably higher levels of mana loss from each tree, like each of them sucked my mana. This was also a demon world, so the ambient mana generated was low anyway. That meant, each tree took more out of me than I put in. The sun¡¯s strong anti-mana rays also meant my trees were not producing much mana either, unless we adapted our trees to absorb those rays. That would need a lot of research. I was really intrigued. ¡°The invasion¡¯s gotta be scrapped.¡± Lumoof realised that the sheer amount of anti-magical things in the environment meant even maintaining or sustaining a beetle army which also consumed a bit of mana was going to be difficult. ¡°I think our scope of attack should strictly be to destroy the riftgates... if we can find them.¡± Not just that, the idea of sending both Prabu and Colette, two archmages to this world probably had to be scrapped. This was essentially sending them to the place where they are least suited to fight. I didn¡¯t like those kinds of odds, so I wouldn¡¯t risk them. If my gut feelings were right, we needed some kind of skill-empowered physical strength to defeat these demons. Taking it further, if the demon king was essentially an anti-magic or super-resistant type of demon king, it meant magic as a whole would be largely useless. If so, do we need barbarian/gladiator type heroes? Anyway, we tested the anti-magic properties against void and star mana, and noticed it also dispersed them, but at slower rates. That was good news, since, alright, the heroes probably won¡¯t be entirely useless, just fighting with a handicap. They were slightly more effective on star mana than void mana, but only by a little bit. *** The sun was getting dark. There were no moons in this anti-magic demon world, just stars. The skies were incredibly clear, cloudless as far as we could see. Then we felt the rumbling of the sands. The demons emerged from the sands as darkness fell on the desert. The first thing we saw was their faintly glowing red eyes. Edna sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s see how strong they are.¡± Lumoof shrugged. ¡°Aeon, why not convert some of them?¡± It was a good idea. We had to use some skills in order to see them in the darkness, but these sand-demons didn¡¯t move very fast. Lumoof in avatar mode, extended our roots everywhere, and with each extension I felt a bit more of mana drain on me. Still, I had the mana production of an entire continent, so, it¡¯s not that bad. Then the lizards spat out acid, and I felt that acid pull mana from the air. The acid smashed into our wooden shields, and though the acidic qualities itself didn¡¯t get past the shields, the acid itself seemed to absorb magic from whatever it contacted. It was bizarre to see a shield crumble because it¡¯s magical energies were siphoned out of it. Luckily we had multiple layers of shields, and this time, we channeled a bit more mana into the shields. The acids didn¡¯t get through them now, but fighting in this world was going to be very taxing magically. My roots immediately caught one of the lizard-demons, and I noticed that it was exceptionally tough on the top half, but quite soft at the bottom. It would be quite difficult for a conventional fighter to get to the soft part. I pumped mana into the lizard, and I kept pumping mana into it. The hard-scales of the lizard started to glow, then it exploded. It ate up a lot more mana than I expected. My first attempt to capture failed. Edna noticed something strange, as she rotated through her different kinds of shields. ¡°Magical shields suck, but skill-reinforced shields work just fine. The more mana goes into the shield, their acids seem to react against it. A simple steel shield enhanced with non-mana skill would be able to block it just fine.¡± That¡¯s weird. In truth, the lines between what is a ¡®skill¡¯ and what is a ¡®spell¡¯ is really... well, non-existent. There are spells that are also skills, and vice-versa. There are skills that created spell-like effects, like there are [Fireballs] generated purely out of skill, and [Fireballs] out of mana. There are skills that used mana, spells that didn¡¯t use mana, and instead used ambient mana. It¡¯s a contentious topic. ¡°As long as we didn¡¯t use mana, then it¡¯s natural qualities didn¡¯t react to it.¡± Edna said, as she deftly cut through the lizard-demon. She had to fight like a close-combat brawler, and used spears to lift the lizards upward, in order to expose their soft, vulnerable bottoms. It wasn¡¯t the worst matchup for us, since Edna was more skill-based, and we had the ability to make more non-mana items. The heroes¡¯ hero items though, were essentially made with mana, and would experience weaker performance. I wrapped my vines around another of the sand-lizards and once more, pumped mana through it. This time, not as much, and I pierced my roots into its soft belly, and attempted to look for its core or heart, if it had one. The sand and earth trembled. The skies seemed the shift abruptly. My vines snuck into the body. There was something like a demon¡¯s core. A stone, really, and it was made of the same rocks of the world. My roots snuck and caught it. Then, I pumped mana through my roots and attempted to takeover the lizard. The lizard struggled, and it was physically very strong. The stone¡¯s demonic mana resisted my mana, and I felt like half of my mana was wasted by the mana-absorbing substances that made up most of it¡¯s body. For all it¡¯s strength, it was no champion. It put up a fight, but my mana still overwhelmed it. This time, I knew when to stop, and stopped when I felt like it was going to blow. I slowed down the rate at which my mana entered the demon, and instead circulated my mana within the demon, and began to ¡®take control¡¯ of the body. It tingled, honestly. It¡¯s as if there was a demonic pianist playing a tune, and I was trying to kick the demonic pianist off, while not destroying the piano in the process. It took a bit of holding back, but not everything needs to be hammered by my overwhelming mana. [Natural Mana Overwhelming has assimilated the demonic sand-lizard. Mana-absorbing demonic sand lizard has transformed into Mana-absorbing sand lizard]. The lizard whimpered as its reddish glow was replaced by a greenish one. The other sand lizards struggled, and Edna killed them easily once she got used to their movement patterns. These were demons, and they all had a style. The earth shook, and we looked around. ¡°Well?¡± Edna asked as she stood in the midst of thirty demonic corpses. ¡°Hmm... they don¡¯t decay as quickly as the other demons.¡± Lumoof nodded, and the whimpering sand lizard crouched. ¡°Strange. Demonic bodies should begin to fade within minutes.¡± There was a reason why it¡¯s difficult to harvest or recover demonic parts. From what we¡¯ve seen some demon champions leave their bodies behind, but all began decaying and reverting to demonic mana within minutes, even if that process took a while. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s the anti-mana qualities?¡± Edna speculated. ¡°That it¡¯s interfering with their natural process of returning to demonic mana?¡± Lumoof shrugged. ¡°No idea. Maybe these demons are made of real materials, and the decaying parts are only-¡± Lumoof flipped one of the bodies over, and noticed some of the softer underbelly decaying as normal. ¡°Yeah. Only parts sustained by demonic mana?¡± Edna was quiet as she stared. ¡°Mountain-eater demons? I recall something similar in the really old archives.¡± She immediately began to close her eyes and expanded her senses. In the darkness of the night, we felt the ground and the sand tremble and shake. I stretched out my senses, and realised something had just gone underneath us during the fight, and it was moving. It was as if the entire desert moved. The anti-magical qualities interfered with our senses, and we didn¡¯t sense it¡¯s movement beneath us. It was deep, but the ground moved. At its¡¯ size it was probably a demon champion, but it lumbered slowly. I wasn¡¯t sure because of all the natural dirt and rock really messed with my senses, and I wasn¡¯t sure whether it was pure rock, or part-demon. Still, I believe it was like a supermassive lizard that took a step every half an hour. It was almost a stationary target. ¡°Oh great. Mountain-sized anti-magical rock demons.¡± Edna cursed. ¡°We¡¯ll need miners and magical pickaxes.¡± Lumoof squinted his eyes to look in the distance.. ¡°I say it¡¯s a good opportunity for Alka to test out his bombs. He always lamented that the demons are too small, or move too quickly. I say one of his bigger ones would take this one out. A bomb¡¯s a good way to level a mountain, especially one that probably seems to be a moving mountain range.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll take a lot of mana to get it to work- wait. There¡¯s more?¡± Edna turned and focused her senses even further. This world didn¡¯t have moons, so it was really, really dark. But she could still feel it, the seemingly synchronised movements. Lumoof laughed. ¡°Eh, he just gotta wrap up the bomb in one of Aeon¡¯s massive anti-demon spears. Or just get our two new domain holders to pop the bomb right under it¡¯s belly.¡± I wondered inwardly whether this was a good time for strategic banter between my two domainholders. Edna clapped her hands together. ¡°That¡¯s a good idea! I suppose it¡¯s time for Roon and Johann to display their new domain skills anyway!¡± I had to interrupt. ¡°Guys, where¡¯s the riftgate?¡± More importantly, how are these things going to get through the rift gates? They were way larger than the largest demon champions I¡¯ve seen so far, unless the rift gate had some kind of temporary-shrinkage ability? Lumoof took out the device again, and it was similarly jammed. ¡°Nope. Not working. Maybe we need Stella here, but that¡¯s a risk.¡± A small one since Stella also has my Court of the Deitree ability, so I could pull her back if needed. ¡°Stella?¡± Stella paused. ¡°Are these creatures... captured and converted zaratans?¡± Huh? ¡°There¡¯s an uncanny similarity in their nature as moving mountains, and zaratans as moving islands.¡± ¡°Are you saying these monsters don¡¯t need rift gates because they can tap into the astral pathways directly?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good point, but no. I¡¯m saying these guys may be former zaratans. Maybe this world was a zaratan world.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see the similarity, honestly. Other than their size.¡± I honestly don¡¯t see it. Maybe that they may be reptile-inspired creatures? *** ¡°Anti-magical demons. Is that a first?¡± Chung asked through the magical device. He was somewhere else, we were not sure where. Probably somewhere in the Southern Continent. ¡°Apparently no.¡± Colette said as she read the dossier my Valthorns had compiled. ¡°There was something similar many, many years ago. About... 1,200 years ago. But those were regular sized creatures. Apparently these ones are massive stuff.¡± ¡°The demons are out to get us. How¡¯d they know we have two archmages on the team?¡± Colette and Prabu collectively shrugged. ¡°Random chance I suppose, or perhaps through the arrangement of demon king types? I mean, if you know what kind of demon kings you will introduce in a series, and what kind powers work against earlier demon kings, you could, without knowing what exactly is deployed, arrange subsequent demon kings to be counters of what countered the earlier demon kings.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying this is purely from the demon¡¯s end, and that this arrangement, or sequence of demon kings is pre-set. They predicted that the previous king would be countered, and thus set subsequent demon kings to be counters of the hero counters.¡± ¡°Yeah. LIke, pokemon. If you¡¯re going to play a Grass-type, and you predict the enemy will make a counter, perhaps Fire type, then you could, without knowing whether it¡¯s actually a Fire type, set that the pokemon that follows is a Water-type.¡± ¡°...that makes sense.¡± At which point, Prabu added. ¡°This makes Ken¡¯s idea of a League of Heroes even more compelling, honestly. We could essentially theorise what¡¯s a counter for the counter of the current generation?¡± Chung paused and thought about it for a moment. ¡°But, how are parasites our counters?¡± ¡°Maybe there¡¯s a sequential pattern, or paired patterns, that only three successive sets of demon kings follow this counter-of-counter pattern. The ones in between are all randomised.¡± Chung sighed. ¡°Are we attributing actual intelligence and predictive ability to the demons now?¡± ¡°They are intelligent. They can talk. And they can think. They have strategic ability.¡± Prabu responded. ¡°Even if it¡¯s just concentrated on each demon king. From what we¡¯ve seen, they are not purely stupid.¡± Colette smiled and just stretched. ¡°Maybe the demons¡¯ just some kind of ancient self-replicating war-program.¡± Chung actually laughed. ¡°That¡¯s my theory too!¡± ¡°Did I tell you Ken thought the demons sounded like some kind of multiverse-wide Life-Harvesting system?¡± Chung¡¯s face straightened. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you believe that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s possible, I think. Even though we don¡¯t see any evidence of harvesting...¡± ¡°Maybe we lack the tools to see what exactly they are harvesting?¡± ¡°What, they¡¯re harvesting war-energy like Ares?¡± ¡°Possible!¡± That which lies beneath the roots Year 206 (Part 3) I wonder whether the demons essentially acquired their unique skills as a result of adaptations to their current worlds. If so, what kind of world created demons like Sabnoc and their army & encampment style? One of those ¡®quirky¡¯ worlds where everything was linked to some capture-the-flag system? Meanwhile, Lumoof went down and around, and these giant demons created canyons out of their footsteps. Well, not in a single step, but the texture of the sands and rocks seemed to suggest that the entire canyon was formerly just a flat desert, but the weight of these massive demons had essentially carved a path where there was none. ¡°These demons moved the same path all the time.¡± Lumoof observed. The night was long. Really, really long. The day-night cycle in this demon world was essentially two-full-days long. It strangely repulsed me. A primal part of me rejected such an unusual day-night cycle, and it was uncomfortable, quite like the feeling I got from my clone on the Cometworld shard. ¡°But why?¡± Magic was really, really faint here. The sands and everything absorbed mana, but yet, the demon¡¯s heart clearly had some demonic mana. Did the rocks release the mana eventually? The labs back home studied it intensely, and then, they tested a small spot by overloading it with mana. The sand exploded, and that explosion released mana. My researchers and Treechikomas quickly suggested that the demons¡¯ rocks absorbed mana, and through a series of ¡®controlled¡¯ overloading of mana, released the absorbed mana through these explosions. But it was a net loss. The very nature of the sand drained mana from its surroundings and accelerated the decay of magical things. Then, we had the very obvious answer. Crushing the sand released small amounts of mana. Essentially, the demons ate the anti-mana rocks for the little bits of mana within them. So, they became the anti-mana demons. There was no vegetation whatsoever, and I wondered if it would''ve been really easy for the demons to conquer this world, since there was no resistance. The demons continued to walk and walk, and when the sun began to peek out of the horizon, they all stopped. They shook their bodies, and then sat down. They hid their legs, their heads underneath their massive body of the anti-mana rock and sand. At that moment, they were very animal-like, and I felt a sense of wonder. These massive creatures were wonders in their own way, even if they were demons. Massive lumbering moving mountains. It¡¯s a sight to behold when it wasn¡¯t attacking us. The demons, as they are now, were just ravenous locusts with extra steps, meant to consume and extract each of their captured worlds to produce more of themselves. Could their nature be altered? I remembered that Aiva said they have attempted to destroy the demons, but they still came back. So maybe destroying them was really rather futile. It¡¯s like attempting to exterminate cockroaches. Perhaps, was there a way to change their behavior at their source, if it¡¯s not something that could be destroyed? Was there a way to, like, with mosquitos, introduce less hostile variants into their genetic code? We looked at these hidden giants, and the vast deserts around us, only mildly accentuated by some rocky outcrops. ¡°Lumoof, let¡¯s capture one of these massive demons.¡± He gulped. He didn¡¯t really enjoy mana sickness, and he guessed this one would be almost as bad as the demon king. ¡°Later. Let¡¯s find one of the rift gates.¡± I could sate my curiosity later. *** During the long day, we noticed that most of the demons just hid in the sand or the dirt. There were some rumblings and shakes here and there, implying that there was some subterranean movement, but for the most part, the hostile, mana-draining sun seemed to be so overwhelming that the demons entered this low-energy mode. With the sun above us, the demons frankly didn¡¯t bother us, and it was entirely possible for us to walk everywhere uninterrupted. If this was a demon world, it sure wasn¡¯t what any of us would have expected. Roon and Johann both joined Edna and Lumoof on the sand-demon world, and they moved quickly too. They had more scouting and exploration skills due to their heritage as rangers and archers. Johann¡¯s bird companion literally caught fire as it flew in the sky, and then exploded. Lumoof also transformed into the full avatar mode, and I attempted to perform more tests on the solar light that seemed to cover the entire world. It took a while, but after a bit more detection and sensing, we noticed that the anti-mana rays of light carried a special kind of particle. It wasn¡¯t mana, and it was highly unstable. But it was these particles that gave the rays their anti-mana qualities. It was the magical equivalent of super-strong UV rays that significantly increased magical decay. Our converted sand-lizard lost mana when it walked, and I felt it dry out as it moved. For my domain holders, their souls generated far higher quantities of mana than they lost, so it wasn¡¯t that bad. But weaker creatures would find themselves drained from exposure, so they hid in the soil and sand instead. I couldn¡¯t quite capture this strange particle, it refused to be confined by my attempts to lock it, and slipped through me easily. It¡¯s like cosmic rays passing through my body, igniting mana in the process. It gets weakened by obstacles or objects in its path. This was extremely fascinating, because I immediately realized there was tremendous weaponization potential for this sort of particle. Could we essentially ¡®disable¡¯ heroes and demon kings, with very high quantities of such particles? Or at least, weaken them to a state where we could then capture them and bind them? I would love to conduct long studies on the qualities of this particle, especially how it reacted to various types of materials. But experiments are a long process, and I would need to have a semi-permanent placement here. ¡°Lumoof.¡± Roon spoke through our familiars, routing it through the system. In this world, [message] spells were unusable. It was like trying to send mail through the ocean, without protecting it in glass. The water disintegrated the paper over time. ¡°Spotted something. A strange valley.¡± There was a valley that was more like a rift in the earth itself. The opening was small, but it went really, really deep. The top part of the opening had been battered by the anti-mana rays, and transformed into the same kind of material and sand we see everywhere else. But the lower half actually looked normal. Like... rock? No. Water? Like, really deep down? Lumoof¡¯s body was surrounded by vines, and the vines acted as anchors. The vines and roots emerging from Lumoof¡¯s body pierced the cliff walls, and like a massive multi-legged spider, we gradually went downwards. ¡°The sand layer¡¯s really quite deep.¡± Roon observed, as my four domain holders regrouped. They stood on wooden platforms created from the wooden roots. We were about fifteen stories deep, when we began to see soil and rock that resembled our own. ¡°There¡¯s... nothing here.¡± ¡°It¡¯s likely they just appear at night.¡± Edna said. ¡°But I don¡¯t detect anything.¡± Roon commented. I couldn¡¯t sense them either, so it was probably nothing. We found the floor, or the bottom of the chasm about eighty stories down. There was water, just a bit, gradually trickling out of the rock. The rock felt wet. Lumoof touched it, and I attempted to extend my senses into the ground. Nothing. The parasite world felt dry before the demon king left. This was similar. Even in the depths, a sense of emptiness, a world parched of what once was. ¡°Not here.¡± *** We spread out again, and continued our search. There had to be a rift gate somewhere. What was a demon world without rift gates, and how would they invade us then? There had to be a riftgate, because something was creating this pathway through the stars, and why was this pathway not destroyed by their hostile sun? I mean, void mana seemed somewhat resistant to the mana-destroying effects of the sun, but it still decayed faster. Unless the core mana had somehow offset the effects of the particle... ¡°What if the riftgates are hidden underground and they only appear at night?¡± Edna asked the clearly obvious idea. Everyone, of course, clearly looked at Edna with that ¡®of course it does¡¯ look. It made sense, and naturally we all felt a little like idiots. Especially Johann, who looked like he¡¯d been absolutely disappointed that he didn¡¯t think of nocturnal behaviors. ¡°But the one with the demon king may not be? Surely it has to be visible?¡± Then again, Stella could open her portals even when she¡¯s indoors. Not as if a roof actually made a difference. Edna, of course, furrowed her brows. ¡°Maybe what we are looking for... is a huge mountain that blocks out the sun, and the demon king¡¯s riftgate is hidden under that mountain.¡± ¡°It¡¯s also possible that the demon king just hollowed out the ground and it¡¯s beneath us.¡± ¡°If so, it¡¯s only visible to us at night. If at all.¡± *** The long night came once more, and the demons emerged from the sands and the dirt. It wasn¡¯t hard to defeat them, especially once we realised they were vulnerable to [skills], just resistant to [mana]. It was the equivalent of magic-resistant blobs that took damage from physical attacks. We didn¡¯t capture any of the demons, and instead, tried to look for the rifts. At night, [message] was usable once more. Magical interruptions were essentially driven by the sun. We were looking for the demon king, or the rifts, and at night, Johann¡¯s bird could unleash it¡¯s full strength. In fact, it was a lot easier to find than anticipated. All we had to do was follow the line that the gigantic mountain demons took, and follow it to its end. It was a long journey that took one full day, amplified by their movement skills, and we found a large hole in the ground, so massive that it was easily four times bigger than the one on the Poisonworld. There were no towers here, instead, it was just this massive hole that looked like someone mined all the way into the core. There was also no water, unlike the Parasite-world. It was just a pit that seemed to lead down. ¡°Where¡¯s the riftgate- oh there.¡± Roon pointed at the edges of the hole, and we noticed that the riftgate was also supersized, and built into the hole, like the rims of a bottle. ¡°A giant demon king.¡± Lumoof commented. ¡°There was literature like this.¡± ¡°A very physical demon king with high levels of magic resistance.¡± Roon stared at the surroundings. There were demons on the other sides that threw more rock and sand into the pit. These massive demons were like dump trucks, dumping their load of sand, soil and rock into the massive pit. ¡°Is it feeding the demon king?¡± A part of me felt like animal observers, trying to discern demonic behavior from what we see. ¡°I have no idea.¡± Lumoof said. Roon¡¯s bird continued to search the lands for smaller rift gates, and there were none. Or at least, none that we could see. ¡°Do you think we should go down there?¡± It was a massive pit, but the edges were still rock, and we could move down there slowly. ¡°Yes.¡± I said. If we wanted to see what the hell was happening, this had to be our best chance. The rest of them gulped, and we slowly made our way down into the biggest pit ever. It was dark, and here, there were no demons. We just had to avoid the sand and rocks that the demons dumped overhead. If we fall, magic won''t save us. We felt a strong anti-magic drain in the entire pit, and, as we went further and further down, the team noticed their magical items started to fizzle and make strange sounds. Thankfully, my four Valthorns were domain holders, and their domains protected most of their mana from the mana draining effects of the surroundings. As we went down, we noticed a ray of light starting to emerge overhead. It has been almost three days. ¡°The sun is rising.¡± The earth rumbled, and we saw something cover the entrance of the pit. It looked like a massive demon, or perhaps, a few massive demons. ¡°Oh fuck.¡± Roon said, and here, strangely, our voices did not echo. Roon made an actual fire to brighten up the darkness. We kept going down, my roots and vines are like the feet of an insect, crawling along the walls of this pit. There was nothing for another one day, and then, we saw a horizontal tunnel, along the vertical pit. It was filled with demons. ¡°There. Let¡¯s go in there.¡± Johann pointed, and my roots pierced through the demons in that horizontal tunnel. It¡¯s like we¡¯ve taken a lift down, and then we went sideways. There were similar demons, these were smaller lizards, just like the ones on the surface. But how did they get so deep? It didn¡¯t matter. They died easily to my roots. Thank goodness my roots were technically skill and physical effect. Once we were in that tunnel, we found that it led to more tunnels, and it was a labyrinth. Tunnels and tunnels, and we followed them. Here, in the depths, the rocks did not drain mana. The only thing that did were the demons, and here, they were active all day long. In these tunnels, far away from that vertical pit, my guys rested. Here, their mana could regenerate normally, and it seemed, mana, attracted demons. The demons were drawn to mana, like ants drawn to sugar. They were ravenous. Hungry. And we killed them. We explored these horizontal tunnels somemore, and soon found a large cavern with something we¡¯ve always been wondering about. Rift gate. A normal sized rift gate, exactly the same model. ¡°Subterranean rift gates. Interesting.¡± Should¡¯ve seen it coming when my own rift gates are in the Valley of the Unrotten, hidden from view. We moved to capture it, and cleared the place of demons. Those guarding the rift gates didn¡¯t pose much of a challenge, and my aura meant they were mostly frozen in place. Lumoof briefly entered avatar state, and created a few subsidiary trees around the rift gates. Then, I activated the star mana variant of my [Vine Ropeway Network], and shoved the rift gates back home. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s one. Bet there¡¯s more.¡± Roon commented. The group explored the tunnels for days, and found one more. We also captured the rift gates and the nearby daemolite, and then sent them back home. This part of the tunnel now fully explored, the team went back down the pits. *** We went deeper, and the journey down took even more days. It was also getting really hot as we approached the core, and the magical forces in our surrounding got even more wild. It wasn¡¯t difficult to deal with the heat, since I had the ability to adapt to all kinds of environments, so I protected the domain holders in a sphere of wood. As these woods were linked to me via Lumoof, like a small enclosed space. Essentially, they rode a wooden pumpkin wagon going down a deep hole. Sadly, it¡¯s not Alice in wonderland or Cinderella, because down there was probably a monster. There was magic here, but it struggled and fought an extremely strong draining force. About fifteen days in, the core was not molten lava, and instead, was a dried lattice of what appeared to be volcanic rock, and the heat had mostly stabilised. In fact, that strong draining force seemed to be keeping things cool. The walls had now transformed into what was probably a really intricate latticework of rocks, and as my vines touched these rocks, I could tell there was once a really strong magic in these rocks. They were a little like the core shard I got from the Cometworld. We kept going. This deep, there were no demons. Nothing. And we began to feel a really strong pulse. The anti-mana energies pulsed periodically, and it flared outwards in a rhythm. ¡°We didn¡¯t see the sand or rock that was poured overhead.¡± Roon commented. ¡°Maybe the anti-mana draining effects transformed them into something else.¡± Indeed. So deep down, everything was just these ¡®dried¡¯ lattice-like black rocks. There was once a flowing thing here, maybe centuries ago. It took a total of almost a month, and it actually became really cold. All heat was sucked out of the air, and it would be impossible to breathe outside. There was no ice, no water, and as we reached the massive core cavity. The entire core of the planet had been largely hollowed out. There were still some massive rock pillars similar to the dried lattice-like rocks. Filling up the gaps was this structure resembling a really complicated web of flesh and demonic spire-like structures. They all radiated a small, faint pulse. The structure was demonic for sure, filled with streaks of demonic energy that was familiar. Yet, at this point, we both sensed it. There were two forces here, both similar to a demon king, and yet different. One of the structures itself, here, up close, it radiated a really strong corrupting energy, quite like the effects of the Rottedlands, and a [Forest Rod]. The structure was like a network and web that spread out. ¡°The structure around that cocoon is something...¡± We began to look around, and then we saw an area where there was a very large mass of demonic flesh. It was a large lizard-like creature, but many parts had been hollowed out. That part of it¡¯s body was wrapped around a large rocky structure that had an extremely faint energy. A demon king, or, it was a demon king. The first source of the demon energy, and this demonic energy was throughout the structure that covered this hollowed out core. It wasn¡¯t hard to put our observations together and conclude that our earlier theory was mostly correct. ¡°Damn to think there really is a demon king in the core.¡± Edna vented. ¡°It¡¯s ¡®possessing¡¯ the world?¡± ¡°It is.¡± Lumoof nodded. ¡°So that huge it¡¯s holding must be the core of this world. Or what¡¯s left of it.¡± The demon king itself was just a massive [Forest Rod], meant to capture worlds and control it, such that it transforms into a demon world. The win condition for the demon kings isn¡¯t just defeating the heroes. It¡¯s also to reach the core, and then possess it. With the core, I suspect they would gain system-rights to the world, and that allowed them to spawn demons instead of the usual monsters. There should be something similar that lives within the core of the parasite world, and we should reach it. It¡¯s the equivalent of a hacker getting access to the mainframe and then reconfiguring it for it¡¯s own purpose. Or capturing a mine and using its resources to support its own war effort. That second source of demonic energy was a large cocoon. A nascent demon king. It was coiled up, and it was a gigantic lizard or wurm of some kind. It was massive, and was the single largest object I¡¯ve ever seen. It was the size of an entire mountain, and would blot out entire cities with any single one of its legs. My first suspicion was mostly confirmed. Demon kings were made out of the energies gathered from the core of the world. If so, that explained the ¡®drained¡¯ feeling, and why that recovered slightly post demon king. But, if there was a demon king still in the core, continuing to possess it, it also meant the parasite-world would never fully recover. Once it reached a certain threshold it would start producing another demon king. ¡°How the fuck were the heroes supposed to fight this?¡± Roon said. ¡°Without magic!¡± ¡°Hack it repeatedly.¡± Edna answered. ¡°There should be a core somewhere.¡± Lumoof looked at the rest. ¡°Aeon?¡± A demon king, still in its earthly womb, without its will. If it is a machine, is this a mecha without its pilot? A body without a soul? Could I hijack it? I felt all sorts of torment, but would I ever have an opportunity like this ever again? What do I lose, and what can I learn from this? Frankly, a lot. But what do I do with the demon king around the core? Should I attempt to destroy that, and free the core? Or do I attempt to control the growing demon king, and use it to destroy the structure? ¡°Lumoof. Take my seed out, and throw it into the cocoon.¡± In any case, all I¡¯m sacrificing is just a seed. Moat of Trees Year 206 (continued, Part 4) I had questions. If the demon king possessed the core, then why did the parasite world spawn normal monsters and animals once we reclaimed some of the land and populated them with trees? How did this system mechanic work? Did the demon king''s hold on the world fluctuate? Things that were speculation now, but as I looked at the demon king and it¡¯s ¡°Aeon, what¡¯s our plan?¡± Lumoof asked. ¡°I mean... what if that thing attacks us? Wait. Let me clarify that. I¡¯m actually quite sure it will attack us.¡± ¡°Teleport out if it gets really bad. I¡¯ll get you guys out if anything goes south.¡± At that same time, I got Patreeck to make the necessary preparations, and the entire Central Continent hummed with activity. We added additional artificial minds, and made sure that all the mana batteries were fully charged. I remembered that time when the demon king attempted to possess me, and I somehow used that kind of soul blast, and I wanted to see if I could repeat it. I wanted to see if I could weaponise that sort of defensive mechanism with my clone seed by using it against the demon king¡¯s body, and then, forcing the gestating demon king to a ¡®battle-of-wills¡¯. The odds were low, generally speaking, and I had very little to lose. Not with this kind of encounter. If I lose the close seed, I lost time. If I succeeded, I would definitely level. If it¡¯s somewhere in the middle, that was still a success. Looking at the clock, we didn¡¯t have much time left, as in a few years this demon king would be headed to our world. If I intercepted it before that happened, I also wanted to know if I could mess up the entire sequence of events by triggering an event before it was meant to happen. In a way, I essentially wanted to cause the process behind the demonic invasions to either ¡®fail¡¯ or encounter some kind of ¡®jam¡¯. Best case scenario, we successfully stopped the demon king from invading our world forever. Worst, well, the demon king somehow takes over my clone, and also somehow, through that system, it could take over my body. I think that¡¯s unlikely. I could also cut off my connection with my clones if needed. It¡¯s also possible that handling a demon king could somehow send me into a coma. But I felt it won¡¯t actually happen. With my domain now, it¡¯s very unlikely I would get a coma. ¡°Aeon, I think we¡¯re more concerned with what happens if you go through a long sleep.¡± Lumoof answered frankly. ¡°We believe you would survive, but if you were to be weakened for long periods, our central continent would suffer from it.¡± ¡°There are the four of you, and the entirety of the Valtrian Order. If the Valtrian Order cannot survive without me sleeping for certain periods of time, then I¡¯ve clearly not done enough to nurture the strength of the order.¡± There was never a ¡®good¡¯ time to cut the umbilical cord, and I suppose I would have to watch the institutions weather their test. In history, that first transition of power from a ¡®founder¡¯ to its successor institutions was critical. Would it be good enough? I looked at the demon king, it grew slowly, and the unstable energies of the world. There were some interrupted voices in the energies in the air. Whispers, broken and shredded by the harsh powers of the demons. ¡°Let¡¯s just freaking do it.¡± I declared, and everyone braced. Lumoof entered full avatar mode, and I felt the violent magic of the depths batter our body. It¡¯s a sensation quite similar to opening the windows when moving at high speed. I wrapped my seed in a multilayered massive wooden spear, and attached it to a vine just as thick for control. Then, I thrust the spear towards the demon king, through the demon¡¯s tendrils and the gaps in the shell. Through the vines and the spear I could feel the biting cold outside, and also felt the environment draining mana from the spear. The layers of wood crumbled and withered away, like the peels of an onion, swept away by the strong magical current of the core and the demons. We pushed on. The strength of that magical wave was manageable, this was inferior to a demon king. A sign that it was not fully formed. Perhaps the true ¡®will¡¯ of the demon king lay within that black mass we saw earlier. No matter, I would investigate this layer. If I could capture the shell of a demon king, that was sufficient. The unfocused wave of energy from the demons suddenly tried to concentrate on my wooden spear. It gathered clumsily, and attempted to resist and push back against my spear. Yet it was clearly not designed to do so. My focused strike pierced through the layers of demonic energy, even if each step forward seemed to just eat away at the layers of my spear. Eventually, the spear smashed into the cocoon of the incomplete demon king. It was a relatively ¡®slow¡¯ smash, like trying to punch underwater, but the spear still rattled the cocoon momentarily, and then I was hit with a wave of demonic energy again, rousing from within the cocoon. We persisted, and the entire cocoon rumbled. Awoken by the sudden rumbling, the mass of demonic flesh, spires and tentacles that surrounded the cocoon started to move. ¡°Aeon?¡± Lumoof asked, shaken by the kind of power flowing through his flesh. The core continued to shake violently, and some of the magical energies in the core became even more pronounced. Some of the dried lattice of rocks started to glow. The demonic flesh, or the ¡®host/mother¡¯ demon moved towards us. ¡°We have been spotted.¡± Edna commented, as everyone quickly equipped themselves for combat. This felt like one of those battles in games, in a glowing cavern in the depths of the planet, facing off against the demon king to decide the fate of the world. The lattice of dried, crystallised rocks around us glowed and pulsed in a rhythm that seemed somehow linked to the energies released by my spear of wood. The spear pushed further into the cocoon of the incomplete demon king, and each movement seemed to release magical energies into our surroundings. The flesh that formed the tentacles and spires around the cocoon moved, crawled and agglomerated, like a mass of nanomachines reforming into a greater, larger whole. This mass of demonic flesh now began to look more like a giant lizard, and once it largely took shape, it immediately spat acid. The acid smashed into one of Edna¡¯s hastily conjured magical shields. The acid vaporised the shield almost instantly. ¡°No magic!¡± Roon reminded, as he switched to a loadout of anti-demonic spears. Hundreds of spears appeared from his pocket. Those spears all flew and stabbed the mother-demon-lizard through its body. But this creature was large, and it was like trying to kill a land whale with harpoons. It moved towards us, as Roon activated some kind of charged spear ability. One of the spears glowed, not with magic, but with his skill. The small spear smashed into the sides of the giant-mother lizard. It visibly caused the giant-mother-lizard-demon-king to stagger. At that moment, the entire world around us shook. Yet it didn¡¯t do much damage. ¡°Aeon. Can we teleport the star-mana bomb here?¡± Johann suggested. ¡°Wait.¡± That was a good idea too, but I wanted to try using my seed and reach the demon king. Star mana was a bad thing to expose the demons to. If the core was in this incomplete demon king, then this could be the best time to get it. I felt more of the incomplete energies of the demon king through the spear that now was halfway into the cocoon. It was an odd mix of core mana and demonic mana. It¡¯s on top of the strange powers that ¡®twisted¡¯ this entire area, almost like a skill. It even felt like it was a clash of wills, as I felt something like a soul attempting to exert it¡¯s way on the world, and my seed pushing my own will into this space. The mother-lizard roared, and the core shook violently. The rocks started to fall towards us, and we weren¡¯t sure why. The gravity here was unusual, almost entirely driven by some kind of unknown magic. The chamber shook violently, and some parts around us started to collapse. We were pulled towards the cocoon, essentially, and yet these rocks flew towards us. Lumoof attempted to support the cavern from collapsing, as we extended my vines and roots against the collapsing walls of the cavern. ¡°Is it trying to crush us?¡± Lumoof mentally said. ¡°But wouldn¡¯t that destroy the demon king too?¡± ¡°It probably has a way not to get crushed.¡± I injected the incomplete demon king with my mana, and it felt like I was throwing mana into the void. Yet, that very action triggered the giant mother-lizard. The mother demon king charged at us, somehow walking quickly on the surface of the giant cocoon of the incomplete demon king. It looked like it wanted to smash us into the walls of the chamber. My vines and roots expanded outward from Lumoof, and I attempted to use my vines to hold it back by forming a large web and wall of roots and vines. It wasn¡¯t of much use, since it was so large. It was the equivalent of trying to hold back a raging bull with cloth. It merely slowed it down and made it even more angry. It smashed through the wall of roots and vines. It bought enough time for us to reposition ourselves as the massive lizard smashed into the walls of the chamber, creating a new open area. My clone seed was already inside the cocoon, but it had not reached the body of the incomplete demon king. A bit further. Large columns of rock fell down, again, they felt like they were pulled and manipulated by the mother-demon¡¯s abilities. Did that mother-demon have gravity power of some sort, as it once again bulldozed through Edna¡¯s shields. Roon and Johann attempted to dodge where they could, but they were clearly not suited to fighting in this environment, even if it was possible to manipulate the giant lizard demon to destroy and widen the area for us. This was the kind of battlefield that demanded the tank and barbarian types. Big, raw, Hercules-type physical force, and invulnerability. In any case, Edna and Lumoof tried to hold back the mother lizard, while a part of me pushed towards the incomplete demon king. I kept pumping mana into the cocoon, and at the same time, attempted to push my will into it. In short, I was trying to first change and ¡®convert¡¯ the area where my mana first touched. Maybe capture the cocoon itself, if I couldn¡¯t get to the body. As this happened, I felt things smash into my mind. Or, more accurately, smash into the helmet around my mind. It still shook me a little, but it didn¡¯t get through. Raw anger and hunger. A craving. To consume and to create more, for further consumption. It came from the cocoon, it came from the incomplete demon king. Feed. Through my spear of wood, I had attempted to overwhelm the demon king with my mana. Now, after I¡¯ve pumped so much mana into the demon king, I realised that- I was a fool. I had overestimated myself, and now I realised how hungry the demon king was. I was pouring salt into an olympic sized swimming pool. Not the ocean, because it¡¯s not that vast, but it was bigger than me. It had desired mana, a whole lot more than I have to give. A demon king was formed from the mana of a world, formed from anti-mana and mana-draining materials, and I was deluded enough to try overwhelming it myself. It was a bad matchup and I was outmatched. This thing could eat all of my mana and some. I knew then that even my clone seed would not do much, and now I suddenly didn¡¯t have much confidence against the residual . So I pulled my clone seed back to Treehome. The rocks around us glowed, and it began to get warmer. I sent Edna back next through the teleport ability of the [Court of the Deitree]. It was just Lumoof left, and we looked around. I detonated my spear within the cocoon, and as expected, it didn¡¯t do much damage. ¡°The bomb.¡± Lumoof reminded me, and I had it ready. But then, I saw the core of the world, it had shrunk much smaller than it was once. It was probably a lot larger a long, long time ago. ¡°No. The core.¡± I couldn¡¯t capture the demon king, but the core was there. It was still a very large thing, but maybe I could just take a chunk. Or maybe this was just a portion. I wasn¡¯t sure, so, rather than attempt to fight the demon king and failing, getting a core, or a sufficiently large chunk was still helpful for my purposes. Lumoof moved towards the core, as the mother demon chased after us. That was fine, because once Lumoof crash landed next to what looked to be the core, my vines exploded outwards, and wrapped the core. What I could, at least. Lumoof entered Avatar once more, and I sent a fragment of the core home. I couldn¡¯t send all of it. It was too large, and I didn¡¯t have that much mana left. The mother demon charged towards us, and a wall of vines merely delayed it briefly. I knew this was a pointless fight and so pulled Lumoof home through my [Court of the Deitree], just as I did with Edna, Roon and Johann. *** Lumoof landed back in the valley, surrounded by a battalion of aids and helpers. ¡°That didn¡¯t go well.¡± But we had a core. Or a fragment of it. We took a chunk the size of a small house out of that entire thing, and I learned how high the mountain was. In many ways, I gained from that exchange. Lumoof collapsed as his body finally gave in to the exhaustion. Edna, Roon and Johann were already back in a biolab pod for immediate treatment. They were just mildl injured, but the magical exhaustion really kicked them. The constant state of alertness since we went into that pit was exhausting mentally, even if we rotated rest times. First, I sent the core into a lab. It was so large that I needed to get one of the bigger labs to look at it, and I immediately felt two presence within. There was also a strong demonic presence within the fragment, one that I felt fighting with the small, tiny presence within. I decided to quickly drain the demonic energies out, and this was relatively easier, because it was no longer connected to the demon king. Once the chunk was ¡®cleaned¡¯ of demonic energies, I could feel the other presence within stabilise. It was rousing, and I felt a bit of something gathering within, something that felt like fragments of a will. It¡¯s scattered, and then, I began sensing a small buildup of core mana within the house-sized fragment. Perhaps I only got a chunk of it, so that presence was only a fragment? Still, the core mana was clearly, clearly there. It¡¯s not much, but better something than nothing. *** What have we learned? The visit to the depths hadn¡¯t been entirely fruitless. We now know that there is a demon king in every core, and that¡¯s their win condition. They must capture the core in some way or form, perfectly or imperfectly. That explained the gap of time where they defeated the ¡®defenders¡¯, but yet the world didn¡¯t immediately collapse. Heroes were, as the gods put it, medicine to stop the viruses. But in the absence of the ¡®medicine¡¯, the virus didn¡¯t immediately win. They have to ¡®control¡¯ the body in order to ¡®win¡¯. With this knowledge, could we prevent a world from ever ¡®losing¡¯? Not by defeating the demon king, but by making a world ¡®uncapturable¡¯. For example, if the core of the planet was suddenly moved elsewhere, or perhaps located behind some kind of magical portal such that the demon king could not reach it? Thinking back to my ¡®Will of the World¡¯, essentially if I was one with the planet, did that mean the World cannot be captured as long as I lived? On a larger scale, if we could somehow ¡®protect¡¯ each core from falling to the demon kings, could we, by building a wall of uncapturable ¡®worlds¡¯, eventually block off the demons? A kind of ¡®moat¡¯ strategy on a larger scale. Because if they could not capture worlds, they would not be able to continue producing demon kings, and the demon kings on that planet are stuck there. We could eventually drive them to extinction by cutting off the demon king¡¯s ability to reproduce. ¡°That¡¯s a very lofty strategy, when we didn¡¯t even know how to do it...¡± Roon commented when he recovered. I knew that Will of the World¡¯s narration that I could fuse with a world, meant it must be possible to protect a world from the demon kings. At least it wasn¡¯t a question whether it was a possibility, more of a question of technical capability. ¡°Aeon¡¯s plans really seem to get more and more wild with each visit to the demon worlds.¡± My ranger commented. ¡°I suppose when you travel worlds, it is quite an eye-opening and mind-broadening experience.¡± I thought back to the nature of the demon king, being made of demonic mana, void mana and core mana. What if there was a way to fuse star mana and core mana, or inject the core with vast quantities of star mana. Essentially, exploit the reaction of void mana to star mana during the ¡®capturing¡¯ process. This would essentially create a stored ¡®defensive¡¯ mechanism within the core? At least, sufficient to prevent one capture? How does core mana and star mana interact? ¡°I don¡¯t think we should experiment on our world with that. What if we blow up the planet?¡± ¡°Also! It¡¯s like saying the Core has a mind that could store star mana and use it as a defensive ¡®item¡¯.¡± ¡°The core does have a will.¡± The shard of the Cometworld told me that. Of course, I would ask the core of the world before actually conducting such experiments. It¡¯s only logical. Alka was amused by the idea, naturally. Storing a star mana bomb in the core was his immediate suggestion. Nuke the demon king from within. No, more appropriately, make the core of the world a minefield of star-mana bombs, that would trigger once the demon king came. Stella was fairly horrified at the thought of experimenting on planetary cores, commenting that such things rarely go well. I was actually fascinated by the idea. It made sense. Making the core a minefield of star mana bombs was a pragmatic solution, because only the demon king would come here. There was no risk of accidental triggers since no one went there but the demon, and if the demon king reached the core, it meant the surface was mostly lost anyway, so letting the core have bombs as a failsafe was a good one. A Greenhouse For the Tree Year 207 The heroes were strangely relieved that they didn¡¯t need to go to another world. I suppose the idea of fighting the demon king in the core of the planet really felt like a scene right from a Japanese RPG game. It¡¯s ironic that this world really takes so much from the games that we loved so much. It really makes me wonder whether I¡¯m just in a coma somewhere and this is me lucid dreaming. Or maybe it¡¯s the reverse, that all our creativity are residual memories, creations from what we¡¯ve seen in some reincarnated past life? That¡¯s also a rather strange turn of events. Anyway, we briefed the heroes on the expected nature of the upcoming demon king, and everyone quickly started making preparations. If it was an anti-magic demon king, both Colette and Prabu had to prepare for it. Everyone expected a counter of some kind. They just didn¡¯t think it was going to be a massive anti-magic lizard, essentially a strong counter to both Colette and Prabu, and the whole host of star mana weapons. They decided to forge new weapons, of course. Imbued with heroic abilities and skills, instead of magic or spells. Items with some level of protection from the effects of mana drain, again, tested against the sand that we collected. It was hard to make it work, and it took them months of testing. The hero forges were literally creations of star mana, though they could use actual materials to give more substance and permanence to the output. Yet, real materials meant the products were not as strong as those made of star mana. After all, how could mundane items hope to rival the power of the stars? But as they tinkered more and more, they soon gained a deeper understanding of the hero forges, and soon, came with a request. ¡°We need more of those anti-mana sands.¡± Colette said as she showed us a small glassy weapon made of the sand. ¡°We managed to use the [hero forge] to make a weapon out of their anti-mana sand, and it¡¯s significantly more resistant to the effects of mana drain, since, well, the sand itself is so good at ¡®draining¡¯ mana, it was also good at stopping mana from leaking out. ¡°We could make weapons out of these anti-mana sands, and this would hold up.¡± The pathway through the stars was still there, though we noticed the pathway itself seemed... wobbly and uncertain. We didn¡¯t bring that much sand back, but it certainly was possible to make glass out of that sand, if there were sufficient quantities of it. We didn¡¯t know how much sand we needed, but the idea of mining this sandy planet for the anti-mana sands was really appealing. There could be a lot of uses for such a weapon, and if sufficiently widespread, it could equalise the inherent advantages of magic. Actually, with sufficient quantities of this sand, it may even be possible to somewhat mimic earth-like, magicless situations. In fact, once this demon king was over, I would probably lose access to all this anti-mana sand, unless I placed my clone on this world. Lumoof, of course, had to be sent back to the Sandworld. For sand. I wondered whether this was the first actual instance of dimensional mining operations. ¡°Well, at least it still looks the same.¡± Lumoof went alone, as Stella attempted to keep the riftgates open. It didn¡¯t work that well with the battering of the Sandworld¡¯s harsh anti-magic rays. Lumoof activated a few storage bags, and then... they exploded. They couldn¡¯t store the anti-magic sand which interfered with the storage bags itself. ¡°Ooops.¡± Lumoof laughed. ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll have to send it back the teleportation way.¡± Which meant Lumoof actually took large bags made of hemp and cloth, and filled them with sand. In avatar mode, Lumoof functioned as the conduit for teleportation to my main tree, through my [tree of life]. Essentially, he was another ¡®clone¡¯ in avatar mode. Sand. It drained more mana than usual to send the anti-mana sand back, but we needed more. We took advantage of the day to eventually send back a small hill of anti-mana sand, piled up in one corner of the Valley. As I noticed the presence of this anti-mana sand, I also wondered whether it had potential anti-demon uses, since it was also effective against demonic mana. Could we use the anti-mana sand to clear ¡®corrupted¡¯ places, and remove the demonic energies from Rottedlands-type terrain? If so, these anti-mana sand could be immensely valuable to ¡®restore¡¯ terrain and clean the land from demonic corruption. Ken, my resident armchair critic, was quick to point out that I¡¯ve had the Space-Grand-Strategy equivalent of a unique resource that gave the faction access to unique units or research. That, of course, tickled my funny-branch. That made sense. Who would¡¯ve thought anti-mana sand was a strategic resource, anyway? ¡°Lumoof, you¡¯ll be doing mining. A whole lot of them.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a priest, Aeon. Not a sand-collector.¡± Lumoof protested, mostly as a joke. ¡°I have sand in every part of my body!¡¯ ¡°Then you¡¯re doing it right! You¡¯ll have to be my sand-collecting priest for this month.¡± The anti-mana sand, strangely enough, did not cause any unusual reactions with my [secret hideout]. My spatial skill, which didn¡¯t use mana, or at least, didn¡¯t use it directly, could store this anti-mana sand without much risk, and after all my levels, my [secret hideout] could be expanded quite a bit. The heroes took their share, a small truckload, to begin experimenting with larger weapons. At the same time, I also gave a small batch to my blacksmiths, jewellers and crafters to attempt their own experiments. Alka too, used the anti mana sand for his own experiments, mainly to figure out how to make the bombs react exactly the way he wanted. Within weeks he made some very good discoveries. With the anti-magic qualities, the sand essentially functioned as ¡®negative¡¯ gates, and in small quantities, it could be used to create more compact runic patterns, and prevent unnecessary magical interference between unrelated but nearby formations. In short, the sand could be molded into magical ¡®walls¡¯ between spells. ¡°Given the value of these sands, I¡¯m thinking Aeon should totally deploy a clone tree on this world.¡± Alka stated. ¡°This sand could herald a new era of super compact magical weaponry! We may even attempt the computers that the heroes speak of!¡± Valid, but I had my reservations. ¡°The parasite world¡¯s useless. We should abandon it for this.¡± Alka stated. Again, I also had reservations. Surely there are resources there, just like the sand, that we have only not discovered. If I had to, I would probably abandon either the Cometworld, or the Moon. Most probably the moon because of how easy it is to get to it, again. Still, this was something I had to think about, so for now, we mined sand. A lot of them. *** The heroes made anti-magic staff and weapons, and Chung made arrows out of them. Chung and Hafiz both had a balance of spells and skills, as archer and knight-type heroes respectively, so transitioning from glass weaponry wasn¡¯t too much of a challenge. The weapons were strong, after all they were made through [hero forge], and so were just naturally overpowered weapons. They made a set for me, and a few extra sets for the future heroes. Just in case. On this front, I thought of Ken¡¯s League of heroes idea, and perhaps we could start with trade. Trade of hero items between heroes of different worlds. *** I gave some to Lilies, just mainly to share the anti-magic sand. They were fascinated with it, and immediately wondered whether it could be used with that anti-divine material we had. Blackstar Gems. The coal-like material that exploded when exposed to star mana, in a way, quite like void mana. When we placed the two types of materials together, nothing happened. From what I recall, the blackstar gems itself didn¡¯t do much other than resist the effects of the gods, which remains untested even till today. Our attempts to work with the two together didn¡¯t get anywhere, but perhaps it¡¯s just a matter of discovering the right process. They were not so amused when I shared what we saw on the sandworld. In fact, Lilies responded with a revulsion. Something about a world filled with so much sand, that was so lifeless throughout that seemed to really disgust them. Or maybe these lake-plants just don¡¯t like waterless deserts. Reefy¡¯s search for the deepest trenches were filled with fights, and Reefy didn¡¯t say much. All he said was he needed more time, since the trenches were filled with monsters. He seemed fairly amused by the anti-magic sand, but didn¡¯t think much into it. The images Reefy shared were quite brutal, mostly of heavy fighting and slaughter. The depths were home to violent eels and weird fish-creatures and they fought Reefy¡¯s attempts to explore them. He didn¡¯t seem disturbed by it, instead, Reefy merely remarked that he just needed more time. Reefy also showed me some special coral weapons that he made, inspired by what I¡¯ve made on the surface. He had control and ability to directly breed fishes and fish-creatures, quite similar to how I created my beetles, and these fishes could travel long distances. I was really curious how he maintained control and vision of them even at such distances, but Reefy didn¡¯t have an explanation. It was just what it is, and Reefy didn¡¯t think much of it. *** ¡°We should probably warn the Mountainworld heroes about the Sabnoc-type demon king. It might blow up and flood the world with demonic corruption again.¡± Lumoof pointed out one day during one of the monthly council meetings. It didn¡¯t feel very good that I was pointing out the problems and also giving the solutions. I felt like one of those business consultants that pointed out a future issue and told their prospective customers to pay up. ¡°You do know we look like swindlers when we tell them stuff like that, and we offer the solution too?¡± I mean, we do have a pile of anti-mana sand, and conveniently, there¡¯s a future demonic corruption crisis to solve. It really looked like I¡¯m hacking, or even masterminding this shit. ¡°It would be even worse if the explosion didn¡¯t happen.¡± Stella, of course, sat and then mused. ¡°Maybe they¡¯ve already fought the demon king and the explosion already happened.¡± ¡°Oh shit. Then they¡¯ll need our help.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°I mean, Aeon¡¯s help.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good chance to test out the anti-magic sand, whether it worked as hypothesized.¡± Alka responded. ¡°But what could they do, if a Sabnoc-style explosion created another Rottedlands? There¡¯s practically no defense against such a weapon. Not on a continental scale anyway, unless they somehow managed to ¡®lock¡¯ the bomb or ¡®confine¡¯ the bomb in a limited area.¡± I thought back to the earlier fight against the demon king, and recalled that it¡¯s possible to ¡®defuse¡¯ or ¡®weaken¡¯ the demonic corruption bomb by draining its mana. But that¡¯s something I¡¯d have to do. ¡°We have an invasion on our hands?¡± Roon diverted the topic. ¡°I think we¡¯re all still busy making weapons.