TREE OF AEONS 2

Dead trees were a big no no. I felt for my fellow trees.

YEAR 80 MONTH 1

With data from the root sensors on subsidiary trees spread out throughout the valley and also the city area, Trevor helped to map out an overlay indicating the pollution problem.

I firstly needed to know how bad the poop situation was.

The source was, of course, the city.

There were multiple latrine pits, which the frequency of sanitization by those responsible had been a bit lacking. The priests and workers were supposed to cleanse the pits once every three days, but it was an incredibly unpleasant task, so they only did it once every two weeks.

That meant some of the sewage accumulated, and the extra period for it to stew in the pit meant quite a bit managed to contaminate the ground. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the cleanse spell was range - limited, so it didnÆt cure the sewage accumulated deeper in those pits.

The first issue was, like I said, the priests were not doing their jobs. They generally viewed this duty as demeaning for these self - proclaimed servants of god, to literally cleanse the filth of others. Even the priests, those in the OrderÆs employ, abhorred the task.

- I hate that part of the job, - a priest would routinely say.

So usually the most junior of priests, those who possessed the skill, would be sent on the toilet duty.

That meant the strength of the cleanse skills were poor because skills scaled with levels, and because of how deep and massive the latrines were, to accommodate sixty thousand citizens, the skills of these low - level cleanse just wouldnÆt do. At most, it just created a superficial clean and dry layer on top of the rest of the sewage, deluding the priests that the job was done.

But I had no cleaning skills myself, even if I did have the ability to filter such toxins and other unfavorables out.

- Huh, the most senior priests on toilet duty? No, no amount of money will make that happen. We were servants of god, not the cityÆs sewage cleaners. The fact that we send our most junior priests to do it was good enough! -

The task was seen as dirty, disgusting, and demeaning. Money wouldnÆt fix it.

- Can we import the worms? Or the cleaning artifacts? -

- Artifacts were ridiculously expensive. As for the worms, I will reach out to the Elven kingdoms whether they were for sale. Transporting those worms will need special arrangements, as they rarely survive outside their sewage environment. - Yura was rather amused by the sanitation issue; he didnÆt really feel it. In fact, most of the citizens were not even aware of the contamination of the groundwater, since those things reached deep, not floated up above.

TrevorÆs map of subterranean water flow indicated the groundwater flowed toward the valley, so as the latrine pits tended to be close to the forestÆs edge, the New Freekans were lucky that their own drinking water was clean.

Perhaps if somehow it stunk up the entirety of the town, then it would make them realize the gravity of the situation. Or maybe I should somehow reverse the flow of groundwater such that their wells got contaminated with poopwater?

Ah, maybe I shouldnÆt be so nasty.

Solutions, solutions. Relying on the priests to constantly use cleanse on poop and sewage was not exactly what I considered a scalable and reliable solution. These priests were going to hold the skill as some kind of ransom, eventually, if they discovered what it meant to the regular trees. And the idea of having an army of priests going around town sanitizing all the latrine pits in a big city just felt. lame.

So I needed some kind of natural solution, something I could manage. Something I could create.Æ

- Yura , are you familiar with plants that survive in sewers or other such wastelands? -

- Uhmm. no. But let me get the herbalist? -

- We do not have any plants that are capable of surviving in sewers, - the herbalist responded to Yura Æs question. - Most plants have a natural state, and while these differ slightly, I am not aware of any plants that survive entirely in sewers. We do have plants that can somewhat tolerate sewer waters, though. -

Hmm. How about algae? Fungi? There must have been something that lived in sewers. I recalled trees destroying sewer pipes back home because the roots were drawn to them, so the trees must have some tolerance for wastewater.

I found it strange that the normal trees here were unable to process the sewage. They were native, they should have been adapted to native waste from the native population. Was it because the type of toxins or minerals in the sewage?

- What do large cities do with their waste? -

- Other than what I told you, no clue. Honestly, sewers are not something I pay attention to, and our village was so small a few pits were sufficient. - Yura shrugged. He was really quite amused by my recent fascination and questions around waste, and he didnÆt really get my frustration with dying trees. Trees died all the time; not all of them could be healed.

Which was true.

But I was a tree, and it offended me that I let a fellow tree die from something as stupid as sewage intolerance.

- Are you even sure itÆs sewage? - Alexis shrugged. - Not a bug? Or sickness? -

And that was how I ordered the beetles to gather multiple wastewater samples from all the different latrine pits.

New beetle species unlocked. Dungbeetle

- No, fuck you, TreeTree. I am not analyzing poop. - Alexis absolutely resisted letting the poop anywhere near her. - I am. Not. Touching. Poop. -

- TreeTree, why were the beetles carrying poop? - the elves asked.

Analysis, duh.

- Can the poop not drip everywhere in the hideout? -

Uh.

Despite much resistance, I eventually got the poop into the biolabs for analysis. I did feel disgusted, but only mildly. I thought saving the rest of the trees to be a far larger and more important goal.

I doubted my feelers and vines felt a thing when they prodded and dug into the poop. Well, they did feel kinda moist and sticky.

But it was just poop. I was pretty sure the dirt all around me was poop some point in its long, ever - changing lives.

Testing in progress

I supposed feces and poop were considered biological matter as the biolabs ran through a range of tests. It took some time to actually know what was happening since there were so many tests to run for so many different samples.

I needed a control group.

- You want our poop now? - Yura , Laufen, and the elves were all appalled by my request.

- Yes. Fresh samples. Just to measure change in fecal composition versus that of the latrine. All of you are healthy, clearly, so your fecal matter should be, too. -

- Uh. how do we give it to you? Poop inside those pods? -

Hmm. The pods werenÆt meant for pooping.

Biolab upgraded. Biolab now has multiple extra rooms, functioning as a toilet, bathroom, and others for collection and harvesting of biological wastes.

- Well, you poop in this place that looks kind of like an outhouse, and the biolab will do the rest. -

- Eww. - The elves were generally quite disgusted, but still, they eventually did proceed to do their business in the special poophouse designed for collection of their poop.

- Why are you so disgusted? DonÆt some societies use cow manure as fertilizer? -

- Uh. itÆs still poop. -

Anyway, poop or not, the tests must go on.

And speaking of fertilizer, would minotaur poop be fertilizer, too? Since they were part cow? Or did I need some kind of bacteria to degrade the poop first? Had I seen a minotaur?

Tests. We needed more tests. The culprit of what exactly in poop that caused the trees to feel sick was still unclear. Could it be some kind of disease transmitted via poop? Was it some kind of metal? Some kind of mineral, or some kind of bug?

I needed to get to the root of the problem.

So, more tests. One of the other things I started Alexis on, since she refused to look at poop, was to look at the filtering nature of roots instead.

My body, due to rhizofiltration that I learned long ago, was able to filter out all these bad things, whatever they were.

There should have been some membrane - like structure to the roots, either that or the skill created some kind of filtering/extracting effect.

If I could do it, maybe there was some way to filter the poop and ring - fence the latrine pits such that their contamination was contained, and perhaps in the future I would find some ways to convert the waste into something more usable, like fertilizer.

As of now, the contamination was spreading, ongoing, as people continued to poop and pee every day, so the first step was, of course, containment. The source of these pollutants needed to be restricted.

Research status:

Roots - Volcanic mineral processing - stage 1 - completed

Tree - lab varieties - stage 1 - completed

Magically attuned materials Stage 1 - completed

Beetle - anti - magma armors stage 4 - 17 months

Material labs - stage 1 - 6 months

Magical sensors - 6 months

Normal Tree - Root filters stage 1 - 6 months

YEAR 80 MONTH 2

- Did somebody plant these trees around all the outhouses? It makes it feel like IÆm doing my business out in the jungle or something. -

- Must be the druids. -

- I think itÆs the tree spirit. HeÆs a bit fond of meddling, after all. -

- ItÆs kinda creepy if you say it that way. Is the tree spirit watching us take a shit? -

- Uh. I doubt tree spirits are interested in us taking our shits, though. I mean, only perverts like that kind of stuff, and we arenÆt exactly the most attractive old men around. -

- ItÆs a fetish for some people? A fetish for trees? -

- Eww. -

- Eww. -

Anyway, I had to implement a stopgap measure. I couldnÆt get the priests to do their jobs, and I wasnÆt inclined to threaten them because it revealed a weakness about me.

So I decided to surround most of the larger latrine pits and outhouses in New Freeka with subsidiary trees and use my roots to then form a subterranean wall to block the fecal matter from leaking into the wider valleyÆs groundwater.

I couldnÆt process the shit, but I had to deal with the shit. So blocking the shit was my temporary measure. The findings from my first round of analysis of the collected samples revealed that there was no particular culprit.

The problem was, well, there was just a whole damn load of shit. There was a lot of minerals that were generally not well accepted by trees, and there was also a whole mix of fungi, bacteria, and other stuff, all of which the normal trees normally could tolerate in small quantities.

Small quantities. Normally.

It wasnÆt a result I wanted.

- Well, I suppose you could have some kind of waste treatment plant before itÆs discharged? Like, you know, split the sewage into components and treat them separately? I canÆt seem to recall the water treatment process, though. - Alexis rubbed her head.

- Never mind, focus on researching the roots. ThatÆs probably going to help minimize the damage. -

I was guessing it was going to be something like filtering, sedimentation, adding chemicals to kill bacteria or take out certain types of metals. I also couldnÆt remember the details, itÆd been so many years since school, and honestly, I wished I could google wastewater treatment and find the answer. But then, even if I did, IÆd have to find ways to develop actual skills or tools suitable for the growing city.

For now, the poop was contained by the roots of my subsidiary trees, and because there was just a whole load of poop, even my subsidiary treeÆs root filters occasionally failed and it absorbed some of the poop, and it made the subsidiary tree weak and sickly, which Trevor or myself had to step in and use some of our tree - healing powers.

Important lesson: skills could fail.

And because the roots kind of stopped the poop from escaping the pits, the pits got filled up faster, so the city had to build more of these pits.

Ugh.

Not. Sustainable. They couldnÆt constantly be digging new pits all the time.

I needed to figure out a way to decompose the poop.

- You could maybe, erm. separate their components? Then store them separately? I think some plants can consume or extract certain kinds of elements in the wastewater sludge. -

Thus I ordered some beetles to bring back some of the trees near the sewers of on the outskirts of Salah. SalahÆs got a vast network of underground sewers, some of which piped their waste for disposal somewhere further, far from the city.

There, the beetles brought back different types of plant samples, collected from near the sewer outlets and the sewers itself for my biolabÆs analysis.

I wondered whether I could make a plant able to eat poop.

Meanwhile.

- I - I want to drop out, - one of the girls said. She was tired and frustrated, even if she was making progress. - ItÆs too hard. So much fighting and so much studying. I - I canÆt. I canÆt do this. -

- But what will you do, then? - another of the girls asked. - We donÆt get chances like this. WeÆre just orphans. -

- Er. - The young girl didnÆt know. She only knew she didnÆt actually want it as much as she did.

Lozanna nodded. - ItÆs intense. If you really want to drop out, please let Tree Spirit know. ItÆs fairer for everyone, so that someone else who wants it can try it out. LetÆs not force yourself. I think now you know what you truly want. -

The young girl cried and covered her face with her palms. She didnÆt know what to do, actually. Yvon sat next to her. - I spoke with the Tree Spirit. If you drop out, you will return to being a regular orphan, so you can still stay. But you will lose the benefits you have, like the stipends you get. -

The girls got some pocket money for their participation. I thought it was fairer that way, since this was like an apprenticeship or internship. I thought of it as being a reward for their hard work, since their routine was literally a whole lot of combat and studies, some eat, sleep, poop, and repeat. Rest days were few and far between, perhaps a day in a month.

Honestly, my expectations were not very high, but I wanted dedication and a display of effort from the girls. They needed to at least try.

- Are you sure? - Yvon was sort of their counselor. I thought she was probably suspicious of my activities and didnÆt trust my intentions, but because of that, sheÆd taken a personal interest in the girls and was now quite close to the girls, acting like their mother.

Or maybe Yvon was just bored.

- I - I donÆt know. This was so hard. My body hurts everywhere, and I feel overwhelmed. IÆm tired. I thought being a warrior, a fighter would be nice, and IÆll be those super cool adventurers who defeat monsters and all. I just didnÆt expect the work to be so. so. much. I donÆt even have much time to play anymore. -

Yvon tapped her on her shoulder. - I understand. This program is rough. I told Tree Spirit as well that itÆs extremely intense, but he insists on it being this way. -

The young girl sobbed. Her friends gave her a hug.

- If you are sure you want to drop out, weÆll go and see the Tree Spirit. -

She nodded.

The next day, I cancelled her familiar contract, and she lost her status as one of the Valthorn Initiates. I was down to four girls.

Though she cried, I thought sheÆd be happier just as a regular person.

Ah well. Not everyone made the cut.

This was a good thing. In the future batches, the girls would do some self - selection, and only those who truly wanted it would participate.

YEAR 80 MONTH 3

Salah had yet to provide an update on our request, though from the intel sources Yura had, it seemed they were discussing it in great detail.

According to the grapevine, it seemed that they wanted to find a scapegoat for the incident, someone related but junior that they could throw under the bus. If that really happened, I would be very disappointed, but for now, more intel needed to be gathered.

After that string of conversations with the elves, I felt a bit magnanimous. I wondered whether I should look past this incident, and maybe what I did next should not be out of vengeance.

But I should still send a message that such actions had consequences. Even if the consequence was ten years later.

- Please. Take care of my children and my wife. Protect them from the demons. and these monsters, too. -

I recalled feeling angry, these humans, killing the elves, when there were demons out there, something as scary and overwhelmingly powerful like a demon king, and yet the Freeka villagers all slaughtered and burned alive.

If I descended into a war with the Salah again, would I be doing what they did to me? Fighting amongst ourselves while a demon threat awaited?

It wasnÆt going to be long. This month, I began to feel strange fluctuations in the star manas, and they made my leaves tingle. It was a familiar feeling, like that strange dream I had before the previous demon king. I could feel it, the looming presence of the demons.

The first of the many demonic rifts would soon open.

YEAR 80 MONTH 4

I had my first material lab. It deconstructed what I inserted into its underlying components, and the level of deconstruction was proportional to the energy supply and the level of the material lab.

I inserted a wooden plank.

First, it stripped any skills out of it, and there were many skills. They appeared as little blobs of light, and most of these skills appeared as unidentified. I knew the blobs represented skills because one of those blobs was actually readable Fine - cut wood , and so I drew the conclusion that all the blobs were skills. Besides, what else could those formless blobs be?

After that, what was left was raw, unskilled wood in the shape of an ordinary plank. The labÆs energies slowly broke the wood apart, strand by strand, strip by strip. The plank peeled off, layer by layer, along the grooves of the plank.

Then the separated layers, or strips, got further broken down into smaller pieces, almost little specks. After that, it split up into its constituent components, like bubbles of air, blobs of water, blobs of. unidentified things; it appeared like a piece of plank was flash - dried and drained of all fluids and air bubbles, and then one of the last components was. mana? Or maybe that life - force thing that the souls generated.

First revelation of the day, unlike our world, mana actually existed as part of things, even things as simple as wood. Maybe mana replaced one of the primary fundamental forces? Or did it become an additional fundamental force?

Somehow, I thought I shouldÆve known this.

Anyway, the remaining strips of dried, airless, manaless specks could be further broken down. But I needed material labs of a higher level.

- Well, do you want to further develop materials labs or work toward magic labs? - Alexis asked.

- I donÆt know. ItÆs kind of cool that it breaks things down to these components. And actually, I can use it to analyze the poop samples. -

- Ugh. - Alexis rolled her eyes at the mention of poop, and she floated away, back to doing her own thing. She was busy anyway.

The materials lab took the form of a single tree outside my inner circle of subsidiary trees, its appearance like any other, but its internal structure contained multiple little bubbles that stored the separated materials. It was power intensive, draining quite a bit of energy from the normal trees, with each separation process. I supposed it was kind of like those labs where they spun stuff until they split apart.

Anyway, back to the poop samples.

I used the materials lab to test out the poop samples, and. well, the first thing that surprised me was that there were also some blobs of skills. Unidentified, of course, but seriously, who used skills on their poop? Either that, or it was. some kind of passive that got applied? Rhetorical question.

Moving on, I ran the tests through few more different samples of poop, and then seriously, quite a few of them had skills. All unidentified. At this point, I was wondering whether it was unidentified because I didnÆt know them or whether because the amount of it was so small that I couldnÆt tell it apart. Maybe I couldnÆt identify it because the quantity of skill was too small?

The poop split apart to more components, like water, air, and the type of materials that made up the poop. and also. mana? Oh great. There was mana in poop, too.

Now that the poop had been drained and dried, it started to break apart and easily separate into different kinds of metals without requiring much energy. What was left was a collection of mostly unfamiliar metals and some of the usual iron, copper, and stuff.

Was this normal?

Deciding that I probably needed a bit more of each type of metal to be identified, I broke down more of the poop, including some fresh samples from the elves, and I got about a handful of each unidentified metal type, at different ratios.

Next, I asked Yura for any professionals who might be able to assist on such samples.

- IÆll probably need help identifying these metals. - There were about thirty small plates of different metal types on top of Yura Æs desk, all from splitting up the poop samples.

