TREE OF AEONS 1

- DonÆt worry, I wonÆt die. - Meela smiled as she looked around the room. - This feels like a hospital. ItÆs a familiar place. -

Alexis shook her head. - WeÆll get you fixed up again, okay? -

Hendry frequently spent his time climbing up my branches, and sometimes, he just sat at the very top and watched the sky. That was apparently his way of coping with everything, with the situation they were in, trapped waiting while his friend was wounded and out of commission.

Apparently, the stars were beautiful, and there were more moons here.

Later that month, we had demonic visitors again.

- The demon knights. - Hendry gripped his war staff. I thought they were demonic riders or rangers, but I supposed people would refer to the same things differently.

They rode hellhounds, and there were eight of them. They had an interesting mix of weapons - three with swords, two with spears, two with bows and arrows, and one with a staff. Alexis held him back. - No, donÆt. I know you can win, but we must hide. We donÆt want the entire demon swarm coming down on us. If the demon knights are killed, they may send champions here. The demon knights are looking for us, you know it. Hide. Not fight. Not yet. Not with Meela injured. -

Hendry sighed but eventually agreed. The demon knights rode really close to me.

- Their scent fades here, - one of the demon knights said.

- Some went that way. but not all of them. -

- Two. maybe three are here. -

They looked at me, and the demon knights raised their swords. Their swords flared, and the three of them slashed at my trunk repeatedly.

And. it felt like an itch.

The demon knights paused as their attacks failed. - Strange. -

To be honest, I had always found my defense against demons extremely strange, too. But, hey, I wasnÆt complaining. They slashed a few more times before the demon knight with a staff walked closer and cast some kind of spell.

Detect Resistance .

Oh. ThereÆs such a spell.

The demon knight paused. - Oh. Oh, no. -

The other demon knights turned and looked. - What? -

- This tree, it possesses Immunity to Damage from Mid - tier and Lower - level Demons and Greater Damage Reduction from Elder Demons . -

I was shocked, too.

- How? - one of the demon knights asked. They stopped their attacks. They probably realized it was futile in the face of that sort of resistance. - It looks just like any other large tree. -

At this point, I realized I probably shouldnÆt let these knights run, and a few Root Strike s surged out of the ground, right through the hellhounds and the knights. One managed to leap off their demonic hellhound, but still, the Root Strike speared his demonic armor.

These demon knights were not very different from humans in armor, so in an instant, all of them were dead, skewered by roots. They were probably tougher than regular humans by a little, but against my Root Strike , these lesser demons were just like paper.

After the battle, Hendry and Yura asked, - Tree - Tree, how did you get your demonic damage reduction? -

- Uh. - I didnÆt know.

- Is it an item that you have? - Alexis asked. - There are some items that reduce damage from demons. Wards? -

At this point, the only unidentified items I possessed were the fragments. I attempted to take out one fragment, but an error popped up.

Fragments cannot be separated. TheyÆre fused to your body.

Oh, but I could move the body part where the fragments were all fused. It felt like my core, if such a thing made sense for a tree.

- Alexis, Laufen, IÆm going to show you something. Please, help me examine and inspect it. -

They both nodded, and the roof of the secret hideout shook a little. The wooden roof twisted and moved aside in a circular fashion like the opening of the lens of a camera. It revealing a lantern - like object made of intricately shaped wood, with dozens of little lights floating inside. It pulsed in a regular fashion, with tiny flashes within.

- Oh, itÆs beautiful, - Laufen immediately said.

Inspect Equipment . Laufen used her inspection ability and then shook her head. - I canÆt see a thing. ItÆs just filled with unknowns and question marks. -

- Thorough Examination . -

Alexis had a far superior identification spell, and after she used it, she seemed to lose her strength and sat on the floor.

- Are you okay? - Hendry tried to support her. - What did you see? -

- I - I am. - Alexis pointed at it. - IÆm just stunned. That. that thing is your heart, isnÆt it? -

- Oh. I think so. - It felt like this was my center. They were inside me.

- The TreeÆs Heart and Spirit Lantern , - Alexis started explaining. - This is the heart of the tree, adorned with the fragments of the fallen fifty - six. It gives the tree a fifty - six times multiplier to experience gain, up to six times damage multiplier against mid - tier demons, up to three times damage multiplier against elder demons, negation of demon armors and defense, immunity to mid - tier and lesser demons, damage reduction against elder demons, and significantly reduced damage from all types of fire. -

Wow! All those fragments had a function after all.

Hendry paused. - Alexis, are you sure? -

She nodded.

- This is quite the game changer. We must tell the others. We can take this knowledge and revisit how and where the battles with the demons are fought. This ability essentially transforms this location into a battlefield with a favorable advantage for us. We can save lives! -

I wasnÆt sure whether I liked the idea of being a demon-lightning rod. Yura and Laufen said, - Tree - Tree, I didnÆt know you were so amazing. -

Alexis looked at Meela, who was still asleep. - Tree - Tree, can you please move your heart closer to Meela? -

My heart - lantern moved, dangling off the roof via vines, dropping above her. A prompt appeared. - Do you want to absorb Meela Adams? -

I shook off the prompt and answered no.

Alexis looked at MeelaÆs condition. - Hmm. It had no effect. The rot is still there. It seems the resistance cannot be shared by the glow. Oh, well. -

I moved my heart back. At that point, I realized it was probably very dangerous for me to reveal my heart that way. If it was destroyed, would I die? I assumed so.

Now that I knew the source of my past effectiveness against demons was due to the fragments, that meant against non - demon enemies I was 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: Customizable Branches.

YEAR 72, MONTH 10, LAST FEW DAYS.

A delegation approached from a distance. It was the beginning of winter, and yet it was warmer than usual, so warm that I felt something was in the air. The warmth confused my leaves, and they shriveled up a little. Somehow, this warm air was rough, and my trunk and bark felt a bit rougher as a result.

A delegation of soldiers, a hundred strong, carrying all sorts of materials and goods approached. An expeditionary force?

Were they friend or foe?

- Tree spirit, - a voice called out, one I vaguely recognized. Once he got closer, I soon identified the voice as Lord Rajjiv Nung. - Hmm. is it still asleep. Yura ? Yura ? -

He seemed to be in far better condition than the last time we met. Maybe heÆd gained some levels.

The elves hid, a little intimidated by the presence of so many men. I, too, shared that emotion and was on my guard.

- Should I go out, tree spirit? - Yura asked while Rajjiv called for him.

- Hmm. -

It was the best I could do. Would it be a good idea for Yura to hide? I turned to Hendry and Alexis. - Do you guys want to go out? ItÆs a group of humans, so maybe they can help you. -

Hendry shook his head. - We donÆt know them, so weÆll watch how this plays out. However, we will help if needed. Our priority is still Meela and, by extension, your ability to continue to support Meela. -

That seemed quite reasonable.

- Yes? What brings you here with a small army? - I telepathically spoke to Rajjiv.

Lord Rajjiv smiled. - Ah, you are awake! Great! We have much to discuss. - He dismounted from his warhorse and walked closer, gesturing to my roots. - May I? -

- Yes. -

He sat on the flat surface of the few protruding roots.

- So, since our last battle, the defeat of the demon champion at our hands greatly improved our kingÆs opinion about how natural spirits could be a means to fight demons. -

He paused.

- And so, we are wondering whether you are open to relocating yourself outside of our capital city. -

- No. - I hated moving. I had to be decisive in rejecting this.

- Ah, I suspected as much. Well, are tree spirits able to produce offspring or saplings that we could cultivate into a tree spirit? Would a branch of yours grow into a split version of yourself? -

Eh? Now that was a good question. I recalled producing fruits, and they had seeds, but they only seemed to grow into normal plants. If they did somehow grow into their own tree spirits, I doubted I missed their presence.

- Rest assured, we would take good care of your offspring or saplings. We only ask as it would aid us in battle. -

Rajjiv made a very good point. Could I procreate in a sense that allowed me to create other tree spirits? Or would my offspring not inherit any of my abilities or qualities?

- I am afraid I am unable to produce any spirit offspring. So far, my offspring and seeds are just normal trees. -

Yet? Or maybe I didnÆt yet know.

- Ah, that is disappointing but not unexpected. -

Rajjiv stood and looked around the area.

- But that is not why I came all this way. -

Rajjiv took out a small map and pointed. I couldnÆt actually see the map, though.

- The demon champions. Three of them. TheyÆve gathered somewhere in the region nearby. We will set up a base of operations here and then attack the demons. -

Huh? - No. - A large army, here? That would be bad.

- This doesnÆt please me a bit, but sadly, it is not a choice, tree spirit. I am just the messenger. The king has decreed this land and its surroundings to be the staging ground for military operations against the demonic champions. We have the heroes themselves, and they are on their way. We are just the advance party to prepare this place for the upcoming campaign. -

This news was unpleasant, but then again, what choice did I have? If a large army came, what were my choices? I wanted to protect the elves, but I knew I couldnÆt fight off an army. As much as I disliked it, I had to accept that this was reality.

- Heroes? - Ah, the reincarnators!

- Yes, the ones with gods gifts. We are not sure when they will get here. The king said they are visiting all the kingdoms along the way. -

Both Hendry and Alexis seemed particularly interested in the conversation.

- But they are headed here, and then they will go to the demon champions. They will slay them, gain levels, and then fight the demon king. -

The reincarnators, I would like to see what sort of cheat - like abilities they had.

Oh, wait. That meant the days ahead would be a whole lot of death and war. Well, from what I learned about this world, it had always been filled with death and war, so I should not complain.

The elves too shook their heads. From within the hideout, they could actually eavesdrop on any conversation next to me. Hendry peered out through a small peephole. - That man is from the kingdom? -

- Yes, Rajjiv Nung of the Kingdom of Nung. -

Hendry shook his head. - DonÆt know him. Do you, Alexis? - Alexis shook her head, too. - Ah, I guess we will keep hiding, then. No need to draw unnecessary attention. -

Laufen gave Lozanna a hug, and she looked at the rest. - Hmm. It sounds like there will be a lot of fighting. This place is going to be a battlefield again. ItÆs just not too long ago we had so much. death. -

- If I can keep you elves safe, I will, - I assured her, even if I knew what would happen was going to be unpleasant.

Rajjiv, oblivious to the conversation within the hideout, motioned to his men to start work.

- Tree spirit, may we meet again under far better circumstances. Some of my men will remain here to set up the area for the coming battles. - After the men rested for an hour or so, about seventy of them followed RajjivÆs lead, and they rode toward the demonic rifts. The plan was to spread out, monitor the demons movements, set up magical markers, and be on the lookout for any large demon armies.

The remaining thirty or so men started to build a campsite, setting up multiple large tents. Farther out, they built a low fence, and they marked where the future army would be. These men appeared to be builders and mages. Some of them used magic to manipulate the ground and dirt, forming makeshift dirt walls and trenches.

Alexis and Hendry looked out of the peephole. - Heroes are coming? -

- Yes, thatÆs what he said. -

- Oh, wow. I canÆt wait to meet the heroes. I wonder what they are like? - Emile and Belle both seem quite excited to meet heroes, and that excitement caused both Alexis and Hendry to sigh.

- Have you guys met them? - Emile asked.

Alexis and Hendry glanced at each other. - Ah. yes, yes, we have. -

- They must be handsome and dashing. Oh, wait, donÆt tell me, donÆt tell me. I want to see them for myself. - Emile seemed somewhat infatuated with the concept of heroes. Hendry and Alexis smiled awkwardly.

- I think fairy tales and reality usually differ quite a bit. -

Meanwhile, I activated my Summon Insect Warriors skill, and a few beetles appeared on my branch, hidden from the soldiers. They seemed rather tough, and they were mostly mindless creatures mentally linked to me. I would need to test them in actual combat to know how they would fare in reality.

Customizable Branches

You currently have three slots for customizable branches. The branches can be customized for specific functions, such as producing certain materials or essences, hosting certain insects or animals, or becoming some kind of accommodation (if the branch if sufficiently large).

Ah. ThereÆs actually a long list of materials extracted and essences harvested, hidden inside a separate notification menu. I remembered that I selected the option to hide those notifications, else IÆd be overwhelmed by these notifications all the time.

Hendry chose to mostly stay inside. Occasionally, he wondered when his friends would return. Meela was also doing all right despite her bodyÆs constant battle with the demonic rot within. Alexis spent her time talking to Meela and also playing with the younger elves.

The older elves were still apprehensive of the humans, but the younger ones didnÆt hold such prejudices. Perhaps, not yet.

YEAR 72, MONTH 11, WEEK 1

An army of twenty thousand passed by. Half of them joined up with the camp, but from the chatter they created, it seemed they were meant to leave very soon. The other half marched on. They were headed for a location closer to the rift where they would set up smaller camps.

With the larger numbers came traffic. There were more messengers needed for certain types of communication. There was also a small group of dedicated mages, and their role was to facilitate long - distance, secure communication spells.

Winter, strangely, was delayed this year. It was still oddly warm. The weather was behaving strangely, and Alexis suspected it was the fault of the demons.

Refugee groups started popping up, the fallout of the demon raids that destroyed villages closer to the rift, at least, those that had not fled yet. The rift, as Alexis elaborated, was some kind of a flux, a rip in space, and it joined our world with that of the demons. It expanded and sometimes moved, usually slowly, but under certain circumstances, the changes could occur really quickly.

According to Alexis, so long as the demon king remained in the world, the rifts would remain open and expand, and after their death, the rifts would shrink and, eventually, close.

So a world couldnÆt wait forever for the heroes to slay the demon king, else the rift would expand drastically, and demons would appear all over the world. It sounded to me like the demon king functioned as some kind of bridge to the demon world.

YEAR 72, MONTH 11, WEEK 3

From the bits and pieces of information I gathered via eavesdropping on the refugees and the soldiers, no one knew I was a tree spirit. They presumed I was a normal tree that somehow survived in this place. Other than that, they never spoke about me, as they mainly focused on their own affairs.

Their lack of knowledge made me curious, even a little suspicious. Perhaps Lord Rajjiv had reasons not to share that information, and so I adjusted my assessment of him in my mind.

They also took credit for the defeat of the demon champion earlier and ignored my contribution. At first, I felt a little slighted, but after I pondered that emotion, I realized keeping myself unknown might be better.

- Should I reveal my presence to the soldiers? - I asked the elves and the three adventurers.

- Hmm, what would revealing that achieve, Tree - Tree? - Belle asked as she peered outside. Emile had talked about the heroes for some time now, and she wondered where in the world they were.

- True. I stand to lose more than gain. - As a tree, I couldnÆt really move, so I couldnÆt run away.

- If you have powers, itÆs best to keep it a secret, - Alexis said as she held MeelaÆs hand. - People will seek you out for your power, and you will become a tool, not a person. Your power will define who you are to the masses. -

- Fair point. - She had sounded really sad when she said that. - Sounds like personal experience. -

- It is. - Alexis held MeelaÆs hand a little longer.

YEAR 72, MONTH 11, WEEK 4

Another ten thousand or so soldiers arrived, and as with the earlier group, they didnÆt stop for long, continuing their march toward the rift.

Thanks to the constant upgrades and additions, the surrounding area was essentially a makeshift fort. The humans with earth magic molded a two - layer wall complete with towers and ramparts, staffing them with soldiers.

Traffic remained high, and refugees continued to stream in. The refugees didnÆt stay for long as there wasnÆt much food available. Most of the supplies were meant for the army, and even then, that was barely sufficient. The refugees continued to move on to safer and hopefully more prosperous lands. There were minor demon attacks, but they were only small packs of hellhounds, easily disposed by the army camped in this place.

From the chatter, I gathered new types of demons were appearing near the rift. Larger versions of hellhounds and a half - golem, half - demon variant. Perhaps the demon king had some earth - elemental powers since his minions displayed earth - like features.

I wondered whether this had something to do with the mild shakes and tremors we occasionally felt.

- Where are they? - Hendry was frustrated, though MeelaÆs condition was still stable. It seemed he was eager to get a shot at the demons but was also torn with MeelaÆs present condition.

- Our friends will come back for us, - Alexis assured him. - ItÆs fine like this. A bit of a break from all this killing, and maybe the heroes power can help Meela. -

Hendry scowled, but then he paused to think.

- You might be right, Alexis. The heroes semi - divine holy powers might be able to counteract the demonic rot. -

YEAR 72, MONTH 12

The heroes arrived, accompanied by an army of adventurers about three hundred strong. It was normal for heroes to have a huge group of tagalongs. These people sought the glory and glamor of an association with the heroes, but they were also the first to flee when shit got out of hand.

The heroes themselves, five of them, were three men and two women, and they looked no older than twenty, maybe slightly over. The gods chose young people for their demon-killing tasks this time, and in a way, that was better than choosing teenagers.

They rode into the makeshift camp, and one of them stopped and stared in my direction. Though I couldnÆt meet his eye, I sensed his probing gaze.

- Hmm. I feel a familiar presence, - one of the heroes muttered and rode his horse closer.

- You were here before, hero? - an adventurer who accompanied him asked.

- No. - The armored hero placed his hand on my bark, and I shivered. - Just. someone familiar. Hmm. -

- HeroÆs Sense . -

The hideout shook a little, and everyone freaked out. This hero had some kind of magical touch, and my body reacted to it defensively.

The shaking caused Hendry to sigh, and he decided to go out and talk to the hero.

- Hey, hero. -

- Hendry! - The heroÆs eye widened, and he stared at Hendry.

The adventurer next to the hero raised his sword at Hendry. - Eh? Who goes there? -

- It is fine. Lay down your arms. He is one of us. - The hero stared at Hendry. - ItÆs been a while -

- Yes. Yes, it has. First, take your hands off the tree, and I might need your help. -

The hero took his hand off immediately. - Well, nice to see you, again. -

Hendry paused and sighed. - Nice to see me? I take it that means you stopped blaming us for her death? -

The hero shook his head. - IÆd like to think we have come to terms with it. -

- Really? - Hendry took a step back.

- We were all too eager, too excited with this opportunity, this chance to make something of ourselves. - The hero walked closer to Hendry.

Hendry paused. - Really? Just like that? -

The hero placed his hand on his shoulder. - Yes. -

And then he punched Hendry in the gut. Thud.

- Ugh! I knew it. - Hendry groaned in pain, but he recovered quickly and threw a punch back. The hero dodged.

The adventurers stared. - Uh, hero, should we do something? -

The hero yelled, - No! This is between me and him! - They punched each other a few times, then it escalated, and they started to throw empowered punches that were more like flashes. Both attacked each other with their abilities. The adventurers stared at the high - speed exchange of blows.

A few more heroes came over. - Max! Stop this. -

Two female heroines shouted, and Max, the hero, jumped back a few steps, and that ended the exchange of punches.

- Hendry! - one of the heroines seemed to cry a little.