¡± Lumoof looked at Stella. ¡°I think we can manage a short visit?¡± *** Also, we began to have some data from the first generation of the ¡®augmented¡¯ supersoldiers. The first generational child of the Treefolks and Lizardfolk were reaching the age that they began to have some shape to their souls, and the results were mixed. Different types of inherited skills caused the first generation¡¯s children to display some odd qualities. Like enhanced strength meant they spent less time in their spawning pods because their strengths caused them to tear through the pods. I suppose even with generational skills, the host or breeding facility must be able to endure the super-kids. The kids generally inherited the skills, but they were in a ¡®weakened¡¯ form, which I suspect was due to their age. Once they matured the skill would become its full form. There were a bunch of treefolks and lizards that inherited one of the harvested [void mage] skills to naturally have [void mana], and those didn¡¯t work well. It caused the baby lizards and treefolks to look weak and fragile, and they had to be on life support. So, it¡¯s not as if every skill can be injected, skills needed to be compatible with the child, or it would cause problems. The researchers and caretakers also squabbled frequently over the conditions they faced. The caretakers were selected from those who used to support the Valthorns and their children. The unusual abilities these children had all needed special care and attention, but the researchers also wanted data, so the two frequently bickered. Right now, there were already 3rd and even 4th generation Valthorns, since it¡¯s been almost one hundred years since I re-emerged from the Rottedlands. *** The Mountainworld was still the same, and when Lumoof returned, we were not greeted with fighting. That was a good sign. The first village we met looked relatively normal, still quite militarised, but everyone looked relaxed. A bit of casual, alcohol fueled conversation later, the heroes have been busy fighting demon champions. After they were captured by the demon king, the rumors seemed to say they were afraid of the demon king, so didn¡¯t dare to make the final assault. Not something they said out loud, but it wasn¡¯t difficult to coax it out of drunkards. It was quite obvious in hindsight that being possessed and captured for so long would be a traumatic thing for the heroes, but, I would¡¯ve thought the gods¡¯ mind control would circumvent those fears and drive them towards the demon king. Or maybe, as long as the heroes were still ¡®fighting¡¯ demons, and not actively avoiding demons altogether... ¡°I remember Kei saying that they hear voices in their head.¡± Lumoof said. Then again, I¡¯m not sure whether these gods apply the same kind of mind control or mental suggestions as those of our world. It¡¯s not exactly the same set of gods, even if there could be some overlap. Still, the presence of the heroes significantly tipped the scales, as the heroes could take on demon champions easily as they leveled. It didn¡¯t take particularly long for us to eventually return to the seat of the council of kings, and find them in a significantly better mood. There was a return of the arts and entertainment, and the shops looked like they¡¯ve had a renaissance of sorts. ¡°Welcome back, your excellency.¡± Lumoof¡¯s presence was initially undetected, but eventually someone saw him and ratted him out. One of the lizardpeople councillors came to greet him. ¡°On behalf of the council of kings, we once again welcome the savior of our heroes.¡± It was almost public knowledge that there was some otherworldly help, by now. Our presence in this world was not a secret, and since the kings knew about it, almost everyone else soon learned of the other worlds. Some formalities later, a meeting was arranged with the kings, the heroes and a large group of advisors, where Lumoof then shared our experience with Sabnoc, and the post-Sabnoc destruction. There were only a few differences so far, so it¡¯s likely that this demon king was a similar variant as Sabnoc. The two heroes, now in better shape, even if they were still affected by their trauma, quickly asked whether we would be able to send heroes here. We rejected it, using the void mana as an excuse. Still, there were some things that could be done with the knowledge. One. There may be heroes where their souls have been captured by the demons Two. They started evacuation of the area near to the demon king, based on an estimate of how much area was lost to the demonic corruption. They, of course, didn¡¯t say the knowledge came from another world, but from the gods themselves. The temples didn¡¯t like it, but thanks to the decade-long war, the Kings were more powerful than the temples, and so used their powers to make those who lived too near move away. There wasn¡¯t much to evacuate, either, since thanks to the long war, vast areas were already a mini-Rottedlands Thirdly, the heroes also made preparations, equipped with the knowledge of the tricks Sabnoc used. It¡¯s like playing with a walkthrough, and after discussing how someone else had already cleared the game. As it is, they¡¯ve reached a somewhat comfortable status quo, where they are just hunting the champions for level. We didn¡¯t say it out loud. I didn¡¯t want to trigger the gods¡¯ mental controls. There was something we wanted to know. What triggered the demon king¡¯s win condition? When did they go for the core? Why was the demon king still stationery when the heroes were already free? ¡°We can hear it. It¡¯s calling us to it.¡± The two heroes said. ¡°We¡¯re pretty sure it even sees us.¡± We know. ¡°But I¡¯m afraid.¡± The two heroes were visibly shaking as the boy started to share his fears. ¡°After that first time, I¡¯m not sure if I could face it again. I know I have to. But...¡± I thought I felt divine energies in the air as the heroes let out their worries in a meeting room. ¡°We have to.¡± Darn. Triggered it anyway. ¡°Can you help us?¡± We have a demon king of our own to fight. We have four years left, and the next demon king, now that I¡¯ve seen it, worries me immensely. After the meeting, Lumoof suggested that perhaps we could help. The levels would help us against the demon king, since we could get new skills. It was something worth thinking about. Loggerheads Year 208 After watching the heroes show off their new weapons, we tried to make our own glass weapons, and we found the best way was to actually make them the non-magical way. Magical fires interfered with the anti-magical qualities, and conventional fires didn¡¯t. Or at least, mana-powered fires were weakened by the antimagic sand and just made it harder to actually work with them. That didn¡¯t stop my craftsmen from trying, and the end result from our first few ¡®successful¡¯ attempts were quite similar to obsidian, and these glass weapons felt very much like glass cannons, that they shattered after a few uses. Our own tests suggested that they were extremely effective against creatures with high amounts of mana, thanks to the mana drain effects, and they also seemed to trigger some kind of nausea if one wasn¡¯t able to handle the effects of the drain on the body and senses, when we tested them lightly on our own folks. The spears also caused the mana with a person or creature to become more ¡®unstable¡¯, again, any one with levels should be able to suppress and control their mana, but if not controlled it could cause the mana to combust. I suspect this ¡®mana-ignition¡¯ quality to these anti-magic sand and the antimagic solar rays were the cause of my treechikomas combusting into flames. They had little mana regulation or suppression ability, and as such, once the mana in them went crazy, they couldn¡¯t stop it. These weapons also didn¡¯t like magical ¡®storage¡¯, so they worked against things like bags of holding. Still, Roon¡¯s super range meant he could still exploit it, and I could still move these things with my portals. They even interfered with certain kinds of teleportation, though not portals. Magic could be applied around them, but not through them without significant force. It really was fascinating to work with these kinds of unique resources and I wondered what was unique to each of these worlds. Surely, even a world like Treehome must have something unique that wasn¡¯t found on the other worlds? So far, I don¡¯t have much idea of what truly was unique between my world versus the Mountainworld or the Threeworld. Not without significant trade and knowledge exchange. I also commanded my assistants and artificial minds to search the parasite world, though we didn¡¯t find anything so far, and we even tested the waters too. I wondered whether it was something like ¡®tier¡¯ or ¡®epoch¡¯ unlocks. Like how in Civilizations, we¡¯d have to acquire the necessary research and technology knowledge before we were able to locate natural resources like Oil or Uranium. If so, maybe I¡¯m just too low on the tech-tree. I can¡¯t see what¡¯s really unique to our worlds until I get the right skills. *** We had about three years left before the demon king would come to our world, and our preparations to face the anti-magic demon king were in full swing. So, Lumoof then brought up the topic of the otherworldly heroes, shared their trauma and also their appeal for help. ¡°We should help them.¡± The heroes themselves volunteered for it. Prabu and Colette were keen to assist once we shared the circumstances of the other world. Ken, of course, realised this tied into his idea for a League of Heroes. ¡°That involves a deployment of Aeon¡¯s seed on that world. Something we¡¯re still considering as it¡¯s Aeon¡¯s last one.¡± Unless I gain more seeds in the future, but with levels so scarce, it is something to be considered a bit more strategically. But honestly, there really were really just two types of choices. One, against the demon king, and two, here, on the Mountainworld or the Threeworlds. After my failed attempt on the demon king on the Antimagic world, I was quite open to the idea of a clone here. ¡°From what we know so far, each world gets invaded by one demon world at a time, correct? So, each world in itself represents an opportunity to explore one more demon world. More demon kings to fight, which is the only good source of high level experience as it is.¡± Ken spoke up for the idea. ¡°But we have three years left before this world gets invaded-¡± ¡°Which shouldn¡¯t matter. Reality is, we need to be stronger if the demon king from this anti-magic world is as strong as Aeon described. We need to participate in the fight against this demon king, which we can fight on our own terms because it¡¯s there, stagnant and waiting. It¡¯s abilities are also largely known, due to Aeon¡¯s own past experience with a similar demon king. On top of that, it is stationary, which means there¡¯s a whole list of abilities that Aeon and the rest of us can abuse.¡± I thought back to Harris and gang, and even before that, of Meela and Alexis. I remembered they had long range weaponry and spells. Edna thought over it, and concurred with Ken. ¡°In truth, we¡¯re only risking the heroes. The domain holders will survive this, and we will gain levels. If we can minimise the risk to our four heroes, that would make this exercise a net gain.¡± This was simply because cannot be added to my pantheon, and they also could not receive my Court of the Deitree. They could only get normal familiars. ¡°If we make sufficient emergency teleportation devices, we could avoid most of the risk from a sudden detonation.¡± The main cause of death for past heroes was actually the post-death detonation, and that was something they needed to prepare for, so, with a few redundant countermeasures, Roon and Johann eventually relented. They were not keen on assisting at first, but Ken¡¯s focus on gaining levels did outweigh the risks, especially with the right countermeasures. After I heard both sides, I too eventually accepted that supporting the heroes was a good idea. The levels we could gain would help, and there was no reason to stop it. We also had to consider the risks of defeating the demon king, because Sabnoc did nuke almost a quarter to a third of a continent to death. ¡°Aeon, you are much stronger now compared to the time when you faced Sabnoc. Do you think a wall of your trees could block off the demonic corruption, if it happens?¡± I wasn¡¯t sure. Maybe? I remembered the energy from such a detonation was exponentially stronger at the core, than at the edges. I remember the wave of demonic energies crushing the trees further away from me. I¡¯m pretty sure my clone can survive the wave, it¡¯s just whether my wall of subsidiary trees and normal trees could withstand the demonic corruption. We could use the anti-magic glass weapons to weaken the demonic energies too, and so,, I started experimenting on anti-magic trees. Trees that were made from the sands of the demon world. It resisted assimilation into a tree, but the anti-magic weapon could help. For now, they made large anti-magic glass barriers. These glass barriers would serve as an additional protection for the heroes and my domain holders. Alka was enthusiastic as we worked out the offensive plan. A stationary target was the perfect target for him to exploit his ¡®shot from the stars¡¯, especially with the anti-magic ammunition and Alka¡¯s wide repertoire of star mana bombs. As everyone worked out their part of the plan, I felt nervous, and even felt privately quite suspicious. Was this anti-magic glass weapon really that much of a super-material? Was everything really going to work so well? I wondered whether this was going to overstretch us before our own demon king. I had doubts, even if I knew it didn¡¯t make sense. Logically fighting every battle and gaining levels is the best path forward. We just had to stack the deck, and make sure we attacked every demon king with sufficient overwhelming force. *** ¡°Aeon, our patron, agreed to assist with the battle against the Demon King, but there are conditions, and it will be our plan.¡± Lumoof spoke to the council of Kings, the heroes and the gallery of their high level individuals. ¡°And in return, the two heroes would help us with our demon king.¡± The two heroes agreed. Then, Lumoof outlined our battle plan for the benefit of those present. Six heroes in total, four from our world, would face the demon king, and they would be supported by my domain holders. Edna would be present to tank, Roon for ranged weaponry and bombardment, and Lumoof for field healing and to suppress the demonic bomb. I would have to deploy my clone somewhere close to the demon king, and when the time is right, teleport the heroes over. The plan also involved walling off the demon king¡¯s post-death corruption, just in case it detonated.. We outlined a possibility that the demon king would ¡®wake up¡¯ and attack us once the four heroes from our world arrive, or when my main tree was deployed. If that¡¯s the case, it¡¯d be a simple mad scramble to fight the demon king. If there was some time before we fought the demon king, I would start to gather more of those ¡®forest rods¡¯. At the same time, we¡¯d use the time to stockpile star-mana ammunition and bombs. Of course, this would be our ideal outcome. At the same time, this strategy involved deployment of my clone, and I would like to have a permanent place once I deployed my clone. So, Lumoof also negotiated for one of the demonic lands as the spoils for my assistance. This was contentious, and some of them said it was like we were annexing a plot of land. Which we were, I guess. Still, it¡¯s no one¡¯s territory as it is, because of the decade-long war. Once my tree was deployed, that location would be the staging point for the assault. The kings haggled a bit, but eventually agreed in principle. I could sense that they grew weary of the long wars, and I even sensed some underlying frustration with their heroes. There were some murmurs in the crowd that this was some sort of land grab and invasion, and the priests looked uncomfortable with letting another ¡®force¡¯ claim their world. But they couldn¡¯t deny it in the end. Even in their world, heroes who survived frequently went on to start their own kingdoms, sometimes by force. This was similar. Lumoof and the councils went over the maps of the world and eventually settled on a spot that was once a forest. Once. *** A group of elites escorted Lumoof to the target site, mainly just to ensure that we didn¡¯t put the seed anywhere else. It wasn¡¯t hard to blaze a path through demon territory, though we encountered a few demonic champions along the way. It was located about two-three days away from the immobile demon king, and already we could feel its pulsing presence in the air. It was like an ambient pressure that could be felt in the mana, and even the ground itself was filled with demonic mana. There was a very clear possibility that the demon king may immediately attack us once I deployed my clone, so everyone was ready for a jump. Once we arrived, Lumoof immediately entered avatar mode, and my mana cleared the land around us. The clone deployed. I felt something in the ground once my roots started spreading in the ground. There was once a leyline that flowed underneath, that was now streaked with demonic energy, and that line of demonic energy headed to the core. It was subtle, mixed with the energies of the leyline, but I could sense it because I¡¯m very familiar with demonic energy now. It was there, slowly pushing into the ground, and I could feel some kind of resistance. ¡°The demon king has already started tunnelling to the core, but it does so through a magical leyline.¡± The demon king tapped into the leyline. I wondered whether this was another piece of the puzzle. As my own clone grew, I wondered whether the demon king would immediately move, but the demon king did not react. I was relieved, and my clone took just two days to fully form. The benefits of a world that still had reasonable quantities of ambient mana. Once I was ready, I began to flood the area with beetles, spawning trees constantly and began pushing back against the demonic corruption in the area. Roon, Johann and Edna arrived soon after. All this while, the elites stayed put, and the elites of the Mountainworld were frankly horrified when they faced my gigantic clone tree and my three domain holders. Their reports to their masters back home were filled with similarly colorful words. At the same time, once my presence stabilised, I felt something different in the air, and I knew something was up. I wasn¡¯t sure why it didn¡¯t happen instantly- [You¡¯ve connected to the energies of another world] [Soul Forge : Green Unlocked] [Artificial Souls Level Cap increased to Level 80] [All artificial souls now have Green option unlocked] [Soul Spiritualisation unlocked : Souls empowered with Soul Spiritualisation no longer need a physical body to appear outside of the Soul Realm. They will take the form of ghosts and spirits. Ghosts and spirits can gain levels like normal. You may create artificial souls as ghosts or wraiths.] [Mountainworld Soul synchronised. You may now collect souls from the Mountainworld] [Tree-Bounded Souls unlocked : You may now stop any chosen soul from reincarnating. You may stop no more than ten souls simultaneously with this ability.] ¡°Something happened?¡± Lumoof asked. ¡°I just got a new Soul Forge Color.¡± I had forgotten that the Soul forge needed a ¡®permanent¡¯ connection, not just a temporary one through my Avatar mode. But, I didn¡¯t get this back in the Cometworld? Was it because it was a dying world? And why was there such a long time lag? Because the demon king was fighting or in the process of capturing the core? ¡°Huh.¡± It¡¯s been a really long time since that happened and I didn¡¯t even know what to do. And now¡¯s not a good time. No matter, I focused on the plan. Since the demon king didn¡¯t react to us, did not seem bothered by my presence, my beetles fanned out in all directors. We hunted for the demonic rods, I only had one left, and I wanted more. My subsidiary trees pushed outwards, and we attempted to encircle the demon king. These trees would form a containment ring, and at the same time, spawned beetles that helped me capture the rods. It was actually really difficult to find the rods before they were deployed, but this was a matter of time. We eventually collected about seven more rods, and I sent these rods back to the valley. Meanwhile, Lumoof returned to the cities to coordinate the heroes¡¯ movement. *** He was greeted differently this time around, the reports of the elite had already gone to the Council, and I could tell they all felt like they bit more than they could chew. Previously, he was treated respectfully, and the kings conducted themselves cordially. This time, Lumoof picked up a sense of fear that was not there before. My priest had a calming presence, and his aura, on its own, was gentle, like the lapping waves of the sea, the gentle but present breeze of the beach. Mine was different, it was the thick, overwhelming presence of the jungle, and even for just a moment, the elites remembered it. It was imprinted in their minds, just as how my own Valthorns remembered me. ¡°The heroes are not here yet?¡± The two heroes of the Mountainworld were very eager to meet their otherworld counterparts. I learned their names this time, Adrian and Kelly, and they were in a bus with their friends, when a truck came for them. It¡¯s always a damned truck. ¡°They will.¡± Lumoof smiled. ¡°But not yet. We will try to arrange a session for all of you to meet before the battle. They are also eager to meet some people from their homeworld.¡± I soon learned that Kelly was also a dark knight of some kind, but unlike Edna, she was more of the offensive type and had a mixed skillset between a barbarian and a knight. Adrian, on the other hand, was actually a food-monk-hero, and excelled in physical abilities. He had to consume food before battle to release them as power. Why did the gods think this was a good combination against a Sabnoc-type? Did the gods make a mistake with this demon king? My trees spread quickly, and some soon covered the cities. With that, came information. The kings and elites were visibly disturbed by the beetles that flooded the entire theater of war, and that fear manifested through their conduct. Already, there were private discussions of what to do after the war. How to ¡®deal¡¯ with me. Fear and suspicion. This was the nature of people. Lumoof had to quickly intervene before this got out of hand, and met the kings and priests. ¡°Our patron has no intention of invading your world. Once the war is over, we would return the lands back to you, except for the agreed plot, since that is a part of my god.¡± The agreed plot was still pretty large, comparable to a medium sized kingdom. Sufficient for a presence. ¡°This wall of trees is merely to contain the demon kings.¡± What could they do but accept Lumoof¡¯s explanation at face value? The armies of beetles were each in the tens of thousands, and the sight of beetles duking it out against demons was truly gruesome. We were still not yet ready to hit out at Sabnoc, and about three to four months after my clone was deployed, the demon king seemed to detect my presence and began to attack. We endured multiple attacks from the demon king¡¯s subordinates. Champions came for us, and the battlefields were covered in craters, from all the demonic champions¡¯ bombardments. Still, it refused to move, and I felt the energies of the Core fluctuate. As I also began to notice the leylines were also ¡®taking¡¯ from me during the ebbs. I felt time was slowly, slowly running out, and called the four heroes to prepare for teleportation. The Chopping Block Year 208 (continued) The heroes exchanged greetings, and their arrival was greeted with bombardments from demon champions. Six heroes. Those were relatively good odds, and both Adrian and Kelly were in the low level 100s after their long periods of hunting demons. It actually cost me quite a bit of mana to send heroes through my clones, and it drained about one third of my mana-storage potatoes. The heroes were ready, and the demon king, continued to pump out demon champions and sent them our way. Magical projectiles from their champions were now a regular occurrence. There was an air of tension in the air. Expectations. ¡°We¡¯ve killed a few demon kings. We¡¯ve seen something like this in the hero journals, and so, we¡¯ll do it again. I know you are afraid, but this is our job, and we¡¯re good at it. You two will be, too.¡± Chung was the one that spoke and tried to calm both Adrian and Kelly. ¡°All we need you guys to do is hang in there, and don¡¯t get killed.¡± After a bit of pep talk, the heroes briefed Adrian and Kelly, again, on what we¡¯ve seen in our own exchange with a similar demon king. A castle demon, perhaps? ¡°When you come to our world, you should have a look at the journals.¡± Prabu added. ¡°And snacks. Trust me. You¡¯ll feel better with snacks.¡± Colette promptly gave Prabu an elbow. ¡°Don¡¯t diminish their trauma like that.¡± ¡°I mean, I know. The snacks are just the equivalent of putting flowers on poop. It¡¯s still poop.¡± Prabu responded. ¡°But between the two I know I prefer flowers on poop.¡± Adrian and Kelly just sniggered. ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not.¡± Colette stared at Prabu. ¡°We¡¯ve all lost our friends in our own fights against the demons, and all of us will learn to cope in a different way. It¡¯s not helpful to make it sound so simple.¡± Prabu probably realised this was a dangerous conversation, and decided to back off. ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re right. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Colette took a deep breath, and after an awkward silence, sighed. ¡°I know you don¡¯t mean any harm.¡± Adrian and Kelly, the two heroes of the Mountainworld just stared. Colette, of course, realised how awkward the conversation had become, and decided to switch topics. ¡°We¡¯ll be fighting together for some time. So let¡¯s get to know each other.¡± The female archmage answered. She looked not much older than when she first came, courtesy of the immense magic she held. They shared a pot of tea, and the two looked visibly calmer after a cup. They once again went through why their first assault failed, and how that led to their capture. The four heroes of Treehome also shared their own battles with their demon king, and they too shared the failures they faced. How their friends died the first time. There was something about sharing their own losses that seemed to really relieve both Adrian and Kelly¡¯s hearts. Even if it didn¡¯t fix it. Even if it didn¡¯t even heal all that much. ¡°We should get Kei and Stella here.¡± Prabu added. ¡°They are former heroes. Well, Kei was, but both of them saw as much shit as we all did. But I guess we can meet them ¡± ¡°If we live through this, we will.¡± Adrian said. Based on what the two heroes shared, there were some differences compared to Sabnoc. For one, this hero didn¡¯t jam our communication system, so they were not forced to build communication towers. In many ways, what they suggested even seemed to say that this demon king was a ¡®weaker¡¯ variant of Sabnoc. That¡¯s not confirmed, of course. It¡¯s likely that the demon king didn¡¯t even bring out its best skills, since the heroes were so weak. It still didn¡¯t make sense why it did this, of course. Why did the demon king ¡®capture¡¯ some heroes? Why keep them alive? The heroes went through something similar to Alexis. They saw the fields of demonic spires, the vast lands. The demons read their minds, for sure. What was the purpose? Did they use the hero¡¯s mana to help their capture of the world? Or use their minds to help improve or feed their own? Or were they looking for something in the hero¡¯s minds? Or is it just a kind of parasitic or herding behavior, that the captured heroes are ¡®farmed¡¯ for something? I felt like I wasn¡¯t truly understanding all the pieces that were now available to me. My trees also searched the Mountainworld for daemolite, and we found it everywhere. I was fairly sure I would find it in the Threeworlds too. The demons had rift gates, and these rift gates were the way to open paths across worlds. We also knew, at least from a simple guess, that these daemolite were meant to mark their presence to the demons. Back home we had accumulated daemolite over the years, since our discovery of their purpose, but we have yet to destroy them. Not until we figured out how to manipulate it, or at least, mislead it. I had one of the wild ideas to plant the daemolite on the moon, and lure the demon king there instead. The fight against the demon king would happen somewhere away from population centers, and we could, if we need to, blow up the moon. Or use the daemolite to subtly control the rift gates. Or they could be two entirely independent things. Daemolites are just nothing more than location markers, and once sufficient worlds ¡®locked¡¯ onto a world, the daemolites serve no other function. If rift gates don¡¯t rely on daemolites for any sort of specific targeting beyond locating it as a world, then destroying daemolites may be futile. It¡¯s all speculation at this point. *** We took full advantage of the demon king not attacking us to fully prepare ourselves for the fight. Roon was especially keen on unleashing hell on the demon king for a distance. The heroes themselves made plans for failures, and Ken walked through quite a few gimmicks that he thought would be commonly seen in such immobile bosses. It¡¯s surprisingly insightful, and in hindsight, it¡¯s actually quite common to see immobile bosses in earlier games, especially side scrollers. ¡°Ready?¡± I asked everyone present, spread throughout the theater of war. They would all launch attacks from their respective positions, and then all head towards the demon king. Everyone gave their signal.We were all going to hit it together with long range weapons. An all out attack, from everyone, and then we¡¯ll see what happens. Edna and the close range heroes will move in then. Lumoof would move to support them with healing. Everyone unleashed their skills, as the entire world was momentarily flooded with side effects of using so much magic in a short period of time. The mages launched a massive volley of long range fireballs, magical missiles and other kinds of energy blasts. Chung shipped fifty large hero-items through my abilities and used them to shoot a barrage of hero-powered ballista bolts. Momentarily, there was enough magic flying through the skies that everyone, even those without magic, could feel a pulse in the air. Men and women from villages an entire continent away could feel the vibrations caused by so much magic. The close-range heroes Hafiz and Kelly both had to stay back. Roon also used his domain ability to fire star mana bombs at the demon king. The attacks landed within a span of an hour, and for a moment, the world was greeted with an earthquake that could be felt throughout the entire world. This explosion was bigger than the minefield we had for the previous demon king, there were more heroes attacking, and coupled with Alka¡¯s star mana bombs. The explosion was so intense that it would scar that plot of land with magical residue for decades, and cause tremendous magical instability for at least months, but in time, it would heal. As it always did. I could sense that the attacks landed, because there was a momentary weakness in the demonic energies, and I felt it ebb in the ground beneath and around us. Then a pulse, and another strong shake. The dust had not settled, but the heroes continued to attack. They were not going to wait for it to transform. A rookie mistake, and Ken strictly reminded them to double-tap, even if it seemed dead. Roon waited, however, since we didn¡¯t have that many star mana bombs. As the magical attacks provided cover fire, Edna was the first to approach, confident that she could survive anything the demon king threw at it. The attacks kept on going, and for a moment, we felt the world suddenly tear. A rift opened right around where the demon king once was, and then, we sensed demon champions from throughout the world vanish, and reappeared around the demon king. From those rifts, the demons counterattacked with magical explosions. ¡°It¡¯s still transforming!¡± Chung said, his eyes glowed with some kind of sight-ability. ¡°Don¡¯t let it finish.¡± He recharged his array of magic ballistas, and another volley was unleashed. The second volley mostly smashed into the demon champions, they took the hit on behalf of their king, and were vaporised by the star-mana charged bolts. The land around the demon king had transformed into a huge crater a result of all the weapons we deployed, and there was a thick layer of fire, plasma, dust and dirt whipped up by all the explosions. Through my spiritual sight, my view of the demon king was not obscured by dust, only interrupted by the sparks of magic in the air. I saw it transforming and splitting apart, and then, for a brief second, a surge in magical energy from within the demon king. Immediately, energy beams fired outwards, aimed at the heroes and also our array of weapons. The heroes dodged and some of the weapons were destroyed. Our shields couldn¡¯t fully block the beam. It was still strong enough to destroy my shields and some. Only Edna¡¯s ability allowed it to take the hit head on. At the same time, the demon champions that survived Chung¡¯s volley of ballista bolts started to fuse, and a few turned into the supercannon-type demons. This transformation happened incredibly quickly, far faster than what I¡¯ve seen or heard, and once completed, they added cover fire and fired a constant ray of demonic energy. The rift sent more demon champions through. The heroes weaved through the magical beams, and moved closer. Ranged attacks needed longer charge times, and just were not as powerful as their mid or close range attacks or skills. Meanwhile, I kept my focus locked on the demon king. My artificial minds supported the wider battle, and we spawned trees as fast as we could. Beetles from these trees supported the larger battlefield, as the attack on the demon king seemed to rouse the regular demons out of their routine, and caused them to attack their nearby kingdoms. My trees also tried to close in on the demon king. ¡°Let¡¯s shift to close combat.¡± Hafiz dodged a massive beam of energy overhead, his magical shield battered from all the attacks. The supercannon-type demon champion also blanketed the battlefield with it¡¯s rays and projectiles. The earth rumbled again, and this time, I felt a presence inject itself into the ground. It moved towards us. My roots spread to intercept it, and then, something blew up from beneath my subsidiary trees. Or tried to. My roots managed to hold the rocks in place. Another demon champion type surged out of the ground, and it looked like a spiky hedgehog. I didn¡¯t hesitate, and in those moments, my roots pierced it quite easily, and for a moment I seemed to have gotten it. It should¡¯ve disintegrated. But the demon King wouldn¡¯t let its¡¯ army of demons die. Then a pulse of demonic energy spread outwards, as I thought I saw the demon king¡¯s energy splinter into a thousand pieces. The spiky demonic hedgehog, skewered by my roots, glowed, and empowered by demonic energy from the King itself, revived. Multiple champions throughout the battlefield, some killed earlier, were instantly revived by that demonic energy. ¡°It revives destroyed champions. That¡¯s a new trick.¡± Chung commented, partly in bewilderment. I was partly amazed that it had an ¡®Edna-like¡¯ skill. Essentially an army of undying. The champions themselves were still quite weak, even with the slightly enhanced power, so it didn¡¯t take much effort to crush them. Not with my current levels, but they kept reviving. I skewered the demonic hedgehog again, and then wrapped my roots around it. I crushed it, but I didn¡¯t move fast enough. And yes, even as I thought it was dead, it wriggled, and revived once there was another pulse from the demon king. ¡°Focus on the demon king!¡± Edna had already closed in on the main body, a large blob of demonic energy that started to swirl.... And then suddenly, it released something strange. Souls. Spirits. Three dead heroes, and then, demonic flesh gathered around those souls. Kelly and Adrian, the two mountainworld heroes, recognised them, and screamed. Kelly immediately charged in her star mana armor. The flesh shaped into surprisingly life-like versions of the dead heroes. ¡°Kelly! It¡¯s us! Don¡¯t you recognise us?¡± One of the demonic fleshed heroes said in an alien but incredibly lifelike voice, but I saw an intense gathering of demonic energy. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Edna! Intercept! It¡¯s a trap!¡± I commanded, as my roots immediately surged out and attempted to attack the ¡®dead heroes¡¯. ¡°Kelly, retreat!¡± But Kelly didn¡¯t listen, my roots didn¡¯t do enough damage, and once she got close enough, an intense beam of demonic energy blasted outwards from the ¡®demonic hero¡¯. Edna couldn¡¯t get there in time. My wooden shields and Colette¡¯s magic barrier appeared and we blocked a large bit of the blast, but that attack was no weaker than the demon king¡¯s deathrays, so the heroine still took a bad hit. The demon hero disintegrated, it¡¯s energy spent, and there were two of the demonic flesh heroes left. Lumoof quickly moved aside to assist, and we saw her soul fluctuate and weaken. Her skin was charred, like she had just walked through an intense fire. Had we not blocked it, I was sure that would¡¯ve instantly killed her. ¡°She¡¯s out.¡± Lumoof lifted her and immediately retreated as fast as he could. She would need intense healing, and the demon¡¯s energies were so strong it even injected itself into her body. I vaguely sensed the presence of a demonic curse. ¡°That¡¯s fucking low.¡± Chung cursed and they kept up their volleys at the main blob. It was irritating though, because the demon champions kept reviving, and even when defeated, they would only remain dead for fifteen minutes or so. The pulses would revive them, and once revived, it would force all the heroes to be on the defense. It was so irritating that both Johann and Roon directed their attention on the demon champions, and concentrated their attacks on the champions to redirect some of the ¡®aggro¡¯ and open up some attack-windows. The heroes could not attack and defend at the same time, and I could instantly see why this demon king won the first round. This was one pain in the ass. Prabu and Colette naturally focused on the other two demonic heroes, and the other two demonic hero-lookalikes just looked at the remaining mountainworld hero, and smiled creepily. ¡°Adrian!¡± Adrian cursed. ¡°Don¡¯t speak to me! You¡¯re not them. Don¡¯t fucking pretend to be them.¡± He retaliated with magical attacks, and the demon heroes blocked it with magic of their own. ¡°But we are! Come. Join us! Join our rebellion against the Puppeteers!¡± They said with a smile. ¡°Why do we serve the Puppeteers, anyway?¡± They moved incredibly quickly, with speeds that did not seem weaker than the heroes. How? How did the demon king animate these lookalikes that even had some almost-hero-tier abilities? I was very curious what kind of world this demon king came from. What kind of environment created this demon king? Colette, Prabu and Chung, the three heroes in ¡®middle-range¡¯ all shared a glance. ¡°He needs help.¡± I surveyed the battlefield then. Roon and Johann kept destroying the demon champions, but this took all their time. Edna and Hafiz were both in close range, and they hacked away at the massive demon king blob. They seemed to be doing damage, but they didn¡¯t have much window to assist others, since the blob itself had close-range offensive magics and also detonated small explosions around it¡¯s main body. They were occupied, and in fact, Edna and Hafiz needed support too. Lumoof withdrew all the way to the rear, a good distance away from the battlefield. He was still focused on stabilising Kelly. An army of healers were on standby, mostly from the Kingdom, but some from the Valthorns. They quickly got to work and suppressed the demonic curse within Kelly¡¯s body, while keeping her alive. Lumoof¡¯s magical energies were exceptional at healing, and she got better, but it¡¯ll be at least half a day before she can return to combat. I needed to free up Roon and Johann to support the others. I helped to kill the demon champions with my roots, but they weren¡¯t dying permanently. I believe there must be a way to kill them permanently. I remembered how it was possible to interrupt the demon king¡¯s reincarnation mechanic, so it must be possible with these lesser creatures. Even if they won¡¯t die, I¡¯ll just take over these champions, or at least, drain that ¡®piece¡¯ of demon king away, since that seemed to be the key to their revival mechanic. Prabu decided to help, so he teleported next to Adrian, and created a magical shield. It blocked one of the demon¡¯s magical blasts. ¡°Don¡¯t fall for it. They¡¯re goading you.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Adrian said, angry. ¡°But I can¡¯t help it.¡± The heroes traded attacks with the demons, but I concentrated on the demon champions nearby, and attacked them with my roots. But, this time, my roots pierced the body, and hunted for the demon king¡¯s energy. I found it nestled within a slightly harder part of it¡¯s body. My root snaked through the innards of the demon champion and touched it. And I absorbed it. Strangely easy. The demon champion crumbled, as if all the damage it took from the past suddenly took hold once more. I immediately set out to repeat it with every demon champion. It was fairly slow, as the demons traded attacks. Edna and Hafiz both cut away at the demon king, but they couldn¡¯t land that many hits. Not with the demon king detonating explosions. They would retreat, close in to land a cut or three, and then retreat again. Colette and Chung would then attack during the times Edna and Hafiz couldn¡¯t land a hit. The gaps between their attacks were also fairly long, since the demon king seemed to constantly shapeshift, and would regularly release beams of intense demonic energy that they had to evade. It was kinda shit realisation, but I realised ¡®defensive¡¯ heroes did not perform that well. Not against this demon king where our shields just vaporised so easily, and sometimes, even taking a hit behind shields still dealt too much damage. The demon king is in its own class, and the meta at that level of combat was offense and evasive abilities. Defense was useless unless they had something like Edna. ¡°Roon, Johann, are you able to see the demon king¡¯s energies within the demon champion? If you can take it out, it would immediately make it crumble.¡± They nodded and both switched their weapons to the mana-draining weapons, and went for close range attacks instead. They both had some kind of mana-sight ability, and it was quite hard to spot the demon king¡¯s energy, but the anti-mana glass worked incredibly well, and the champions¡¯ revival was interrupted once they managed to hack through the demon champions and get to where that demon energy was stored. They crumbled when that energy was drained. We cleared the champions quickly, and the battlefield¡¯s bullet-hell of magical projectiles gradually became less dense. It would lessen the strain on the heroes to deal damage. With all three of us taking out the champions, it still took about two hours to eliminate all of them from the battlefield. We were left with the shadow of heroes, and we shifted our focus to help with Adrian and Prabu. I was very curious what these two creatures were. They weaved and dodged quickly. These ¡®demonic flesh heroes¡¯ were very high quality, and had the speed and power to back it up. Still, I noticed that they were still susceptible to my aura, even if just a little bit, and that slowed them a bit. Eventually, working together with Roon and Johann, I finally stabbed my roots into one of them, and I began draining it¡¯s mana. The demonic hero screamed and shouted, and then, detonated itself up. Or tried to. I detected it¡¯s mana gathering, and my roots immediately intercepted it and interfered with it¡¯s mana gathering. Instead, it just disintegrated. The last remaining demonic hero sensed it¡¯s doom, and before anything, decided to detonate itself. That very act, however, meant it¡¯s magical defenses were down, Prabu, immediately wrapped his magic around the demon then, flung the demonic hero high up into the sky where it detonated midair harmlessly. Adrian was exhausted. He wasn¡¯t as high level as the rest, and this battle weakened him. The trauma of facing his deceased friends drained him out. ¡°Retreat. We¡¯ll handle it.¡± We were left with the main body. Kelly had stabilised, but she remained at the rear to recover under the care of the other healers. ¡°The demon king is hurt, for sure.¡± The heroes moved to attack, this time it was a clean fight. Four heroes, Edna and the demon king. The rifts occasionally spawned demon champions, but I took care of that. I mostly spectated this phase of the battle, occasionally helping with a shield or a root strike. My attacks still didn¡¯t do much damage. Roon and Johann also retreated, but they also helped with cover fire. The repeated attacks from the heroes eventually weakened it, and we sensed the reduced intensity of it¡¯s demonic energy, dropping over time. ¡°Let¡¯s end this.¡± With all of its gimmicks removed, the concentrated attacks eventually destroyed the blob, and then, a spire-like thing was within. Then, I saw an immaterial energy-beam that reached for the core of the world. The spire-like thing started to glow as it floated midair, and I detected a huge surge in corruption-type energies. Very, very familiar stuff. This was the Rottedlands bomb all over again, and this time, I won¡¯t let it happen. Lumoof charged forward at my command, as the spire created a magical barrier around itself. The magical barrier blocked the attacks from the heroes, but did not stop Lumoof, Edna or Hafiz from going through it. I felt my domain push through the barrier, and Lumoof touched the spire itself. At that moment, it attempted to attack us mentally. ¡®Natives. Submit to us.¡¯ [Domain has blocked attempted mental attack]. Lumoof recoiled at the attack, but he too had a domain, and my energies flooded the spire. The spire smashed into the ground beneath us, and it¡¯s energies attempted to infect the land. But by now, my trees were everywhere in the battlefield, and my mana was ready to resist. ¡°Destroy the spire!¡± I shouted, and the heroes came and unleashed hell on the spire. The spire cracked, and then, disintegrated into nothingness. Not even the demon core remained. At that moment, the flesh of the demon king, many of it separated and cut off, started to transform into daemolite. [You¡¯ve defeated an otherworld demon king!] [Title obtained : Multiverse Demonhunter] [You¡¯ve gained seven levels! You are now level 221] The heroes slew the demon King of the Mountainworld. Many others gained level too. More importantly, Alka leveled from his constant supply of the weapons of war, and ascended to be my 5th domain-holder. Treesellations Year 208 (continued) [Vine and root related abilities are all significantly upgraded. Your root distance has been significantly increased and the depth and range expanded.] [Demonic Mana Resistance significantly enhanced.] [New Domain Skill - Guardian Treants] [You are able to spawn guardian treants near your clones or your main body. Guardian treants can act independently and fight, but may not move too far from your main body or clones] ¡°Eh.¡± I found that ability quite weak. It just added more of the ¡®same¡¯ type of ability to my skill set. I already had strong support skills, and guardians... well, that didn¡¯t add much. I needed more offensive ability, or failing that, more ¡®movement¡¯ and ¡®mana¡¯ related abilities. Adding more flesh to the battlefield generally, well, didn¡¯t do much. Yet, I also wondered whether that¡¯s a wise choice. I¡¯m a tree. Even with clones and more trees, I am still a tree, and was I trying to fit a round peg into a square hole? It¡¯s tempting to believe, as one gains levels, that I would become more ¡®all-rounded¡¯, more ¡®able¡¯ to do what I was not able to do before. But I¡¯m increasingly noticing that the system also forces a ¡®type¡¯ on me, and doing something outside what the system considers ¡®normal¡¯ for me generally requires extensive preparation. Even then, I would still be outcompeted by those who had the right classes and optimal builds for those things. The domain choices were really one of the rare times when the system actually allowed us to actively ¡®steer¡¯ the direction of our powers. This is not so for humanoids, who, through their actions, can choose what class they acquire. Monsters, on the other hand, are what they were designed to be, and evolutionary choices still had to remain linked to their core form. Therefore, now that I could somewhat ¡®modify¡¯ living beings to some degree, could I therefore ¡®guide¡¯ this path elsewhere? Just as I attempted to steer the development of my treefolks and my lizardpeople, I¡¯m starting to realise perhaps I missed monsters. The creation of true anti-demon monsters would be a great start. Just as nature is often an arms race between different species, why couldn¡¯t nature have their own counter for demons? The demons evolved indirectly, adapting the qualities of their captured world into their own, each time, expanding the variety of demons, one world at a time. I would also speculate that each demon king was also slightly different, thus, adding another form of evolution to their force. My evidence was that Sabnoc was slightly different compared to the demon king of the Mountainworlds, perhaps the ratio of ¡®demon¡¯ and ¡®core¡¯ was mixed slightly differently with each new spawn. So, nature had to evolve. The natural world most likely had two main ways of evolution. The first one, unique to this magical world, was the subtle evolution through the ¡®spawning¡¯ process, in which the system creates life out of thin air, perhaps using a blend of the existing creations. This was most apparent in the Rottedland¡¯s edges, where we had hybrid creatures and plants. Second was of course the supposed earth-way of accumulated surviving adaptations. I am inclined to believe the first was the ¡®main¡¯ evolutionary tool in this world, simply because magic and demon kings just killed everyone so quickly, that the system repopulates the world with slightly better-adapted individuals. But why let the system be the only one doing it? If I could make Treechis, why not make demon-eating hounds and beetles? Giant demon-eating worms? Training, equipping Valthorns with the right skills is fine and all, but evolution must consider all choices. A point I had clearly neglected, even when it was what I started with. I had trained beetles, and my artificial minds continued to make incremental improvements to better adapt them to our ongoing war on the Parasiteworld. Things that artificial minds were good at. Faster. Stronger. Bigger. But I could do more. Especially more ¡®radical¡¯ recreations. Different. Reconstruction from the ground up to make them more focused demon-killing machines. Artificial minds could take one or two steps back, but they were not designed for ground up remakes. I could redesign them from bottom up, create stronger versions of their original form. Not just that, I could attempt to fuse the anti-mana glass, or any other kinds of material into their structure to create something alien. Weaker, but different. And then incrementally improve that ¡®weaker¡¯ type to make it more powerful. Not just that, looking at it, could I also recreate artificial minds and improve them? I had responded to the growing need for oversight and for routine automation by adding more and more artificial minds to the problem. Patreeck assigned and allocated tasks to them. Could we make ¡®better¡¯ artificial minds, and improve their ¡®hardware¡¯ such that each level they gain did more? *** The heroes celebrated the death of the demon king. Kelly recovered after two days of intense care. ¡°So... now we need to help you with your demon king.¡± Adrian said. ¡°But how do you already know what¡¯s coming?¡± ¡°Complicated story, one I¡¯ll let you have more details once you visit our world. But the gist of it is that Aeon can see the demon king coming. Sort of.¡± ¡°Whoah.¡± The two heroes were impressed. ¡°You guys have counters for most demon kings, then?¡± Prabu shook his head. ¡°Not for the one that¡¯s coming. Aeon said the next demon king will be a massive, heavily physical, super-magic resistance, anti-magic type. Something we have no counter for. Not directly. We don¡¯t have a physical hero in our lineup, and sadly, the two of you are not pure-physical types either. So, we¡¯ll have to make do with larger numbers, and hopefully, better equipment.¡± The heroes gained some levels, but strangely, it wasn¡¯t very high. The four heroes and many of those who joined the battle also gained the same Title as I did. A useless trinket. Even those who assisted indirectly obtained the title. The four heroes from our world gained four to five levels each, though Adrian and Kelly, being lower levelled, gained about ten. A big party was held throughout the kingdoms, though the atmosphere was somewhat tense among the elites. My presence partly dampened the euphoria. The kings were fearful, and the worries had many aspects. Would we leave? What do the heroes want now? Who would do the cleanup of the demonic corruption that covered so much of the world? How do they maintain their power above the temples, or would the Kings¡¯ power and influence be usurped by the Temples again? The heroes were mostly oblivious. They were just happy to have the weight off their shoulders. The commoners partied like it truly was the end of the world. ¡°Have you guys attended parties like this?¡± Adrian asked. ¡°Like, back home.¡± ¡°Yes. Smaller ones, nothing like this. This truly is something else.¡± Decades of constant warfare finally brought to an end, and the Kings spared no expense to commemorate this momentous victory. Every kingdom contributed a small sum to the party, but combined, it was a truly lavish thing. A moment of bliss for the common folk. A moment for the heroes to forget the sacrifices and losses along the way. A moment to drown in the seemingly endless barrels of alcohol. A revenge party for a decade long war. Because these moments may be all they have, until the next demon king comes along. The nobles made the effort to approach the heroes, and their questions were meant to get a sense of how we were back home. An attempt to understand where the kingdoms stood in my world. Of course, I didn¡¯t expect Prabu to know what to answer. ¡°The Central Continent¡¯s ruled by Aeon. Directly.¡± Prabu said to a noble of the mountainworld. It was a party, and some heroes ¡°What about the temples?¡± ¡°They rule the other continents, well, indirectly via their influence on the actual rulers, but the Central Continent is pretty much de-facto controlled by Aeon and his organisation.¡± The nobles all naturally poked, and attempted to drive a wedge between myself and the heroes. ¡°Why do heroes accept such an arrangement?¡± Prabu stared at the noble curiously. ¡°Why not? Not all heroes seek to rule, and Aeon established a competent military dictatorship to support his realm. His realm is not perfect, but largely decently managed.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t heroes want to create their own vision of the world?¡± Prabu laughed at that. ¡°I think that only applies if the locals don¡¯t even know what we want, then we have no choice but to create it.¡± ¡°How is life in the Central continent, what do kings and nobles do?¡± Prabu frowned. ¡°Honestly I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t see them much. All of my dealings with the world are handled by the Valthorns.¡± ¡°Why do you let them treat you like that?¡± A noble said. ¡°Surely a hero can handle his own affairs.¡± It amused me that they goaded the wrong person. They would¡¯ve had better success with the other heroes, who mostly remained with Adrian and Kelly. Maybe they would try it with them later. Prabu just laughed at that. ¡°Eh, I¡¯m quite happy to have a small army of assistants.¡± ¡°Do you not feel like you¡¯re some menagerie animal?¡± ¡°Why would I? My needs are met, and Aeon may be my best chance to find a way home.¡± ¡°Maybe Aeon already has a way and has been withholding it from you, in order to use you to fight his wars.¡± ¡°The only wars I¡¯m fighting are against demons and my hunger. But maybe you guys should pay Aeon¡¯s clone body a visit and book a tour to our world.¡± It wasn¡¯t exactly a secret by now that I sent heroes to their world. ¡°After all, now that Aeon¡¯s clone body is here, he won¡¯t be going anywhere.¡± The nobles winced. ¡°Eh. It¡¯s quite a pleasant trip!¡± Prabu went on a promotional spree. ¡°It¡¯s safe, and as long as any of the Valtrian Order¡¯s guys accompany you, you can be assured of your safety. Food¡¯s good and the accommodations are great! There is some really interesting scenery to see too. I was told the valleys and the Freshkan Colleges are super popular with the younger nobility.¡± I somewhat cringed, so I focused on the other group of heroes. Some of the nobles approached them, but they were adept at dodging, and eventually, they left the actual party. ¡°I¡¯ve got a word of advice.¡± Chung immediately said to Adrian. ¡°If you¡¯re gonna start your own kingdom, don¡¯t stick your thing in too many places, and don¡¯t have too many kids.¡± ¡°You have kids?¡± Adrian looked at Chung like he said something funny, and asked. ¡°No. But I¡¯ve seen what my predecessors went through, and dealing with the mess isn¡¯t fun. They¡¯ll fight, and it broke my predecessor¡¯s heart when his wives and children fought with each other.¡± Adrian shrugged and nodded. Chung held his hand. ¡°I¡¯m serious. One of the things we heroes lack, surprisingly, is self control. With all this power in our hands, we can get our way easily. But there are consequences, especially with people, and with organisations. If you build a kingdom, remember that the kingdom exists because you exist. Once you die, your kingdom collapses with you.¡± ¡°Is that why you guys have not made your own kingdoms?¡± Kelly asked. ¡°When we came to this world, that¡¯s what they promised us. We¡¯d be kings and queens, heroes, we¡¯d have the man of our dreams...¡± Chung nodded. ¡°It¡¯s a lie. The beautiful cake they sold us is filled with worms. Mostly. You gotta realise which parts are not filled with worms.¡± ¡°Then...¡± Kelly looked sad. ¡°Why are we here? What should we do?¡± ¡°Survive. Until we all meet our eventual doom at the hand of some future demon king.¡± ¡°That¡¯s sad. It makes me feel like what we¡¯ve struggled so far is pointless.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not. Even in our world, we eventually die. We are doomed, either disease or old age, or many other reasons. Yet, our life back home didn¡¯t feel meaningless.¡± ¡°I thought going to class all the time was pretty meaningless.¡± Adrian quipped. ¡°Meaning is something you can create. Our predecessors tried different things. One went on a hunt for good wines, another dabbled in fashion and arts. They took what they liked, and dived deeper into it. For me, I quite like killing demons, so I¡¯m trying to be even better at it.¡± Chung answered frankly. ¡°Or you can be a snack-addict like Prabu.¡± The two other heroes heard him but did not respond. *** Around the same time, I also sent my trees to explore the area underneath the demon king. My trees spawned in where that demon king once ¡®camped¡¯, and I detected strands of daemolite that went really deep into the ground. The leylines were tainted by demonic energy, though they would fade in time. I sensed the taint weakening each day, and eventually the ley lines would flush out all the demonic energy. The demon king had somehow pulled the ley lines of the entire region to this single spot, and now that the demon king was gone, these ley lines were slowly drifting apart. This would be a good time to pin the leyline together to form a dungeon, but then, I wanted to see how a world ¡®recovered¡¯. Defeating the demon king did not answer the question I had. What was the demon¡¯s win condition? How did they win, and what determined ¡®how long¡¯ the world held up? From what Lillies said, I knew that a demon king could remain undefeated for decades, almost centuries, but still the world did not ¡®fall¡¯. Yet, from Snek¡¯s world, their world clearly collapsed quickly. This was comparable to a doctor trying to diagnose a novel disease, and now we are trying to figure out the mechanics of the disease. A mutating virus. Concurrently, I started to clean up the corruption in the areas designated to be under my rule. It didn¡¯t take more than a week to clear my marked lands of the demonic corruption, my energies easily overwhelming the demon¡¯s presence. ¡°What¡¯s the plan with this location?