A blacksmith and a merchant came along. It was rather easy for Yura to ask for help. These people were here to curry favor anyway, and he was the counsel, so he could give them big deals someday.

The two quickly went through the samples, easily identifying them. All of them were just some kind of local metal mineral, our worldÆs equivalent of sand, or tin, or iron, and stuff like that. This worldÆs metal types didnÆt exactly match ours, since they did have iron - like things that were stronger and also some that were weaker. Variants, but different metal types.

Maybe they were alloys?

- Metals and elements in this world exist in a spectrum, rather than distinct types in my world. or I think they have a larger, more granular version of the periodic table. - Alexis was nerding out; she was paying attention to the descriptions given by the merchants and smiths. - You should buy some books, then I can explain this better. -

- You can read? -

- Uh. Yeah? Why wouldnÆt I know how to read? - Wait. Did I know she could read? - Ask the merchant whether anyone published any guide or summary on the metals and minerals of the world. -

I placed an order for three different tomes on materials and resources found in the world. I wouldnÆt want to make basic research from scratch; there should be some body of knowledge already in tomes and books.

Back to the poop analysis, that material breakdown of knowing what the metals were kind of did. nothing? Though the merchants were able to identify the metals, it still didnÆt give me an idea whether those metals were harmful or beneficial to the plants, since their knowledge was more of use for trade and metalworking. Also, I couldnÆt rule out that there was most likely an optimal level of each metal, and exceeding that would result in some kind of poisoning, and a deficiency may result in stunted growth and other kinds of problems.

So, there was to be more studies. More tests. I ordered the beetles to take samples of the dirt throughout the valley, around healthy trees, and around sick trees, to compare the composition of the dirt in the ground. Maybe there was some minerals appearing in different ratios that may lead to something more conclusive.

- Frustrating, isnÆt it? There was no skill that just tells you whatÆs wrong, other than somethingÆs wrong. -

- On the contrary, I feel happy that at least I need to use my head. And because of it, IÆm getting you, Trevor, and Dimitree to run more tests. -

- Ugh, I was just thinking wouldnÆt the druids know the answer? -

- Asking the druids. - Hmm. that was a good point. Why not use this chance to test out the druidÆs abilities?

So, with a bit of backhanded string - pulling, Yura managed to get the newly settled - in druids to pay a visit to a small patch of sick trees, somewhere on the edges of New Freeka. - What do you think? I was told somethingÆs wrong with these trees, but I canÆt tell what. -

There was four of them; all of them looked middle - aged and were dressed in robes. They knelt over the ground. They all had a wooden staff of some kind.

- Natural diagnosis , - a druid called out, and his wooden stick glowed. A spirit - like wisp appeared and entered the ground, and then after a while, it came back out.

- Hmm. the wisp tells me there seems to be groundwater contamination. The groundÆs concentration of metals is all too high. Particularly Whitetin and Green Iron. -

Oh I knew that - Eh?!

Another of the druids touched the ground, picked up a bit of dirt, and tasted it. I thought he used some kind of skill there, but I couldnÆt quite make out what it was. He looked a bit puzzled, and then he spit. - Agreed. Groundwater contamination, likely to be from the city. Counsel Yura , I suggest we move all the trees somewhere a bit further away. -

- CanÆt you heal the trees or the ground? -

- We could, but usually the sickness will come back after about a month, unless you find a way to stop the groundwater contamination. The earth itself was contaminated due to exposure to the city. Healing the trees was just a temporary fix. -

- What do you normally do in such cases? -

- We move the trees. There is usually no way of convincing the populace from changing how they live, just for the sake of some trees. - The druid shrugged. - Trees are just. resources to most normal people. -

Yura just nodded, looking around. The druids continued to touch a few of the normal trees.

- So. do you want us to move the trees, Counsel? -

- I donÆt think itÆs necessary, - another druid spoke up. - They were just mildly sick. At least, they look better than they did a few months ago. -

Yura shook his head. - Well, leave them here for the time being. WeÆll know if things get worse if they start dying. Thanks for your time, druids. - Yura passed the four druids a bit of coin to thank them for their time.

As the druids and Yura walked back to New Freeka, one of them asked, - Council, may we have an audience with the Tree Spirit? I understand you speak to it often. -

- Oh, why? -

- Erm. well, we are druids. We make it a point to meet and greet with the tree spirits of the land. Kinda comes with the job class. -

- Ah. that was a druid thing, no? -

The druids grinned. - Yeah, kind of. -

- I see. IÆll have a word with the Tree Spirit. -

In the meantime, I was still trying to process what IÆd just see, i.e. the druids actually having skills able to diagnose the problem without the need for experimentation. And why did I not have a similar skill?

I had a few theories on that, but I wanted to see what they were up to.

As for the waste situation, it was sort of under control. With my subsidiary trees roots acting as a barrier and filter, the sewageÆs leakage to the greater valley was now limited.

The druids clearly could identify the problem, though their solution was meh. Moving the trees was a solution, but I didnÆt like being moved, and I thought the trees wouldnÆt like it, either.

Personally, I thought it wasnÆt really an issue about meeting the druids, but I had to prepare, so I called Madeus and the OrderÆs top guys back in for explanations on the druids. - IÆll get straight to the point. IÆve met druids, many times in fact, but I donÆt know much about them. So letÆs start from the beginning. What do they do? What are their powers? -

The leaders stared at each other, and they shifted a little uncomfortably.

One of the priests went first. - TheyÆre tree - lovers. They tend to go around healing the land after the destruction left behind by the demon king. The druids are famous as the major supporter of the Restorers. -

- They can summon trees and animals, use wood magic, earth magic, and water magic. They also usually have some animal companions as well. - The captain was pretty much reciting the norm; it sounded like the usual myth around druids. Did the makers of this world somehow start off as dungeon masters?

- Anyone know the specifics of their jobs? Like. what do they do? -

- When I was a young child, a druid came and gave simple tips on farming. He tried to teach us the power to boost fertility and speed growth, but none of us picked it up. -

- Fine, clearly they have some ability to have earth and restoring powers. Were they like some kind of generic mage but with more of a focus on earth, wood, and water? - I asked.

Madeus nodded. - Close, though pure mages like me think druids are. erm. a bit of a hack, since druids mostly borrow powers from their surroundings and neglect their own physical and mental training. So druids pick their battlefields, such that they have more power and things to tap on, but thatÆs kind of predictable. -

- Okay, they have some kind of connection to the surroundings, too. Anyone know the history of druids? -

Everyone shook their heads. One of the priests tried to answer. - Some say they learned it from trees. Some say they learned it from treefolk. -

- Fine, how many types and groups of druids were there? Who exactly were the druids in my valley? -

- TheyÆre from the far southeast, and they were under the Hutan, one of the three largest groups of druids. The other two were the Tarimba and the Mulfic. The three druidic councils are just. well, kind of like guilds. They are separate but work together for common goals, like restoring the land and focusing on training. The councils themselves are neutral, but their druids are free to work with any kingdom they want, though they generally speaking, most druids will avoid participating in the kingdom - wars. -

Okay. - What do they want? -

- I donÆt know, really. -

- I think theyÆre just interested in you, Tree Spirit. -

- What do they want with me? -

Everyone shook their heads.

- Trevor, Ivy, whatÆve you got? -

After my discussion with them, I consented to the meeting a day later.

The next day, the four druids came without their apprentices and assistants. They came fully in their druid - ish attire, which included some kind of headwear that resembled an antlerÆs horns, or a wolf headdress, elaborate and fancy carved woodstaffs, armor, and all the rings they could wear.

- Dressed for combat, druids? - Yura chuckled. He was dressed up for the purpose in armor, sword in hand.

- It was but a tradition of druids, to show our best to the tree spirits, especially when we face the tree spiritÆs true body, - one of the druids said, but he looked nervous. My seeing eye noticed the subtle shaking in his hands.

The four stood in the inner circle of subsidiary trees before my main body. Yura was on one side, and I had Horns hidden in the corner, but I thought they could sense his presence.

They looked around, and they sweated. They whispered a bit, so softly, or perhaps a skill, that I couldnÆt make out what they were saying.

- State your business, druids, - Yura prompted the guests to start.

The four bowed. - We are druids of Hutan, one of the many caretakers of the land and those who live on it, protectors of the forests and trees, and we. uh. humbly seek an audience with the great Tree Spirit of the valley, as we. come to seek an understanding of the needs and wishes of the valley and its true guardian. -

- Flowery greeting. - I chuckled. It sounded like they practiced it.

- They sound nervous, - Alexis whispered into my mind.

- Their body was tense. They might be up to something, - Ivy advised.

The four druidÆs eyes started to glow green, and I felt my defensive instincts kick in. - Tree Spirit, we come in seek of your name and hope to gain your blessing. - Oh well, my roots were ready to strike at any time.

- Oh? IÆm TreeTree. - What kind of blessing?

The four druids glanced at each other. I thought they gulped, but I wasnÆt sure.

- Is that all youÆre here for, druids? - Yura sounded a bit amused.

- No. weÆd like to acquire the Tree SpiritÆs blessing. -

- Uh. what blessing? -

The four druids shared a glance. - Surely the Tree Spirit is testing us. We mean the blessing. -

- Well, IÆve got no idea what you are talking about, so explain what this blessing is. - I really didnÆt know what blessing meant, yet the four druids seemed to take the question a bit. negatively? They didnÆt seem particularly keen on answering the question.

One of the druids stepped forth; he looked to be the youngest, but his staff and headgear were the most flamboyant. - O great Tree Spirit, the aspect which we ask, we will give our share in return. We offer our services, and that of the Druid Council of Hutan, which we represent. Our oath, as druids, as guardians, is to come to your aid should you ever find yourself in peril. -

- Okay, but whatÆs an aspect? - I wondered. - You introduced the concept of blessing and aspect. Can you explain? -

The first one knelt, his staff embedded in the ground. I felt a bit of magic swirl around me, it felt kind of pleasant, so I didnÆt feel a need to react. I later would realize this was when I made a mistake; I should have stopped them there and then.

The second druid stepped forth, standing next to the first. - O great Tree Spirit, behold the oath of mortals and the true mother, a promise as ancient as the world. Give us your aspect, and we shall give you ours. - Green glowing lines started appearing throughout his entire body, and then he knelt. The green glowing lines then flowed into the ground and formed a greenish glowing circle around the four druids. It still felt rather pleasant, and then I noticed I was starting to get a little sluggish, like I was drunk.

- Ivy, Trevor? - I tried to prompt my tree - minds to help, but then I noticed all of them, including Alexis, were in a daze. They were struggling to fight off whatever the druids were doing.

- What were you doing? - Yura and Horns noticed, so they quickly jumped in, attempting to break the ritual or spell, whatever it was. They were both unaffected by the effects of the ritual. Maybe because it only worked on trees?

They charged in, but a barrier of some kind repelled them, pushing both of them far back.

Despite feeling like I had too much alcohol, like a happy drunkard, I managed to collect my will together to activate my anti - magic aura, which sadly didnÆt really work on that barrier or the ritual that they were using.

Still feeling dizzy, I pulled my mind together and used Root Strike s on the two druids. A glowing wooden shield magically appeared and blocked the root strike. The third druid stepped forth.

- O great Tree Spirit, for the land requires us, requires all of us, all our worship and care. - The third and fourth druid were both covered in green lines, and this time, I noticed that their familiars were out - two massive wolves, also covered in similar green lines, and a small wood - like bear appeared.

I was starting to shake off that drunken feeling, just a minute into the ritual, and so I unleashed more root strikes. One of the druids called up a large, half - wooden totem with a beetle - head, and it created a shield that blocked my root strikes. Each strike cracked the totem instead of the shield, and the totem needed about five to seven hits to crack.

Meanwhile, Yura was easily stronger than the two wolves, yet despite how much pain or damage they received, they just kept getting in his way, the two wolves really determined to stop Yura from interfering with the rituals. - DRUIDS! What is the meaning of this?! - he shouted while trying to shake off the two wolves.

The druids focused on their ritual.

Two minutes in.

- O great tree spirit, we seek your power to complete our oath to the true mother. - The fourth druid stepped forth and entered into a kneeling position as well, just as the earlier ones did. To protect the four druids, more familiars and creatures appeared, two tiger - like creatures, a cat, and an owl. They were all large, easily the size of an elephant, their bodies covered in the green lines, and their job was to block Horns from entering the circle.

The two wounded wolves now received backup from the tiger and the cat. Yura then unleashed some kind of sword - skill I hadnÆt seen before, and it instantly diced up all the four animals.

Yet the druid wasnÆt done. Another wooden staff appeared; this one had the head of a tortoise, and it glowed. The glow restored the diced - up animals and made them whole almost instantly.

Three minutes in.

The four druids were mumbling, singing some kind of hymn. Whatever ritual this was, it was really quite fast. They certainly prepared for this.

The totem cracked and broke apart as my Root Strike s landed a few hits.

TING.

It was then I got a notification.

Four druids have each entered into a non - cancellable Druidic Aspect contract with you.

New familiar contract type obtained: Druidic Aspect Contract.

Druidic Aspect contracts allow druids to use lesser versions of the masterÆs abilities.

YouÆve received 8 Druid Class seeds.

EH?

The glowing green lines on the four druids faded, and along with it, so did the barrier. The four kneeling druids stopped kneeling, and one of them almost jumped. - We did it! -

- ItÆs not over yet. We still need to run! - The one druid clearly realized they were not out of the woods just yet, and so they quickly started to run.

You four are not going anywhere! A wall of roots appeared around them, and the four druids attempted to use their druid powers to interfere with the roots. but it didnÆt work. Not this time.

But the root strikes got to the familiars and skewered all of them.

Yura charged in, furious, and the druids attempted to dodge.

- DonÆt kill them yet, - I mentally pinged him.

Oh, I was gonna interrogate them before I did.

Maybe I should torture them.

Hang them on trees in the city for attacking me.

The tip of Yura Æs sword closed in, now on one druidÆs neck. - Take a step, and IÆll slit your throat. -

- All you four wanted was this. druid - style familiar contract? - I asked aloud.

I thought I had a massive communication problem with the natives. Why did so many of my encounters with the natives end up like this? Why didnÆt the druids just ask nicely?

Seriously. I liked to think I was a reasonable person. I could be negotiated with!

Right?

Did I have a sticker somewhere that said, - Pushover. Just take whatever you want, - written on me?

Yura , his sword still at the druidÆs neck, said, - Answer the Tree SpiritÆs question. -

One of the druids nodded. - Yes. We made a contract for the Tree SpiritÆs power. It -

Sigh.

- I honestly didnÆt know what you meant by blessing. Why didnÆt you just have a bit more patience and explain? All of you wanted this familiar contract - like thing? This was the blessing? -

One of the druids mumbled, - Yes? -

Ugh!

I was annoyed. Sad. Angry.

The roots formed a cage, trapping them all, thorns and barbs closing in. They attempted to use their druid powers to move the roots, but it wasnÆt working.

The four druids realized how much shit they were in. Immediately, all four of them knelt. No, they literally prostrated themselves on the ground. - Our sincerest apologies, O great Tree Spirit! We. we thought weÆd never get a chance to get this close to a Tree Spirit of your level of strength! We apologies for our. recklessness. Please, donÆt kill us! -

- What sort of stupid assumption is that? -

- Access to the true body of all the great tree spirits is heavily restricted and controlled, and here we are, four mid - ranked druids, getting the chance to meet a great tree spirit. We had to jump on the chance! - one of them started to justify what they did. His hands and head were on the ground, prostrating. - We thought we would never get a chance! -

- Fools! - If I could yell like a villain, or an evil angry emperor, I would. - Give me one good reason why I shouldnÆt kill all four of you right now. -

The cageÆs roots closed in, the thorns on the roots making little cuts but nothing lethal.

I mean, howÆd they think theyÆd get away with it? Come up to me, use this ritual - style spell, which gave them some level of protection, but did they think they could run away from me? Seriously. My roots spanned the valley. Even if they succeeded, IÆd still be able to kill them.

They would have to knock me down for at least an hour or two for them to even give themselves a chance.

- We. we really mean no harm. We really mean what we said during the ritual. We will come to your aid should you need it, us and the Hutan. -

Rubbish. I could protect myself as it was.

- We. we offer you our services. WeÆll revoke whatever arrangements we had with the councilors! Anything! -

- I still plan to kill all of you. Not good enough. - One of the roots pretty much poked the druidÆs skin.

- I. we. can arrange the archdruids to provide you with unique items. We can arrange for you to be in contact with other spirits! -

Oh.

Other spirits.

The druids picked up on my pause. - There are other great tree spirits, too. We. the druid council of Hutan, our senior archdruid is in contact with the Guardian Tree of the Elf Capital, and also the Giant Lilypod CityÆs Spirit. If we tell them about you, we can make some arrangements for the spirits to commune. -

Well, meeting other similar tree spirits was something I always wanted.

- Please, please spare our lives and forgive us. -

- I recall the four of you saying you were but ordinary druids. How can you arrange for us to meet with the other spirits? -

- We canÆt, but our archdruids can. I. IÆll do my best - no, IÆll give everything to arrange for it. Please, donÆt kill us. -

Hmm. fine.

- I suspend your punishment. On a few conditions!