- Hey. - Hendry stopped and sat on one of my roots. The heroines ran over and gave Hendry a hug. - Been a while. -

- WeÆve been looking for you guys. - The heroine smacked Hendry on his shoulder. - Running off like that. -

At this point, the adventurers asked, - Uh. who is he? -

Max laughed. - Ah, yes, please ignore us. He is a friend. You guys go ahead. WeÆll need to talk privately with our friend here. WeÆll be fine. -

Max explained, - You guys should not have left like that. We were angry, and we are still sad. There is still a lump in our hearts. But we are willing to let it go, for in 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 was confused at what their conversation was about. Perhaps some historical bad blood.

Hendry nodded, his eyes a little teary. - Heh. water under the bridge now. Well, Max, as I was saying, I need your help. Do you still have anti - demonic powers? -

- Huh? Of course I still do. Why? -

Alexis, right on cue, came out with Meela. She was asleep and supported by AlexisÆs levitation. - ItÆs actually for Meela. SheÆs received some kind of demonic rot or maybe demonic poison. SheÆs weak and battling internally, and she is currently supported by a whole lot of healing magic. It. it seems to be some kind of magic meant for. us. -

The heroes gasped. - Meela. - Max ran over, looked at her, and held her hand. He then proceeded to use some kind of magical ability on her, then their bodies glowed faintly.

The hero chanted and mumbled a little, and his palm glowed like a monk trying to use some kind of mantra.

- Heroic Touch . -

The ability caused MeelaÆs body to glow in a faint light.

- Hmm. I canÆt 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 sighed.

Alexis held MeelaÆs hand, and I saw the demonic rot shrink as if fenced in by a ring of energy. MeelaÆs eyes gradually opened.

- I can suppress and weaken the effect of the poison such that it will stop hurting her. -

- Thank you, - Meela whispered.

Max smiled. - Nice to see you, Meela. -

These adventurers are reincarnators as well. Now that they were right next to me, I felt strange. Were these people from Earth, too? The kids, those few when I came so many years ago, they had all died. These people. well, a similar fate probably awaited them.

What should I do?

Should I also reveal myself as a reincarnator? But what good would that do? DidnÆt that just unnecessarily involve me in the demon war?

There was also the question about the Fires of Baal I previously suffered. How I was able to recover from it, and yet Meela failed to recover from her own demonic poisoning?

Why? Was it because the fires I had were just generic fires of the demon king, whereas MeelaÆs demon rot was a customized poisonous cocktail meant specifically for reincarnators?

I had no answer to that, unfortunately.

At this point, I decided to wait and see. I mentally pinged Alexis.

- So. may I ask what is happening? Will you leave with them? -

- Ah. er. Right now, there are still three of us out there, looking for a cure. Maybe there is no cure, and killing the demon king is the only way. Meela is currently in no condition to fight. Her demonic rot is still present, even though its curse has been weakened by MaxÆs counteracting holy power. Until we know more about how this will affect us in combat, we donÆt want to risk it. -

Alexis paused and took a deep breath. - MeelaÆs body appears to be fine, with no observable negative effects so far, but I feel there remains a high chance that the demon kingÆs magic will still interfere with our divine gifts. So attempting to assault the demons without being at full strength feels like folly. -

- Uh. - Alexis was more technical when it came to magic. - Sorry, can you repeat that in simpler terms? -

- Meela and I will stay back. We will wait for the rest of us to return, and then we will join up with Max and the group. The fact that the demon king has a special weapon designed for us is. worrying. -

YEAR 72, MONTH 12, WEEK 2

News and reports of the demon champions came. The heroes, adventurers, and soldiers moved out and headed toward the rift.

Meela and Alexis remained. Alexis played the role of MeelaÆs observer and monitored her bodyÆs condition. Periodically, Meela tried to use her abilities, and they discovered that with the demonic rot suppressed but still present, her abilities were weakened by about twenty to thirty percent. AlexisÆs hypothesis was right after all.

The camp was quieter as only about a thousand soldiers remained. These were the communication mages, the logistics coordinators, and a few guards to keep the stray demon hounds at bay.

YEAR 72, MONTH 12, WEEK 4

The heroes defeated one of the champions.

And then the next day, the camp was attacked.

Six large demons, part - golem, part - demon. These appeared to be lesser versions of the golem - demon champion, accompanied by tens of thousands of the new rock hybrid hellhounds. The bodies of the six demons were made of a mix of rock, magma, and flesh, and their synchronized steps shook the ground.

How did they appear so suddenly?

Three came from the front, and three came from the back. They had the camp cornered on both sides, and their sudden appearance sent the camp into a panic. Mages quickly sent out requests for help, but any request would be too late. Reinforcements would take some time to get to us.

Alexis and Meela looked at each other. - HowÆd they get behind us? - In fact, that question was probably on the mind of the thousand or so soldiers now trapped within the camp. However, at this point, there were more urgent questions to be answered.

The two demon forces marched on the camp, their footsteps causing the earth to rumble. How did all the shaking from their steps go unnoticed before this?

I Summon Insect Warriors .

My insect warriors appeared, crawling from my branches. Three of them would deal with the hellhound hybrids, and hopefully, they wouldnÆt die too easily. The humans screamed in surprise when they saw my giant insects, but they didnÆt attack them.

I surveyed the field of demons. I needed to save my Super Anti - demon Root Strike for the lesser champions. The guards got ready as the demons closed in. If they were going to die, at least they would die fighting.

The mages in the camp blasted magic spells at the golems, and the camp descended into a chaotic battlefield. The six giant demons were exceptionally resilient, and they endured volleys of spells and attacks from the mages, only suffering minor wounds and damage.

Despite Meela not being in her best shape, she could fight, and so both Alexis and Meela joined the battle. Yura fought, too.

In the battle, I witnessed the sheer overpowered - ness of these reincarnators.

Alexis activated her spells, and she released wave after wave of magical explosions, almost constantly attacking. Meela, even in her weakened form, could swirl and twirl, and her slashes went through the rocky flesh of the monsters like they had absolutely no armor on and were made of chiffon.

It was ridiculous that they swept through hordes of demons like nothing.

One large golem was destroyed after it took a fireball point - blank. AlexisÆs blast had destroyed its body in a single shot.

Another golem wandered a little too close me, and I took the chance to test out my new Super Anti - demon Root Strike . It shot out of the earth and sliced the golem in half.

Whoa! I felt pleased with myself.

Alexis blew up another large golem. Throughout the camp, soldiers and mages battled with the hybrid hounds, and though the soldiers could beat them easily one on one, even one on two, the hounds had them outnumbered, easily ten times their number. So mages and soldiers died as they were overrun.

Even with Meela and AlexisÆs tremendous support.

Meela cut down one of the large demons with some kind of flashy slashing move.

My insect warriors seemed to be performing as expected. They were able to take down about twenty or so hellhounds before they were torn apart.

Alexis blew up another golem. Then another fireball from Alexis blew up the last golem. She really was the true MVP in this battle.

- We did it! -

Alexis turned her attention to the regular hybrid hounds and joined Meela and the soldiers in their demon extermination.

Then the earth shook, and sparks of lightning shot out from the rubble of the destroyed giant demons. The lightning connected to all the other remains, and destroyed golems floated in the air and joined together. Alexis sent a few fireballs instinctively, and it knocked some of the rocks away, but something still piled it all together.

The remains of all the fallen golems and hounds merged into a giant, six - story - tall centipede made of earth, covered in sharp, jagged rocks and stone across its body. In a way, it was part - centipede, part - golem. It charged the battlefield, crushing both allies and enemies alike.

Once it lost momentum, it tunneled underground.

- Shit. - Alexis and Meela ran, their eyes darting everywhere as they waited for the centipede. - It could appear anywhere! - They looked around, but their eyes mostly scanned the ground.

The earth shook, and it shot out of the battlefield. It killed more soldiers and hounds, but their absorbed debris and corpses of the fallen hounds, growing larger still.

Yet the centipede didnÆt approach me.

In fact, the moment it was underground, I could pinpoint exactly where it was, and my roots formed a layer of reinforced earth it was unable to tunnel through.

I sensed it, digging from one side to another as it tried to get through my defenses.

I thought I could beat it. I knew from instinct that my Root Strike s were more powerful underground. But the centipede moved really quickly, its movement shaking the ground. If I could just get it to slow down, I was sure I could get a good hit in.

- Gather around the tree! The monster is unable to tunnel close to it! - Alexis yelled. She seemed to have arrived at a similar conclusion to mine. She activated a weird console like magic and called all the surviving mages to her.

The demonic centipede surged out of the ground again, and Alexis yelled, - Now! - The mages coordinated a magical blast at the demonic centipede, and a few large chunks were blasted off its hide.

The demonic giant centipede tunneled again, and I tried to follow its movement. It was still fast, but I noticed it slowed down for a moment before it surged upward. That was the best time for me to hit it.

It shot out of the ground again, killing more soldiers and hounds.

I took my chance and hit it with two Root Strikes , managing to knock a few chunks away.

The centipede regenerated from our attacks, rocks knocked off pulled back to the whole, but I felt its magical energy balance dwindled each time it happened. If we wanted to defeat it, it meant eroding its magical power down to zero by repeatedly blasting chunks away.

It attacked a few more times as I tried to learn the timing.

By that point, almost seventy percent of the humans were dead, and almost all the demon hounds were destroyed or absorbed by the centipede.

The battle was between us and the centipede now. Then it split itself in two along its length, and both centipedes tunneled underground. Once there, the centipede reconnected itself and became one very long and lean centipede.

This time, it popped up out of the ground and used its now longer body like a whip. Its body slammed into the soldiers, mages, and also into me. It still couldnÆt tunnel near me, but the centipede attacked the humans around me.

My trunk shook when the centipede slammed into me, and some of the mages retaliated with a blast, knocking more rocks from it. It pulled back and curled in on itself like a snake, springing to attack the mages and soldiers.

- Grand Fireball . -

Alexis activated her signature superpower - a blue fireball - and it barreled toward the demonic centipede, exploding on impact.

The centipede was broken and burned from the fire, but the momentum of its attack still pushed through, and it stabbed Alexis right in the chest, pushing her back, slamming her into my trunk.

- Arghh! - Alexis screamed as she was stabbed by multiple sharp rocks. Those same rocks burned from her Grand Fireball , and it spread throughout the centipedeÆs body.

The demon centipede flailed from the flames but refused to let go. It kept its head on target and pinned Alexis to the trunk.

Somehow, she still managed to cast another Grand Fireball , creating a huge explosion right in front of it. It blasted almost all the rocks at the head of the centipede away, but a skeleton of super - hard rock remained, and it pierced AlexisÆs chest.

It flailed, but it didnÆt let go. It pinned AlexisÆs body to the ground.

I used Constrict and held onto the centipede so my Root Strike could catch it, and then I released all my remaining Super Anti - demonic Root Strike . They pierced the centipede, and this time, together with a third Grand Fireball fired from Alexis at point - blank, we successfully depleted its magical energy, and it crumbled. Its body turned into a pile of ordinary rocks.

Alexis, though, exploded into a huge fireball, and then just as suddenly, a vacuum - like effect appeared as all the fires swirled back and merged, forming into a human shape. The flames died down and revealed Alexis.

- Ugh, - she groaned, visibly drained. - I really dislike using Body of Fire . -

Meela smacked her on the back. - That went swimmingly. Once again, weÆve proven thatÆs why youÆre 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 Level 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. Customizable branches option now has External room.

Soul Absorption upgraded. Soul Realm unlocked.

Symbiotic Extension unlocked.

Essence Collection upgraded. Essence Mastery and Generation obtained. Customizable 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 one hundred, and the rank up brought changes and a lot of benefits. One of the key changes was a UI change. My perspective and interface became much more organized, and the details on all the various menus expanded. There were more tooltips as well, and information about my skills improved.

Size - wise, the rank up brought about greater size and range. I found myself twice as large - almost eight stories high - and my roots extended to cover a wider area. They also went deeper, which then led to my discovery of how the demons appeared.

Deep tunnels. The rock centipedes dug tunnels underground and used them to move their forces without being detected. They covered the entrances, these tunnels reaching well beyond my range, and perhaps even into the demon lands.

This seemed like valuable information. Perhaps I could trade something for it.

The sudden increase in my physical size overnight scared the humans, but they were too preoccupied with the dead to do anything about it.

With this new size, I had eight large branches, and the new skills allowed me to set some of them as an Essence Generator , which automatically generated essences of the moon, the sun, and nature. These would later be used as materials for items and weapons.

I learned from the soldiers and heroes that common theories suggested demons were generally weak against stellar materials, like metals from an asteroid. But these were rumors, of course, and I didnÆt actually have stellar materials to prove it.

Back in my secret hideout, the healing room changed, and it transformed into the shape of a pod, large enough for a body to be fully submerged within.

It looked like those mad scientist labs where there were vats that cloned creatures. Perhaps, someday, I would be able to rebuild bodies. Next to the pod was a lab - like area, all located in a small underground room filled with roots, pods, and other things like a spawning pool.

I activated Soul Realm . I felt my consciousness shift, and I appeared in a vast space filled with little floating lights. These little wisps floated and swirled around, and. they seemed to whisper and chatter endlessly in a language I didnÆt understand.

- What is this place? -

- This is your soul realm, and this is one of the strongest powers of a spirit tree. - A wisp floated before me. It was different from the other wisps in that it was green while the others were white. - Here are all the souls of those who have died in your vicinity. They lay dormant, resting, waiting. -

- For? -

- For their 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 travel on to the afterlife, where they will re - enter the cycle of life. Your very existence here prevents the presence of stray ghosts, but in turn, the ghosts exist all within you. -

I paused and looked at this green wisp as it explained all this to me. - And. you are? -

- I am Wisp, and I am a creation made from the combined souls who didnÆt 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 guided me to a tree filled with little lights like fireflies in a swamp. - These are the souls of the recently deceased. The faint white ones are humans, and as you can see, itÆs currently mostly humans, but we can also see there are souls with different colors, and these are the mixed - race beings. -

Wisp floated over to a black tree branch, with tiny little lights there. These lights were smaller than the other souls. They looked like little blinking sparks.

- These are the leftover souls, fragments and souls that have degraded, or some that just donÆt want to be reincarnated. At their current state, they have lost their identity and awareness, so they become nothing more than a shell. They can be used to create things, custom familiars, infused into weapons, merged together. quite versatile, actually. -

After that, Wisp led me to another black branch that had split in half.

- This is the Soul Forge where you can make even more things with the remnants, but itÆs inactive at the moment as you need to either connect to a magical ley line or gain more levels so you can power it yourself. It connects to the pod in your secret hideout. -

I paused and then asked, - Why is Soul Realm a powerful ability? -

Wisp twirled. - The soul is at the core of power in this world. It is the soul that gains experience and levels, and the body is just the expression of 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? -

Wisp paused and twirled around.

- Because, when you change a soul, you amend their destiny. A soul doomed for mediocrity could be remade into something far greater. -

PERSPECTIVE û ALEXIS

The demon king was out for their heads.

Alexis knew it. She felt it. Every battle with the demons, their eyes seemed to contain a deep, feral rage, all directed at them. Was it just how they always looked?

Even when they were not fighting, it felt like she sensed where the demon king was. It was as if there was always a cold wind that came from that direction, but there was no actual wind.

After the constant ambushes and attacks, she suspected the demons sensed them, too. It was the only plausible reason why incredibly powerful demons always appeared where they were, and somehow, these demons were always able to strike when the heroes were apart.

- ItÆs a coincidence, Alexis. - Max waved off the idea. - They have hunter demons and demon knights constantly tracking us. ThatÆs why they know where we are. -

Maybe.

But was it?

As a mage, she believed there was a logic to everything. Even underneath the veneer of magic, there was a system, logic. This system, even if it didnÆt make sense when compared to where she came from, possessed its own rules and laws.

Everything obeyed those laws, including the gods blessings.

These blessings offered some degree of protection from demons, and they enhanced stats growth and boosted experience gains for easier leveling. They leveled way faster, achieving more in a year than the natives could do in decades.

These were common knowledge. Heroes always received perks. They found it easier to defeat the demon king.

Lately, during these occasional moments of clarity, she suspected the blessings did more than just that. They had another function.

She remembered her friends and how they came to this world. Some days, it was so hard to remember, but today, it came easily. She sipped on her cup of tea. They were headed for a cafe when a truck lost control. The truck and its container flipped sideways and slammed right into all of them.

After a brief meeting with the gods, they all woke in this world. Since then, they devoted themselves to this divine quest to slay the demon king, even if they took detours.

Why were they so engrossed with the goal? All the death, pain, and suffering they had seen, it all seemed to be just a side note. A number. The vast destruction around her, rather than affecting them emotionally, merely enhanced their resolve to destroy the demon king.

It was as if the heroes had been mentally altered, made to be immune to the destruction, and all that negative energy and emotion was deliberately funneled back to their goal.

Even Meela, with her near - death experience, went back to the battlefield happily as if her brush with death never really mattered.

Alexis hadnÆt realized this before, but lately, during these brief moments of clarity, when she reread her daily journal, she realized her own strange mental processes and noticed the way she reacted to these things.

- WeÆre on the way back, Alexis, - a communication mage passed the message.

Alexis nodded by way of thanks. The mage bowed and left. The heroes, those summoned by the gods, would converge.

Here.

Alexis scribbled on her journal.

Destroying the demon king aligned with her and her groupÆs interest. After all, they were hunted by the demons. But a feeling of dread permeated her. The demons were coming for them.

The demon king would look for them, even before they were ready. They needed to hit level one hundred.

What would she do? What should be done? They couldnÆt keep running. Not forever.

She glanced up and looked at the tree. It was larger, far larger, now. And she felt safe. If they had to fight, this was the best place for it. If the plan was up to her, they would fall back and fight here.

Still, she thought about her suspicions. How did the demons find them?

She sat and closed her eyes. She stilled her mind and concentrated on her breathing. She felt the prickling senses on her skin and the beating of her heart.

She searched for a subtle signal, a presence beyond their own. Were they letting something out? Did they release signals or markers? Were they like a nuclear bomb, leaking radiation that shouted to the demon kings that this was where they were?

If the gods had a hand in this, how and what would they do?

If they could hide their presence, maybe, just maybe, they could deal the demons a surprise attack.

- Alexis, are you busy? - Meela asked.

- Ah. - Alexis snapped out of her concentration. - Uh, yes. I would like some time. -

Meela nodded. - Oh, okay. - She sighed and walked away.

Alexis closed her eyes and tried again, but her mindÆs moment of clarity faded away, replaced by -

Demons. Anger. Destruction. Fire. Death. Fields of dead men. The voices of all the grieving humans. These voices said the demon king must be slain.

Alexis shook her head. Not again. All of them felt this every now and then.

As if the world reminded them of their duty.

She walked closer to the tree and lifted a small wooden teapot. She poured herself a cup and sipped on it.

And, somehow, the voices went away. For a while.

YEAR 73, MONTH 1

Yura stepped out of the green liquid pod in the lab. He was submerged in the pod daily as part of my experimentation.

- How do you feel? -

- Fine, Tree - Tree. Did you do anything? My status is unchanged. -

- No. -

In truth, all I did was look at his body in detail. The first time he submerged, the pod flooded me with data and details. It was fascinating. I felt like a scientist, looking at the body of a person with an electron microscope and radio wave imaging machine.