¡± My domainholders didn¡¯t stay long, Edna, Roon and Johann returned home. There was also the topic of names for this new nation, and I decided to call it Branchhold. I would like to first increase the tree population, and increase my total mana output. Later on, I would relocate some of the void archmages to this world, and begin surveying the skies for other worlds. My astral sight was enhanced now that my clone body was here, and already I could see that this world could access Threeworlds and also Treehome, and also some other further worlds. It was the interstellar equivalent of expansion. I decided to open my land to refugees, and got some of my experienced Valtrian Order administrators and mid-level Valthorns to come over to Mountainworld to set up the new nation of Branchhold. In time, I would like to introduce the Canari to this world, and also implement offshoots of existing institutions. As for the lands outside, I also cleared a few ¡®safe¡¯ paths to the rest of the inhabited worlds in order to kickstart the migration and resettlement, but for now, the rest of the demonic corruption remained. The locals of the Moountainworld called it the Demontouched lands, and they spawned hybrids and demons quite similar to the Rottedlands, but still different in their own way. This was useful research and I wanted to take another opportunity to examine them. It would be good to study them and compare them to the specimens we had back home. *** Alka actually gained his domain while bunkered somewhere far from the battlefield, though he was actively supporting the battle by giving the bombs some extra ¡®power-ups¡¯. As a field scientist, he could amplify the strength of certain equipment, and that included the bombs, and I figured through those contributions, he gained the experience needed to get through to the domain. He naturally joined my pantheon for ¡®life insurance¡¯. He got the domain of [Explosions], and the first, extremely unusual ability of his domain, [Always a Bomb], was his ability to be a Living Bomb. Essentially, he could detonate a bomb around himself, without actually needing a bomb, of varying strength and up to the strongest bomb he has ever made. The number of bombs he could release was pretty much scaled to the strength of the bomb. At the same time, the [Field Scientist] class returned to me, since, once he had his domain, his ¡®class¡¯ no longer existed. It was merged into the [Explosions] domain, along with all the skills. In a way, that sort of made Alka very dangerous. He could theoretically nuke himself next to me if he wanted to, and I was really thankful that I had other bodies as my own personal insurance. Then again, that¡¯s the same class any offensive-geared domain holder will reach. A hero, or a mage-with-a-domain would probably be similarly dangerous, so, there really was no need for excessive paranoia. I would need Stella to get her domain, and we should largely have the pieces needed to really ¡®jam¡¯ up the demons¡¯ process. ¡°Too bad we missed a chance to send some roots through that rift.¡± Stella said to me privately. ¡°I would love to see what kind of world that demon king came from.¡± In the heat of battle, that was not an easy thing to do. The rifts were not common either. Since this set of demons spawned their own demons by manipulating existing leylines, they did not require much reinforcements from their homeworld, except during that final battle with the demon king. With the festivities mostly over, we had a demon king to prepare for, and this time, I wanted to attempt to jam the demon king¡¯s teleportation process. Bunkering for Trees Year 209 Lumoof returned to the Sandworld alone. The place had not changed, but this time, we were not here for the sand or to study the solar radiation. We wanted to mess with the mechanisms used to send the demon king through the worlds, and see whether we could essentially shoot down an intercontinental ballistic missile while it¡¯s ascending from its silo. Or mess with the delivery vehicle such that the ICBM could not even hit its intended target. My plan was simple. We¡¯ve seen the mechanisms used to create the portal, and the goal was to simply smash them before the demon king could use it. After all, the demon king itself may not be able to stop me, since it has to teleport to another world. If it did interrupt and attacked me, that was a success. If it lured the demon in the core out of the core, that was also a success. If that failed, I¡¯d attempt to mess with the mana balance of the portal, and see whether I could stop the demon king from teleporting. Any delay was a success, even if they still eventually made the trip. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s ready yet.¡± Lumoof said, as we stood above where the hole once was. I could sense the massive pit to the core beneath us. There was no structure here, no tower of void energy. Not yet. Just the rift gates built into the walls of the pit. We could destroy it, of course. So we did, but I reckon the demons would be able to regenerate these gates fairly easily. These rift gates, built into the walls of the pits, looked more ¡®flimsy¡¯ than the normal gates. During the day, the pit was covered, and we took advantage of the daytime to enter avatar mode, and my roots pierced through the ground beneath us. It was a demon champion that functioned as a mobile cover, and it wasn¡¯t hard to kill it once I found where it¡¯s core was. The path between the two worlds was solid, and now, from this side, I sensed tremendous amounts of that ¡®core-void¡¯ blend had been injected into it. But I couldn¡¯t interact with the path. Only Stella could, which made me wonder. I know it¡¯s possible for a normal person to gain void mana, and I myself already have small quantities of star mana. But could we train a regular person to possess star mana, or to possess any other kinds of mana? Anyway, I digressed. I focused back on the pit and its immediate surroundings. How did the demon king ¡®create¡¯ those structures, and could we destroy it, copy it or change it? There was currently nothing around us. Except for the structure at the edges of the pit, which we have destroyed. Yet, I had a feeling it wouldn¡¯t be so easy. The next likely candidate was the demon within the world. Maybe it coordinated the transportation and the opening of the ¡®rift¡¯. It must have had a mechanism to ¡®create¡¯ the structures needed to open the gates to the worlds beyond. If so, I¡¯d try to intercept it. ¡°We have two years left.¡± Lumoof repeated. ¡°It¡¯s not here yet.¡± ¡°But the rifts will open soon. Let¡¯s head further underground and try to reach those riftgates, and observe from this end.¡± Lumoof gulped. ¡°Some days, I think this avatar ability is cursed.¡± *** Back home, war preparations continued, and I used the expanded range of my roots to continue my expansions into the sea, and also underground. There was nothing much to find in the sea, not with my now increased range. Even underground, it was more of the same thing. Still, with the expanded range, I could reach even further out of the sea, and even deeper, and for once, began to connect to a string of smaller islands further out to sea from the Central Continent mainland. Places I could never reach before, and with it, more mana. I realised the folly of my earlier attempt at the womb of the demon king. I was still underpowered, and if I sought to unmake the demons with mana, I would need a lot more than then mana of just one continent. I needed the mana of at least an entire world. Maybe two or three. So, I shifted my attention to the parasiteworld, now in a state of flux. Do I still need this world? I needed a world where mana was plentiful. A world that could fuel the war that is to come, and this wasn¡¯t it. Actually, as I reviewed all my clones, I concluded both the moon and the Parasiteworld should be on the chopping block. Cometworld too, but since it had the value of travelling through the void-space, I decided it was worth keeping despite the mana shortfall. My moon seed was now a waste, even if it was the first ¡®experiment¡¯ we did. It had no mana production, and Stella¡¯s attempt to mess with the void paths into our world did not work. Not even when she tried to block the astral paths on the moon. It was the equivalent of trying to stop an out of control truck with a piece of paper. A really thick black piece of paper. Naturally, it didn¡¯t work, so I decided I would recall my moon-clone. It was the ¡®easiest¡¯ to recall, since it was so close to me that Stella could open a portal to the moon. Thus, the opportunity cost to redeploy was the lowest, if some day I were to find some other use case for a moon base. I felt my close tree shrivel, shrink, and then... vanish. [Clone Seed recalled. 10 years of cooldown before it can be redeployed.] Ah fuck. At least I know it takes 10 years. A blink of an eye, actually. My immediate thought was to deploy it on Threeworlds. If I could use it to unlock the new soul forge color, I would be willing to make enemies for it. *** With the enhanced mana from the Mountainworld, we renewed our offensive against the demons on the demonic parasiteworld. The parasiteworld is also linked or ¡®near¡¯ it¡¯s own set of worlds, though I couldn¡¯t see them clearly. The sky was littered with the effects of the collapsed void path that acted like ¡®clouds¡¯. With more mana at my disposal, I could maintain and support more trees and more beetles, and so, we expanded the controlled areas to cover slightly more places. Over the years, I realised that it was better to ¡®claim¡¯ territory that led to a demon structure I wanted, or a place I wanted my Treechikomas to investigate, than to just claim the land for the sake of it. Like a blob, we gave up our land where we found nothing, and used the ¡®saved¡¯ mana to push elsewhere. We captured a few demonic spawning pools, and these ones just generated more of these parasites. It improved my understanding of these parasites, but not much else. At the same time, as my tree looked up to the cloudy astral skies, I made a note to send Lumoof into the demon¡¯s pit once the skies began to clear. Maybe there was something we could learn about how the demon finds new worlds to target. That said, I think I may have to wait decades for it to target another world. Still, I could discover another world this way, by hitchhiking on the demon¡¯s targeting system. I could frontrun its invasion by sending Lumoof to the other side. A future plan. *** The demons did not take any precautionary measures even after our invasion into the core. That was, of course, strange. If they were intelligent, they should¡¯ve done something. But they didn¡¯t. Or maybe, this wasn¡¯t something they normally reacted to, so they didn¡¯t know how to react. In any case, it took about the same time to reach the horizontal tunnels again, and we found the lesser demons massing. There were more spawning pools, and as we explored the tunnels, we realised that these tunnels were everywhere. In a world so large, there was no way I could find all the tunnels without a thorough magical scan of the world. The demons resembled the creatures we fought on the surface. Hardy, physical, and tremendous magical resistance, and had a soft underbelly, and some know weakpoints. My domainholders had already made sketches and gave briefings on how to fight these monsters. Training for the Valthorns, and mock-demons made from stone elementals. I also used my [dream academy] to simulate battle against these demons. Because of the physical nature of these demons, it took quite a bit of effort for my Valthorns to learn ¡®mana-less¡¯ combat methods. We also distributed skill seeds to help my Valthorns augment their arsenal of skills, so that they could have some mana-less skills. Honestly, the skill-spell issue is still confusing to me. They both feel like they should be one and the same, and yet they are not. It remains one of the puzzles of the system that I didn¡¯t really understand. *** Now that there were only two years left, the energies of the rift began to gather, and it was now possible to get a general sense of where the rifts would appear. It was going to be in the Eastern Continent, again. Naturally, the Aivan Triumvirs were not pleased to learn they would once again face a demon king on their land. It felt like they just had one a few decades ago. The energies from the rift were still unstable, and because of that, I couldn¡¯t properly pin down the location of the demon king. Not yet, anyway. Maybe next year I would get a location, and then we could start planning an ambush. I For now, it was time for the smaller rifts to appear, for the lesser demons and champions to grace our world. The first rifts opened almost at the end of the year, and the lizards walked out. We didn¡¯t intervene immediately, my deployed forces mostly just monitored their movements. We knew from the parasiteworld that there were some differences in the demon¡¯s abilities and behaviors between the demon world and our world, but we were not sure how significant this gap was, and whether that was a common thing across all types of demons. We watched as the Aivan forces tried to fight these physical demons to relatively decent success, and eventually concluded that they were actually weaker here. Their bodies were so used to the dry, manaless environment that their hard, dried outer shells, that when they came to our world, their bodies hungrily soaked up the ambient mana, and it changed their tough bodies. We did notice that when sufficient of these demons were around, the ambient mana decreased significantly, and made spelling more laborious. As a whole though, the regular mobs were weaker, but the demon king won¡¯t be subject to the same restrictions. It¡¯s likely, from extrapolating our initial findings, that the demon king would have some kind of anti-magic ability. ¡°Maybe we¡¯ll get some global anti-magic?¡± Edna speculated. ¡°We haven¡¯t seen global-effect demon kings for some time.¡± ¡°You sound like you¡¯re looking forward to it.¡± Roon said. ¡°Those were unpleasant times, from what I heard from the survivors.¡± ¡°No. I mean, that¡¯s just what it is. Trends repeat themselves, and the demons eventually rehash the same ability types. A global magic-interruption is likely.¡± But how do we circumvent a global anti-magic ability anyway? We would once again see the collapse of the global [message] system, but if it¡¯s anti-magic it could do more than that. I recalled that they could even interrupt my communication with beetles. The previous heroes made ¡®transmission towers¡¯, something I was only able to replicate to a much lesser degree. Again, we would need to workaround the magic with skill and system. I made a note to train a ¡®physical-only¡¯ Valthorn, and relayed the message to elites. ¡°This is a bit too late, isn¡¯t it?¡± I heard one of the Valthorns naturally grumble about my request. ¡°If the coming demon king is a physical-type, how are we going to get anyone ready?¡± I know, of course. But if the demon kings eventually repeat itself, a physical-type domain holder would eventually have value. Maybe 50 years, maybe 200 years, but eventually, we will encounter this type of demon king again. I acknowledge my failure to consider this anti-magic, physical-only type of demon king, so, the right thing to do was to prepare for it. Essentially, as we reevaluated why we ¡®failed¡¯ to prepare for this type of demon king, we began to realise that we were ¡®guessing¡¯ what kind of demon king was coming, but that¡¯s actually unacceptable. For us, as an institution, I had to predict at least 50 to 100 years ahead in order to prepare someone for that eventual outcome. 50 years was the estimated amount of time it took to ¡®train¡¯ a domain holder. I wasn¡¯t thinking far enough. We needed to brainstorm, and start to prepare for the demon kings after this one. Not just the coming one. Look at where we failed, and what ¡®kinds¡¯ of powers we could have. I needed to be Batman, and prepare for every eventuality. In fact, this was where the heroes¡¯ pop culture and media knowledge became useful. Ken and the rest of the heroes were more than happy to brainstorm, during the lulls and rest periods, the kinds of creatures that may exist on other worlds. The ideas were wild. Vampires, werewolves, slimes, spiders, eldritch horrors, human-like creatures, machines, supervillains, goblins and ogres, golems, oversized snakes. They essentially recited all kinds of monsters they could remember, and tried to imagine ¡®demon-king¡¯ versions of those creatures. It was a fun exercise, and I found it strangely calming. It was great to be reminded of stories from our world, and it also reawakened my memories of the games I played, the books I used to read and the stories I¡¯ve heard. My domain holders, except Lumoof was still in the sandworld spying on the demons, were naturally horrified by the kind of creatures they imagined. There were also some really good ones that made me think, such as the possibilities for one of the captured heroes to be somehow turned into a demon king, perhaps through the demonic parasites, or something that¡¯s non-physical like a ghost, or a water-based demon king. Or, a weapon-demon king. Ken, as a joke, suggested a beaver-demon king. I personally suspect a water-based demon king was the least likely of them all. That said, even though they were speculations, it made sense to make some preparations, and start training individuals to be able to ¡®counter¡¯ or ¡®mitigate¡¯ some of the threats. I wouldn¡¯t see the payoff now, but fifty years down the road, who knows what could make a difference? In this entire world, I¡¯m probably one of the best placed to make this kind of moonshot investment. So I must. *** We didn¡¯t face much difficulty with the demonic mobs, so the heroes could breathe easy. Prabu suggested that Adrian and Kelly take a visit to our world. A point I agreed with, since they would fight here, so I had my agents in the Mountainworld make the necessary arrangements. The nobles were not very pleased, but what could they do? Adrian and Kelly made the trip to my clone, and I sent them here, right to Freshka. The transportation went well, and there were no system prompts. Personally, I was pleasantly surprised that there were no ¡®punishments¡¯ or ¡®system-problems¡¯ from sending gods¡¯ summoned to another world. My personal gut feeling was that they didn¡¯t think it was sufficiently likely, so they didn¡¯t create any security measures. Maybe they might, for a future batch, if they realised that heroes were fighting in places they were not ¡®supposed¡¯ to. Oh well. The two heroes were most fascinated by the assortment of snacks, and the relative modernity of Freshka. Their first stop? The hero logs. I suppose it¡¯s like a guestbook that the heroes have to sign every time they come here. Transplants Year 209 Part 2 The heroes arrived in our world for their first trip. They looked quite afraid to approach my clone, but when they arrived, they didn¡¯t look back or turn around. Instead, they were quickly whisked through the tunnels, and out to Freshka where the rest of the Valthorns attended to them. Snacks and food followed, and a health check, just to make sure they didn¡¯t suffer any weird symptoms from moving worlds. Even here, under the biolab¡¯s inspection, these otherworld heroes largely used the same underlying template. No significant variation in their soul spring or natures, unless... it¡¯s not something I¡¯m able to see. Maybe there¡¯s another layer to the soul, or an ability to look further into the soul that I¡¯ve not ¡®seen¡¯ so far. The heroes, on the other hand, quickly asked to visit the Hero Logs. ¡°This is it?¡± They watched the strange book, and then Kelly touched it first. I sensed a surge in star mana, and they were in a trance. Their bodies glowed, faintly, and I sensed her own star mana enter the book. The book remained a black box to me, even now, and as more and more heroes used it, I felt the magical energies within the book seem to change slightly. It¡¯s a blend of all their mana, and yet different. Kelly eventually snapped out of the trance, and she immediately sat down. Prabu offered her snacks and some tea, said a few words and then walked away.. ¡°Take your time. I thought about what I saw and learned for weeks. It¡¯s alright if you want to cry, or want to just go somewhere quiet and shout for a while.¡± She looked a bit teary eyed, and then nodded. ¡°...I¡¯ll be fine. Yeah. I¡¯ll be okay.¡± Prabu nodded and walked to rejoin Adrian. ¡°Let¡¯s give her some space.¡± Adrian looked at Kelly, and Kelly just nodded. It was his turn.. An hour long trance, then he immediately fell to the floor. Adrian froze, and then sat on a sofa right next to Kelly. He sat, and rubbed his head, and then, ¡°Can I sleep here? I think I need to sleep on it.¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s fine. No one comes here except us. Maybe except Stella, Kei and Ken, but they can¡¯t use the book. Food and water is in that cabinet over there, Aeon¡¯s powers preserve them so they¡¯ll last. I¡¯m going to go get something to eat, and we¡¯ll come back after that. Do not to run anywhere, this valley is normally off limits. If you need anything the Valtrian guys are outside.¡± Adrian nodded, and settled himself on the sofa. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll be alright, I think.¡± Prabu and Colette left, and it was just Adrian and Kelly in the chamber of the hero¡¯s journals. ¡°You¡¯re gonna sleep?¡± Kelly asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Kelly sat and leaned back onto the sofa. ¡°Maybe I should too.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sleeping with you.¡± Adrian responded. ¡°Of course not.¡± Kelly laughed. ¡°I¡¯ll be here.¡± They both took a nap. Prabu and Colette returned about three hours later and found both of them still sleeping. ¡°Huh. That really knocked them out. Aeon, can you let me know when they are awake?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± *** ¡°Is the entire continent like this?¡± ¡°No, not really. This level of development was only present here.¡± Prabu said. ¡°But some of the other cities are becoming more modern, and more... Earthlike. It¡¯ll take a few decades, though, before they get anywhere near this.¡± They walked the streets of Freshka. Freshka¡¯s city core had become more dense, and some of the buildings began to tower into the skies, built into or integrated with the Giant Attendant trees that covered it. My massive giant attendant trees served as the skyscraper-equivalent of their central support structures, and craftsmen built rooms and floors anchored to my trees. For now, beetles remain the primary source of ¡®fast¡¯ transport between places, especially for voluminous and bulky goods, but due to demand, there is also a basic teleportation network in place. ¡°It feels like home, in a different way.¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s crowded. At the street level, it feels like any of the big cities.¡± Prabu nodded. They walked on elevated paths, separated from the common folk. A network of paths and ropeways crisscrossed Freshka, linking buildings to each other. The Valtrians built a network of dedicated paths for their own use, so that it was easier for the Valthorns to mobilise and transport goods around Freshka, away from general public traffic. We also had tunnels for that purpose, but the Valtrians advised that visibility had a value of its own. It was also good practice for my spies. ¡°Smells like it too.¡± Adrian nodded. ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting to smell coffee. It¡¯s not present in the Mountainworld.¡± Prabu smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll stop you there. Coffee was not invented by heroes. They already have it natively as a supplement and is popular with mages and priests as a study aid.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Adrian nodded. ¡°Does Coffee do anything?¡± ¡°Yeah. There are magically-enhanced and skill-enhanced versions. Some of them can essentially function like drugs back home. I¡¯ve seen some Southerner soldiers have them to help them keep watch through the night.¡± ¡°Shit, that¡¯s really wild. We could¡¯ve used something like that on the Mountainworld to help with the demons.¡± Adrian said. ¡°So many alarms missed because someone dozed off.¡± Kelly popped in. ¡°Sounds like something to trade. Maybe we can be coffee importers and connoisseurs back in the Mountainworld. I¡¯ve always liked cafe culture.¡± ¡°Tea culture is stronger here, and honestly, I don¡¯t even know what good coffee tastes like.¡± Prabu laughed. ¡°Did your parents ever let you try coffee? They always told me it¡¯s an adult drink, and I had to turn 18 before I could try it.¡± ¡°You have strict parents.¡± Adrian said. ¡°I always get coffee when I have to cram for an exam. But it''s home-made stuff, and my mom¡¯s not very good with the coffee machine, so it isn¡¯t that great.¡± Kelly coughed. ¡°Privileged. All I get is premixed stuff.¡± Adrian rolled his eyes at the lady. Prabu just grinned. ¡°It¡¯s alright. There are some good ones, though their tastes would probably not match what we have back home. Honestly the only one who could judge is Stella.¡± ¡°Oh, speaking of which, when are we meeting her?¡± ¡°Now.¡± They entered the building through the elevated path, and into a large, airy chamber. This was normally the top floor of one of the city¡¯s many eateries and tea houses. Stella was already there, a Valtrian nodded, and then left through the stairs. ¡°Stella, meet Adrian and Kelly, the heroes of Mountainworld.¡± Stella smiled. ¡°Well met. It¡¯s nice to meet someone from home without having to get a notification that someone died.¡± Adrian didn¡¯t get it. ¡°Sorry, what does that mean?¡± ¡°It means, the earlier batch must die before I meet someone new.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Anyway, that was my bad. It was a morbid thing to say. Come, have some tea. Have they given these to you before?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve had tea.¡± Kelly said. ¡°But these are different?¡± ¡°Ah yes. Then you must try it.¡± Stella smiled. ¡°Come. Sit.¡± *** Separately, Alka, now with a domain, got the full briefing. A briefing that made his eyes widen, and made him shake in excitement. It wasn¡¯t as if he didn¡¯t know or guess, but it was a strong hunch. He had suspected I had intended to stop the demons somehow, but now it was clear that I intended to somehow hack the system, and he naturally understood why I sent Lumoof to do all those otherworldly missions. ¡°I¡¯m sorry we couldn¡¯t tell you all this before.¡± Edna said. ¡°No. It perfectly makes sense now.¡± The part on the Aiva¡¯s warning of the eventual end of the heroes¡¯ summon and the full extent of the discussion was also revealed. He naturally had far more questions than I did. Things he would take some time to figure out on his own. ¡°More importantly, now that you have a domain and with the protection of my pantheon, I can now send you to the other worlds too. If you can figure out something, that¡¯ll be great.¡± The next one for the domain would be Stella. *** Year 210 The Aivan forces didn¡¯t have much problems with the weakened anti-mana demons, but they struggled really badly against the demon champions. The demon champions that came through were the supersized demons, larger than walkers, and it was their sheer size that made them difficult to kill. They were vulnerable, but it was really hard to reach that vulnerable spot without using magic. Ballista and bows worked, but they needed to pack sufficient punch to actually deal damage, without getting crushed or killed by the anti-mana sludge they released. Grandmaster Engka, naturally, appealed for help, and we continued to supply them with both weapons and manpower to deal with the anti-mana champions. The heroes came too. Chung and Hafiz were eager to try out and see where they stood. They struggled just a little bit, their natural combat instincts was to use their strongest abilities, and these star-mana powered abilities were weakened by the champions¡¯ magical resistance. Once they switched to their mana-less abilities though, that made a huge difference. They noticed that using star-mana to boost their own ¡®stats¡¯ did not suffer drawbacks, though the ¡®length¡¯ of that ¡®boost¡¯ seemed to be shorter, especially if they took a hit from the demons due to mana burn. In short, these anti-manas demons can ¡®dispel¡¯ magical buffs. It was possible to ¡®stack¡¯ stat-boosting buffs to hit harder, but not buffs that had a ¡®magical-element¡¯. Ken¡¯s personal preference was to just somehow invent some kind of ¡®bunker-buster¡¯ bomb or ¡®TNT¡¯, since, this was a mountain-turned-demon, so just blow up the mountain, the old school way. Alka¡¯s alchemists and researchers were able to find some substances that created small explosions, but were orders of magnitude weaker than TNT. It¡¯d be a long time before our technology caught up to Earth, especially on such non-magical matters. It was quite ironic to think it may be easier to kill this demon king conventionally by a nuclear bomb or tsar-bomba, than with magic bombs. Even if I understood the ¡®broad¡¯ principles of such bombs, the actual fact was making such a bomb still required technology I did not have. Technology is often built upon many little incremental steps, and even if I knew what I wanted, it still takes a long crawl to get there. On the other side, we looked at stat-boosting ¡®drugs¡¯ and potions. Alchemists, witches, shamans, could make potions and draughts that temporarily granted boosts. The heroes themselves have magical boosts, but because these magical stat-boosts could be ¡®dispelled¡¯ whenever they took a hit from the demons, it made sense to now consider non-magical boosts. We had these kinds of stat-boosting potions and equipment for a while, owing to my long research into [ginseng roots]. My ginseng roots provided permanent boosts, but their relative ¡®strength¡¯ was nothing like these temporary powerups. One alternative was something like Lumoof¡¯s domain ability, but [Empowered Faithful] did not boost heroes or my other domain holders. In fact, from my own prior research, only about half of all types of ¡®boosting¡¯ abilities worked on domain holders, but their effectiveness was average. But better average than none. Anyway, we gathered all these potions and elixirs and tested them out on the heroes and also my domain holders. We prioritised non-magical ones, and then, tested them against the demon champions on the Eastern Continent. Those that were ¡®dispelled¡¯ were sent back for further studies, and those that didn¡¯t would be chosen for use. ¡°Looks like we need a [domain]-level alchemist and shaman too.¡± On top of the barbarian/physical combatant, this was also an area we needed support. We already have the ¡®knight¡¯, the ¡®archer¡¯, the ¡®priest¡¯. ¡°You are supposed to be our alchemist.¡± ¡°I specialise in magical explosive bombs, not potions. I can make lesser ones, but they are not that great.¡± Alka was right, and generally, I could make a lot of kinds of ¡®saps¡¯, and these were the extended versions of stuff you could find in nature. Healing saps, hallucinogens, relaxants, stimulants, poisons, and in these types of stuff, I outclassed him significantly. His stuff were also more magical in nature, because his research was extensive in the areas of magical bombs, runes and formations. Oh well, at least we know there is another gap to fill in our [domain] party. *** ¡°Huh. This continent feels like how it is back in our world.¡± Kelly and Adrian commented as they visited the Eastern Continent for the first time, the magical-medieval nations and cities, the temples and priests. It was almost as if this was a template copied and pasted over the multiverse. They were nobodies in this world, nobody knew they were heroes, so it wasn¡¯t hard to smuggle them to that part of the world. They were quickly guided to the location of the anti-magic demons, where they fought them for the first time. It wasn¡¯t a hard fight, since the demons were ironically weakened by the ambient mana, but the mana-dispelling abilities were annoying, and they had to adapt. The demon champions were harder, but less so for Adrian who had a monk-build. His heroic ¡®chi¡¯ based abilities were only minimally weakened. Monks. I need my own version of Aeonic monks. I totally need monks and physical combat masters. I¡¯ll need to start with a monastery on the mountains somewhere, or an island with peach blossoms. Maybe they should be called the Seedlin Temple. I needed physical barbarian types, monks, and alchemists. Only then I would have a balanced team able to weather the demonic storm, and perhaps, brave the storm and search for the eye. I¡¯ll probably also need vampire hunters, exorcists, witches, doctors. In short, I need every major RPG archetype out there. *** My forest on the Mountainworld expanded quickly, and within months we saturated the area under my rule with trees, turning what was once a demonic wasteland into a verdant, monster-filled land. There were some familiar accidents, of course. Exploding demonic trees were also present in this world, but thankfully no major damage. With the land ¡®reclaimed¡¯, creatures spawned, and the native fauna reemerged. They were slightly different, as with all worlds. The dogs were slightly different, the lizardpeople of this world are different from the lizardpeople of Treehome. Miniscule problems appeared everywhere. There were linguistic problems, and the small group of Valthorns sent to administer this land on my behalf was quick to discover that the language had a lot of minor differences, each carrying different emotional weightage. Even if we understood what each other said because of system shenanigans, there were meanings and context that was missing. That led to diplomats and young graduates of FTC taking their first trip to the Mountainworld, in an attempt to truly understand this strange new world. I wonder whether I had facilitated the first true alien civilisation encounter, even if they were more similar than not. This land was a blank slate, and knowing what I knew now, there were a few things that I had my new ¡®settlers¡¯ work on. Mistakes to avoid back with Freshka. One, a clear constitution for this new land, with clearly set out delegations of authority. The central continent of Treehome is a troublesome, cobbled together hodgepodge of nations, many subservient to different degrees, each with their own set of rights and laws. It worked on Treehome essentially through the brute force of my artificial minds, providing the much needed oversight. I could crush those who oppose it, but I didn¡¯t think it was necessary to force such a change when it worked so far. Again, since this is entirely new, I hoped to avoid that by having a simpler constitution, a leaner organisation, and clearer laws. Two, clear boundaries, and standardised currency. Back home the currency system is frankly a mess, and I wanted to avoid that. Even boundaries between internal disputing nations gave rise to unnecessary wars. Three, better planned cities and nations. When Freshka was built, it was planned, but there were flaws. Mistakes, due to lack of foresight. Every time I had a new addition, like the Treeology colleges or FTC, I had to earmark additional land outside of existing city boundaries. It made for a city that sprawled outwards, that worked only because of a constant network of beetles that transported people from one part of the city to another. Defensive structures were added sometimes proactively, sometimes reactively, as and when we needed them. I had indirectly built a version of suburbia. So, before any major construction was done, my settlers would first do up a structural plan for the entire land, together with a defensive plan for both demon kings and other enemies. Mountainworld will face it¡¯s own demon kings, and naturally, any new nation or city must be designed with that in mind. We¡¯d also try to consider how we could accommodate future needs. One of which was my domain transportation ability. Right now, anyone who wanted to visit Mountainworld would have to make a visit to the Valley of the Unrotten, because the teleportation ability only works between my main body and clones. So, they have to at least ¡®touch¡¯ my roots in order to work. With this place acting as a center for trade between the two worlds, I needed to design the cities to enable that to be a seamless process. A city around my clone body, instead of Freshka¡¯s design where I¡¯m located far away from the valley. Freshka was essentially travelling two hours to an airport far from the city center. If possible, I wanted to have this new nation have what¡¯s the equivalent of a ¡®city airport¡¯. It made sense back then because I wanted to protect the Valley, the Valley had things I wanted kept away from others. Again, historical baggage that I could change with this new piece of land. Four, it¡¯s likely that the diplomatic relationship with the other nations would deteriorate over time. Our contribution to their security and victory would be forgotten in decades, and what was a friendly relationship, would eventually turn to war. I hoped to avoid that, so to do that, I wanted to significantly reach out to all the temples and find ways to stop it. I have nothing to fear, since I was confident I would win, but another crusade was a waste of resources, and an unnecessary sacrifice of the high leveled individuals of the mountainworld, who would be inescapably summoned to fight against me. So, my expansion in this world must be accompanied by a significant spy-arm to intercept negative intelligence and take out unfriendly parties, and a significant propaganda arm in order to build a positive public impression, such that the nobles are dissuaded from war. Five, if Treehome falls to some demon king, this world will serve as our backup plan. The land must be designed such that it can accommodate Treehome refugees for a reasonably long period of time. Spaizzer My IRL work has been absolutely overwhelming (and my teammates have been resigning) so I''m going to take a week off. See you guys next-next week. Or next-next-next week if my work hits the fan even more than it already has. Treeckets, Please Year 211 These days, I feel like I¡¯ve been moving from one demon king battle to another demon king battle. After the parasite demon king, we moved on to the demon king of the Mountain Worlds, Akkila, or Sabnoc-lite. Now, we¡¯re waiting for the demon king to come to our world. All the preparations have been made, and there¡¯s not much I can do beyond what we¡¯ve done. Not in that short a time. Now, we had to hope that what we did was enough. I hope it was, but reality had a tendency of surprising us, just as how I was surprised by their anti-mana nature. This was essentially the grind. We keep fighting demons, and hoping that it gives us an edge for the next one. It even felt... boring to me. Strangely, the heroes and my domain holders didn¡¯t feel that way. Their normal sense of time meant there really was a long gap between the demon kings, and those ten years were filled with normal life stuff. Ah well. We already had our conventional weapons prepared, and Stella got better at sensing the riftgates. As a result, she was roughly able to estimate the location of the demon king¡¯s movement. With that, we quickly worked with the Aivan temples to evacuate the location, and prepare for war. It wasn¡¯t easy, because of Aiva¡¯s hold on the continent was weak. The warnings were quickly dismissed, and the political ruling parties that had valuable establishments in that area were quick to suspect a greater ploy at play. They suspected that the Aiva wanted the place evacuated and claim it for themselves, Honestly, from my own assessment of the Aivan temples, I am not surprised. Corruption and power-grabbing behavior permeated their structure to a far greater degree than ours. Two thirds of all priests of the Aivan temples were in someone¡¯s pockets, and the Triumvirs themselves were compromised to some degree. They had their biases, each favoring their home nation, or their own original backers. So when the Aivan temples made decrees, which they did often, resistance was naturally much higher. A riot broke out, clearly instigated by the nobles. The heroes were away fighting, trying to level against the demon champions and also trying out their anti-mana glass weapons against the demon champions. So, for now, we watched as the Aivan temple¡¯s guys tried to quell the riot. ¡°This is stupid.¡± Stella smacked her head. ¡°Aeon should just march the Valthorns here and they¡¯ll just shut up.¡± They were safe, away from the riots in the cities around them. Edna shrugged. ¡°To some extent, this is an internal matter for the Aivan temples. ¡± ¡°What good is Aeon¡¯s forces if they are not projected at this time? The Aivans clearly need our help, and they can¡¯t get them to agree, we need to put our foot down and force them to. This is one of the times where a forced evacuation makes all the sense in the world.¡± ¡°The heroes should be here to evacuate them. That¡¯s what the Aivan temples prefer. Declaring our presence so overtly would make it difficult for the Aivan temple to maintain cordial relations with the other three temples.¡± Our relationship with the other temples have mostly calmed down, with them ¡®tolerating¡¯ our presence, and my Valthorns trying their best not to mount an invasion. It¡¯s a common line of thought among the nobles and Valthorns, who believe the Central continent is significantly better than the unruly nations of the other four continents. The worst kinds are those who truly believe how good we have it, and they take the quality of life differences as the reason for us to invade them. As if it is our ¡®duty¡¯ to uplift these other folks. My believers would definitely prefer to impose Central-Continent style federal rule on the others, and while I understand why, it¡¯s something I don¡¯t really want to do. I dislike that sort of thought, as hypocritical as it sounds. Yes, I secured the security of Freshka through a massive military and economic expansion, defeating and killing my way to power. But I think at some point, one must acknowledge that further expansion of the Valthorns is just pure greed. The central continent produces enough, and why do I want to impose my way on the others? There is space for coexistence. For diversity. Dominance does not have to equal annihilation for the other side. It¡¯s tempting, when in positions of power, to always apply force to get our way. That works, but ultimately, if the general masses perceive the ruling party as one that only gets things done by force, it also restricts the ruling party to a path of only using force. In short, if the other parties think you have a hammer, and will only use a hammer to hammer down everything, they will act and prepare themselves in response. A ruling party must be able to do all things, in order to maximise it¡¯s policy choices, because the hammer is not always the best choice. An olive branch or a stern warning may sometimes be all that¡¯s needed. Anyway, I have the privilege of being distanced from these issues, because I have other lands where I don¡¯t have to deal with such things. ¡°A mob listens to no one. Even the nobles that started it.¡± The Aivan temples tried their best to suppress the riots. One of my undercover priests nodded. ¡°They seem to be exceptionally angry.¡± The spies sent to support my small Valthorn delegations agreed. ¡°There must be some spies or instigators working for the nobles. With some [leadership] and [rebel] type abilities, it¡¯s not hard to convince regular villages to take up arms.¡± ¡°Come on. We can¡¯t be waiting for the heroes to get things done.¡± The heroes were busy. They fought a few demon champions for practice throughout the continents. *** In the sandworld, Lumoof waited in the tunnels. We had already destroyed the riftgate structures back at the entrance to the pits, and we were pretty sure those things regenerated after a while, because it was the fourth time we destroyed them. We made regular trips down into the pits, to check on the status of the dormant demon king, and each time, we took in the magical changes down below. We noticed the strength of the mana drain from the depths below increased over time, but it wasn¡¯t getting bigger. Perhaps this was already the maximum size of the demon king. For now, we only made a few probing attacks and mostly remained outside it¡¯s senses, the demon ¡®mother¡¯ formed a strong demonic bubble that acted as it¡¯s means to sense intruders. The demon seemed to be particularly sensitive to my roots, and every one of my roots triggered the ¡®demon mother¡¯ to respond with a huge blast of acid. The acid wasn¡¯t explosive, but they were heavily corrosive and seemed to suck mana out of everything. I had wanted to gather some of that acid for my own research, but it was really hard to collect samples since it¡¯s heavily corrosive and seemed to eat through my vines and roots rather easily. As we monitored, we began noticing the rate of mana drain began to plateau. Was the demon king finally mature? ¡°Is it happening?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± The ground shook, and Lumoof sprung into action. My roots surged out from our tiny cave and smashed into the demon king¡¯s ¡®bubble¡¯, but this time, I pushed harder. The demon mother roared in defiance, and attacked with it¡¯s corrosive acid blast. A wall of wood temporarily redirected the acid blast, buying time for Lumoof to move out of the way. More roots, and this time, we attacked both the demon mother and the dormant demon king. The earth shook some more, and the weird bubble around the dormant demon started to show wavy lines that seemed a bit like symbols. They were similar to the ones we saw on the riftgates, but different. ¡°Remember what we see.¡± My artificial minds tried their best to record the signages and lines, but we were moving quickly, and my wooden shields blocked our sights. In any case, we were not getting a good view of the whole thing. The lines began to glow, and then, that bubble of magic around the demon king started to wobble and swirl, like a blob of water floating in space. It wobbled, and swirled, and then, it started to move upward. At that moment, I felt a strong void mana presence above us. The dormant demon king twisted, and turned. It began to unfurl it¡¯s body, and now I saw it for what it seemed to be. A gigantic stony lizard with two heads, one on each side. It looked deformed, there were streaks of glowing green in parts of it¡¯s sand-colored body, and those glowing green parts emitted a strangely familiar energy. But we had no time to dwell on it, we moved upwards, and my roots blasted out like a machine gun. I caused the walls of the pit to collapse and hoped that the rocks would slow down the demon king. The rocks that collapsed just melted into that blob. It was some kind of ¡®liquid-mana-mixture¡¯, and some of my vines drained some of its energy. It was demonic mana and core mana, plus something I wasn¡¯t sure about. Like the remnants of the physical components of the demon king that it didn¡¯t need. Thankfully it was relatively slow, and Lumoof was able to shoot up the pits faster than the demon king. We needed to get to the void tower before the demon king did, and hopefully hack it. ¡°Now¡¯s the time to send more people over-¡± ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± Stella said. ¡°There¡¯s something that¡¯s over the demon¡¯s world and it¡¯s interfering with it.¡± ¡°What.¡± I couldn¡¯t see it, but Stella could, and she said that the demon world at this moment was covered in a cloud of void mana. Was it the doorway to that ¡®black sun¡¯ I saw on the Parasiteworld? In any case, as we approached the exit of the pits, I saw the previously destroyed riftgates had been somehow magically reconstructed. No matter, my roots smashed into them, and this time, they were charged with so much void mana that they blocked my roots. Initially. I tried again with more force, more power, and borrowed some star mana. I took out a few of the towers, and they exploded, releasing the void mana with it. ¡°Aeon, the astral path is wobbling.¡± We looked up. The sky was dark, and Lumoof shot out of the pit like a fighter jet, and at that moment, there were a ring around the pit, filled with void mana. It kept pulling void mana from that black sun, and I felt it¡¯s void mana grow. Patreeck had to step in once again, as I felt a strong mental attack coming from the black sun. But I am stronger now, and we stared at the black void. It wasn¡¯t a voice, just a really irritating background hum. It would turn anyone else insane, and Lumoof looked very uncomfortable even with my mind¡¯s shielding. The black sun filled the world with void mana. So, I pulled star mana from the heroes, and charged my anti-demon magical spears. And I threw them at the oversized ring around the pit. It exploded violently, and some of the void mana leaked out. ¡°Aeon, what¡¯s happening? The astral path is wobbling a lot.¡± Mana surged out of the pit, and then destroyed riftgate towers magically reappeared. I pulled out more of my spears, and threw them at the rift gates. They regenerated even after my attacks, but I sensed it¡¯s energy level dipped slightly. ¡°Which causes it to wobble more?¡± ¡°Uh... it¡¯s not wobbling as much now.¡± I charged another spear with star mana, and flung it at the ring again. Another huge explosion as the void mana reacted violently to the star mana. At that point, the black sun pulsed, and the sky was suddenly flooded with void mana. I attempted to charge one more spear, and the spear exploded immediately, even before I threw the spear. ¡°Smart.¡± I cursed as Lumoof emerged from a shell of charred wood. I used normal mana to charge up the spears, but they didn¡¯t do as much damage. The riftgates were charged, in a similar alternating pattern of void mana and core mana. The two-headed lizard emerged from the depths. ¡°If I can¡¯t hit the gates, why not the demon king.¡± Lumoof smashed into the demon king, and landed on top of it. Immediately, my roots pierced the demon king¡¯s sandy top. I wasn¡¯t sure whether this demon king awakened or not, but there was no harm trying. Lumoof mentally agreed. ¡°Well, to hell with it. Let¡¯s hit it.¡± My mana surged through Lumoof, and I knew it wouldn¡¯t work. But I wanted to weaken it, and see whether I could mess with it. If star mana reacted badly with void mana, injecting star mana into a demon king should cause it to ¡®fail¡¯ to travel through the astral path, or at least, disrupt it. I injected the demon king with star mana again, this time, I wanted the void mana in the ambient surroundings to trigger an explosion. ¡°Aeon, what the flying fuck is happening?¡± Stella cursed as she watched the astral path wobble like someone was shaking a string from the other end. ¡°Lumoof¡¯s trying to attack the demon king.¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°We planned for this. We¡¯ll see how it goes.¡± Stella couldn¡¯t send someone over, but I could constantly pull things through the vine ropeway. More spears smashed into the demon king, as a large rift cracked open in the skies above us, revealing a massive multicolored blob. Another black droplet emerged from the blob and it flew towards the demon king at incredibly high speed. ¡°Stop that thing!¡± My roots surged outwards and smashed into the black droplet. It was incredibly tough, and I barely chipped a bit off. But I did. So I tried again. I managed to land two hits, and then placed multiple wooden shields along its path. It smashed through them easily. I wrapped vines around it, but it burned through my vines like I was a level 1 tree. I smashed it repeatedly, each time a little chip off. I attempted to trigger it with star mana, and the explosions didn¡¯t hurt it at all. The black droplet touched the demon king, and it merged seamlessly. The demon king, previously without a will, now opened all of its eyes. It shook its body midair, then both the black sun and the formless blob vanished abruptly. I felt magic around us shift, and concentrated itself around the demon king. At that very moment, Lumoof could even taste it in the air, and feel it on his skin. Even in my avatar form, the void and core mana was thick in the air. How? The whole place was meant to be an anti-mana world, and the demon king itself is meant to be an anti-magic demon king. The mana was drawn into the demon king at that moment, and then, that same runic swirls appeared around us. ¡°Aeon, it¡¯s wobbling.¡± Stella said back on Treehome. ¡°-and the rift¡¯s moving! It¡¯s going somewhere else.¡± The gate to our world opened,d and the demon king was immediately wrapped in a huge bubble of magic. It was going to warp to our world, with Lumoof still on the demon king¡¯s back. My roots pierced the demon king¡¯s outer shells, and strapped in for the ride. Next Stop, Treehome Year 211 (continued) *** ¡°How do they get more insane with every generation of demon king?¡± Ken said as he mused about the implication of interrupting the demon king. He was safe in Freshka, far from the sight of the conflict, and he had tea. Prabu, who was on one of his snackruns, and one teleport away from the Eastern Continent, shrugged. ¡°Actually, I think the gods are the insane ones. They are just doing the same thing repeatedly, and somehow hoped that it wouldn''t get a bad result. That¡¯s insanity too.¡± He seemed to momentarily experience a mental attack then, and quickly downed a cup of tea made from my leaves. Ken laughed and turned to see Kei. Kei sometimes joined them for their tea outings. ¡°Actually, us heroes are pretty boring. It says a lot that a magical tree has better ideas than us. We really should have our own ideas.¡± ¡°The league of heroes is a good one.¡± Prabu sipped his tea. ¡°Combining forces is still a great idea.¡± ¡°It is.¡± Ken nodded and then sighed. ¡°Ideally, we should reach more worlds, and recruit more heroes. If we could hit ten to twenty heroes at max levels, we could essentially attempt to engage demon kings the moment they spawn.¡± Kei chipped in then, she shrugged. ¡°Yes, but honestly, not too convinced. Local history suggests that heroes were summoned in high quantities many many decades ago. Twenty isn¡¯t much.¡± ¡°Then a hundred. A super squad of heroes.¡± ¡°We¡¯d have to somehow reach at least ten civilised worlds if each world summons ten. On average, we¡¯re looking at smaller and smaller numbers, which does align with Snek¡¯s own experience.¡± Ken shrugged. ¡°Ten worlds is doable, just a matter of time. If you think about it, the demon king is no longer an existential threat to this world. With Aeon¡¯s ability to access multiple worlds, he could effectively evacuate people from one world to another, thus preventing a total extinction. All we need is Aeon, or Stella, to somehow reach more worlds.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see how it¡¯s not an existential threat. Annihilation of 90 to 95 percent of the population is still pretty much an existential threat.¡± ¡°Let me clarify. As it stands, it means Aeon has achieved a kind of ¡®stalemate¡¯. Stalemate in the sense that Aeon has effectively prevented total loss, since, with Aeon¡¯s ability to reach worlds, he could easily mount a counterattack on any demon king. The demon¡¯s world is never truly safe as long as Aeon can reach it.¡± Ken answered, as the little Snek coiled around his shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s something very few worlds can claim to do.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get that leap of logic. If a demon king wrecks this world, how is that a ¡®stalemate¡¯.¡± ¡°Think about it, in normal cases, like Snek¡¯s world, there¡¯s no ¡®return¡¯ or chance to ¡®retake¡¯ the world. Not without some otherworldly aid. Aeon¡¯s link to this world means there is a chance, just as how he already partially reclaimed the surface of the Parasiteworld. This world will never ¡®truly¡¯ fall to the demon world. Not with Aeon around. It¡¯s like having a ¡®retry¡¯ after every game.¡± ¡°That¡¯s nothing.¡± Prabu shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m sure the god¡¯s own homeworlds or home-systems have achieved the same result and even better, since the demons most likely can¡¯t beat these gods in their home turf. The kind of ¡°Stalemate¡± is just more of the status quo, really. Another one or two ¡®very safe¡¯ worlds.¡± Ken nodded. ¡°Fair, but think about it. With levels, Aeon could have more clones. More safe worlds. There¡¯s no real limit as long as Aeon keeps gaining levels.¡± ¡°What makes you think there¡¯s no upper limit to the levels? What if the gods are all maxed-out characters that can¡¯t do more, because the system no longer gives them more power. What if they cap out at level 500?¡± Ken paused. ¡°Wait. That would suck. What level is Aeon?¡± Prabu laughed. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I can¡¯t scan his level. I can¡¯t scan any of the domain holders, really.¡± ¡°If there is a level cap, then the focus should shift towards getting more individuals to that level, rather than just one.¡± ¡°Which is already happening.¡± ¡°You mean Aeon knows there is a level cap?¡± Ken paused. I have no idea about the existence of a ¡®higher¡¯ level cap, but I enjoyed eavesdropping. Their predictions can be really wild. ¡°I don¡¯t. I¡¯m just speculating. This behavior of training up others to gain levels seems consistent with preparing for a level cap up ahead. Aeon¡¯s trying to hit it with a strong party.¡± ¡°Which brings us back to your idea. More heroes. Numbers game.¡± Prabu nodded. ¡°League of heroes. Totally a good idea.¡± Ken choked on his tea. ¡°Fuck. I didn¡¯t say all that to get you to give me praise. I didn¡¯t need your validation that my idea was a good one.¡± Prabu grinned. ¡°Well, it looked to me like a long winded way of getting compliments.¡± ¡°No!¡± Ken rolled his eyes. ¡°If there is a level cap, then it totally becomes a game of numbers. We would discount the benefits of snowballing the heroes'' individual strength by gaining levels. The league of heroes must continuously get more heroes.¡± ¡°Which is a flaw, since we don¡¯t know whether we can reach more worlds, and the hero-summoning clearly has a timer.¡± Kei answered. ¡°If the league loses more heroes than it can recruit, it¡¯ll die eventually.¡± ¡°Now you¡¯re saying my league of heroes is a dead end, isn¡¯t it?¡± Ken laughed. ¡°I¡¯ll still continue it though.¡± ¡°No. Not at all.¡± Prabu laughed. *** ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting this.¡± Lumoof mentally spoke to me as we dug in. I sensed his thoughts were mixed with pain, and I could feel his suffering, so I tried my best to take it off him. It wasn¡¯t hard to dig into such a massive creature, my roots spread out of Lumoof and easily found loose pieces of flesh and rock that I could wrap around as an anchor. The rift gates in the ground had regenerated and the skies above twisted, as if a piece of cloth was cut up. I felt an energy pulse from within the demon king, and it flowed outwards. That energy created a bubble around us. It didn¡¯t seem disturbed by our presence, not that much anyway. The skies turned bright and sunny, as the two massive structures vanished. Instead, in the vast bright skies, there was a surreal patch of darkness, as if someone just copy-pasted a part of the starry sky here. That magical energy from within the demon king swirled everywhere in this bubble, and my sensors rapidly attempted to make sense of what was happening. Lumoof coughed in pain, as the magical energies were quite overwhelming. The magical distortion smashed and cut his body. It felt like he was stuck in extremely fast moving water. I tried my best to shield him, but even those decayed quickly when faced with this onslaught of weird blend of demonic magic. Then, in a sudden burst of movement, the entire bubble of the demon king was pulled through that patch of darkness. I saw a flash, and then darkness. A surge of mental attacks, and Lumoof yelped in pain. Then the pain receded a little, the mental assaults on our presence weakened. Only momentarily. We were now in this... starry sky, and around us we saw so many other astral lines. Paths to other worlds. There were thousands of them, each their own line, glowing in their own way. They were not connected, these glowing astral paths seemed to float and move in a big sea of darkness, covered in little specks of dust. There seemed to be an ¡®epicenter¡¯ to the lines, a blot of darkness in the middle of everything. They were far away, and at that moment, another incredible headache. The attacks were back, and they were stronger. [Domain has blocked attempted intrusion] The warning repeated, and Lumoof had it too. He had it worse, even in avatar mode, he had to endure both the violent magic of this ¡®land-between-worlds¡¯ and the mental attacks. But unlike before, I could feel a ¡®direction¡¯ to this attack, and it came from somewhere, a spot of darkness in the void sea. It kept attacking, and like waves at the beach, it¡¯s possible to see the direction of the waves. My domain blocked more intrusion. The violent magic of this space seemed to tear us apart fundamentally, and I had to constantly try to pull it together, like trying to piece together pictures that had been cut up. Reality itself seemed to be breaking apart, even if I knew it wasn¡¯t. It just felt that way. Strange, and unnerving. My vines and my abilities seemed helpless, and I tried my best to use my mana. But then, in this space between worlds, I looked around, and in this huge sea of darkness, I zoomed in on the specks of dust that seemed everywhere. Then I saw little flickers of something I know very well, deep within all those little motes of dust. Souls. From a distance, they were wrapped in this ¡®dust¡¯, drifting. Drifting, moving between the space taken by the path between worlds. They were like tiny planktons and algae, on a sea of darkness, bobbing along the waves and ripples from the demon¡¯s magic. They came out of one world, and then, pushed by these ¡®void-waves¡¯ in the ¡®void-sea¡¯, went to other worlds. Some vanished when they got too close, but on closer look, they seemed to have just ¡®warped¡¯ out of existence altogether. Where were we, exactly? Yet, the fact that there were souls here made me call upon my [soul forge], and attempted to channel its powers through Lumoof. He was in poor shape, so I¡¯d try everything. My soul forge was most effective around my main body, and so my [soul forge]¡¯s abilities could only affect a small area around Lumoof. Yet, it was what we needed. It worked incredibly well, the tearing energies around us suddenly didn¡¯t hurt us anymore. The tearing forces that we experienced was a bit like the reconstructive energies in the soul forge, when I tried to piece souls back together. Here, it was used ¡®offensively¡¯ to tear us apart. Was the void sea also some kind of interplanar ¡®soul-soup¡¯? Was this where the souls went after they were ready to be reincarnated? The space where they would eventually find their new worlds? It was frustrating to find myself asking more questions than getting answers. Why couldn¡¯t I access it through the rift gate? Why didn¡¯t Stella¡¯s void portal bring us to this space between worlds? I focused my sensors on the magical bubble around us and the demon king¡¯s pulsing energy. I was certain it created this bubble, and this bubble accessed this space. [Domain has blocked attempted magical intrusion] The warnings did not stop, but as I kept studying this space around us, I began to suspect that the souls were always there, but I lacked the means to see it. Souls were everywhere. I¡¯ve been absorbing souls without ¡®seeing¡¯ them most of the time, only when they are close to me. But I absorbed souls and their remnants from the entire continent, and after my automatic soul processing, these ¡®inner souls¡¯ left my body somehow. This was most probably where they went. It was fascinating, and the demon king¡¯s core must have something that allowed this to happen, so I would revisit the core after this incident. Souls, like clouds of little tiny dusts swept around by the waves of this violent sea, wobbled. I didn¡¯t know why, but I liked this place. I stretched my roots outwards, even though Lumoof was in immense pain, and then felt the bubble push back. I couldn¡¯t get out of the demon king¡¯s bubble. My roots extended outward, attempting to reach into the outside. I felt like a kid, letting my hand hang out of a moving car¡¯s open windows, and felt it push back harder. If I could just put my seed here. In this vast sea- I felt the demon king¡¯s bubble of energy swirl intensely as more of that energy tried to keep my vines from touching the walls of the bubble. Lumoof looked barely conscious, although we no longer faced the ¡®tearing¡¯ effects, we still experienced the demon king¡¯s energy intensely, and now, it felt like all of it was focused on us. I tried to support him, and send more of my mana through him. I pushed back against the demon¡¯s energies. ¡°Aeon! The rift¡¯s moving violently!