- All of you will remain under house arrest in New Freeka and the valley. Make any attempt to leave, and all of you will die. If you need to, call for more druids to come assist you with all the necessary arrangements for me to communicate with the other tree spirits. If any of you try anything funny, all of you die. You all will remain in Freeka as my guarantee, until contact with the other spirits is established. If I donÆt have contact with the other tree spirits within a reasonable amount of time, of perhaps three years, all of you will die. And I want you to cooperate with me fully, and you will revoke your arrangements with the councilors. Double - cross me or attempt to use any kind of ritual or spell on me ever again, and I will not hesitate to put my roots through all of your skulls. -

The four druids breathed a sigh of relief. - Certainly, certainly. -

- Go. -

After I let the druids go, I called for a meeting again. I wanted to know what was causing all these people to react so recklessly in front of me.

- Why did the meeting unfold in that manner? - I complained to the audience, the senior leaders of the Order, and when Yura explained how it went, Madeus pretty much facepalmed.

- To be fair, your main tree was really intimidating and scary. Even walking in the woods feels intimidating. - The priest seemed able to relate to the feeling.

- Lozanna walked in and out without a problem. -

- Lozanna Æs not a good example. -

It was the OrderÆs captain that offered a bit of honesty. - Counsel Yura , Lady Laufen, and Lozanna were natives, and so they were oblivious to its appearance, but for the rest of us, being before your main tree was like standing before a council of monsters. The presence of the various ghosts and wisps around your main body, the crackle of magic radiating from every root, branch, and leaf, how the surrounding trees feel like a prison. those strange trees around you, or that few trees that look like theyÆve been burned and charred by thunder. Seeing it for the first time, I had nightmares. ItÆs a place for monsters, for. gods. The druids probably panicked, overthought, and probably did what they thought they needed to do. -

Oh.

Well, the layout of my main body was surrounded by the two tree - minds and their root - brain complex , the soul forge and all its extensions, the labs and pods, and then a ring of subsidiary trees, home to the beetles and spiders. The canopy was covered in webs and vines, and because of the effects of soul forge: black , there were all the soul collectors floating around. And maybe AlexisÆs body as well, which appeared like a deformed, mutant tree.

- Fine. Next time, all meetings will be held here. Only those truly deemed worthy will face my main body. - I guessed that was why access to a tree spiritÆs main body was restricted. If they were all similarly high level, their presence was going to be incredibly intimidating.

Now, I was really curious what the other tree spirits were like.

YEAR 80 MONTH 5

Back to the sewage issue. Containment by way of subsidiary tree worked, for now. A long - term solution was still in progress. Broadly, the idea we had was to use plants and algae to digest the sewage. I couldnÆt help but feel that I was a tree, so all solutions I developed must involve trees, kind of like how everything looked like a nail when I was a hammer.

I let Alexis take the lead on the plant samples, so she conducted research on all the different kinds of collected plant samples. The hope was to develop some kind of poop - processing hybrid plant. There were some plants with slight tolerance, so the idea was that tolerance level could be amplified such that the plants were able to obtain some kind of resistance.

There were promising results from algae and trees, but as with all research, more time and more samples were needed. Well, it was just time. I had plenty now.

Meanwhile, Trevor was in charge of the materials lab, with a focus on creating filtration systems, whereby the different elements of the sewage was separated. Different plants had different tolerance of elements, and if there was no single sewer - eating miracle plant, then itÆd have to be multiple plants working together. To do so, splitting the toxins was critical!

At the same time, Yura and the Order lobbied the Council to actually build a proper sewage system. The sewage system would then connect to a sewage tunnel, and that tunnel would move all the sewage to a designated spot out of town. That spot would be where my future sewage - processing plant would be located.

Yura phrased the argument to the council using pride as the main emotional hook. I admired that.

How could any self - respecting capital city still rely on primitive poopholes? Could you call yourself a developed nation? If New Freeka wanted to be respected as a kingdom, it had to have a proper sewer. Think about all the adventurers it would train, all the secret passageways it would create!

Sewers were a source of revenue! A source of jobs and experience for newbie adventurers! No more poopholes! More time for priests! Less regular cleansing needed because the poop could pile up out of town!

And so the Council debated the New Freeka Subterranean Sewage Project.

YEAR 80 MONTH 6

Demons.

News of their presence spread through the merchants, through communication spells, through artifacts.

Demons, humanoid demons. They were humanoid and yet had appendages that resembled weapons, some in the form of spears, some in the form of swords or axes. They also seemed to have particularly strange behaviors, building fortresses and camps, which had never done in recorded demon king history.

The news of the multiple rifts sent all the nations into high alert. When did the rifts appear so quickly?

Unlike all other occasions, the number of rifts were significantly more.

- TreeTree, youÆll protect us, right? - Lozanna asked.

- Yes, Lozanna . But if you have to fight them, will you? -

Lozanna paused. She was eleven now, and itÆd be another nine years before she was mature physically. If I could, IÆd like her to stay out of it. - Yes. IÆm not as strong as IÆd like to be, but yes, I will protect my family and friends. -

- Good. - I didnÆt think she was ready yet. But sometimes, you had to throw them into the water.

YEAR 80 MONTH 7

- We need to talk about defenses. - The council gathered in the large meeting room. Some of the councilors sighed. - First up, we need walls and more soldiers. -

- We already have walls. -

- Not enough. The news coming from those near the rifts was quite concerning. - The meeting was led by YvonÆs replacement, a guy called Arza. HeÆd been in the job for some time now, but really, he was just a very clever coordinator and spokesperson for his faction of councilors.

The other councilors looked at him quizzically. - Is there something thatÆs on your mind, council leader Arza? - Council leader was an informal title, since all in the council were theoretically equal, but there was always one taking a chairing role.

- Yes. Demons. Our defenses are inadequate for demons, with their numbers and their strength. We need to urgently improve our defenses. -

- Walls donÆt work against demons. TheyÆve got crazy numbers, and theyÆve got those large monsters. -

- Not this time. The news coming out from the nations facing the demons is that they are like. - Arza paused, and then he took a deep breath. - They are like us. TheyÆre using our tactics and strategies. -

- ThatÆs absolutely crazy. Are we talking about demons? - one of the councilors said. - In recorded history, demons have never adopted our tactics. -

Arza nodded. - I think itÆs crazy, too, but. but. itÆs our chance to bolster our military. We needed this excuse. -

- You mean. -

Arza paused, then whispered, - WeÆve lost the druids. WeÆve got to find something else, and this is it. -

- Ah. Then we must! - One of the councilors spoke.

- WeÆll take this excuse to raise taxes and train more soldiers and mages. We need the OrderÆs money, and this is a good excuse to force them to collaborate. If they donÆt, weÆll shame them publicly for being selfish! - The other councilors added fuel to the flame.

- I see! -

- But didnÆt. Wait. Why would that work, Council Leader Azra? The OrderÆs strength is the Tree Spirit, no? The tiny militia and force they maintain are nothing compared to the amount of warbeetles they can deploy. - One of the more skeptical councilors asked Arza.

- Indeed, so we have more to gain! We need to use this excuse to adjust the revenue rate that the Order gets, so hereÆs the message I want everyone to spread. The OrderÆs not spending enough on defense! We need the money to defend the city! Arza emphasized to the group.

- AH! So the idea is to make the Order seem like they are spending money on frivolous things like collecting plants and animals, gifts for babies, and unnecessary rituals! -

One of the councilors objected, - I wouldnÆt talk about the rituals. TheyÆre quite popular among my electorate, and many find them meaningful. Stick to the collection of plants. -

- Agree, wouldnÆt this move backfire? -

- Maybe, but we must be subtle about it then. First, we need to expose how the Order spends their tax money and then tie it to our defense needed. Show the people that they are not doing what they can to defend the city. -

- Uh. they have beetles, Councilor Azra. -

- I know, then we must explain to the people that beetles are not trustworthy! We need our own strength! The strength of our people! Inspire them not to rely on a secretive power, like a tree spirit. We donÆt even know whether it will protect us when it really matters or if it will only choose those it cares about! -

- Ahh! -

- Think about it. We embed a belief in our people that we must rely on our own mortal strength, with powers within our control, ideally, with us, the councilors in charge. We represent them, whereas the Tree Spirit is unelected, and it is a magical being, not mortal, not one of us! Now we suffer the whims of a magical creature! Where is our dignity? -

A murmur rippled around the councilors, mostly in agreement.

- So, we must have more walls, more soldiers, more mages. We may not be stronger than the army of beetles, but IÆll be damned if we are beggars, begging for mercy and protection from a magical creature! -

- Our founding documents say they would protect us. -

- Myths! Tell the tale of when the great cities who suffered the wrath of dragons who no longer wanted to protect them, tell the tale of the city who fell when the sacred beast turned on the royal family! -

- IsnÆt the message of that story about doing good because the royal family was evil? -

- DoesnÆt matter! ItÆs about self - reliance, strength! We are refugees, and if we fled Salah to be subservient to a magical beast, what good was that? -

- Councilor Azra, is this something your faction thought up? - a centaur councilor said, an independent in the sense that he was unaffiliated to either the Order or the independence faction. That was partly because his voting district also comprised the slopes of the valley where the rural centaurs lived rather happily.

Azra paused. - Well, yes. -

- I agree on the need to bolster the cityÆs own strength with more soldiers. I also agree on the need for more defensive walls. Yet, among the centaurs, treefolk, and even the lizardmen, A/ Æs presence is a reassuring force. So tone down the rhetoric. It will backfire on your factionÆs election chances. -

- Hmph. WeÆll see about that. But more importantly, IÆm glad to see you agree with our need to improve our own military prowess. -

The centaur shrugged.

Meanwhile, the druids.

The Druidic Aspect familiar was clearly a double - edged sword for the druids. On one hand, they got to store about three to five percent of my power, depending on their own level, for their own use, but because of the link and how it was magically entangled with me, I could see them clearly, wherever they went in New Freeka, kind of like how Lozanna glowed like a lightbulb in my overview of the valley. In other words, I could observe them through the Aspect.

The Aspect stole their experience and mana, too. I did recall that the familiars took a portion of the experience, too, which was why I leveled up when the contracted warriors died, but in the AspectÆs case, the ratio was even more skewed. I could also see their skills and also mark two skills of my choice as targeted for collection on death. Oddly, there was a time counter on those marked skills. I thought it meant it took some time to mark the skills.

So much for blessing. Were the other tree spirits also secretly taking skills from their believers? After all, how would they know that their blessing was actually not free? But if so, why did the tree spirits not give it freely?

Aspect contracts were limited to Level divided by 10. You were allowed up to 13 Aspects.

Ah, limited again. Just like familiars, which I could give out about 132, since I was level 132, or the Possession of the devoted , which I could give five. I supposed there was a mana - maintenance cost to it, which was why these were limited.

The four druids just used up four valuable slots. But they were called druidic aspects, so only druids could use them?

Druidic Aspects can be awarded to druids, herbalists, farmers, and gardeners (and variants). Can also be awarded to treefolks, with no job class requirements.

Confusing! System, you need a massive cleanup!

Anyway, I did somewhat regret letting the druids go, and I realized I was not very good at making high - quality decisions when I was in a spot. The druids could read my interest in meeting the other spirits and managed to, therefore, save themselves.

So what do I need to do?

Being able to make good, high - quality decisions? That was something I needed to try to do, but if I failed, what should I do then?

- Honestly, I wanted to help you, but their spell made me feel so drowsy and weak that I couldnÆt. -

Should I kill and drain the druids? Ah, well. I thought of looking, studying, and learning from them first, since I had them under my custody.

- Pods. - The druids gulped. - Go in. -

- Are. are you planning to drown us? -

- You were not making much progress on arranging the meeting. ItÆs almost three months. In. -

- The archdruid was coming. He. he needed to assess the situation. Please donÆt do this! -

- In. -

The vines and roots pulled the druids inside, and all four of them were now in the biolab pods. They struggled a lot for adults, compared to my four girls, who were getting rather good and used to the biolab. One of them even said it was quite relaxing.

Under the scope, the druids bodies were actually rather ordinary. They had a spring like any other, and a collection of stones around the lifespring, which were the skills and levels of the druid. What was quite unique were the animal headûshaped stones, which were the links between the druids and their animal followers.

Then there was the Druidic Aspect. The Aspect took the form of a vine - like plant, it grew and made a space around the spring, and its vines and roots spread around the stones, growing into the gaps between them, like a well that was partly abandoned and now reclaimed by plants.

Some of the stones around the spring had more vines around them, but most of them just had little roots at the sides, like small climber plants.

The AspectÆs main body, a large central flexible trunk, was like a parasitic plant living on the wellspring of his soul. On the aspectÆs plant body, there were three large, gourd - shaped organs, and from a little prodding, it reads, - AspectÆs storage organ. Stores energy from the main body. -

Strange.

I thought back to Lozanna and Yura Æs souls. In Lozanna Æs case, the familiar appeared like a separate plant in the shape of a sunflower, growing at the side of the well, but it didnÆt have vines or feelers growing like crawlers on the well. Instead, her special familiar had a strange, swirling portal.

In Yura Æs case, the eidolon Bamboo didnÆt even appear as a plant in Yura Æs soulspring. Instead, there was something in the shape of a Bear Statue that had a small waterspout on its mouth, and it was located outside the Soulspring. It seemed the relationship of the druidÆs familiars would be similar to Bamboo, since they too appeared as statues or stones.

I would later discover, from the druidÆs mouth, the druidÆs familiars werenÆt familiars, but actual animal spirits that had agreed to become their companions. These animal spirits were somewhat similar to artificial souls. They formed from the collective energies of many animals of their kind, the remnant outer shells of animals souls. Druids and beastmasters had an ability to separate the outer shells of their slain animals through a ceremony of some kind, where the inner soul was sent forth to reincarnate, leaving the outer shell in their service.

That said, it was also possible for druids and beastmasters to form lifelong bonds, a kind of soul contract whereby the animal served them for as long as they lived. These sorts of bonds were rare but also way more powerful.

It was also why the animal companions of druids and beast trainers were usually able to independently gain levels, due to them retaining a part of their souls.Æ

Back to the four druids, I decided to let them be. The AspectÆs presence in their soulspring was fascinating and was something I wanted to watch.

So, rather than let them do as they please, I tasked them with training my four Initiates and Lozanna .

The four young girls were doing well, though I should be looking for five more new recruits soon. They were now about level ten and had gained basic proficiency in the usual sword, dagger, staff, and shields.

They were just six to eight, though, so they practiced with wooden weapons and wooden dummies in the training room . That formed the bulk of their combat practice, on top of spars against each other.

Still, a very long way before they could enter battle. I would reckon they needed to be at least twelve before they would fight any real battle.

The minder familiar kept me updated on their levels; the moment I focused on them, a game - like panel appeared and showed me all the skills and levels, their mental state of mind, whether they were happy or sad or stressed, and also their health, whether they were hurt or healthy.

It was helpful and allowed me to tailor my Dream Tutor and the nutrition I was feeding them; when they were stressed or frustrated, I would have a bit of that calming fruit tea on the menu.

Lately, my control of Dream Tutor improved. I still couldnÆt control the exact specifics, but I could use the essence of summer in dream tutor so that they got rather pleasant ones, like beaches, warm suns, things to help them unwind.

I also regularly talked to the girls, but they were young, so it was usually silly things, like how far did a tree see or how high did I go.

YEAR 80 MONTH 8

More rifts were spotted.

Apparently, there were a few rifts near Salah, but they were on the other side, so itÆd be some time before they came near me. Their army had been dispatched to deal with the demons coming out from the rifts.

So far, only heroes had the power to close rifts, so the rifts remained open, and the army stationed a garrison force near the rifts to fight the demons that came out.

- If only we had our star mana powers again, then we could close the rifts. - Meela had popped by after so long.

- Do you want to go back into battle? -

- Ugh, true. - Meela shrugged. SheÆd gained a lot of levels since her hotel started operations one and a half years ago, so like Alexis predicted, her mobility had increased, though she still mostly stayed back in her hotel.

- But maybe we can help, somehow. -

- We are stuck here. What do you have in mind? - MeelaÆs body was like a treefolk, and frankly, it took quite a bit of effort to figure out she wasnÆt a treefolk. She had a dress that was formed from wood, and for her, changing attires meant changing how the wood was shaped around her body.

- Hmm. maybe we should try to help the next generation, perhaps research? The materials lab should count for something, right? -

As they discussed, I turned my attention to research.

Research status:

Beetle - anti - magma armors stage 4 - 10 months

Material labs - stage 1 - completed

Magical sensors - completed

Normal Tree - Root filters stage 1 - completed

Metal hyperaccumulator trees - Stage 1 - 12 months

Phytoremediation process - basic - 12 months

Dedicated Filtering Blackwater - Plant - stage 1 - 6 months

We had some normal trees gain filtering abilities, and this allowed them to reduce the effects of the poop - contamination.

But the materials lab was more of a properties kind of lab, which identified the components and the qualities of materials and also distilled the different types of materials. It looked like there were further upgrades, which allowed me to design specific materials and forge special alloys, but that was a whole lot further down the road.

Next was the magical sensors.

The magical sensors were instantly installed on my material labs and gave me a reading of the mana flowing through the air and the composition. Mana had many types, after all. It also detected spells and area - of - effect skills. Together, with sensors in multiple material labs, they formed an array able to triangulate sources of unusual activity, like sudden surges of energy in the air.

At first, there was a whole load of false positives. Spells were being cast daily, in many battles throughout the world, some not very far away. Adventurers of New Freeka constantly traveled the region, slaying rogue monsters and bandits. Or priests and healers taught in Madeus academy for the junior students.