It felt incredible to see every strand of fiber, the organs, the bones, and everything else. Strangely enough, this was also the first time I had an actual idea how Yura looked. All I had before this was my somewhat pixelated Spirit Vision .

Another thing I spent a lot of time looking at was his soul. I studied it repeatedly and tried to understand how it interacted with his body. Initially, I thought it was like the source of a river. A person with higher levels had a bigger source, and the waters from this source flowed into each body part, then each body part expressed the energy as toughness and awakened magical properties.

In Yura Æs body, it felt like there was a polluted drainage pipe. This polluted drainage pipe released dirty water into the river, and so each body part was weakened by it.

I reached out to it, and I knew it could be fixed.

But I would need the right materials.

Later that evening, I asked Meela for her help. If I could see Yura Æs body with such detail, I wondered what I would find from the heroes.

This request made Alexis a little suspicious, so she insisted on being around as well.

Yura guided both to the new underground laboratory.

- This. this looks like. - Both had stunned looks as if they didnÆt expect to see something like this in this world. - A lab. -

I recalled only the elves had ever been to this new room. This was different from the medical ward area Meela once rested in. Yura pointed to one open pod. - Please, if you donÆt mind, IÆll need you to get into the pod. -

Meela glanced at Alexis briefly and then nodded. - Okay. -

Yura smiled and left the two heroes alone. Meela undressed and stepped into the warm green liquid, and the pod slowly closed. The vines naturally formed a mask that allowed Meela to keep breathing, even when her entire body was submerged in the liquid.

Alexis stared on, but she looked like she was thinking. She also used some of her skills and monitored Meela.

Meanwhile, a torrent of data came into my mind, and it stunned me for a moment.

- How long will this take? - Alexis asked.

- About two hours, if I donÆt find anything unusual. - I snapped out of my shock and started my investigation into MeelaÆs body. I really wanted to know what made her tick.

First, physique. Her body appeared to me initially as that of a normal human, but on further investigation, her body had changed. She was already at least three to four times physically stronger than Yura , and this was before any magic spells that would further push her into crazy - strong territory.

Her skeletal structure was tough. It was as if she had an adamantine frame, and her muscles all stored tremendous amounts of physical energy.

Then I looked into her soul. Her soul was like a massive lake. There were two waterfalls that floated overhead in the aether, and its star - sparkled water flowed into the lake. There was a spring of water in the middle. These three water sources pooled and flowed downward like a raging river.

The water was murky, not clear like the others. I looked a little closer and noticed that right next to that spring was a small black whirlpool, and it sucked some of the water away. There was barricade around the whirlpool, made with some kind of energy, and this reduced the impact of that whirlpool, such that only a small portion of water was drained away.

- This is taking too long, - Alexis mumbled and used some kind of magic. - Is she all right? -

- Yes. SheÆs fine. A bit more, - I answered. I could revisit the data later.

I reached out and attempted to sense that black whirlpool. I felt an ominous presence as my mental senses touched it. It was demonic energy, and it attempted to burn me.

Ugh.

I investigated the starry waterfalls instead, and I sensed a kind of unknown power. perhaps divine? Or was it astral?

These heroes, it seemed to me that their souls must have been modified by the gods that summoned them here. Their size and capacity far exceeded that of a normal mortal, at least, when compared to Yura . But I would need more samples.

Alexis looked nervous. She didnÆt seem to like Meela remaining in the pod.

- I am done. - The podÆs doors opened upward, its motion a reverse Venus flytrap. The waters in the pod receded, and MeelaÆs eyes opened.

Alexis immediately grabbed her. - Are you okay? -

Meela rubbed her eyes for a while and said, - I feel pretty nice, actually. ItÆs like a massage. -

Secret Hideout û Biolab upgraded

Oh.

- Really? -

- Yeah, it is. You should try it. -

Alexis shook 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 turned. - If we are done, then letÆs go out. -

The two reincarnators left, and I telepathically reached out to Laufen for her turn to dip into the pod.

I also tasked Yura 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. -

A net appeared next to him. - Woven from my bark and fiber. This should last a bit longer. Use this as well. - I handed him a wooden container that contained paralyzing sap from one of my vines.

Yura nodded and set out on his mission.

Around this time, message spells bounced back and forth between the heroes, and both Alexis and Meela left with the remaining army. From the news, one of the nearby cities was under attack from a demonic force, so the rest of the heroes changed their plans and headed straight there instead.

This was great because the elves finally got to have their space again.

YEAR 73, MONTH 1, WEEK 3

Yura finally caught a hellhound. It was tough to catch one in a manageable pack, but he finally did it.

The hellhound lost four limbs, and it was barely alive.

- So, what do I do with it? - Yura looked at me quizzically.

- Bring in down to the lab. -

Yura paused. - Inside? -

- Yes. -

He gulped but placed the struggling hellhound into the pod. The rest of the elves looked on curiously. Laufen, Emile, and Belle were all ready for battle just in case the hound tried something.

My branches and roots moved to wrap and attach to the paralyzed hound, and its struggling stopped as my energies and saps flooded it. One of the roots administered a dose of sedation, and it was successfully knocked out.

Then I peered into its body. The body of a hybrid hellhound.

The first thing I noticed was the unusual nature of its body. It was a mix of strange but still somewhat normal flesh. However, there was a smattering of earth, mixed with a latticework of interconnected rocks. This mixture was present throughout its body but more frequently in some parts, like the area nearer to its skull and teeth. The type of rock appeared to be compressed stone that was magically augmented.

Then I took a look at its soul.

If the magic from Yura Æs soul was that of a water tap, and MeelaÆs mana was a raging river, this hellhound would be best described as a dried watering hole. Parched, its body was devoid of the natural mana.

Instead, there was a small red fire that hovered right above where the spring would normally be. The small red fire emitted a kind of heat that powered all the magical augmentation throughout its body.

I reached out to touch it.

Demon.

I felt a pushback from that tiny fire. There was a wall.

I kept pushing, and the wall bent as it wasnÆt strong enough to resist me.

For a moment, I thought I saw a glimpse of a faraway place.

A red planet, a surface filled with fire and brimstone, and a large, glowing red stone.

Then the fire disappeared. At that moment, any sign of life that once existed in the hound disappeared as if somebody pressed an off button.

Yet the hound was still there. Its body floated in my pod, its four limbs still severed.

You gained a level. You are now level 101.

Secret Hideout û biolab, upgraded. Additional pods now available.

Two additional pods popped up next to the one with the floating hound.

Was it dead? Its body remained instead of disintegrating. Perhaps the pod interfered with its natural decay into mana?

Yura stepped back in as he wondered what the sound was that he heard, the two new pods appearing.

- ItÆs fine. The houndÆs dead. -

- Oh. -

- Anyway, good that you are here. Dip in. -

Yura paused but then nodded. - Uh, okay. -

Two days later, a horde of hellhounds appeared, together with about fifty or so larger demons.

Whoever they were looking for, I knew their target wasnÆt me. However, based on the strength of these demons shown to me so far, I knew I could defeat this horde.

So I did.

I took the chance to use my new skills. A mix of Root Surge , Super Anti - demon Root Strike , and Root Strike . Yura also participated in the battle.

A few of the demons survived, and Yura assisted with capturing them for my experiments.

YEAR 73, MONTH 2, WEEK 1

Rajjiv Nung has died. You gained 3 levels. You are now Level 104.

Obtained skill: Lesser Holy Enchantment.

He died. That was strange; he was with the heroes. I would have thought he would be quite safe. Whatever killed him, it must have been a rather fierce battle.

That actually reminded me of the familiars I granted, and I activated a menu that displayed a list of them.

I had been neglecting them, so I called Yura and Laufen over and had both show me their familiar forms.

A familiar allowed access to the spells and abilities largely based on their grantor. They had gained levels. Yura Æs familiar was level thirty, and LaufenÆs familiar was level thirteen. These familiars manifested in many ways, usually dependent on the user.

When they did, a prompt appeared before me.

Yura Æs 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 thirty? -

- Oh! ItÆs been at that level for quite some time already, since the attack by the demon centipede. -

- Uh, why didnÆt you tell me? -

- I thought you knew. - Yura rubbed his head.

Ah, dammit. Communication breakdown.

I reminded myself that I needed to get these elves to tell me more about themselves.

I mentally said yes to the prompt.

Yura Æs eyes flew wide open as he seemed to see something. - I didnÆt even know a familiar could rank up! Wow, I get to choose its next form! -

Huh. I knew too little about familiars.

Meanwhile, one of my branches was converted into a room with my skill, Customizable Branches . It functioned as a jail cell for all the captured hellhounds. On top of the dead hybrid in one pod, I subjected the remaining hellhounds to more investigation.

So long as I didnÆt attempt to sense or snuff out the fire, it would stay alive.Æ

YEAR 73, MONTH 2, WEEK 2

The ground buckled, and bits of rock and dirt flew in the air as the earth shook.

My roots attempted to hold on, but the shockwave that caused this was way too strong. Throughout the plains, the ground buckled as if the dirt was pressed together and pulled apart.

The earth shook again.

Yura rushed out of the hideout. I ordered him to look out for what caused it and retreat immediately once he saw it. A part of me felt. afraid.

The earth rumbled again.

The shaking didnÆt stop over the next few hours. As the day went by, we felt and heard explosions. Something was coming, a battle maybe. They had been fighting for some time.

The shockwaves propagated through the earth and gradually increased in strength. My rootnet was flooded with pain.

The rumbling continued even after sunset, and Yura ran toward 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 was far too many! Fighting one almost killed me and knocked me out for weeks.

ShouldnÆt the heroes be able to beat them?

- Did you see the heroes? -

- Yes! They are retreating here! -

- Why? -

- I donÆt know. Maybe they are trying to lure them away from the cities! -

The explosions and rumblings continued. They seemed to be fighting even while retreating, so whatever they were running from kept up with them.

- How far? -

- A day! -

Shit.

- What should we do? If three demon champions are here, could you hold them back, Tree - Tree? -

- No. If they are anything like the earlier giant golem, I may not last very long. I can take a few hits, but it will only be a matter of time before it kills me. -

- But you are stronger than last time. - Yura paused. - Maybe you can take one. Maybe that is why they are coming this way. They need your help to even up the odds. -

- DonÆt they have an army of adventurers? -

Yura shook his head. - I think they are either dead or have fled. I donÆt think any sane adventurer would want to battle three demon champions together. Only the bravest or most foolish of adventurers would attempt it. -

- And the world expects the heroes to? -

- Heroes have special powers! They are different! -

- This doesnÆt make sense. I thought they already killed some of the demon champions. How did three appear out of nowhere? -

Yura paused. - I donÆt know. I am guessing the heroes donÆt, either. -

The earth shook. More rumblings. They were going to be here soon.

- WhatÆs our plan? - Yura paced 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 couldnÆt get a good look at them. It was too chaotic. -

- Ah. -

Three demon champions, if they were of a similar strength to the golem, would be a real challenge. They were going to arrive in about two hours, so the heroes must have had something in mind.

Were they wounded?

How would I defeat these demons?

I looked at the hounds in the lab, strapped to the pod.

- Yura , whatÆs known to be effective against demons? -

I actually asked this before. I recalled the answer was that there were weapons created by the heroes that had special effectiveness against demons. There were also natural abilities like holy magic or star weapons like metal swords made from asteroids.

Did the 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 was that fire, would water therefore destroy them?

And so I tested my theory out on a hound, pouring my mana through the connected roots. It entered its blank soul realm, and some of the mana evaporated in the process. Was this from the heat of the soul?

But after the initial evaporation, the fire shrank, and eventually, it was extinguished.

It worked for one. But from this single experiment, I realized it was far too slow and not as effective as a simple strike. A strike would have destroyed that hound using far less mana. And if a demon champion was larger and more powerful, my mana most likely would be insufficient to achieve the same goals.

The dead houndÆs body cracked, and the rocks on its body fell off like it was shedding skin. And then it convulsed and vibrated. It twisted and turned against the vines and started to suck in mana.

My mana.

It twitched.

And then it stopped. I saw the body regenerated, the wounds healed, and its limbs and fangs regrew like some sped - up documentary. The rocks that once decorated its fur were replaced with a strange, wood - like texture.

A shiver ran through me.

- Yura . Lab. Now! - Yura immediately jumped from his resting area and ran for the lab, armed.

- Which one? -

The hound opened its eyes. And they were green.

Hellhound forcefully adapted into your subordinate minion with your natural mana and has transformed into woodhound.

- Wait. -

Yura eyed the hound. It should have been an easy battle, but you could never be sure.

The pod opened, and the healed hound crawled out. Its eyes locked on and stared at Yura .

I felt a link to it, and I mentally commanded it to sit.

And it did.

It fed on my mana to survive, and I sensed that mana link between me and this woodhound. The feeling was familiar, similar to the links with my summoned insects.

Fascinating.

Skill obtained: Natural Mana Overwhelming.

But there was no time to waste. I didnÆt have an answer for the three demon champions coming my way. The earth rumbled and shook, and the explosions were now visible in the sky.

Think!

I reviewed the skills I had. Familiars, essences, souls, soul realm, a few root attack variants, saps, leaves that functioned as tea, wood magic and shaping abilities, healing powers, Spirit Vision , a secret hideout with a lab and healing chamber, insect warriors, rootnet, barkskins, wood shields, and some other lesser defensive items.

Could I make souls and essences into a weapon?

Soul Forge required to form high - efficiency weapons. Your Soul Forge is currently not operational.

Ugh. Not that. How about essences? Could I convert them into a weapon?

Currently, the essences can be converted into a single - use weapon.

Fine. Combine them.

Vessel required.

I would want to use it together with my Super Anti - demon Root Strike , so I formed a sharp, pointy piece of wood that would serve as the piercing edge of my roots. Essentially, this was the arrowhead of my roots. The essences were then added to it, with a little of my energies, and it transformed into a sharp piece of wood.

The earth rumbled, and the elves saw streaks of lights in the distance.

- They are here. -

The streaks of light were replaced by explosions, and the heroes zoomed toward me. They used some kind of speed ability, and as they retreated, they also dodged the explosions that seemed to chase them.

Three demon champions appeared: a large golem, a huge, horned - stone centipede, and some kind of stone turtle with spikes. They stood in the distance, surrounded by a horde of lesser demons, minor golems, and a few other lesser centipedes.

YEAR 73, MONTH 2, WEEK 2

Eleven heroes. They ran and left a trail of destruction in their wake. Explosions were deflected by their barriers. Fires held back by magical shields.

The heroes tried.

Magical thunderbolts and lightning blasts erupted, and lesser demons fell. They were fodder. There were easily tens of thousands of them, and only eleven heroes stood against them.

The fan lady twirled, and she muttered a kind of chant. The demons attempted to disrupt her, but the other heroes covered for her.

Swoosh. An air blast came from the sky, and hundreds of the demons were crushed instantly by the windblast. A giant blue fireball streaked through the demon swarm, and the blue flames roasted all in their path and then exploded. The ensuing inferno destroyed a few hundred more.

The giant tortoise demon stomped its massive feet, and the earth shook violently. A few dozen massive boulders flew toward the heroes at high speed.

A wall of light emerged, and the boulders disintegrated when they smashed into them. The lesser demons that ran toward the wall of light also disintegrated. It seemed to be an ability Hendry and Max used together.

The tortoise stomped its feet, and a few dozen more boulders flew toward the wall. They were close, and I could vaguely make out their voices.

- Ugh. - Hendry and Max both winced. - ItÆs using up quite a lot of mana. Alexis! -

The heroes drew closer. Meela dashed beside me.

- Tree spirit, please, aid us in battle! -

- What if I refuse? - I responded telepathically to all present. I knew it was a stupid question. TheyÆd forced my hand.

- Then the demons will kill you, too, - another hero said blankly as he dodged shrapnel.

- Fine. Do you have a plan? -

- Yes. Cover us for a while. ThatÆs all we need, - Meela said.

The heroes retreated behind me and formed into a formation. They immediately started chanting.

The horde of demons charged and flooded the fields. They came down the valley like a wave, a scene from a war movie. My insects and Yura formed a protective layer.

All we had to do was keep the demons from the heroes.

The three demon champions seemed particularly disturbed by the chanting, and they joined the battle. The centipede, the fastest of the three, was unable to tunnel through the dirt due to my dense subterranean root network, so it decided to attack us directly. It charged and tried to ram into the heroes.

My wooden shields appeared and blocked the centipedeÆs strikes, and they shattered on impact. But the shields caused the demonic centipede to lose most of its momentum and deflected it off its path. I took the moments when it seemed startled by the shields to throw a few holy enchanted Root Strike s at its side. They knocked chunks of rock from its body.

I caught its attention, and the centipede turned and rammed into me instead.

Wham!

I felt its sharp, rocky tusks smash into my trunk, and some pierced my bark. A bit of it cracked. I had all my defensive abilities active, so while it hurt, it wasnÆt fatal. I suspected my fragments helped reduce most of the damage.

Another Root Strike smashed into the centipedeÆs body, and a big chunk of stone fell away.

The centipedeÆs upper body twisted and rammed me again.

Wham!

Three layers of wooden shields shattered, and I shifted my attention back to the heroes. Whatever the heroes are planning, it better freaking work.

The giant centipede rammed me again, and more of my bark cracked. I could take the hits, but not forever.

The demonic hounds and lesser demons charged, but a white dome appeared over the heroes.

TheyÆd protected themselves with a magical barrier.

The smaller demons rammed the barrier but mostly bounced off. The demonic centipedeÆs subterranean attack nullified, the lesser demonic spawns resorted to ramming and swiping at the dome with their stone thorns.

The larger centipede remained focused on me. It was slightly bigger than the previous one, but I had also grown. My larger form and levels resulted in additional power for most of my abilities. Yura and the heroes were right that I could hold my own against these creatures. for a while.

The golem champion moved into range, and it immediately targeted the heroes. It tried to punch the white dome.

Constrict .

My roots shot out of the ground and ensnared the golem, and the tangle of roots held back its punch.

I then activated Constrict on the giant centipede. My roots surged out and wrapped it, and it retaliated, twirling around my trunk. It coiled, tangling my roots and vines. We were both stuck. Or more like the centipede was stuck.

It felt like a snake or a python, wrestling with a stick.

Some of my roots pierced its stone structure. My roots were good at going through such surfaces. Elemental advantage, I supposed.

The golem and centipede, despite all my attacks so far, were still mostly unharmed. All I managed to do was trap them in a thicket of roots and branches, and the giant centipede was coiled around my trunk. The centipede took a few more blows, and I gauged its strength as it wrestled against my vines and roots. It pushed and rammed, like it was a rhino rubbing its thick body on me. It tried to claw through my trunk with its horns.

But the trunk and bark held and took just a little damage, a crack here and there, but the pain wasnÆt overwhelming. It felt like a slap. I thanked the defense buffs and the effects of the demon damage reduction.

The demon tortoise was the only free one, and it tried to bite through the vines that entangled the golem.

Sharp bites cut through the vines and roots and freed one of the golemÆs arms. The golem immediately punched the heroes defensive dome with all its might.

Wham!

The white dome cracked.