¡± Stella screamed at me, back on Treehome. ¡°We¡¯ll be there soon.¡± *** ¡°What¡¯s happening?!¡± The location where the demon king was projected to land kept changing. It¡¯s like a gunman whose aim was getting interrupted by someone nearby. ¡°It almost felt like it¡¯s not going to be in the Eastern Continent anymore, I¡¯m trying to track it but it¡¯s moving very violently!¡± ¡°I seem to be interrupting the demon king by my presence.¡± ¡°You need to stop or it¡¯s going somewhere we are not prepared to defend!¡± The Aivan temples were immediately appalled to find out that the demon king won¡¯t land in the scheduled location. They protested and complained how we¡¯ve just made them use up their reputation and political capital for something that would not happen, but I ignored them. I had bigger shit to fry. The heroes, likewise, were just slightly surprised that the demon king would no longer be at the initial scheduled location. The two heroes of Mountainworld, wasn¡¯t even fazed. They didn¡¯t know it was possible to predict the demon king¡¯s location in the first place, so this wasn¡¯t unusual to them. ¡°We¡¯re still trying to track it.¡± Stella said, as her group of void mages, scattered throughout the Eastern continent reported on their observations. The higher level void mages were improving, and quite a few were able to detect the energies of the rift. *** Lumoof struggled, and we felt the world twist around us again, as if everything was suddenly stretched. I pushed back strongly, and did not hesitate to try to interfere with the demon king¡¯s energies. My avatar screamed, as my energies swirled and fought, and it visibly caused reality around us to bend and twist in unnatural ways. The demon king roared, and I briefly thought it was in pain, or uncomfortable, because the bubble around us twisted. I kept doing it, and it bent a bit more. Then, that oppressive energy vanished. It was unmistakable, as the environment became one we were very familiar with. The rift had somehow opened somewhere high up in the sky. [Demon King Busihir has arrived.] The world around us suddenly turned to flames, as we started to fall. Really quickly. Lumoof had barely any consciousness now, holding onto the demon king by sheer willpower. I briefly saw a vast sea, and I immediately pulled Lumoof back to my main body. He would need some extensive healing from what he''s been through. ¡°The demon king¡¯s right over the Northern Peninsulas.¡± Stella screamed, as everyone quickly made preparations to move there. I wasn¡¯t sure how long we were trapped in that collapsing fireball. Lumoof was quickly back in Freshka, and my healing pods started their work. I felt the demon king burn through the starry sky, and then the demon king landed like a massive meteorite, and it crashed into the area that was once a shallow sea. Was, because the impact momentarily pushed all the sea and turned it into land. The impact was so strong that it became the epicenter of a tsunami that propagated outwards, and my roots picked up both the vibrations and shockwave of the impact. It was time to fight once more. Stella and the void mages were quick to pinpoint the location, then the heroes and my domain holders activated teleportation abilities. My domain holders and other folks arrived on the site, and were greeted by a strange sight. The demon king¡¯s other head had been partially severed, half of it¡¯s head damaged by the twisted rifts. Throughout the demon king¡¯s body were strange cuts, like parts of it¡¯s body had been torn apart. ¡°Aeon, the demon king looks like it¡¯s been through something.¡± Edna said, as the image we provided earlier didn¡¯t match what landed. At this point, I felt a bit drunk and dizzy, like I¡¯ve got a migraine and also had too much to drink. The magical energies of the demon king¡¯s astral path was so unnerving that I momentarily couldn¡¯t quite think clearly. So, those words didn¡¯t quite get through to me. The demon king was sluggish, and with Lumoof disabled, all I could see was what Stella and my mages could show me through magical scrying. It roared, and then, momentarily, I felt a force attempting to pull magic towards it. I couldn¡¯t focus, my mind seemed hazy from all I¡¯ve seen in that trip through the worlds. I could briefly feel the demon king activate something, but it wasn¡¯t that strong. Throughout the world, magic seemed to momentarily fade. ¡°Magic¡¯s being suppressed, but still manageable.¡± They reported, as the heroes and my domainholders quickly moved to engage. ¡°We are engaging.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± My mind gradually cleared up but I lacked the means to view the battle, or participate. I felt the ripples of their battle from afar. Spaizze Disembarked Year 211 - Edna¡¯s POV *** Lumoof was in bad shape, Edna knew when Aeon said it would take for him a few days to recover. The patriarch of the Treeologies was almost never out for a few days, so what transpired didn¡¯t seem good. Yet, she had a feeling it wasn¡¯t all that bad. ¡°Edna, get ready. Stella¡¯s giving us the location now.¡± The sky told them the general direction. The riftgate opened so high up in the sky, and what followed was a streak of light that burned through the sky. The demon king had somehow opened it¡¯s rift way up in the sky, and was on track to- A sudden shockwave of magic rippled through the air. Everyone felt the explosion, especially those on the Northern parts of the Eastern Continent. It landed so strongly that a huge burst of wind temporarily destabilised the regular weather patterns. Her skin felt a little tickled at the sensation of the unstable magic within the swirling winds, and she waited briefly for it to settle. Edna tapped the teleportation scroll, and chanted the coordinates. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go.¡± She wondered whether it world work, but then she smiled when the stored magic from within the scroll activated. She felt it tug, and they were teleported about half a day¡¯s distance away from the impact site, on what was once a beautiful natural beach. Instead, her eyes saw a vast charred crater, and at the center, a demon king that looked burnt and glowed. It¡¯s magical energies felt unsure, and that was when Edna knew something was wrong. ¡°Aeon, the demon king looks like it¡¯s been through something.¡± Magical communications still worked, and Edna quickly went through her preparations. The massive demon king was visibly injured from the impact, it¡¯s outer shell charred and twisted, and Edna felt unusual magical energies radiating from many parts, as if some of it¡¯s magic from travelling through the land between worlds had not been completely removed. There were smaller explosions, and the demon king seemed to reel from the impact. ¡°What the hell is happening?¡± Roon asked, but he was getting ready.. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but we should attack. Hit it while it¡¯s weak.¡± The heroes clearly thought the same. They arrived no later than Edna, and began their attack after a short minute. This was an advantage, and they were not going to waste it. Edna took out javelins made of anti-mana glass, loaded with as many non-magical enchantments the central continent¡¯s blacksmiths and weavers could fit. Then she popped a few elixirs, and felt her strength surge through her blood and muscles. There were ¡®better¡¯ magical equivalents, but this was what they have to work with. The heroes¡¯ first wave of attacks landed with a loud explosion, and a smaller shockwave. Every explosion was physical, they felt it in the air, as the shockwave passed through their body. She sometimes had dreams of these shockwaves. Or maybe nightmares. Moments when she thought about fighting demon kings. She took a breath, and those thoughts faded. She focused on the giant before them. The demon king was huge, and the heroes¡¯ attacks only took out chunks of its massive outer shell. From afar, the heroes were explosive fire ants, trying to kill an injured giant tortoise. The heroes tried magic, and magic seemed to work. Then, the demon king opened one of it¡¯s undamaged eyes. For a brief moment, Edna felt magic around them ¡®attempt¡¯ drain away, but then just as suddenly, it was interrupted. The demon king jerked, and seemed to ¡®cough¡¯, if such a thing was possible for the demon king. Instead, they saw green streaks appearing throughout the demon king¡¯s body, and it felt strange, familiar. It pulsed in resistance, and for a moment, Edna felt like it was ¡®fighting¡¯ the demon king. What was Lumoof and Aeon doing back on the Sandworld? Aeon¡¯s attempts to inject it with his ¡®seed¡¯ actually succeeded? ¡°Aeon, is that you?¡± Edna asked. There was no reply. ¡°What are we seeing, exactly?¡± Roon asked through their shared magical network, which thankfully wasn¡¯t drained away. ¡°It wasn¡¯t like this when we saw it down there.¡± ¡°I have no idea.¡± Edna said as she approached the massive body and hacked at it. It didn¡¯t do anything, but their attacks hardly hurt. The magical suppression aura from the demon king seemed weak, and unstable. There were sudden periods when magic was suppressed, and then, periods when it wasn¡¯t. The heroes clearly figured it out, as Edna watched them time their magical attacks during the gaps. Those magical attacks exploded on it¡¯s massive shell, and more of it were blown off. Edna, realising that her attacks were still not that useful, decided to retreat and provide defense for her peers. Most of the attacks from the demon king seemed to be physical, as it launched rocks and massive boulders at extremely high speeds. With magic not fully suppressed, it wasn¡¯t a problem for her magical shields to block, and when magic was suppressed, she could easily manifest skill-based shields to divert the attacks. For a moment, it all seemed to be going well. Roon and Johann clearly looked uncomfortable, but they didn¡¯t say a word. Edna knew something was wrong, and her peers knew it too. She noticed it when they fired their attacks a little slower, and kept their eyes looking. Johann¡¯s companion beasts also stopped attacking, and focused on watching. Edna sighed, and decided to ask. ¡°Aeon, do you feel anything?¡± She inwardly cursed, and felt Lumoof¡¯s absence from the battle. ¡°My magical sensors are detecting ripples from the battle. Is everything alright?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. It looks like it¡¯s going according to plan.¡± Edna got in position and felt one of the large rocks smash into her shield. Roon was the first to notice it, when they saw the crumbled chunks turn to sand. Dark, dirt-like but very clearly sand. Black sands. The demon king¡¯s residual energies were still uncertain, and one magical explosion ripped the shell in half. It cracked open, and then, smaller demons emerged. In the hundreds and thousands, they were the lizards they¡¯ve fought. ¡°Ah darn. Mobs.¡± Roon cursed, but somehow it relieved their tension. Fighting the demon king was always stressful, and they could really use Lumoof¡¯s calming presence. The mobs died easily, their anti-magic energies had been weakened. Alka didn¡¯t wasn¡¯t in the plan for the battle, since his focus had been magical bombs. So, the initial plan mostly assumed magical bombs would be useless, but from the heroes¡¯ attack, that wasn¡¯t true. They still packed a punch. Then, the air around the demon king started to swirl, and the black sands started to form a barrier around the demon king. Giant wurms made of rock and sand surged out of the ground. ¡°Is it me, or is this a little easy?¡± Roon cursed as his anti-magic glass arrow punched through the giant wurm¡¯s body. At the same time, the demon king roared. Johann rolled his eyes. ¡°You had to fucking say it.¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t keep it in forever.¡± Roon quipped as he took cover behind Edna¡¯s shield. ¡°The tension was getting to me.¡± Acid began to pour out of the demon king¡¯s body, and this time, the anti-magical energies in the land really surged. They felt like they were back on the Sandworld once more. The thick acid flooded the crater. The heroes lost their ability to fly, as the antimagical energies jammed their magical movement. ¡°Oh dear.¡± Prabu and Colette cursed as they felt some of their magical attacks drain away. Their fireballs got smaller as it travelled above the acid-filled crater, their lightning bolts seemed to shrink and weaken. The demon king essentially made a moat, A crater-lake of antimagic acid around it¡¯s main body. ¡°This is all your fault.¡± Johann said, but his attacks increased in frequency. He fired more of the glass arrows, but they seemed to do nothing. Roon just rolled his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s a fucking coincidence. We all knew this was going to happen one way or another.¡± Edna just smirked, as they retreated up the crater to the rim. ¡°Well, boys, there¡¯s a lake between us and the demon king. Ideas?¡± ¡°We need to drain this acid away. We can just knock a hole in the crater¡¯s rim and acid should be able to flow out.¡± Roon said. Edna nodded. ¡°Agreed.¡± The heroes stood on the rim and launched their ranged skills, but with their arsenal of skills restricted by the anti-magic lake and the large distance to its large body, the rate of damage was easily halved. ¡°Alright.¡± Roon nodded and pinged Alka. ¡°Alka, we need earthbusting bombs here.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± The skies suddenly flashed, as multiple projectiles flew their way. The bombs detonated on the rim of the crater, and even though some of it¡¯s effectiveness was drained away, it achieved it¡¯s goal. The crater-lake started to leak, and the acid started to flow out into the city. ¡°Stella! We need a portal! We need some platforms.¡± A black void portal emerged a distance away. Stella couldn¡¯t activate it close to the crater, but Aeon¡¯s roots began to shift the earth around them. A few platforms of rocks emerged throughout the crater, but before any larger space could be created, the demon king¡¯s mouth opened. The very presence of Aeon¡¯s roots seemed to cause the demon king to roar and then it blasted acid towards the direction of Stella¡¯s portal. ¡°How¡¯d it know?¡± Stella asked. The portal forcefully closed when acid smashed into it. Roon shook his head. ¡°I think Aeon¡¯s been bugging it so much on its homeworld that it remembered Aeon¡¯s presence.¡± Edna smirked. ¡°You¡¯re saying Aeon irritated the demon king.¡± ¡°Is that not what Aeon did?¡± The acid flowed slowly out of the crater, and the heroes moved closer to attack on the platform. The heroes closed in and attacked with all their might. Then, the demon king¡¯s body cracked apart, and then.. It split ¡°Uh.¡± They pointed, as they saw the demon king crack apart, and transform into five smaller demon kings. ¡°I hate split-body demon kings.¡± It roared, and attempted to open a rift. But then, one of the split-bodies was covered with green streaks and it glowed. The rift collapsed before it could open. Edna once again felt that familiar presence, and wondered... Had Aeon somehow corrupted the demon king? *** The heroes engaged the split bodies, and honestly, they were not exceptional. They were tough, but relative to Sabnoc or Akkila, this was probably a whole grade weaker. It almost seemed like it was under the effect of some kind of weakening effect, so, when they successfully destroyed two of the split bodies, they eventually focused on the third one. The crater-lake was half-drained, and that meant their spells¡¯ effectiveness had recovered somewhat. It was odd that the anti-magical properties were contained within the liquid, instead of it¡¯s main body. The third and fourth split body was destroyed a while later, again, without any particularly unique gimmicks. It seemed to rely on it¡¯s high strength and toughness, but beyond that, the heroes took them down. Down to it¡¯s fifth body, it roared, and then the acid started to float. The heroes attacked it relentlessly, and they hoped to interrupt the transformation. And they did. It cracked and then, just as it¡¯s outer shell vanished, it revealed a round black-green crystal. The heroes knew what it was, and immediately teleported away. Everyone else warped away, except for Edna. Edna felt a pulse from the crystal, filled with dense anti-magical qualities. It was good that the heroes warped out at first sight. If they get caught in the pulse, they wouldn¡¯t be able to leave, or defend themselves from the explosion. She activated her [Duty Beyond Life and Death]. Edna sped ahead and went as close as possible to the black green crystal. She had a javelin made of anti-mana glass and stabbed it. It cracked the crystal and then she felt the crystal pulsed. The glass crystal glowed as it absorbed mana, then it cracked. She took out a few more, and stabbed it in again. Each of the anti-magic glass javelins sucked mana out of the crystal, and interfered with whatever reaction that happened within it. It was amazing how these glass weapons seemed to work better than Aeon¡¯s vines in some way. The green-black crystal pulsed weakly. And then, with a whimper, stopped. [Demon King Busihir was defeated] Edna smiled, and gave the all clear once there was no explosion for ten minutes. ¡°Stella. Portal, please.¡± A void portal swirled open right next to the green-black crystal, and Aeon¡¯s roots surged out. It wrapped itself around the crystal like a hungry octopus consuming its prey, and once it had a good grip, pulled it through the portal. The air was still filled with the anti-magic qualities. Edna began to check the other destroyed bodies, and noticed it had begun its transformation into daemolite. Yet her eyes were drawn to the remains of the body with black-and-green streaks. It wasn¡¯t transforming into daemolite. As she got close, and investigated, it really felt like Aeon¡¯s energies, and her mind began to speculate whether Aeon¡¯s constant magical harassment during its gestation period interfered with its development. ¡°Aeon, we should look at this too.¡± A void portal appeared next to her, and again, roots and vines pulled the remains through. A demon king was slain once more. Honestly, it felt like a chore, and Edna wondered whether this was how Aeon felt. It had seen so many generations of demon kings, and participated in so many of its¡¯ conflicts. This was a tiring, tiring chore. *** Operation Parasite FreeTreedom Year 211 (Months after the victory) ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Edna came and checked on Lumoof. There were lingering side effects from the exposure to that twisted space. ¡°Better, it¡¯ll take some time before I¡¯m fully in shape, though. The strange energies of the demon king and that void space are far more persistent than Aeon expected.¡± The tearing forces of the void forests were mild, but they lingered, and manifested quite a bit like demonic curses. I could remove curses quite easily, but these were not exactly curses either. They felt a bit more like reality being in conflict with itself, which was really hard to explain. I also noticed they seemed to ¡®mark¡¯ Lumoof like a sign, though eventually it went away. Lumoof gained about ten levels from the trip through space, and he unlocked a new skill. [Forest Sanctuary]. It¡¯s not a combat skill, but it created some kind of ¡®pocket dimension¡¯, as long as there¡¯s a few trees in the area. The Forest Sanctuary essentially functioned as a super-safe campsite, since, well, it¡¯s in its own pocket dimension. *** Around the same time, I got the briefing on the battle with the demon king from the team, though I saw most of it through magical scrying, and the moments when my trees were through to the other side. The anti-magical energies of the acid interfered with the scrying, and Edna¡¯s mention of the weird greenish glow made me suspicious. The flesh we harvested that didn¡¯t rot or disappear, or the demon king¡¯s core both had greenish glows. They have never glowed in that manner. The core of the demon king was safe in the Valley, and they looked strange, and out of place. Like someone tainted the demon king¡¯s core. I vaguely recall the pulse to be quite weak, at least initially, but now they pulsed with a far stronger glow and with much more fixed intervals. It felt a bit like two incompatible songs mashed together. On top of that, the battle with the heroes meant their star mana already damaged the core, so it wasn''t fully usable. Still, we now had multiple specimens of the core, sufficient for my researchers and scientists to perform comparative analysis. They also began to construct a smaller model based off the various undamaged components across all the cores. It was the equivalent of stripping multiple crashed airplanes to get sufficient parts for a usable whole, and it was Alka¡¯s little pet project. While they worked on that, I focused on the tainted energies of the demon king''s core. The green streaks. They were mine. We made them. It wasn¡¯t hard to figure out that these were created from my mana, the cumulative effects of our attacks on the demon king during its gestation clearly left a long-lasting impact on their formation. Coupled with what the heroes reported, I suspected that my mana had somehow lingered, or was absorbed by the demon king. The fact that this could happen validated parts of our offensive strategy. What if I could taint all the demon kings? Could the taint stop the demon kings from behaving the way it currently does? Does the taint carry over to the next demon king? Could I render the planet¡¯s cores ¡®infertile¡¯ such that demon kings could not spawn from them, even if they won? Extrapolating my earlier ¡®conversion¡¯ of the demon walkers, would it be possible to ¡®convert¡¯ the demon king. The next step was naturally to scale this up by an entire order of magnitude. What we needed to do, was to effectively deliver such a high quantity of mana to the demon king, such that I corrupted it when it was still in its infancy. The quantity of mana I needed was more than what I have now, but it¡¯s not impossible. I¡¯d also need to improve Lumoof¡¯s ability to deliver mana and cope with my power. Though he could project my power and my abilities, he also suffered from the side effects of that projection. Therefore, he began mana-practice. He¡¯s a priest, but he had to train and get used to large quantities of mana. We did this training before, but our goal post had shifted. The goal was to prepare Lumoof for mana at least ten times more than what I had now. With that amount of mana, we¡¯d then attempt to ¡®poison¡¯ the demon king once more, and see whether we could essentially stop the demon king before it even happened. It was painful to subject Lumoof to the large amounts of mana, but like Stella, only through exposure to excessive amounts of mana, could he hope to gain the immunity to it. With higher mana tolerance, Lumoof would last longer in the demon worlds. He cursed, of course. He understood, but he cursed. The path to end the cycle required sacrifice. Pain. My avatar understood the purpose. But the pain was real, and it hurt as hell. *** The astral pathways collapsed instantly after the demon king¡¯s death, and though I was a little sad that I would lose access to the anti-magic sand, I was also curious of what came after. What would the next demon world be like? Stella was quiet as she watched the astral paths collapse, the revelations of the starways being this space that¡¯s not really empty. Souls, and maybe even other things we may not even think of. Maybe the gods truly reside in this void space? *** The dust had settled, and it seemed I gained a few levels. I wasn¡¯t there for the bulk of the battle, so I was still pleasantly surprised by the additional levels. [You gained 5 levels. You are now Level 226] [Astral Sight improved. You may now see further between the realms] [Natural Mana overwhelming upgraded] [Mana storage upgraded] It was nice that the system rewarded my mana poisoning with more mana related skills. These upgrades were ¡®incremental¡¯ improvements, little bits of extra efficiency and effectiveness from every point of mana. *** We had a post battle review with the heroes too, and strangely, they actually said the battle was comparatively easy. There were very few truly ¡®threatening¡¯ moments, and their problem was just dealing damage to the demon king. They had a small panic moment when the bomb apepared at the end, of course, but that was something we all saw coming. Based on the data from the domain holders, the heroes were generally right. It wasn¡¯t that ¡®bad¡¯ for a demon king. Unlike Sabnoc or Akkila, the number of strange gimmicks were few, just that acid lake defense. I wondered whether that was because our ¡®mild¡¯ mana poisoning had somehow interfered with the full breadth of the demon king¡¯s powers. They had easy mode because we ¡®locked¡¯ some skills. ¡°Aeon and Lumoof should invade the demon world more often.¡± Lumoof choked. Edna just grinned. ¡°Now, now, let¡¯s not get ahead of ourselves, it just so happens that the demon world was an anti-magic world. For the next demon king, we should consider a more thorough invasion. One led by the heroes.¡± The heroes squirmed at Edna¡¯s response. The initial plan a few years ago was a hero-invasion. One that had to be modified because of the unique qualities of the anti-magic sandworld. Now, it¡¯s time to revert back to our original plan. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry, we would do the initial scouting and reconnaissance, but the plan should not change.¡± Both Alvin and Kelly of the Mountainworld were just too stunned to respond. They couldn¡¯t wrap their heads around a pre-emptive invasion, or at least, struggled to. Even after they¡¯ve seen Lumoof do it, it still baffled their mind. I wondered whether their mental controls were slightly different from that of Chung, Prabu and gang, but when they dipped into my biolabs, I didn¡¯t see anything different. At least, not from the outer appearances. Chung just sighed. ¡°Can¡¯t delay it forever.¡± ¡°It¡¯s likely we will get something more ¡®normal¡¯ for the next demon king.¡± Edna speculated. ¡°If the next world is anything like a parasiteworld, the plan will proceed. We¡¯ll see which world comes first, either this, or the Mountainworld¡¯s demon king.¡± ¡°The frequency of our demon kings isn¡¯t that high, I think.¡± Kelly said. ¡°I think... I can¡¯t remember.¡± ¡°Fifteen, if I¡¯m not mistaken.¡± Lumoof answered. ¡°Their records are just as choppy as ours.¡± ¡°Darn it. Why is ours so frequent?¡± ¡°Daemolite.¡± Edna answered. ¡°We have more daemolite than them.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± Chung answered. ¡°The demon kings create daemolite. Why would more daemolite result in more frequent demon kings?¡± Edna shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but the daemolite¡¯s linked to the frequency.¡± ¡°Wait. Have you guys known this for a long time?¡± Prabu asked. Edna paused, and she momentarily wondered whether this was revealed before. ¡°Yes. To some extent, it¡¯s something we¡¯ve been speculating, but we were not sure. We saw it in ancient dreams. Or more like, Aeon saw it.¡± The heroes murmured as the statement stewed in the air. ¡°The locals won¡¯t like that.¡± Chung said. ¡°All the native rulers use daemolite to varying degrees for stuff.¡± Edna nodded. ¡°Indeed. Even Stella¡¯s void portals and the riftgate relies on daemolite to store the void mana. It is currently the best available source of void-mana storage. Other alternatives just don¡¯t work as well.¡± ¡°So if we destroy it, we may or may not reduce the frequency, but we lose our best known way to store void mana.¡± ¡°Yes. That¡¯s right.¡± Edna answered. ¡°It¡¯s why we did not say much, until we have more certainty.¡± *** Branchhold¡¯s growth was good, and I was quite fascinated by the idea of starting a city from scratch. My spymaster seemed excited to have a new assignment, and I thought he grew bored of the challenges back home. He denied it, of course. Branchhold itself was designed to be significantly more compact, with my clone tree at it¡¯s core. One of the things we took advantage of, was to create ¡®vertical¡¯ structures, using my giant attendant trees as the anchor and support. This allowed greater density and more efficient use of space. Normally, with increased densities, there needed to have sufficient food and water to support it, but a city composed of trees has its advantages. Food and water was not a problem, since we could produce fruits, and pull water from beneath the ground. In other cities, they had to go an extra step of having magical food equivalents. Thus, Branchhold was designed to be significantly more ¡®vertical¡¯ than Freshka that sprawled outwards. This resulted in some redesigns for my beetles. Beetles naturally had the ability to climb up trees and slopes, but their ¡®packages¡¯ and ¡®cargo¡¯ had to be properly supported since gravity still applied. I liked the idea of a city that¡¯s dense, and strangely, it appealed to the beetles too. It seemed that humans, Canari and elves didn¡¯t quite like it, but dwarves found it quite similar to the mines, so density wasn¡¯t a problem. The treefolk also didn¡¯t like dense places, they got comfort from their link to the earth, so dense cities didn¡¯t appeal to them. The local folks were neutral to the idea of density, they seemed more interested in the safety aspect of any institution, most likely the residual impact from the long period of war. Those who faced long periods of uncertainty due to war valued security far more than those who didn¡¯t. Generally, of course. There are those that embraced the nihilism and meaninglessness of life in the face of war. What I learned from the locals through Branchhold¡¯s extensive surveillance was rather telling. The drive to survive created a hardened society, and nobles who are just far more warlike.. A decade of constant war created nobles who were now eager to expand their power, and that power turned on each other. I had expected that my presence would ¡®deter¡¯ them from actually fighting each other. After all, in our world, the presence of a strong superpower pretty much resulted in an era of peace. That did not happen. The system, which indirectly encouraged conflict, since everyone gained levels from fighting, essentially was stuck in this hostile loop. War was inevitable, not just because of demons, but because war rewarded those who survived them. The system grants levels, which then equate to strength. Strength to impose one¡¯s will on others, and thus, war. Therefore, how could a world that grants power through warfare have a state of ¡®peace¡¯? It could, if somehow everyone turned away from the system. But that leaves a world defenseless against the demons. With no outside interference, either divine or demonic, those who possess power will fight for more power. Of course, this is a very pessimistic assessment of the nature of people. Not all people seek out power, but those who ¡®become¡¯ nobility and the rulers tend to be those who are more likely to seek out power and cause conflict. It was just the necessity of their role. Even if one originally did not covet power, those who coveted their power would rise up and attempt to overthrow those who could not defend their position. Thus, by sheer elimination of more ¡®peaceful¡¯ rulers, as they failed to defend their throne, the world should naturally veer towards violence. On the central continent, we mitigate this through our extensive education program, the FTC, and also the presence of our priests. But I know that wars cannot be entirely avoided. In fact, small wars are like controlled fires, a thought that sometimes horrified a part of me. It keeps the military on their toes instead of decaying into a state of complacency, especially since the threat of demons had dwindled significantly over the past few decades. I¡¯ve tried to mitigate that with more dungeons and more dream-wars, but a ¡®lifestyle¡¯ of war? An entire society engineered towards winning a war? That was something else, and that¡¯s what the Mountainworld had. That kind of focus was admirable, and I admired how well they handled it. I wondered whether that¡¯s how Lilies felt, as they grappled with the constant shifting forces of the world. Competition and conflict created true strength. This was true back home, because it forced everyone to be on their toes. On a macro level, if I wanted a strong army, it must be allowed to experience war and battle. Back on Branchhold, they have yet to have all these cumulative systemic changes, and thus a state of warfare is the default. The peace created by the two heroes did not last very long. A rather pessimistic state of affairs, but so be it. Their weakness meant I had gaps to exploit, and I freely expanded my trees on the Mountainworld to increase my total mana capacity. It didn¡¯t matter if I didn¡¯t formally own the land, in a way, that was just a feint. As I thought about it, the Crystal dude was right. I was an invader, and right now I¡¯m spreading my trees to ¡®invade¡¯ this world and ¡®steal¡¯ its mana. My actions were justified, because I can¡¯t defeat the demons and end this stupid cycle without some invasions to gain more mana. At this juncture, it was a good and timely reminder for that age old phrase. He who fights with demons, should take care that he does not become a demon. I suppose with all the demon hybrid experimentations, I wasn¡¯t far off from being one. *** On the topic of experiments, Alka approached me to explore ¡®bomb-beetles¡¯. Essentially massive suicide beetles, or a swarm of tiny ones. Using my biological evolutionary engineering, to ¡®craft¡¯ or ¡®grow¡¯ a bomb-compatible beetle, with flight or movement, for the explicit purpose of blowing itself up at the target. Smaller experiments were successful, and now we wanted to take it to the extreme. Supersized bombs, and superfast swarms of them. Speed, stealth and power was the primary issue. The idea was to create a literal flying swarm of explosive beetles, and then, with a large enough portal, send enough through to the demonworld. Why not just normal bombs? Simple. Alka wanted to exploit system-shenanigans to overcome ¡®manufacturing¡¯ constraints. My subsidiary trees could spawn beetles by pure system-effect and mana. If I could create suicide beetles, and the subsidiary trees, of which I have an absurdly large number of, I essentially had the abilty to bypast resource-restrictions and just bomb the demon world with just an army of banelings or exploding zerglings. We could then bomb the parasite world to hell, and break the status quo. The war on the parasite world had reached another ¡®status quo¡¯. We were beginning to question the value of this world. I wasn¡¯t learning much on the parasiteworld. The fringes of my expanded territory had to endure more demonic attacks, and I noticed some changes in the demon types used to attack my lands, but it really felt like it was going nowhere. If anything, I should ask the six heroes to mount our first ¡®liberation¡¯ mission on the Parasite world. ¡°Liberate a world from the control of the demons?¡± Prabu wrapped his head around the idea of a counter invasion. ¡°I thought we wanted to invade the demon world to attack the demon king before it attacked us.¡± ¡°Yes, but Aeon proposed something more ¡®radical¡¯ as a test bed.¡± Edna was the one to deliver the message. Lumoof¡¯s recovery meant he wasn¡¯t in his best shape, but it was time. ¡°Aeon¡¯s incursions into the demonworld highly suggested the existence of a demon king that metamorphosed into a ¡®mother¡¯ in the core of the world. We believe that if we defeat it, it may free the core from the demon¡¯s control, and the planet then ¡®reverts¡¯ back to a normal world.¡± Ken and Snek were excited at the idea. If this worked, it meant Snek had a chance to save his homeworld. It¡¯s proof that it could be done. ¡°Aeon has been expanding on the parasiteworld, right?¡± ¡°Yes. Aeon has a large force present currently fighting a long-drawn out war of attrition. It reached a stalemate recently, due to mana limitations.¡± The heroes glanced at each other uncomfortably. ¡°We know what we are hitting?¡± ¡°No. Aeon¡¯s unable to see what¡¯s in the core as the pit that leads to the core is flooded.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not doing it without Lumoof doing recon.¡± Prabu said. ¡°Or at least, can the flooded pit be drained? If we know what we are hitting, then maybe.¡± ¡°Possible. With enough trees, Aeon could drain some of the water out. But if it goes all the way to the magical core of the world, it would take some time. The roots would need to reach that deep in the first place. The demon mother¡¯s also likely to be weaker than a full demon king, at least, that¡¯s the sense I got from the demon I saw in the core of the antimagic world.¡± ¡°Another free world.¡± Prabu answered. ¡°Could we get heroes there?¡± Edna shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. That¡¯s entirely up to the gods.¡± ¡°They only summon heroes in response to a demon king.¡± ¡°Is... the parasiteworld linked to any other worlds?¡± ¡°Yes, but they are too far with our current abilities. Anyway, let¡¯s have that conversation later and get back on topic. The battle, if any, will happen in the core of the world, because it¡¯s highly unlikely we¡¯ll be able to get the demon ¡®mother¡¯ away from the core.¡± The heroes looked at each other. Strangely, it was Chung that asked. ¡°Ken, what do you think?¡± ¡°Fighting a demon in the core of the planet feels very end-game boss to me.¡± Chung rolled his eyes. ¡°Eh, now''s not the time for a gaming reference!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a risk.¡± Ken said. ¡°Snek would definitely like to see it happen, but if Aeon could stack the battlefield in our favor, and with the full recovery of their team, it may work.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we just drop a bomb into the core?¡± ¡°You mean like star wars?¡± ¡°Yeah. Death star and all that.¡± ¡°We could, but that may blow up the planet. And that¡¯s not what we want.¡± ¡°Aeon would prefer to keep the planet in shape in order to have another ¡®hospitable¡¯ world to our stable of ¡®safe¡¯ worlds.¡± Well, if I could free the parasiteworld from the demons, theoretically the mana recovery should improve significantly. Not being in a mana-deficit would support my goal of increasing my mana output. Adrian and Kelly were both too flabbergasted to digest the idea. Aiding the defense of another world was one thing, but an invasive liberation of a demonworld never quite crossed their mind. ¡°You have time to decide.¡± Edna said. ¡°We¡¯re waiting for the full recovery of the entire team before we attempt this.¡± *** ¡°What do you think of the idea?¡± The heroes had their own session. ¡°Yes.¡± Prabu said. ¡°I say go for it. We have the necessary skills, and as heroes, this is what we do. Defeat demons.¡± ¡°You sure that¡¯s not your mental overrides hitting you?¡± Chung asked. ¡°I know, but it¡¯s the right thing to do. If it resets that world, it may mean more hero summons in the future. More candidates for the League of heroes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s insane.¡± Kelly just said frankly. ¡°So yes.¡± ¡°You¡¯re insane.¡± Chung said. ¡°Why are we taking this risk? We¡¯re risking our lives here, going down to the demonworld¡¯s pit to fight this thing in there. I¡¯m against this. We don¡¯t need this fight.¡± Colette shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I want more information before I decide.¡± Hafiz and Adrian both nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m with Colette. I need to know more. If it¡¯s an easy fight we should go for it. Ken¡¯s right. If Aeon could stack the odds in our favor, then we have nothing to lose.¡± Chung sighed. ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll let Edna know that we want more info. We¡¯re not going in there blind.¡± Prabu laughed. ¡°That''s a privilege, Chung. Our predecessors all had to face their demon kings with no data.¡± ¡°But this isn¡¯t a necessary fight.¡± ¡°Maybe not, but it is our duty.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the gods¡¯ speaking.¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± Spaizze Astral Geometree Year 212 Lumoof had finally recovered from the effects of the trip, and he noticed his sensitivity to the soul realm had increased. There were moments when he saw specks of things flying in the air and briefly wondered whether his vision was bugged. Then it was clear it¡¯s actually the souls¡¯ movement in the world. He could seem, faintly, and if he was in a zone. ¡°Is it because of all the mana practice we are doing?¡± Lumoof asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t get a skill, though.¡± I thought it was a matter of time. ¡°I thought we get the skill first, then we see the results, not the other way round.¡± Lumoof chuckled. We both knew the system can be irregular and inconsistent, even if it broadly tries to stick to a set pattern. Broadly. Level-specific things have been followed quite strictly, but when do people actually ¡®learn¡¯ or ¡®acquire¡¯ a skill has been one of the weirder aspects of the system. Perhaps a system had to have ¡®hard¡¯ and ¡®soft¡¯ aspects, both RNG and checkpoints in order for it to work? Mana practice and soul-sight practice took up most of Lumoof¡¯s time. His mana control wasn¡¯t poor, but now, his mana tolerance has improved. It made him sick, and he actually got skills to cope with more mana. Just that the quantities we needed to ¡®poison¡¯ the demon king were too high. He would have to reach even higher levels. *** For me, Alka¡¯s team of scientists finally gave me one demon king core model. It was a replica, constructed from the data gathered from all the demon cores we had so far. It did not contain all the elements of the demon, just the parts of the runic carvings that we somewhat understood. They said it seemed to open up some kind of ¡®network¡¯, but it fizzled out before they could get further. The amount of power needed by the model was quite high, and Alka said he saw what appeared to be a very, very large three dimensional map in his mind. But it hurt his head so much he had to stop. His speculation was that it was not designed for mortal minds, or at least, designed such that it suited how the demon¡¯s mind worked. Therefore they brought it to me. My vines wrapped around the object made of some of the toughest crystals we had, and my mana flooded it. The runes within it flared, and then, I briefly saw the entire core glow. I felt it and saw the magic of the replica core seemed to tap into something. Something that existed in an entirely different place. It was a mini-portal within it. No, metaphorically, it was the equivalent of an interdimensional wireless modem that¡¯s now making a call to this... space in another part of the world. I felt a connection, and instantly my mind was assaulted. My artificial minds stepped in to protect me. It wasn¡¯t a domain-type attack, but more like a ¡®DDOS¡¯ or a ¡®Ping¡¯ bombardment. [Mental firewall activating... filtering...] This felt like a nostalgic return to the days of Rootnet. Then I felt a strange, uncomfortable sensation, like something attempting to pull me from the other side of that connection. It pulled, and then- -Snapped. At that moment, I saw the ¡®stars¡¯ that Alka claimed to see. It was vast, and then, they disappeared. And reappeared again. The map seemed to twist in unusual ways, and I realised it wasn¡¯t actually three dimensional. I wasn¡¯t even sure it was a map. That uncomfortable sensation returned, and then, I felt something push back against my presence very, very strongly. It was so strong that the energy somehow spilled through the replica, and the replica cracked. The connection was lost then. Alka just looked at the cracked replica with a look of bewilderment. ¡°What just happened?¡± ¡°I saw the stars, and then, something kicked me out. I¡¯m not sure what.¡± Alka strapped in as I shared what I saw with him through our dream academy. ¡°There¡¯s a guardian on the other side of that. It might be possible to kick it out, or at least, stop it from kicking you out.¡± My bomb-domain holder touched the cracked demon-core replica. ¡°We¡¯ll have to make a few more of these, out of different materials to see what¡¯ll work well.¡± ¡°What do you think we saw?¡± ¡°A starmap. An invasion plan. A path. Or just a history of worlds invaded.¡± If there was a ¡®centralised¡¯ controller that told demons where to go, it had to be on the other side of the demon core. So, I wondered whether every demon king essentially ¡®calls-home¡¯ and asked ¡®where do I go?¡¯, and somebody or something on the other side tells it where to go. The key point is, if I figure this out, I could fuck with it. If I stop all the demons from being able to essentially ¡®dial-home¡¯, could I take out the momentum behind the demon king¡¯s constant invasions? Essentially, cause them to turn on themselves, or invade worlds that were already invaded, and so, slow their expansion across the multiverse? This strategy was an expansion of my earlier demonic IFF-interference strategy. Of course, I eventually shared our findings with the other domain holders, the heroes, and my other senior members. ¡°It sounds like the demon king¡¯s actually a remote-controlled drone, and the mind behind the demon king is safe somewhere else.¡± Ken quickly connected the connection and gave a wild speculation. ¡°We have been fighting clones all this while. The core of each planet¡¯s just a clone-factory to manufacture more drones.¡± Lumoof, naturally understood what that meant. ¡°Are you saying each demon king is an ¡®avatar¡¯ of some controlling entity?¡± ¡°Well, close. Actually, yes. It¡¯s like how Aeon speaks through you. Absolutely.¡± ¡°Then we just have to take out the demon king¡¯s controller and all of this should end?¡± Actually, if the demon king was really some kind of entity like myself, that¡¯s actually a lot harder. It meant the entity behind the demon kings, if there is such a thing, could have many, many clone bodies and are manufacturing these self-replicating motherships. I pondered the thought for a while, and realised that countering the demon kings as a whole fell into two large ¡®long-term¡¯ angles. One. Destruction and extinction. If it¡¯s possible to destroy it¡¯s power source, or if there is some kind of ¡®central¡¯ will at the heart of all the demons, then destroying it should end this demonic plague once and for all. Part of this strategy requires heavily levelling my domain holders so that they could fight battles on the demon world. There are lesser outcomes under this ¡®angle¡¯, such as just destruction of it¡¯s ability to travel worlds, or destruction of whatever¡¯s assisting its wayfinding. Two. Confusion and redirection. Messing with the demon¡¯s ¡°world-finding¡± abilities, and under this umbrella, messing with it¡¯s friend-foe identification. Under this set of strategies, if it¡¯s not possible to ¡®destroy¡¯ the demons as a whole, maybe because there isn¡¯t actually a ¡®center¡¯ or a ¡®node¡¯, then we would essentially confuse the shit out of it, and mess with it¡¯s ability to find habited worlds. We could create curtains, such that they couldn¡¯t find us, or jam the teleportation portals such that the demons couldn¡¯t invade us. There are lesser angles, or ones I consider unlikely, such as ¡®assimilation¡¯. From an evolutionary standpoint, if the demons at the center were some kind of ¡®code¡¯ or ¡®virus¡¯, could I ¡®alter¡¯ them such that they became benign? If the demons were some kind of ¡®rogue¡¯ program or magical grey goo that ran out of control, could someone reassert control over them? *** The evolution of beetles with more specialised materials continued, even beyond Alka¡¯s suicide beetles. Since the creation of specialised ¡®Treechikomas¡¯, we¡¯ve expanded the evolutionary development to a wider range of creatures. My domain powers over evolutionary meddling extended beyond beetles, so it¡¯d be a waste to restrict myself to them. Horns would be upset, but he¡¯d understand. And he¡¯s too busy fighting demons in the parasiteworld to nag me about it. We experimented on anti-magic infused beetles, but creating them consumed the anti-magic glass, which was now a finite resource. The first few designs were crap and the ¡®regular¡¯ beetle-mind struggled, so I made ¡®artificial-mind¡¯ variants. These performed better with the custom-designed bodies, but they also struggled. Actual performance in the battlefield didn¡¯t seem to match up with how they were designed, so, we had to make multiple revisions. It¡¯s not as if they were not working, but when compared to a regular beetle at the same level, their performance was lacking at first. The later versions finally managed to perform just as good, but it did take about sixty different variations. The artificial minds too had to adapt to their new bodies, and that was also another ¡®lagging¡¯ aspect. These minds were able to seamlessly work with regular monsters because it seemed their movement and attitudes were already in them, somehow. It¡¯s like there¡¯s a blueprint of how to move a ¡®spider¡¯ or how to move a ¡®beetle¡¯ already available, while this modified anti-mana beetle was different, so even basic things had to be learned from ground up. Honestly, some of the earlier designs were embarrassing. It reminded me of my younger days when I played with Spore and I just placed all the horns and spikes I could, and made what looked like a nerubian or a porcupine-beetle. Yeah. More spikes is better... not really. Over time, the refinements made by my artificial minds made them more functional, and they began to look more like something more functional. In terms of experiments, I also relooked at my artificial minds, and tried to create more powerful, fully formed souls. With my higher number of soul forge colors, it was theoretically possible. It took some time, but eventually I managed to increase the artificial mind¡¯s overall performance and mana production. It still wasn¡¯t much, not when compared to the Titans. But twice as fast, or twice as much mana is still a significant improvement, and helped the artificial minds cope with the huge amount of background administrative work to keep everything running. *** Branchhold had it¡¯s own set of artificial minds, to run the wooden lifts and coordinate the carrier-beetles. I also sent Ally over to the Mountainworld, and she, or, it, really, took the form of a lizardperson, salvaged and repaired from the corpse of a dead lizardperson. Ally, as the parasite, received an ¡®artificial mind¡¯ at the core, essentially giving it sufficient power to function, but not enough to truly exhibit the full range of its abilities. A converted demon-champion parasite was something even my own Valthorns viewed with an uncomfortable suspicion. There¡¯s just something uncanny about a shapeshifter that could possess another that made normal people uncomfortable. Something that I don¡¯t get. Maybe it¡¯s the assurance that it¡¯s almost impossible to ¡®possess¡¯ me that made it discount that threat. In any case, Ally would assist my spymasters in my plan to bend the opinions of the Mountainworld in my favor. Within the immigrants to Branchhold, we swiftly detected agents of the various kingdoms eager to find out more about us. At this point, I merely informed my spymasters of their presence, but did not do more than that. I didn¡¯t want the natives to realise I could monitor them, so, I decided to let the agents work as they please, and only allowed capture in places where it was probable that someone could have noticed them. In short, my spymasters had to hunt for spies without relying on my tree¡¯s surveillance. This was good practice for him, of course, and it also hid the full extent of my abilities from the natives. Working in other worlds would be a common occurrence as this went on, as I foresee my gradual expansion over time. Eventually, as I get in touch and have a presence in more inhabited worlds, I¡¯d see myself become some kind of centralised transportation network. The ¡®warp network¡¯ between the worlds. I¡¯d probably make a lot of money just by charging for transport, and with very few alternatives, well, except the void mages, I¡¯d essentially be a monopoly. Of course, as it is, I¡¯d already have tremendous economic advantage because I could easily arbitrage any pricing differences between Treehome and Mountainworld, and the Central Continent, by extension, has access to two economic markets. The merchant lords easily saw the economic opportunity to exploit the pricing difference, but all these depended on me agreeing to teleport the goods. I decided against it, as it would not be good for me to crash the prices by flooding the market with essentially imported goods from another world. *** There were some ideas that came out before our supposed invasion of the parasite world. What if we shifted daemolite from our world to the Mountainworld? ¡°No. What if it triggers a permanent increase in demonic invasions to our world. That would not be good.¡± Kelly and Adrian refused, and frankly, I could see their point. I wasn¡¯t sure how the demonic surveillance and targeting mechanism worked, and if I shifted it there, could I essentially trigger more demons without reducing ours? So I considered some more alternatives. One was to shift the daemolite to the Parasiteworld, or to the Cometworld. I didn¡¯t want to shift it to the Cometworld, because, if the demons could somehow ¡®see¡¯ the daemolite, essentially these daemolite were surveillance ¡®bugs¡¯. I didn¡¯t want the demons to target a hyper-mobile ¡®void explorer¡¯. Thus, we settled on sending more of these daemolites to the Parasiteworld, and see whether it affected the frequency of the demon king¡¯s invasion to Treehome. We shifted almost all of our daemolite to my clone on the parasiteworld. ¡°No change to the existing astral paths.¡± Stella said. ¡°But the further ones are wobbling and fading. It seems removing daemolite only reduces the frequency of demon kings multiple decades down the road.¡± Stella later theorised those that have already ¡®locked¡¯ onto our world are coming as scheduled, but those further away have not properly ¡®locked¡¯ on, thus removing the daemolite made targeting more difficult. Essentially, that meant daemolite was some kind of ¡®aiming-aid¡¯. Without it, the demon could still find us, but just a bit harder. We kept the daemolite in the parasite world. *** Lumoof kept practising with mana and trained hard. He needed to be ready for the shit I was gonna throw his way, and after the shit I put him through, he clearly understood he would be seeing things way out of his league. Even the invasion to liberate parasiteworld essentially depended on Lumoof to provide support, since the heroes demanded his presence as a condition to the invasion. My trees were busy ¡®draining¡¯ the waters from the parasiteworld to create patches of drier land. Strangely, now that my trees covered a large part of the parasiteworld, some normal weather had returned. A return of seasonal rainstorms, and small snows during the colder period. The parasiteworld had always felt a little hot and humid, a bit like being in a tropical swampland, but my large patches of trees had gradually repaired some of the weather. I found it weird, because this wasn¡¯t a conscious thing. I didn¡¯t actually attempt to change the weather, but the changes on the Parasiteworld over time had been rather dramatic and some parts absolutely no longer resembled what was still a demon-controlled world. With more mana coming from the Mountainworld, I gradually inched closer and closer to the pit of the Parasiteworld. Each piece of territory was won through a constant war of attrition against the hordes of the demons. They spawned more creatures, newer variants, but we had improved beetles to counter them. The demons clearly had some ability to learn and adapt, especially on the demon-controlled worlds, since they were able to spawn new variants. The fact that demons in the invaded worlds did not adapt that strongly, when compared to the demons on their controlled worlds, made me wonder whether demon kings and demon ¡®mothers¡¯ had some control over the development of demons. Or perhaps, because the system considered demons to be ¡®native¡¯ in this world, thus the system spawned adapted demons? Or was there some kind of automated learning, or just through recombining known traits in different ratios, in the same way nature adapted to changes in the environment through reproductive processes? The only I¡¯d know is if I controlled a core. My trees encroached on the areas around the pit to the core and we began the process of draining the pit of water. Moving water wasn¡¯t difficult, and I eventually released the water throughout my controlled areas, essentially creating rivers out of these once shallow lands. There was a lot of landscaping to do. The water from the pit had to be cleaned and filtered too, as I noticed it contained far higher quantities of demonic presence within it. I didn¡¯t know how long it took for the core to spawn another demon king, but from what I could detect on the surface, there was hardly any progress, and it seemed like an exceptionally long ¡®spawn¡¯ time. New lakes appeared too, as more water was shifted out of the flooded pits. The fact that it was an exposed pit made it significantly easier for me to remove the water because I could spawn trees all the way to the edge, and those roots at the edge functioned like pumps. Water was then gradually ¡®sucked¡¯ out of the pit and then channeled through the root network. At the rate we were draining the pit, I estimate it would take about two years to drain the water and reach the core. Good enough. By then, Lumoof and the heroes should be ready for another fight in the depth. Variant Roots Year 213 ¡°I see the transportation went smoothly. Glad to see you, Master Johann.¡± I rotated domain holders between the two worlds. One of my newer treefolk lords, Baron Threid, and a delegation of administrators were present to greet him when I sent him over. I could send him over unannounced, but the Valthorns have a huge operating procedure built up for fixed deployments, so I went along with the bureaucracy. Baron Threid¡¯s kind was a rarity on Mountainworld, but he was one of those willing to take a relocation package over the Branchhold. At level 50, he was relatively lower level, but that was normal for those with noble classes. Noble classes and ruler-classes levelled slower, just like those with the higher ¡®tier¡¯ or ¡®upgraded¡¯ classes, but they made up for it by their ¡®aura¡¯ and other ¡®state-level¡¯ abilities. This act of ¡®greeting¡¯ domain holders and receiving ¡®visitors¡¯ was one I felt a bit iffy about. There was an element of brown nosing that I didn¡¯t quite like, but Lumoof and my senior leaders claimed that it was nothing more than a good practice of hospitality. Eventually, I settled and agreed to let the practice continue, but forbid lavish and large receiving parties. ¡°Well, I¡¯m here for my assignment. How¡¯s everything?¡± It was his first visit to Branchhold this year. Baron Threid shook his head. ¡°We caught another four spies. I¡¯m fairly sure Branchhold is infested with spies at this point. Our spies are trying to weed out the rest, but with so many immigrants, it¡¯s quite hard. Some of them essentially do nothing but feed info back to their minders back in the kingdoms.¡± Johann laughed. ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure Aeon saw it coming, so good luck there. ¡± Baron Threid paused at the statement. ¡°Would you be assisting the counter-espionage efforts?¡± Johann looked at the Treefolk Lord¡¯s misaligned eyes for a moment, and shook his head. Treefolks were not what people would consider ¡®pretty¡¯. They were more tree than people, and so their body structure was unusual. ¡°No. That¡¯s not what I¡¯m here for. Counter-espionage remains the task of Branchhold¡¯s designated council. I believe Aeon¡¯s intention is for the council to level, so it wouldn¡¯t be right for me to interfere.¡± ¡°Ah. I see.¡± I would step in if things really got out of hand, but it¡¯s important to let the people make mistakes and learn from them, as long as it wasn¡¯t a ¡®lethal¡¯ one. That said, I did find my tolerance of ¡®lethality¡¯ increasing over time. ¡°Instead, I want a briefing on the latest wars of the foreign nations.¡± Baron Threid nodded. ¡°Right this way.