All these false positives had to be removed.

So we had to set a very high threshold to remove all the lesser spells from detection. My assumption was they probably wouldnÆt be much of a threat.

- TreeTree, can we help the next generation of summoned heroes? - Meela asked. - Alexis has some ideas, and she thought, well, we need your help. -

- Hmm, honestly, IÆm not sure why I should help the next group of heroes. From what I hear, heroes are pretty dangerous. They have a whole lot of magical power and are extremely idealistic. -

- But isnÆt protecting the world from demons aligned with yours? Protecting the valley means also protecting it from demons. -

- They certainly overlap, but what are the benefits of helping the heroes? -

- Uh. protecting the valley? -

- Honestly, if itÆs just demons, I donÆt need heroes. -

Alexis paused. - True. but would you permit me and Meela to aid them? -

- Hmm. - I couldnÆt control Meela, since she was her own independent soul, so. Frankly if she did, and it wasnÆt against me, I wouldnÆt stop her. - Fine. -

- Great! -

YEAR 80 MONTH 9

An uneventful month in the valley.

Training, practice, observing the druids and citizens. Eavesdropping on conversations about battles from far away against the demons.

The humanoid demons were appearing everywhere, and the battles were getting more and more intense.

Unlike all recorded history of demons, this time, the demons had brought a special item that spawns demons, and it took the form of a camp. Larger variants had been spotted in places where towns and villages used to be.

And so, it could be said that overnight, all mortal wars ended, as the focus turned to face this new era of demons.

Demons used to be a continental affair. Only a few rifts would open, and when they did, it was usually not far from each other, at least, until the demon king came.

Not anymore.

And for me, the big question was why?

Why did the demons, after what seemed to be years of taking the same strategies, finally trying this sort of carpet - bombing technique?

YEAR 80 MONTH 10

I chose another five children, this time two boys. Overall, due to the relative peace in New Freeka, the number of new orphans was trending downward. Still, accidents, fights, and death were inevitable, and there were also migrant orphans.

In certain communities where there was no capacity to support another orphan, it was better to send them off to a place where they would be cared for.

Anyway, the first four girls were around level twelve; the highest level was level fifteen, with eight levels in soldier . This job class thing was fascinating and more for me to learn.

As for Yura , he was still at level eighty and stuck.

Which was why today I harvested a three - year - old ginseng plant , leaving two others to continue maturing.

Three - year - old magical ginseng root

Permanently improves lifeforce (faster mana, stamina and health regeneration)

- So. how do we use this? - Yura held the ginseng root; even though it was three years old, it actually looked like it was a one - hundred - year - old ginseng root from my old world. I thought it was its a mana and probably my influence and bounty.

- Do you want me to cook it? - Meela offered. There was a cookhouse in her lodge.

- No. - I was trying something more direct. - Please step into the soul forge. -

- Uh, okay. - Yura looked at the lightning - burned tree and then stepped in.

IÆd thought about it for some time, and essentially, what I wanted to do was try to inject the ginseng into his soulspring. It sounded like some kind of cultivation novel when I described it like that.

I attempted to start up the soul forge and start the merging process.

I got an error message when I put the ginseng roots in.

Ginseng roots needed to be further refined before they could be used in the soul forge. Refining required access to an essence concentrator.

Essence concentrator?

At the same time the soul forge was still active, Yura was still inside, his body sleeping in a special altar within the forge - tree. A prompt appeared.

Do you want to remove some of Yura Æs skills or job classes? Doing so will free up lifeforce to learn other skills or gain levels. Removed skills have a chance to be converted into skill seeds. Skill seeds made this way canÆt be reused on donor.

Eh.

I suddenly recalled the day, some six years ago, when the Wisp told me about surrendering of levels and skills.

- Why didnÆt it work when I captured the ranger? -

- ItÆs called surrendering. If Yura Æs willing, you will be able to remove skills he doesnÆt want. And as I recall, you partially succeeded since you received a few skill seeds and class seeds. The conversion odds are higher if itÆs a voluntary surrender of the skills. -

- Huh, so surrendering skills isnÆt exactly all bad, either. - Was this like that pocket monster game again, where you unlearned a move, and somehow there was a chance the move you unlearned got transformed into a TM? In a way, the soulÆs ability to support the personÆs level and skills was limited, and this ability technically. technically allowed minmaxing. - Can a hero surrender his hero class or blessing? -

- What comes from the gods can only be removed by the gods. -

INTERLUDES û AKBAR

SOMETIME AROUND YEAR 80, MONTH 9 (TREETREE - TIME)

Every demon king was slightly different, every generation of demons usually a variation of the previous. Scholars, inquisitors, and demon-hunters had often wondered why it was so, but since these invading demons didnÆt seem to be able to communicate, no one knew for sure.

Still, the inhabitants facing the demons could still observe and make a note of how subtle differences existed. The first demon rifts revealed little hints about the characteristics of the demon king they faced and the sort of battles they would have to prepare for. Usually this meant elemental and/or monster variants, like how Andraas had earth - golems, earth centipedes, and fire hounds, and as time went by, its larger versions of such monsters.

Spotting a demon rift was something every warrior learned by experience. Once theyÆd seen it, they would remember it for life. The way reality itself warped and broke, a tear in reality that linked to another world, it was an unforgettable sight. The portal to the demon world.

- General Akbar. - A human knight rode up to central camp; there were about five thousand soldiers there.

- Commander Akbar, - the older man emphasized. - IÆve been demoted, and you need to remember that. Had it been in the city, you could get in trouble. -

The knight shrugged. - YouÆre still my general. Anyway -

Commander Akbar frowned and gave the knight a stern look. - Get to it. WhatÆs the status? How many demons did you spot? -

- Twelve hundred. Surprisingly easy to get a count now that they look like humans. They made something that resembles a large house or camp. Still no sight of the rift yet. IÆm waiting for the other scout to report back. -

- Demons, making camp. - Commander Akbar scratched his chin. - What has the world come to? I must see this. -

The force of five thousand men marched toward the site of the reported demon camp, and what they saw was indeed a demon camp.

- There it is, Commander. -

The demon campÆs surface resembled a dark - reddish hue, its existence as if magic itself was forced to form the fabric.

- WhatÆs it doing? -

Akbar started counting, his eyes looking through his portable telescope, right at the demon camp. He watched intently for about thirty minutes.

- ItÆs making more demons, soldiers. Get the mages. I want a magical reading on this area right now. -

AkbarÆs hunch was right. The campÆs location had slightly stronger natural mana and energies. There was only one decision to make: the camp had to be destroyed before it spawned more demons.

They crushed the twelve hundred or so demons easily.

A few days later, they were back at the camp.

- The news is unsettling. - Akbar pored over the news coming in from all the other continents and kingdoms. Demonic news didnÆt have the usual diplomatic embargo and political filters, and frankly, Akbar enjoyed fighting demons. It was just plain fighting, without the bullshit of politics or the worries over the unnecessary death of others. It allowed him to be a true military man; the only thing he had to focus on was crushing this faceless, demonic enemy.

- There were so many. - Both of his aides nodded, and they looked over a rough map of the world. It was one of AkbarÆs personal collections as a general. Akbar placed a small red flag wherever they received reports on rift sightings.

There were multiple rifts in every large continent, and even in smaller continents. In earlier demon kings, the rifts were concentrated, most of the time on a single continent. Maybe two, at most, and even those, the bulk of them usually formed on one continent.

It didnÆt take much for Akbar to conclude the obvious. - This demon is planning to overwhelm the world with sheer numbers by attacking everywhere simultaneously. -

One of the aides shook his head. - But does it matter? If they come with us with that tiny force, scattered throughout the world, they wonÆt be a threat! And the heroes will come around and save the world when the demon king arrives. - Akbar frowned a little at the aideÆs statement.

Two knights and a mage walked into the war - planning room.

Akbar looked at his aides. - True. But between now and the Demon King was at least a few years. This tactic may potentially destroy the world before the heroes even appear. -

- So what? We can stop them. The quantity from the rifts reported so far has been small. -

Akbar paused and remembered the demon champions. No reported sighting of the champions yet, though they often arrived before the king.

The other aides answered before Akbar got to it. - If the demons can build camps that generate more demons, their quantity wonÆt be small for very long. How many rifts do we know nothing about? How sure are we all these are the only rifts out there? If the rift and camp were made in a secluded area we know nothing about, they could suddenly surprise us with a large force! -

- True, true. -

- HowÆs the analysis on the camp and the demons? - Akbar asked.

The mage shifted uncomfortably.

A soldier ran into the camp. - Gene - sorry, Commander! The mages, they. uh. they turned into demons. We had to kill one of them. -

AkbarÆs eyes widened, and he stared. - When did this happen, and why did I not know about it? -

- It just happened, General, - the soldier shouted, trying to catch his breath. HeÆd been running. - The mages, they were just meddling with the demonic staff, and suddenly it started to absorb one of the mages! So we had to destroy the staff, and we couldnÆt save the mage. -

Akbar stopped. - You know about this? -

- No, sir. - The mage in the room shook his head, but then he walked over to the soldier to talk.

Before Akbar could ask more, another person came in. He was a mage, too, and he looked younger than the other mages. - General. -

- Commander. -

- We have the report you wanted. -

Akbar glared at the young mage; he was unfazed. - What happened? -

- Accident. It was quite unfortunate that I could not save him. But we now know that the staff seeks magic and consumes it to create demons. -

The two aides paused.

- So, my guess is we should probably seek out major magical locations and dungeons and seek to take over them. -

- But how does the demons expect to beat the dungeons with their tiny force? - Dungeon, generally, had a respectable defense force and multiple boss - level creatures within their base.

- Maybe not immediately, but over time their force will grow. -

- We must let the world know, - Akbar acknowledged. - This fact may be helpful for the other nations. -

- Commander, we must first report this to high command. The king will want to know before this is shared, - one of the aides said.

Akbar nodded, but inside he just felt annoyed. Politics. He could see it coming; the king probably wanted to sell this information for money. The awkward truce with the Nung and Takde wasnÆt something the king enjoyed, especially since he wanted his reign to be one of glory.

And so, Akbar and his retinue returned to the capital, Ransalah, leaving the rest of the force behind. The rest would continue to hunt demons and look for the rift.

The journey took them a few days, and soon Ransalah entered their view. The massive sprawl of the city, the faint stench of human activity, the smell of the forges and factories, it was a sign they were getting close. Even at night, one could see the dispersed glow from the cityÆs lights.

The aide cheered. - Civilization! I canÆt wait for a hot bath! - The captains were relieved; one of them was from the capital, so his family was here.

Akbar just sighed. As a military man, he never felt like he had a place in Ransalah. Earlier in his career, he lived fortresses and camps, and till this day, that was where he felt where he belonged. Ransalah just reminded him of all the politics of the court, unnecessary reports to various nobles who wanted to build rapport, and bureaucracy.

- DonÆt look so glum, Commander. LetÆs have some good food. And good wine! I hear there was quite a good vintage coming from New Freeka, something weÆve never managed to try before! -

One captain nudged the aide, signaling him not to mention New Freeka.

Akbar just shrugged. Perhaps he shouldnÆt be so upset. The capital did have a whole load of good eateries. - Well, letÆs do that. I do miss having properly cooked food from a good chef. -

The group passed a damaged set of roads, some trees, and shrubs. - Ah, I notified the city that we were arriving soon. - The aide messaged the city using some kind of message spell. At this distance, the spell didnÆt cost much mana, and the message decay wasnÆt bad.

AkbarÆs mind was still occupied with the strategies of this generationÆs demons. What would the champions bring this time? Was the demons plan to split the heroes?

He distracted himself and looked at two rings on his fingers, one made of a greenish gold, another just regular silver. - Anyone coming to greet us? -

The aide shook his head.

Akbar smiled. - Best news I heard all day, then. - He hated the whole greeting and welcoming ceremony, frankly, the best thing since his demotion from general. Even his aides knew how much he hated it. - LetÆs eat some good food! -

Since they didnÆt have a welcoming ceremony, that meant he also didnÆt have to immediately go and face the king or the senior ministers. Not that the king was eager to see him.

So the group went for one of the many famous eateries in Ransalah, this one located on the commonerÆs district. Despite being the commoners district, there were many such eateries, serving adventurers, or wealthy merchants, or just some young men looking to impress a woman.

They had a spread of grilled and roasted meats, mostly from the nearby farms and also some of the edible monster meats, and a few different dishes of potatoes and yam, accompanied by wine. They had wine in regular wooden cups; though glass was available as a material, it was far too expensive for restaurants to use regularly, given how often glass things broke when an adventurer brawl happened.

Akbar, his aides, and the two accompanying captains took their time and dined, their conversation beginning with demons because, well, that was their job, and it was an easy thing to talk about in a dinner with colleagues.

Most of them wondered when the demon champions would start appearing; demon champions were still the single - highest risk outside of the demon king, and there were usually multiple champions. In terms of actual destruction, the champions were probably ahead of the demon king. The captains joked about running if they ever saw one, and Akbar just nodded. - I would run, too, if I saw a demon champion. -

And they all laughed. Demon champions were difficult; even a general like Akbar would need a strong mage and healer team to defeat one.

But once all of them were progressively drunker, the conversation turned to less serious topics, like how everyoneÆs love life was and whether Commander Akbar would ever remarry. Or other silly things, like what some of the soldiers were doing when in camp or stupid manliness challenges.

One of the aides talked about his failed dates with the local girls whenever they went on expeditions, and the rest of them just laughed, but they all also admired his guts for trying to date girls from all the various villages.

As they were about to leave, two men approached Commander Akbar. - Are you Commander Akbar? -

Akbar was a little tipsy, but he still managed to turn and face the two men. The two looked like plain, ordinary villagers; their presence honestly didnÆt seem anything special.

One of AkbarÆs aides, probably drunker than Akbar, tried to step in. - Why were you bothering our commander? - The aide was usually a little more timid; maybe it was alcohol - fueled machismo.

- May we talk to the commander, just for a while? - One of the men smiled politely.

Commander Akbar looked at them from top to bottom. If they wanted to rob or kidnap him, they did not need to ask. Though, even while drunk, Akbar could easily fight off two men, his alert passive did not trigger, so he had a good hunch that these two men didnÆt mean to harm him. Besides, he had a General class, and that meant he could hold two men down, easy.

The aideÆs attempt to respond on AkbarÆs behalf was stopped by AkbarÆs hand.

- Yes, letÆs talk. Back inside? - Akbar pointed back to the eatery.

The two men nodded, and they walked back inside. - Yes, inside is fine, but without your aides, please? Just something we want to ask you personally. -

Akbar smiled. - LetÆs use one of the private dining rooms, then. They can wait outside. -

- Commander, no. General Akbar. - The two men sat. It was a small room with one round table and chairs for six. Akbar sat opposite them. - What do you think of the demons? -

Akbar chuckles. - They were bad, of course. - What kind of question was that, anyway? Demons caused tremendous destruction and death, couldnÆt be negotiated with, and didnÆt have any useful functions. The only possibly positive thing about them was the daemolite left behind when the demon kings died.

- Do you think the heroes were doing a good job of fighting demons? -

- . not as well as I think they should. - Akbar spoke his mind. He had a hunch they were leading him somewhere, but heÆd see.

The two men grinned. - Great. Do you enjoy fighting demons? -

Akbar paused and stared at the two men. Enjoy fighting demons? In what sense? - IÆm sorry? -

- Have you ever thought of joining a cause dedicated to fighting demons? -

AkbarÆs stern eyes met with two others; the room felt heavy then. - IÆm afraid I need a bit more than that. What exactly was your cause? -

At that time, a third man appeared in that small private room, he materialized from the twoÆs shadows.

Akbar, though, still didnÆt react and just took a sip out of the wooden cup of water. - I was wondering when you would come out. -

- As expected of a general . Proper introductions now. I am from the Laenza Alliance, a secret society. Allow me to do the full explanation. The Laenza AllianceÆs main purpose was to support the heroes in their quest to defeat the demon king, and we would like you to join us in that quest. -

Akbar didnÆt react; he just took a good look at the man. - Have we met? -

- Yes. But that matters little. Our issue was the coming demonic conflict. We believe youÆve realized the gravity of the issue, and so weÆd like to invite you to join us. - He felt familiar, but Akbar couldnÆt pin it down.

Akbar sipped from the cup of water and said, - When you say, Support the heroes in the quest to defeat the demon king, what does that actually mean? You want me to put my life on the line and fight the demon king myself, together with the heroes? -

- Well, no. You wonÆt be the ones actually fighting the demon king. Ultimately, the heroes received the gods blessing, and only with the blessing can the heroes hope to stand toe to toe with the demon king. Our presence in that fight would be unnecessary. We may even be a hindrance. I would say we would be throwing our lives away. -

- So what do you do? -

- We, the Laenza, aim to support the heroes by spotting them early, guiding them, removing the barriers to their growth, and giving them what they need to progress. -

- Barriers. - Akbar looked at the three Laenza men.

- Politics. Bureaucracy. Think about it: these otherworldly heroes, they arrive in the world with very minimal guidance from the gods. They are lost, despite their gifts, and when they meet the locals, they need time to find their way. If it so happens they come under a nationÆs protection, kings and rulers often have their own political agenda. Every step of the way, they face resistance and unnecessary barriers, from locals who have no idea whether they really are heroes, to politicians and rulers who seek to manipulate them. -

The man paused to catch his breath, then continued.