Crap. ThatÆs bad. I needed to protect them a little longer.

Root Strike s stabbed into the underbelly of the tortoise and knocked it back a little. However, it didnÆt topple.

The golem raised its fists and readied its next full - power punch.

If the heroes had a secret weapon, now was the time. I used my Super Anti - demon Root Strike together with the essence - edge, and my enhanced roots slammed right into the golemÆs body. There was an explosion of starlight that left a huge hole in the golemÆs chest.

Yet, it still lived!

It punched again, and I created multiple massive wood shields to block its strike. The punch crushed through my shields easily and still managed to hit the dome. Luckily, my defenses had softened the blow significantly, and the dome only slightly cracked.

The giant tortoise rammed me instead and tried to bite me with its beak.

It tore a gash in my trunk, but it quickly healed.

The centipede tried to crush my trunk by tightening its coil around me, like a python was squeezing me. My roots, which also wrapped the centipede, drained its energy and mana.

What was taking the heroes so long?

The golem managed to free its other arms from my vines and threw more punches at the dome. Yet, despite the attacks from the tortoise and the centipede, I focused on the golem and created wooden shields.

However, only the first punch was weakened. The other few punches landed squarely on the dome, and it cracked even more.

The dome glowed, and I felt power and magic in the air.

It seemed I had done enough.

The dome pulsed, and the glow became brighter.

Whoosh!

Then the glow turned into a blinding light.

The dome exploded outward, and with it came a massive energy wave that swept outward and encapsulated the entire valley like a nuclear shockwave. The wave disintegrated all the demons in its path. In an instant, the battlefield was cleared, and the only demons remaining were the three champions.

Whoa, thatÆs just too overpowered.

The three champions didnÆt escape unscathed. The giant tortoiseÆs shell was half - destroyed and revealed its charred body beneath. The golemÆs arms and half of its head was destroyed. And the giant centipedeÆs body was half - gone, the blast vaporizing its smaller limbs and spikes.

Yet, somehow, the rest of us were safe. It was clearly a special ability attuned to demons.

The heroes emerged from the dome with shining weapons, their bodies covered with an armor of light. They dashed toward the demon champions, and in just a few flashes of light, all the champions were killed.

- What the hell was that? -

Did I just tank three demon champions so that the heroes could activate some kind of overpowered transformation ability?

The heroes in their light armor form made such quick work of the champions that I found it hard to believe they were even demon champions in the first place.

The heroes regrouped. - Thanks for covering us. We gained quite a few levels from that. -

Seriously?

Now that they werenÆt jumping or flying from place to place, I got a better look at the heroes new outfits. From my spiritual view, their bodies glowed and reminded 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 other skills. That big boom thing was our Starlight Nova . -

Whoa. How do I get that kind of power?

- Meela, may I ask you to dip into the pod again? -

- Yeah, sure! - Meela said happily.

At this point, Alexis and Hendry grabbed Meela. - No, itÆs our power. We cannot reveal it. DonÆt do this. -

Meela shook her head. - Both of you are being unreasonable. Tree - Tree just helped cover our butts because this skill activation initially had a ridiculously long chant time, and now you want to deny him a look at our power? -

Hendry and Alexis paused before they replied, - Meela, letÆs decide collectively. -

Eventually, the heroes came to a compromise. MeelaÆs argument won. Sort of.

- Here goes. - Meela dipped in. The rest of the heroes looked on, some with rather concerned expressions on their faces. Alexis and the fan lady activated a magical ability, and Meela glowed.

- ThatÆs our insurance. If thereÆs anything unnatural, weÆll go in, - the mage explained, and I deduced it was some kind of magical short - range teleportation ability.

Max shook his head. - If this tree saved MeelaÆs life, and Meela has done this before, I really donÆt see why such precautions are necessary. -

Hendry place his hand on Max. - Yes. Yes, he did. But this is our gift, and it is also our burden. It must be carefully guarded, and we were told not to be put under the knife or risk it getting stolen. Precautions are necessary. -

Max frowned. - As if it is possible to steal our powers. -

- We never know. -

I sighed. These reincarnators were a pain, but whatever. - IÆm not going to steal it. IÆm just having a look at it. -

Meela shook her head. - You guys, stop being paranoid. I want to do this, and we voted. IÆll be fine. -

One of the heroes poked in. - I donÆt see the issue. 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 doesnÆt mean you have the tools and materials to create a machine. -

Well, that was a very good point.

Meela was fully submerged, and the roots and vines attached to her. I sensed the data flowing into me, and so I peeked into her body.

What was most obvious was that the two waterfalls from the aether that once poured slightly sparkly water into the lake of her soul now poured a glowing liquid, and it sparkled with starlight. This was what they referred to as star mana.Æ

The black whirlpool had disappeared, and the water that flowed down into the rest of her body was strong, clear, and sparkly, no longer weakened. Now, it was pure with the force of a raging river. That starlight water poured and fed every part of her body and enhanced her bodyÆs strength even more than before. It was so unfair. It felt like witnessing an athlete with some kind of supernatural performance - enhancement drugs. In this case, the change in muscle strength and texture was permanent.

Using a car as the metaphor, the star mana was the special fuel that powered their tremendous destructive ability, their exceptionally large and powerful soul was the engine, and their body was the frame.

When I compared Yura or Laufen to Meela, it was obvious to me that MeelaÆs soul was larger and more robust. The energy behind the spring was just far higher, and as a result, their displayed potential and performance was just absurd.

- Is it done yet? - Hendry asked after about an hour. They seemed really anxious, but perhaps they were unaware how long medical procedures actually took. However, I thought it had been long enough for me to gather all the data I needed.

- Yes. - The hatch opened, and the liquid drained out of the biolabÆs pod. Gradually, Meela woke up and stepped out. She gave a little shake, her body wet, and then she yawned.

- That was a very pleasant nap. I felt like your healing energies were all inside me! - Meela laughed, and she looked at her worried teammates. - See? I am fine! -

Alexis and Max both used some kind of spell and nodded. - Yeah, sheÆs fine. -

Max looked up at me. - Apologies for our reservations. Hope you keep whatever you discovered a secret. -

- Honestly, all I discovered was that your souls are large and robust, you have huge amounts of star mana, and the huge natural mana from your soul and star mana changed your body into these anti - demon king superhumans. - I honestly oversimplified. I wasnÆt sure how the anti - demon aspect manifested itself.

All the heroes paused.

- Really, thatÆs it? -

- Star mana? - Alexis paused, and then she seemed to make an a - ha action. - Hmm, that makes sense. -

- What? - The others turned and looked at Alexis, the groupÆs wizard.

- I mean, it explains why we have such success against demons. Star mana is rare, as the records say, known to be naturally effective against demons who are extraterrestrial in nature, and yet our body overflows with it. I - it never occurred to me that the special mana we all get access to is just star mana. It should have been obvious since our recent abilities have star - like names. -

Alexis sat on one of the many root - benches in the lab.

- Did you see our gifts? -

- Hmm, I canÆt identify what was the gift without comparing Meela to another. ItÆs from your differences I can identify what is what. Otherwise, I have to assume that is the norm for everyone. -

- Hmm. That is true. You do need a control sample or reference to interpret the results. - Alexis rubbed her chin.

- Alexis? - Hendry walked over.

- Hmm. nothing. - Alexis left the lab, and eventually, all the heroes followed.

Once they were gone, I turned my attention toward the new data. It was all stored like a medical record.

I wasnÆt lying when I said I didnÆt know where the divine gift was 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 oneÆs soul.

The heroes went back to their camp, and with magic, they created a transportable inn that allowed them to live in comfort, even whilst traveling. Ah, such magic would put hotels and inns everywhere out of business, but the hospitality business could count on their lucky stars as such magic seemed exclusive to heroes, and even then, only some heroes had the luck to get it.

Later that night, Meela came over.

- Hey, tree spirit. I - I just want to apologize for my teamÆs behavior. IÆm not sure why, but we tend to behave like that. ItÆs all about us and not anyone else. Everything feels like it is just to further the goal of beating the demons. -

If I could nod, I would. In hindsight, Meela was right, and the heroes were pretty asshole - ish. But this was a shit world from what I had seen so far. I might be an asshole, too, someday.

- You saved my life, our lives, and helped us a lot. 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 donÆt know why. -

Meela paused and sat on one of my many roots. Some of them were flat on top now, and so they conveniently served as makeshift tables and benches.

- Can I make a deal with you? Once we beat the demon king, IÆll come back and help you, even if I am not as magically clever as Alexis. -

Hmm, I wasnÆt sure whether that sort of help was useful, but if I had to ask.

- Tree spirit, do you have any requests? -

Hmm. - Accept my familiar. - I could gain experience if they somehow died - that would really help me. - In fact, can you ask everyone to take my familiar? ItÆll help me level up, and thatÆll be enough. - These heroes were going to fight more demons in the coming days, so I might as well profit from it.

Meela nodded. - Oh, that is fine. Give one to me, and I can show it to the others and ask them, too. -

I activated the familiar contract, and Meela accepted without a thought. She grinned. - Ooh, itÆs like a summon. -

The next morning, Meela demonstrated her new familiar abilities to the heroes, and about half of them accepted a familiar from me. The other half had their reservations.

Oh, well, it was better than nothing. Six heroes with familiars and five without.

They left that afternoon.

Meanwhile, I received the experience and levels from the battle with the demon champions.

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.

Customizable Branches options expanded.

THE HEROES POV (ALEXIS)

After we defeated the three demon champions, we felt quite good about our abilities. We gained around ten levels each, and all of us were now at least level one hundred. We felt we were ready for the demon king.

Heavenly Form .

We got that power when all of us hit level ninety, and now, after the battle with the three demon champions, that skill leveled up, and we gained variants of that power. Max, for example, had Heavenly Barrier Armor . For most of us, activating the Heavenly Form no longer required that stupidly long chant time.

Even the chant time became irrelevant since Freyas, our resident lady with a fan, gained a power called Accelerated Chanting û Heavenly form . It allowed all of us to enter into the form within a minute.

In some ways, it was stupid that the system forced us to work around a long chant time at lower levels, and then removed it once we crossed level one hundred.

But, in a way, it told us that the gods planned on winning and had equipped us with powerful abilities and skills.

But I didnÆt get it. If our powers were so good, why had so many heroes died in the past?

Meela sat next to me. - Still thinking about it? -

We left the tree spirit a day ago, and Meela seemed fine despite our initial disagreements on what we should have done with the treeÆs request. But I guess that was a trivial matter. After all, we had a common enemy. The big, bad, evil guy. The demon king.

- Yeah. Still bothers me. -

- It bothers Max, too. -

We were closer to the rift now, and we sensed it. It was there if we tried to reach out to it.

The next demon champion was last spotted guarding one of the rifts, and our goal was to destroy it, gain levels, and then approach the demon king with significant force.

Meela usually rode next to me. - Maybe itÆs hidden in plain sight. Something obvious. -

Possible!

Along the way, some demons attacked, but we disposed of them easily. We were a group of high - level heroes. These small fries could hardly challenge us.

The journey toward the rift meant we faced more demons, and in a way, that was good. The more demons we got to fight, the higher level we became.

We arrived at the rift a few days later.

The rift was like a glitch in the system and appeared like something from a damaged LCD monitor. The beautiful view was jarringly broken by a large, unnaturally black gash across the sky that floated in midair. Demons poured out of that gap in droves. Thankfully, most of them were just lesser hounds.

The demon champion was a giant cyclops golem with multiple arms, and it functioned as more than just a guard. It issued commands to the new demons. It pointed, and the hounds went off in that direction.

We didnÆt hesitate. Attacking with our newfound powers, we crushed the demon champion easily. MaxÆs star - mana powered Starlight Smite skill weakened it significantly in a single blow, and a few hits later, it collapsed.

- Holy shit, this level one hundred thing really trivialized the demon champion, - Max said.

- Hah. Power creep, eh? - Freyas laughed. The rest of the lesser hounds didnÆt last very long. A few area of effect spells from us, and the fragile hounds died like helpless ants.

Still, the rift kept pouring demons out.

- Can we do something about it? -

Meela nodded. - IÆll need help, but I think so. - Meela started to dance in a rhythmic fashion, and her body glowed in myriad colors.

- Meela? - I sensed her mana, that special mana, and then something else.

- I had a dream, - she pointed both her swords at the rift, and two beams of starlight shot out toward the rift, - when I was in the pod. -

The lights smashed into the rift, and it looked like its energies battled the light.

- In the dream, I saw a rift close when heroes channeled their power into it. -

The rest of us together, with our combined powers, quickly overwhelmed the riftÆs energies, and it shrank. It eventually vanished in a spark of light. The deserted, destroyed valley suddenly turned quiet and normal again.

Demon king.

We felt a sensation in our bodies like an ice cube just rolled down our backs. The demon king. It was coming for us.

We shared a few glances. - The battle is going to happen soon. -

- How long do we have, you think? -

I felt it again, that presence at the back of my mind, always outside my peripheral vision. It knew where we were. Worst of all, it felt like I knew where it was, too.

Max and Hendry both sat. - I feel. maybe two weeks. - Strange, I had the same number in my head as well. We all shared the feeling.

- WhatÆs our strategy? -

- Hit it with all we got. At range. -

- ItÆs going to come after us with everything it has, too. -

- Then I suppose we should intercept it and catch it off guard. -

- I could do that. - I thought I might have just the spell for a long - range, homing magical spell.

It took a dayÆs preparation, but we got into position. We sensed it clearly, and if we could accurately sense it, we could launch an attack on it.

Eleven of us concentrated our energies into a glowing white energy ball above us, and this was our opening act.Æ

Neutron Comet .

It was a large building - sized ball of light that contained our charged energy.

It zoomed toward the demon king at high speed. The demon king was far away, perhaps a thousand miles, but the Neutron Comet was tuned to our sense of its location, and somehow, I knew we could hit it.

The comet impacted, and the air trembled for a moment, even though the blast was so far away. Then we sensed retaliation.

A wave of boulders flew toward us, but we deflected them away easily.

Even though the demon king was still far away, we knew then we could hit each other. For two weeks, we attacked the demon king with comets, and it retaliated with the boulders. There were lesser demons that came our way, too, but we crushed them easily.

Then we had visual contact. The demon king was now in range.

The Demon King Andraas took the form of a large flying fortress with multiple massive, spider - like legs. On its top half, there were multiple tentacle - covered buildings spread all over its body, and there were also multiple spires filled with alien eyes. It was as if a tentacled monster merged with a fortress.

It was angry, and it attacked.

Demon King Andraas

It unleashed a wave of rocks at close range, and these rocks were magically enchanted with demonic energy. Simultaneously, its spires and those alien - looking eyes shot beams of energy at us.

- This is it, guys. LetÆs go! - Hendry put up a magical barrier, and it cracked when the beams smashed into it.

The battle had begun.

We engaged the demon king at close range, and the deserted valley was instantly filled with beams of light, flying rocks, and our counter - magic.

I felt the air twist, and a jagged rock swooshed right past me.

I shivered.

The jagged rock broke into a million tiny, needle - like pieces of shrapnel when it was right next to me.

- Body of Fire . - My body of fire burned up the tiny rock needles as a few other rocks flew my way.

I looked around and saw my fellow heroes. Each of us had different ways of protecting ourselves. Freyas, with her wind magic, surrounded herself with a constant layer of magically enchanted high - speed wind that shredded the needles.

- Help! - I immediately turned and saw our gunner. A massive tentacle tried to crush him as he sped across the land. He fired shot after shot at the tentacle, and it detonated, yet the half - destroyed tendril kept attacking and almost caught him.

- Holy Thunderstrike . -

A bolt of lightning zapped the tentacle and paralyzed it. It was only for a split second, but it was enough to let our gunner escape.

MaxÆs sword glowed with holy magic, and he slashed at the tentacle. The holy energy flooded the entirety of the tendril, and it blew up, spattering the demon kingÆs blood everywhere.

- I thought they normally looked like. demons. -

- Well, thatÆs what the record said. But this demon king has been doing strange things from the start. It even has elemental hybrids! -

Hendry created a barrier, and we took this moment to enter our new forms.

The demon king roared, and its tentacles and legs flailed repeatedly at our defenses. I felt my heart skip a beat as the barrier cracked, and each blow of the tentacles made it crack even more.

I wondered whether we would make it, but we kept our chant going. A part of me watched the cracks as they appeared across the barrier.

Hendry nodded in relief when there was a flash of light. The armor complete, the barrier exploded outward, and a white flame burned the tentacles that flailed at the barrier. But still, the demon king was relatively unharmed.

Its massive spider - leg stabbed Max in the stomach at high speed. - UGH! - he yelled as he tried to push the limb back.

- MAX! - MeelaÆs light sword swished and slashed the leg off, but a stab from the demon king was still a stab. He was hurt.

MaxÆs blood dripped onto his sword, and he was in a frenzy. He climbed onto the demon kingÆs leg still connected to the main body and rushed forward.

- We should get on the body! - Max yelled. - WeÆre not going anywhere like this. -

- Good point. There might be a heart somewhere we can destroy! -

Freyas called the rest of us to gather around her, and she swept her fan. In an instant, a tunnel of wind appeared and carried us onto the body of the demon king, the tentacle - covered castle itself.

The fortress was like a demonic playhouse, and there were tentacles everywhere, each house covered with those same alien - looking eyes. There were also giant spiders that roamed the fortress. The demon king was a freaking demon spider nest.

- Should we just blow up this entire structure? -

- If we can. -

We attacked everything. The floor, the buildings, everything we saw. The tentacles and giant spiders attacked us, but they didnÆt do much against our barriers. These tentacles were somehow less powerful than the ones below it.

We eventually bored 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, slashed it, and the heart blew up and splashed tons of black blood everywhere.

- One. -

An army of human - sized demon knights appeared as we looked for the next heart. There were easily a thousand of them, and they were accompanied by the same demon spiders. They were stronger, but in our starlight forms, we still crushed them easily.

From there, it was a game of hide - and - seek. We looked for more demon hearts until we reached the one that killed the demon king.

We found the next heart in a tall spire, and it was our gunner who blew it up.

The third heart was hidden in one of the many buildings. The fourth was in a corrupted church, and the fifth was in barracks filled with demonic knights.

Was this demon king some kind of corruption king?

Each time, there were more and more demons that tried to stop us. But numbers were relatively meaningless.

- How many hearts are there? -

- Nine? - It was a random guess. probably.

We found the sixth and seventh hidden in another set of buildings.

As we destroyed the hearts, the demon king lost the ability to fly, and the castle drifted toward the ground. More demon knights and demon champions tried to stop us, but we destroyed them easily.

The eighth heart was in what looked like a polluted market, and then, the ninth heart was in a corrupted garden filled with spires and tentacles.

- ThatÆs it? -

At this point, we were all drenched in blood and whatever gunk the demon king was made of.

We felt everything shake as the fortress crashed to the ground, yet the tentacles kept up their attacks. But unlike before, their attacks were nothing more than random flailing.

Then the entire castle started to crumble, and the remnants of the demon kingÆs hearts floated to the sky and pooled into a black ball.