¡± *** There are days when I think war is inevitable. The system facilitates and encourages the act of combat. Not just that. There are days when I thought war was good. The system is part of this world¡¯s nature. It is how this world works, and war was how the system and people of this world ensured the survival of the fittest. The survival of those who could gain the levels and skills needed to survive. War accelerated that process, as conflict ensured and required each and everyone to strive harder to protect what they have, and to survive. War was coming, because the system encouraged it. War was coming, because those who survived are better equipped to face the future. It was a morbid, cruel assessment of the world. Or was it me, becoming numb to this constant state of war? Despite the benefits of war, it came at the expense of generational learning, because war encouraged destruction of infrastructure and knowledge. War was the equivalent of stepping on others to go higher, and destroying other''s ladders. There had to be a balance somewhere between the two, and I wasn¡¯t sure whether the Central Continent¡¯s model was the best one, even if it worked very well so far. I also didn¡¯t think it was right to transplant a governance model that worked for the Central Continent to Branchhold and the wider Mountainworld as a whole, because both worlds and people had different histories. Johann sat and contemplated the briefing, my spymasters had built a basic information gathering network throughout the other kingdoms of the Mountainworld. This complemented the information I gained through my trees, which also expanded outward. The Mountainworld people fought a lot. In fact, the wars of this era seemed more violent than ever. The level 80s of the Mountainworld fought each other, and their levels meant the destruction they wrought was more extensive. Conflicts seemed to arise from the smallest things, the rulers eager to shake the status quo with the military power accumulated over the decade of war. This was partly why there was a surge in immigration to Branchhold, once it became clear to the population of the world that no one actually attempted to invade us. Branchhold¡¯s military power remained a huge ¡®unknown¡¯ to the people of this world. ¡°We should arrange a visit to the Central Continent of Treehome, and establish the sheer gap in power between our two worlds. Once they realise the kind of military power we have, it would greatly ease our efforts on Branchhold.¡± What was the point in that, really? Show that we have a bigger stick? Was there a point to scaring the people? Is it not the same as what the heroes did? Their presence frightened the other nations into compliance, and gave them the ¡®right¡¯ to have their own kingdoms. ¡°It¡¯s useful to get some of the nobles to work with us. There are those who feel that they can oppose us if they combine their might.¡± Fear. I¡¯d prefer if we were liked, but then again, being liked never stopped them from fighting against us. If anything, I¡¯d like my spymasters to bribe, blackmail, preach and twist these other nations to get out of my way. After all, why kill when you could convert them or bribe them? It¡¯s unnecessary bloodshed. Money¡¯s not an object for me anymore. Over the decades and centuries, I watched the value of money fluctuate, and now I was at the point where money is kind of a secondary result of my will. After all, money was useful to convince others to mobilise and do what you want. Now though, with the resources of a continent, and my power, should I choose to wield it, was absolute, money was just an intermediary. After all, money is just a means of exchange, and also a way for the state to exercise its power to govern. A nation could pay its employees with food, lodging, or any other kind of benefit, in order to compel them to do what the nation requires them to do. At the core of it, what was a nation? A nation was a means to create an overarching structure to enable the provision of services not possible to be achieved at a smaller scale. Back home, democratic systems generally try to ensure that the government has a ¡®mandate¡¯, so to speak, from the people that it is governed. This, partly, was to ensure stability, to align the will of the people and that of the rulers. In a world with magic and skills, how does this ¡®mandate¡¯ play out? Frankly, in a world where skills, levels and magic exist with monsters of varying strength, the value of the common man is not much. It¡¯s more of an oligarchy of the powerful. Too frequently, it becomes a ¡®mandate of the system¡¯. Not unlike the mandate of heaven. The system bestows a select few with the power to rule, and thus they create their kingdoms. Levels create power, and that power is exercised to rule over others. Those who have power and gain power used it to oppress and to demand those beneath them to obey. I¡¯m aware, that¡¯s essentially what I did. My overwhelming levels ensured I could execute my will and bend Treehome to the direction I want it to go. It was a form of tyranny, even if I¡¯ve generally tried to have a light-touch. Lumoof once said the presence of level caps was to ensure that no one got ¡®too¡¯ powerful, but clearly, the system wasn¡¯t expecting a creature like myself. Occasionally I wonder whether this was all planned. Did the system know this is what I would do? Does the system have a desire? Does it have a goal? Why? It was a question many people around the world asked. During prayers, many asked why level systems were created, and lamented how unfair it was. How some nobles had inherited skills, and some had none. What was the purpose of it all, anyway? I noticed a rise in these types of existential questions from the inhabitants of the Central continent, which I suspect was a result of rising affluence and education levels. Was there even a purpose to it, to create a system where the system grants so much power to those who jump through it¡¯s hoops? The system encourages slaughter, and encourages achievements. This, of course, tied back to development. Rightly or not, I¡¯ve significantly uplifted the development of the Central Continent, and invested significant resources on magical research and weapons. Tools of war, to wage more dangerous wars. This was known to all on Treehome, and has functioned as a deterrent from the other nations. Alka¡¯s crystalline bombs are well known for it¡¯s incredible destruction. Their magical ripples could be detected an entire continent away. Yet, my goal was to end the cycle, and there is a worry, just like back home, that further research and overuse of bombs may eventually lead to some kind of magical nuclear winter. We don¡¯t know how much magic is ¡®too much magic¡¯, even if I¡¯m currently quite certain it¡¯s nothing to worry about. *** On Branchhold, the issue of a constitution was a bit harder than I initially expected. Mainly, the refugees and immigrants to Branchhold had very different expectations, norms and requirements compared to the administrators from Treehome. Those from Treehome had lived a generation or two under my rule, and their social, cultural and administrative norms had deviated quite a bit. Form filling was a struggle with the immigrants who didn¡¯t even know what a form was. Things like waste disposal, sanitation and food-processing all had gaps. Even on Treehome there was some gaps, especially between continents, but the other continents had learned from us by exposure. Many nobles, influenced by my spymasters, adopted some of our norms and policies. Even the Triumvirs of Aiva adopted more regimented training processes, supported by my Valthorns indirectly. All that happened over a long period of time, so the gap never felt so big. But here, these people never had that exposure. The worse thing was, it further solidified my delegation''s impression that the people of Branchhold were uncultured barbarians. This was something I wanted to avoid, because it was a formula for resentment, and worked against my intention to build a good, positive impression among the nobles, warrior classes and general peasantry of the world. ¡°The gap¡¯s too big.¡± Johann admitted in a personal conversation with me. ¡°I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s possible to educate them and get them to change their practices so quickly.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure why, but that statement made me churn a little. I sensed disdain and a little bit of patronising in those words. I get that he had a point, but I wasn¡¯t too comfortable with that feeling, so I decided to clear it up. ¡°Perhaps there is no need too.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Johann was one of my soldiers, and he respected the warrior-ethos of the people. But that was about his only positive impression. There was an immediacy to their life, the focus is on winning the next battle, not stepping back and thinking about how to win the war. This difference in ¡®time-horizon¡¯ was probably something that would need a generation or two to change. The immigrants didn¡¯t understand or comprehend the security we could provide. Why think about what¡¯s going to happen a year down the road when the demons could invade and kill everyone next month? In a way, the decade-long war was a big setback to their overall society, and frankly, he understood that we could have easily been the same. Yet it made day-to-day interactions frustrating. It was an experience quite like the Canari, who also seemed to live their lives day-by-day. ¡°These people lived life day-to-day, and rather than try to change them, is there a way to make a ¡®better¡¯ or more ¡®productive¡¯ version of this mindset?¡± ¡°That sounds rather strange.¡± Johann laughed. ¡°Isn¡¯t foresight one of the better qualities of civilization? To create a structure from nothing.¡± ¡°It is, but I am beginning to wonder whether I¡¯ve been looking at civilization with a far too narrow perspective.¡± ¡°To me, that just sounds like chaos.¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± The strength of planning and foresight allows the accumulation of our efforts towards a larger goal. Something that cannot be achieved through instant reaction and living day by day. There has to be a guiding path, or a ¡®focus¡¯. It¡¯s the equivalent of a corporate ethos and culture, towards some kind of goal. An organisation this large, by sheer number of actors and players would generate many contradictory forces. A noble in one part of Treehome would and could take the exact opposite direction as another noble. It¡¯s impossible to force everyone to be perfectly aligned. It¡¯s too much effort, and means turning everyone into robots. Ultimately, it boils down to the question of, ¡®what kind of world did I want Mountainworld to be?¡¯ Does it even matter, if its main function is to serve as a massive mana generator to complement my future mana requirement? Why was I doing this? *** ¡°How do the immigrants take the rule of the council?¡± Johann asked one of the relocated administrators. ¡°Not well. Language differences are getting better, but they are still unused to the way many things are done. There¡¯s also no ¡®respect¡¯ for the Valtrian Order, which makes it harder for the Order personnel to carry out their work. The priests are having a slightly easier time, but it¡¯s not smooth sailing either.¡± Johann spotted many small aggressions and conflicts as the relocated administrators and guards tried to impose their version of order onto the refugees. Most accept it, even if they don¡¯t understand. After all, they came as refugees to avoid the threat of war, but there clearly was some expectation gap. They expected life to be similar back to where they came from, not this accelerated-uplift society where they had to adjust to how I wanted this city to be. This was a result of my will being in conflict with those of the refugees, and frankly, many made the journey with incomplete information. I could solve this problem by allowing mass migration from the Central Continent to Branchhold, but I wanted to see how receptive the local folk were before I did that. I also had some concerns about facilitating such a large movement of people between worlds, and I wanted rules and proper process before such things were permitted. The artificial minds could be granted authority to operate the inter-world transportation, and the necessary mana budget, so that freed up one part of my mental load. *** There was a strange problem that emerged for those who came from the Central Continent. I didn¡¯t notice it immediately because of the presence of my healing aura in Branchhold, but my spymaster noticed it in their field operators. Diseases of another world. Those with my familiars, or those close to my clone trees were spared thanks to the influence of my [healing aura], but the spies that strayed further, some without the protection of my familiars, got sick. A lot. Most diseases were mild, but it was another aspect that I did not foresee. Stella swiftly reminded me of the diseases brought by colonisers during the age of exploration. The inverse did not occur, simply because my people were generally ¡®healthy¡¯ thanks to the effect of my [healing aura], so they didn¡¯t carry that many diseases. My [Biolabs] quickly collected some of these disease samples. Then we realised these diseases of Mountainworld were made of magic. *** I eventually agreed to a learning visit for the refugees and the nobles. I thought about it, and realised, maybe intimidation wasn¡¯t a bad thing. It was the whole idea of a nuclear deterrence. I had the impression that my domain holders already qualified to be my ¡®nuclear deterence¡¯. I also wanted the refugee representative to see for themselves what kind of culture and society we had back on Treehome. Many refugees have their own defacto ¡®community leaders¡¯, which we selected for the trip. In total, about 100 refugees would take their first trip to Treehome. Their arrival on Treehome was a quiet one. I had not fully declared their presence here, so they were shuffled like tourists on tour buses, always escorted by security personnel. They were frankly awed, the equivalent of jungle bumpkins entering the city for the first time. Spaizzer I''d like to shoutout xkarnation''s MONSTER EVO FIC. HIS GOT A MONSTER EVO STORY. BECAUSE I HEARD YOU LIEK MONSTER EVO FICS, SO I RECOMMEND YOU TO CHECK OUT DIS MONSTAH EVO FIC. Word blocks and trenches Year 214 Lumoof¡¯s mana practice continued, while my other domainholders made regular trips to the parasite-world to set up the stage for an invasion. He had managed, over a period of two to three years, to increase his mana tolerance by about twice of what it was, but lately his progress has plateaued. It still wasn¡¯t good enough, but Lumoof said he would just gain more levels, and hopefully those higher levels gave him extra stats and new skills that helped with his mana tolerance. I agreed, I did not want to subject him through pain, if there was not much progress. Since we had a roadblock in this particular direction, Lumoof went to the parasiteworld, to see what he could do there. My attempts to drain the pit of the demon king went quite successfully, and the amount of water was then redirected to make actual lakes and ponds in the areas we controlled. I¡¯ve reached about 3/4th to the core of the parasiteworld, and now, the walls of the pit are filled with vines and crawler-type plants. Down here, there were few demons, but nothing much of a threat. The demons continued to attack us throughout the world, but so far, we managed to hold on. They mounted multiple assaults to flush us out and fully retake the area around the pit, with champions and all that, but with Edna, Roon or Johann around to provide additional support and offset my ¡®distance-penalty¡¯, it wasn¡¯t hard. A champion was no king, and if they could not field kings, my domain holders had nothing to fear. Hytreerion, my converted walker, served as my ¡®champion¡¯ and fortified the area around the pit. Despite all this, there was no sign or signal that suggested this world was attempting to ¡®grow¡¯ another demon king. Not yet, anyway. The magical energy of this world was still low, despite all the recovery in the past few years. The path in the stars appeared to be faint. I wondered what kind of world it would invade, but for now we kept digging. It would be another year or two before we reached the core. *** ¡°Fancy seeing you here.¡± Kei said as she walked up one of Branchhold¡¯s highest trees, where there was an observation tower that looked out. Stella nodded at the crystal-golem when she walked in. I was told it¡¯s a gorgeous view of the vast demonlands, still not reclaimed by the heroes. The two heroes, Adrian and Kelly did use their powers to retake some of the demon lands, but they didn¡¯t seem particularly enthused. ¡°I¡¯d say the same for you.¡± Stella responded as she worked with her tools. Over the decades, she had made some tools and equipment to help her with her task of observing the skies, and the Mountainworld¡¯s skies were filled with entirely new stars and worlds. ¡°Did Aeon send you here to give me a hand?¡± ¡°Nothing like that. I just asked for permission to visit another world, and got it. I just have to be escorted outside Branchhold.¡± ¡°Ah that does sound like something you would do. See anything you like, so far?¡± ¡°Not yet. The rangers told me the food choices are quite interesting, but my taste buds aren¡¯t exactly the best.¡± Stella smirked at the golem. ¡°Taste-buds.¡± ¡°Yeah. Eat. As if I needed that.¡± Kei shrugged, and then perched herself at the balcony. She took a moment to take in the view. ¡°But this place does have a really good view. This city doesn¡¯t sprawl, not like Freshka.¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± ¡°Eh blasphemy!¡± Kei teased. ¡°Aeon already has an anti-sprawl plan!¡± Stella didn¡¯t reply, and continued to work. She collected readings of various magical energy signatures, and she continued her work on her theory. She thought that each different world¡¯s ¡®magical key¡¯ that identified that world, so, if she could figure out what the ¡®alphabets¡¯ were, she could then figure out how to match the alphabets to the rift gates, and then, use it to call places that we currently have no access to. Magic was a lot of hard work. ¡°How many void mages did you bring with you?¡± Kei asked. Stella paused. ¡°Two of them are helping me with the research.¡± ¡°Do you find portals different here?¡± ¡°Not really. About the same. The only worlds where I felt my portals were nigh-unusable were that cometworld and the anti-magic world.¡± ¡°That was a waste. Aeon should¡¯ve kept that world.¡± Kei said. ¡°Now our supply of anti-magic sand is cut off.¡± Stella just smiled. ¡°Wait. What¡¯s that look?¡± ¡°We have the magical coordinates for that world. With a sufficiently high-powered amount of void mana, and if we can replicate a smaller version of that core-mana-void mana tunnel...¡± ¡°How far are we?¡± ¡°Honestly, the biggest roadblock we have right now is Aeon¡¯s lack of core mana. Between what I¡¯ve seen and what we¡¯ve gathered from the demon king¡¯s core replica, we¡¯re halfway there with the tunnel.¡± ¡°Shit. We are just one mana-source away from being able to go wherever we want?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not jinx it and make it sound so easy. Core mana isn¡¯t the easiest thing to find, but if the parasite-world invasion goes well...¡± Stella smiled. ¡°There are still mountains to climb after this one. And this is still a really, really tall mountain.¡± ¡°How long have you known?¡± Kei asked once Stella took a break. ¡°Know what?¡± ¡°That we¡¯re going to be able to essentially connect all the worlds we¡¯ve been to.¡± ¡°Oh. It was always there. Each world has a signature, a ¡®phone number¡¯. Each rift gate Aeon steals comes with it¡¯s own coordinates, mostly intact. I¡¯ve known how to ¡®lock¡¯ a rift gate to a past world, especially if we¡¯ve stolen the gate from that world. It¡¯s just, we lack the power to make that connection. Void mana doesn¡¯t survive very well in the void forest. It gets swept away and disrupted by the smallest eddies.¡± ¡°Is Aeon planning to do that with this world too?¡± Kei looked up at the sky. The mountainworld would have their own demon king too, but their cycle was a little longer, ranging from 15 years to 20 years. ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve discussed it before. We have to grab as many rift gates, from as many worlds, as far as possible. It¡¯s one of the easier ways to collect all the astral ¡®alphabets¡¯ or ¡®numbers¡¯. Next was to map that number to our observations of their location in space, and see whether we could make some sense of the numbers. I believe there is a logic or pattern inbuilt in the language of the rift gates, which brings me to my next task-¡± ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°I need to get my domain. Within the demon king¡¯s core-replica, Aeon spoke of star-paths, and a massive map, but he said there is a ¡®guardian¡¯ within that map. He¡¯d only let me use it once I have a domain. I¡¯ve seen images, though, through the [dream academy], but I¡¯d really like to see it for myself, and feel what that thing is.¡± ¡°Do you think that¡¯s a creature of the void? Do you think there are things living in the void forest?¡± Kei asked randomly. ¡°Like... you know, hunters within the void forest that look for certain things?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say it¡¯s impossible. But I¡¯ve not seen any.¡± My void archmage relaxed and took a sip of water. A Valthorn dropped in to just check in, and then left once they noticed both Kei and Stella were in there. Branchhold¡¯s security condition wasn¡¯t as robust as Freshka, but with my artificial minds constantly monitoring everything, I had the ability to react almost instantly. Still, I had the Valthorns patrol all the key installations. I didn¡¯t trust my detection abilities to get everything. Stella¡¯s levels were mostly through research, but in her earlier days she did some powerlevelling with the domain holders. As she reached her level 140s, her levels had slowed, and so she would also need to get some combat experience in, even if it¡¯s indirect. It was really quite irritating that the path to a domain seemed to require combat experience. Was this world so battle crazy? Stella¡¯s time had to be split between her astral-alphabet and riftgate research, crafting and combat, and also her teaching duties at her void academy. Thankfully, these days she wasn¡¯t the only void archmage. We had a few promoted to [void archmage] over the years, and for risk-mitigation, we rotated them to other roles. One moved on to crafting and creation of void-mana sensitive artefacts that Stella used, and also taught the next generation of crafter-void mages. Sadly, the process of getting acclimatised to void mana was still horrible, and it was something I worked on. One of which was my breeding program. I had the ability to inject an inheritable skill, and I intend to stack the inheritable skills to create a naturally attuned [void mage]. The very first young treefolks just enrolled to the void academy last year since the breeding program started. Patreeck went a bit further and suggested that I acclimatise young lizardpeople eggs and treefolk seedlings to void mana, but the potential of killing these babies made me squirm. I wasn¡¯t willing to go that far. Maybe... not yet. *** < How is the search underwater? > I spoke to Reefy after a while. I spoke to him, or ¡®it¡¯, every few months, but our conversation was usually brief. Usually nothing of particular interests, though Reefy often brought trinkets and showed all the strange fishes that are found in the depths. Then, this time, he brought something else to my attention. > Dead giant found. Know? < Reefy shared, through our root-link, an image of a giant creature, submerged in the depths, it looked like it had died many, many years ago. From the depths, all I could see was a shadow-like image, but it was something similar. The shell was filled with scars, but I could tell what it was. A dead zaratan. < Yes. A zaratan Can you bring it up to the shore? > > Too big. Need help. Minions too small. Can send help? < Reefy¡¯s mental image shared a location of the dead giant, and I immediately had the Valthorns deploy ships and mages to the location. I also pinged Lilies, my old friend, to get in touch with Vallasira, the zaratan, once more. If there was a dead zaratan, I thought I should let them know. Stella, Lumoof both returned from the other worlds, and they were joined by Edna, Alka, and a large contingent of mages. They boarded the largest vessels we have. The location was right in the middle of the ocean between the central continent and the Western isles, between two oceanic valleys. Over the years, some layers of ocean sand had covered most of it. ¡°It¡¯s down there, right at the bottom.¡± Alka said. His magical abilities and past experience as an occasional archeologist meant he had some skills for this kind of event. ¡°We could use a portal and teleport it up, but we¡¯ll need to encase it in a bubble of magic to preserve it from further harm.¡± Bones. I could learn of its last memories from its bones, but I would do so after I got the zaratan¡¯s views, if they allowed me to do so. ¡°But let¡¯s wait, and let me see what else I can learn through magic.¡± I recalled these zaratans loved water, and I wasn¡¯t sure if digging up zaratan bones from the ocean was potentially an offensive thing. If they loved water so much, an oceanic burial could be what they¡¯ve always wanted. Stella shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m sadly unaware of their funeral rites or customs, despite being their apprentice. As far as I know, they don¡¯t have such customs, even though they do feel the loss of their fellow zaratans very, very strongly.¡± ¡°In that case, let us just do magical research for now, and wait for the zaratans to emerge.¡± As it turned out, we didn¡¯t need to wait long, as a thick mist soon emerged in the area, and two massive zaratans emerged, and one younger one that I¡¯ve met before. Their presence was thick and rippled outwards, their presence was comparable to any domainholder. > The tree¡¯s compatriots have gained much strength. < The largest of the zaratans spoke. Everyone just looked at Lumoof, and he entered avatar mode. I spoke through him then. < Greetings. We meet again, Vallasira. > The younger zaratan¡¯s still-massive turtle head nodded. > Indeed, Aeon. Your actions have rippled through the worlds. We thank you, for the safety you¡¯ve provided us. < < It is what I must do. Let us get to the point, Reefy, my reef-friend, has found the bones of a large Zaratan in the depths. > > Indeed. < The largest one spoke. > Vallasira, as you have met them, you can host them in your shell. < At that moment, one of Vallasira¡¯s shell-hexagons opened up to reveal a small box. > Hop on. We will dive to the depths together, and see our departed brother. < Stella was the first to go, a portal opened between her and the box in Vallasira¡¯s shell. The rest of us followed, and all in, about twenty of us dived into the depths of the ocean. I had to admit, as a tree, I felt really, really uncomfortable being so deep underwater, and it took a lot of my willpower not to scream or shake. It was so bad that Lumoof had to use his calming powers on me. Yet, the depths of the ocean was wonderful, as Vallasira¡¯s shell was incredibly magical. It was like a flexible screen that could turn transparent, and allowed us to see the ocean outside. It was like we were in a glass box in the depths of the ocean. The dive into the depths took just a moment, as all three zaratan landed around the giant bones. > Our fallen brother. < The giant zaratan opened its mouth, and a jet of pressure blew all the sand away, revealing the rest of the shell and the bones. Massive scars along the side of the creature. > Another one for the demons. < The other giant zaratan touched the scars in the shell with its nose, and seemed to sniff. > It¡¯s been five centuries. < > Long it has been, but no longer. < The giant zaratan blew all the sand again, and this time, it swirled around the shell. The giant zaratan then bit at the skull of the dead zaratan, and at that moment, the giant zaratan seemed to glow. The other giant zaratan and Vallasira also bit the bones of the zaratan, and I felt a sudden surge in magic around us. And then just as quickly, it was gone. > Do as you please with the bones. We have done what must be done. For providing this information, Vallasira shall provide the reward < The giant said, and then, just as quickly, the two giant zaratans swam away, and then... vanished. > You may take the bones. < Vallasira said. The small box we were in was then separated into two compartments, one with only Lumoof, and another with everyone else. Stella then opened a portal in front of Lumoof, and water immediately rushed in through the portal. But he was encased in an armor of wood, and he breathed through a vine. My roots surged outwards and through the portal, and then my roots wrapped around the bones of the ancient zaratan. Then, I moved everything to another part of my [secret hideout], where my preservation abilities would keep it safe for our later studies. > It is safer for our bones to be in your hands, than anyone else. < < Thanks for the vote of confidence. > > All of us could see and feel your energies rippling through the multiverse. We hope our bones can push you a bit closer to your goal. But beware, they can sense it too. They¡¯ve begun to suspect something¡¯s gone wrong in this part of the world, and they would not react well to a nascent god. A new ¡®puppeteer¡¯ will only earn their ire. < < Do I seem like a puppeteer? > > They can¡¯t tell the difference. < Vallasira said. Spaizzer Please check out FREE LANCES. I think it''s a word play on freelancers, but I''m not sure actually. Or maybe it started the other way round. Anyway- Yeah. Check out Free lances. Avitue''s a fellow SEA-an like me. (yes I speak multiple languages poorly at the same time). *Through boons and woes, anger and joy, By feats of wit, tactics and ploys, No lord to serve, forever free, The life of a mercenary.* Please have a look, it''s good shit, since he''s gained a lot of EXP since his earlier stuff. Trees of the Abyss Year 215 I am now in possession of two sets of bones from legendary creatures. One, the dragon bones, which I recovered from the moon before I withdrew the clone, and now, the bones of the Zaratan. Both of which were now safely stored in my [secret hideout], in their own little section. Thanks to the effect of my preservation abilities, they were untouched, almost the same as if they were on the moon, and in the depth of the sea. Since I wanted to now ¡®see¡¯ what happened to the Zaratan, I figured I might as well check the dragon¡¯s bones as well. I moved a large piece of the Zaratan¡¯s skull from one part of my secret hideout, right to the biolab located within my body. The skull itself was large enough to be a truck, but this broken piece was about the size of a large door. It pulsed momentarily, as my biolab began it¡¯s work. Ethereal vines from my soul forge-biolab entered the bones, and I began to see images and little bursts of thoughts. Emotions. A lake, and then, a sensation of moving. A black sun, then abruptly snapping. Forced off the path! Another lake but then it¡¯s dried out. How? Then demons, large demons. Champions. Running. Flee, and conjured water around itself. The champions latch on, and then, the sensation of moving again. It¡¯s unstable, demons on its back. Ocean. A struggle. Pain. Sinking- The memories ended there, and I realised this zaratan had probably been ¡®yanked¡¯ out of its path across the stars. The demons could do that, or at least, that black sun could. I feel that black sun is the key to everything, and I proposed the idea of destroying or capturing the black sun to the domainholders. They generally concurred that it may work, if it¡¯s the only one. I wanted to speak to Aiva again, ask them whether they¡¯ve ever tried assaulting the black sun. If that would work? I tried a few more zaratan bones, but the memories of it¡¯s last moments were similar. So, I used the bones of the dragon from the moon that I¡¯ve kept for so long. It¡¯s a bad habit. I would keep things, and only check on them when I remember them. Patreeck gives me regular reminders, but I find it hard to focus until it really draws me. Anyway, I focused on the dragon¡¯s bones now. It¡¯s memories were far more hazy than the zaratan. The images I saw were faded, but I saw- Flight. Run! Fear! The sky. The stars, and then a really intense sensation of emptiness. Then the moon. The dragon looked back, and saw a world aflame. A roar, and then, a long period of waiting. Hope. Hoping for others to join it. No one came. No one was strong enough. I needed some time to process my thoughts. These were the last moments of these great creatures. Both bones had power, and as I studied them, I felt I gained a better understanding of their nature. The study of their bones led to additional titan options. [Titan option unlocked : Dragon Replicant. A creature with the flight, combat and magical prowess of a lesser dragon.] [Titan option unlocked : Zaratan Replicant. A creature created based on the Zaratans of the void sea. Possessed ability to move between worlds, if there is an existing path. Comes with void mana as default and can use some void magic.] I have one titan soul left, but I looked at the six heroes allied to me, and realised, I wasn¡¯t in a rush. Not if this arrangement worked. I would get more fragments, sure, I was so close to 100 fragments, but, that¡¯s really a consolation prize if I could direct the hero¡¯s actions. These dragons, and Zaratans were so powerful, surely they would have achieved a domain? What stopped them from stopping the demons? Or, that was the wrong question. The dragons stopped the demons many times, as seen from the memories in some of the ancient tree, but they were eventually overwhelmed. If so, what can we do to avoid their mistakes? If two or three demon kings invaded us at the same time, we would fall, just like the dragons. Even today, we don¡¯t really know whether that¡¯s a rule, or just a convenience of the demons. It is entirely possible that they assigned 1-to-1 worlds just to maximise the number of invaded worlds, but could easily focus on a single world. We needed to test this. Was there a ¡®physical¡¯ or ¡®magical¡¯ barrier that prevented simultaneous invasions? It¡¯s possible that a demon king¡¯s presence emitted something that interfered with the ¡®astral paths¡¯, thus preventing multiple invasions. Since we now had a ¡®demon king¡¯s core replica¡¯, we also needed to figure out how to confuse their ¡®targeting¡¯ system. We had seen the astral paths wobble when daemolite was removed from Treehome, and so, we¡¯ve seen that the creation of stable astral paths required core mana. Thus, I directed my attention to one of my potential sources of core mana. The core fragment of the anti mana world. Unlike the shard of the cometworld, the rousing presence from a few years ago was still ¡®dormant¡¯. It was as if it slept. When I touched it again, this time, the presence was quite similar to the sensation from the cometworld. The presence was still collecting itself, and it¡¯s core mana, however few it was, seemed to resist me. Without actually convincing that presence within the core to give me its mana, the core mana was far more bound to its presence. *** Stella was back on the Mountainworld after the Zaratan incident, and back to her magical research. She seemed to quite enjoy branchhold, and with our enhanced abilities, we noticed that Mountainworld was linked to two other worlds. One of those two worlds was a little further away, and we would likely need to redeploy some daemolite to reach it. It was strange how each world¡¯s ¡®astral path¡¯ was different, and how each world sees the void forest differently. This made me think that even the demon¡¯s starmaps may not be all that reliable, since they probably had their own frame of reference, or these maps were collected from their ¡®jumps¡¯. Even the souls, on their path to reincarnation, travelled to this ¡®void forest¡¯, where they would move and wobble their way to other worlds. I attempted to access that ¡®view¡¯ again, even with my soul forge, but I¡¯ve yet to succeed. Maybe I needed the right levels, but I also consulted my fellow domain holders on whether they¡¯ve seen such things. Lilies, for one, had no clue. This was way beyond their experience. Over time, I realised the process of learning is very often just repeatedly throwing something at a problem and seeing what sticks. I wonder whether the gods got to their current solution through the same process. *** ¡°Counting down to the invasion?¡± Ken asked the heroes when they met. They didn¡¯t meet that often, but they still made it a point to meet every other month. Everyone had their own things to do, some of the heroes had their own projects, like Chung and Hafiz, and the mountainworld heroes, Adrian and Kelly, also found their own ¡®passions¡¯ and ¡®hobbies¡¯. They did say they felt lost after the defeat of the demon king, but eventually they found something to do and occupy their time. Prabu nodded. ¡°Kinda, but not really. We¡¯re just working on our own thing for now, while waiting for the cue.¡± Snek, the little snake spirit was the most eager of them all, which meant Ken had a little more ¡®stake¡¯ in this project than the heroes. Snek wanted this invasion to succeed, for all the obvious reasons. After the zaratan¡¯s warning, I wonder whether this invasion may be the wrong move. What if I drew their attention, and become marked by the demons? What if we invited greater scrutiny? These were my worries, and so, for now, the best I could do was over prepare. If necessary, I¡¯d cover them and pull the rest of them back to Treehome. *** We¡¯ve finally drained the waters of the pit, and I finally got a glimpse of what was within those pits. It was similar to what we saw in the anti-mana world, the ¡®demon mother¡¯, around a core. The parasite world¡¯s core was smaller, and filled with holes, quite a bit like a ball-shaped swiss cheese. The area around the core itself had been hollowed out, and instead, there was this giant octopus creature with multiple tentacles. Those tentacles weaved through the holes of the core, and tied itself to it. [Inspection] didn¡¯t work, but I reckon it was the same type of creature. From what I could tell, it even had approximately the same level of strength as the demon mother, and I quickly shared my observations with the planned assault force. We do have a clear path that leads all the way to the core. We could guide a lot of bombs to the core and flush out the demon mother, but that came at the risk of destroying the core, which is so tied up with the demon mother. So, we needed a surgical approach. ¡°Send Lumoof. Capture the demon mother.¡± Edna said, and Lumoof gave Edna the stink-eye. ¡°Oh come on, don¡¯t kick me into the pits.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not kicking you in. I¡¯m asking you to go in with the heroes. Heroes weaken that creature, and then Aeon captures it.¡± ¡°Pause for a moment.¡± Chung asked. ¡°Can you clarify what that was?¡± ¡°Aeon captures demons by flooding them with mana. Don¡¯t you know that already?¡± Prabu said. ¡°They¡¯ve attempted to capture the demon king too.¡± ¡°I know, but can it work on the demon mother? ¡± Edna shrugged. ¡°It should. We¡¯ve been prepping Lumoof for that possibility.¡± ¡°Can we supply you with star mana to do so?¡± Chung wondered. ¡°Could star mana do the same thing?¡± Actually, I never thought of it. That star mana was so toxic to demons that they die from exposure, but that was when we tested it against regular-type demons. We¡¯ve never attempted to ¡®infect¡¯ a demon king with star mana, though I didn¡¯t think it¡¯ll be a good idea, since they did have void mana within them and that was normally an explosive reaction. But it was worth trying. If one of the heroes functioned as a battery, I could channel the star mana through Lumoof and inject it into the demon. ¡°So, do we want to try it out with this demon within the core?¡± ¡°No.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure why, but I felt that using star mana to capture the demon mother in the core would not go well, especially if it interacted with the void mana within the demon mother. ¡°Just a normal attack will do. Our goal is to free the core and gain access to the core mana. Not crack the planet in the process.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure ¡®scorched planet¡¯ even worked as a defense policy. Destroyed worlds did not form a ¡®wall¡¯ that prevented travel. If it did, it may be worthwhile to look into destroying uninhabited planets to form interstellar barriers. *** As part of the preparations for the invasion, we significantly increased the number of trees on Branchhold and soon made connections to more magical ley lines. I spread my trees, discreetly where I could, and ramped up my total mana output. Back on Treehome, we did the same, I added more trees, and extended my trees further out to the various islands closer to the Central Continent. Thanks to the skills earned before this, I was able to ¡®tunnel¡¯ to some of the islands, and this meant I now had some influence over the seas around the Central Continent. My minds suggested creating artificial islands, a point which I eventually came to agree to. The Valthorns quietly arranged for druids, earth mages and builders to commence the construction of these artificial islands. This was an incredibly lengthy process, as lifting sand and rock into a stable structure was actually quite difficult, and we honestly had to look for locations where the ¡®deep-sea¡¯ monsters didn¡¯t appear too much. Publicly, these artificial islands were to serve as my military ports, of course, with all that excuse of reducing piracy and facilitating trade. It¡¯s just a cover for my real intention to spread my roots across the ocean, and expand my total mana output. My expansion on Mountainworld went relatively easier. Mountainworld as a whole only had one single ocean that¡¯s rather deep, fed by hundreds and thousands of rivers. That meant there were very little ¡®physical¡¯ barriers to my expanding trees, and it was possible to go around any large habited areas. The cold peaks of the Mountainworld didn¡¯t do much to stop roots that could tunnel through mountains, though in the process, I discovered that Mountainworld has very interesting subterranean life and culture. There are entire parts of the world that resembled parts of the Eastern Continent, where cities and entire nations lived within mountains, and within many mountains, there were massive caverns that contained things from an older era. Many of these were in territories far from Branchhold, so I¡¯d probably need to cook up a plausible excuse to send my Valthorns to investigate, or probably just have them fake it as adventurers. Yeah. That¡¯ll be something to do. I could have an initiative to set up Branchhold-sponsored adventurers, and send them in that direction. But I could indirectly stir up a gold-rush if that leak came from me, since these guys would suspect I know something. Anyway, as a result of my expansion on both my homeworld and Mountainworld, my total mana output increased by approximately half, and my total mana storage by that same amount. This was a massive increase, though most of that increase came from ¡®greenfield¡¯ expansion on the Mountainworld. This wasn¡¯t enough, obviously, but then again, the demon mother might be weaker. Time to set it in motion, whatever the consequences may be. *** ¡°We¡¯ve been working on this plan for years.¡± Stella said at the edge of my clone tree on the parasite world. She set up multiple observation posts, and a few more of her students, other void mages, joined her. They would monitor the stars for any signs that something was wrong, or reinforcements were on their way. Lumoof, my domainholders and the heroes stood at the edge of the pit. Lumoof made a repeat of the mission statement. ¡°Down there is the demon mother. Our goal is to capture it, or defeat it, and free the core of the parasiteworld. The reason to capture this is simple. We want to test whether it is possible to recapture a world from the demons, and gain access to core mana. If it¡¯s possible to free the world, it may mean we can have a new population base, and more future heroes to rely on. With core mana, Stella and the void mages can start to establish ¡®stable¡¯ astral paths through the void forest, and mount a counter invasion.¡± The heroes gulped at the term, ¡®counter invasion.¡¯ Getting core mana was the equivalent of having the ¡®fuel¡¯ needed to make the journey. The counterinvasion was a ¡®deep-strike¡¯, meant to target the real command center of the demons. ¡°Any questions?¡± Lumoof asked out of habit. It was just a procedure, they have discussed the issue at length over the years. Everyone shook their heads. The pit had been heavily reinforced over the past year. I have four seeds. One on Branchhold, One on the Cometworld, One here in the Parasiteworld, and one more in store, still serving it¡¯s ¡®cooldown¡¯. There¡¯s four more years to go. They thought of waiting, but then, I didn¡¯t feel like we needed to. We had made extensive preparations, and they all had a variety of weapons, the ice blades of Aria, the death-staff of Lillies, Stella¡¯s void-weapons and their own hero items. ¡°Check equipment?¡± Everyone took a minute to recheck their list, and nodded. Lumoof nodded, and entered avatar mode. Vines branched out, and around him, the vines turned into a massive walking vine-creature. He looked at the pit, and thought of the many times he made a journey into the core. The pit itself was already filled with vines, and my beetles already patrolled the entire pit. The only area we¡¯ve yet to claim was the large cavern around the core. Lumoof made a prayer, and the heroes nodded. Time to claim the parasite¡¯s core, and free this planet. Spaizzer I''d like to shoutout Ghost of the Truthseeker. If you like defiance of the fall, or other similar fictions, GotT is supposedly similar. (Yes I know) Void Sprout Year 215 (continued) ¡°The entire pit was captured?¡± Chung asked as my vines have captured the trees. We¡¯ve figured out how to make some bioluminescent plants, which lit up the path, and made it easier for us to defend the pits from the demonic assaults. ¡°Only the core chamber is unclaimed.¡± Beetles, with adapted legs meant for walking up and down vertical trees, also served as my defenders here. ¡°Damn. If Ken could see this. This is hella beautiful if it wasn¡¯t a journey to the death.¡± Then Chung slapped himself. ¡°Choi! Shouldn¡¯t have said that.¡± Prabu smirked. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be that hard?¡± ¡°Initial data suggests its¡¯ slightly weaker than a demon king, but still significantly stronger than a champion. Seems to be the leftover husk of a demon king, or at least, a part of it was the demon king..¡± I could technically teleport them down to the edge of my vines, but I didn¡¯t want to reveal that part of my abilities, so they made the journey riding on Lumoof¡¯s carriage of vines. As the heroes approached the core, Stella and my sensors began to detect some movement. ¡°Something¡¯s happening to the astral paths, and I¡¯m detecting some magical pulse from the demon.¡± It was a momentary magical surge that quickly subsided. Then the demon repeated it again. And then it got stronger, and stronger. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Stella asked, her eyes peeled to the stars above. ¡°I¡¯ve got no idea.¡± It felt like a warning beacon. Or an alert beacon, meant to alert the demons that it is under attack. ¡°But it sounds like we may have company.¡± There was still nothing in the astral paths. No movement. Lumoof and the heroes approached the core, and found the demon mother coiled up with the core. ¡°Well, that is our opponent.¡± Lumoof introduced, and the heroes quickly got ready. The demon mother, at that moment, abruptly shrunk its size and hid within the core. ¡°Uh, where is it going-¡± ¡°I think it can see your star mana and is hiding from you.¡± Edna responded, and knows you are here to get it, but Lumoof just laughed. ¡°It knows that you won¡¯t destroy the core, so it¡¯s using the core as a shield.¡± ¡°Oh, I think you can leave this hide-and-seek to me.¡± My avatar jumped to the core, and then, my roots surged out. My roots and vines spread out, and the demon mother was no larger than a small cow, attacked my vines. It was strong, for sure, but destroying my vines revealed it¡¯s location. The demon was indiscriminate and happily attacked the core, but this close, I felt a rough, hazy presence touching on my avatar¡¯s will, it called to us. It was groggy, as if it¡¯s been long asleep or unconscious. Something pulled it back. ¡°Follow the colored vines, and it¡¯ll lead to the demon.¡± The heroes approached the core. Meanwhile, through Lumoof, my vines flooded the holes of the core and attempted to slow down the demon mother¡¯s movement. It could easily cut through my vines. After a few minutes of hiding, it soon realised its initial plan to escape or hide within the core wasn¡¯t going to work because the heroes eventually caught up and attacked it. The demon fought the heroes within the core for a short few minutes, and found itself outmatched. The heroes landed a few hits, but frankly, they held back because they didn¡¯t want to damage the core. Yet, it was clear that the heroes would win if it remained within the core. So, rather than remain in the core, the demon flared it¡¯s magic, burnt through my vines, and then rushed out of the core. I tried my best to delay it, but it still managed to blast through them after a few hits. ¡°Chase after it!¡± That flaring of energy seemed to mark something else as well, as Stella immediately noticed something unusual was happening. ¡°Aeon, something¡¯s coming! I¡¯ll do my best to delay it. I need you to send more void mages over to me right now.¡± She immediately barked orders as a group of void mages on standby immediately jumped to action, and I sent them through my clone. The demon rushed up the pits, and I tried my best to block it, and covered the pits with thick walls of wood and trees. It heated up like a shining, burning missile and blasted through my attempts to delay it. The heroes and everyone else gave chase, and fired attacks. ¡°Just attack it, don¡¯t worry if you land a hit on the walls or anything. I can always fix the trees later!¡¯ Each attack weakened the demon mother, but it moved with speed equal to the demon king, and dodged most of the heroes¡¯ and my domain holder¡¯s attacks. At that moment, Lumoof immediately asked. ¡°Should I stay in to secure the core, or go after it?¡± ¡°Go after it. My vines and roots can reach here, let me deal with it for now. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll need my full strength here.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Lumoof immediately darted after the heroes and my three domain holders. My domain holders were slower than the heroes, but Prabu had used a magical acceleration ability to pull them up so that they could keep up. Chung launched volleys after volleys of homing magical arrows at the demon mother, and this was when I saw ¡®phase-out¡¯ and vanish momentarily, before appearing a short distance ahead. ¡°Great. Just great.¡± Chung charged another shot while he flew up the pit after the demon mother. ¡°There was an invisible demon before this.¡± Prabu quipped while he charged a star-mana powered homing fireball. At the hero¡¯s level, the fireball resembled an actual neutron star, rather than a ball of fire. The demon mother took a few hits, and then, it flared a magical energy. *** Up on the surface, Stella immediately deployed a wide array of void-mana equipment, and started to channel it. I felt her void mana spread through the skies above, and seemed to be pushing against something. There was something coming, that only she and her void mages could see. ¡°Aeon. Void mana batteries, I need more!¡± She yelled and my vines wrapped around her and her void mages. This linked her to the void batteries back home. My clones and my roots essentially functioned as cables, linking them to the stored mana batteries back home. I felt huge quantities of void mana travel through our linked bodies. The skies darkened, and I saw strange explosions in the skies above. Then, I saw a flickering ¡®astral path¡¯. It flickered momentarily, and a burst of light travelled through the path. It vanished just as quickly. ¡°Ugh.¡± Stella winced, and I felt her magical energy destabilise. ¡°We¡¯ll have company, I couldn¡¯t stop some of them.¡± Stella had been working on ¡®interfering¡¯ with rifts for the longest time, and even then, it wasn¡¯t perfect. Rifts opened in the skies, and then, strange black demons emerged from them. I could tell these were mini-demon kings, stronger than champions. They charged at Stella and my void mages. [Guardian Treants], and an army of beetles emerged around my clone tree. My artificial minds quickly got to work. ¡°Protect the void mages. It¡¯s trying to undo their interference.¡± Horns and my other artificial-mind-powered beetles led the defense, while I created a wall around my void mages. I couldn¡¯t block them from the sky, as that would prevent them from doing their part of battling the rift. A few of my higher leveled Valthorns also joined the fight on the surface. These were my level 120s to 140s, those who aimed for the domain. A battle raged on the surface, as the defenders destroyed the black-demons. ¡°Oh dear. Something big is coming.¡± Stella said, as I felt her and all her void mages expend all of their energy. Their battle was one I couldn¡¯t see, but it was something called a ¡®void shield¡¯, that attempted to use void mana to ¡®shield¡¯ a world from rifts. Still, she did her best, and pushed. I was very surprised by how much void mana she had within her, even without the void batteries. Then the skies cracked, like a glass shattered, and I saw that same black blob from before. The ¡®glass¡¯ attempted to return, and fix the shattered sky- And the demon mother surged out of the pits, and bathed in the strange glow of the black blob. A black droplet from the blob. Stella winced. ¡°Not gonna let that happen.¡± To me, it looked like a piece of glass sheared through the drop, and a bit of it disintegrated. Yet, that very same strike sent a huge jolt of pain through Stella. She bit her lips, and then pushed again. ¡°More.¡± She pulled more void mana through the roots, and I saw that droplet shear in half in an invisible strike. Yet, that strike knocked her out. The rest of the void mages did their best to hold out without her. ¡°Aeon, we need another void archmage here!¡± More rifts began to open in the skies above, and this time I could see it. The demon mother merged with what¡¯s left of the black droplet, and then transformed. It regained power, and at that moment, the temperature in the world began to increase. Thankfully, it¡¯s reign would be shortlived. The heroes shot out of the pits, and they didn¡¯t hesitate. They¡¯ve fought many demons before, and their heroic battle sense was impeccable. They unleashed a torrent of attacks at the transformed demon. Roon and Johann also unleashed their own version of hell, mostly with bolts of anti-mana glass and anti-demonic wood. In a single combined strike, the transformed demon mother cracked, and it¡¯s outer shell shattered, leaving a large egg-shaped black droplet that crashed into the ground below. At this moment, I noticed the rifts all immediately closed, and the crack to that black blob had vanished. The void mages had sealed the rift once it retreated. The egg-shaped black droplet released a similar, familiar pulse. it attempted to detonate itself. ¡°Fucking hell it¡¯s got a bomb too.¡± The heroes cursed, but we also predicted this eventuality. It was, after all, a former demon king. It must have had that crystal core. My vines approached it, and Edna, once again, withdrew our valuable antimana glass weapons and stabbed the egg. It wobbled from the strike, and the anti-mana glass did it¡¯s work. Unlike the demon king, this egg didn¡¯t pose that much of a challenge. It wasn¡¯t as strong as a full demon king, and that made a world of difference. Lumoof immediately closed in, and in avatar mode, my vines wrapped around the egg. Lumoof winced slightly as my vines drained it of mana. I then inserted my own mana into it. Through Lumoof, my mana flooded it, but instead of converting it, it began to disintegrate. The egg somehow stopped its attempts to detonate itself, and instead, struggled in its dying breath. It pulsed, attempting to fight off whatever nearby, but it¡¯s weakened attacks barely hurt Lumoof. We had defeated it, and the egg melted away to reveal a ball-shaped metal shell within. My vines quickly wrapped it, and sent it back home for further investigation. The rifts had closed, and my defenders crushed the remaining demons. We freed the parasiteworld from the demon mother, and elsewhere, we noticed the tide of demons attacking us began to dwindle. Down in the core, my vines had wrapped around the core, and started to drain it of its demonic energy. It was like an engine covered in old grease and gunk, and it took a while to clear it. Then, the much needed announcement came. If anything, a title seemed like a worthy prize. [Title Obtained : Liberator of A Fallen World] ¡°Huh.¡± The heroes were rather amused. ¡°A title.¡± As I began to drain more demonic energy out of the core, the core began to glow. It was as if it was ¡®restarting¡¯ after a long time. ¡°Uh....¡± My vines from the entrance of the pits entered the core chamber, and grew on the walls of the core. Here, in the depths, gravity was a little wonky. The will of the parasite world began to rouse from a long, long coma. It would take some time before it could communicate, I sensed that it¡¯s will was fragmented, and there was still a lot of demonic mana residue to clear. *** ¡°Is everything alright up there?¡± Edna asked as she looked up at the still dark skies. The energies still felt unstable, even if none of the rifts were active. ¡°Seems normal for now.¡± The void mages answered. ¡°It¡¯s now quiet in the path, we¡¯re just dealing with waves from the sudden closure of rifts.¡± The heroes loosened up after hearing that ¡®all-clear¡¯, and some of them stretched. ¡°So, what now? We¡¯re done?¡± ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s get all of you back to safety, and let this planet recover slowly. It¡¯ll be some time, I think.¡± Lumoof answered. ¡°The fact that we got the title is a sign we achieved what we came to do. Aeon will need some time to figure out how to access the core mana.¡± Chung looked at Lumoof. ¡°Can we be here when that happens? I¡¯d like to see what Aeon does to the core. I¡¯m not paranoid or anything, but yknow, letting Aeon have the core is a big... uh... responsibility, and I just want to see what¡¯s happening.¡± Lumoof nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll keep you informed.¡± Prabu ribbed Chung in the elbow, and Chung just said. ¡°Ever heard the phrase, trust, but verify? Letting anyone control a planet¡¯s a big deal, even if its an empty one.¡± The heroes returned to Treehome and mountainworld, and my domainholders also withdrew. I watched the parasiteworld¡¯s core carefully but there were positive signs. The recovery rate of natural mana of the world seemed to start to tick up. This was a very, very slow recovery, and Patreeck¡¯s quick calculations suggested it would still take fifteen decades for the mana to fully recover to Treehome¡¯s level. Of course, this was a straight-line increase, not an exponential recovery, and it¡¯s possible that the recovery of the Parasiteworld worked exponentially. With everyone back in their respective homes, I focused on retaking the entirety of the parasiteworld from the demons. *** Stella woke up about half a day later on the Parasiteworld. She rested and underwent treatment in a healing pod. I didn¡¯t want to move her, not until I had a bit more certainty on the damage she experienced. As my avatar, I always had direct insight into Lumoof¡¯s health, so I knew exactly how he was. With everyone else, I needed to do more ¡®checking¡¯ and ¡®tests¡¯. Stella smiled when she woke up, and I immediately felt it. The density of void mana around her began to swell, and her condition suddenly improved, as if something just clicked. The void mage had finally gained her domain. The domain of [Void]. With both the core and her ascension, the great plan could now take another leap forward. A walk in the void forest Year 216 ¡°[Void Explorer]¡±. At that moment, I felt Stella do something, I waited for it to happen, and then... detected nothing. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°A single, split body of mine is in the void forest, and it¡¯s traveling there. With this, I can go and see a lot further than just relying on our astral sight. Best part, I can establish a void portal to anywhere my void explorer is. But only one world at a time.¡± Oh. I couldn¡¯t see it. ¡°Is it similar to what Snek did?¡± ¡°A bit. But he couldn¡¯t travel very far. I¡¯ve got so such restriction, and I don¡¯t need to kill myself to do it.¡± ¡°But using void portals does mean that heroes can¡¯t travel to whatever you find.¡± ¡°Yes, but you can, and as long as your seed gets through, it also means the heroes can.¡± ¡°This also seems like a duplication of your efforts with the rift gates¡¯ language.¡± ¡°Well, in a way, yes and no. We hoped to learn the rift gates¡¯ language to enable us to travel to faraway worlds, but, it¡¯s like randomly dialing numbers without knowing what the numbers are. With this, I could actually arrive at a world, and figure out what¡¯s the ¡®number¡¯ to call through my void explorer, since I know its location in the void forest. Of course, I need to get the number and lock the ¡®number¡¯ while it¡¯s there, before I move on, because the numbers change as the void forest moves.¡± I frankly struggled to understand this concept. The very fact that we ¡®lock¡¯ the number, ¡®locks¡¯ the number, even as it wobbles. But if we never ¡®lock-on¡¯ to the world¡¯s number, that number keeps changing. Stella called it like a ¡®slot-machine¡¯ or a ¡®schroedinger¡¯s cat¡¯, because a world¡¯s ¡®calling number¡¯ is not ¡®fixed¡¯ until it is observed and locked in a riftgate. Perhaps the very act of ¡®locking¡¯ it in a riftgates releases a signal to the void sea or void forest that identifies that world as this particular number as linked to it. Outside of complicated void magic logic which I still struggle to understand, Stella was now a member of the pantheon, and that meant she could now venture out into the other worlds with an insurance policy. It¡¯ll still hurt as hell, and I¡¯m not sure if there are side effects, but we would try not to find out. Nothing so powerful didn¡¯t have side effects. ¡°What else? Any particular benefits from gaining your domain?¡± She shrugged. ¡°It took forever, but frankly, I feel a lot stronger, and my mana pool felt like it just tripled. Not just that, it even felt like my void mana¡¯s a little bit more dense and stronger. Most importantly, I¡¯ve got a far better ¡®view¡¯ of the void forest, and that, I think, will be the most helpful ability.