- Our role was to offset those resistance, help them discreetly, and where we can take them away from politics. We try to be the first or among the first to find and contact the heroes and to offer them assistance, guidance, training. And if the heroes need any special equipment or items, or need to get somewhere, we try our best to help them along. -

Akbar sighed. It suddenly occurred to him that the heroes had it rough. They started off weak at first, thrown into a world they knew nothing about, they were still young and naive, and that usually made them gullible, and nobles usually tried to manipulate them. It suddenly made sense how things usually did work out for the heroes, especially if there was a secret organization that supported them in the shadows.

- So, would you be interested? -

- I have a feeling that you already know I would be. -

The shadow man offered his hand. - We must hear it from you. -

Akbar nodded, and they shook hands. - Yes. Let me be a part of it. -

The shadow man took out a ring with a single red stone surrounded by various smaller red stones and passed it to him. - Drop your blood in the ringÆs inner stone. -

Akbar gently pricked his finger, and a single drop of blood touched the inner stone. It glowed gently, a soft reddish hue, and then the shadow man walked over, and he too pricked his finger, adding a drop of his blood in the same ring. The two bloods mixed, and the ring released a red flash.

- The ring, itÆs invisible to all but the rest of us who also have it. It marks the Laenza and is how we communicate. -

Akbar put the ring on, and he could feel its magic mix with that of his own. The ring fit nicely. - Intricate carvings. -

- Made by our magesmiths, from where we are from, Rhongo. -

Akbar nodded. - ThatÆs far. -

- The demons rifts are everywhere. And we follow. -

- True. -

- Welcome to the Laenza. We have taken too much of your time, Commander Akbar. We will not keep your aides waiting any longer. - The three gave a gentle bow, and the shadow man vanished into the shadows again.

YEAR 80 MONTH 9

- The fact that IÆm here means itÆs not good news for the four of you. - A lady arrived in New Freeka and quickly found the four druids. There were many other ladies looking like her, and she didnÆt emit any visible presence or magical energy, so her arrival didnÆt even trigger any of my sensors.

A mature - looking lady, in human terms, she looked like she was in her fifties, though I suspected she was probably older. Despite her petite size, her very presence sent the four druids into a tense combat stance.

- The enforcer. - The four fumbled over their staff and called out their familiars. They were right in the middle of town, and the citizens cleared a space. It was common for brawls and fights to break out in town, and citizens generally knew to just give way. When there were fights among adventurers or people of that level, everyone would just let them fight.

- IÆve been busy, and I wish I couldÆve come sooner. But you know how it is. Investigations take time. A crime would be committed months ago, and only now the sentence was meted out. Such was the speed of justice, always lacking. - The lady shrugged; she was dressed in a loose - fitting shirt and pants, but they were clearly woven with high - quality materials. When she took out a scythe from nowhere, all my alarm bells started to ring.

She wasnÆt exactly tall and probably on the older side, but the way the massive scythe swung around her, I knew she was trouble.

An intense aura spread around her. It even made the subsidiary trees around New Freeka feel heavy. It was some kind of suppression aura.

- On what crimes? - The druids put on a brave face, attempting to feign ignorance in the face of the lady.

- Oh, this trick has been done many times. But fair, the one carrying out the punishment must repeat it, just so that the offender may drill it into their souls for their next life. -

The lady stepped forward one small step.

- For lying to the council, jail time. For forcing a high - tier spirit tree to a spiritual contract, the four of you have contravened one of the core tenets of the Hutan Council. And for that offense, the Hutan Council has empowered me to bestow your punishment. Death. -

The four men summoned their wolves, armor, and whatnot, and whatever they had. All the familiars charged at the lady.

But the battle was awfully short.

The lady swung her scythe, and it glowed in a dark - greenish color. - Druidhunter . -

A dark wave spread out, and the familiars of the druids all just turned into dust. Then, from the earth, four black roots emerged and stabbed them each in the heart, killing them instantly.

She then walked up to the four impaled bodies of the druids.

- Children, everyone, please donÆt watch. - It was in the middle of town, and the announcement of the execution sent a lot of younger children and their parents running away.

And her scythe beheaded all four of them. Their heads fell easily, like harvesting hay. She chucked their heads into a gunny sack and then into her magical pocketspace.

- Should we do something? - I wondered and asked my tree - minds.

- SheÆs scary. I suggest not, - Ivy said. - SheÆs got the ability to sneak in and find the druids and then kill them. She might use it on us. -

Well, the lady quickly went and met Yura .

- Supreme Counsel Yura , I apologize for my sudden, unannounced presence. My name is Leithia, a conducts enforcer of the Hutan Council. IÆve been informed that I may be able to seek a meeting with the Tree Spirit through you? -

No? I didnÆt feel like I should meet her because she was dangerous! Yura seemed unfazed, though; he even managed to sit comfortably in his chair and took a sip from his tea. He was really into tea these days.

- I understand that the Spirit is probably apprehensive to meeting another druid, and thatÆs fine. I would like, on behalf of the Hutan Council, to apologize for the acts of our rogue druids. It was a great disappointment to us as well, that our druids acted in such manner in the face of a chance to get power. -

Yura nodded and offered her tea. - Well, glad to know that laws are being enforced after all. -

- Indeed, I would like to assure the Spirit that we will still fulfill its wishes to commune with the other great tree spirits, and we are in the process of arranging that. ItÆs not easy to convince other tree spirits to participate, and we will need specialized items to allow the tree spiritÆs thoughts to be transmitted. In the meantime, the council will send someone over as compensation. -

Eh? Wait. Was there really a need for such things? CouldnÆt I just erm. chain my subsidiary trees all the way to wherever the other spirits were? Or was this subsidiary tree skill rarer than I thought?

- So, please assist us and manage the spiritÆs expectations. -

Yura nodded. - I think the Tree Spirit will. give some concessions on this. Though IÆm not sure for how long, I will try my best to convince him. -

Leithia smiled back at Yura and nodded a little. - ThatÆs the most we can ask for the offense the councilÆs poorly trained druids have caused. -

They both sipped on the tea. It was an awkward silence, but Yura looked more comfortable than the lady. - Would there be anything else? -

- ThatÆs all we wish to say, Counsel. IÆll take my leave and will leave your town in a few days. -

- Enjoy your stay. -

Druidic Aspects failed to collect the chosen skills as the period of the contract was too short.

Received 24 x Essences of Druid

Received 4 x druid class seeds

Received 1 x experience seeds

Aiks. Oh well, I would have to use the essences to teach the girls then, but twenty - four essences might not even lead to a single skill. Sigh.

Anyway, I was happy that the druid enforcer didnÆt push to see me, and so I turned my attention elsewhere. Ivy was still keeping tabs on her, though, and as she said, she spent her time in town. Thankfully, she left after two days of eating and meeting.

IÆd decided to reward one of the girls, the one who reached level fifteen, by giving her a choice of the class seeds to take and one skill seed for archery .

The choice was actually just between Druid and Ranger , since IÆd like to keep Dark Knight for later. I also had some random jobs from the deceased, like farmer , merchant , scribe and stuff like that, but since the Valthorn Initiates were meant to be a combat unit, itÆd be combat skills and jobs. They also already had soldier , which I found quite strange, but I supposed that was the result of being trained by soldiers?

The problem about the druid class seeds was that the trainers were now dead.

- CanÆt we learn from you? - the girls asked. Good question. If I was playing a game, I would think going to the source was a good way to truly learn a skill.

But no. Druids and tree spirits understood the same kind of abilities differently.

The way I sensed and commanded trees was different because I was a Tree, and I had access to certain kind of senses that elves or centaurs, like these girls, did not have. So, even if our powers looked and felt similar, the mechanics of how our powers worked, at its core, were different. The way I commanded and used Root Strike was different from how a druid would. I could move my roots as if they were. a button I could press.

For the druids, they had an incantation to call on the earth and trees to obey they commands. It was like I was the wheels, whereas the druids moved the wheels through a steering that went through the transmission.

- I am afraid it would be very challenging for me to directly teach you druid magic, though I can use the essences I have to give you lessons through Dream Tutor . -

And the druids magic actually covered a wider scope; their field extended into earth magic, water magic, some air magic, and also some animal - mastery. Whereas mine so far was rather wood - focused and a mix of tree abilities. In a way, they were generalists.

- But you are a tree. Are you not superior to druids? -

- SuperiorÆs not a fair way to say things. Our natures are different. -

- Why? - the young girls asked. Perhaps to them, everyone could be placed on a spectrum from weak to strong, and that may be true from a strictly combat perspective. But there was a nuance to abilities that extended beyond pure direct combat. - But why? YouÆre a giant tree with strange powers. ShouldnÆt you be better than them? -

These young girls could be strangely naive.

- Well, there are some things you can do when you have hands, and there are some things you can do when you have roots. -

They have job classes. I donÆt.

YEAR 80 MONTH 10

The Hutan Council sent a strange person to serve me. - Compensation, - they said, accompanied by a beautifully written letter.

An Arborist by the name of Zhiga.

- Uh. why did the council send you? - Yura looked a bit puzzled.

- I am here to make the Tree Spirit feel better, of course! - Zhiga smiled. He was an old man, but there was plenty of spring in his step. He came with a bag of tools, like little scissors, small shovels, and multiple bottles of dirt.

- Uh. after the recent incident, I am afraid that the Tree Spirit is a bit reluctant to meet new people. -

- Nonono, totally understand. I shall remain in the city and take care of the trees here. - The arborist remained in the city, with Ivy watching his every move. The city was open to visitors, it was peacetime after all, and so long as he obeyed the rules, he could stay in city.

Yura had a lot of time to think. When I offered to remove some of his skills, especially those from his earlier days that he may no longer need, he needed some time to think about it.

His levels and skills, experience as a villager, and also a fighter - some of those held certain memories to him and may have saved his life back in the day. Some skills made the difference between victory or death, and although they seemed weak now, they had special meaning.

- IÆm not sure whether I want to remove my villager skills. I have like. fifteen levels in them. - Well, Yura Æs overall level was eighty, and it comprised of sixty levels in warlord, being a combination of forty levels in fighting and twenty levels in diplomacy and administration. - What if there was a way for it to merge with Warlord? Maybe I will be Village Warlord? -

Hmm.

If such merging was possible, it would improve the organization and presentation of his soulspring, but I wasnÆt sure whether that freed up lifeforce to support new skills and levels.

Was there a way to assign a lifeforce consumption/drain value to skills and levels because perhaps there was some skills that used up more lifeforce than others? I would imagine these skills had a slot - value.Æ

- What if someday I need those villagerÆs skills again? When I grow older and I can no longer fight? - WasnÆt that a long way to go?

- Uh. -

- You said I wonÆt be able to relearn the skills? -

- No, I mean, I canÆt use the skillseeds on you, but I suppose you could learn it on your own again? -

Yura paused and sipped his ginger - tinged tea. - Hmm. I think IÆm fine. TreeTree. I appreciate you trying to push me past level eighty, but. I think I value my existing skills, they have meaning to me, and IÆm not willing to let go of them. -

Inwardly, I felt like sighing. I guessed skills were like scars; they punctuated certain moments in a personÆs life. Yura knew what it meant to be higher level. It meant he could fight stronger monsters, do more, but he had somewhat decided there were certain things he wouldnÆt do to get there.

- I can respect that, but if you ever change your mind. -

Yura nodded. - I think rather than that, maybe letÆs get back to basics, and erm. figure out how to restore my hand? -

He flexed his wooden hand. It was made using his mental link with Bamboo, his eidolonÆ/familiar. ItÆd been wonderful since Bamboo obtained the skill Extended Self , which sort of functioned like a power armor, and because how frequently Yura used it, it was really like having a hand again.

The challenge about lost limbs was that, well, the soul itself lost the blueprint and memory of the limb. Essentially, when healing magic attempted to heal a personÆs body, it accessed the soulÆs blueprint. That blueprint was then used as the basis for restoring the body.

When a limb was cut off, there was a crucial period during which the limb must be healed. After that, the soul lost the blueprint relating to that limb, and then healing the limb became impossible, and what was left was a stump.

In my earlier days, I didnÆt have the soul forge when I saw Yura ; he had already lost his hand. I didnÆt have any ability to heal the lost arm.

But IÆd changed, and altering his soul to recreate the blueprint - was certainly something I was now willing to try.

At least, I would first need to do some. experiments.

Animals.

If all souls were reincarnated, sometimes as animals, I probably should not be doing this. These poor animals could be me, in my next life.

Alexis and Meela clearly felt disturbed by what I was doing, even if they understood the rationale of what I was planning to do.

I had the Order gather stray animals in New Freeka and those further out: dogs, cats, deer, wolves, cows, any stray animals that were injured, amputated, limbless.

If I was to alter and recreate the limb, I needed some practice.

And then, I went to do my testing on these animals, using the soul forge to repair their souls.

The first animal died from the magic overload instantly. A gruesome death, best not to be described.

- What you are trying to do seems to require precise tools, beyond just what the soul forge normally does. - Alexis was curious, of course. I thought she was attracted to such gory things, even if she was disturbed.

- I healed the princess many years ago. Her soul spring was wrecked. Why do you think is this different? -

- The fact that you are doing experiments tells me you know it is different. The princessÆs spring was wrecked, but the body was still there. ItÆs like her house collapsed, but the components were just a mess. I think in Yura Æs case, the component is lost, and you are trying to rebuild it. You need to do something in the soul so that the left arm can regrow. -

- . okay. - To rebuild that soul blueprint, I would have to alter the form of the outer shell of the soul.

- Maybe something like a massive mold? Like those casts people make? -

A mold, eh? But letÆs see.

For the second animal, I planned to put the animal inside the mana soaking facility, wait for a day, and then start up the soul forge. I put two subsidiary trees with biolabs right next to the Forge tree and attempted to use the vine - tools from the Biolab to make the changes.

The Soul Forge did have some default tools, but unlike the biolab pods, the array and precision of the tools were lacking. At least for the augmentation I was thinking of.

During the test run, the vines from the biolab burned once they entered the forge tree. It was more like. they started to darken and turn to ash. Details were a little lacking when it came to the Forge Tree .

I thought it looked like I had to get something with more mana resistance. Something that did not burn from mana or allow the mana to flow around it.

I had some ideas there. But I would need to buy some jewels.

At the same time, I asked Yura for his oldest belongings, ideally something before he lost his hand.

Like the princess, maybe his belongings had a remnant, a shard of his soul that I could somewhat work with.

- I think they all burned down during the burning. except my sword. -

- Your sword it is then. Give it to me. -

- Uh. - It was precious.

- IÆll make you a new one. -

The sword went into the forge tree , and there were some shards of his being, but because heÆd been using it even after the incident, the shards and fragments in there were all without his hands.

- Sorry, I really have nothing else. -

Perhaps these items were like loose memory cards, and contact refreshed their memory to the latest version? Or did they merge?

- So. my sword was gone? - Well, the sword was still there, but in order to analyze the shard, I had to break it down, and unlike people or souls, the soul forge wasnÆt designed to put them back together. It was quite strange how the soul forge knew what to keep and what to break. I mean, why was it that a person inside could survive, but a steel sword got broken?

- Uh. kind of. - It wasnÆt that great a sword anyway. It was really just a basic steel sword, despite the fancy design.

- Ah. - Yura sighed. But he understood why I did it. Even now, I had an inkling of how to do it, but I still needed to test it out on animals.

YEAR 80 MONTH 11

The merchants delivered a bunch of ores containing various unprocessed jewels and metals.

The idea was simple, really.

Some of these metals should be able to strengthen the biolabs and their tools, via mineral augmentation , and together with woodshaping , I could make the tools necessary to perform more precise adjustments in the soul forge.

Should.

Or maybe. Could I use star mana ?

Anyway, that was also worth testing. First, the ore and jewels test.

Before the second animal test, I fired up the soul forge, put the ores in, and measured how long each of the ores lasted before they melted into a puddle. Some would last longer, and if so. some of them should last?

Nope.

All of them melted, some a little bit slower than others, but all melted into a puddle. It was as if they were stripped apart, bit by bit. Or maybe I just didnÆt have the right kind of ore.

Maybe I should use my main body? WouldnÆt that work? My main body should be more resilient than using it via subsidiary trees.

But I would have to move things around.

- Can I have a forge tree inside my main body? - I asked the Wisp. The Forge Tree was created to minimize the pain of using the soul forge; that was why it was. outside.

- You certainly could, but you will feel quite an intense pain when you use it. - The forge tree received lightning and vibrated like mad when the mana spun. - It will feel a bit like when you were evolving. And you will feel like mana - poisoned, but then again you were an evolved tree. maybe you can. -

- LetÆs try it anyway. -

So, in my body, within the secret hideout I set aside a space and made it into a forge tree. It came easily after all, I already had the tree, and this was just internalizing it.

Secret hideout modified: Internal Soul Forge Chamber

And I fired the internal soul forge up.

whoomm

It spun.

It was kinda like a really bad stomachache, the mana spinning in my metaphorical tummy. But not as bad as I thought.

- Uh. you okay in there? - Alexis asked. She couldnÆt see this part, inside here, deep inside the secret hideout.