Meela laughed. - This is like a video game. ItÆs not even in its final form! -

The tentacles, the eyes, the legs, everything melted into a black liquid floating into the sky, merging with the black ball.

We didnÆt intend to let it finish, so we launched ranged attacks at the black liquid and ball, managing to incinerate some of the liquid.

Then an eyeball appeared on the black ball.

The next form was a massive black eye. And it introduced itself with a wave - ray of destruction.

Max and Hendry joined and put up a barrier, but that ray destroyed it instantly. The ray burned us. Unlike before, this wasnÆt a focused beam but more like a shining light, and everything the light touched started to combust.

Even with our protective armor, it was painful.

But we kept attacking, and cuts appeared on its body, yet this thing seemed to be a semi - liquid that partly nullified our attacks.

Meela used a special ability and managed to jump on it. She stabbed it repeatedly with her two swords.

The eye closed and tried to turn and twirl repeatedly, but MeelaÆs magical blades were too deeply embedded, stuck in the semi - liquid form. It tried to shake her off and flung her around like a ragdoll.

She was fine, though, and shouted, - ThereÆs something hard deep inside. I think we need to get it! -

That was the cue we needed, and our gunner took out a harpoon - like weapon. It fired a chained - harpoon and stabbed into the eye. I winced a little at the imagery.

He channeled energy through the chain into the eye, and then it blew up. Meela thankfully managed to jump away in time.

The eye, now destroyed, revealed a round red - black crystal.

And it pulsed.

Another pulse followed.

And it glowed.

- Oh, fuck me, itÆs going to explode. -

All of us huddled together and activated our defensive and barrier spells. At this range, and at this distance, there was no running away.

The crystal blew up with the strength of a huge hydrogen bomb.

Demon King Andraas has been slain.

YEAR 73, MONTH 2

A few days after the heroes left, Subsidiary Tree unlocked thirty additional trees. Used together with my natural tree spirit powers to stimulate plant growth, a small forest emerged around me. Though all these new smaller trees look like separate trees above ground, they were actually a part of me. These subsidiary trees were linked underground via rootnet, and they served a few functions.

Each separate tree unlocked one customizable branch. They also collected a few resources.

The immediate impact from a small forest was, of course, happier elves!

Well, Yura was happy for a few other reasons. As a result of his involvement in the battle with the three demon champions, he gained a level, and more importantly, the level removed his curse. It seemed that growth could overcome such curses naturally.

The elves were happy mainly because the additional trees reminded them of a time before the burning of Freeka, before demonic stampedes razed this place to the ground. Freeka was once surrounded by forests, and the forests were once home to many natural creatures the elves hunted and many herbs they used extensively in their cooking.

I tried to regrow the surrounding area multiple times, but before the trees managed to grow big, there would inevitably be a demon attack, and these regular trees just didnÆt stand a chance. These subsidiary trees, however, seemed to inherit some of my resistance and defensive qualities, and so I hoped they would last a lot longer.

The thirty extra trees formed two circles around me, six trees in the inner circle and twenty - four in the outer circle.

- It feels like a wall. - Yura looked around.

- It is meant to be a wall. - Indeed, the layer of demon-resistant trees was my idea of a defensive formation like a basic rampart.

- These trees, do they do something? - Laufen asked as Lozanna walked by her side.

As we had three younger elven children, Lozanna , Brislah and Walen , I converted one of the inner trees into a playroom. The secret hideout for my main tree didnÆt have much space as it functioned mostly as the actual living quarters, the food store, the lab, and the medical area. Oh, and there was a small pool.

These elven kids had seen too much pain and death, and I thought maybe a proper play area would bring a greater sense of normalcy into their lives. I equipped the playroom with a small slide, a few different toys, and some racks and small chairs made using my wood - forming magic.

Ah, children, such innocent souls.

Eh.

I wondered how a childÆs soul would look, and Lozanna was still too small, but Brislah volunteered for the dip.

It turned out that a childÆs soul was quite similar to Yura Æs, with one notable exception. The earth, or the body, was soft. The spring that poured out water seemed inconsistent. Brislah Æs soul, at strange times, surged and then shrank. It was as if the soul itself wasnÆt yet stable.

- When do children start practicing magic? -

- Oh. it differs by culture. - Laufen and Yura sat around and explained. - Some cultures believed it was best to let the body mature before attempting to draw out mana, and so, for them, the exposure to magic would be quite late, like some started in their mid - teens. Some cultures believed it was better to be exposed early and let mana flow more freely in the body. -

- And different societies expose them differently. It is not as if there is one standard way of doing so, and of course, the bodies of different people are also very different. People all over the world may learn the same spell, but the bodyÆs elemental preference and natural stats can change how that translates into the real world. In fact, the only somewhat uniformly agreed skill that appears the same way is the most basic of spells: spark! Even that, from what I hear, doesnÆt apply to heroes! -

Hmm. I supposed the shape of the body - the way that water flowed from the soul to the body - caused that difference.

Walen was next, and I saw more of the same. There were some differences in the details, but structurally, they were similar to Brislah .

Actually, I now wondered, what about me?

I was a tree spirit, but I definitely thought I had a soul, and I wondered whether it was possible to look at myself the way I peeked into others.

I tried, and.

Nope.

I couldnÆt see myself. Though I possessed a wide array of menus, indicators, and measures on these menus. Oh, well, maybe someday I would get some kind of reflection - ish ability. But then again, menus were supposed to be more accurate; after all, they quantified everything into a number or a status.Æ

But my recent experience with these souls did highlight some of the limitations of these menus and dashboards. Numbers were rigid. Compared to my vision of oneÆs soul, the ability to visualize the flowing water through the body, these visual experiences explained how everything was linked, and how the body interacted with the kind of energies it produced.

Anyway, back to the children, and my newfound tree - mates.

With thirty new extra customizable - branches, I reserved the innermost trees for the elves. With the inner six trees, one became a playpen for the kids, and two more trees functioned as extra rooms for the elves - and perhaps future visitors. This was to create some separation, and I wanted my secret hideout to remain secure. I left three more trees in the inner ring empty for now. This was partly due to the process of converting one occupied customizable branch to another type took a month, even though the first change from a blank tree took only a day.

As for the twenty - four trees of the outer ring, I designated one tree as a kennel for the woodhounds, fourteen for various extraction functions such as essences and minerals, and five trees served as housing for insect warriors. This spawned an additional fifteen insect warriors into my service. I left another four unused for future expansion. Perhaps I would get some kind of defensive option in the future, then I could assign these unused four to new roles quickly.

I designated quite a few of these subsidiary trees with customizable branches for essence extraction because Wisp claimed that essence was one of the key materials for the Soul Forge . Still, even now, the Soul Forge wasnÆt operational.

The Soul Forge needed a power source.

With the two rings of trees completed, the elves happily walked around and explored the place. This was an expanded safe area. Yura immediately took one of the extra rooms, and the two young elves, Emile and Belle, took the other. Laufen and the children remained in the secret hideout.

Unfortunately, the only toilet and washroom were in the secret hideout. Perhaps a common public bath could be made later.

- Tree - Tree, will these rooms grow? -

- Maybe? I donÆt really know. - I wondered whether these trees could level up, because if they could, then I could give them more options. But I thought it was quite unlikely as they were connected to me. DidnÆt seem to make sense that these separated trees could have their own experience and levels.

- Ah, oh well. - Belle shook her leg as she sat on her new mattress. In the room shared by the two elven girls, there were three single - sized beds and a few cabinets. It was a fairly large room, and there were windows with a view of the main tree. These rooms looked like they were carved out of the trees themselves.

Emile checked out her new cabinets. She was quite happy she could move her clothes out of her wooden chest in the hideout and into proper cabinets.

- You think the heroes will defeat the demon king? - Emile sat on the other mattress and asked Belle.

- Yeah, of course they will. They are heroes! -

- Not as good - looking as IÆd hoped, though. -

- Well, I guess history paints heroes with a whole lot of makeup! - Belle laughed and rolled on her new bed. The mattress was made with old clothes stuffed inside.

Emile stood and looked out one of the windows and saw a few of the new trees. They were home to the giant beetles and had hollowed - out trunks. A few of the creatures rested around their trees. The beetles were magically linked to Tree - Tree, even if they fed on the sap their trees produced.

She felt a little tingle, an instinctual fear. It was weird to be so near these giant beetles, but they were minions, creations of the tree spirit.

Yura walked in. - Ah, the design of the rooms is the same. -

- Oh, hey, Yura . -

- Settling in already? -

- Yeah. Finally, a space outside! -

- Yeah, tree spirits are amazing. - I knew from the elves that there were other tree spirits around the world with similar powers, and some of these ancient tree spirits managed to elude the wrath of the demons by escaping. They tell stories of how some of these legendary trees created mystical forests that were able to disappear temporarily. The methods the denizens of the world used to survive and outlast the demons were quite interesting. Some chose to disappear, and some chose to be constantly on the 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.

Customizable branch option unlocked: Shield Generator.

Soul Tree range greatly expanded.

It started with a set of pop - ups, and then I had a very, very bad feeling, and I asked all the elves to hide. They didnÆt know why yet, but they trusted my commands. I activated all the defensive measures that came with the higher levels, and indeed, there was something that came.

There was a small delay of about an hour after the notification, and then a strong wind swept across the entire area. It felt like the shockwave from a faraway explosion, and it brought searing, hot air. Thankfully, the winds had weakened considerably after all the distance traveled.

- What the hell was that! - Yura exclaimed as he watched the trees sway and almost topple from the winds.

- The demon king has died. And. I think some kind of massive explosion happened. -

- Oh! - The elves clapped their hand. - ThatÆs great news! -

- And the heroes died as well. -

- Oh. ThatÆs sad, but thatÆs great news, too! - Yura frowned and then laughed.

- What? Why? - The other elves looked at Yura .

- Surviving heroes tend to create political chaos after the demon threats are nullified. Actually, quite a few of the human kingdoms and empires we see today are descended from heroes. So, heroes, while necessary, create a whole lot of wars and fighting after that. -

So, what next?

- What would you do to prepare for the next demon king? - I asked.

The elves paused.

- Uh. -

Wait. I thought elves being long - lived creatures usually planned things out.

Yura and Laufen glanced at each other. - Well, we concentrated on our day - to - day lives. Sometimes we worked, and sometimes we trained, or we would spend our time looking after the kids. We, uh, we donÆt think much about the next demon king. If it happens, it happens. The kings and emperors, senior priests, and all the rulers worry about such stuff. -

Those words reminded me of people stuck in dead - end jobs, unable to see the bigger picture because they were just faced with deadline after deadline at work. They were so busy surviving they didnÆt have the capacity to think or plan for longer - term events.

- And even if we think about it, the demon king is so powerful that whatever plans we make arenÆt going to work. -

Well, thatÆs fair. If itÆs not something you had the ability to change, thereÆs really no use worrying about it.

At that point, it was the children who spoke up. Brislah and Walen laughed and said, - If we could be heroes, then we could beat the demon king! - That was actually the idea. If we could beat the demon king, then we need not worry about the problems it created.

And I wanted to try that idea. Would it be possible to make someone into a hero? I wondered whether Soul Forge had that sort of ability, but first, I needed to get my Soul Forge online.

YEAR 73, MONTH 3, WEEK 3

The news of the demon kingÆs death took a while to spread as not everyone possessed a nice notification in their menus like I did.

The elves said that where the demon king perished, the land was sometimes warped by the mixture of his demonic magic and the natural magic in the area, and this created a special type of mana crystal known as Daemolite.

Daemolite was a valuable resource as it could only be found at the sites where the demon kings died, and the number of mana crystals created after the death of each demon king was finite. It was highly valued for its ability to store mana in large quantities, therefore making it useful for high mana requirement spells, rituals, and generally as a source of power for large, long - range weapons. Adventurers also used them as a sort of reusable mana potion as they lacked the pain and side effects from using too many potions. The crystals stored the heroes mana, which they could withdraw later on.

This meant the period immediately after the demon kingÆs death was usually a mad rush to the site to harvest these minerals. It was for these reasons that some adventurers had a secondary mission given by their countries, which was to observe and inform their benefactors of the location of the demon kingÆs demise and harvest these crystals.

It wasnÆt easy to mine such minerals, despite the fact these crystalline structures were usually scattered all over the surface. The dense mana pools usually attracted leftover demons, stimulated the spawning of large monsters, and had a tendency to generate unusual weather or environmental effects.

Daemolite was valuable, but what really got kings and countries to send large armies to seize control of the areas was for the chance to find a very rare object. The last remains of each demon king were supposedly small, finger - sized horns, known as the Horns of Eternity. Ground into powder and consumed, it restored oneÆs youth, extended oneÆs life significantly, and depending on compatibility gained access to a special type of magic known as chaos magic. That said, in recent times, no one had ever found one, and so they remained an elusive artifact. Some said only certain demon kings generated it, and some others said it was nothing more than a myth.

With this as our backdrop, we had our next human encounter.

- Airship! - The elves pointed to an object in the sky.

Oh, a magical airship. I was amazed that these things existed in this world after all. From what little IÆd seen so far, this world mostly relied on land - based transportation, so I was fairly surprised by the airship. The airship was a small one, and it zoomed ahead quickly.

At this point, Yura looked up. - That airship. -

- Huh? -

- They belong to the Salah Kingdom that attacked us. - It brought up memories of their cruel act, where they burned the entire village. I felt anger.

Ah. That was a kingdom I didnÆt want to benefit. I realized I couldnÆt attack it at range as my Root Strike certainly didnÆt reach that high. If only I had some kind of lasso. I would work on that for next time. Perhaps flying insects, too.

As I reviewed my arsenal, I thought about whether my fruits could possibly hit the airship if I fired them. Perhaps I could create exploding fruits, too, like explosive mangrove seeds.

I created a bunch of corrosive fruits, and right as it flew overhead, I unleashed a huge barrage of fruits. The fruits smashed into the underbelly of the airship, it shook in midair from the impact, and then it started to lose altitude like it was about to crash.

The airship shuddered, but somehow, they performed a controlled landing. The airship skidded to a landing, and then once it came to a complete stop, about six drowsy, partly injured men popped out.

- Huh? What the hell happened? - one of them asked as he staggered out. He seemed like a fairly experienced adventurer.

- We were attacked. Something hit us with these things. - Another guy pointed at the remains of the corrosive fruits stuck on the bottom half of the hull. It was riddled with splattered fruit.

- ThereÆs only that bunch of trees. Do you think something is in there? -

- Of course it is. What else could it be? -

- LetÆs go check it out. - The six men took out their weapons and approached the outer trees. They approached carefully, but once they got closer and all were within range, my roots surged out of the ground and wrapped their bodies like multiple pythons.

They screamed.

But my roots and vines were able to hold back a demon champion.

They struggled.

My beetles charged out and snatched their weapons. Some dropped to the ground.

Weapon - less and restrained, I wondered what I should do with them.

Kill them?

At that point, I wondered whether all men of the Kingdom of Salah were the same. Maybe these men were unaware of the atrocities their compatriots committed.

- Tie them up and interrogate them. Find out what they want, - I mentally spoke to Yura .

Yura took my extra - strong paralyzing sap and fed all of them, except one. It caused the five men who had a taste of the bitter sap to shiver and convulse like they were electrocuted. They fainted soon after.

The last man, the oldest, and the one who seemed to be in charge, stared at Yura . - What the fuck are you doing? -

- You belong to the Salah Kingdom, and they destroyed this village some time ago. IÆm just taking revenge. -

The manÆs eyes widened. - I had nothing to do with it. -

- Really? - Yura shrugged. - ThatÆs what everyone says. But I might spare your life if youÆre cooperative. Otherwise, IÆll kill you. -

The beetle carried the remaining five men into a wooden cell, one of the extra customizable branches. Essentially, it was a room but with no windows and a door that could only be opened from the outside. After all, as these were my trees, I had full control over who was able to access them. There were vines inside that held their bodies.

- So, do you want to cooperate? -

- Fine. What do you want to know? -

- Good. -

The group of beetles transported the damaged airship and moved it to the space between my main tree and the sub - trees. I would take a closer look at it later. I found the idea of having my own airship appealing, even if I couldnÆt use it.

YEAR 73, MONTH 3, WEEK 4

The adventurers were still alive, and my routine involved putting them under the microscope. I observed certain differences in the human body compared to elves, and this was most apparent in the nature of the water of their souls. The elves had a very slight greenish tinge to them, and it seemed to explain the elves natural disposition toward nature - based magics and why it was harder for them to use magics that contradicted this natural disposition. Humans generally had clear, colorless water.

After a week of being in and out of the biolab pods, they had gone slightly crazy, and it seemed like they were hallucinating. Perhaps it was the sleep - inducing elements I injected into them via the nourishing branches.

- Are we going to keep them here forever? - the younger elves complained, but they still put up with it because they were monitored by beetles and restrained by the vines.

Well, I planned to dispose of them, eventually. But, for now, they were useful. If the Soul Forge was that powerful, I had to establish an understanding of what the soul was.

Yura grinned, a part of it colored by his hatred of past events. - I would like to fight them one on one. -

Hmm, maybe I could set up a match between Yura and them and allow them to fight for their fate. But what if he lost?

No, if he lost, it would be a problem.

- Fine. If they win, they go free. -

Yura gulped, but he was the best fighter the elf village had, even more so with all the additional levels from the recent battles.

- Let them know, one on one, if they win, they go free, and if they lose, they die. -

The adventurers were more than happy with such a challenge, and so they agreed. So, the next day, the captain faced Yura just outside the ring of trees. I would still be able to easily kill them with a Root Strike , so I wasnÆt too concerned.

The battle started with both the captain and Yura staring at each other as they readied their weapons.

- Start. - Laufen was flanked by about six beetles as she started the match. She shook her head. To her, this was a silly thing.

The two men traded sword strikes, but it was soon clear Yura was a lot stronger. I figured as much, as my investigations into the human body didnÆt suggest anything special.

The adventurer tried a few dodgy tricks - a poison dagger, a random hidden weapon - but they all failed. Yura , as an elven warrior, had fought adventurers many times in the past, so such tricks were not new to him.

One slash from Yura , and the battle ended. All in, the battle was mostly posturing for a good three to five minutes. The actual fighting was shorter, barely two minutes and that was it.

So the human adventurers died.

YEAR 73, MONTH 4, WEEK 2

Peace and quiet. It was lovely. Rather than killing the remaining adventurers with a Root Strike , I felt like trying something different. I used my rootÆs natural Absorption abilities, and I drained them into nothing but a husk.

With the new weapons and items collected from the adventurers, the elves could practice different kinds of fighting, which they would eventually need.

It dawned on me that I would need new skills and abilities soon. One alternative to the Soul Forge was to power it myself, but that would require a tremendous amount of energy, and so I explored how to store energy. The system gave me a solution. It came in the form of a potato.

Tree ability: create tuberous storage.

A potato that stores energy.

YEAR 73, MONTH 4, WEEK 3

One tuber for every customizable branch. In total, that was forty potatoes. My main body had grown and had room for ten customizable branches, and thirty for each of the subsidiary trees. These regular - sized potatoes were now my standard unit for energy.