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°But now, we can move on to the next phase.¡± I briefed Stella on the full details on what my goal was, and whether she was willing to assist me on it. She said she wouldn¡¯t take the battle itself, but she would be more than happy to play the role of the logistics and transportation person. ¡°And can we do something about all these things attempting to read my mind? Why¡¯s my [domain] constantly blocking attempted interference?¡± Edna chuckled when she heard it. ¡°It comes with the level. Now you know how many things are constantly attempting to read your mind.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± Stella cursed. ¡°But where are they from, how do they do it from this far away?¡± Edna just shook her head, and then walked to the wooden window overlooking the entirety of Branchhold. ¡°Well, what¡¯s next?¡± ¡°What¡¯s next is we figure out what to do with the next demon king, while helping that parasiteworld get back to its feet.¡± Our victory on the Parasiteworld was unknown to the general public, it was an invasion known only to the senior leaders of the Valtrian order, and the select group of people around the heroes. For now, no one¡¯s clamouring for anything, but now that I pretty much have an entire world to repopulate, it¡¯s something I needed to think about more seriously. ¡°What do you guys think about a planetary migration programme to the Parasiteworld?¡± I asked them. The parasiteworld has no ¡®native¡¯ population to immigrate and build a city. I¡¯d need to invite a pioneer generation to move to the world, and live there. The first group I approached were naturally the Canari and many other similar, less populated groups. ¡°Aeon has gained access to an unpopulated world, and it is my honor to extend an invitation to the Canari to make a move to this world.¡± ¡°It¡¯s unpopulated? Does that mean Aeon giving us the entire world?¡± My diplomat flinched at the sheer greed of the Canari prince¡¯s statement. The Canari had lived on Treehome for 2 decades now, and there¡¯s a group of ¡®lost generation¡¯, those born on Treehome, but found themselves with an identity crisis. ¡°No. You do need to negotiate which parcel of land you want from the senior Valthorns, the allocation of land currently sits with Patriarch Lumoof. The Canari is just one of the first groups invited for this move. He hoped that this new world would be a permanent home for the Canari.¡± ¡°If we¡¯re sharing we are not interested-¡± One of the other Canari leaders quickly interrupted the Prince. ¡°Let us take this back and discuss.¡± For the Canari that lived as the ¡®sole¡¯ race on what was Cometworld, a life of coexistence with the other races was a huge, huge problem. The fact that they haven¡¯t waged any large wars is merely because they were extremely intimidated by the sheer power we had. They didn¡¯t have any single person who could match any of my level 100 fighters, what more my domain holders. In a world where the Valthorns did not exist, they would¡¯ve fought wars for dominance with the others. The ¡®new¡¯ generation were slightly better, but even the new generation had two groups. One group that was fine with coexistence, because that¡¯s all they¡¯ve known, and another group that wants to somehow reclaim that supremacy, either by figuring out how to travel to other worlds, or gain power and annihilate the rest. Some attempted to ¡®summon¡¯ their own heroes, hoping to have something equal to the heroes of Treehome. It didn¡¯t work, of course, because they didn¡¯t have access to divine power, nor do they understand what created the heroes. I didn''t even understand it, despite all the research I¡¯ve done. It really makes me wonder whether the process of creating heroes isn¡¯t actually something the gods have control at all, but instead is a ¡®system-process¡¯, meaning it was a function already built within the system, which the gods then tapped and made tweaks. It certainly explained why there were other ¡®administrators¡¯ like Mozart. If so, I may be able to gain access to that process someday. Anyway, I generally tolerated the Canari, after all, centuries of thinking they were the sole sentient race, and then losing their world, they¡¯ve been to a lot of pain and loss that their society still needed time to cope with. Their loss of societal power and prominence also significantly damaged their pride and psyche. Their rulers used to control everything in their world, now they had to obey my Valthorn, and find that what¡¯s left of their society was left at another¡¯s mercy. Perhaps this ¡®anger¡¯ and this desire to return to how it was, is a societal ¡®coping-mechanism¡¯. I¡¯ve seen this generation gap emerge between those who moved from the Cometworld, and the new generation who struggled to understand that line of thinking, or those who took that thinking to the extreme. Best I could do was encourage the individuals that accepted it, help them integrate to this new world order, and have my army of artificial minds consistently watch their every move for any potential activities. We¡¯ve recruited some of the Canari as members of the Valtrian order, but because of their relative ¡®youth¡¯ with us, even their strongest is only about level 80 to 85. I¡¯ve also yet to grant any single Canari member one of my soul strengthening seeds to exceed their limits. The Canari had fairly strong ¡®pack-instincts¡¯ a bit like werewolves, and as such, I¡¯ve found that it¡¯s difficult for me to deploy a Canari against one of their own, as their own internal bonds were stronger than their loyalty to me. Eventually though, I believe there will be a ¡®lone-wolf¡¯ Canari that I can ensnare into the Valtrian Order. Or at least, establish a Canari group that¡¯s wholly part of Valtrian structure such that their loyalty and ¡®pack¡¯ instincts were with us. *** < A world, freed? > Lilies asked as the statement sunk in. I shared the images of the battle, and I was rewarded with complete silence for two days. I knew it was thinking and internally debating it. I could sense the ripples of something through the shared roots. It wasn¡¯t the first time Lilies responded to me in this manner, back when I successfully invaded the core and attacked the demon king, it had pretty much the same reaction. Two days later, Lilies asked a question of utmost uncertainty, which was unlike them. A set of events they have not encountered. < Will they retaliate? > > Maybe. I have my void mages watching the stars for it. I believe they must have noticed it, my void mages claimed it emitted a ¡®warning¡¯ of some kind. < < This is a dangerous path, and we know not of what powers the demons truly have beyond the demon king. > > Indeed, but we will figure it out. On happier things, my void mage, Stella, has gained a domain. I must thank you for introducing her to the zaratans. < < A lifetime of suffering and more, all for the powers of the system. > I naturally found that statement hilarious. > All life is filled with suffering. < < And that is true, one can only choose the type of suffering. You¡¯ve selected the path of suffering a lifetime of struggle against the demons. > > It is the way of the tree, to fight those who seek to snuff life out and convert entire living worlds into destruction factories. It is our suffering that enables others to have the fortune to suffer their lives. < I wasn¡¯t that conceited to think I¡¯m god or something. But surely, a world full of life is better than a world with none. From my point of view, this was not debatable, because life is better. Stella attempted to use the replica of the demon king core once more, and accessed that ¡®map¡¯ within it. This time, protected by her own domain, she investigated, and channeled her enhanced powers through the demon king¡¯s core. She pushed, and I felt that round object glow and then, in a sudden burst, I felt something crack from within the core, and then the core shattered into many small fragments. ¡°The core is clearly linked to some kind of ¡®void-net¡¯.¡± Stella said, and then she smiled. ¡°I didn¡¯t manage to push as far as I liked, but I have some good news. But let me try it again and confirm my findings.¡± She attempted to use another replica, but instead, she found the core unable to be used. Nothing was wrong with the core, but whatever it was linked to had managed to ¡®block¡¯ the core from accessing it.¡± ¡°Ah darn. Oh well, let me announce it anyway.¡± The domainholders and heroes gathered, and Stella made the horrible, horrible announcement. ¡°I¡¯ve managed to decrypt some of the demon king¡¯s core, and I have three main things to say.¡± Roon leaned forward. ¡°Oh this gonna be good.¡± ¡°One. The demons have some kind of ¡®control node¡¯ or ¡®command center¡¯. Each demon king is linked, through a certain particular ¡®frequency¡¯ on the ¡®void-forest¡¯, to these command centers. It was through this particular frequency, that the demon¡¯s coordinated their attacks, and also asked for help. It matched with the ¡®frequency¡¯ used by the demon mother when it summoned that core. The void mages will start work and construct a sufficiently large daemolite artifact to replicate this effect, and start jamming this coordination process. It¡¯s likely that the crystal artefact will get attacked.¡± ¡°So we need to play defense?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Ginseng tree on a far greater scale. I think life seems to love fractals and it¡¯s just the same things scaled up. ¡°Or we could keep it as a reserve weapon, until we have a wider array of tools to deploy. I¡¯m personally of the view that we don¡¯t want to alert the demons too much. We¡¯re uncertain of their intellectual ability, and what sort of retaliation if they start viewing us as a threat.¡± They would start paying attention to us, and the longer we can pull the wool over their eyes, the stronger we can be. ¡°That too.¡± Stella nodded. ¡°Secondly, the bad news. The demons have a set core ¡®suns¡¯. These are the ¡®black suns¡¯ we saw, and I saw at least five or six of them, each located in a different segment of space. These things, from what I briefly saw through the core, provide the fuel and the demonic mana, and also, there¡¯s a black blob, which gives the ¡®intelligence¡¯ behind the core.¡¯ If the endgame is to defeat the demons permanently, we will need to take out these suns, somehow. So unfortunately, there¡¯s no real single target at the center of it all, unless that black ¡± I suddenly realized that maybe it¡¯s a variant of my own clone ability. Were the demons, at it¡¯s heart, created by some kind of ¡®demon-life¡¯ type of god? Or should I treat the term ¡®slavers¡¯ literally, that there is, at its heart, a ¡®parasitic¡¯ virus that seeks to assimilate all races into its fold, enslaving those which resisted? ¡°The third item is that I should be able to locate Snek¡¯s homeworld within the next 10 to 15 years, and establish a connection to that world. The question therefore, is Snek¡¯s world important enough for us to do so? I ask this, because my void explorer¡¯s ability to survey worlds is quite limited.¡± ¡°We¡¯re constrained by Aeon¡¯s clone.¡± Edna responded. Ken immediately interjected and supported Snek¡¯s case. ¡°Yes. Snek¡¯s world is valuable. His world has demonic dragons, and their people are familiar with blood magic and spiritual magic to an incredible degree. Snek¡¯s own abilities are good, but there¡¯s more of that on their homeworld. Saving it, or rescuing whoever that¡¯s left is an overall increase in combat power.¡± ¡°You do realise we need to agree too, right?¡± Chung added, in a rare rebuke of Ken¡¯s position. Ken glared at his friend, but quickly saved it. ¡°Yes. I am aware, but at the very least, we could arrange an escape for those still living on that world, if a full invasion can¡¯t be done. We¡¯ve seen what the demons do when their worlds get invaded.¡± There was an uncomfortable silence, but then Prabu cut in. ¡°What if we use Stella¡¯s void explorer to look for more worlds, more living worlds specifically? There should be their own heroes, and with that, we could grow the league of heroes. It¡¯ll make it a lot easier to defeat any demonic scourge with a bigger league of heroes.¡± ¡°That too.¡± Stella said. ¡°There¡¯s two real directions at the moment, I either send my void explorer towards the demonic core and find what¡¯s there, or go the other direction where Snek¡¯s world is, and see what else we can find along the way. From what I can see, my void explorer takes a really long time to get anywhere, because the space between worlds is so freaking large, and there are some other strange creatures in the void that I would like to avoid.¡± ¡°There are things in the void forest?¡± ¡°Things quite difficult to describe. If you¡¯re familiar with the more ¡®wild¡¯, cosmic horror stuff... yeah. They are there, and well, what we do is we avoid them.¡± ¡°Can they fight demons?¡± Stella just shrugged. I¡¯d like to be in the void forest. I believed it to be the way forward, and if needed, I¡¯d like to meet these creatures. ¡°Should we vote on the last one?¡± Stella asked, and Lumoof nodded. Edna shrugged. ¡°A league of heroes would definitely buy us time, I guess, and we should save what¡¯s left of Snek¡¯s world. For.¡± Eventually the majority voted ¡®For¡¯, except for Chung, Roon and Johann. It was cute that it was the three archer-hero and domainholders that voted against. They are focused on their targets. *** It¡¯s been one year since we¡¯ve liberated the Parasiteworld, and the world¡¯s energy level continues to increase. We spotted the appearance of more natural monsters and animals, including more variants of regular animals such as cats and dogs. Even the vegetation seemed to have started to sprout. From the core, which now glowed, we noticed the holes in the core started to fill in. It would take some time, but eventually, I believe the world would recover. For now, that consciousness from within the core remain dormant. I thought of ¡®taking¡¯ the core before, but I didn¡¯t want to be like the demons. I also wanted to see if I could ¡®cooperate¡¯ with it. Spaizzer Thanks for reading. On September 17th, 2018, that was when Tree of Aeon''s first chapter went on RR. So we''re almost 4 years old! So, today I have THREE shoutouts, and I hope you guys are willing to give them a chance :) First shoutout - https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/56014/dying-for-a-cure Second Shout https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/58021/blair Blair is an action-packed litrpg apocalypse with a dark elf protagonist. It''s in the same genre as Primal Hunter and shares some similarities, so if you enjoyed that check it out! Third is something written by a ''friend'' - Hydra and the Hero''s shadow It''s an academy story with a summoner MC, litrpg and cultivation elements https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/58533/hydra-and-the-heros-shadow-academy-cultivation-litrpg Altreenate Realities Year 217 ¡°It¡¯s emerging!¡± One of the Treefolks Lord could not control his excitement as a treefolk grew out of it¡¯s little shell from the specially-fertilised ground. From the ground, a charcoal-colored treefolk emerged with a natural magical presence. The treefolk was small, the size of a small pot, but the fact that it survived was great. The Valthorn researchers watched in admiration, and then got their gear. ¡°It¡¯s amazing¡± A void mage made the first contact, as he approached the young ¡®baby-treefolk¡¯ as it stretched. He yawned, and stretched his super tiny dark-wooden limbs. The Treefolk Lord immediately reminded him to be super gentle. It looked so frail, so tiny like just a finger could easily snap the twig. They touched him with the most gentle of touches, and it looked, its eyes hazy and blurry. Then, it followed. The baby treefolk could walk from birth, but it was uncertain and wobbly. The void mage nodded to the treefolk lord, ¡°I think it¡¯s safe.¡± The treefolk lord immediately approached and extended a finger to the youngling. Decades of experimentation with life, led to the birth of the first void-sensitive treefolk. The goal, eventually, was to engineer a void mage stronger than Stella, so this first young void-treefolk would not be the strongest, because we would get better at it. But the fact that we could, made me really happy. I¡¯ve mostly devoted the application of my evolutionary powers to the races that I found most malleable, like treefolks, lizardfolks and to some extent, the humans. Elves, centaurs, dwarves and Canari were a little more difficult to work with on an evolutionary standpoint, mainly because their life cycles were naturally much longer, so it had an impact on the experimentation-cycle of birth-growth-maturity-death. The treefolks were also naturally long lived, but they could easily ¡®crossbreed¡¯, a hereditary feature of their plant-origins, which made them my researchers¡¯ first choice to attempt an infusion of magical powers, and create super mages. In fact, I sometimes wonder why treefolks were not more common throughout the multiverse, given how adaptable and malleable they were magi-genetically. My researchers were delighted, of course, and many would want to plan more detailed variants, like water-element focused treefolks, or specific-skillset types. Along this, we continued our efforts to train more specific ¡®class-types¡¯ as part of our effort to counter the demons. In particular, the physical combatant such as wrestlers and other barbarian class types, and even have a very good mix of racial talents, from centaurs, dwarves, lizardfolk and treefolk too. We had relatively good success, we got some of the ¡®barbarian¡¯ or ¡®brawler¡¯ type candidates up to level 75 to 80, but it¡¯ll take a decade or two before we start to see the first Level 140ers that we would then push towards getting their domains. A relatively short time, all things considered. For the ¡®exorcist¡¯, ¡®alchemist¡¯, ¡®witch¡¯ classtypes, we struggled a lot more. There were very, very few witches in this world. So few that there were probably less than 10, and they seemed to be a class-in-decline. For exorcists, well, they didn¡¯t exist. These were roles normally performed by priests, so ¡®exorcism¡¯ as a specialisation was unnecessary. For ¡®alchemist¡¯, the difficulty was getting levels and helping the alchemist ¡®level¡¯ in the relevant classes. We tried our best to provide various types of exotic materials, but progress was slow. This experience replicated itself across to the ¡®blacksmith¡¯ or ¡®crafter¡¯ classes as well. We managed to get a few to level 100s, but then they plateaued significantly. They took on bigger projects, and more ambitious creations, but somehow the levels moved really slowly. Like Alka¡¯s case, he seemed to gain most of his levels from his weapons manufacturing, and it¡¯s subsequent use in battle. It¡¯s almost as if the system told us to fight, and I hated that the system encouraged conflict. It sucked, but I kept providing them with more exotic materials. Sand and soil from the Moon. Soil and minerals from the other worlds. Remains of beasts from the high-tier dungeons. I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯ll take, but I really didn¡¯t want to believe that the systems forced ¡®crafters¡¯ to make tools of war as the way to gain level. But the evidence was undeniable. Lilies did it with their death-weapons, Aira and Aispeng did it with their ice-weapons, Alka with his bombs. I did it indirectly, through my familiars. I gained experience when my familiars served those who gained levels, and they gained it through combat. *** The parasiteworld¡¯s astral paths vanished when the demon mother was slain, and in it¡¯s place was a black cloud that engulfed the entirety of the world. Stella projected that it would clear up in a few years, that this was essentially ¡®void-debris¡¯, left from the collapsed structure of the world¡¯s astral paths. That was both good, and bad, since it meant we couldn¡¯t see if anything cut through that cloud and invaded the parasiteworld. Despite that, my beetles soon swept the parasiteworld of demons, and we captured more and more of those spawning pools. Then I got an upgrade to my existing skills. [Biolabs upgraded: Living Sacs and Chrysalis added. You may now create or grow certain types of creatures through your trees. These creatures will grow in sacs over a certain period of time. You may also insert living beings into these sacs to grow or alter their biological makeup. Alterations may cause loss of levels, classes and monsterfication.] [Demonic spawning pools will be converted to biolabs] The spawning pools changed overnight, as they were replaced with frankly grotesque trees filled with liquid-filled sacs and massive fruits. The demons were converted into beetle-ish variants. Parasiteworld was eventually purged of it¡¯s demons, and the terrain began to change. As the energies returned to the world¡¯s core, the tectonic movements underground began to restart. Energies began to spread out from the core, and ley lines began to reemerge. In the later half of the year, we observed slightly more tectonic movements, some of these were frankly massive earthquakes where huge continents were shunted upwards. Some of my trees were suddenly cut off, as the once ¡®flattish¡¯ terrain started to reshape itself into something else. It thus seemed to me that the will of the world had significant influence on the terrain of the world, and now, it began to reassert its control on the world. Also, the Canari eventually decided to send a small delegation to the parasiteworld, along with the Treefolks, Lizardpersons and dwarves. The terrain was still rather unstable, though the area around my clone tree has been very safe so far. The core has not tried to kick me out, yet, even if I sensed it¡¯s will slowly, very slowly, waking up. It¡¯s almost like it was in a dream. *** ¡°How long will it take for you to reach Snek¡¯s world?¡± ¡°Another ten years.¡± Stella answered. ¡°For now, we should be focused on our other issues, such as the demon king of the Mountainworld, or perhaps... Threeworlds.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°I almost forgot about those guys. We should visit them, I wonder how they are doing.¡± ¡°We?¡± ¡°Yes. Or at least, try to visit the other two guys. The humans are hostile, once they learn we are of foreign origins. You can help me move around with your portals, then we can avoid those that seek to attack us. I¡¯d like to avoid using our powers to kill when it¡¯s pointless.¡± Stella shrugged. ¡°People can be such a pain for no good reason.¡± ¡°Are you speaking from experience?¡± Lumoof smirked. ¡°Well, maybe.¡± ¡°Do you really believe there¡¯s an end?¡± My priest asked Stella for her view of the void forest. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, even if there isn¡¯t an end, I very much don¡¯t like the alternative.¡± Stella then suddenly laughed. ¡°I just realized that question would normally be asked by the non-clergy to the clergymen. You¡¯re the priest, Lumoof, that kind of metaphysical, philosophical question should be your area of expertise.¡± ¡°True that.¡± Lumoof smiled as he too realized the irony. They were both walking in Branchhold, their presence meant to reinforce our power. ¡°Do you think we are expanding too fast?¡± ¡°Fast?¡± Stella laughed. ¡°I don¡¯t consider a few years to be fast.¡± ¡°Well, Aeon thinks we are expanding a little too fast, and wants to spend some time consolidating our strength. He¡¯s exhausted from the constant demon king battles, and is even thinking of sitting out of the next fight.¡± The [void] domainholder stared at the priest. ¡°Aeon wants to sit out?¡± ¡°Yes. He thinks I¡¯ve been suffering quite a bit and wants to pick his battles. Let the others gain more experience, because he seems to think he¡¯s hoarding the bulk of the experience. He thinks that with the pantheon¡¯s protection, it¡¯s best for the rest of the domain holders to get stronger and play a bigger role in the main battle.¡± ¡°That¡¯s strange. But what Aeon did with the antimagic demon was pretty effective.¡± Lumoof made a long, long sigh. ¡°That¡¯s exactly the problem, I¡¯m going to try and repeat what I did with the next demon king. So... in two years, I¡¯ll need to go to the next world.¡± The next demon king for Treehome should be around Year 221 to 222. For Mountainworld, they have a longer, fifteen-twenty year cycle, so we¡¯re looking at year 223 to year 228. ¡°We need to go to the next world.¡± Stella smirked. ¡°I¡¯m coming too.¡± ¡°Trust me, nothing¡¯s good there. Every demon world I¡¯ve been in is just full of fighting.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Stella said. ¡°But I really want to see it for myself. It¡¯s one of those things that really sounds like it¡¯s worth seeing.¡± ¡°I hope you don¡¯t regret it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t see how I would.¡± Stella smirked. In some ways, Stella¡¯s void domain makes her very different from the rest. Her presence in the world was coated in this dark haze, a sheen of mindbending black oil that disrupted any attempts to look closer. Even in the biolab, her soul spring of void mana located within a temple of onyx and black marble, built on a black-marble foundation that looked like stars in a night sky. The stones that formed her soul¡¯s temple were just different, even if structurally we all had the similar presentation. ¡°I¡¯ve seen the things of the void, and that creature on the other side of the demon¡¯s core. What else could be worse?¡± Lumoof paused and nodded. ¡°That is a good point.¡± *** ¡°Are there accidental summons in your world, too?¡± Ken sat and asked Kelly and Adrian one day. ¡°Maybe. Not surprised if there are. I wish we could locate them. They sound like they¡¯ll all die within the first few days.¡± ¡°Consider Stella, who was accidentally summoned, and apparently, so was Aeon.¡± ¡°Aeon¡¯s from Earth?¡± ¡°Yes. Or at least, one of them.¡± No one was quite sure whether they all came from the same world, because each of them seemed to have a slightly different version of earth. It didn¡¯t help that everyone had a different memory of earth, so it¡¯s not entirely impossible it¡¯s the same earth, just that their own memories were flawed. They were children, after all. It was a good point, so I pulled Ken aside one day. I waited at least a month before I spoke to him. ¡°Ken. I want you to be in charge of something else. I will give you a set of funds, and a small crew, but aside from the league of heroes, I want you to run an accidental summon rescue group. Stella will support you to get you teleports if needed, and some void mages will be under your command. Use them to scan the skies for those who came, accidentally.¡± The Valthorns and my spies were always on the lookout for accidental summons, but I felt that having a different group running it in parallel, led by someone else, could be a better way of getting these accidentally summoned guys to accept them. Like it or not, the Valthorns had ¡®big-government¡¯ plastered all over them. They were seen by the citizens of the world as the ¡°men in black suits¡±, even if they dressed super normally and conducted themselves well. One of the realisations I had, governing the Central continent, was it¡¯s impossible for a single organisation to do everything, while maintaining any semblance of coherence. There was no way to do everything, because the circumstances on the ground were so varied, and ultimately, it is highly dependent on the quality and training of those on the field. Thus, as ¡®wasteful¡¯ as it seems, running parallel, ¡®competing¡¯ organisations was actually a better approach. It¡¯s even better if they were seen as independent. It reminded me of a book I read when I was an indie designer, about self-cannibalisation in the tech industry. Each of the organisations were, in reality, a slightly different tool, with different finesse and precision. They all had a niche. If they achieved their stated goals, the ¡®cost¡¯ on a societal level is essentially negligible, since labor unused is wasted, and the Central continent is flushed with most types of ¡®resources¡¯. *** On the Mountainworld, I¡¯ve arranged for some of my experienced Valthorns to take the role as adventurers. I had to be discreet about it, so I smuggled them there through secret tunnels and Stella¡¯s void portals. I knew there were some hidden chambers in the many mountainous valleys of this world, secrets that even those locals couldn¡¯t find become of my exceptional senses of the ground underneath them. My roots, as they spread through the ground, are sensitive to the presence of magic and unusual structures, and my artificial minds would then compare this data to our growing knowledge of the Mountainworld¡¯s geography. From this, we would notice inconsistencies. Most of these inconsistencies are minor, like small shifts of terrain due to movement of the earth, after all, maps were made at a snapshot in time, and for magical worlds such as the Mountainworld, they didn¡¯t have satellite mapping. There were also mortal errors arising from measurement differences, weather and the use of imprecise tools. What we really wanted to look for were entire ¡®omissions¡¯. Areas where entire ancient segments were not recorded altogether, or where the recorded history didn¡¯t really make sense. For this, I sent guys in the level 100s. Low level 100s, but they were pretty much mini-demigods when compared to the creatures of the Mountainworld. I wonder what it¡¯ll be like to go to a world where levels are high. There had to be some worlds where ancient civilisations still existed. I refuse to believe that the entire multiverse was a waning world. *** My artificial islands finally made it close enough to the Northern islands and also the Southern continents back on Treehome, that my roots could finally reach these two continents without the need of using portals. Naturally, this was a huge game changer for my efforts to protect Treehome. I was now able to project power there, and have direct insight into their activities, without them realizing it. Politically, these man-made military port-islands were greeted with outright suspicion and a whole lot of denouncements and accusations, but we were rightfully the world¡¯s superpower, and that¡¯s all they could do. It didn¡¯t help that they didn¡¯t even detect all of it, especially some of these island bases where essentially cloaked in a perpetual mist thanks to my earlier powers. The Northern Islands were frankly familiar territory, and this was where the two-former heroes made their base. Alexis and Meela continued to do what they did, and they did maintain some semblance of communication with us. Lausanne, as the one who did meet Meela in her earlier stint back in New Freeka, served as my liaison with the two. It gave her a chance to have regular trips up north with her now adult son. Of course, with my trees spreading through these two newly connected lands, I took the chance to spy on the temples, and hunt for more information. I wasn¡¯t sure whether my spies missed, or even the temples themselves didn¡¯t know about the existence of methods to summon the gods. I still had questions for the old gods. Spaizzer Hi there : ) I''ve got ONE shoutouts today. MICRO by eric_river Dungeons? Cultivation? Core Cards? Other Worlds? Dirt Roads?! In a world where cultivation has long been the practice of the powerful, magicians fight the natural order. To help them challenge the cultivators, they will summon a hero! But wait, what did they really summon? This is a story of cultivation and dungeons, magic and monsters, love and rivalry, action and adventure, and so much more. What arts will this traveller master, and will he make more friends than enemies along the way? Join Micro on a road trip across the universe. https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/56973/micro-efficient-and-reliable-cultivation-cards The Tree Gazes into the Void Year 218 From the Mountainworld, there were other worlds that we could visit. Like how each ¡®planet¡¯ has a field of vision. Every new place we went widened our field of view, and pulled back the fog of war. Stella thus proposed a visit, since her research to decipher the alphabets of the rift gates relied on her expanding her knowledge of the many worlds beyond. Essentially, based on the current star structure, Treehome was linked to the Mountainworld and Threeworld through the void forest, and Treehome was further linked to the Cometworld and Parasiteworld through my clone. Mountainworld was linked to two other worlds, and was not linked to Threeworlds. My void [domainholder]¡¯s travels through the void space took a really long time, which she described as, ¡®space is actually really freaking huge.¡¯ She even asked Snek how they even managed to hitch a ride on heroes, because that sounded like trying to catch a bullet while it¡¯s flying to its target. A point which Snek described as, ¡°Hitchhiking.¡± Snek explained that in spiritual form, they could create these tiny threads that form a kind of web in the void forest, which allows them to attach themselves to heroes as they appear. It¡¯s really difficult, of course, and most of the time they¡¯ll fail. In fact, Snek was equally surprised by his own success with Ken. ¡°It really sounds too convenient, Snek.¡± I knew he wasn¡¯t lying. ¡°I don¡¯t deny it. My success was the result of an exceptional combination of circumstances that I am not sure can be replicated successfully.¡± Snek answered. ¡°Just as how it took an exceptional set of circumstances to create a void [domain].¡± Stella nodded. ¡°Well, I suppose the fact that we are even all here together, is an exceptional set of circumstances.¡± Snek had adopted a wooden-sculpture of a snake as it¡¯s body, but even then, I found Snek¡¯s soul structure to be extremely similar to my relatively new ability to give souls an ethereal form. Or actually, it was the other way round. My ability to give souls some kind of ethereal-ghost type form that was very similar to Snek¡¯s soul structure. That implied Snek¡¯s society had significant development along the spiritual-soul magics, which allowed them to do all the things they¡¯ve done so far. This, of course, supported why we wanted to learn from them. We only hoped that we were not too late. We didn¡¯t know how long had passed, and as Snek described it, time spent in the void forest is like being trapped in a bubble. There¡¯s no real perception of time, no reference frame. Lumoof decided to go with Stella to these other worlds. ¡°Well, what can we detect from afar?¡± Stella frowned, and agreed that was a good thing to try. ¡°Hmmm... nothing from one world, and the other... I feel the presence of people.¡± Her senses when it comes to the void space was far sharper than mine, so I could only trust her. ¡°Nothing is strange.¡± Stella repeated. ¡°Let¡¯s go there?¡± ¡°I agree.¡± *** When we arrived, it was a massive purple world, with hugely strong winds. It wasn¡¯t anti-magic at least, but it was very, very dim and dark, and cold. No ice, but it was really, really cold. It didn¡¯t take very long for both of them to cough. A bubble of air immediately protected them, and they realised there was no ¡®oxygen¡¯ in the air. Just dust and sand. ¡°Strange. Do you detect any magic?¡± Lumoof said, once they regained their breath. It wasn¡¯t magical. ¡°No. It¡¯s... like it¡¯s the moon.¡± Stella said as she felt the unusually quiet presence. Lumoof activated my avatar, and then, I felt great... emptiness in this world. Lifeless. Lumoof touched the ground, and through his fingers, I felt the strange purple soil, and this world was what they called a ¡®barren¡¯ world. It¡¯s a common thing in space-based 4X games to have barren worlds, I guess, I just didn¡¯t expect this to be one. It¡¯s so barren there are no demons here. ¡°This seems like the perfect place for a starbase.¡± Stella quipped. ¡°The kind of world where the resistance builds a secret base.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were a fan of Space Opera.¡± In a strange twist of curiosity, fantasy fiction was a rising field on the Central Continent, and with it, the heroes did some writing of their own. It was a little strange, for me who came from a world without magic, to see these people with magic do their own fantasy fiction. At first, more fantasies were mostly about their world, but some were a lot more interesting. Like attempts to create an origin story of myself, or the origins of the Systems. ¡°Eh. I know enough.¡± My void mage answered, as I took some of the soil samples and sent them back for investigation. The constant winds and the purple sandstorms were a huge irritant, but why was the world dead? Lumoof spread vines and used them to push himself all the way to the top, because I want to see the sun and the stars of this world. Stella came too, and as we slowly got closer to the sky, I saw what was an extremely small sun. It was... very faintly blue? It was so small that it¡¯s probably just a really, really bright star. The skies were a deep purplish hue, between black and purple. A small light-blue sun, and I felt strange about it¡¯s rays. Not anti-mana like the burning sun of the Antimagic world, but this one felt corrosive in a different way. Stella frowned, her layer of void mana encased her in a shell. ¡°Feels exceptionally small for a sun.¡± Lumoof took out a magical telescope, and pointed it at the sun. When we looked at it, we noticed that the small sun wobbled extremely quickly. It spun, quickly. ¡°Is this all?¡± Stella asked, as she looked at the rest of the world from high above. Lumoof encased her in a bubble of vines, protecting her from the rays. From here, it was just all purple sandstorms. ¡°This is a lifeless world. We should go.¡± ¡°I think you might be right.¡± Lumoof kept staring at the sun, and I realised it might be a white dwarf or a neutron star. The rays of this sun were ¡®weak¡¯, ¡®unenergetic¡¯, so the world didn¡¯t have ¡®energy¡¯ from its star, thus it remained a barren world. This was the slow-mo equivalent of a Cometworld¡¯s death. Stella smiled. ¡°I feel like we¡¯re space tourists, traveling the multiverse in search of unusual star systems. I wonder how many other worlds are like this.¡± It was frustrating that I kept stumbling into new issues, new questions to be answered, but very, very few answers. Was this what scientists had to deal with? New issues, new questions, but their datasets didn¡¯t tell them much? Constant dead ends? I remember when the Cometworld collapsed, it said it¡¯s world¡¯s sun died. But then, what was the link between the star and the planet¡¯s core? Did this world have a planetary core too? Actually, what ¡®are¡¯ stars in this world? Have I been assuming the stars of this world to be the same as the ones back home, when I should clearly investigate whether they are something else, entirely, since the core of worlds are also different? Not just that, I thought back to the anti-mana world and then the black suns, and wondered. ¡°Are demons some kind of race that were able to control their suns, OR, they are natives created by some unusual sun?¡± The first one implied they were up there on the Kardashev scale, which fit their abilities so far. Then again, it¡¯s not right to apply science fiction concepts to this world. Stella shrugged. ¡°Thinking along those lines, if we can destroy stars, we can destroy the demons, since that would mean we have the means to destroy those black suns.¡± ¡°To destroy the demons, be the destroyer of suns.¡± Lumoof quipped. ¡°Turn off the ¡®lights¡¯ of darkness.¡± ¡°That¡¯s one way to put it.¡± Stella looked back at the dim, bluish star above the Barrenworld. ¡°Well, Let¡¯s go visit the other one?¡± *** My labs back home analysed the soil samples from the Barrenworld and found that it¡¯s chemical composition was mostly normal. The purple color came from some kind of purple-quartz they had, but in itself, it does nothing. I made a note to send some miners to that world, and see whether they could get to the core. If the core¡¯s dead, what did that look like? *** The other world, thankfully, was a lot more normal. In fact, the first thing we saw were goats, and a large, really large lake. ¡°Wow.¡± Stella said, as we arrived at the shore of the massive lake. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s an inhabited world.¡± We both looked up and from the sky, we saw only one astral path to the demon world. It was really dim. ¡°This world hardly gets invaded. Only a single one-¡± [Domain prevented attempted intrusion] ¡°Lumoof. Did you get that?¡± Stella said, as she lifted her void staff. ¡°Yes.¡± We looked around, and I spread my senses. The land was a field of grass, and my roots, through Lumoof, connected to them. Through the grass, I sensed a group of people far away, a party of sorts. Then, an angel. An actual angel with a halo and wings flew through the sky and landed nearby. The angel itself had very human-like features. ¡°Greetings. We received reports of unidentified individuals. This is the natural wildland preserve of Gallama. Please display your entry permits to utilise the dungeons in this area.¡± Stella and Lumoof looked at each other, and then my priest smiled. ¡°Greetings, we¡¯re lost. Our teleportation spell did not work properly and we have landed here. Please, could you get us out of here?¡± Stella could teleport both of them out instantly, but waited to see the angel¡¯s response. The Gallama Angel waited for a while. ¡°So you do not have a permit?¡± ¡°No, we do not.¡± Lumoof added. ¡°Under subsection 144 paragraph 92 of the Gallama Wildlands Preservation Act, you will be subjected to a fine and a hearing before the High magistrate. The minimum fine is 400 General Coins and maximum fine is 40,000 General Coins.¡± Lumoof looked at Stella. ¡°Oh lord.¡± Stella smirked. ¡°We¡¯re in Lawyerland.¡± She had also used [inspect] on the angel, and discovered that this was probably around Level 50. Lumoof looked back at the angel. ¡°Any room for appeal or negotiation?¡± ¡°You may plead your case before the High Magistrate.¡± The angel took out a fiery staff, the tip of it glowed with a golden flame. ¡°I will now place the two of you under arrest. [Firechains].¡± Chains of fire attempted to get close, but then, the moment they attempted to latch onto Lumoof, it just withered away. It did work on Stella, but just as quickly, her [domain] also protected her, and the chains of flame just snuffed itself out. The angel wasn¡¯t fazed, and Lumoof just answered. ¡°Are there any exemptions for otherworldly visitors to laws? We would like to visit your... leaders.¡± That, however, did faze the angel. It had a look of shock, and then began to recite. ¡°Under the Foreign Visitors Act, engaging with Foreign Visitors shall be restricted to the Grand Magistrates and in the specified containment areas.¡± It¡¯s firestaff glowed, and it shot a flare into the sky. Within minutes, Lumoof felt the presence of other things approaching at high speed. ¡°This world also seems to have it¡¯s act in order.¡± Lumoof quipped. ¡°Think we¡¯re not needed here.¡± Stella nodded as we waited. ¡°I agree.¡± The first to arrive was a human lady. Lumoof could tell, because the wings was clearly an attachment, and she didn¡¯t have a halo. Instead, she had a burning trident. ¡°Gallama Patrol Angel. You have activated the High Tier Emergency Beacon. State the emergency.¡± The lady stated with a stern voice, the angel immediately pointed the staff at the two visitors. ¡°These two claim to be otherworldly visitors.¡± The lady turned to face Lumoof and Stella. [Domain had blocked attempted [inspect].] ¡°I see.¡± The lady took three steps back once the error popped out. She looked at the angel. ¡°Full update.¡± The two stood a distance away and protected themselves in a bubble, and it seemed like the angel briefed the lady. ¡°You think we should just bail right now?¡± Stella asked. My roots was all the way in the ground, and it soon spread further and further. This preserve was actually quite massive and there was a city half a day away by foot. ¡°There¡¯s a city in that direction. We could teleport there, but looking at it, we¡¯ll stick out like sore thumbs. Everyone seems to be an angel, or human.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good thing you didn¡¯t send Alka, Roon or Johann, then.¡± Stella smiled. ¡°Humans really do seem to dominate the multiverse.¡± ¡°If Aeon¡¯s to be believed, that¡¯s not a good thing.¡± Lumoof shrugged. ¡°There¡¯s another city in that direction, and it¡¯s also part human and part angel.¡± ¡°In Earth¡¯s religion, angels are creations of gods. Are they creations of a god, or they are just some kind of winged humans? Like harpies.¡± Stella asked, as she used her magical [inspection] abilities on the two. From what we could identify, the human was higher level, and seemed to be part of an organisation of law enforcers. The cities of this world were entirely devoid of vegetation, and their buildings were made of marble. That made it a little harder for me to spy, but I noticed multiple ¡®angels¡¯ all over the area, and they also had smaller tower-keeps that functioned as the ¡®base¡¯ of these angels. The angel and the human lady finished their conversation, and then the lady came to greet them. ¡°Greetings, again, visitors. I am Layal, a senior law enforcer of Legatia operating under the Legatia Law Enforcement License. As required under the Foreign Visitors Act, I shall now escort you to the nearest Grand Magistrate for your hearing. I¡¯ve instructed for your earlier misdemeanor to be expunged from your records.¡± Stella couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Are you two familiar with flight?¡± Layal spread her magically-attached wings. ¡°Yes. Both of us-¡± Stella answered but she was interrupted. ¡°-No?¡± Stella looked at Lumoof, and Lumoof shook his head. ¡°I can propel myself forward with vines and roots, but not fly. I don¡¯t consider throwing myself through the air at high speeds to be a form of flight.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± Stella said as she punched Lumoof on the arm lightly. ¡°I¡¯ll carry you. Magically.¡± Stella floated, flight was a small matter for mages at her level of power. ¡°Lead the way, Enforcer Layal.¡± The lady led the two through the air, and I felt a little sick. I didn¡¯t like flight very much, but even despite my sickness, I had to admit this was a beautiful world. The terrain seemed perfectly manicured, like every tree and flower was exactly where it should be. The land we were headed to was a tower of ivory and marble, it shone in the bright light of the sun, and as we approached, we noticed a lot more flying angels everywhere. ¡°I think our visit here will be shortlived.¡± Stella said. ¡°If they¡¯ve got their act together, then we¡¯ve got nothing to give them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, actually.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°Let¡¯s not poke our heads where we are not needed.¡± We landed on a large white circular platform at the side of the towers. If there was a disney-ish castle, or city, this seemed to be it. The city was built upwards, filled with spires and balconies for fliers to land. Enforcer Layal landed, and more angels came to meet her. She immediately walked to them to brief them, and then escorted the two to another room. We noticed how most rooms had two doors, one on top for fliers, and one at the bottom for those who walked. It naturally meant every room had really high ceilings. A short wait later, we eventually met someone who was a Grand Magistrate. He was an angel with four wings, and a large burning halo. ¡°Enforcer Layal states you two claim to be foreign visitors, but I don¡¯t sense the energies of a hero within you. It also certainly is a few decades too early for a hero to arrive.¡± I mentally flinched at ¡®a few decades¡¯. Goddammit some worlds have it so lucky. ¡°That means there are two possibilities left. One, some of the otherworlders have learned how to use portals, or Two, you two are accidental summons.¡± Stella smiled and she saw no reason to lie. ¡°We learned how to use portals.¡± The Grand Magistrate stared at Stella, and sighed. ¡°I must admit I am a little annoyed that my [sense lie] does not work. So I must ask you the old fashioned way. Are you telling the truth?¡± Lumoof couldn¡¯t help but chuckle and Stella nodded. ¡°Do you wish for a demonstration?¡± ¡°That... can wait for the greater councils. If you speak the truth, what is it that you¡¯ve come here for?¡± ¡°Honestly, we came to visit.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°We are seeking out more worlds to ally ourselves with. More allies in our war against the demons, which we fear will soon escalate to a greater level.¡± ¡°Demons? We have that mostly under control, here. Mostly, because we still get them every few decades. How bad is it over... over in your world?¡± The Grand Magistrate seemed curious. ¡°Every ten years, give or take.¡± Lumoof answered. ¡°In hindsight, it¡¯s a miracle the world survived for so long.¡± ¡°The Power of Light is not so easily vanquished.¡± The Grand Magistrate answered. ¡°Ten years is... intense.¡± Stella smirked at how mildly he put it. ¡°Indeed.¡± Lumoof seemed perfectly in sync with the magistrate. ¡°So we are looking for allies. 10 years is difficult for us to absorb on our own.¡± The Grand Magistrate paused, and nodded. ¡°I shall take your request to the higher council, but I foresee some visits will be necessary.¡± ¡°That can be arranged.¡± Spaizzer Alright, shoutout time. Busy busy competitive season these days. Please check out all three stories :) First one - the Cozy Beer Dwarf story - https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/58346/beers-and-beards-a-cozy-dwarf-tale Now he''s in a fantasy world, far from home, and stuck underground in the body of a smelly dwarf with fantastic facial hair. The worst part though? The swill that the dwarves are falling all over themselves to drink. Its flat, it''s watery, and it has the alcohol content of a rancid coconut. Can Pete save the dwarves from their own Sour fate, or will he be forever doomed to plink his pickaxe away in hopes that he hits the mother lode. Come for the cozy fantasy, stay for the beer puns that will leave you hop-ping mad! A bubbly slice of life LitRPG with love, laughter, and a little melancholy, just like drinking a bottle of Whitbier on the beach. No elves or harems allowed. Caged World breakout - https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/56454/caged-worlds-breakout/ Come and see the journey of the void assassin and the necromancer mantis as they pry into the secrets that no one should. Will they survive after opposing god-like beings? Will they thrive in power with their new companions? Will they finally manage to turn their wants... into destined? What to expect; A western cultivation world with minimal xianxia trophies. Single POV for the most part. (around 90%) Mostly light-hearted, but there are some grim moments as well. No harem. Lastly but not least - we have Actus''s ELDRITCH BESTIE. It''s hitting the ZON dude. Blackmist is a slice-of-life mixed with LitRPG in a magic school setting. A slow build power fantasy from Actus, the bestselling author of Morcster Chef. It''s perfect for fans of Cradle, Iron Prince, and Mage Errant. https://mybook.to/blackmist1 Skill Tree Update Year 219 Assimilating by force is easy for an institution like me. It¡¯s easy, to use my way, the way that worked so far, and apply it elsewhere. That is a set of actions with no room for negotiation, and the reason why I disliked that, was because I wasn¡¯t sure whether my way was the ¡®right¡¯ way. My main goal of expanding is mainly to grow my mana pool, and gain valuable talent. Thinking from this angle, whether the Central Continent or Branchhold has similar or different culture, doesn¡¯t have much significance. In fact, the only reason to really ¡®mold¡¯ culture is to grow a culture that feeds into the talent pipeline. Which thus, leads to the issue of assimilation via force. Force, as pleasant as it sounds, makes it a lot harder to get genuine cooperation, and true loyalty among those who have the talent or capability. Any relationship with my new ¡®followers¡¯ would start from a defensive position, instead of one where we met in the middle. All these assimilation hiccups need to be weighed against the future loyalty and value of any high-leveled individuals such a system would produce. The system encourages conflict. I¡¯ve thought about this at length many, many times. As a consequence of that, I¡¯m also viewing that cultural uniformity is a weakness. Genetically identical plants, for example, all have the same vulnerability to a virus, and I apply that same concept to cultures and societies when faced with demon kings. They also encouraged different sorts of talent, and even if it¡¯s hard to see, this culture managed to create multiple level 85s through constant war. In a way, the Mountainworld Culture could be summarized to a ¡®war¡¯ and ¡®survival¡¯ culture. I wanted a stronger, better version of that ¡®war¡¯ or ¡®survival¡¯ culture, as the culture of Treehome had now changed over time to take an ¡°industrial¡±, ¡®specialization¡± and ¡°technological-superiority¡± focus. These two types of culture had different ¡®focus¡¯. Treehome spent a lot of time on crafting, on development, on education. This was a consequence of my multi-decade education program, and the various research and manufacturing initiatives. I believe that the ¡®war¡¯ and ¡®survival¡¯ would be a lot easier to ¡®transfer¡¯ to newly settled worlds, or ¡®restore¡¯ old worlds. Worlds where things are lacking, and the people of Mountainworld were thus ¡®tougher¡¯, even if the Treehome folks had more levels and far better equipment. They had a scrappy, can-do attitude who sought out how to get things to work with nothing. In my own Valthorns, they also have that self-sufficiency, but we had an entire training system that focused on creating that sort of ability. I saw these cultural differences in how a normal Treehome citizen behaves when they face a problem they were unfamiliar with. The first thing they would do was to talk to a Valtrian official. For the Mountainworld citizens, they had very little dependence on the government, and they would think for themselves, throw solutions at a problem and see which stuck, or live with it if it¡¯s not too painful or difficult. Like it or not, on Treehome, we created a competent governmental structure, and this led to reliance on that structure, as is sensible to do. There are merits to outsourcing certain decisions to the government. It took the mental load away from them, so they could focus on other areas. A person¡¯s ability to gain levels in a chosen field, was ultimately a constraint. 85-100 levels scattered over multiple classes, and 85 levels in a single class had very different combat outcomes. The Mountainworld folks are more ¡®generalists¡¯, because they had to be self-sufficient. Treehome encouraged specialization, and that meant outsourcing segments they were not good at, to others. I remembered my dear friend Jura, who kept his villager classes until quite late, until a sheer fluke merged the villager¡¯s classes with his warlord class. It¡¯s quite common for the people of Mountainworld to have many classes, and when added up, it is usually slightly more than Level 85. This was because the ¡®soul energy requirement¡¯ of multiple low level classes, was not that high. The way I thought about this, was that the soul is this huge power supply, and it could power many small appliances, or one large machine, and higher-tier machines were significantly more power hungry than smaller ¡®weak¡¯ machines. *** My adventurers on the Mountainworld trawled through multiple cave chambers over the past two to three years, and they found various trinkets and artifacts, dating to just a slightly earlier time of Mountainworld. Not that old, just a few centuries or so. Weapons of war, and fortifications. The cave chambers were home to hideaways and secret military stashes forgotten to time. They¡¯ve not been touched for ages. Or perhaps, they were not meant to be touched for ages. My adventurers found tomes of magic, hero items, and generally, just weapons. I was personally quite disappointed by the haul, since these things were relatively mundane, but my adventurers were happy, and the mages were more than delighted to study old tomes of lost magics. I found the protectors hidden in these caves to be a lot more interesting. They pulled out giant snakes, robot-like golems, and strange tree creatures that I eagerly studied. We had golems on our world, the hero Hafiz and Chung took significant attempts to recreate robots from Earth, but they had not seen widespread adoption due to the relatively poor quality of the golem makers. On the Central Continent, we did attempt to train our own golem masters but progress in this front was fairly slow. The strongest golem maker we had was Level 70s, and he could control ten elephant-sized golems simultaneously. Strong, for sure, but we struggled on the ¡®autonomous¡¯ aspects. I could insert my artificial minds into them, but that felt like cheating, because the whole goal of having golem masters was for them to develop self-aware golems. *** Training other types of ¡®units¡¯ or ¡®subordinates¡¯ was naturally where I spent most of my idle time. We sent them on various missions, to let them gain experience and build knowledge. Some of them spent time as adventurers, some of them spent a lot of time in the dungeons. Others rotated between Branchhold and Treehome. Our academies throughout the Continent was filled with students, as we expanded new training systems to train all the other kinds of units. Even blood magic underwent some secret developments, known to only my domain holders and a select group. A while ago, it was clear to me that blood magic was a foul, blunt attempt at soul magic. Snek¡¯s past experience in blood magic meant he could guide us in the direction he was familiar with, and we tried to experiment on using Healers, Shamans, Witchdoctors and Spiritualists to create some kind of ¡°soul-focused¡± versions of their class. Ken paraphrased Snek slightly when he said the soul has the best power-to-size ratio. It¡¯s such a small thing, but contains such vast potential for incredible power, and could pull even more power from the system. On Snek¡¯s world, they embraced blood magic, and guided it toward¡¯s better uses, which, in their terms, used ¡®willing sacrifices¡¯, which reduced the foul side effects of hex. Through my magical knowledge of souls, that was just a salve. It could be better handled. A long time ago, we built a massive structure as a ¡®panic-button¡¯, to detonate the lives of my citizens as a last resort. Now, with my growing strength, my clones and domainholders, I saw that was not really necessary, and modified it. The real strength of the hex bombs came from the unusual stitching of souls. Souls, each containing their mana, their skills, their power, were essentially ¡®weaponised¡¯. The hexbomb burned all the future potential and past strength, to create what it really was. A magical-radioactive nuclear projectile made from souls. I could alter souls directly, and so, since that discovery a few decades ago, I had been experimenting on using soul fragments to create a hexbomb. It was a natural extension of what I¡¯ve been doing with soul fragments. I collected them naturally through death, stitched them together and created artificial minds. This set of alterations essentially cobbled up the fragments into a pattern similar to the hex bombs. [You¡¯ve learned a skill : Minor Soulbomb] My initial demonstrations of the minor soulbomb, which can be fired from my main body or any of my clones, revealed a very small and weak hexbomb but with none of the side effects. This was a good development, even if it¡¯s still useless in its current form. With further enhancement and research, we would be able to develop stronger versions. Alka wanted to create portable versions of the soulbombs, combining his crystal containers with the soulbomb¡¯s components. It failed, but it was a matter of time before he found the right combination and design. As for some of the shamans, healers and spiritualists that participated heavily in the blood-magic related experiments, they eventually experienced a class modification, a [Shaman] became a [Soul Shaman]. The [healer] became [Healer of the Soul], and the priests and spiritualists became [Soul-powered Spiritualist]. *** As parasiteworld recovered from the demon¡¯s hold, I suddenly experienced a connection from the Core of the World. Then I saw images. It was a trend I noticed, that creatures of incredible power spoke in ¡®images¡¯. A world invaded, the rifts opened, and the demons dug a hole down to the center of the world. They latched on to it, the core, and injected it with something so painful that all I felt was it¡¯s shared pain. Then, it felt itself forced, to carve out a little bit of itself each time and give it to every spawn of those demons. Every bit, it remembered itself getting smaller, weaker, less. It¡¯s mind, if such a thing could be ascribed to a core, felt more fragmented, more... scattered. Then, it felt itself shatter, split into many parts. At this point, I had to pull in some additional minds to help cope with all the fragmented visions. A black sun once more. A world in pain. It felt it¡¯s power used, and the world changed. It had fragments of memory of a world before the demons, a vast swampland, a perpetually humid central band around its planet, filled with bloodsuckers and animals. Parasites. Leeches. Worms. It was once a bug heaven. The world had few defenders, just gigantic animals and beasts. There was a small civilization of another kind of walking lizards. Primitive. Then it was all gone. Core mana. A glowing yellow thing. Energy. Core¡¯s essence. It spoke in images again, but I felt it. A little bit of gratitude. [The Will of the Parasiteworld has granted you access to it¡¯s excess Core Mana. You¡¯ve gained access to a small quantity of Core Mana] [Adapting potato mana storages to core mana... High Density Potato Cores unlocked] [Adapting potato storages to core mana... Potato Cores unlocked] [Warning : Core Mana in its raw form cannot be used by mobile creatures as it will decay to normal mana once it leaves contact with the soil of the planet.] That was a step forward, and I informed Stella of the issue. *** Angelworld was a land of incredible wealth. It was fragmented, ruled by various Angel-Lords and Arch-angels, but war in the Angel World was mainly through tournaments. The concept of total wars were only relevant against demons or monsters, but outside of these things, the Angels didn¡¯t fight amongst themselves. Instead, they selected champions, and wagered territory in their tournaments. Territories were exchanged through such tournaments, and everything else followed. Tournaments happened daily, and the tournaments were large affairs. Groups of hundreds fought against other groups of hundreds. The Angels themselves encouraged it, and it was soon clear that the gods they followed had rather similar views. The God they believed in, seemed to believe in Peace through War, and Order through Conflict. Constructive conflict, and they saw it as ¡®structured warfare¡¯. These angels, while resembling the angels commonly seen on earth, were more of the combative kind. The Angel-lords of the world formed a council of some kind, as a discussion channel. That, of course, didn¡¯t conflict with the battles they constantly waged in the Coliseums. It was also strange that the battles were always fought by humans, not angels themselves. The angels were more than happy to sit it out, so-called-enemies could enjoy a cup of nectar together, even making merry and laugh while their champions fought to near-death. As Stella described, ¡°These angel-guys are like some kind of lawyers, and behave like two-faced snakes. They mean what they say, but only in the specific context that they said it. They have absolutely no qualms contradicting themselves in different contexts.