- Yeah. -

Using woodcrafting , I created layers of wooden walls around the chamber, which formed a barrier, to protect myself from the swirling mana. The space here was flexible in sizing, after all.

And I fired up the soul forge, again.

These protective walls were in a state of constant regeneration. The gathered mana swirled and sped up. As it did so, it expanded and burned the protective wooden walls.

At higher speeds, and at full power, it felt like I was surrounded by fire. Like I was in a sauna.

But my initial theory was correct: my main body, vines, and feelers were more resistant to the mana - burn, and they did last longer. Not only that, thanks to Self - awareness , I was far more aware of what was happening.

Zaapp!

A lightning bolt struck my main tree, followed by loud thunder.

Ugh. I felt it travel down from the branch to the trunk, leaving a streak. It burned a little while, but my fire resistance and healing power quickly kicked in and put it out.

The mana in the forge spun, and it sped up. As it sped up, it quickly took the shape of a spinning ball. Time for another test, so I put an ore in with a feeler. The ore started to disintegrate into a puddle, levitating in the middle. My soft, green, viney feeler started to disintegrate as well as the swirling mana bombarded it.

Hmm. There must be something. Maybe just starting up the soul forge wasnÆt the complete process.

I needed to see how the Soul Forge did it normally.

I decided. to test it out on an animal.

The animal was one of the many stray ones, a small hamster - like animal. ItÆd lost its tail. This time, I observed it intently instead of letting the skill do what it needed to do. And partly, being inside me also allowed me to truly see it, perhaps through my skill Self - awareness , since my vision of the separate Forge Tree wasnÆt as holistic.Æ

And I saw it. The mana - dispensing feeler in the soul forge.

The moment the animal stepped into the soul forge, a small layer of mana was applied to the creature by a tiny feeler. As the soul forge started to spin, the body was protected by the mana funneled by two vertical magical connections, and then. the soul was pulled out of the body.

Even the tiny hamster had a soul.

Were you possibly human in some previous reincarnation?

Sorry I have to do this. ItÆs for. science. May your soul move to a better place, reincarnated into some other form.

The soul was in the shape of a hamster, too. It. it didnÆt have a tail. I could see the soul, it had multiple layers, and the soul forge started to split those up. One layer representing the spirit - body, and one multi - sub layered spirit representing the skills and outer soul.

Seemed like all these details were omitted when looking at the forge tree . With the princess or the artificial souls.

The body was moved aside, and the two spirit layers moved to the center of the soul forge.

What did I do at this point? How did I recreate the tailÆ? I tried to look back at all the other animals that the Order gathered, and yes, there were a few samples of this animal. Some of those animals had tails.

I pulled up the data, stored in my biolab, and cross - checked to the body.

Ugh. Firstly, the data from my biolab was in a different format, presented in the form of the soul spring and its extensions.

This meant my biolab wasnÆt collecting data suitable for the soul forge . The way things were presented and the information was different. ItÆs like one was an X - ray photo, and another was a 3D MRI scan. The information was different, even if the body was the same.

Still, the creature was in. No point stopping. I tried to use the data I had to recreate a tail. Using soul fragments, which I had plenty of, I formed it into a rudimentary shape of a tail. Ugh. My difficulty in shaping the soul fragment into the tail was partly because my feelers only lasted a short while before the swirling mana burned their tip up.

The soul forge spun, and another lightning fell. It felt like when I touched a light switch after a shower, only stronger, more intense, and it traveled to my belly, where the soul forge was.

The tail slowly, clunkily merged with the spirit - body, my burning feeler clumsily trying to adjust its position, and then it merged with the layered spirit. The real body now came back and rejoined the spirit, and then the hamster - creature was whole again.

The forging complete, I put the hamster - creature back into a healing pod.

And I used a healing ability.

The creatureÆs bottom started to heal; indeed, there was a small dot that was regenerating, and it resembled the shape of what I made. It was somewhat mispositioned, like. the root of the tail started a little too low.

A rough tail shape appeared, like an engorged balloon stuck on the creatureÆs bottom.

Then the tail expanded. and exploded in a massive splatter of blood. The hamster - creature died instantly.

IÆm sorry, hamster - creature.

Looking at the remains of the splattered body, the cause was simple: the tail lacked all the details of the blood vessels, muscles, and bones that were needed in a real tail. All it had was a layer of skin in the shape of a tail as a result of my poor drawing of a tail.

The healing accelerated the blood flow into that tail, so when the skin could no longer take the pressure from the blood inflow, it exploded, and the creature died of blood loss.

Ugh.

Looked like it wasnÆt going to be easy to rebuild a limb when the soul had forgotten what the limb was like. And I wouldnÆt want Yura to go through that sort of miserable death.

The barriers?

The first challenge would be to get a good soul forge level imagery of what a hand should be. I would have thought I could fix this by taking a good scan of Yura , again, this time in a biolab pod inside my body, using the soul forgeÆs power. Something of a similar resolution and detail as what I had now seen, preferably more. Maybe create some kind of soul forgeûbiopod hybrid. Maybe, if I could somehow flip the image of his existing hand, then I wouldnÆt have to start from scratch.

Next barrier, a way to recreate that image in the soul forge, using soul forge. My expectation was that a full soul - copy of the limb would be extremely detailed and would need a lot of work to recreate such a thing with soul fragments. Even if I had a lot of soul fragments, my concern here was whether I had the correct tools and means to recreate it, and how long would it take?

And lastly, even if I could recreate the hand in a soul form using the soul fragments, I would need to figure out a way of accurately joining it all together and then heal it in such a way that he would have a functional arm. I still didnÆt know even if I created the hand correctly whether healing would somehow regenerate a hand with all the necessary bones, muscles, blood vessels, and stuff. I had taken the assumption that magic would handle it, but I did want to minimize that risk.

Lastly, what if there were things I didnÆt know? Maybe there were other details that I couldnÆt see because I was not using the right equipment.

Skill upgraded: Biolab healing pod

Yura thought healing his hand was going to be easier than breaking level eighty, but I thought both of these challenges were equally difficult.

YEAR 80 MONTH 12

The news of demons from the distant lands trickled in. More rifts had been spotted, but the military remained fully in control and had been suppressing the demons from the rifts, though perhaps the military was greatly downplaying the threat of the demons. So, for now, our part of the world remained safe.

The reason we were all generally suspicious of the good news was because the kingdoms were stockpiling resources; whether this was due to habit as a precaution from all prior demonic wars, or a sign of true distress, we still did not know. In past instances, trade lines got disrupted, and sources of food became unreliable, so it could be that there was really nothing, and some of these kingdoms were just being prudent, preparing for the worst.

Still, it was infectious. New Freeka was also in a mood for preparations; the council hired more soldiers, conducted extensive training for their militia, and stockpiled food. They also tried to run a campaign to smear the OrderÆs name, especially on the way we spent money, and to some extent, it did convince the regular citizens.

But we didnÆt part with the OrderÆs money. Instead, we decided to spend the money on new walls and defensive towers.

This was partly because I had a good range of defensive skills, and I wanted to make use of them. We built an outer wall a short distance away from New Freeka, and it was filled with trees on both sides of the wall. The skill Reinforce Defensive Structure created a vine - based structural reinforcement with sharp thorns on the outside of the wall and carnivorous plants and cactus defense system as traps.

The walls were separated into segments by defensive watchtowers. Next to that, I had subsidiary trees filled with beetles, and they functioned as watchposts and the beetles patrolled the walls. In front of that, we placed some subsidiary trees with shield generators to block large projectiles.

This whole thing was Trevor and IvyÆs suggestion. Ivy listened in on military defensive strategies from other nations and collated the information and put forth this suggestion.

Which I thought worked for the large hordes. If it was going to be a large army of hounds, the wall would work swimmingly well.

Still, the core issue with demons was their demonic champions. Like the massive golems, or the large centipedes, with opponents like that, these reinforced walls were not going to last very long.

On that front, the plan would be anti - demon weapons. ItÆd been something IÆd been hatching since the previous battle with the champion.

Magical wooden spears were filled with all the anti - demon abilities I had, also made with damage boosting essences, and all the holy enchantments I could get from the priests and mages in New Freeka. I would use them to cap my super anti - demon root strike . I even managed to weave a bit of star mana into it, and hopefully thatÆd make the difference. It worked before, so, I thought itÆd work again.

This time, I was going to stockpile a whole load of these anti - demon weapons. If the heroes were going to come around, theyÆd probably do crazy tricks like that again.

- You could make a sword like that? -

- Huh? -

- The anti - demon weapons you were making. Could I get one? You did take my sword. you know. -

- Oh. - Ah yes. I needed to make a weapon for Yura . - But these were wooden. spears? - I showed him one of the spears, and well, it was massive; after all, it was made for me. It was bigger than a lance, and so it was really heavy. It worked for me because their wooden nature meant my roots merged with their other end, and this was the largest size my roots could handle. The size helped because you could fit more spells into bigger things without having to increase the complexity of the spell or use more magically compatible materials, which may not work with my roots.

He touched them, and he looked quite impressed. - So, this was what Madeus and the group of priests have been doing for the past week. enchanting this? -

- Yeah. I can make a wooden sword, but I doubt it can carry the same quantity of enchantments as these large, multi - layered, wooden uh. bolts. -

- IÆll take it. I would like it to have anti - demon effects, too. I might need it. -

Well true. Maybe I should outfit Horns, Lozanna , and the rest with anti - demon weapons as well.

So, I went and made wooden weapons for them.

- Ooh, this is new. You didnÆt show me this before. - Meela poked her head when I was growing wooden weapons using woodcrafting .

- I didnÆt? -

- You didnÆt use it much, or if you did, I wasnÆt there. -

- I used it to make toys and furniture. I made Lozanna Æs toys with this, and the playpen was made using this. -

- Oh, true. Come to think of it, that explains where a lot of your tools come from. - Meela stared a bit too closely at the little growing sword, and she poked it. Now that sheÆd gotten a physical body, she was frequently walking around New Freeka.

So, I made more wooden weapons, swords, spears, and stuff. The process of making wood weapons was actually quite time consuming because for them to have a comparable strength to a regular metal weapon, I actually cheated, meaning I used irons and other metals harvested via my roots and infused them into the wood itself, the wood using them to form a kind of metallic frame in their structure.

But that wasnÆt enough, so I then infused essences . I had elemental essences, strength essences, and life essences, and adding essences strengthened the overall weapon. The best part of essences was that they could coexist with magical enchantments; for small weapons like a sword or a spear (relatively speaking), they could take one or two enchantments, more if I embedded jewels in them.

But since I didnÆt have many magical enchantments, I used the only one I had, lesser holy enchantment .

- Cool weapon. - Meela nodded, looking at my completed wooden sword. It was almost black in color because of the essences used. In terms of sharpness and strength, it was above a regular steel sword. It was no super - sword, but eh.

Yura tried to swing it around, nodding. - Hmm. the weight distribution feels a little weird. Probably need a bit of getting used to. But I suppose itÆs good enough. -

He still liked his own steel sword.

Meela was also examining Yura Æs new dark - wood sword now that it was done.

- Mika, you like swords? - Yura asked. Mika was MeelaÆs name in New Freeka, and Yura thought Meela was one of my artificial souls, like Horns. Meela didnÆt want to be known as a former hero. There was just too much baggage, hence the new name. AlexisÆs new name was Alix, but for now, nobody could see her except me and Meela.

- A bit. I think theyÆre quite cool. I generally like things made of wood. -

Yura nodded. - I see. It makes sense. Treefolk like wood stuff, too. But donÆt you find it weird, in a way? ItÆs like an elf admiring a weapon made of elf - bones. I would be somewhat creeped out. -

- Eh, I donÆt see it like that. If your entire life you were brought up that this was what your species does, you wouldnÆt think itÆs strange. -

Yura paused, nodded. - I see. -

The two chatted for a while, mostly talking about swords.

- TreeTree, you should fuse an artificial soul into a sword. You could make a talking - sword! - Meela casually said; she also took a swing of the new sword. It was a little too heavy for her, so after a swing or two, she gave it back to Yura .

Eh.

I felt like IÆd had a stump rammed into me.

That. that was. actually quite a good idea. But then the poor, artificial soul was stuck in a sword, and what if he didnÆt want to be in there? What if the sword broke?

But those were minor challenges. It was an idea worth exploring. ItÆd been two years since IÆd made Ivy, so I already had enough fragments for more artificial souls. I just need to check whether I had enough potatopower.

59,400 normal trees. 5,630 subsidiary trees. One leyline. Currently have enough power to support a total of 11 artificial souls.

Oh. There was really a lot of trees now, since. well. it was peaceful.

Now let me think.

Back to Yura Æs arm. I had Yura sit down and go for a full scan in the biolab again, this time specifically the one inside my body. And then, when he did, I pulled the power from the soul forge and used it to get a scan.

Now that I had some idea what I needed, based on my experience with the hamster - monster, I was trying to recreate that sort of data.

And it worked. But it was a far longer scan that the usual biolab, which took about two hours. I had to sedate Yura and put him in sleep, since the mana from the soul forge had to scan the arm.

To use my earlier analogy, the biolab was an X - ray, and the soul forge was an MRI, and now, the mana from the soul forge was entering the hand to collect data on what Yura Æs existing body looked like. And because it went section by section, it took Yura the whole day.

When he woke up, he was not too pleased.

- I was asleep for a day! -

- Sorry, didnÆt expect it to last so long. -

- I mean. you should tell me first. I had work back in the Order! -

- Uhm. -

Laufen, who came to check on Yura , smiled. - No worries I postponed all your meetings and briefings to tomorrow. I figured they understand that youÆve got a personal life, and that involves seeing your healers. Honestly, some of those issues, I told them to deal with it themselves. -

ItÆs just a day, I thought. I slept for weeks sometimes, and I had my three lovely artificial minds running things on my behalf. Looked like the Order needed to delegate more.

Yura nodded. - Fine, fine. -

- Let me look through the results. IÆll let you know. -

The scan was a lot more detailed than the ones from the biolab pods, but it was missing something.

Maybe this too was incomplete.

So I tried putting my two scans together, the one from the biolab pods and from this soul forgeûpowered scan. I needed some additional processing power from the root - brain complexes, so I had to temporarily tap on their root - brains for a bit more mental juice.

Suddenly, a string of notifications appeared in my head. It seemed there was a whole load of upgrades available for the internal soul forge chamber, but they would require me to build or grow certain things.

Secret hideout: Internal Soul Forge Chamber upgrades

Upgrade - Dedicated root - brain complex - to support higher resolution data - analysis of souls & storage of scan output

Wait. This reminded me of something I didnÆt finish.

- A ton of gold and a ton of quartz? And all these crystals and stuff? - The men looked amazed at the order.

- ThatÆll cost us quite a bit of our revenue, - one of the treasurers said. - WeÆll need to dig into our reserves, then. -

The master of ceremonies opened his arms wide. - Our reserves were meant for moments like this, when A/ calls on us to meet his demands. Do you not answer? -

The men gulped. The treasurer shook her head and nodded. - Certainly. -

- Go before A/ finds us lacking. -

YEAR 81, MONTH 1

- How are the preparations? -

- ShouldnÆt you not care about this anymore? - Yura asked. He parried a vertical slash from Lozanna and then ducked to dodge another InitiateÆs horizontal slash.

- I canÆt. You know I care, - Yvon answered. She was sitting on a bench, watching Yura spar with Lozanna and the Initiates.

- DidnÆt see the walls? - Yura jumped, and he elbowed the young initiate on the chest. The initiate wore a wooden breastplate; all of them did. It made them look a bit like a wooden knight. It cracked. The initiate was out.

- I did, but you know walls alone do nothing. -

- HavenÆt visited them? - Yura ducked, and Lozanna momentarily vanished and emerged behind him.

But Yura blocked it anyway.

- Good move, Shadow stab . But you tend to appear right behind me. ItÆs predictable. -

Lozanna Æs sword bent, and it curved toward Yura Æs head. He grabbed it with a reinforced wooden hand and, with a strong yank, pulled the sword out of Lozanna Æs hand. Lozanna protested. - ItÆs a spar! -

- You used two skills, so I retaliated. -

- ItÆs a handicapped spar! -

- Rest. We can continue later. - Lozanna was still a bit upset, but she did as she was told. She was close to the initiates now.

Yura walked to Yvon and grabbed a drink from a wooden flask.

- Where were we? Oh yes, the walls. I thought you would have visited them. DidnÆt you? -

- I did. - Yvon looked at the girls. All of them were young; Lozanna was the oldest at eleven. The rest were between six and nine.

- Not enough? -

- Yeah. My own sources tell me nasty things. About massive armies in the southern continent popping out of the hills, ravaging cities and setting up camps. I fear for us, whether we can survive that. -

- I wouldnÆt worry too much. The OrderÆs making preparations, and so is TreeTree. HeÆs making a whole load of preparations. Even the councilÆs busy preparing for the demons. As a whole, weÆre doing fine. -

Yvon paused, breathed a long sigh. - Is there something underground? -

- Oh? Is there? -

- You donÆt know about it? - Yvon looked puzzled. - Then. is TreeTree. doing something? All these tremors and shaking. Is it not him? -

- DidnÆt sound like itÆs related to what I know. - Yura shrugged. He motioned to the initiates. - Anyway, timeÆs up! Three initiates this time. Lozanna , you sit out and watch! -

Lozanna raised a fist.