The energy cost of my Soul Forge activities would be measured in potato units (PU). I suspected, as with all units of measurements in a world with game - like mechanics, they would go obsolete very soon. Maybe in a decade or two, I would be using MegaPUs or GigaPUs.

Aside from my experiments on energy storage, we noticed a group of returning refugees.

Displaced by the demonic invasion, these men and women sought to return to their old homes, to rebuild and to see what was left. Their expression was a mix of fear, excitement, relief, and worry.

I didnÆt blame them. Returning after so long, there was a lot to think about. They probably lost a lot to the demons, and yet they still wanted to return. They didnÆt approach us and continued their journey.

- I wonder how everyone else is, those from our village? - Laufen sat on one of the flat roots that linked the main tree to the other trees. Yura sat a small distance away, opposite her.

- They are now in the elven kingdom. IÆd like to think they are fine. - Yura nodded, but he was probably faking the optimism. Not many survived the journey and restarting their lives in a foreign land was hard, even with skills and levels.

- Do you think they will come back? -

- If they know what we have, yes. - Yura patted the wood. It was like a table.

There were a lot of things I wanted to do. One of them was to make contact with other spirits.

I thought about extending the range of my rootnet, so I could find them, but it was a difficult exercise, and they were probably very far away. So it was important to locate other spirits and find a way to link up.

The elves didnÆt remember where the nearest tree spirit was, and it was possible that not all tree spirits were known. Rumors said those attuned to nature could sense their presence, and so I wondered whether I sensed my fellow spirits.

Then I got a call from Wisp.

- Hello. - Wisp floated, surrounded by multiple other floating souls. They glowed like little balls of white light, and they orbited Wisp.

- Oh. Hi, Wisp. -

One of the little balls stopped and floated right in front of me. - Tree Spirit. -

- Huh? - Oh, was this like Gewa? I immediately took a better look and noticed this ball was different. Its glow pulsed, and the color was different, a slightly bluish tone.

- One of your heroes. Unlike the others, there is something that held it back from returning to the gods. -

- So you are? - Heroes? Ah, well, heroes were supposed to be special. Their spirits belonged to the gods.

- Meela. Died. -

How?

- Her soul is in pretty bad shape. Whatever caused her death had to be really bad. Souls, even those of the gods, naturally decay when they are unprotected, and so itÆs actually amazing this soul made the journey here. - Wisp floated. - YouÆll need Soul Forge to repair her. -

- Why? - I asked MeelaÆs ball of light.

- Promise. Help. Tree Spirit. -

- My guess was it followed the path of the familiars attached to it, or else it would have given up and returned to the gods. She seems to hold rather strong emotions of a debt to you, so she returned. -

Ah. It was a bit like Gewa, but for Meela, it was her promise. I needed to figure out how all this worked.

- Okay, will it decay further? -

- Nope. Now that itÆs in your soul realm, the decay has stopped. -

- I see. - It seemed to me that everything related to souls must start with a functional Soul Forge . - Can I ask what happened? -

- Demon King. Explode. Die. - MeelaÆs soul bobbed up and down.

Oh, okay.

- I think thatÆs all it can manage for now. - Wisp stopped me from going further. - You can talk to her again tomorrow. Her soul energy is exhausted, and she needs rest. -

Meela moved away, and the other souls followed.

- The rest of these lights, are they the other reincarnators? - I asked, but I noticed the other souls didnÆt look like MeelaÆs. They were ordinary.

- No. Just random souls that died within your range. You get a lot of these. - They were drawn to me, kind of like a magnet.

- DonÆt these souls have information I can use? - If they could talk like Gewa, that meant I could get a constant stream of information, so long as people died!

- Maybe, but you need Soul Forge to squeeze it out of them. -

- Seriously! Must everything be dependent on Soul Forge ? -

- No, you can also get a skill, but youÆre not there yet. Spend more time in the soul realm, you might learn something. - Wisp then whooshed away.

YEAR 73, MONTH 4, WEEK 4

Refugees! And adventurers. These two groups had somewhat aligned interests. Refugees wanted to return to their old homes, while adventurers wanted to check out what was left behind. From the many demon battles, those who perished sometimes left valuable items behind that were useless to demons. The adventurers needed the refugees knowledge of their areas to help find where people used to live and the location of common haunts. Perhaps they were here to raid any abandoned castles.

We saw four batches of refugees, mostly humans, and then one odd lizardman. Too bad the lizardman didnÆt get close to our location. I would have loved to put him under the scope.

These groups mostly avoided me. It seemed a gigantic tree surrounded by two rings of trees must appear scary!

I did some thinking and came up with three categories of threats I needed to prepare for.

The first threat was the nearby kingdoms. The kingdoms would eventually want to restore their rule over the land, and they would come back and claim this place. If their army came here, I would need to be prepared to face an army easily larger than before. I would also need to include their adventurers as well, those who may see myself as a prize, a bounty, or a monster to be slain. It was likely there were kingdoms and adventurers that didnÆt see tree spirits as something that needed to be protected. My experience with the Gaya Temples said as much.

The second threat was the non - demonic monsters. I had it easy with my various buffs against demons, but with the demons gone, that meant we would return to facing the regular monsters. So far, I could handle most of the regular monsters, but if there were greater monsters, then I wasnÆt so sure. There might be dragons, or monsters of that level, which might now be attracted to my larger size. I wasnÆt convinced of my odds if a fire - breathing dragon came my way.

The last threat was obviously the returning demon king. From past trends, it seemed to be a ten - year cycle, and I wasnÆt sure whether ten years was enough time to prepare. IÆll also wanted to know whether I could somehow influence the return of the demon king. Perhaps the rift size influenced the demon kingÆs return or something. If I could figure out how to push the time back - even by a year or two - that might allow more options. Or maybe I could even push it back indefinitely.

The kingdoms were the immediate threat, of course, and I would like to get back at the Salah Kingdom more for what they did to the elves. I thought about how to deal with a conventional army and concluded that I would need a large amount of area effect abilities, a standing army of my own - perhaps in the form of a large beetle army or a large group of converted woodhounds - and also some camouflage or ambush - like abilities to take out unprepared forces.

The peace among nations was held together through fear of the big, bad guy, the demon king, and once it was dead, the cracks naturally emerged. The period after the demon king was usually followed by all sorts of rebellions, coups, power grabs, and so on.

Against this backdrop of political turmoil, I could offer protection from demons as part of a strategy to gather supporters and rebuild Freeka.

Against non - demonic monsters, my hopes were on the elves, Yura in particular. I would need to get them to the point where they could handle regular monsters, but I would still be stumped if I ever encountered dragons or other powerful flying beasts. My existing anti - air options were limited or close to nonexistent, and my fire resistances may or may not apply against dragon fire, but I hoped I didnÆt have to find out.

For demon kings, I honestly didnÆt know where to start. First, I figured that needed data - what was written and recorded in books about the demon kings - so I wanted to find libraries, scribes, historians, and other trees of knowledge, if there were such things.

- Tree - Tree. - Emile snapped me out of my thoughts. The elves could call out to me anywhere around my main tree, and I could receive it. The range of my telepathic communication widened with my subsidiary trees.

- Yes? -

- Can you put your smaller trees anywhere? Must they be next to you? -

- Good question. - I didnÆt think about that at all. The moment I got the ability I just instinctively placed them around me.

Subsidiary trees can be placed anywhere so long as it remains connected to your root network. Each subsidiary tree also extends your root network.

Thank you, Mr. System. It was like a build - range thing commonly seen in strategy games. My subsidiary trees were essentially pylons.

- Why do you ask, Emile? -

- Oh, I thought itÆll be cool if we could like. have a room to stay at the end of every dayÆs journey. If we were on a journey. IÆm just daydreaming. - Emile laughed and rolled on her bed. - Or maybe the trees could become a wall or something. -

Hmm, spacing out the trees like electrical pylons was an interesting idea since my vision was shared by my trees.

- Or maybe theyÆll be like the magical twin - trees of the old Ellara. There were these two spiritual trees that were apparently twins, and they had a connected portal that allowed a person to move between the trees. -

Well, thanks for the idea, Emile! Maybe IÆll get there someday.

YEAR 73, MONTH 5, WEEK 1

I was trying to find out whether my leaves could act as some kind of energy generator since I discovered the potato storage. In a way, a solar - panel/battery combination. If this world was a game, I thought it should be possible, but I wasnÆt sure what I was missing to get them. There should be a more efficient and higher output design and construction.

Leaves generated food, and the tubers functioned as storage of the food, and if the leaves produced more, the tubers refilled quicker.

Maybe I was missing certain kinds of minerals.

I was also stuck with Soul Forge , but this time, at least I knew what I was missing.

To fire it up for the first time, 1,000 potato units (PU). Subsequent use depends on the type of forging or changes you are making.

It was rather weird that the system used my terminology. I suspected it had some ability to adapt to our norms and indicators. Then again, if the system supported heroes coming over from entirely different worlds, surely it had some ability to translate words, norms, and jargon.

Anyway, from what I calculated so far, I currently had forty potatoes underground. Each of my trees generated 1PU, and my main body generated 10PU. So, if I combined my existing production and released my stored energy, I could hit 80PU.

920PU to go. I needed to figure out how to close that gap. The elves, using their mana, could each produce about 1PU to 3PU worth of energy. In the scheme of things, their contribution was relatively negligible.

I also compared the potatoes against the storage capacity of the Daemolite. I wanted to know why everyone was looking to get some.

- There are a fair few souls coming. - Wisp bobbed and floated in my soul realm. Lately, it looked like a firefly park. I wondered whether there was a capacity. - No. ThereÆs no limit. -

- If I kill someone, do I get their soul? -

- If they are strong and hold strong emotions against you, no. Otherwise, thereÆs a high chance you would. Most souls lose most of their worldly bindings and donÆt really care what spirit tree or spirit being captures them. -

- Why donÆt all the souls with my familiars float back to me? - I wondered whether he knew, but I suspected it was just random chance.

- ThereÆs quite a bit of. randomness involved. Proximity, luck, the manner of death, whether there are other soul trees nearby. a lot of things influence it. The ideal situation for you to absorb a soul is to repeat what happened with Gewa. In short, they need to die right next to you, on their own. Killing them or a painful death reduces those 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 whether their rules are different. In any case, the damage her soul received currently prevents her from moving on. -

Ah, so there were plenty of souls unable to move on. A gruesome death sometimes damaged the soul and released dark energy that might create haunted places or manifest as evil spirits. Spiritual intermediaries, such as tree spirits, exorcists, evokers, spiritualists, or certain types of places of worship, came in to control such negative energies and managed these wayward souls.

YEAR 73, MONTH 5, WEEK 2

It was getting hot.

The small patch of crops the elves planted around the trees were doing well, their growth augmented by my presence. There were multiple wooden pots, made from wood magic, hanging around all the branches and also on the floor, and they contained herbs and local spices. There was also a small patch that cultivated edible potatoes and corn.

Harvest should happen soon, at least for this batch.

Now that we were a small forest of trees, Yura practiced his tree - jumping. Elven archers usually jumped from tree to tree to get into their firing position. Previously with only one tree, he didnÆt have anywhere to jump. It was also a little silly since he couldnÆt use a bow with his arm out of commission.

The kids wanted to follow what he was doing, but it was too dangerous, so Laufen kept them in the playpen. Lozanna was at that mimicry stage, and even with her size, she tried to climb the trees.

Also, one random day, I acquired a new skill, or actually an upgrade of an existing skill.

Customizable Branches upgraded. New customizable branch option: Harvestable Products obtained.

Options are: Cotton, Maple Syrup, Oranges, Olives. Expanded options will be available with higher levels or when new types of fruit are studied in the biolab.

Ah, man. I didnÆt feel like using the inner ring of trees or the main treeÆs available branches for that, so that left the four outer - ring trees for this function. So I asked the elves for their opinions.

- For us, weÆd like cotton. WeÆll get to make new mattresses, new clothes, and new pillows. We already have rather tasty fruits, - Laufen and Belle answered.

- If we see more travelers, maybe there will be merchants, too! Olives and syrups should sell quite well; we can get money! -

- Ah. money. - Hmm, that would be interesting.

I still wanted to leave some of the outer trees available, so I chose one of the trees for cotton and another for olives. The two chosen trees entered a sort of hibernation stage, and I sensed their inner body start to change. In fact, as I reached out to one, a pop - up appeared in my head.

Transforming to produce chosen products, please wait three days.

Ah, well, thatÆs not long.

With the merchant thing, though, I assumed I would scare them if I spoke directly into their head.

- WeÆll do it, - the three ladies, Laufen, Emile, and Belle, volunteered. - We used to buy and sell stuff with merchants, so I think we can handle it. -

All right, then. Olives for sale.

YEAR 73, MONTH 5, WEEK 4

The two trees completed their transformation and started production immediately, and each tree produced one cartload of olives and one bale of cotton per week.

The elves needed a storeroom, so for now, they stored the harvested goods within the secret hideout. The cotton was rather raw, so the elves and kids helped with processing it into a more usable form, which would take quite a while. In some places of the world, magic was used to process these raw cottons.

As for the olives, they were harvested in their fruit form and would be pressed for olive oil later. The elves said these oils were rather expensive since they didnÆt grow everywhere.

The quality of these two produces was average, and I supposed that was because I just acquired the skill for them. Perhaps I would get the ability to produce higher - quality produce at a later date.

The arrival of the additional crops made the elves busier, and somehow, it cheered them up. It reminded them of proper village life where everyone had work to do. Even if it was tiring to clean and process the cotton or press the olives with the wooden press, the elves found purpose, comfort, and even pleasure in these chores.

Occasionally, there were still some stray packs of hellhounds and other monsters, but they were easily disposed of by the beetle group.

Then came an odd bunch. They were like adventurers but different.

- Ah, bless the nameless mother! - Druids! They seemed extremely interested, and so they moved closer. - These trees! They look untouched by the demonÆs destruction. -

- Ah, indeed. The gods are kind for some lands are preserved! -

As the elves hid, Laufen shook her head. I was worried. Druids were not a group I liked to deal with, and I just remembered being moved twice!

- Who are these people? - I asked the hidden elves.

- It looks like there are people living here! - one of the druids muttered as the rest caught up.

A man wearing a strange wig, with a necklace of multiple tiny bones, claws, and feathers, looked and pointed at me. He reminded me of a shaman or witchdoctor, and he carried a wooden staff decorated with small skulls and bones.

- Spirit sign. -

- Oh? - Another man came up next to him. He wore a long, flowing, white cloak and hood and resembled a priest. - That explains it. -

- Shall we leave? - the shaman asked, and the others nodded.

- Yes, yes. This place doesnÆt need our help -

- Wait! Wait! - the super - excited first guy interjected. - I think there are elves here. -

- Yes. So? -

- IsnÆt there a bounty on elves? -

- No. - The shaman shook his head. - No elf hunting. -

- DonÆt let the king hear that, - another of his companions chimed in as he rode up next to him.

- HeÆs no king. -

- Okay, okay. WeÆre not having this conversation. LetÆs go, letÆs go. - One of them got in between the shaman and the other member of the party and tried to break up their conversation. - WeÆve got plenty more to do. -

The shaman nodded, and they moved on.

I felt relieved to see them go.

YEAR 73, MONTH 6, WEEK 2

Shrubs and small trees grew around my circle of trees now. They had been growing since spring began, and now they formed another layer outside. Throughout the valley, weeds and small shrubs popped up, and the elves described how the entire valley now had a layer of greenery, mostly grass.

My presence contributed to this burst of nature and vegetation.

Then we saw people building roads.

A group of forty or so constructed roads using a mix of earth and fire magic, building across the valley. They were accompanied by cartographers and a group of guards.

- LetÆs mark this on the map. -

- ItÆs Freeka, isnÆt it? We should say itÆs uninhabited now. -

- Yeah, whatÆs left of it. But it looks like other than the destroyed forests, the general area is unchanged. -

- At least thatÆs a section of the map we donÆt have to change much. -

- Yeah, - the first man agreed as he scribbled on what appeared to be a large floating book.

I found it interesting to watch the mage - builders at work. The earth mages formed bricks from the soil and dirt, and the fire mages used fire magic to cook the bricks. The other mages magically arranged and levitated them to where they were supposed to go. It was a continuous, ongoing process, and these tiled roads would contribute to faster travel for merchant wagons.

- But we do need to note down that giant tree. ItÆll be a landmark. -

- Giant trees. Probably magical. To be investigated further. -

And that was the end of it. They moved on, rebuilding roads that were previously lost.

In this world, the devastation caused by magic was incredible. Towns flattened, hills destroyed, and forests razed. But on the flipside, natureÆs magic also restored the hills and forests at a speed far faster than my own. There was also a greater power at work that repopulated empty lands with monsters and animals.

And despite the really huge number of deaths from every demon attack, it seemed the worldÆs population was still rather stable. Not all continents were affected by the demon king, though it rotated its appearance between the continents. So the destruction was usually localized and contained within a particular continent. It was usually when the heroes failed that the demons gradually spread across the worlds. The demonic rifts would open everywhere, at least until the demon king was killed.

In my opinion, the presence of reincarnators and heroes made the natural denizens of the world. lazy. And selfish.

Because it wasnÆt their problem.

The heroes would deal with it.

The armies nearest to the demons were there just to buy time and reduce the destruction, but kingdoms across the oceans, on the other continents, would not send armies to their aid. I found my thoughts constantly returning to how the demon king was a regular disaster. It was like a mega - hurricane that happened every ten to fifteen years, and if what Meela briefly suggested was true, they seemed to get stronger each time.

That didnÆt make sense to me, of course. If they always got stronger each time, and this world had been around for ages, surely the world would have been destroyed eventually.

That also led to the next question. What if there were no heroes? What if there was no next time?Æ

I hoped I wasnÆt jinxing it, but what if? Ah, maybe I should ask the gods. Could I talk to gods in this world?

Maybe I shouldnÆt think so much. I am a tree, right?

- Tree - Tree. - Lozanna said as she sat on my roots the following day. Ah, yes. I had gotten distracted. Baby duties. When the adults were busy with the olive press or splitting the cotton fibers, Laufen occasionally asked me to keep Lozanna entertained. Brislah and Walen were old enough to be given some tasks, but Lozanna , at three years old, was still too small.

- Yes? -

- Play time. Please, make a wood ball? -

- Oh, okay. Sure. - A wooden ball appeared from a branch, and she grabbed it. She had many wooden balls, but she seemed to enjoy the newly made wooden balls the most. She said the surface was smooth.

- Ball. -

- Yes. Ball. -

- Balls are like round fruits. Like oranges. But smoother. -

- Yes. - Lozanna hopped around, carrying her wooden ball. She walked out of the hideout to the inner circle courtyard. The other elves were 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 canÆt make a ball that big, - I said.

- Oh. - Lozanna looked down.

- Can you make a treehouse? So I can throw balls farther? -

Well, I could make a mini - treehouse in her playroom. But then she was only three.

- Ah. Yes, I can. -

No. Wait. I didnÆt have the skill? Then again, I could create a treehouse - like structure, it just would not be secured to the tree.