¡± ¡°So any alliances must be super-tightly worded.¡± ¡°Which could bite both ways. They seem more than willing to maneuver themselves into situations where they can bend those agreements.¡± I found it ironic that these angels were like snakes, but then again, I wasn¡¯t better. ¡°So, what is the news?¡± Stella asked as she rested in one of the Angelworld¡¯s cities. Their cities were large, gleaming places. Towers of ivory and marble. ¡°I have core mana.¡± Stella paused and purred.. ¡°Oooooooooooh. That¡¯s good. Y¡¯know what, I think we can revisit this world at a later date. Let¡¯s work on the core mana, I can¡¯t wait to hack the next demon king that should be headed our way..¡± Lumoof groaned as he remembered what it meant. They arranged a meeting with the angels, and soon returned to Treehome. *** Stella observed the path through the void forest and we see one bright, glowing path to this other world. Treehome. Treehome would see it¡¯s demon king next year, and Mountainworld just two to five years later. ¡°Two demon kings are so close together.¡± I mentally groaned. To me, it felt like just last month we fought a demon king, and now we have to fight another one. It¡¯s so darn tiring, though my domainholders clearly don¡¯t think that way. I needed to space them out, but my people say it¡¯s the best way forward. The levels gained from each of the demon kings were the building blocks, and we would construct a path out of this stupid cycle. ¡°The goal is to get more people to that level, and round out our abilities, so we¡¯ll field more Level 125-149s, just so that they can get the experience needed.¡± Roon and Johann met them regularly, those who are on the ¡®path¡¯, and for m ¡°Lumoof will lead the charge as usual, we¡¯ll attempt to infiltrate this world and look for the demon king¡¯s pit. And we¡¯ll repeat what happened in the anti-magic world. Approach, and support Lumoof as he floods the demon king with mana.¡± Johann explained. The heroes were interested to see how Lumoof did it, since they missed it the previous time. Once everyone was ready, Stella hacked into the demon¡¯s astral path, and opened a portal with our rift gate. Stella gently tapped a little of the core mana and the link to the astral path stabilised. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s give the demons a taste of their own freaking medicine.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t we do that already?¡± Edna sighed. ¡°I know, but I still love saying it.¡± Stella said. Treeal by fire Year 220 (continued) ¡°We need to talk about our strategy.¡± Roon and Johann gathered the team before the invasion, and brought up the issue. ¡°We¡¯re currently limited, bottlenecked by Aeon¡¯s low supply of clone seeds.¡± Everyone listened intently. ¡°Aeon intends that we eventually find our way to strike at the Black Suns, as Stella described it. From the sheer size of those things, the amount of mana required to have an ¡®even¡¯ battle is huge, and yet, Aeon currently only has what... 4 clones?¡± Stella nodded. ¡°Yes, we need a lot of firepower for that.¡± ¡°But, we have a force projection issue on a multiverse scale. We are dependent on Aeon to deliver our main damage dealers, the heroes. Void portals don¡¯t work, because of the magical instability caused by star mana-void mana interactions.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°Aeon needs to level up quickly, and find a way to scale up that number of clones. The battle with the demons, and the black sun, feels like essentially a ¡°numbers¡± game. Aeon needs to control a large number of high-mana generation worlds, in order to even compete with the amount of demonic energy those black suns seem to possess.¡± Edna nodded. ¡°Alright, so Lumoof needs to participate in every battle.¡± Roon then raised the main point. ¡°My opinion is, we should not be ¡°investing¡± so much in recovering demon-worlds, which have very long gestation periods. The parasite world, as per Aeon¡¯s own models, claim at least 50-100 years before it¡¯s mana output could even hope to match our homeworld. This is because the demon¡¯s world had eaten away at those worlds, and those worlds are less, diminished, weak. Instead, Aeon should be focused on spreading his clones on regular worlds that are facing their own demonic invasions.¡± Ken and Snek didn¡¯t quite like that angle. ¡°We can still free Snek¡¯s world, but we need not plant a seed there. That¡¯s essentially my point. Travel to Snek¡¯s world will then rely on Stella¡¯s riftgates.¡± ¡°But we need the clones to send the heroes over.¡± Ken responded. ¡°Which Aeon can withdraw after the deed is done.¡± ¡°Fair.¡± Ken nodded, but Snek looked quite upset by the idea. ¡°I reiterate. Aeon¡¯s focus should be reaching the mana-levels needed to effectively ¡®drown¡¯ a demon king, and to do so, it needs multiple regular worlds. At least 10. Aeon should abandon non-productive worlds and replace them with Stella¡¯s riftgates.¡± ¡°That¡¯s reliance on the whims of the void.¡± Stella quickly clarified. ¡°Aeon¡¯s clones are an output of the system, its connection secure. Riftgates can be hijacked, and the pathways can be destroyed. It is not a worthwhile comparison, especially if it¡¯s a world key to the plan.¡± Roon agreed. ¡°Indeed, which is back to our ¡°bottleneck¡±. Aeon needs to take a much more aggressive stance, and level, because Aeon¡¯s foundation is what supports the plan.¡± ¡°Could someone else play that same role?¡± Ken asked. ¡°I¡¯m just saying that.. Could there be a clone-focused domain holder who could ¡°lock¡± or leave a clone in those worlds? Train another spiritual tree into another Aeon? It doesn¡¯t even have to be a tree, we just need someone at the [domain] level to play Aeon¡¯s ¡°linkage¡± role.¡± The room was silent, and I myself was rather taken aback by the suggestion. It... could work, but it needed a cooperative partner. My mind immediately thought about the first two non-mobile ¡®friends¡¯ I had. ¡°Lillies? Or... Reefy?¡± I could imagine a Reefy or Lilies clone across worlds. Lillies especially, with their natural multi-minded structure seemed easily able to gain some kind of clone-like ability. Or maybe Aria and Aispeng. Reefy... I wasn¡¯t sure I wanted to unleash Reefy out to the multiverse. I fear Reefy, badly controlled, could easily warp into another demonic swarm. I would have to check with Lilies and Aria. At that point, Edna suggested someone else. ¡°There are two former-heroes, Alexis and Meela. Meela¡¯s Hotels has branches. Do you think she can be trained to have hotels across multiverses?¡± My priest had an aha moment then. ¡°That¡¯s a good point, I totally forgot about the two.¡± Roon then elaborated. ¡°Ideally, Aeon gets more clones, because they are all locked to the same teleportation network. At the rate we are going, we will discover new worlds quickly, and with the amount of demonic worlds out there, we pretty much need to add clones at an exponential rate.¡± ¡°But gaining levels gets harder the higher we go.¡± ¡°Which then leads to Ken¡¯s very good point. If we can¡¯t have Aeon gain many levels, could we ¡®train¡¯ multiple Aeons?¡± Lumoof nodded. ¡°In theory, that¡¯s a solution, but I would like to immediately add that Aeon¡¯s unique mindset is due to his current mix of knowledge from before he was a tree. Training a native tree into an Aeon-tier domain holder frankly sounds horrifying, and could go really, really bad. I¡¯ve seen Aeon¡¯s thoughts, and their perception of things can be very different from our own. With humanoids and other mortals, we can get aligned quite easily. It¡¯s not so easy with trees. Druids can tell you of strange behaviors from their spirit trees from centuries ago.¡± The archer-ranger looked pensive, as he contemplated the issue. Ken, eventually, also nodded. ¡°I realise I did not give enough thought to my suggestion, and thus I¡¯d like to retract my suggestion. Raising a potential lovecraftian deity is not a good idea.¡± ¡°That idea with Meela is worth considering. Meela¡¯s hotel, at the [domain] level could be a reasonable alternative.¡± Edna added. ¡°Not ideal, as her hotel lacks the defensive abilities of Aeon¡¯s clones, but... doable. Her past-life as a hero would also mean she would be more amenable to our objectives.¡± ¡°What if she never develops those abilities?¡± ¡°Then too bad. It¡¯s a risk we take with these developments.¡± *** The riftgates opened, and Lumoof led the way. It was humid, and hot, and glowing spawning pools littered the landscape. The demons spotted Lumoof appearing, and roared. We knew that this was one of the stereotypical ¡®hellworlds¡¯. There were fountains of flaming lava, and jets of fire around us. Demonic spires and structures similar to the dreams I once had. If some of the worlds were sandy and dry, this one was hot and lava. The demons were medium-sized, about the size of a large cow, and had two horns and two wings. They were similar to what we referred to as the ¡®old-school¡¯ demons. My vines and roots spread out around Lumoof, crushing each and every demon in our way. ¡°Normal demonworld. Really hot.¡± Lumoof described it. ¡°Normal in what way?¡± Those back on Treehome asked. There¡¯s really no baseline for normal. Each demon world seemed different, and there¡¯s no ¡®repeat¡¯ yet. Yet. ¡°Correction, traditional, hellfire and brimstone demonworld. I believe the type the heroes were expecting.¡± ¡°Oh. Shit. We finally found ¡®hell¡¯.¡± Ken cursed. ¡°I didn¡¯t know why I wasn¡¯t expecting this.¡± We¡¯ve made a loop, and I remembered that flaming demon king from the earlier days. [Demon King Baal], and now, after 220 years, I¡¯m bringing the pain back to their world. This was probably just one of the many such-worlds, but it felt symbolic to me. I was once burnt by the flames of this type of demon king, and now, I¡¯d disrupt it in it¡¯s infancy. Lumoof had a good time, and naturally enjoyed my shared-fire immunity. As a priest, there was something extremely satisfying about crushing these really traditional demons with divine vines and roots. ¡°You guys better get here before Lumoof wipes the place clean.¡± Stella and a band of the Level 125-149s joined the fray. The demons clearly weren''t expecting company, and my mages made short work of the many exposed spawning pools. ¡°Really?¡± Edna was amused. ¡°Why?¡± Lumoof shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know, weird system shenanigans. I seem to really get a kick out of destroying these earthly inspired traditional demons.¡± ¡°Ever feel like an inquisitor?¡± Stella smirked as her own void magic skewered the demons apart. Now that she had a domain and had the insurance of my revival ability, she was willing to take more combat risk. ¡°Is this the point where I tell these demons-¡± Stella knew the phrase that came next and already pre-emptively rolled her eyes. ¡°No one expects the Aeonic Inquisition!¡± I wished I could groan, because that was terrible. My forces fanned out, as they crushed the demons in their path. Like a tide, the demons tried to cobble together a resistance, but nothing much could stand up to high level individuals. They had greater demons, like those with wings and large massive claws that were the size of houses, but even these champions died easily now. Nothing was going to stop us from getting to the pits. All we needed to do was find it in this hellhole. *** The Valthorns ravaged through the lands, and cut through the demon¡¯s defense like paper. Even without the heroes, there wasn¡¯t much that could stand against the might of so many high-leveled individuals, and eventually we found a pit. It was a big boiling chasm of lava, surrounded by the tell-tale riftgate towers. ¡°The demon king¡¯s in that, right?¡± Roon looked at Lumoof. ¡°It has to be. It¡¯s underneath all this lava or magma?¡± ¡°Well, this at least means it¡¯s fire resistant, or fire-earth-immune. We¡¯re dealing with the pits-of-hell type of demon king?¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably a magma beast.¡± Edna looked at the bubbling lava in the huge pit. It was likely this chamber of lava led all the way into the core. Ken, naturally, thought about Lord of the Rings. ¡°How do we get down there?¡± My roots were incredibly fire resistant, but the lava still got to them eventually, and it just drained my mana to keep healing my roots against the might of endless lava. ¡°Our attempt to invade the demon world, curtailed by a sea of molten lava. How appropriate.¡± Roon smirked. ¡°This calls for a really strong earth mage.¡± ¡°We could freeze the surface and turn it into hardened rock, that way the demon king can¡¯t get out.¡± ¡°You know it¡¯ll just blast through it.¡± ¡°This is unfair though. How does anyone expect to retake such a world from the demons?¡± Roon added. ¡°Getting through lava would need a really strong mage to work at it for years, just to get to the core.¡± ¡°Not really. A good lava mage could easily manipulate the lava out of the way, and give us a path through to the depths.¡± Edna responded. ¡°Our strongest fire-earth element mage is what, level 120?¡± Roon said. ¡°No offense, but this is the demon king we¡¯re talking about. Even us domain holders are still inadequate.¡± ¡°Alright, what¡¯s our alternative plan? Similar to the anti-magic world?¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®similar-to-the-antimagic¡¯ world? We can¡¯t even access the core. I say we cover the surface with bombs and nuke the demon king once it tries to leave for our world.¡± Roon said. ¡°We know it has a fixed path up that chamber of lava, and through this pit.¡± Alka was fairly amused. ¡°I like how you think, Roon. I really do.¡± Stella paused as she stood above the tunnel. She opened a portal somewhere else and then, lava shot out like a high pressure water cannon. Edna looked and asked. ¡°A portal in the core chambers?¡± ¡°Close. There¡¯s a magical ¡®eddy¡¯ of some kind preventing my portal from getting too near, but this is about 3/4th the way to the core.¡± The lava jet was constant, but nothing changed. After a while, Stella shrugged. ¡°Doesn¡¯t work. The entire core and the surroundings of this world is magma.¡± ¡°Look. How the fuck did the demon king even conquer such a world?¡± ¡°Magic.¡± Stella smirked. ¡°Roon¡¯s idea has merit. With sufficient bombs, and I¡¯ll add my own void ones, it may be possible to send the demon king off course entirely. What I¡¯d like to achieve, this time, is to knock the demon king out of it¡¯s teleportation path, so Alka needs to invent some kind of ¡°snare-bomb¡±.¡± ¡°What the fuck is that?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t want the bomb to detonate immediately. We want bombs that will latch itself onto the demon king, blow up while it¡¯s floating through the void space, and knock it out.¡± ¡°Anyone tell you that¡¯s insane?¡± Roon said. ¡°I mean, I like it, but it¡¯s insane.¡± ¡°We know that the demon king doesn¡¯t get summoned if there¡¯s a surviving demon king. I want to test whether that is location-dependent, and requires the demon king to actually be there. If the demon king is in another world, what happens?¡± ¡°...alright, go on.¡± Roon admitted. ¡°On a super-large scale, I want to know whether WE can teleport a demon king elsewhere.¡± ¡°You want to build a rift gate here?¡± Edna asked. ¡°We¡¯re not ready for that. But someday, I¡¯d like to try it. For now though, let¡¯s just start with snare bombs.¡± ¡°Snare bombs.¡± Alka nodded. ¡°No issue. We can easily repurpose Aeon¡¯s beetles to be suicide-bomb-beetles and latch onto the demon king. I think we can try giant harpoons too, whether we can anchor the demon king to this world. Force it off it¡¯s teleportation process.¡± Roon whistled. The Valthorns quickly cleared out an area around the pit, and started constructing fortifications based on the volcanic materials available. An army of druids were deployed to support the installation. Most of the domainholders returned to Treehome to start construction of their planned materials. Multiple giant ¡®nets¡¯, harpoons with magical chains, and bombs with hooks. It would take some time to accumulate the necessary equipment and ordinances, but based on the magical sensors we had on this hell-world, the demon king wasn¡¯t ready yet. In fact, none of the rift gates had opened. The Valthorns regularly swept through this lava-world, clearing the land of demons, and captured any rift gates that we found. Stella then sent them back to Treehome, where she would study it with the other riftgates. It also helped that we now had three other void archmages, they took the role of maintaining the interplanar riftgates, and transporting the materials to the demonworld We sent specialised builders and craftsmen to the demon world, to study the rift structures, and also build the ¡®traps¡¯. Honestly, it may not work, but if it did, we were sure as hell going to replicate it every single time. *** ¡°Ken, you alright?¡± Chung asked, as Ken sat in a corner of a city cafe in Freshka. He looked tired, and sipped a big mug of herbal tea. Ken, who was so young so many decades ago, now looked like a man in his late 40s, unlike Chung who looked to be in his mid 30s. ¡°Age, friend. Age.¡± Reality meant Ken, who is no longer a hero, did not benefit from the aging reduction effects of the [hero] class. He did have fragments, of course, from his friends who perished during the war, but outside of the fragments, he has high levels in [Thinker] and [Beast Tamer]. Those levels slowed down aging, but not as much. Even my own domain holders experienced a burst of deaging once they gained the [domain]. Stella, for example, felt younger, stronger once she gained her domain. Theoretically, I could keep anyone alive forever. With my incredible healing powers, and evolutionary powers, I¡¯m able to modify a person¡¯s body such that the effects of aging are almost entirely eliminated, but, they would become not-exactly the same. A human that was made immortal, becomes... different, and because this is an ¡®imposed¡¯ process, unlike an earned process through gaining levels or unlocking their domain, the body becomes in conflict with the soul, and it creates issues. I should be able to get past this, in time, after all, ¡®calming¡¯ or unifying the soul and the body is part of my repertoire. But for now, it¡¯s something I rarely experiment on. And, so, back to Ken. ¡°I¡¯m aging.¡± Ken laughed, and the herbal tea removed the pain. ¡°I can tell.¡± Chung said. ¡°A price for freedom of mind. The freedom for me to think un-heroic things.¡± Chung smirked. ¡°You can fix it if you gain levels, like them.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need to.¡± Ken said. ¡°There¡¯s a point where one lives too long. I think this, a lifespan of 200-250 years, I think this is ideal. Too much, and we become unable to care for anything, because everything fades away, and we¡¯ll just be burdened with endless ennui.¡± ¡°I¡¯d still rather live forever.¡± ¡°You only feel that way, because the Gods impose a purpose in your life.¡± Ken insisted. ¡°Which, as I sometimes think, it¡¯s not a bad thing. Many of us require purpose. Purpose gives us direction, gives us... focus. It allows us to forget, to forgive, to let go of things that do not matter when viewed against our central purpose.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve lost me.¡± Chung laughed. Infantreecide Year 221 ¡°Is this normal?¡± A section of Branchhold was cordoned off for work. Construction of the weapons meant for the lava-demonworld required the combined efforts of many skilled workers, across the entire empire.. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen something like it.¡± The citizens of Branchhold stared.Most migrants to Branchhold had not seen our large scale ¡®directed¡¯ plans, and they could not fathom a civilization able to deploy the resources across an entire empire, and now, across worlds. All they saw was a mobilisation for a war. Those on Branchhold were tasked with the manufacture of spears, hooks, and chains. It alarmed the spies scattered in Branchhold, and reported the findings to their masters in their own capital cities. ¡®Branchhold geared for war¡¯ splattered across intelligence communiques, all over the world. The nearest nations to Branchhold immediately received a huge influx of more spies, and more scouts. Fools, really. If we really wanted to invade, we didn¡¯t need such mobilisation. On the lava-demonworld, the area around the pit became one of the largest magic formations we¡¯ve devised. Multiple redundant large scale magical snares, thousands of stationary weapons, more bombs and explosives than I bothered to count littered the area, and more was made every day. We built larger ballistas, equipped with chained harpoons. The place was geared for war, and frankly, the mood in the air was optimistic. ¡°Man, the demons would regret invading our world after this.¡± Roon said as he admired the temporary war city on the lava demonworld. There were hundreds of level 80-100 druids and mages deployed to conduct minor terraforms. ¡°They could just melt everything in a volcano.¡± ¡°They could, but with the number of mages we have, we¡¯d still survive.¡± On top of those plans, there was a quasi-suicidal plan with Lumoof at the center. The idea was simply to freeze or solidify the entire surface of the lava pit, have Lumoof enter avatar mode in the center, and have my avatar form latch on to the demon king as it attempted to teleport to the other world. Stella¡¯s void mages also made their own set of preparations. Large quantities of void crystals, and multiple void-magical formations created. The target was the black sun that appeared as part of the demon king¡¯s ascension, and this time, they planned to attack and interrupt it directly, in the same manner as how Stella disrupted the demon-mother of the parasite world. All of this was only possible, because of our efforts across the decades. If it¡¯s not enough, we¡¯ll go back and work harder. Our sensors were on overdrive, and these days, Stella, the void mages and the elemental archmages had their own set of magical sensors. I had a feeling we¡¯d see the demon king this year, and rushed the team to work faster. Back home, Stella had largely triangulated the direction of the accumulating astral energies, though, so far, not a single rift had opened. This was simply because my Valthorns regularly scoured the landscape for any rift, and captured them or destroyed them. That meant, no rift for the demons. It was very effective, and this time, the demon king was projected to land somewhere in the Southern Continent. Unlike before, I didn¡¯t give any advance warning, since the demon king was going to land in one of the wide deserts of the South. *** Back on the lava-demonworld, we realised we had a real simple problem. If we failed - the demon king would leave for our world. That¡¯s normal and all is status quo. But what if we succeeded in ¡®detaining¡¯ the demon king? If we succeed, we¡¯d have to fight the demon king without the heroes. ¡°Or we could just leave, since we technically achieved our mission of detaining the demon king. I¡¯m sure Stella would be fascinated to see what happens next. Does the demon king attempt to open the portal again?¡± ¡°I think it would, since the path through the void forest is still there. It only collapses when the demon king dies.¡± This was also a project for Stella and her team, where they would attempt to ¡®collapse¡¯ an astral path before it¡¯s used. In fact, the void mage academy had to be expanded quickly, due to the scale and requirements we needed in the far future. So much depended on having enough void mana, and enough magical talent to run all we needed to do. ¡°So if we succeed, we... uh... just watch?¡± ¡°We weaken it, I guess?¡± ¡°It sounds like the real success case is to tear it apart while it¡¯s in the astral path.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± *** ¡°Our role is just backup, this time.¡± Chung grinned, amused that they didn¡¯t have to travel to the other side. ¡°Or if the interruption fails and the demon king comes here.¡± They were still happily resting in the Central Continent, in one of the seaside towns facing the ocean. On the other side of that vast ocean was the Southern Continent. *** The core pulsed. We felt it, a cracking in the movement. The core of this world was probably just really hot, molten iron and other minerals. ¡°Well, ready?¡± Everyone got in position, and we expected this. The heroes were somewhere near to the Southern Continent, assisted by a small group of Valthorns and void mages. The lava-swepted world cracked, and we felt a powerful presence move from the core, up into the surface. ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s get the party started!¡± Alka laughed maniacally. ¡°Freezing bombs!¡± The mages and his assistants detonated hundreds of ice-element magical crystals, and the sudden surge of large quantities of ice magic caused the huge pit of lava to temporarily freeze over. It wouldn¡¯t last for long, as the heat from the core would eventually melt it again, but for now. Lumoof jumped into the middle of the hardened lake, and activated avatar mode. My roots pierced through the hardened lava, and expanded as fast as I could. The roots covered every part of the pit. A living barrier. Roon and Johann led the thousands of ballistas at the side, all armed with hooked harpoons, each equipped with bombs. There were at least a hundred different types of bombs. My sensors felt the force from within the core surged upwards, and the ripples of that force pushed against my roots. It was trying to uproot Lumoof and my roots from down below, but I resisted. My roots held onto the igneous rock and earth, as the pressure built up beneath us. ¡°Are we going to trigger an explosion if this keeps up?¡± Stella looked as the pit began to bulge upwards. My roots resisted the magma and lava displaced from the demon king¡¯s escape, and the demon king approached at high speed. ¡°It¡¯s coming up the chamber really quickly.¡± The pressure from lava beneath us strengthened, and this time, I felt the effects of heightened demonic magic. It attempted to tear at my roots, but we held our ground. Literally. Towers began to emerge out of the walls of the pit, the ¡®gate¡¯ mechanism. It was a point of great interest, to see how the demons created these riftgates out of thin air. For now, that was something my builders, mages and crafters studied intently, while a battle broke out around us. The demons emerged from all around us, and attempted to retake the pit. They failed. From beneath, the demon king shot up the lava chambers like a missile. The demon king was going to smash right into me, and it clearly didn¡¯t care. ¡°Lumoof, brace for impact.¡± The ground beneath us was filled with my roots. It¡¯ll have to destroy my roots to get out. On the surface, the rift towers began to channel their abilities, and the void mages studied it intently. This was the second time it¡¯s happening, but the first time such a large group of void mages was deployed to study it. ¡°Alright, we''re going to have to start interfering with the black sun once it emerged!¡± Stella shouted to her team of void mages. Their magical formations were ready and charged up. The demon king smashed into my roots from below, and I felt a strong, burning sensation. My roots were incredibly resistant to heat and fire, so I wasn¡¯t disturbed by that aspect. Yet, it¡¯s ensuing impact shook the entire pit, and then, it pushed the entire chunk of hardened magma upwards, like a superhero lifting an entire city from down below. ¡°FIRE!¡± Roon and Johann commanded as we got line-of-sight on the demon king. It was a demon king of tradition, a massive horned beast with eight wings and four arms, each with a weapon-made of lava. It was huge, in the same size as the anti-mana demon-turtle. The hooked harpoons fired from all around the pit, all aimed at the demon king¡¯s body. The demon king pushed, and the hooks and harpoons slammed into the demon king. Our projectiles attached itself to its skin like a pesky parasitic seed. Up above, the skies twisted. Stella and her void mages swung to action, and their magical formations activated. A dome of void mana emerged above us, and at the same time, they had their own set of void-energy ballistas, all aimed upwards. The sky tore apart, as the black sun emerged in view. The ballistas shot out, some with the antimagic projectiles, some with void mana projectiles. It flew at it... and burned in a black flame. The rift towers glowed, as core mana and void mana pooled in them at the same alternating pattern. The Valthorns attempted to smash them. The demon king itself began to emit some kind of energy, as it flung the chunk of rock filled with my roots aside. Then, the multicolored blackish blob emerged in the sky, like it teleported out of nowhere. A fragment of it, a droplet, descended from it. ¡°Now!¡± Stella yelled, and all their magical projectiles and abilities activated. A full year and some, her void mages prepared magical projectiles, meant for this moment. It worked on the demon-mother, and now they tried it on the king. I felt a strong pulse of energy struck that black droplet. Its outer shell crumpled like a Prince Rupert¡¯s Drop shattering. And it detonated. ¡°Shit. Shields!¡± I activated shields where I could. ¡°Teleport out, now!¡± Stella and her crew all escaped as soon as they could, and my domain holders warped back. All except Lumoof and Edna, and we watched a huge explosion happen in the skies of the demonworld. We were too near. It destroyed all the structures and weapons that we made, but some of my Valthorns didn¡¯t make it. Not everyone could teleport out in time, even with their fastest scrolls. About thirty percent of my thousands of Valthorns deployed perished, because our shields were not strong enough to block a demon-king-tier explosion. As they say, safety measures were written in blood, and the next time, we would have significantly higher shielding. From our world, we saw the demon¡¯s path wobble, wobble, and wobble, and shrink. Stella, now safely back on Treehome, slammed the nearest table and cursed. A huge ball of charred wood protected Lumoof, and in the aftermath, we saw a half-burnt demon body, all the harpoons and hooks had been burnt away in the explosion, and a much, much smaller droplet. The two merged, and struggled. It felt... incomplete. Like a car with an engine that was far too small. It didn¡¯t fly off immediately, and the path continued to wobble. Edna stood, unharmed by the scarring. She grinned and approached the giant, smoldering demon king, her weapons flared with magic and power. ¡°A battle to avenge the fallen. Come King, only one of us will remain standing.¡± Edna laughed and attacked the injured demon king. Lumoof observed the massive crater around us, and also charged at the Demon King. The demon king was weak. It did not have the strength I expected of demon kings, but perhaps, this was a sacrifice of those who fought it. My vines stabbed it, and each time, I tried to drain a bit more of it¡¯s mana away. ¡°We need to get back there.¡± Roon and Johann said. Stella immediately tried to check the riftgates. ¡°I can¡¯t. The explosion temporarily weakened the astral path. It¡¯ll be months before it¡¯s ready.¡± ¡°Aeon! We need your seed there!¡± A seed on a lava world? It¡¯ll cost me 10 years. I thought about it briefly, but as the battle between the demon king and Edna raged on, I agreed. This may be an opportunity I won¡¯t see in a while. Lumoof fought the demon king too, and the battle stretched across the battlefield. Then, he landed somewhere, and embedded my refreshed Seed into the ground. My tree sprung up instantly, in a sudden burst of magic. I sent Roon and Johann immediately to the other side, and they joined the battle. ¡°I think we can win this.¡± Edna said, as her antimagic sword slashed. My roots, now empowered by my actual clone body, pulled the demon king closer. My vines stabbed it¡¯s large demonic wings, and I called on the powers of my two, no, three worlds, and flooded the demon king with my mana. A giant demon was, in some ways, just a really big target. It roared, and I felt it¡¯s massive demonic axe chop off one of my branches. It hurt as hell, the demon king¡¯s lava axe landed on my wooden shields. Roon and Johann deployed all their magical weapons. It was a battle of attrition, as Edna and my tree traded blows with the demon king. Yet, I felt we had a chance. Stella and the void mages¡¯ detonation of the black droplet was key. That black droplet contained a significant chunk of the demon king¡¯s power, and with this, we now have an idea how to weaken the demon king. My domain holders unleashed their fury. It wasn¡¯t in the same tier as the heroes, but we were not fighting a full-powered demon king. Just a pale, weakened version. I struck it repeated with my roots, and noticed it¡¯s movement was sluggish. My roots kept up the pressure, and drained the demon king of it¡¯s energy. By my own measures, that explosion left the demon king with only 20-30% of it¡¯s strength. The King¡¯s movement was slower, it¡¯s massive body seemed too heavy for the power it had inside. It struggled, and eventually realised it couldn¡¯t keep up. Then, it decided to shed its larger outer shell, revealing a smaller, human-sized demon. Lumoof, Edna, Roon and Johann kept fighting, but this smaller one was faster, and almost landed a hit on Roon, if not for my shields. ¡°I think you two need to back off.¡± Edna said, as she kept up with the faster, smaller demon king. This demon¡¯s form was better suited to its power, but the demon king that struggled. The King¡¯s power weakened some more, each hit from my roots chipped a little more of it¡¯s energy. My guardian treant emerged to fight it, battling it, and eventually, my roots got a good hold of it¡¯s smaller body. I drained it¡¯s still large quantities of mana, and realised... We were winning. I actually struggled to believe it. Edna landed a few more hits, and my two archers attacked with their anti-magic arrows. The demon king was... immobilised. My treant guardians punched and held the demon king. And it was battered. I felt the King¡¯s magical energies drop, as Edna¡¯s cut began to remove demonic matter from the demon king. It¡¯s healing stopped. Another strong punch from my treant. The king¡¯s body crumbled, and revealed what I always, always wanted. An undamaged demon core. It didn¡¯t detonate. Not with what little magical energies it had. It felt like an eternity, as my vines wrapped around the core, just to be sure. I drained it, but there was nothing left inside to be drained. It was an empty, purely undamaged demon king¡¯s core. I was left speechless for a moment, as the madness of battle suddenly gave way to exhaustion. Edna looked pensive. Holy freaking shit. Did we just win? Lumoof, Roon, Edna and Johann all stared at each other, waiting for something to pop up. They looked up to the sky, wondering whether the sky would split apart to reveal some gimmick. It had taken so much to get here. But I looked at those who fought, and felt genuine joy burst out from my soul. ¡°We won!¡± Everyone felt like a huge weight lifted off their shoulders, and they looked at my giant tree-clone, safely and grinned. ¡°WE WON!¡± In a strange twist of fate, we had somehow managed to defeat a demon king without the heroes. It took extensive preparation, attacks from everyone, and a bit of luck that the blob at the end detonated, but whatever it was, we got through the finish line. My domain holders glowed, and I felt their strength increase. Power. We would need a lot more of it in the coming days. ¡°Holy shit I gained like fifteen levels.¡± Edna shouted, and punched the sky. ¡°Me too!¡± Roon, Johann and Lumoof all gained levels. [You¡¯ve gained 12 levels.] [You are now level 238] [Tree of Life - You¡¯ve gained two extra clone seeds]. [Natural mana overwhelming upgraded] [Root strikes upgraded] [Demonic resistance upgraded] [Domain ability unlocked: Greater Titans] [Your titans will now change into their greater forms, with wider range and abilities. Patreeck¡¯s mind-reading and protection range will now expand to include all your clone trees, and it¡¯s range is increased significantly. Hytreerion will now be able to temporarily shrink to travel through the Void, and can shapeshift into other battle forms.] *** [The Demon King ???? has been defeated.] The announcement of it¡¯s defeat was greeted with a strange feeling. I lost 30% of those who failed to avoid the explosion, but those who survived gained powers. The star paths linked to Treehome, all abruptly vanished. Including those subsequent to this demon king. That was not a good sign. It meant the demons discovered that we could ¡®counter-invade¡¯ their world, and thus dropped the invasion paths. It was also a sign that they were preparing for something bigger. But, there was no use worrying. We consolidated our gains, celebrated our wins, and prayed for those who fell. The souls we collected, some would move on, some wanted to stay back. I tried, where I could, to give all of them a chance to at least say goodbye to their loved ones. ¡°Alright, we need a roll call. Who gained what powers?¡± My domain holders came together, and it seemed among the survivors, quite a few gained a lot of levels. Stella smirked. ¡°I gained [Void Weapons and Projectiles]. I can¡¯t wait to try it out on the other demon kings.¡± ¡°Are we trivializing demon kings already?¡± Roon cursed. ¡°And you sound too excited for that.¡± ¡°They would adapt to our changes.¡± Stella said. ¡°They are not stupid. The fact that they dropped the star paths shows they are learning, and we probably shouldn¡¯t repeat it for the Mountainworld, unless, well, unless that¡¯s what we want. ¡± ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll throw something stronger our way?¡± ¡°What else could it be? That black sun or blob is probably figuring out what to do.¡± I had a tree still in the lava world, and I also needed to figure out what I should do with that tree. ¡°What did you get, anyway?¡± ¡°Just some super strong unavoidable null-element arrow-attack.¡± Roon said with a sigh. ¡°A domain tier arrow attack can¡¯t be that bad.¡± Stella laughed. Edna jumped from level 160s to level 180s, and so gained two domain-tier abilities. First was the strangely-named ability [A Knight¡¯s Myth], and I felt her power spread throughout Treehome, and strangely, only Treehome. Just like my [Aeonic classes], Edna¡¯s power had changed Treehome. Edna¡¯s new domain ability enhanced all knights on Treehome, and allowed them to take up a special class [Knights of Treehome]. In addition, when defending Treehome, all knights are empowered against outside invaders. It also had ¡®sub¡¯ abilities. A part of the [myth], it opened up a unique set of quests for Edna alone, the [Mythical Knight¡¯s Quest], which, summoned Level 130-150 creatures that existed in a ¡®pocket dimension¡¯, that only Edna and a few companions could battle. Each victory, awarded skills and stats. For the ordinary [Knights of Treehome], they could attempt lesser variants of the [Knight¡¯s Quest], awarded and unlocked through the system. ¡°Seems like a Knight¡¯s gotta do what a Knight¡¯s gotta do.¡± Stella grinned. ¡°You¡¯re becoming like the Knights of fairy tales.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t really say I hate it.¡± Edna laughed. ¡°It¡¯s... amusing.¡± Edna¡¯s second ability was the [Three Strikes of Honor]. It unlocked a battlefield-wide enchantment that protected everyone, from three instances of an undetected, unreactable attack that would have killed them. An enchantment with additional rules befitting a knight, such that, an attack that was ¡®known¡¯ and but cannot be ¡®responded¡¯ to, was still covered, but it essentially meant death had to come from known sources, and from known attacks. Instead, heavy but non-lethal damage would apply. If someone were to be killed by a sword that he saw coming but didn¡¯t react, or incorrectly reacted, the protection would not apply. Essentially, it prevented ¡®instant¡¯ kills. As always, the system had a tendency of awarding preventions after the disaster. The precautions we have were all essentially earned and paid for in blood and souls. Lumoof¡¯s skill was probably pretty good too, [Projected Presence], which, strangely, allowed his to project himself in another location and essentially be at two places at once. Alka¡¯s new ability was [Crystalline Supercomputer], which allowed him to transform crystals into magical computers. Johann, in my opinion, got the best new domain skill. [Reconstructed Mythical Companion]. He essentially has the titan-equivalent skill of using bones to rebuild a mythical companion. Obviously, he asked and received the moon-dragon bones. He didn¡¯t even need all of it, just one large piece was sufficient for the ability to start regrowing a dragonling in his [domain-space.] ¡°A victory is a victory.¡± Stella said, ¡°We should throw a party.¡± Lumoof agreed. ¡°A party to remember the sacrifices of those who fell, and those who survived.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s do it.¡± [Author Notes : Writing this was... stressful. I wasn''t sure whether it was the right time to kick things up a notch, and with progression, it''s a fine balance between meaningful progression, and not burning the plot to the ground. I''m not sure I''ll regret this, but it is done, so be it.] [Author Notes 2 : 9 November 2022 will be a break because I has covid and I can''t write] Trunk Roads Year 222 ¡°It¡¯s surreal.¡± We both looked into the skies, and even my void mages could see it too. An emptiness unlike before, not a single astral path headed our way. How did that work? Why did the astral paths disappear? I realized, at that moment when we finally destroyed the demon king for the first time, that the collapse of the rifts was also some kind of warning. The demons, or something at the top, could sense demon kings being defeated before their time was due, and we would soon invite greater retaliation from the demons. This wasn¡¯t the end, even if we¡¯ve won a reprieve. No. A part of me even suspects that it may have been a mistake to go all the way with the demon king. I should¡¯ve pulled them back, dragged this arrangement for a bit more. We could have gotten more experience, and a bit more levels. ¡°What¡¯s done is done.¡± Lumoof assuaged my worries. ¡°We still have links to the other world, and we will have to hunt for demon king¡¯s through those worlds instead. Stella¡¯s [Void Explorer], in particular, should get us to more habited worlds. If this gives us time, we¡¯ll need to prepare for whatever they throw our way. I believe we can do it.¡± I knew Lumoof wasn¡¯t that convinced either. I felt it in our connection, but it was done. We now also had two more clone seeds, which essentially meant I didn¡¯t have to recall the Lava world. I remembered Roon¡¯s strategy, which focused on ¡®living-worlds¡¯, and that meant these two seeds should go to Threeworlds, and the new Lawyerworld, if they¡¯d let me put my trees there. Or else, I¡¯d have to keep looking for other, friendly worlds. Or maybe, Stella could find a ¡®super-world¡¯. It had to be there, somewhere out there. *** ¡°They fucking won.¡± The heroes couldn¡¯t believe it. The fact that we¡¯ve destroyed the demon king on the lava world invited a lot of chatter. ¡°The key seems to be that droplet from the blob. That explosion burnt through a lot of the demon king¡¯s body.¡± Chung observed the battle through our dream academy. With the [dream academy], I could ¡®record¡¯ and ¡®replay¡¯ scenes, which I could then share to them as a ¡®dream¡¯. ¡°Actually, Stella needs to target that blog directly.¡± ¡°She tried, but it¡¯s too large and protected by too much magic.¡± ¡°What if that blob is the real ¡®heart¡¯ of the demons¡¯, and the ¡®black suns¡¯ are just nothing more than power-generators? They only seem to supply void mana, after all.¡± ¡°That does sound plausible. What needs to be made, I think, is some kind of interplanar nuclear missile. A black-hole missile, kinda. Blow that shit out of space.¡± ¡°You¡¯re talking about a missile to destroy something that¡¯s way too big. That blob looked to be the size of an entire sun! We don¡¯t even know what that thing is.¡± Prabu countered. ¡°We may be heroes, and our powers are incredible for sure, but we¡¯re probably not at the ¡®planet-buster¡¯ tier.¡± ¡°No matter, it does mean that Aeon¡¯s discovered a few weak points to the demon king. One, that droplet is a very big weakness. It explodes, and deals enough damage that the demon king is severely weakened. If that fails, corrupting and flooding it with mana seemed to poison the demon king and block a large amount of it¡¯s powers.¡± ¡°More importantly, this world now doesn¡¯t have new demon kings.¡± Ken laughed. ¡°You don¡¯t believe that, right? It looks to me like it¡¯s going back to lick it¡¯s wounds, and come back with something more powerful.¡± ¡°What. a demon emperor?¡± ¡°Probably!¡± Ken said. ¡°But based on what Aeon knows... it may be a meteor.¡± The heroes stared at each other. ¡°What, we¡¯ve got ¡®Armageddon¡¯ and we have to knock a comet out of its path?¡± ¡°Yeah. Probably.¡± Chung just stared at Ken like he said something insane. ¡°If you¡¯re right, I¡¯ll hate you so much.¡± ¡°You already do, bruh.¡± Ken lightly punched Chung on the shoulder. ¡°No I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not the first time you said it, so I assume you¡¯ve already hated me.¡± ¡°Oh. Wait. Now that you reminded me, I do.¡± Chung laughed. *** We had a large funeral for the Valthorns who died, the priests were quick to twist their deaths into a kind of martyrdom, and some of these Valthorns wanted to live on. My priests soon claimed that their death was a noble sacrifice to defeat the demon king before it arrived, much to the annoyance of the four temples. Despite that, they were unable to actually mount any actual countermeasure beyond a war of sermons, as they denounced our claims. Most kingdoms didn¡¯t care all that much about waging a war with us, they were all power crazy, but none of them were suicidal. The large funerals throughout the continent did draw some curious spies from the other kingdoms, as they wondered what caused such a large loss of Valthorns in the level 100s. But it was not all lost, as my powers of the soul allowed me to retain those who wanted to remain, and place them into new vessels, with no [soul contracts]. For those that wanted to remain, I took their souls, or what was left of it, and made them into training trees, or beetles, according to their own personal choice. For those who wanted to move on, for whatever reason, they were given a chance to say their goodbyes to those who they loved. Using my [dream academy] and other such abilities, I was even able to store some of their thoughts, their words as something that their family could revisit again. *** The common folk were oblivious. News about demon kings, especially faraway demon kings, were irrelevant. The people were mainly concerned with their day to day affairs. A demon king was killed on the planet or somewhere else, or what their name, or lack thereof, was useless information. As for the four temples, there was immense confusion on the ground. I detected multiple secret conversations on this matter, but it was all idle speculation. Most of them had no clue that we did it, though they would suspect something once they noticed the deaths among my senior Valthorns. What was quite clear was the four temples were mostly stagnant, their leaders trying to hold on to vestiges of their past glory, but their strength was too weak to even try and challenge us. For now, our homeworld has now settled to a somewhat comfortable status quo. Wars are still fought regularly between nations, but the idea of a ¡®crusade¡¯ has long faded as the foolish arrogance of their earlier priesthoods. Those that still wanted to do a crusade, my spies would identify them, and remove them. It was actually quite easy to get priests removed. In feudal societies like the kingdoms, priests existed as advisors to the throne, or played ceremonial and social roles in their respective cities, and everyone had secrets. Once we got hold of the secrets and the priests often got into quite a bit of trouble when their nasty activities were revealed for all to see. My spymasters¡¯ training had improved, and some of them had gotten quite high leveled, thanks to their stint on the Mountainworld. We¡¯ve trained honey traps and handsome males to seduce our targets, and kidnapped priests on multiple occasions to get them to confess their plots. The world of espionage wasn¡¯t a nice one, but it had to be done. Our sense of peace required regular maintenance, and maintenance meant removing bad actors. My next target for spies was to send them to Threehome, but to do so, we¡¯d need a small base of operations. I intended to establish a base in the chaos of the demonic invasions, and so, sent Roon and Johann there to spy on them. *** Back on Mountainworld, the rifts of the demons opened. ¡°Do we invade?¡± Edna, during her tour of Branchhold, and this time, I wasn¡¯t so sure. I didn¡¯t know the long term consequences of destroying the demon king on the demon world, and without knowing what comes after this, I couldn¡¯t decide with utmost confidence whether what we did was the right thing. I did not want to face ¡®escalated¡¯ responses on two worlds, and so to maintain the status quo, it was ideal to just weaken the demon king, such that those on the Mountainworld had an easier fight on their hands. Adrian and Kelly didn¡¯t really have any strong views on the matter, especially after the concerns of stronger retaliation. To these two, the demon king was always their duty, and the four heroes of our world had agreed to assist them anyway. The demons that came through so far were variants of ice-type monsters, which suggested that the heroes faced an ice-demon king. Elemental-type demons were not exactly that much of a threat. My void archmages transported Roon and Johann to the demon world, and they arrived in what was a seemingly endless boreal forest. ¡°There are trees here, Aeon.¡± ¡°How?!¡± I wasn¡¯t expecting to see trees on a demon world, but it seemed that they¡¯ve found one. A boreal forest, filled with ice-type demons. The trees, strangely, were not destroyed, and thus continued to live on in the demon world even post-conquest. ¡°No clue. I think you¡¯ll need to send Lumoof here once he¡¯s done with whatever on the other world.¡± The world was filled with ice, and they eventually did find a pit. But they didn¡¯t engage, and I decided we needed to take it slow. They captured a few rift gates, so Stella would be able to reopen access to this world at a later date. They were not comfortable heading into the pits without Lumoof¡¯s presence, so they decided to back out. Instead, we prepared the Mountainworld for the impending invasion. ¡°We¡¯re not going down there without Lumoof, so we¡¯re backing out.¡± *** Lumoof didn¡¯t particularly enjoy returning to the world of Angels, but after a long absence due to the invasion of the demonworld, it was time to actually make our pitch. Lumoof and Stella faced a large council of angels and humans of at least twenty members. It felt like we were in a courtroom, before a panel of judges. ¡°We¡¯d like to seek cooperation with those with capabilities to fight demons.¡± Lumoof explained. ¡°The core issue we want to solve is that demons are able to tap on the resources of multiple worlds, but we don¡¯t. Each world faces the demon alone, or is assisted by their respective gods, but we feel this process is not optimal, it often leads to too much destruction and too much death.¡± ¡°First, explain what you mean by the resources of multiple worlds. How did you discover the demon¡¯s ability to tap multiple worlds?¡± Lumoof looked at Stella and replied. ¡°We visited them. We¡¯ve seen the demonworlds.¡± ¡°Explain. How did you visit them?¡± ¡°We went through the riftgates-¡± ¡°Objection! That¡¯s not possible. Riftgates cannot be traversed by the living-¡± ¡°It can.¡± Lumoof answered. ¡°Each riftgate has a unique mana resonance and it is possible to reverse it-¡± ¡°This will require a demonstration-¡± Lumoof looked at Stella again, and realised this was going to be hell. These angels required supporting evidence for every single statement we make, and they cross-examined our observations against their own. But we did learn something in the process. The nature of this society required that all daemolite be destroyed, and they thoroughly destroyed the demon king¡¯s remains after every single battle. Their angels and enforcers also regularly patrol the world to destroy daemolite or any demonic remains, as they view the remains as unholy. Their logic was simple. If a man that carried plague died, they burnt the body to prevent it from continuing to spread more plague. Thus, any remains of the demons had to be removed as well. In short, they¡¯ve managed to do what we¡¯ve always theorized, they significantly reduced the demon¡¯s targeting ability and reduced the frequency of the invasions. All remnants of the demons had to be purged. As the pitch became more of a grilling session, I realized I personally didn¡¯t want to deal with them at all. I didn¡¯t want to be shackled with terms, and after all the questionable things I¡¯ve done and I¡¯m willing to do, I don¡¯t think these people would be able to understand it. Even if we were allied, I was bound to break the terms somewhere along the way. Our opponent could adapt, and what we had to do may change. A legal document specifying the terms of alliance wasn¡¯t worth it. If things worked for them, and it has worked well so far, then I didn¡¯t need to pursue a ¡®civilization-to-civilization¡¯ type of alliance. Maybe it would be better to just open an embassy and recruit interested parties instead, which, I suppose, will also require a messy list of agreements. At that point, Stella proposed something else, since the grilling really wasn¡¯t productive and there was a lot of arguing over nitty gritty details, all because they have no understanding of what happened. Stella, especially, found the entire ordeal exhausting and so spoke out. ¡°Let¡¯s just stop this farce of a grill. I propose that a delegation from this world visit us, we will take you on a tour of the demon worlds. We have access to the demon worlds, and you can see it for yourself. Arguing over details is fascinating, but I don¡¯t have much time. There are more worlds to visit, more preparations to be made. No more than five persons are allowed.¡± Lumoof nodded, and the session was adjourned. The council of the angel-lords had a lot to discuss, especially the idea of a tour-group. You could talk at length about the beauty of the mountain, but it¡¯ll still pale to actually walking and standing on it. ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Taking them on tour.¡± Lumoof complimented Stella¡¯s idea. ¡°It worked for the lizardfolk, hopefully it¡¯ll open their eyes to what they are dealing with.¡± ¡°They¡¯ll definitely recommend we destroy all the daemolite.¡± Lumoof said with a chuckle. ¡°Which actually works on a longer timescale.¡± Stella said. ¡°It allows the ¡®cycle¡¯ to be somewhat sustainable, since 80 years to a century per invasion is actually quite a long time, enough for any world to recover from the aftermath.¡± ¡°A stable status quo, but it feels a little like cutting off one¡¯s leg to save ourselves.¡± Lumoof conceded. ¡°We would no longer be able to gain strength as quickly without the experience from the demon kings.¡± ¡°It is a good form of peace, and a dilemma. A stable status quo, or a constant grinding treadmill upwards.¡± ¡°After what we did, that is no longer a choice for Treehome. But it is for the Mountainworld and Threeworlds.¡± ¡°Should we decide for them?¡± Stella smirked. Do we cut off the path to ascension, in exchange for century long peace? We would be ill prepared for what comes after such a long period. Lumoof didn¡¯t have the answer. I didn¡¯t, either. *** Eventually, the angels and humans decided to send three individuals, and we were introduced to one of the oldest angels we¡¯ve ever seen in their world. He had eight wings, and was actually old, with white hair and an actual aged appearance. From what we gathered, the wings actually had an impact on the powers of these angels. Those with two wings had lower potential than those with four, and so on. Someone with more wings had no inbuilt level limits, so their path to a [domain] was unhindered. ¡°This is Raph, a former high-arbiter, and was once known as the One Closest to the Gods.¡± The angels introduced Raph and his two assistants, who would visit our worlds. The two assistants were fairly distinguished people in their society, but were frankly deferential, when next to Raph. ¡°It¡¯s not every day I am offered to visit another world.¡± He chuckled like an old grandfather. ¡°They must really distrust you to demand I come out of retirement.¡± Lumoof shrugged. ¡°It seems they find offense in every statement we make.¡± ¡°They are either too young, or newly old.¡± Raph grinned, and he walked slowly. Yet, we could tell it was an act. He radiated a power similar to those in the Level 120s, and was clearly seen as one. ¡°It is also such a rare thing to meet two people stronger than me.¡± My priest grinned. ¡°Your attempt to [inspect] us was duly noted.¡± ¡°Old habits die hard.¡± Raph said. Everyone [inspects] everyone in this world, and as [domain] holders, it all just gets blocked. ¡°Does it offend you?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t, it is but a minor... disturbance.¡± Lumoof responded. ¡°That is good. They spoke of an intent to form an alliance of some sort. Tell me you are not so foolish to think an alliance with these people would be worth it.¡± Lumoof was fairly stunned at how harshly he criticised his own council. ¡°It¡¯s in an exploratory stage. The war with demons is something we face across many worlds, and we could use some additional forces.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll get nothing of value from the Council of the Tower Lords. They are bureaucrats, concerned with the administration of their lands to the letter, and war is fought in coliseums and gladiatorial arenas. Many of them haven¡¯t even lived through a bad demon king. If you want allies, they are not the ones you should approach.¡± Lumoof couldn¡¯t reply to that. Not immediately, anyway. ¡°But I suppose you wouldn¡¯t know.¡± Stella and Lumoof just shrugged. ¡°How old are you, milady?¡± Stella paused, and looked at the old archangel. ¡°I... lost count, frankly. Maybe eighties?¡± ¡°Ah, still very young, and already so powerful. I wonder what kind of hell they put you through.¡± Stella chuckled. ¡°Oh you wouldn¡¯t want to know.¡± ¡°I will, actually. It would at least be a fascinating story for the younglings. They said there are more of you.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Raph nodded and frowned. ¡°Have we holed up in our ivory towers for so long?¡± Stella and Lumoof just looked at each other for a while. ¡°Never mind. So, where are we going?¡± Spaizze In Wood Faith Year 222 (continued) ¡°Arbiter Raph, we¡¯re here. Welcome to Treehome.¡± His companion seemed unsure as they stepped through the portal, and onto the world of Treehome. He emerged in a special platform in the tower of the void mages, with Stella and Lumoof leading the way. Stella nodded briefly, and then vanished in the poof of blackness. Lumoof smiled at Raph, and guided the guests out of the tower. ¡°Welcome to Freshka, the Root of the Central Continent.¡± Lumoof nodded. ¡°Some would say the Heart, of course.¡± Freshka¡¯s sprawling towers of trees seemed to stretch till the horizon, and the three angels didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°It is here that our Guardian, Aeon, made his stand. The earth is his, and he is the earth.¡± Raph nodded, and instead, looked above, past the leaves and canopies. ¡°Your skies are empty.¡± Lumoof wasn¡¯t sure what he was talking about, and looked up to see stars and skies. It is, without the paths of the demons. ¡°The demons. What have you done to their path?¡± Lumoof paused, suddenly understanding what he meant. ¡°You could see the starpaths?¡± ¡°Every angel can. It has been our ability since birth.¡± Raph answered. ¡°With practice, the humans can too. Those born with many wings, like me, can see it easily.¡± ¡°Is that not an astral or void power?¡± Lumoof asked. ¡°It is. But we are linked to the heavens, and the heavens grant us the ability to observe the skies.¡± Raph laughed, and I was so tempted to capture one of these angels and put them in the biolab for analysis. Perhaps some other time. ¡°I see.¡± Lumoof nodded, as they were led to a gigantic beetle with a carriage, stairs and really comfy seats. A tour bus, essentially, with protective screens. ¡°Actually, before that, I would like to fly up to the sky, and see the city for myself.¡± Raph suggested. ¡°May I?¡± Lumoof paused, and shrugged. ¡°You will attract a lot of attention.¡± ¡°Ah. Nothing an illusion can¡¯t hide.