More spars. The girls and Yura would spar a few times that day. The initiates benefited the most, since they lack combat experience. Lozanna , on the other hand, was starting to plateau. I wasnÆt sure how it worked, but it sure seemed like there was a limit how much one could gain experience from fighting the same person over and over, even if the gap was huge.

Yvon asked during one of the other breaks, - Do you think we can beat a demon champion? -

- What? -

- You, and me. - Yvon pointed to herself.

- Hmm. No. - Yura shook his head.

- Why not? -

- Have you ever faced one in battle, Yvon? -

- . no. -

- I have. WeÆre quite good. Both of us. But a demon champion. I donÆt think we are there yet. Not without TreeTreeÆs powers. -

- How is it that TreeTree is able to defeat demons, anyway? IÆve never heard of a Tree Spirit thatÆs able to defeat demons. ItÆs. unlike their nature. -

Yura paused. - ThatÆs a question I do not ask. -

- You should. There was something, isnÆt it? Maybe heÆs some kind of unique anti - demon variant sent down by the gods? -

- This is a conversation that I donÆt want to have, Yvon. -

Yvon hmphed. - Fine. But you are his spokesperson. You should know. -

- I am fine with other people having secrets, Yvon. I am not a young teenage elf whoÆs obsessed with everything anymore. -

- ItÆs not the same. You could lose your life. -

- Lives have been lost for far pettier things, Yvon. LetÆs leave it at that. -

Yvon sulked.

Research Status:

Beetle - anti - magma armors stage 4 - 4 months

Metal hyperaccumulator trees - Stage 1 - 6 months

Phytoremediation process - basic - 16 months

Dedicated Filtering Blackwater - Plant - stage 1 û completed

With the blackwater filtering plant research complete, I now had a specialized tree type, derived from the trees near the sewers of Ransalah.

New FreekaÆs sewer project was still under construction, so this tree was a bit early. Thanks to the budget reallocation to the military, the New Freeka Sewer Project was now crawling, with less than half the original workforce and artisans.

Meh. But I didnÆt want the Order to fund the project, so I deployed some of these new Filtering Trees near the present latrines. These trees helped segregate the contaminated water, such that only filtered water passed through.

Poop was generated daily. Daily. It grew. And it must have some way of being recycled or processed. Reluctant to use the OrderÆs funds, I decided to get the newly obtained Dungbeetles to dig a subterranean tunnel to act as a wastetunnel for a designated spot, where the poop was aired and sun - dried. My hope was the sun and air could kill or allow natural microbes to partially process the poop, and my future poop - processor trees would be able to do the rest.

The Dungbeetles rolled the poop into balls, and over the month, they pushed massive balls of rolled - up poop to a field outside town, where they remained. It kind of resembled a futuristic art installation, a field of round balls of poop.

Thankfully the rain didnÆt break it up. Seemed like the poopballs had some water resistance.

Or maybe I could use them as a weapon, roll these balls of poop into the enemy, like a bowling ball.

Oh well, this was a temporary measure, while research continued.

- Okay, we decided on helping the heroes. but what are we going to do? I am already eavesdropping on my guests, and it seems like the heroes are not here yet. - Meela frowned. She was sitting on the bar in her hotel - tree; Alexis appeared as a ghost on the other seat. There was no one else in the bar.

- IÆve got magic sensors, so thatÆs going to help a bit when they do appear. IÆve used what I remember of our own magic to calibrate the sensors, but they keep having false alarm, so IÆm still trying to tweak it. -

- But seriously, even if we do locate the next batch of heroes, then what? IÆm a hotel, and you are a tree - lab. What can we do? Without TreeTree, at least. HeÆs got subsidiary trees! -

- CanÆt you get subsidiary trees like TreeTree? Like. hotel chains? -

- Yes, I can, but itÆs like a level eighty upgrade. IÆm only level forty - one! And even then IÆm limited to two branches initially. -

- ThatÆs pretty fast, considering you just started. but yeah. It was a bit risky. if the demon king pops out in another year or so, and the heroes three to six months after that. WeÆve only got like. two years to gain those thirty - nine levels. - Alexis twirled a drink. It seemed MeelaÆs bar was ghost - friendly.

- I can make drinks and foods that makes my guests stronger. And as part of a hotelÆs hospitality services, I do have some healing abilities. I have a VIP escort unlock at level fifty, but IÆm not sure whether thatÆs any help to the heroes. - Meela looked at her upgrades. It seemed she had visibility of what skills she would gain, up until level one hundred. Something that I had yet to figure out why, but I was guessing it was part of the hero - blessings.

- Hmm. fine. LetÆs do a recap. Maybe we can figure something out. In terms of potentially useful abilities, I have probe beetles , magical sensors , decipher runes , copy biological ability , life - scan , and multiple versions of heal , - Alexis said. - We have a lot of healing. -

- Our physical forms were both derived from TreeTree, and TreeTreeÆs got incredible healing powers. -

- Ngeh. You shouldÆve taken the beetle. Or the wooden body. - Alexis frowned.

- But that copy biological ability . what does that do? -

- Pretty much transplant an ability native to a living thing, to another entity. But copying is one thing. After copying, I get an ability seed . Then I need to create a fruit with the ability seed . -

- So. what can you copy? -

- Native racial abilities. Like the beetles, that would be armored body , elves, nature - affinity , centaurs, and centaurion endurance . -

- Cool! You can give that to the heroes! -

- You could be right, but then I just realized the heroes donÆt lack overpowered abilities. They lack. -

- Experience. Knowledge. Other people to take the heat off them. True friends, not scheming nobles and greedy adventurers. People. that wonÆt backstab them. - Meela sipped from her wooden cup.

Alexis paused, and she looked up at the chandelier. It was weird having a magical chandelier on top of the bar, but it was one of the aesthetic options Meela had to decorate her hotel. The chandelier comprised of almost twenty little glowing lights, and multiple merchants had inquired about it to buy it from her.

Meela waited. There was no one else in the bar, but a few autonomous Tree - servants, cleaning the rest of the tables and adjusting the chairs. It was quiet; the bar was quite soundproof.

- YouÆre right. They donÆt need more power or abilities. They need friends. -

- DidnÆt have to be us, though. And they wonÆt trust us just because we come from Earth, and frankly, I donÆt think I want to tell them that we are from Earth. Maybe. we need to narrow our scope. As it is, helping the heroes is probably out of our league. -

Alexis tapped on the bar countertop. It was ghost - friendly. - True. But we do need to find them. They will be most vulnerable at the start. ItÆll be horrible if. -

- DonÆt say it. - Meela glared.

Alexis nodded. - I know. -

- Your probes, can they communicate? -

- IÆll find a way. -

- But if they donÆt spawn in this continent. -

- Then itÆs out of our control. They wonÆt be the last batch of heroes. This plan can be used for all subsequent generations if it works. -

Meela nodded. - Ah, true. I would have more branches by then. If I have branches on different continents, they could be like assassin safe houses, like you know, that John Wick film. IÆd be a brand name, like the Continental. -

- That wasnÆt something I expected you to reference, Meela. -

- But heroes do need a safe house of some kind. A place to keep their stuff. IÆve got a niche I can fill! -

Alexis frowned. - How. how about me? -

- You. you could make weapons? Or be like those skill - editing NPCs in the safe areas? -

YEAR 81 MONTH 2

Spring began, and a strange structure was spotted emerging from one of the rifts in our continent. Massive, it resembled a giant walking tortoise with a castle on its back.

Any attempts to approach had been met with stiff resistance from new types of humanoid demons.

- Uh. what do you think? - Yura read the circular from the merchants guild. It advised alternative routes of trade. Somehow, the merchants guildÆs trade routes circular was one of the best updates on the demonic invasion.

- Sounds like a champion, - Meela said.

- A large walking castle. -

- If TreeTree could walk, weÆd have a Walking Tree versus Walking Castle fight. -

- Ugh no. - I groaned. - Not keen on that. - Besides, IÆd lost a lot of power and my consciousness the moment I was no longer connected to the earth, so not exactly keen. - But it does sound like a. champion? -

- How far was it? - Meela asked.

- Not far enough. - Yura smiled.

- According to the circular, they predict. maybe four months? - The merchant guild circular came with a map, and it had a shaded heatmap, resembling a hurricane path kind of map. The merchants used this information for trade - route planning, and there was a small disclaimer saying the information was not guaranteed and demonic movements were unpredictable. The merchants guild bore no responsibility for any loss or damage arising from the use of these maps.

- Should we do anything? - I asked the group.

- Against demon champions. - Madeus paused. - We would need to get the temples aide. Else we stand no chance. -

- The Gaya temple and the other large temples were already mobilizing their best priests and paladins to the capitols. I doubt we will get much aid from them. Their resources are limited, - Wesley, the senior priest, responded. - And for them to aid another. uh. faith was weird. -

Yeah, we were kind of like a faith now, with me as the deity. I still found it weird, but apparently that was what the temples said, since I had rituals, priests, and a focal point. I hoped I didnÆt get classified as a cult, though for now the temples classified the Order as a folk - faith, a kind of animistic religion.Æ

- So, we were on our own. -

- Oh, well, nothing different, then. - I had been making my own preparations for demon champions. I just did not expect it to be. a walking castle.

Madeus then went off tangent. - Ermm. if I may, A/ ? I would like to request we offer refuge. -

- To whom? -

- Uh. somebody from Baroosh got in touch with me yesterday. The demonic forces were very close to where they are, and although the army was trying their best to hold back the demons, it seemed the presence of this monster has tipped the scales in the demons favor. -

Ah, Baroosh. That was where Madeus was from. They exiled him, didnÆt they? Looked like he still had some positive feelings for his former state.

- Many of them are still friends. And they want a backup plan if the Barooshian army canÆt hold them back. -

- Yura ? - I wanted to add some conditions, but I thought of asking for views.

- We could accommodate, but they are guests, so they will be expected to behave themselves and follow our rules. - Hmm, looked like Yura had similar thoughts.

- Certainly, I will relay the message. - Madeus nodded.

- Back to us, what should we do? -

- The walls are not going to hold if a massive monster like that can just. walk through it. -

- TreeTree, that. dungeon we attacked. Is it still there? -

- Yeah. -

- Can we convert it into a shelter? And I recall there was a deep tunnel from the giant demonic centipede? -

- The tunnel is now home to beetles and fungus, but I can make some space. The former dungeon is empty. I think there are rats, but that shouldnÆt be a problem. -

- Then itÆs decided. We need to start convert these two locations into fortified shelters. If we canÆt fight, we need to hide. -

There was an uncomfortable look around the group, a realization that this was going to be it. Demons were real.

- Should we tell the people? -

Vice Counsel Laufen nodded. - Yes. If this was going to be hideout, itÆs best if everyone knows about it. -

- Even those outside the order? -

- Yes. WeÆre not going to pick survivors when demons come around, - Laufen insisted before anyone could respond. - Whoever gets to the shelters deserve a chance. -

The group discussed other matters, usual administrative, trade, and training stuff, and they left when the sun was starting to set.

- TreeTree. The. secret hideout , youÆre not willing to let anyone go in. -

- Yes. As I said before, itÆs only for all of you. The most IÆm willing to accommodate is in the outer subsidiary trees , and those for the people I trust. - It was a risk, and frankly, after what happened with the druids, I felt I should be more careful with whoever got to come near me, what more inside me.

It was unfortunate that some lives would be lost this way, but I thought my own self - preservation trumped that. I couldnÆt save everyone, and I didnÆt plan on trying.

Laufen sighed. I wasnÆt sure whether she was happy or sad. - Your secret hideout was probably one of the safest places this valley has, though. -

- If I still stand. But I believe the two options are pretty good. The tunnels donÆt require me, and the dungeonÆs been reinforced. - The root networks should last for at least a few months before the spatial magic started to collapse on itself. It was probably a good idea to get the builders working on it.

One of the things when disaster happened was that people prayed. It wasnÆt my first time to receive prayers, but there was something about impending death that caused more people to pray. Some of those citizens prayed to every god, even if they only professed to one. Some even prayed to me.

Not all behaved this way, of course. Some became more devout in times of crisis, putting in a more offerings, going for more blessings and masses.

But this. behavior led to something that was new to me. Throughout New Freeka and the valley, there were about seven trees of prayer: one in the treefolks village, one up on the slopes of the centaur camps, and the remaining five in New Freeka itself, mostly in the OrderÆs compounds. These functioned as mini - shrines.

Tree of prayer upgraded

Tree of prayerÆs calming presence significantly improved. Those around more likely to express their grievances. Tree of prayer gained ability to extract some negative emotions and convert them into essence.

I mostly listened. After all, there was no real need to interact. I thought to a certain extent most of these citizens knew what they wanted to do with their lives, but anxiety, fear, and worries just clouded their minds, so. they needed a place to vent, to relax, to just think in peace. So if I could talk back, that wasnÆt exactly something pleasing.

Instead, the Tree of Prayer just bobbed its branches, the leaves shook, and occasionally a small fruit would fall down on right on the personÆs lap, kind of like, hey - I - heard - you - have - a - fruit. The fruit was just a regular fruit, it was sweet, though, so. most of them ate it, and some of them actually displayed it in their homes. Which was creepy.

Anyway, the amount of too - much - information when people poured their hearts out in their prayers and whispers was. well, immeasurable. Seriously. Elves, centaurs, treefolks, all still had their emotional problems, their professional challenges, financial and money issues. It may be a magical world, but problems were persistent across worlds.

The Tree of Prayers had an odd side effect, which was. it remembered the prayers. Especially those who prayed often, regularly over the same thing.

It was an annoying side effect. Because IÆd suddenly remember who - and - who cheated on who - and - who and I didnÆt need that sort of telenovella in my tree life.

I told myself that it was a public service and it helped to keep the citizens pacified. Like my other services, the birth and death services -

- We should have more, - Ivy suggested.

- Huh? -

- TheyÆre good intel. It helps me with my dossier. - IvyÆs like a real spymaster now. - If you could create one in Ransalah, that would be ideal. -

- . thatÆs a great idea. -

On the Salah side of things, theyÆd finally responded to Yura Æs letter. There was a follow - up letter sent two months ago, just lightly reminding the kingdom of the official letter sent a year ago.

So it seemed they picked someone to be the scapegoat.

An unfortunate administrator and some of his subordinates were identified as the mastermind of the massacre, and he would be transported to New Freeka.

- A scapegoat. -

- Could really be him. We have to interview him to know for sure. The prisoner convoy will be escorted, and they will arrive in a month. - Yura shrugged. - LetÆs see what comes out of this. -

- Perhaps he has a passing involvement. -

- I would think so. Salah isnÆt that stupid to surrender someone with totally no involvement. The point was to sacrifice the tail to spare the head, so the real mastermind of such slaughter was spared. -

- It could be itÆs just some prince up there, who just goes, Burn the rebels, and everyone down there just carries it out, - Madeus chimed in. - ItÆs very common for royalties to say things without actually thinking about the lives lost. -

- You say that like itÆs. an everyday thing. - Meela/Mika frowned.

- Yes, Mika. That was indeed how the kings and royalties are. Our role as their servants and subordinates was to understand our liege and guess what they truly desire. We cannot always take the words of our king for what it is. -

At that point, I thought, That sounds like insubordination or treason.

- After all, our king has a wish, a desire, and sometimes the words he has cannot communicate that will, though some kings have skills that help with that. -

Yura raised a hand, and everyone quiet down. - Let us not speculate. We will wait for whoever they sent. TreeTree, I must trouble you to help us in our interrogation. Would you happen to have those. tree saps from long ago? The ones that make them. delirious? -

- Of course. IÆll make some. - It wasnÆt hard to make different kinds of tree saps; regular plants made poisons and allergy - triggering saps all the time, so it was easy - peasy for a magic tree. In fact, I should totally infuse more magic into it.

Anyway, back to Ivy.

- Ivy, you suggested having a tree of prayer in Ransalah? -

- Yes, master. These people seem to confess their challenges to the Tree so easily. Why go through all the trouble of spying when they are more than willing to tell a tree? There is nothing to lose, and if anything, we gain insights into the human mind. -

- . fine. But where and how should we do it? -

- New Freeka can make a goodwill gift, since they gave this scapegoat to us. Then manipulate the officials to plant the sapling in a public park, which we can then replace with the tree of prayer . Call it the New Freeka - Salah friendship tree . -

That sounded like something politicians did back on Earth, but I thought it could work.

- I could make a sapling - sized tree of prayer . -

And so Yura arranged for a small sapling of a tree of prayer to be sent as a gift. It was sent, planted in a large vase so the Tree of Prayer didnÆt die, escorted by the Arborist . Since Hutan sent a tree - caretaker, it made sense to call on his services for such transportation duties.

The merchants completed their big deal, and the demanded goods were finally delivered.

- Good job. Now, leave them here. - Wesley and the master of ceremonies pointed to a place. The workers started to unload.

- Just. leave them here? - the merchants stuttered. The master of ceremonies nodded, and the jewels and gold were unloaded.

- Yes. - Beetles started to emerge from the woods, and some started to tug at the shipment. The merchant wanted to say something and pointed to the beetles, and the master of ceremonies smiled. - The shipment was for the Tree Spirit, and it was time for us to leave. -

The master of ceremonies and a few of the OrderÆs men started to walk. The merchants were still a bit shocked by the beetles that were pulling the shipments into the tunnels that suddenly appeared. - Uhh. uhh. this was fine? -

- Have you not done business for tree spirits before? - Wesley grinned.