- Can you make one now? -

- Uh. no. -

- Why not? -

- I need to prepare. -

- Can you make stairs? -

- Yes. - Where was Lozanna going with this?

- Can you make stairs between trees? - she asked.

ThatÆs like bridges, no? Should be possible, even though the trees were 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, you are. -

- How much taller and stronger can I grow? Will I be a hero someday? - Lozanna kicked the wooden ball. It was hollow and smooth so it wouldnÆt hurt much. The ball rolled onto another bunch of roots.

- Maybe like your mommy. -

- Can I be strong instead, so I can protect Mommy and everyone? -

- Why not? If you work for it. -

- Uncle Yura said not everyone has the ability to be a hero. He says we need to be born with the talent. -

Man, Yura was a bit too much of a realist there. But then again, he was correct.

- IÆm just telling her to not pursue the impossible. People are born with a ceiling to their ability. Everyone gets there and then plateaus off, - Yura had told her once.

Really? Maybe his understanding was incorrect. But, then again, I wasnÆt sure, either. Was this world so fatalistic that everyone settled at a certain level? Was there a level cap?Æ

- I can, right? - Lozanna looked at me, hopeful. She wanted to be a hero, and I thought, well, maybe she could.

- Yes, of course. -

She smiled, picked up one of the small sticks, and swung it around like she was fighting. She was a bit too young for that, honestly.

Laufen shook her head as she watched, but she didnÆt stop her daughter. She went back to work, sorting through the cotton threads. They made some kind of basic loom, but they needed quite a bit of manual assistance to make basic cotton into cloth.

YEAR 73, MONTH 6, WEEK 3

A large caravan passed by, and the elven girls waited along the road made by the earlier builders.

- I hope they are sure. -

- No oneÆs sure, but if we manage to get there first, we will be one of the first groups to reopen the old trade routes. And that will make us rich. The price differentials are huge! -

There were easily two hundred people in this group, with about a hundred horses carrying goods. I wasnÆt exactly sure whether they were actually horses since they looked slightly different to me.

- I wonder why they didnÆt just send airships. -

- You know how expensive the power crystals are? And they take so long to charge! -

At about this time, their conversation was interrupted.

- Hello, merchants! Would you like to buy some oils and cloth? -

They turned, and Laufen and Belle were there with one basket each. One contained olive oil stored in small wooden bottles, and the other contained the processed cotton cloth.

Of course, just a small a distance away were my beetles, hidden in the tall, natural weeds. The two elves were well within my Root Strike range, so I could quickly intervene if anything happened.

- Elf? -

- Kill them. WeÆll get the bounty, - one merchant said.

Laufen and BelleÆs faces paled.

- Shut up. The bounty is worth a lot less than our trade rights to the elven kingdom! Apologies, maÆam, please ignore my guildmate! - he screamed back and smacked the merchant on the back.

One of the guards rode closer to them and signaled the merchants. I tensed up, but then the guard turned away. He was just there to check on them.

Two of the merchants approached the elves, dismounted, and inspected the wares.

- Hmm. I am surprised you have olive oils in this area. I donÆt see any olive farms or groves. -

Laufen smiled and didnÆt answer.

- Hmm. The condition is average and storing them in wooden bottles is not ideal. - The merchant took the hint and focused on the goods.

- Yes, we would like to also buy some bottles or vases, if you have them, - Belle added. Olive oils were usually stored in vases, away from sunlight and kept sealed.

Another of the merchants joined the two. - Oils? -

- Your field of expertise. - The merchants glanced at each other, and this one traded in all kinds of oils.

The merchant took out a small bottle. - May I? -

- If you buy them. -

The merchant laughed. - Fine. I have six large amphoras empty. IÆll pay for that much. - He took out some coin and passed them to Laufen.

Laufen carefully inspected the coin she received. - Would you sell us a few of your large amphoras? -

The merchant shook 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 looked at her coins again. - I think this can afford me. ten? -

The merchant laughed. - 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 looked around and jotted some notes into a book. That was probably his order or transaction book.

The amphoras were used to ship goods, usually liquids, over large distances. There were also wooden barrels and metal containers, but these amphoras made of clay were cheap and quite durable, which made them popular with merchants.

Laufen nodded. The merchant poured the olive oil from the wooden bottle into his glass bottle. He inspected the color, the smell, and then stirred it.

- Hmm. ItÆs of average quality, but it is still rather fresh. I can sell them. - The merchant made some kind of signal.

The merchantÆs assistants helped to pour the olive oil from the wooden bottles into the large empty amphoras at the side of the horses.

- How often do you make olive oils? -

Laufen paused. - Maybe once every three months? Except winter. -

- Ah. You will have available supply in three months? I know some nobles will prefer fresher olive oils, rather than those imported from farther away. -

Laufen and Belle huddled, discussed, and nodded at the merchant. - Yes. I think we can have two or three full amphoras by that time. -

- Great. -

The cloth had no buyers. Superior quality cloth was easily available around the area, so the one they had made wouldnÆt sell for much. It wasnÆt worth the effort of buying and reselling this 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? -

They were made with my magic and not carved.

- ThatÆs a secret. - Belle smiled. The merchants accepted this, used to people having secrets.

- All right, we should get going. -

- One more thing. Do you have any vinegar stock for sale? - Laufen asked.

- Ah, yes. One small bottle? -

The merchants continued on their journey, and the elves now had some coin and a small bottle of vinegar stock. Laufen and the girls planned to make fruit vinegar with the extra healing fruits.

- Ah. Next time I want to ask for flour! - Belle sighed. - Too bad we had to buy the amphoras first. -

- Bread? -

- Yeah. I want bread. -

Yura laughed and ate some potato chips. The inner courtyard was full of potatoes. It was the elven staple around here since they didnÆt have vast farmlands.

- IÆm fine with potatoes. They taste pretty good when fried with olive oil. - Yura shrugged.

- Bread. - Belle rolled on her bed.

Emile laughed. - We can trade for that next time. If we can get better quality stuff. -

At first, the elves kept all the money, but I also wanted some, so after some discussion, the elves gave me a fifth of the coin.

- We didnÆt realize tree spirits wanted money, - the elves collectively said as if it never occurred to them that a tree would ever want money.

- I may need to purchase certain items, so I want to start saving for it. Especially for the advancement of my. powers. -

- Oh. -

Well, I would need money someday, so I might as well start saving. I would like to be able to trade, somehow. There would be goods or materials IÆd need to buy since I couldnÆt possibly make everything myself.

The elves huddled and discussed this. I could hear everything they said, but they agreed. They mostly discussed what they wanted to buy and why a tree needed money, though in the end, their gratitude won out.

YEAR 73, MONTH 7, WEEK 1

The elves worked hard on the olive press. Since the cloth didnÆt sell, the elves focused their efforts on the olives instead. So some of the weekÆs cotton was left unharvested.

A small merchant convoy dropped by to deliver the amphoras as agreed. The merchants clearly had a means of long - range communication.

One hot day that week, a group of six fleeing men and women arrived on horses. Some of them were injured, and they all had multiple arrow wounds. Some arrows were still right in their backs, and even the horses were injured.

Another group of ten cloaked men chased them. These cloaked men were injured as well but less so than the other group.

- Head for the trees! - one of the group shouted as they galloped.

The cloaked men chased, firing arrows in hopes of slowing the others.

I wanted to kill all of them. I was already suspicious of visitors, and here we had these armed folks. The six were so heavily injured they would probably bleed out if they didnÆt get medical attention.

- Who goes there! - Yura was on one of the tree branches with a spear on his hand.

One of the six, a female elf, shouted out something I didnÆt understand.

Yura , however, did, and he shouted, - Tree - Tree, target the cloaked men! - as he threw wooden spears at the cloaked men.

Since Yura said so, I launched Root Strike s.

Eight roots flew out of the ground like sharp spikes and struck the riders, and since they moved quickly, they pretty much skewered themselves on the roots. It killed them instantly.

The remaining two tried to pull back, but they were too close.

Constrict .

Roots popped out and entangled the two. The small thorns and vines on my roots administered a strong dose of sleeping poison.

The six riders didnÆt look back, and they rode next to the outer ring. They hobbled from their horses.

One of them revealed a young baby.

Yura paused. I had a bad feeling.

- Huh? -

- Hold him. Please. - His blood soaked the cloth wrapping the baby, and Yura reluctantly held the baby.

- Is this Freeka? -

Yura paused. - I suppose itÆs whatÆs left of it. -

- I see. - The wounded treated each other, and they pulled out the arrows from each otherÆs bodies, using healing potion on their wounds.

The female elf that shouted looked at Yura , her armor drenched in blood, and introduced herself. - I am Eriz, an aide and guardian of Yvon. -

- Who is that? - Yura scratched his head. - And why do you know our passphrase? -

Passphrase? Ah, Yura and the villagers developed a passphrase to identify friendly people before this.

- Ah. Yvon, our lady and mistress, she. she said her brother is the village head here. - Her wounds were recovering; the potions were working.

- Brother? -

- Ah, yes. I believe she mentioned his name was Ricola. Is he around? -

- HeÆs dead. - Yura held the baby awkwardly. The baby was tiny, probably less than six months old. - And, please, take this child back. -

- Ah. - Eriz paused and faced the other riders. - Do you have clean clothes we can change him into? All of ours are bloody. -

Laufen stopped eavesdropping from inside the hideout and walked out with some clean cloth from the extra cotton stores, a bowl filled with paste, and some clean water. She took the baby from Yura and cleaned the blood from it. The baby was alive but weak and exhausted.

- Does Ricola have a sister? - Yura asked.

- Yes. I met her when we were wedded but have not seen her since. - Laufen nodded as her hands cleaned the weak baby. - Is she well, in the human kingdoms? -

Eriz smiled. - The mistress is alive. But it is a challenging period now, with the king suspecting the elves of treason and the other princes finding every chance to remove us. -

- Who is this child? -

- Uh, it is the mistressÆs baby. -

- What? -

Eriz nodded. - ItÆs inevitable. With the tension in the capital, the mistress requested her brother assist looking after her child. -

One of the humans stepped forward and joined Eriz. - Please, raise the child as your own. We will return to the capital. -

Laufen shook her head. - I cannot. We cannot. -

Eriz paused, and the other human female came up. - Perhaps the two of us could stay back with the child? The guys can head back. -

She looked around.

- Will you guys accept us? As refugees? -

The other men nodded in agreement. - That is a good idea. The child is most attached to you, Eriz. This place feels safe and magical. -

Eriz looked around, at the trees, and then at me. She stared for a while.

- The mistress has many good people around her. She would want some of them to ensure her childÆs safety, - one of the men said. - I will stay, too, if you want. -

- Can we stay with the baby? - Eriz asked.

Laufen paused. This was something she couldnÆt decide. Yura and her both went back into the hideout to discuss with the others. They eventually agreed because this was family. Laufen felt particularly conflicted because if this baby was indeed her nephew, she would feel bad if they turned him away.

- Yes. -

Eriz, the human woman, Safran, and a human man, Pock, stayed back.

As for the two unconscious human attackers, they were kept in the wooden jail, where the adventurers once were.

You have leveled up! Level 115.

Skill upgraded - Subsidiary Tree amount increased to 40.

Skill upgraded - Secret Hideout has unlocked - Tree - asury

Ah. Treasury. And more trees! This leveling system was so convenient.

YEAR 73, MONTH 7, WEEK 2

The two humans were placed under the influence of strong hallucinogens, and they soon revealed that they served one of the princes of the Salah Kingdom, First Prince Wargo. The king was dying, so all the princes were positioning themselves to seize the throne.

Eriz and the mistress, Yvon, served another prince, Prince Galan, the third prince. Prince Wargo was a humanist, and that meant he was against non - human citizens of the kingdom. This recently made him a target of a botched assassination attempt by elves.

Prince Galan, surrounded by elvish and other non - human minders, thus came under tremendous scrutiny from the rest of the princes, all eager to eliminate the competition.

Yvon was a highly skilled administrator in the inner circle of Prince Galan, and so her baby was a vulnerability. The men suspected those on the other side wanted to capture the baby and force Yvon to defect to Prince WargoÆs side. There were also suspicions about whether the baby was one of Prince GalanÆs many illegitimate children.

After I extracted that information from the two men, I used Absorption and drained their life away. It was a slow, painless death - at least under the effect of strong sedatives. They were deaths with few remains as their bodies turned into nutrients.

The elves were not comfortable with the new people so near, so for the first day, the humans lived in tents, while Roma, the baby, and Eriz stayed with Emile and Belle.

The next day, I spawned two of my new trees outside the second circle and made two rooms for the new arrivals. This surprised them greatly, especially Eriz. But the distance was necessary.

- This is a spirit tree? -

- Yes. - Yura nodded.

They reacted strongly to the beetles as well. They jumped and almost wet their pants when a group of beetles crawled down the trees while they were walking by.

The beetles were busy. Non - demonic monsters multiplied often, so I frequently sent a group of them to kill these monsters.

YEAR 73, MONTH 8, WEEK 1

The newbies had been here for a month, and out of boredom, they helped with the olive press. The elves also gradually opened up and allowed them to participate in certain activities in their life. There were so few of them, after all. The merchants planned to arrive the next month, so the olives were stored in the amphoras.

Meanwhile, my beetles continued their monster hunts. These monsters appeared regularly, and I deployed them, and they brought back the bodies for my studies.

They fought many monsters, and through it, my beetle skill upgraded.

Armored beetles upgraded to war beetles.

The elves were right to suspect these new people. Eriz communicated with somebody magically, and she forgot that tree spirits like myself possessed the ability to see everything in the trees. Perhaps it was her mistress, but at least they were smart enough to communicate in code.

I placed my new subsidiary trees like pylons, in a circular fashion. Each was as far away as possible.

With the new trees, I extended my vision to cover a larger chunk of the valley.

Weirdly, this led to another upgrade.

Subsidiary tree upgraded. You can place a total of sixty trees.

The increase in Subsidiary Tree led to an equivalent increase in Tuberous Storage amount, so at sixty trees, plus ten with my main tree, I had a total of 140PU - still very far away from that 1,000PU.

There must be an easier way to do this.

YEAR 73, MONTH 8, WEEK 3

- No good. We must go back. We must help! - Eriz shouted and startled everyone.

- What happened? -

- The king and Prince Wargo ordered a mass execution of all the non - humans. -

- What? - Safran and Pock both seem surprised.

- How. how do you know? - Yura asked, his hand on a knife.

Eriz realized the horror of her statement, rubbed her head, and then sighed. - I have been magically communicating with Mistress Yvon. And now, there is a massive uprising in the kingdom by the non - humans. -

Pock shook his head. - The king is mad. -

- Prince Galan and Mistress Yvon have not seen the king for weeks. - Eriz shook her head. - It may be Prince Wargo claiming to speak in his name. -

- What does the mistress plan to do? -

- Escape. The army is too strong and organized, and fighting back is meaningless. She had been making arrangements for the rest of the non - human civilians to flee to the sympathizing cities or to the other kingdoms, but it seems the other kingdoms have closed their borders. -

- We can go and help with the refugee traffic. -

Eriz, Safran, and Pock all faced Laufen. - Please, take care of Roma for us. We must go. We will return. -

- No. One of you needs to stay, - Laufen insisted as Roma was still asleep on the bed.

- People are getting slaughtered. They need our help. -

- And a baby needs her guardian. -

Safran and Pock nodded. - She has a point, and both of us will be able to disappear easier as humans. Eriz, please stay. We will come back. -

Eriz sighed. - Very well. -

A few skills of mine upgraded after using them 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. Subsidiary Tree , and insect warriors strengthened.

I had a large stockpile of essences and irons from the automated harvesting.

YEAR 73, MONTH 9, WEEK 1

Eriz updated everyone daily. She couldnÆt keep her anxiety to herself.

I stopped following after a week. To me, it was just people fighting and dying far away, and running, of course. It felt distant, and it was. It felt like listening to the radio, hearing the news about bombings or fighting in some distant land. It got tiring, and shit like this happened all the time in this world. I supposed I should feel for them since they were elves, but I personally only felt obligated to the seven elves under my care, and. that was it.

- Wisp. Any idea how I can speed up this process of getting enough power for Soul Forge ? IsnÆt 1,000PUs a little too much? -

- I thought it was quite little. A small forest would have more than a thousand trees, easy. -

- But that implies I have all the trees as a subsidiary tree! -

- Do you have to? -

- Uh. What? -

- I said too much. - Wisp floated away. - I cannot give you that answer. -

- Oh, come on. -

- There are some things a tree spirit must learn on their own. -

- Tree. Smart! - Meela bobbed in. - Tree. Good. -

- Yes, yes. -

Okay, so there must be a trick to this. So if I didnÆt have to have them all as my subsidiary tree?

Was it via rootnet?

I tried it on shrubs and trees throughout the valley.

Local Rootnet Access connecting to nearby trees.

Connected.

The familiar sound of spam flooded my notifications. Spam. So much spam.

Spam.

Filtration activated .

But the important question was could I extract power from them?

Attempting to connect. Energy Drain initiated. Rootnet function obtained: Treenergy.net.

Connecting to 64,500 grasses, 367 shrubs, and 141 normal trees, producing an estimated 18.4PUs. Normal trees produce 0.1PU, shrubs 0.01PU, and grasses 0.00001PU.

Ah, I needed ten thousand normal trees to hit 1,000PU.

But!

It was very doable! The entire valley was within my rootnet! All I needed to do was actively use my tree spirit mojo and grow this entire valley into a forest like it once was.

I felt like dancing. Too bad I couldnÆt! Wee.

Now, I needed to work on my mojo.

YEAR 73, MONTH 9, WEEK 3

Massive! There was a massive burst in tree growth in the valley. The number of normal trees surged by three hundred in two weeks! If I kept this up, I would hit ten thousand normal trees by Year 75.

The elves were especially surprised to see the sudden surge in the growth of new trees, and what was once a sparsely covered valley gradually started to look dense again.

But there was a trade - off. My essence and material extraction reduced tremendously. Essence and materials were not extracted and were consumed in the creation of these trees. I saw this as a small matter.

During this week, the olive oil merchant came. Once again, that generated a little bit of coin. Despite an ongoing non - human genocide, it didnÆt stop merchants from conducting business.

Those who worshipped coin were probably the most devoted of worshipers. I left a path through the newly regrowing woods for the merchants and also an empty area for the trading to happen.

We made a small hut with wood magic at the empty area, then the elves helped to make a wooden panel that read, - Freeka Trading Post. -

Eriz continued to share the chaos of the kingdom. I occasionally listened and knew there was only sparse resistance as most of the non - humans chose to flee. These still felt like distant matters to me.

YEAR 73, MONTH 10, WEEK 1

More trees! Over three hundred more trees spawned and brought the valleyÆs normal tree count to seven hundred sixty - two. This would be the single indicator I followed for the next year until this damn Soul Forge came online.

Animals returned to the forest. I felt it was strange how these animals appeared when they were not there before. According to the elves, there was a god that created animals in the lands the same way monsters appeared from nowhere.