¡± He activated some kind of illusion ability that turned himself almost invisible, but we could still sense his presence. The illusion glowed brightly to my spiritual eyes. In fact, all the angels glowed brightly in my spiritual eyes. They have robust souls, and Raph¡¯s glow was very much like a creature attuned to the spiritual realm. He took to the skies, invisible to almost all regular folks, except those skilled enough to see him. Lumoof immediately issued a warning to the Valthorns, to notify that there was a friendly flier in the air. It wouldn¡¯t be nice to shoot down our guest. My roots lifted Lumoof up to the skies, where he stood next to Raph. ¡°Interesting way of coming with me.¡± Raph said. ¡°I couldn¡¯t leave my guest alone, could I?¡± Lumoof said. The two other angels were on the ground, surrounded by other Valthorn members. ¡°Very interesting city you have, but are all cities like this?¡± ¡°No. This city is unique, due to its founder¡¯s presence.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°You wish to see the cities beyond?¡± ¡°I feel a very strong presence coming from there-.¡± Raph pointed in the general direction of the Valley. ¡°What is-¡± ¡°Aeon.¡± ¡°Ah. Then I¡¯d like to see him, for the horror that he is.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Lumoof smirked. Raph landed back down. ¡°I¡¯d like to meet your... Guardian.¡± ¡°You can meet him through me.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°That¡¯s not the real-¡± My avatar activated, and my presence was felt through Lumoof. ¡°...I misspoke.¡± ¡°Greetings, Raph. Welcome to Treehome.¡± I said through Lumoof, his eyes glowed, and the air rippled as my presence washed through Freshka. I could control it quite well, but even then, each level I gained, I had to work harder to hide my domain. ¡°I shall not stay long. My presence... is not for the faint of heart.¡± The world bent around me. ¡°My apologies for assuming incorrectly.¡± Raph said. He wasn¡¯t pale, but I could feel his nerves tensing, his body straining to bear the weight of being in the same space. ¡°I shall speak to Lumoof instead.¡± ¡°Thank you for your understanding.¡± Lumoof¡¯s eyes returned to normal and he grinned. ¡°I am Aeon¡¯s avatar.¡± My priest repeated. Raph relaxed, and nodded. ¡°Did your kind once believe in gods?¡± Lumoof paused, as they sat on the giant beetle. The beetle would carry them throughout the city, and then to the outskirts. ¡°Yes, and many still do. The other continents are home to those who believe in the four gods, Aiva, Hawa, Gaya and Neira.¡± ¡°And your kind don¡¯t.¡± Raph remarked as they took in the view. ¡°Many once did, but now we are Aeon¡¯s faithful. He is, in many ways, a growing god. Unlike the other four who are further, much further away. There is nothing quite like standing in front of a real god, even with my own power.¡± Raph thought about it for a moment, and then laughed. ¡°It is an incredibly tragic thought that we, the angels without a god to serve, are here, visiting a world where a god lives with them.¡± ¡°...they said you were the closest to god.¡± ¡°Bah. Closest to a god that mostly ignores us and sends us ¡®heroes¡¯.¡± Raph answered. ¡°What is angelic fervor without a goal? Our god neither gives us commandments nor guidance, our existence and structure an illusion constructed by our predecessors to delude the lesser angels and mortals. Our wings of faith cannot bear the thought that our god cares not for us. In its place, we built a society of rules, and imposed our version of order on the world, because we cannot exist without it.¡± ¡°I see we are not that different.¡± Lumoof smirked. ¡°In the chaos of this world, we find our own ways to survive, with what we have. We do what we must to live.¡± ¡°And dispense with what we don¡¯t.¡± The beetle led them through the outer areas, farmlands, and smaller villages. Not unlike the outskirts of the Angelworld. ¡°It is strangely... orderly.¡± Raph was fairly impressed. ¡°If you wish to see something less manicured, we shall take you to the places where Aeon does not exert his rule.¡± Raph was puzzled. ¡°There are places spared of Aeon¡¯s rule? Why?¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°That is dereliction of divine duty. In the presence of a god, what choices do mortals have other than to submit?¡± ¡°It is a choice a mortal makes, whether he serves or not. Aeon does not require submission, and our focus lies in the long arc of life and civilization.¡± Raph didn¡¯t seem quite satisfied with the answer. ¡°Then, let me see the world without the touch of proper guidance.¡± A void archmage teleported in and a portal opened in front of them. The group was sent to the Eastern Continent. They toured what was a small village, their presence masked by illusions or in Lumoof¡¯s case, a skill. Raph was not pleased with what he saw. We saw the villages of the Eastern Continent, where there were people who starved. We saw the cities in various stages of war, even here, where Aiva¡¯s rule was quite strong, blood was shed almost every week. Death and war was the natural state, and seeing it for himself seemed to affect Raph quite strongly. ¡°Are all the other worlds you visited like this?¡± ¡°Most, yes. This is the natural state without the presence of an overwhelming will. The nature of mortals and the system is to compete, and from competition it escalates into conflict. Those who win, gain levels and gain control, and those who lose, have nothing. Even in Aeon¡¯s land, conflict is part and parcel of our society.¡± ¡°It is something we resist strongly.¡± Raph said. The archangel stared at the sights of death and suffering, and Lumoof felt a strong, swirling presence in him. A deep dissatisfaction. ¡°For them, their reprieve usually comes when a strong hero emerges and establishes a nation. But heroes die to the demon kings, and after some time, that order fails to keep things together, and the nation disintegrates and reverts back to this state.¡± ¡°So this is what a world without the presence of true Order. I see there is a case that my kind has been too complacent.¡± Raph said. ¡°Complacent?¡± Lumoof paused, as I too, digested the implication of that statement. Raph looked. ¡°I¡¯ve seen enough of this part of the world. The others are like this? Can I see more?¡± The void mage teleported them to a large port on the Eastern Coast, the seat of the Aivan temple. ¡°This feels very much like us. I never realized how... disturbing it is, now that I am sitting here listening to the same words, used to praise another god.¡± Raph said as he observed the temples. He walked in one of the largest temples disguised and listened to a talk by the Aivan priest glorifying Aiva. He watched the priests praise a god that was rarely present, even if Aiva granted his priests powers through the system. ¡°Are all the temples similar?¡± Lumoof shrugged. ¡°It is not right for the man of one faith to disparage another. All I can do is take you to visit the rest.¡± And they did. They visited all the three other temples, and the other continents. More villages, more places. Large cities, but not necessarily good cities. Each time, Raph seemed more angry, more frustrated. ¡°Your god leaves them be?¡± Raph asked Lumoof. ¡°Your cities are clearly better, and yet, you do not seek to apply your rule and improve their situation?¡± ¡°Aeon strongly believes that those who want a better life are given fair opportunity and chance, and then allowed to work for it. Once Aeon secured the Central Continent, it was no longer necessary to invade the other continents.¡± ¡°Then this suffering is allowed to happen?¡± ¡°Aeon does not attempt to save everyone.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°As a creature of the world, Aeon strongly believes in letting nature find its own level. It is this competition that creates excellence.¡± Raph¡¯s face darkened. ¡°You see worlds like this everywhere, and make no attempt to improve their lives, because of ¡®competition¡¯, and because of creating ¡®winners¡¯?¡± ¡°We do not profess to be ¡®saviors¡¯ or ¡®uplifters¡¯, Arbiter Raph.¡± My priest clarified. ¡°Our goal, Aeon¡¯s goal, is the existential threat of life, the demons. The steps we take with our developments and improvements are all meant to achieve the means to protect ourselves and eventually, defeat that existential threat. Mortals will fight each other, as is normal in nature. A lion will prey on the gazelle, it is not our goal to uplift the lion, or empower the gazelle. Our goal is to protect the lion and the gazelle, from the outside forces that disrupt this arrangement.¡± ¡°But your actions change the balance of power, by your sheer presence.¡± ¡°Yes it does, and it is unfortunate. Where we can, we try to have a light touch, a small footprint. We aspire to be wardens, not nannies.¡± Raph had a look on his face that could kill. The other two angels wasn¡¯t sure why, either. ¡°I had seen enough of this intentional disorderliness. May I see... the demonworlds?¡± They teleported back to Treehome, and then, Lumoof guided them to a wooden platform close to the valley. A place connected to my roots. I sent them to the Lavaworld, still swarming with demons, but with it¡¯s astral paths destroyed. *** Raph and the angels stared at them, in the area around my clone. He looked at my clone, an island of peace in the chaos of the demonic lavaworld. Most of my Valthorns retreated from the lavaworld, so the demons have naturally reclaimed the land. I maintained a small area of control, around my clone tree, where my Valthorns could come here regularly for demon-killing practice and gain levels. The archangel stared at them, and looked at Lumoof briefly. Then back at the demons. He flew, and glowed brightly, and two burning tridents of fire emerged in his two hands. His eight wings flickered, and combusted in a golden flame. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I have some frustrations to work through.¡± Lumoof shrugged. ¡°Oh go ahead. I¡¯ve killed more than enough.¡± The eight-winged angel zoomed right into the center of the flood of demons. ¡°Fools!¡± He shouted as he flung his golden flaming trident at the demons. It detonated in an explosion, vaporizing the demons. He surged into the masses of demons, and slaughtered them like a furious archangel. Lumoof just shrugged, and turned to the other two angels. ¡°Is Raph normally like that?¡± The two angels were starstruck, and ignored his question. ¡°We have never seen him unleash his fury in centuries!¡± Lumoof sighed. These two angels were just groupies, but after a while, as Raph indulged himself in a feast of slaughter, one of them turned to Lumoof. ¡°He is normally more reserved. It has been said that the fire in him had died, but it seems that it is back, now.¡± He had a burning halo on his head, when there was once just a golden ring. Raph was having a good time fighting the hellworld demons. Maybe stupid system shenanigan even meant these two factions were natural enemies, and the demon champions emerged, trying to hold Raph back. My level 125-149s could defeat Raph. We didn¡¯t have much problems with the hellworld¡¯s mobs after all. He fought for two days, and as he returned, he was covered in gunk and residue. Dust covered his eight wings. ¡°My apologies, Patriarch Lumoof. That was something I sorely needed.¡± Raph said. ¡°They say that people often gain clarity in the intense moments of combat.¡± Lumoof nodded, the battle was over and they retreated to the clone tree to rest. Raph initiated the conversation. ¡°Your people consider choice and life as the core tenets that guide your decision. Mine considers law and order as the only single tenet. Yours are content to let men be, so long as they live, correct?¡± ¡°Fair. We do intervene occasionally.¡± ¡°But the law must be consistent.¡± Raph said. ¡°I admire your world and your civilization, for achieving what it did, but more than that, it reminded me of our failings.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Raph walked to the two angels, and then declared to his two countrymen. ¡°I once believed that our world displayed the flaws of overextended orderliness. But here, in these other worlds, there is none. Given a choice between order and chaos, Order should be the default. Law must hold, as far as we can.¡± The two angels listened. ¡°Once we return, we must expand and join this crusade against the demons and uplift the mortals from their suffering. We will bring order to the worlds beyond ours.¡± My priest listened. The two angels immediately stepped in. ¡°Arbiter Raph, that is a decision of the-¡± ¡°I will not be denied. Our society has lived in those ivory towers for too long. We, angels created by gods long past and abandoned, were meant to wage war and bring progress! They may have forgotten us, but I now realize what our purpose is as a people. Our wings and spears were meant to send us across the stars! Instead, we turn it on ourselves. It is time for our obsession with Order to be directed outwards. To uplift the faithless, to guide the faithful, to impose a structure in the chaos and to smite the unholy. ¡± The two angels cowered as his passion leaked. ¡°Patriarch Lumoof, I must thank you for this incredible trip. It has been enlightening to see the suffering that goes unfettered throughout the worlds beyond our own. It is great to be reminded how much rot and failure is in the natural state without guidance of their betters. Order shall spread!¡± Lumoof just shrugged. ¡°A mortal¡¯s struggle is what leads to levels. Would you be keen to carry out that under our auspices?¡± Raph shook his head. ¡°Your world and your people hardly need one more, but my world, my beloved angelworld, more than ever, would require my perspective. My kind had slept through our purpose, and when I return, there will be revolution.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure why I didn¡¯t feel that excited to hear that. It felt like I had just awakened a more zealous, more... extreme version of our own expansion. Uplifting worlds and orderliness has colonialist vibes written all over it. ¡°If there are many worlds just like this, then it is our failure. We had been complacent, confident in our success to prevent the demons from coming to our world. If there are worlds that suffer regular demonic attacks, it is our duty to assist them. We are giants in our little pond, but now we discover that there is an ocean out there for us to liberate. The people of the multiple worlds are misguided, and they need to be improved. It is our duty, as angels, to do so. Why else are we granted a connection to the stars, if not to go there?¡± Lumoof felt my concern. ¡°I highly recommend caution and a light touch. What you do, is very much what an invader does.¡± Raph nodded. ¡°Your concern is noted, Patriarch Lumoof, but we are angels, and we will do better.¡± I felt like I would regret our collective decision to introduce the demonworlds to the angels. Those who sought to impose their will, for the benefit of others, were not much better. ¡°Our first task, once we return, is to discover a method, to channel our own connection to the heavens, and open these gates.¡± Raph declared with fervor. The two angels didn¡¯t dare oppose him. Lumoof looked at the other Valthorns accompanying him, and sighed. We occasionally see zealots, but they were always our own. Raph was not. He might be a force for good. There are worlds that might accept him. No, I could easily see worlds that would accept the angels as the messengers of their gods. His kind, if spread throughout the stars, would help many worlds from the fury of the demons, but I could also see the great destruction and the dictatorial order that they would inflict on worlds. The perfectly manicured version of their homeworld, copy pasted across many others. He would be the burning fury of ancient angels, imposing their laws. A part of me wondered, do I let him go, or do I stop him here? Was he that different from me? I impose my will on the worlds I touched, for all I claim to have a light touch. Is he all that different? Was he better for the greater world in the long run? Or would they, some day in the far future, be something else entirely? Raph looked at the two angels. ¡°I had seen enough. Let us return to our world, and call for a great council. Action, and then, revolution.¡± ¡°If it is something you want to achieve, then let us work together.¡± Lumoof proposed, trying to see whether Raph could be absorbed into our structure. Raph shook his head. ¡°Once again, I thank you for the offer. What I have in mind must be done through the angels. Our kind finally has a worthy purpose, and I must return to them to deliver it. But we shall be friends, I shall see to it.¡± Lumoof sighed, as he sensed my discomfort. ¡°Maybe this idea of a multiverse alliance may not be a great idea. I sometimes forget creatures of other worlds have different core values.¡± Raph had done us no harm, and his goals aligned with mine in the long run, even if we had slightly different visions of that end. He could set up a concurrent entity, a force that supports us where we can¡¯t. We wanted to defeat the demons. The demons were the true enemy. They wanted to impose order, and the demons¡¯ destruction was tangentially related. They were not the enemy, even if I saw the seeds of disagreement. Just as I left the crystal king be, I shall leave them alone, for now. ¡°We have to steer this rabid dog in a direction that would not harm us.¡± Lumoof spoke via our mental link. ¡°Engagement is the only way to manage them. They are passionate, but perhaps, misguided.¡± ¡°Killing him would end the problem here and now.¡± A part of me wondered. It would make him a martyr, an enemy of their world. Yet, until the deed is done, I strongly did not want to pass preemptive judgment. I know from experience that arguments with zealots did not go well. Those who sought to expand, would expand constantly. It is a need, a craving. A desire for more power, more land. This was, in a way, a demon-like behavior. I wasn¡¯t sure Raph would be that sort of zealot. As Stella stood at the edge, Raph bowed politely to her. ¡°This has been an enlightening experience, Lady Stella. I now see that my kind¡¯s failing. Once I return, I will guide my people to step out.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t sell yourself short. Your kind has done great things for your world.¡± Stella said, oblivious to the exchange between my priest and Raph. Stella opened the void portal and sent him back. He stepped through, and I felt like roots tangled in my soul. We may have an ¡®ally¡¯ in the war against the demons, after all. We had given them perspective. I just hope I didn¡¯t regret it. Spaizzer Thanks for reading, and on that bombshell, I''m on break next week. If you want something to read, you can a. subscribe to my patreon, where there''s 3 more and some fun side stories. b. Read ThinkTwice''s Mark of the Crijik on Amazon. https://mybook.to/markofthecrijik1 https://www.audible.com/pd/Mark-of-the-Crijik-Audiobook/B0BFRRQRQC New Estates Year 223 ¡°No void mages in the angel world.¡± Stella agreed after my discussion. ¡°They seemed so reasonable, though.¡± ¡°The most frightening folks usually sound reasonable. That¡¯s how they get their foot through the door and win over followers. It is an art of guiding the blind, to achieve more perverse goals.¡± ¡°Is it really that bad?¡± Edna said. ¡°If we need to, we can fight them. They lack the means and ways to compete with us.¡± ¡°Four-winged, six-winged angels, or higher, have no level restrictions, so don¡¯t exactly count them out.¡± Lumoof answered. ¡°They are in the same class as dragons and that kind. They may gain their own domain holders, in due course. Given that they even can innately see the astral paths, they may gain access to other worlds sooner than we think.¡± ¡°...fuh.¡± Edna nodded. ¡°We should kidnap some and study them.¡± Roon suggested. ¡°They are fascinating.¡± ¡°ROON!¡± Stella said. ¡°You cannot be serious! You¡¯re suggesting kidnapping innocent angels for studies! Aeon hasn¡¯t gone that far!¡± ¡°Then bribe them! Entice them with money, knowledge. Trade small useless information for it. The more we learn about them, the more we can prepare for them.¡± Roon proposed. ¡°That¡¯s... Unethical.¡± Stella said. ¡°But it works.¡± Roon said, and Edna nodded along. ¡°Keep our demons close, and in this case, angels, closer.¡± ¡°I agree. If these angels have innate astral-knowledge, that could be a welcome addition to our lineup. We may not need angels directly, but there are humans who developed similar abilities. Surely some arrangement can be made.¡± Stella frowned. ¡°I feel like that¡¯s cheating.¡± ¡°It¡¯s called preparation.¡± ¡°...fine.¡± Stella wasn¡¯t pleased. ¡°If they get there, I think that¡¯s not a bad thing.¡± Edna admitted. ¡°Someone that could help fight the demons is still a net positive.¡± A point which I agreed with, and was why I let Raph go. ¡°We don¡¯t need much ties, beyond being there for the final battle, I guess.¡± ¡°If we want them there for the final battle, we will need ties.¡± Of course, if there¡¯s such a thing as a ¡®final battle¡¯. There¡¯s a possibility this conflict is like pest-removal. Just a constant, never ending war against a multiversal cockroach infestation. *** The second revelation, of course, was about my two new seeds. ¡°Just two seeds...?¡± Roon and Johann immediately realized that this wasn¡¯t going to go that well. ¡°If let¡¯s say there¡¯s another two more seeds further down the road, after what... three decades, we¡¯d just have a grand total of nine worlds?¡± It wasn¡¯t great, and it meant that the total ¡®stable¡¯ war potential was spread over nine worlds, more if we could add Stella and the void mages¡¯ portal abilities. The future we foresee is a war of attrition against the demons, and I could see the shifting battlelines in the stars. The war will be fought over many worlds, with the heroes, and nine worlds is not enough. ¡°What if we did what we did in the lava-world, and attacked all the demons¡¯ blobs.¡± ¡°They could take countermeasures.¡± Stella said. ¡°The black blob wasn¡¯t adequately protected, and what makes you think these demons won¡¯t realize it? They have some battlefield intelligence, and can adapt to us.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying what we did was a fluke.¡± Stella paused. ¡°Not exactly. In specific circumstances, we could repeat it. I do not mean to reduce our achievements down to something less. It¡¯s just that... it¡¯s a changing battlefield, and the demons can and will adapt.¡± The ranger laughed. ¡°Alright, alright. We gotta hop to the Mountainworld. They¡¯ll have a demon king too.¡± *** Unlike our little stint in the lavaworld, I took a step back for the Mountainworld. A cursory scouting mission to the demon¡¯s world, which returned us to the boreal demonworld filled with ice and trees. ¡°Sure you guys don¡¯t want to do more?¡± Lumoof shrugged. ¡°We¡¯ll take a step back and support you guys this time.¡± We did identify the location of the teleportation, and rigged the place with bombs. I didn¡¯t want to destroy the astral paths so quickly, not without knowing what was coming for us. It wasn¡¯t fair to put the Mountainworld through that risk, so we hedged, and decided to engage the demon king when it arrived instead. The giant ice-giant-like demon king that arrived was nuked quite heavily the moment it arrived, which removed it¡¯s outer shell The heroes did most of the fighting, my domain holders provided support and cover fire. Many kingdoms and empires of the Mountainworld sent their spies and scouts to observe the fight from afar, but six strong, well leveled heroes supported by a good team of domain holders meant the battle went smoothly. They prepped. No, everyone was prepared to teleport if there was any sign of the detonating bomb. It did, but relatively speaking, it was a weak bomb. The demon king of the Mountainworld, [Demon King Myrgizan] was defeated on the same day as it arrived, and the Mountainworld could see another fifteen or so years of peace. My domain holders gained a level or three, but they¡¯ve reached a point where it¡¯s starting to slow down, and Edna suggested rotating the soon-to-be-domain holders to play a much larger role. *** From our victory on the Lavaworld, I now possessed a full demon king¡¯s core undamaged by any star mana, and this was something we placed into my biolabs for studies. Like the copy or replica we made from the assembled copy, it immediately opened up to a far larger map of the multiverse. It was a field of stars, with lines. Paths. There was just one blob at the heart of it, and as I prodded it for more information. [The Slaver¡¯s Prison] ¡°Huh.¡± Stella saw it too, as she experimented on the core of the demon king. Unlike before, there was nothing blocking our attempt to intrude on this ¡®network¡¯. Stella played with it, and her eyes began to bleed. ¡°Shit. Sorry.¡± A bit of healing later, her eyes were restored, but it did make her feel a little uncomfortable. ¡°The demons have a collective memory, each of these demon worlds actually transmit information back to the black suns and the blob.¡± Stella used her magic to make a pale copy of the starmap. ¡°Their view of the void forest is fixed to this perspective, but mapping it, it doesn¡¯t quite line up.¡± As Stella once said, the void forest appeared differently to everyone else. What was near for me, could be incredibly far away to someone else, and that ¡®perception¡¯ of the void forest can get very distorted. Astral neighbours, like the Mountainworld and Threeworlds, actually are quite far apart on the demon¡¯s map. This was odd, to me, but to Stella, a space that¡¯s dependent on one¡¯s frame of reference was normal. No matter, my concerns led back to the blob. ¡°That blob is our target, isn¡¯t it?¡± I asked her. She earlier said there was no single target. Yet, here it is. A single blob at the very center. A prison of... gods? Or heroes? Or cores? ¡°That blob ¡®directs¡¯ the will, and I¡¯m not certain if that¡¯s the only blob. It looks, according to this map, to be only one blob, but yet, it¡¯s referred to as [The Slaver¡¯s Prison]. ¡°It might not be the real thing, and we are just taking out the means by which the demons command a particular ¡®segment¡¯ of its forces.¡± Stella poked at the core for a bit more. ¡°I highly, highly doubt it is the only one.¡± The gods once said that they fought a war with the demons across thousands of worlds, and from this map, there were thousands of worlds. ¡°Are you able to use this map, and exploit this demon king¡¯s core? I want to know whether we can visit our ¡®neighbor¡¯ in the demon¡¯s frame of reference.¡± Stella nodded. ¡°It should be possible. The rifts should be able to line up to the commands of the core. I¡¯ll need a year or two, but I should be able to rig this to one of the rifts. But I¡¯ll need you to supply us with the core mana, and we can start experimenting on its abilities.¡± ¡°Got it. What about your [void explorer], how far is it from the Snek¡¯s world?¡± ¡°It¡¯s... almost there, another three to five years, I think.¡± Stella explained, as one of the other void archmages came in with some more schematics and notes. ¡°A short time to rescue Snek¡¯s kind.¡± Snek and Ken made preparations, of course. Ken, in the past few years, learned Snek¡¯s language, and taught a small group of Valthorns to speak it. We just hoped that there was still someone there. *** Year 224 Stella was getting better at manipulating the demon king¡¯s core, though she had to be healed after using it. The unusual magical architecture of the king¡¯s core strained her mind, and she asked. ¡°Aeon, are you able to augment my mind? Through that dream academy?¡± ¡°What.¡± The heroes themselves were unnerved by the statement. ¡°You¡¯re asking Aeon to-¡± ¡°I know what I am asking, but the demon king¡¯s core needs more mental power, and every time I use it, I feel my mental capacities are insufficient, even if I have the right mana type for it.¡± She made progress, and her team of void mages, supported by a group of dedicated [void enchanters] and [crafters of the void], created a huge contraption around the demon king¡¯s core. ¡°You must remember that this thing is essentially designed for the demon king, and not meant for mere mortals.¡± The demon king¡¯s core was pretty much a nuclear reactor, linked to multiple arrays of crystals and potatoes filled with void mana and core mana. At the end of it, was a riftgate and a control panel, which Stella would use. ¡°You do realise you are sharing your mind-¡± Chung, being the natural voice of skepticism among the heroes. ¡°Lumoof does it and he¡¯s alright.¡± Stella said. ¡°Look. I know the risks, but we have this core, and we have to crack it. We can¡¯t fight this war against the demons blind. We¡¯re currently essentially reacting to every single invasion.¡± ¡°We¡¯re doing a lot!¡± ¡°I know, but we can do better. Fight wars without having to fight them, you know? All it takes is more brain power, and in this world of magic, I really don¡¯t see why you¡¯re feeling queasy about it.¡± Stella said. ¡°Can you build something, a structure or a thing to do so?¡± I checked, and realised I could. Essentially, I would have to grow an attachment that would tap into her mind, something like a living helmet, which would then be linked to an artificial mind. ¡°Yes. We¡¯ll start small.¡± Within a month I had a prototype, forged out of [wood magic] and my evolutionary powers, to create a wooden suit that essentially linked itself to her scalp. It would tap into her mind, if she granted access, to be augmented by artificial minds. ¡°Holy Shit, I feel like Iron Man.¡± Stella said as she was wrapped in a wooden suit that was linked to artificial minds nearby. The limitation was that the transmission of the mind-waves meant the artificial minds couldn¡¯t be very far. ¡°Is this how you see the world?¡± Also, because she¡¯s a [domain] holder, she has to explicitly grant access to the artificial minds to her mind. That, in a way, was a weakness. Essentially, a domain was a firewall, and allowing artificial minds was a vulnerability in her mental defenses. Unlike Lumoof, who benefited from avatar mode, which meant he could get the mental support directly without having to open up to that sort of vulnerability. My priest just shrugged. ¡°Yup. It takes a bit of getting used to.¡± ¡°You should totally roll this out to everyone. It¡¯s freaking amazing.¡± Stella said. ¡°It¡¯s like what modern soldiers wanted to have. A dedicated AI for every single one.¡± Roon and Johann were both intrigued. ¡°Seriously?¡± Alka observed it, and nodded. ¡°It¡¯s that amazing? I already have these lab assistants in my lab.¡± ¡°I know, but these things help so much. If they can be specifically configured-¡± Stella asked. ¡°Aeon, can they be magic focused?¡± ¡°They are designed to do specific functions. It would need some prototyping and training before they can do what you want them to.¡± ¡°Ah. Never mind. Let¡¯s see how this does against the core¡¯s void-map-¡± She then tested out her contraption, and tapped into the demon king¡¯s core. I felt the supporting artificial minds glow and then.... They splattered in a small explosion, as the demands of the demon king¡¯s core overwhelmed them. I immediately cut off the connection. ¡°Oof. Not ready yet.¡± Stella cursed. I could use a titan-soul to make an artificial mind. That kind of mind support might be sufficient for Stella¡¯s intentions. But I still didn¡¯t have the option. I needed more void-mind related experiments, before the system grants me the option to create a void-variant supermind. Despite the failure, I liked the idea enough. A combination of familiars, artificial minds, special wood-mind suits to support high leveled Valthorns, I could give them support in terms of mental load, coordination and strategy. It felt like a natural evolution of the Valthornian supersoldier, and so, I immediately got Patreeck to start work on designing new supersoldier suits. In line with its superhero inspiration, I decided the first version would be named the Timberman Mark I. *** ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± I asked Edna, who reappeared from the pocket realm. ¡°It went well. It wasn¡¯t even that hard a fight.¡± The knight answered. ¡°Just punching some monsters really hard, and I get this.¡± She showed off her new haul, a shining sword. [Sword of the Demon Slayer]. ¡°It¡¯s got buffs quite comparable to your demon hunter special class, but it¡¯s an object, instead of a class.¡± It was interesting that the system permitted multiple iterations to achieve the same goals, and the return of the ¡®mythical¡¯ era of knights was really appealing to me. My own extrapolation suggested that Edna could even some day obtain some kind of ¡®excalibur-equivalent¡¯. At the domain level, the system seemed to encourage the creation of ¡®new¡¯ myths or legends. ¡°Interestingly, I¡¯m permitted to undertake quests to obtain specific anti-swords.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°If I chose ¡®demons¡¯ as my chosen enemy for the quest, I¡¯d get swords for that purpose. The only condition it needs to fulfill is some kind of ¡®evil¡¯ or ¡®injustice¡¯ or ¡®destruction¡¯ criteria, and I could choose them as a target. That means, should a hero commit evil, I could undertake a set of quests under this ability, that would grant me some kind of anti-hero sword.¡± ¡°That¡¯s really overpowered.¡± ¡°It is.¡± Edna said. ¡°Lesser knights can obtain lesser variants, of course, but it is still an incredible force multiplier.¡± It meant knights, under this mechanism, would function as a ¡®check-and-balance¡¯ since any act of tremendous evil could result in creation of anti-evil quests. Spaizze Seedling Portfolio Year 225 Roon, Johann and Lumoof both arrived in Threeworlds, and found it the same as it once was. At least, at first glance. Their mission was simple, to just have a check on what has changed in the years since we last visited. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since the three of us traveled together for something unrelated to the demon king.¡± Johann shrugged. Roon shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s usually Stella and Lumoof. And this is still tangentially related.¡± Three domain holders was quite overkill, but they¡¯d all split up and headed in their own directions. Both Roon and Johann were rangers, and they had, in their arsenal of skills, a wide variety of camouflage, scouting and movement abilities that made them perfect for checking on these folks from afar. Lumoof¡¯s [projected presence] also helped play the same role. ¡°How long till we get to see your dragon?¡± Roon asked. ¡°It¡¯s a dragon.¡± Johann sighed, ¡°And guess what, dragons take forever to grow. It¡¯s just an egg now.¡± ¡°Hah!¡± Roon laughed. ¡°Should¡¯ve started with something more ordinary. Like a zaratan.¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure Zaratans also take forever to mature.¡± ¡°At least with a zaratan, you¡¯d have your own interstellar ride.¡± ¡°That¡¯s... a good point. I should¡¯ve thought of that.¡± Johann realized a personal Zaratan ¡®pet¡¯ was probably the ideal interplanetary transportation vehicle. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t need Stella or the archmages to send me anywhere.¡± Roon just gave him a gentle punch on the shoulder. ¡°But I guess dragons just have that cool legendary factor. Anyway, we should split up and start searching.¡± ¡°Yup. Got it.¡± Johann¡¯s body faded, and blended into the background. He was off, and Lumoof also activated his own [camouflage]. It didn¡¯t take long for them to each check on the three factions of Threeworlds. *** ¡°Everything¡¯s normal here.¡± Roon said through our shared communication ability, as he observed the massive city of the Sandpeople. They were a blend of desert creatures and humans, ruled by the scarab-men. Their warriors were the scorpion-oids, and their lesser folk everyone else. ¡°Doesn¡¯t even seem like the demons came this way. ¡° ¡°Some minor damage to the main city, and a bit more on the outskirts, otherwise, it¡¯s normal.¡± Lumoof returned to the outskirts of the Crystal Mountain, and found it the same. The city looked far more heavily fortified than before, with large crystal golems on the walls. Those were new. There seemed to be some battle scars, but otherwise, it¡¯s all normal. The demons had come for the land of man, and they damaged them only slightly. ¡°The Centaurs camps looked heavily damaged, and their population seemed to have shrunk quite a bit. But their main city holds, but I see the scars of heavy battle in this place. There¡¯s a large segment of their vast steppes that¡¯s now filled with demonic corruption, and there¡¯s a large crater in the center that looks to be the remains of the demon king.¡± Roon and Lumoof activated their own teleportation scrolls, and arrived next to Johann in the vast, now corrupted steppes of the Centaurs. ¡°They survived.¡± Roon said. ¡°I suppose that¡¯ll have to be good enough.¡± ¡°With at least a third of their grazing lands gone-¡± Johann naturally was sympathetic. ¡°They don¡¯t need us here.¡± Roon said. ¡°They chased Lumoof out the last time we¡¯re here. They survived. If we approach them now, they¡¯ll view us with even more suspicion.¡± Lumoof nodded along. ¡°Roon is right. This isn¡¯t an urgent problem, even if the pain of the land is palpable.¡± I felt it, of course. Even with my domain, I could shut it out, but it¡¯s there, like someone shouting outside the window. The call of the trees, the grass and the land, for aid, to resist the interlopers. Corrupters. Undo the damage. I¡¯ve done so on Branchhold, I¡¯ve aided the heroes to clear the demonic corruption, and there, it¡¯s now almost all gone. I felt that same voice here, to clean it up. ¡°We should destroy the daemolite.¡± Johann said. ¡°Or shift it to one of the other worlds. Parasiteworld¡¯s a good place to start, since it¡¯s a blank slate.¡± ¡°What if they want it?¡± Roon retorted. ¡°Then they¡¯ll get more demons.¡± ¡°It¡¯s their choice, isn¡¯t it? Actions have consequences.¡± In the end, Lumoof cut in. ¡°Let¡¯s just go. We¡¯re here to just check on them, not take action or intervene on their behalf. We¡¯ll only step in IF the demon king¡¯s running unhindered.¡± *** Treehome was likely to be safe from the demons for a while, with the astral paths all gone. This was something known to my void mages, and my domainholders, but the temples were, naturally, unaware. They had no means of seeing the astral paths, unless they happened to have angels. The lavaworld was now our primary farming location, other than our dungeon, while I began resettling the Parasiteworld with migrants from both Treehome, and a selected few from Branchhold. Even Parasiteworld was changing, and I attempted to speak to the will on it¡¯s name. It shared images of what it once was. Jungles and swamps, insects and parasites. It was a tropical world, and thus, I resolved Parasiteworld shall be named Tropicworld. The interstellar migrants were immediately annoyed by the presence of an overwhelming number of naturally spawning mosquitos, and magical flaming barriers were erected to prevent the bugs from getting close. My healing effects and aura meant the migrants never got sick from it, but it was a massive irritation. The fact that the terrain was still changing, as the core¡¯s power returned, meant it was also quite difficult to build anything permanent, since the shifting terrain triggered earthquakes, flash floods, and avalanches. No one died, since Valthorns and druids stepped in to protect them, but it is part of the challenge of settling in this new world. Despite this, the migrants were mostly hopeful. They were drawn to the scale of the land, where only my Valthorns had once walked. The vast forests I created, the new animals that spawned were different from those back home. It took a certain type of personality, an explorer and adventurer at heart, not for money, but for novelty, to be willing to make this journey. To build civilization where there was none, to impose order in the natural chaos of this world. A delegation of Lords similarly made the journey, here, they were to be its¡¯ new rulers. A small group of friendly Canari made the journey too, just as there were Treefolks, Lizardpersons and Gnolls who made the move. The swampy natural terrain was unappealing to the centaurs or elves, so they were a minority in the first batch of settlers. The system didn¡¯t entirely leave these to fend for themselves, and these pioneers were rewarded with an upgrade, a rather powerful set of classes [Pioneer Settlers], [Pioneer Builders] or [Pioneer crafters] and other such, that helped them adapt to life in their new world. Their children grew quickly, and with the protection of my trees, I foresee them growing quickly. Here, there were very few resource limitations. With such a small population, the system spawned magnitudes more animals and monsters than they could ever hunt, and it would take at least a few decades before the population growth would start to run into resource issues. Just like Treehome, I worked with the new [Settler-Lords] to set up nature reserves and areas that would be protected. Areas where the natural state of this new world was preserved, and my artificial minds supported them with beetle-guardians and beetle trucks. They could get certain necessities shipped over from Treehome, if needed, but as far as they could, they had to make do with what was available. Solving their adversity and working with what they had was a path to gaining levels, since it was the ethos behind their [pioneer]-series of classes. *** My tree on the Cometworld barreled through the void space at high speeds, and occasionally, I saw other worlds come into view. Yet, these other worlds were too brief, and too hard to ¡®lock on¡¯. I started to wonder whether we could ¡®control¡¯ our movement through the void space, after all, this world had shrunk quite dramatically, and the Cometworld is like a mail in a bottle floating on the wider ocean. My Cometworld had somehow barreled far away from where we are, like a comet now in the far flung areas. On the map of the demon king¡¯s core, we were not even on the map. But it was hard to confirm this, after all, this map had a weird perspective and projection of the void sea. *** Stella and Alka worked on multiple contingency plans, of potential retaliations from the demons. One possibility, from what we¡¯ve seen, in the Margmarian Dwarves, and also the dragons, was the ¡®Comet¡¯. This was common in these two¡¯s memories, and the ¡®comet¡¯ led to large scale destruction. Our mitigating solution was twofold. First, Stella and the void mages prepared a set of portals as an escape plan. Alka¡¯s team of bomb-researchers prepared for the possibility of blowing up the Comet. Unlike humans, we have the ability to create portals, so reaching any comet or super projectile headed our way was a small problem. We just needed a nuke large enough to blow up any comet. There was a possibility, as Ken suggested based on his past knowledge of tropes, that the Comet may well be a super-demon king. Or at least, a larger fragment of that blob from the demon. I felt this possibility was unlikely, because if it was, then, the god¡¯s solution of summoning heroes likely would not work. Also, if such a thing was possible, Treehome would¡¯ve been a demonic wasteland, so, it¡¯s unlikely. Ken¡¯s counter argument was that the demon king may just give up on it¡¯s ¡®corruption¡¯ ability and instead make a ¡®combat-focused¡¯ demon king, since every demon king has two roles. One, to both defeat the heroes, and two, have a set of abilities designed to ¡®capture¡¯ the core of the world. A ¡®focused¡¯ demon king meant to erase the targeted world to a blank slate could give us trouble. Again, unlikely. I personally had a third idea. The demons may just ¡®wait-us-out¡¯. If I were to put myself in the demon¡¯s shoes as the demon¡¯s chief strategist and tactician, and I saw a world that¡¯s giving me trouble, my first instinct may not be to throw stronger units at it, but just wait and see. This is because I¡¯m an immortal, while these ¡®habited¡¯ worlds are usually humanoids, and humanoids don¡¯t live very long. If I just left the world alone, the defenders would¡¯ve aged and died, and when I send a demon king after a hundred or two hundred years, those who stood against me might have been long gone, or descended to infighting. A strategy like this required some knowledge of the nature and thought process of mortals, but the demons could read minds, and they have acquired that knowledge by capturing heroes in the past. If this was the demon¡¯s chosen strategy, it required eternal vigilance and heavy preparation over decades and centuries, and that was a very hard thing for a society of mortals to do effectively. ¡°Well, good thing we have an immortal on our side, then?¡± Alka laughed. ¡°You¡¯re all immortals. The issue is making sure our mortal friends share our concerns. If we warn them too much, and too consistently but nothing actually happens, they¡¯ll think, after a decade or two, it¡¯s just scaremongering and we are just being naggy old creatures.¡± I had no issues with those longer lived, because they know. For someone who lived through one-in-a-hundred year disasters, those things were very real, but to those who didn¡¯t, or grew up after those disasters, they just don¡¯t feel it personally and would take things lightly. I would mitigate this in my Valthorns with my [dream academies] and other such abilities, and send them to the other worlds. I realize this contradicted a thought I had previously with Branchhold. That different societies had different ¡®future-time-horizons¡¯. Some cultures prepared. Some cultures reacted. ¡°Aeon, your concerns are overstated. There¡¯s actually no reason to warn them at all.¡± Alka interjected. ¡°What could the kingdoms do with their levels and their resources? Nothing truly substantial. Nothing compared to what we have access to. If anything, the duty to prepare falls on us, those with [domains]. We do not expect a regular man on the street to know how to guide a ship through a hurricane, and likewise, we do not expect a Village Chief to know what to do against a God.¡± ¡°Is that from a book somewhere?¡± Stella quipped. ¡°No. But our eyes can see, our minds can foresee, and we shall guide our fellow men through these dark woods.¡± Stella actually clapped. ¡°You¡¯ve been reading.¡± ¡°Yes, I have.¡± Alka laughed. I suppose it''s true, there¡¯s not much these societies could do against such an existential threat. *** Kraviek, my Treefolk [Aeonic Lord of Growth] approached me with the latest of void-attuned treefolks. The youngest one could now speak, and grew up well. By now, we have close to fifteen such treefolks, our process of ¡®breeding¡¯ more of them was slow because we checked everything. Our concerns of their weak physique was overstated, as it soon became clear that the soul adapted to the body, and the body adapted to the soul. Their soul springs became an unusual mixture of both void and normal mana, and their soul springs had a two-layered structure, one normal mana, one void. Still too young to learn magic, the first void-attuned Treefolk was named Kaala. Curious, and uncertain of his place in the world, we spoke a lot, and the void child reminded me very much of a once-young Lausanne. They still had their naive innocence, a clear, wide-eyed wonder of the world around them. They do not know to be intimidated, the very act of speaking to me did not strike them with fear. Every time I look at the children I trained, and ¡®designed¡¯, all for the future of waging war, I felt conflicted. They were necessary. The skills, the adaptations they had. All, in my mind, necessary. Reality remains cruel, and with the demons all over the multiverse, my recruitment of talented children never stopped. The continuous process of building a pipeline of talent, for our war to end this cycle never ended. I hoped there was a world some day in the future, where children could be children, and not have to fight wars on my behalf. When we destroyed and defeated the demon king, I wondered for a moment whether I¡¯ve achieved my goals. I asked my domainholders once, whether this was it. That this was where we should stop, since we¡¯ve ¡®stopped¡¯ the cycle for Treehome. But everyone knew it wasn¡¯t. All we did was buy time, and force them to rethink their strategy. They would return. They were still there. I looked at my future young soldiers all over Treehome and Branchhold, and prepared them for a war that I wish I never had to fight. But it must. One day it will end. One day we will have our victory. But until then, I will keep adding more to our war potential. Den of Snakes Year 226 ¡°I¡¯m there. I¡¯ve reached Snek¡¯s world.¡± Stella said the words that they¡¯ve all waited for. ¡°Really? Seriously?¡± Ken jumped from his chair as the message propagated to all the senior leaders and the hero-related groups. We knew she was getting close, but the uncertain nature of the void and its erratic patterns made predicting the specific time and date difficult. The void was simultaneously a stormy sea, a folding space and a thick, dark and confusing forest. Snek immediately asked. ¡°What did she see?!¡± ¡°My void body just arrived... and I can¡¯t see anything. The void body¡¯s just a ¡®void-portal-probe¡¯. I¡¯ll have to open a portal-¡± ¡°-wait!¡± Snek yelled and Ken just shook his head. ¡°What now?¡± Ken said. ¡°We¡¯ve finally reached your world, the goal you¡¯ve always wanted and now you¡¯re saying wait?¡± ¡°-I¡¯m not ready!¡± ¡°You¡¯re a spiritual snake ready to sacrifice your life to somehow bring heroes back to your world, and now you are not ready? Come on!¡± Snek felt a range of emotions I¡¯ve rarely seen in the spirit-snake. Confusion, uncertainty, fear, hope. To return after so long. How much time had passed? He didn¡¯t know. We didn¡¯t either. *** ¡°The gates are open.¡± Stella said, and it was Lumoof, once again who stepped through. We were greeted by mountains and canyons so high, that it felt unreal. Instantly, we felt the presence of the demons. A world of dragon-demons, the ones we saw from an earlier time. The ones that Lausanne fought. They zoomed overhead, so far above the canyons that they couldn¡¯t see us. ¡°They don¡¯t have very good eyesight.¡± Lumoof quipped as the demons seemed to ignore us. Snek and Ken ran through the city and rushed to the Valthorn¡¯s keep, and ran to the room where the portal floated midair. Stella nodded in the room. ¡°Well, the gate¡¯s there. Lumoof is already on the other side.¡± Snek¡¯s little snake form seemed nervous, and I felt it. ¡°Is it safe?¡± Ken asked. He hadn¡¯t actually stepped through to a demon world. ¡°Yes. The weather seems a little dry, but for now still breathable. The demons did not do much to the air.¡± *** ¡°Well, is this your home?¡± Lumoof asked, Snek sat on his shoulder. ¡°Yes. Yes it is!¡± He said. ¡°It¡¯s the same sun and moon!¡± The terrain had changed, and their world had become even more mountainous. There were huge cliffs, deep valleys, and mountains that were filled with caves. All inhabited by the demon-dragons. The dragon-demons flew overhead, and in truth, they were a pale imitation of real dragons. They lacked the overwhelming power that I felt in the ancient dragon bones, the energy and magic that could survive the batterings of time. ¡°Where are your... family? Or friends?¡± Lumoof asked, as we walked through the valleys. The valleys all had small streams of running water, grass and foliage still grew on the banks of the stream. It seemed that certain demons didn¡¯t outright destroy their worlds, and instead merely ¡®leech¡¯ off the core like some kind of planetary parasite. ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± Snek answered. ¡°The terrain has changed so much, but my people live underground.¡± A strange coexistence. One I considered, and Lumoof felt the world through his feet. ¡°The good news is, your world looks like it has hardly aged.¡± There was still a strong, pulsing presence in the core, deeply entangled with the demons¡¯ presence. The demon king in this world was still growing, and it¡¯d be years before it was ready for an invasion. Stella popped up right next to them. The first thing she did was to look up, and we saw the growing but still weak astral path that led somewhere. ¡°So, how do we find your kind? Do they have any magic or markers?¡± ¡°...no. We hid everything. But things may have changed.¡± Stella closed her eyes, and I felt her energy pulse outwards, like a wave that swept out. Lumoof activated my avatar mode, and my magical labs spawned at the edges of the stream. These magical labs then activated my array of magical sensors. We had to first offset the magical energies of the core and the demons, but once that was out of the way, we were left with a smaller pool of possible locations, about 500 places. ¡°Do you think we can hide from the dragons?¡± Lumoof asked Stella, and she shrugged like it was a stupid question. ¡°Do we even need to?¡± ¡°True. They may look like dragons but lack their power.¡± If Lausanne could take them on, Lumoof and Stella certainly could steamroll their way through them. ¡°Actually, now may be a good time to get the next generation of Valthorns up to speed.¡± Lumoof realised. ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡± Stella grinned. *** Stella and Lumoof were at the center of about 250 Valthorns, all level 100s and above. ¡°These are the possible locations of Snek¡¯s people, based on our magical sensors and they refer to themselves as the Ularans.¡± Ulara. ¡°After the demonic invasion, their [message] infrastructure collapsed, so there may be multiple surviving Ularans in this world, scattered all over the world. Snek claims he came from the Utara Ularans, and there¡¯s the Selatan Ularans.¡± The Valthorns separated into groups of five, and they fanned out. ¡°Simply put, make a spectacle, lots of noise, and crush the demons, and see whether the Ularans will come out and talk to us.¡± Everyone nodded. Lumoof and Stella just followed their trail of destruction. The demon dragons themselves were strong, relative to the other demon types, but their low quantities were a drag. The Valthorns tore through the flights of demons, here, the ranger-archer Valthorns had extensive advantage. Their piercing arrows and crystal-bomb-tipped arrows were very effective against their heavy scales. Our sound-and-fury agenda was successful. ¡°Patriarch Lumoof, we spotted some natives.¡± Aderan, a Valthorn-Treeology Monk-warrior reported through our message system. ¡°One of them was spying on us, and we tracked him back to a network of tunnels in the nearby valleys.¡± I felt Snek breathe a huge sigh of relief. He had feared for his fellow snakefolk. ¡°We spotted some Ularans.¡± All in, we spotted three separate groups of Ularans as we fanned out, and Stella, Lumoof teleported us to the nearest one. They lived in what appeared to be a really complicated network of deep tunnels and chambers, and built secret irrigation tunnels and light-collecting structures that funneled light into underground farms. Snek was nervous, but he knew how the tunnels worked. The tunnels were small, and not meant for normal-sized humanoids. Instead, Snek, in his strange form, went to the door, and searched for something- There was a metal plate, no larger than a small teacup, and he hit it five times. He held it up, and it vibrated midair. And waited. Soon, an Ularan emerged, a snake with two hands and no legs, that resembled a really small naga. The Ularans were all small sized, no larger than a small table, but what was interesting was that they all had a large Cobra like head. He had a small dagger in small arm. ¡°Who is it?¡± ¡°I am Sawabesarulars.¡± Snek did the introduction. ¡°I was once one of the High Blood Ritualists meant to find heroes for Ulara. I have returned and wish to speak to the present Ularan Lord of the Dens.¡± The Ularan looked unsure. ¡°I know not of this name, or the ritual you speak of. Begone, you are not welcome.¡± ¡°Wait. We acted on the orders of the Ularan Lord Rajatedungular and Lord Kapakular. Are those names familiar to you?¡± ¡°They are long dead, and their den long destroyed.¡± ¡°How many years has it been?¡± Snek asked. ¡°I do not know. Do not enter, as you are not welcome.¡± ¡°Are they welcome?¡± Snek pointed to Lumoof and Stella. ¡°They can defeat the demons of this world, and may even bring us to a world without demons.¡± There was no response from the Ularan, and instead he just hissed. *** ¡°That didn¡¯t go as planned.¡± Snek sighed. ¡°Let us try the other dens but it is a good sign that my people survived after all.¡± The second attempt was a lot better. ¡°Oh. You are one of the ancient ritualists, and these are the leaders of the creatures above ground?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°They do not look like the humans that the gods used to send. They look... so old.¡± Stella frowned. ¡°Times have changed.¡± Snek responded. ¡°And they are not the heroes.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, we cannot let you into our den. We can meet outside.¡± ¡°The demons, do they not come for you?¡± ¡°Most dens have settled to a comfortable status quo with the demons. We leave them alone, and they hardly bother us. Those that venture too far get eaten. That is the way.¡± The Ularan of the 2nd den said. ¡°Are you in contact with the other dens?¡± ¡°No.¡± The rest of my Valthorns continued to fan out, and scout out more of the locations. There were surprisingly more dens than we expected, as the dragon-demons really didn¡¯t like going down to the valleys, and were happy to remain in the peaks and surface. It was an unusual coexistence, and I was getting the sense that the Ularans didn¡¯t really want to rock the boat, either. Snek¡¯s mood soured, as we encountered more and more dens, almost all of them turning us away. ¡°I don¡¯t get it. I even obtained a [hero]-class, and they don¡¯t even seem convinced.¡± ¡°Too much time has passed.¡± Lumoof said, and they¡¯ve changed their minds in that period of time. Or maybe it¡¯s just a form of stockholm-syndrome. Don¡¯t rock the boat. *** As Snek¡¯s frustrations with the dens grew, I¡¯ve decided to go on a small detour. ¡°Lumoof. If there¡¯s a dragon-demon champion, let me know. I want to capture one.¡± ¡°Ah!¡± Lumoof nodded, quickly passed the message to the teams, and I got a target soon after. ¡°Patriarch Lumoof, there is a dragon-demon champion in this location. We¡¯ve backed off.¡± Lumoof charged to the location at high speed, and then landed before a dragon-demon, these dragon-demon champions were one of the strongest types of demon-champions we¡¯ve seen, just slightly weaker than the combined demon walker-super cannons. Lumoof leapt on the dragon-demon champion, it flailed and struggled, but my vines wrapped around the giant dragon-demon and flooded it with my mana. It¡¯s gotten easy. My vines pulled the dragon down to the ground, and continued to flood it with mana- [Natural mana overwhelming has converted the Demon Drake Champion to a Giant Tree Drake] [Giant Tree Drake requires a Titan Soul to operate at full power] The Tree Drake lumbered helplessly, unable to move much, so I had Stella send it back to Treehome for further investigation. Destroying the demon-dragons, or demon-drakes, since the system doesn¡¯t consider them to be real dragons, was quite entertaining for my Valthorns. Every wannabe hero has been sold the idea of slaying dragons, so this was the fulfillment of that dream. *** ¡°Alright, what should we do?¡± Lumoof gathered the senior leaders, and Snek, while the rest of the Valthorns had fun slaying demons. ¡°Snek is clearly not having much success with his kind, though some of them are willing to at least talk.¡± ¡°My humble and utmost apologies, Patriarch Lumoof.¡± Snek offered, and seemed extremely embarrassed by what had happened. ¡°I did not expect my people to be so... difficult. But at least I now know that about 340 years have passed since I shed my physical form and entered the void.¡± ¡°What is the root cause of their resistance? You have the hero class, surely they should welcome you as a savior of some kind.¡± Stella was fairly curious as well. ¡°Generations have grown up under these dragon-demons, and only the really old would remember life before them. As weird as it sounds, my fellow Ularans adapted and accepted life as it is, and adopted some insular behaviors. I will need some time to address their concerns.¡± Lumoof said. ¡°Do we have time?¡± ¡°Plenty.¡± Stella said. ¡°The starpaths are weak and the core of this world is still holding one of the ¡®baby¡¯ demon kings.¡¯ ¡°There you go. You have time. You may offer them a chance to move to our world, we will have somewhere safe for them. Perhaps the bugworld.¡± Snek nodded. ¡°I fear my fellow people may get aggressive, if I badger them too often, but I will try to undo this.¡± ¡°The Valthorns will be stationed here to support you. They could use the experience. Snek, you have... three years to make a difference. If nothing happens after three years, we¡¯re bailing. We can leave you here if that¡¯s what you want.¡± The little snake-creature bobbed his head, and looked back at the insular little Ularans all hidden in their dens. *** With Stella¡¯s [void explorer] locked on Snekworld, we were able to open portals to the world as needed. For now, Stella and Lumoof returned to Treehome. ¡°Alright, what¡¯s next?¡± Stella said. Lumoof shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m taking a break. I¡¯m going to go get some tea, a nice hearty meal, and then get a shower. I¡¯m all dusty.¡± ¡°Hah.¡± Without the demonic invasions to regularly pulse and space out our time, even though I did feel it was a little too frequent, it helped structure my time and allow me to aim for the next goal. Now, I needed to figure out that goal for myself. I had to prepare for what came through the astral ways next, especially from that blob. Stella and my void mages regularly checked the stars, and for Stella herself, she spent a lot of time working and training her mind-assistants to support her with the map within the demon king¡¯s core. Some of the distances were still too far, even with riftgates, and how the demons created those astral paths, which was subsequently reinforced by a combination of void and core mana, was still a puzzle. At least my other Valthorns seemed to be growing. Spaizzer Did you guys know XKARNATION has an evil tree fic going on? As a fellow Tree Fic writer, I know you guys want more tree fics, so here''s one! Go check it out :)