Well, it felt logically consistent. If monsters were just magical versions of animals, and monsters spawned out of nowhere, the same global magic should apply to animals.

Maybe they were both creations of the same gods.

I wondered whether this god could make sentients spawn out of nowhere. Was I created in this world - no, reincarnated to this world - in the same manner?

In celebration of the return of animals, Yura went out on a hunt. He apparently spotted one of his favorite foods, deer or something like that.

There was a new mild annoyance, though.

Birds.

They made nests in my branches, and they pooped everywhere.

Some of them were brazen enough to attack my reinforced war beetles.

But they were just irritants.

- Tree - Tree use magic? - Lozanna asked, her language still not very polished.

- Yes, Lozanna . It will be a forest once more. - Lozanna liked trees. She liked flowers, too, and some of the shrubs could flower. She liked the yellow ones the most. She said they looked like the sun.

- Wow. Teach me, please? -

- I canÆt. ItÆs something I just feel. ItÆs like a primal urge I just have to let out, and it happens. -

ItÆs true. My ability to spawn trees was something I did naturally, even if I didnÆt understand it. Once I activated it, it just happened. Weird tree spirit mojo.

Lozanna shook her tiny toddler head. - No, no. Do you know druid magic? -

- No, I donÆt. -

- But best druids learn from Tree Spirits! -

- I - I canÆt. Maybe someday? -

Did I say she was too young? SheÆs too young. I didnÆt think she should be learning magic at three to four years of age.

But I also frankly didnÆt know how to teach my kind of magic. It was ironic since I had Learning Aura and Dream Tutor . CouldnÆt I just dream - teach the feeling to them?

The boom in the valleyÆs tree population led to my subsidiary tree skill getting an upgrade. It seemed the subsidiary tree ability was just linked to me doing tree - like things.

Subsidiary Tree leveled up. Limit increased to ninety trees.

Some of your stored iron materials and essence of nature have been consumed. Six inner circle subsidiary trees upgraded. They are now able to support three external rooms each.

Progress!

I wasnÆt the only one improving. The elves, too!

The elves gained some skills in Olive Oil Making , and Laufen already had Trading and Coin Management from her past experience, so she was the elves primary treasurer at this point, assisted by Belle.

Sadly, bad news arrived from Eriz. The resistance spread, and the country descended into a civil war, with the humans overwhelmingly on one side, and the non - humans on the other, outnumbered and outgunned.

Prince Galan, their benefactor, was killed in an assassination, and their mistress was quickly framed. Without their patron, the non - humans fled in large numbers.

YEAR 73, MONTH 10, WEEK 3

Rootnet is now connected to one thousand normal trees. Local rootnet access upgraded, range extended.

The valley finally looked like a forest, and I was no longer easily visible from afar. In hindsight, I should have done that a long time ago. The cover provided by this forest of normal trees helped to hide my presence.

With my new increased number of subsidiary trees, I scattered about twenty across this new forest and made them as homes for my insect warriors.

This also increased my total war beetle population to seventy - eight. I now had a small army of beetles in my hands, and I felt like a commander in an RTS game. I wondered whether I could get an air force of some kind, perhaps birds or some kind of bees.

The beetles were occasionally attacked by the animals, but they were tough enough to shrug it off.

Anyway, air force. How could I lure new creatures? Why couldnÆt they just give it to me like the beetles?

YEAR 73, MONTH 10, WEEK 4

I saw elves, dwarves, treefolk, gnolls, minotaurs, centaurs, and lizardmen. It was the first time I saw so many typical non - humans. From my spiritual vision, they didnÆt appear how I imagined them to be.

There were maybe two thousand of them. I listened as they approached some of my farther subsidiary trees.

- How long do we have to keep moving? -

- As long as we need to. The armies are still after us. -

The only thing that united this ragtag bunch of nonhumans were the humans. Once things settled, they would all split up.

- After this area will be the old demon king territories. -

- Safer than being hunted by an army. There shouldnÆt be many demons, so it should be safe. -

- Should. -

I had a discussion with the elves on what they would do if these refugees decided to settle in the valley.

The view amongst my group was that they were not comfortable with them being too near, and that was defined as the two rings of subsidiary trees and the area around it. This space, to them, was still their space.

Yet they understood the needs of these people, so they were willing to share the valley with them. Perhaps these refugees could base themselves in another part of the valley. After all, with trees everywhere, it wouldnÆt be a problem in terms of cover or protection.

- ThereÆs a path. -

- Should we take it? -

- Yes. -

- No. -

In the end, some of the refugees took the path through the forest, some decided to wade through the forest itself, and some went around. It took them a few days, and of the two thousand, around three hundred or so elves, treefolk, and centaurs decided to stay in the forest in the surrounding valley. As they were different races, they quickly split up and made housing in their own part of the valley.

For the others, the forest wasnÆt their ideal place, and so they decided to continue their journey farther. The human army was still a little too close for comfort.

Thanks to the cover of the forest, they didnÆt know about me or the elves presence yet. And that was fine. Some of them saw the Freeka Trading Post sign, though, and they probably wondered whether it was still used. After all, the merchants only came by quarterly, and it was coming on winter. To some, it was better to gather food and shelter before then.

- There are treefolk, elves, and centaurs in the valley? -

- Yup. The treefolk set themselves up near the small pond, the centaurs near the valleyÆs slopes, and the elves at the far end. -

- Whoa. -

Treefolk. They were part - tree, part - human, and part - insect, apparently a creation of the nameless mother to give trees some variety. I examined them. Some of them appeared like walking trees, and some appeared like insects that disguised themselves as tree branches and leaves.

When these treefolk slept, their legs needed to touch the ground, so they often slept upright or slightly tilted, their bodies leaning against the wall. To them, living in homes with multiple stories was a strange and uncomfortable concept.

They were the first to detect my presence.

When they slept, their feet extended small feelers into the ground, and this exchanged their bodily waste for nutrients. This led to contact with my roots.

Foreign entities attempted to connect. Treefolk presence detected. Rootnet intercepting connection. Isolating.

Treefolk successfully isolated.

- Huh. - They were jolted from their first night of proper rest. - This place. the ground. -

A group of beetles appeared outside their makeshift settlement. The few warriors quickly took up arms, but there were too many, easily forty of these beetles.

- Hello, treefolk. -

- Who goes there? - There was a de facto chief among the treefolk, and he stepped forth.

- I have been instructed to visit you. Welcome to Freeka. This is our valley, - Yura said.

The treefolk looked 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 connected the dots. - There is a tree spirit here? -

- Yes. HeÆs been watching all of you. This valley is under his domain. -

A few of them gasped, but the leader asked, - Does he want us to move away? -

- No. At least, not yet. We are just a greeting party. If there are no unpleasant events, our tree spirit will not take any hostile actions. -

The leader breathed a sigh of relief. - As treefolk, 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 donÆt attack them. They are the minions of the tree spirit. -

The leader nodded. - Certain. certainly. -

The beetles and Yura disappeared back into the night, and the treefolk quickly huddled together to discuss this revelation.

Back home, Yura looked at me. - Was that necessary? -

- Yes. It is important they know who they are dealing with, and treefolk seem like the ideal candidates to make that first contact. I wonÆt want them randomly attacking my beetles. -

Treefolk and elves apparently had an awkward relationship, and they were often tense with each other. Although in theory, both races shared the forests, they had different ideas of what an ideal settlement was like. Elves, especially the high and sun elf variants, preferred to build tall structures, carved from the trees, whereas the treefolk preferred to have vast, sprawling settlements that allowed contact with the earth at all times. Elves also had good night vision, whereas treefolk vision was generally poor, and they depended on a wide range of other senses like touch, gravity, and vibrations.

The elven refugee group were quick to start work. They built makeshift shelters, while a few of them used magic to bend and shape the normal trees into a house. It was a slow process. Whatever wood - forming magic these elves used reduced that treeÆs energy output in exchange for greater structural integrity.

The centaur group lived near the sloped areas of the valley, where there was a mix of shrubs and trees. Unlike treefolk and elves, they erected large tents, and they preferred to be close to the woods but not in them. Any trees in their vicinity were used to anchor the massive tents, and one of the taller normal trees became the center core of their chiefÆs tent. The tents themselves were made of their leftover hair - mane and fur - cloth, and whatever animal fur or skin they could find.

- So, what do we do with the elves and centaurs? -

- Watch them. IÆve instructed my beetles to stay away, and since both elves and centaurs are at the forestÆs edge, itÆs 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, wouldnÆt it? - Laufen said. - If we wait too long, they might feel defensive. -

- Hmm. true. LetÆs be proactive, then. Yura , can you visit the elves? -

- Certainly. -

Yura visited the elven settlement. Everyone was so busy working on their new place that they didnÆt notice Yura . He walked right through their makeshift, incomplete gates. These folks were not warriors.

- Hi, everyone! - he shouted, and everyone jumped in panic. They rushed for their arms.

- Who are you? - Even I could tell their posture and form were poor. They were exhausted from their long walk, and they just wanted to rebuild.

- I am from the Village of Freeka. ItÆs a really, really small village, but we thought weÆd still let you know we exist. -

- Village? Freeka? -

- That unused trading post? -

- ItÆs rarely used. - Yura laughed and opened his hands. - I come in peace and want all of you to know a tree spirit watches over this valley. It is for his presence that a forest emerged so quickly after the fall of the demon king. -

- What do you want? - a young elf shouted. Even amongst elves, the youth could be rude.

- Nothing much. - Yura smiled, and thirty war beetles appeared next to him. Some of the elves yelped in fear. - Just know that this valley is protected and behave accordingly. Elves should already know how to behave in the presence of a tree spirit. -

An elderly elf appeared. - Ah, I didnÆt know Freeka has a tree spirit. That is a pleasant discovery. -

A younger man appeared. He looked like a warrior, and he glanced at Yura . - Are you the chieftain of Freeka? -

Yura laughed. - 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 patted the younger man on the shoulder. - This is our chief. -

- Well met. -

- How do we find you? -

Yura paused. He didnÆt want to answer that.

- How many are you? -

- Less than ten. -

- Then you should stick with us. We have more. Help us. Your war beetles, too. -

Yura shook his head. - These war beetles, they belong to our tree spirit, and they donÆt listen to me. -

The young chief shook his head. - I have never heard of elves who obey tree spirits. Tree spirits are our guardian spirits, but we are the true masters of the forests. Tree spirits follow the will of great elves! -

Yura smiled. - Ah, you are free to believe what you please. I am here to greet and welcome you to the Valley of Freeka. This is both a greeting and a warning. Know that the forest you see is under the protection of our tree spirit. You are free to test our tree spiritÆs patience and kindness if you feel that is a hollow threat. -

The young chief winced.

Yura gave a gentle, polite bow, turned around, and left with the war beetles.

That was tense, but I had more free subsidiary trees. If necessary, I could place more of them closer to both the elves and the centaurs. This way, there would always a beetle group ready to respond to any uprising.

Next were the centaurs.

- An elf? -

The centaurs spotted Yura the moment he peeked out of the forest.

- Hi. I wish to speak to your leader. -

Two centaurs appeared, one male and one female.

- We are the leaders. Speak, elf, - the female said first.

- I am here at the request of the tree spirit of the valley to welcome you to Freeka. -

The male one then spoke. - Are you here to threaten us? -

- Yes, and no. - Yura smiled. Such negotiations were getting easier. - The tree spirit has reasonable expectations of proper conduct from the valleyÆs inhabitants. -

The female centaur looked at the male and whispered. The male centaur nodded and then turned to face Yura .

- A tree spirit, you say? -

- Yes. -

The male centaur asked, - May we meet the tree spirit? -

- Yes. We will arrange a day for the chiefs to meet. -

- Chiefs? - both centaurs asked simultaneously.

- Chiefs of the elves and treefolk, too. -

- Ah. The other groups. - The male centaur turned to look at the female.

- If we meet the tree spirit, we will decide whether to comply. -

Yura agreed.

Eriz kept us updated about the fighting happening in the kingdom. Her mistress was trying to flee. But it was difficult when she was the main suspect and the target of widespread human propaganda.

Anyway, I was more focused on our new valley - mates, and I wondered how to best use my additional Subsidiary Tree slots. If there was going to be tension, I wanted more beetles to fight off their numbers, and I had no indication of how strong the leaders and warriors were. Maybe they were as strong as Yura or maybe more.

YEAR 73, MONTH 11, WEEK 1

The number of normal trees grew to about fourteen hundred. Of the new groups, the elves and the centaurs eventually cut a few trees down to build their homes and other structures, but other than that, the growth rate was stable.

The new trees were clustered closer to me, and this increased the density in the middle of the valley. I didnÆt want to take away the kind of sloped spaces that the centaur enjoyed.

Eriz was upset and cried for days.

Her mistress stopped communicating with her magically, and she feared the worst.

Laufen, on the other hand, felt sorrier for Roma, the baby who was away from his mother. His body was still rather weak. I suspected he lacked nutrients as he had been apart from the mother. Laufen suggested we dip the baby in the pod so I could nourish his body and channel nutrients in via the vines and feelers.

RomaÆs small body was frail, and he needed to be constantly comforted by one of the ladies. Eriz was too attached to the conflict back home to properly care for him.

- Can you do something, tree spirit? -

- IÆll try. - I thought about hospital incubation facilities. Perhaps my medical room or the biolab pods could 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!

YEAR 73, MONTH 11, WEEK 2

The chiefs finally met. It was their first time in Freeka. Three from each of the three groups arrived.

The treefolk instantly prostrated themselves before me and sang from the moment they saw me. It sounded a little like aboriginal songs.

- What are they doing? - I mentally asked Yura .

- Some treefolk worship tree spirits. They are like a crazy version of elven tree huggers. - Yura chuckled at that. - They are everywhere, after all. -

The young elf chief glanced at the treefolk and shook his head. - ItÆs just a tree spirit. -

The elder elf next to him ribbed him with his elbow and whispered, - Shh. Not so loud. -

- What? ItÆs pathetic. ItÆs just a very large tree with magic that supposedly absorbs our elvish souls. Spirit trees canÆt even protect themselves and need us elves to fight for them, - he retorted.

The treefolk ignored his words and continued to sing their songs and hymns. It was rather pleasing once I got used to it.

The centaurs - the two chiefs and one older centaur that seemed to be the shaman or mage of the tribe - were unperturbed by the acts of the treefolk and the elves.

- Hello, - I spoke directly to their mind. - Please, stand. -

The treefolk stood. It was like they jumped, how fast they moved. I thought their limbs must have had some kind of spring action in them. Not exactly. trees.

- IÆm Tree - Tree, the tree spirit of Freeka. All of you are here because IÆd like to set some ground rules, norms, and processes to conduct ourselves and minimalize conflict. Either with me, the elves, or each other. -

I spent the whole night thinking about what to say, without coming off as too asshole - ish. I thought of starting it by saying, - I am Lord Tree - Tree of Freeka, - but then again, I wasnÆt a lord.

The centaurs nodded. - So the purpose of this meeting -

- I hope to tell all of you that the entire valley and forest is within my influence, and I hope we can all coexist peacefully. I have no intention of meddling in your respective affairs beyond what is needed to safeguard my priorities. -

The young elf chief shook his head. - My priority is the safety and survival of my people. We may agree if it suits us, but I make no promises. -

- What are your affairs, tree spirit? Would it not be better to set certain boundaries of each of our territories? - The male centaur instantly, with a wooden stick, started drawing on the ground. I couldnÆt see it - my vision was, after all, a spiritual/magical one - but Yura helped to explain. In short, the centaurs claimed the entire left slope, the elves claimed the far side of the forest and a big piece of the lands after, and the treefolk got a circle around the pond. Anything not covered was mine.

At this point, I felt like a host that suddenly had guests, and now the guests demanded a room. Their boundaries still crossed with my roots, after the last expansion of the eight subsidiary trees. And I could still extend even farther. I didnÆt like that they carved up my territory.

- That boundary drawn is nothing more than a designated area for each of you, such that you donÆt unnecessarily create conflict. But this boundary doesnÆt surrender my claim over this entire valley. The entire valley remains under my care, as my roots extend everywhere. There will also be no chopping of trees beyond reasonable quantities. -

- Uh. -

The elf chieftain shook his head.

Well, I wanted to grow the trees in the valley. It wouldnÆt help if all these new people chopped 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 stood forward. - We may need to chop some trees to survive, and we will need to hunt. If you restrict us, you may as well chase us away. -

I paused. So did the centaur and treefolk. Strong words.

The elf chieftain turned 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 are 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. ItÆs just a foggy old tree. -

We just started the conversation, and the elf was already so hostile. Why?

The centaur looked back at the elf and then looked at Yura and me.

They wanted to see my response.

It felt like the elfÆs words were intentional. He meant to provoke me, to test me, and pretty much force me, so a display of power was necessary. If I backed down now, I would look weak, and I wouldnÆt be able to protect the elves and my home from their ransacking. I couldnÆt allow that.

Although I knew force was right, I still felt reluctant. I wished these elves hadnÆt forced me. They were refugees, after all.

I felt like being nice. I mean, these elves, centaurs, and treefolk. well, they were all refugees. They fled from the non - human slaughter in their home kingdoms. But this sort of entitled behavior was unwarranted and unreasonable.

This was my home, and these were my people.

No. I was willing to be nice, but they couldnÆt push me too far.

A Root Strike shot from the ground, and it swooshed just next to the elf chieftainÆs head. The force of the roots created a small shockwave, and the elf chieftain fell.

The elves were shocked. They didnÆt expect that as Yura noted the elf chieftainÆs reaction was a mix of shock, horror, and probably fear, a sudden realization I could kill him.

If this was a test of strength, I thought I passed. The Root Strike made all of them sweat.

Yura smiled. He stood a little straighter and opened both hands. - Our tree spirit here has survived many creatures, including demon champions and a demon king. If you thought you could just walk in and do what you wanted to in this valley, you are wrong. -

The centaurs shared an awkward, uncomfortable glance. The three treefolk instantly prostrated themselves.

The elf chieftain stood again. - How dare you! - He feigned arrogance, defiance, but from my vision, his spirit was uncertain, and his body shook.

- Should I hit the head this time? - I mentally transmitted to all of them.

He gulped. Everyone else was wary, and the centaurs took two steps back.

The elder stood in front of him as if he tried to cover for him. - No. - He held up what looked to be a wooden buckler as if that would stop my roots.

- The roots can come from anywhere. You canÆt protect him. In fact, I can hit anyone in this valley. -

They both gulped. Everyone probably realized that if they made enemies, they wouldnÆt leave this valley alive.

Yura stood and walked closer to the elf. - We understand 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 will let you stay, but you must do so on our terms. -

The elf chieftain grunted in frustration, - Ugh! - and stomped off.

The elder nodded. - I apologize. He is young and only wants the best for our people. I think I can convince our chieftain to obey your rules, and I will try to convince him that as the tree spirit here, this is your home, and we are guests. We can decide on the rest of the details later. For now, we will stop any chopping of the trees. We will speak again when everyone cools down. As you know, winter is soon to be upon us, and traveling now is a hazard. May we stay through the winter at least? -