- aa. of. of course, I have. - The merchant tried to straighten himself up. Procuring the gold and hiring a large escort, only to put them in an empty spot for beetles. it was a first, for sure.

After everyone leaves, the beetles continued unpacking the goods in the network of tunnels underneath my trees. I created these tunnels recently because realizing how vulnerable I was, I wanted some of the structures to be underground, and that was. the ten new root - brain complexes and the Grand Mind Tree project.

Grand Mind TreeÆs construction has begun. 18 months to completion

YEAR 81, MONTH 3

The updates from the merchant network increased in frequency, especially from the Western Theatre head office. Two towns were lost in a month, a large army of demons escorted the walking demon castle wherever it went, and throughout the continent, the demons had been spotted in more locations.

- One of our merchants was attacked. Half his convoy was destroyed, but luckily a party of riders managed to come to their aid! -

- Are we not far away? -

- Well. it seems the demons now have small raiding parties, targeting weak spots and gaps in the nationÆs defenses. ItÆs a very. uh. kingdomish tactic. -

The raiding parties were one to two hundred demons strong, populated by mounted humanoid demons on hellhounds.

- DonÆt kings and many generals have some kind of Watcher ability? - Yura asked. - I had the impression kings have ways of watching over their territories. -

- Well, yes, but such skills are not exactly. detailed. -

The Council deployed multiple two hundredûstrong militia patrols to help protect the trade routes, but honestly, I would know. My subsidiary trees functioned like my watchtowers; failing that, there was the rootnet so if there was anything, I would like to think that I would be the first to know the presence of demons near New Freeka.

But with demons, one could never be too careful, so I spread out my beetles to a few locations around as an additional protection force.

This month, I added more to my anti - demon bolts and more weapons for the elves and the Order. In fact, this occupied most of my time, my preparations to face the demon champions. And made a whole load more bolts and weapons.

Woodcrafting upgraded

Skill learned: Wooden Anti - demon equipment - crafting

Essence infusion upgraded

More! More bolts. Spears. Shields. More!

- What if itÆs the demon king? - Yura asked.

- Then we die. - If I could shrug, I would. The demon king was as close to a death sentence, wasnÆt it? If the heroes could die, how could we face it? I didnÆt think some anti - demon shield was going to survive a nuclear explosion.

Anyway, demon king was not here yet. So that was not something to worry about.

- Heh. I guess we will all run. -

- Yes. On that front, maybe we should be preparing like MadeusÆs friends. Tell the Hutan council druids to grant you safe passage as compensation. Just in case. -

Yura paused. - Okay. -

- I will be fine. I want you to take everyone as far as you can if a demon king comes our way. Arrange for some kind of teleportation. -

- IÆll speak to Madeus about it. - Yura sat on his chair. - This feels. morbid. -

- Why? Staring death in the face sounds morbid? -

- Not that. We villagers used to live and let live. Things happened, and then we reacted to it. For me, having to predict what might happen and then try to prevent or prepare for it. -

- Unusual. -

- Yes. ItÆs a strange thing to do. Plotting and planning. The most we planned for was when to plant our crops and when to build houses. And even then, we defer to the wisdom of our elders or tree spirits. -

- It is the burden of those who lead to see what lies ahead and to guide them. Know that your actions will determine whether your friends and family lives or dies. - Was that me? Where did such TreeTree wisdom come from?

Yura slumped on his chair. - That is a mindset I am still coming to terms with. Truly, only when faced with demons I realize how heavy this burden is. -

- Everyone prepares for it. This is just on a larger scale, with more players. It was once about how much stronger you can be, but now, it is about how much stronger the Order is. -

Yura paced the room and had a sip of ginger - flavored tea. I thought he preferred ginger tea over the other flavors. Meela had been experimenting on tea flavors as a specialty drink for her morning and lunch crowds, so she had funky flavors like Garlic Tea, Herbal Mint Tea, and Grape - Ginger Tea.

- Ahh. - Yura stretched, tired.

A knock and then a voice from outside the door. - Counsel, the suspect is awake. - There was a small prison in the OrderÆs compound, located beneath one of the buildings. It was lightly guarded, just two beetles there.

SalahÆs scapegoat.

- Yes. I ordered the burning. I was the officer in charge of the military draft for that region, - he said when interrogated. He tried to put up a brave face, but it seemed like he was hiding something.

Yura looked. So did everyone else behind the bars. The elves shared a glance, and one of them, Emile, started to cry. Somehow, it brought out a strange emotion in her heart.

A vine administered the hallucinatory sap IÆd prepared.

Yura sat, facing the officer. - I ask you again, did you order the burning of Freeka? -

- Yes. yes, I did, - he said. Something wasnÆt right.

So he went into the biolab pod for testing. Hmm.

His soulspring looked fine. The skills were okay. If he was lying or being forced to, there should be something to hint at the truth. I would have to go deeper and call on the powers of the soul forge.

Once he was knocked unconscious, a few beetles helped to transport his body into the main pod in my main body. With it, I used the soul forgeÆs power to pry into the outer soul shell.

What I saw was the usual human soul, semi - translucent, but in that soulÆs head, there was a small bluish blob.

As I attempted to alter or touch it, a strong force repelled me.

Blocked by Oath

Huh?

It seemed there was no progress here, either, and it looked like he wasnÆt under the influence of magic.

- Is he lying? - Yura asked.

- I have no clue. - The oath could have nothing to do with the burning. Or it could be key.

It looked like I had to use other means of interrogation, so I subjected him to some more hallucinogens and relaxants.

With my vines wrapped around him, I used an authoritative version of my telepathic voice.

- You died. - I spoke to the prisoner, now in a daze because of the crazy cocktail of hallucinogens, relaxants, and other stuff.

- I - I have? How? - he asked, flailing his arms.

- Poison. Died in your sleep. -

- Ah. so thatÆs what they were feeding me. Why am I looking at a scary - looking Tree? Is this hell? -

- Yes. This is the entrance to hell. You died near a Tree Spirit, so this is where you will depart to hell. -

He paused and looked confused. - I still feel. a pulse? -

- What made you think hell would not have a pulse? -

- Ah. so I might not be dead? -

- ItÆs a common mistake. When you die, your soul goes to this other soul realm , awaiting reincarnation. During that waiting time, life goes on normally. -

He paused. - Uh. okay. -

- So, please wait. There is a long queue to enter hell, so it will take some time. Make yourself feel comfortable here. - I didnÆt know how successful this would be, but I was going to overload his body with so much of these saps that he was going to lose his grasp with reality.

- Heh. there is a queue to hell? -

- EveryoneÆs a sinner. So itÆs natural the path to hell is extremely crowded and why we have demons so often. Since we are on this topic, would you like to confess your sins? - That was a whole load of bullshit, but he bought it.

He paused, and he started to break down, shouting and weeping. I was not sure whether he realized it, but I increased the dosage a bit more.

He started talking about how many people he killed, the people he betrayed, the families he lost. It was kind of like we were having a session of Tree of Prayer confessions.

He talked for a good hour, alternating between breaking down, crying, and anger.

But then I got what I wanted. - I. It was just fair that I died this way. I sent the army to burn the village. I mean, the commander said that dissenters should be punished. but maybe I did go overboard. I gained levels in Authoritarian when I ordered all those villages burned. I - I was drowning in joy when I gained levels. The skills were powerful, too! I got a skill like Submission , which worked so wonderfully with the commoner ladies! -

Oh. IÆd expected a scapegoat. but color me impressed, Salah actually sent the right guy. And a scum, too.

- But could you fault me? The commander himself burned many villages to the ground when they rebelled against the king. All of us did. We did what we had to to enforce order. Fear was key to maintaining control. It was either that or we would be chopped for punishing the villages too lightly. -

Hmm. looked like maybe not. It was an institutional failure.

- We burned many villages. When there was a plague, we culled. When there was a suspected demonologist, we culled the villages. There was no time for proper justice, we lack the resources, manpower, and even if we did, there was no way of ensuring justice was properly conducted. Every kingdom did what it felt was right! -

Uh.

- Maybe. maybe all of us should just burn to the ground, you know? -

He sat, surrounded by the vines and roots.

- I. All of us were sinners. Maybe the demon king should just crush all of us. -

Did I overdo the tree saps?

Uh.

- Say, would I be able to meet the commander here? Or is he already on the other side? How long a backlog are we talking about? -

I definitely overdid the tree saps.

Skill upgraded: Tree saps

Skill obtained: Condensed Tree Psychedelics

Dream tutor variant obtained. Skill: Psychedelic dreams

Dream tutor variant obtained. Skill: Mystical dreams

YEAR 81 MONTH 4

The war in the Barooshian territories deteriorated. The presence of the walking demon castle greatly hindered all attempted progress, and even with high - level individuals, the demons had now deployed knights.Æ

These demons had been described as elites, capable of standing up to a level forty elite soldier toe to toe, and were described as humanoid, horned demons, usually with one large, unnaturally crimson wing. They had been seen wielding spears, swords, axes, and many other types of melee weapons.

- No rifts near our location yet, - the captain elaborated. It was a once every other day meeting to gather data on the demons. They were coming, and everyone was feeling a little tense.

- ThatÆs of no comfort. We are just waiting. - Yura sighed.

- One of the merchants wants to meet, Counsel. -

- Huh. Sure. -

A merchant walked into Yura Æs office chambers. - Salutations, Counsel. IÆll get to the point. The merchant guild is trying to build a coalition force to protect key trade routes, especially those that cut through the kingdoms nearest to the spotted giant demon walker. In exchange for the various nations contributions to the force, led by a group of senior military men, the merchants guild will offer preferential prices on goods well below market rates, and also the rights of first purchases on goods passing through these routes. -

- You sure didnÆt mince words there. - Yura sat and thought for a moment. - How many men were you talking about? Have you spoken to the High Council? -

- Yes, I have. They are keen, but only if the Order also participates. They will match every person you put in. -

- Heh, clever of them. If the Order doesnÆt participate, then we look like scum. - Yura sat and twirled a wooden pen. - Back to my question, how many men does the guild want? -

- Ideally, we want high - level individuals. Elites, if possible. Numbers, while they do have their own quality, are not the most suitable countermeasure against a demonic force - of - nature like the giant demon walker. -

- I - I need to have some discussions. Come back in two days. - The merchant bowed and left.

Yura turned and called in the management team. - Madeus, would you be keen? IÆm also planning to talk to Yvon. If anything, I would like both of you to participate. -

Madeus shook his head. - IÆm having fun teaching the kids in the orphanage. -

Well, turned out Yvon also had a similar idea. - The Valthorn kids need me. IÆm not leaving them alone with TreeTree, not without my supervision. -

Also, now that we knew quite certainly the Salah guy was the right guy, I was a bit stuck with what to do.

- YÆknow, if he wasnÆt the right person, itÆs not cool to drug him and make him think he died. How did you plan on integrating or undoing the effects of such a powerful hallucination? -

- Hmm, I had a hunch he was hiding something. -

- He could be hiding other things. -

- Too bad. IÆll just make him think itÆs all a dream. You know, like those exceedingly vivid dreams that you wake up from wondering what in the world just happened. -

- That sounds like the kind of essays I used to write for school. - Meela grinned.

When I delivered the message to the elves that he was the right guy, Laufen stormed up and went to one of the Tree of Prayers to gather her thoughts. Somehow the reality that she faced the person who indirectly caused the death of her husband made her. angry.

- I want to slap him many, many times. -

- Okay. - So the drugged delirious prisoner was freed from his biopod prison, and Laufen slapped him many times. In fact, the other elves joined when they saw Laufen started to slap the man.

- You! You evil man! Our lives lost just because you felt like it! - Laufen slapped. - I had thought that maybe you had a vendetta, but no. - She slapped again. - We were just. - Another slap. - Another village to burn. - Another slap. The guy was delirious. The overdose of hallucinogens had massively distorted his sense of reality.

- Is this like purgatory? Where I meet those I have sinned and answer for them? - he asked.

Which only made Laufen even more mad. - Hell yeah, it is. - She slapped him some more. The other elves, like Emile and Belle, both just gave him one slap. One big, fat slap. And that was it.

They walked away. Because although they were angry, watching LaufenÆs ugly chain of slaps made them feel like they needed to be above this.

- All because of some stupid levels! Were our lives all so meaningless and insignificant to these nobles and lords? - Laufen slapped.

The guy just laughed. HeÆd lost it, really. - Yes, my dear. Yes. Actually, even lords and nobles were meaningless. We all die in the end. EveryoneÆs just out for themselves and we make life difficult for everyone that is not us. -

Laufen slapped him in between those words, so it was actually not so coherent. - Agghh. - She slapped him a few more times, until she stopped, sat on the ground, and started to weep.

Lozanna watched and gave her mom a hug. - Mommy. itÆs okay. itÆs okay. -

The guyÆs face was red and blue from all the slaps, and I thought itÆs time to end it. So some vines pulled the guy back into the pod. - IÆll keep him for now. -

Laufen still cried, so she didnÆt respond to my statement. Yura just watched, and he walked away.

- TreeTree. just kill him already. Him being insane and mocking us with that insanity just makes us feel worse. -

Hmm. Well, I kind of figured he was gonna die anyway, but to kill him would be a waste of valuable mortals. He would join the other criminals on death row that IÆd reserved for my soul - related experiments.

I mean, if the justice system said who was to die, might as well contribute to science while dying. It wasnÆt as if the manner of death made a difference. It was a position opposed by Meela and Alexis, of course, but they couldnÆt stop me.

If I was going to figure out how to fix Yura Æs arms, I needed more experience with all the sophisticated meddling in the soul forge.

In the past month, in between creating more of those anti - demon bolts and weapons, IÆd been experimenting with creating an arm, and indeed, the first thing I needed was to reverse - engineer the thing that protected a body while undergoing the forge process.

It seemed there was a specific frequency to the mana, kind of like a state in which the mana was able to hold its form despite the maelstrom within the soul forge , and mastering this process would allow my feelers to interact with the exposed soul fragments in the soul forge.

So, firstly, the process required the creation of more mana - tuning organs. It took quite a few tries, but it was a whole lot easier once I used some of the jewels as regulators. I knew this because it was part of why jewels were so commonly used in magic items because precious gems and jewels had a kind of mana - storage, mana - stabilizing quality to them.

Essentially, it was like a ball of roots organized along a few jewels as nodes, with two feeler ends. Kind of like a large tuning fork, and the length - width of that fork determined the frequency and spin.Æ

With it, I was then able to coat my feelers with a tuned mana, which protected it from the effects of the soul forge by about ninety to ninety - five percent. Pretty good, I thought.

Next was to make simple organs. Using animals as my test case, I tried to make small tails and whiskers, repair ears, and repair skin.

Most of them failed, but I was getting better at the smaller stuff. Relatively speaking.

I judged my performance by the size of the little animals explosion when healed.Æ

YEAR 81 MONTH 5

My first encounter with this generationÆs demons, a pack of humanoid demon riders spotted passing through one chain of subsidiary tree that stretched up to the previous dungeon hole. The chain of subsidiary trees, with New Freeka Valley as the center, was kind of like a spider net.Æ

They didnÆt attack my trees. But I moved some beetles to the area as I watched their actions.

These demonoids were clearly more intelligent than before. There was a visible leader, giving some kind of instruction, in a language I couldnÆt fathom. They were setting up an ambush.

I watched them camp there for five days until a trader caravan approached the area.

Their ambush was countered by an ambush from my beetles. It went well. Despite their intelligence, their ability to fight was just about. average. A regular demonoid was at the same strength as a regular hellhound. Which wasnÆt much.

Their leader was much better; it took two beetles to take him down.

- The merchants are struggling to keep certain trade routes with the demons employing such guerilla tactics. -

- IÆm impressed that demons have the concept of attacking supply chains. -

- Impressed? This was horrifying. We could spot demons a mile away thanks to their unfettered destruction! Now we canÆt! ThatÆs not a good thing! -

- Hmm. I think we shouldnÆt overreact. It seems the precautions needed will be similar to bandits, if their raiding parties are so small. A small group of adventurers wouldÆve been able to defeat that raiding party. -

- The threat of the raiding party was small, but the thought that there is potentially sophisticated intelligence behind the demons. -

- TreeTree, you said your trees spotted them? -

- Yeah. -

Yura paused and sat. The captain then asked, - Can we have a perimeter of trees? Would it be possible? -

- Uh. no. I canÆt make that many trees. - Four lines as it was almost maxed out my subsidiary tree quota. Unless I gained levels or the skill got an upgrade, I didnÆt think I could spam more subsidiary trees .

I did have my basic tree - eye, but there were only ten of those, and I wanted to keep those for special places where I wanted to see things for myself.

Trevor interrupted.

Demons.

- There was more of them, - Trevor said to me.

- What? -

- A pack of three hundred demons appeared. North. Mostly regular demonoids, but this pack had about ten of the captain grade demons and one mounted knight. -

- Beetles? - I looked at the map, and Trevor pointed me to the nearest group of fifty or so beetles. There was another group of thirty beetles further away. - Okay, letÆs group them together. -

- They wonÆt make it in time to save that convoy if they do. - What? A convoy?

Trevor changed my vision to see a convoy of eight carriages and about twenty merchants. - Recommend we send the fifty beetles now, and hopefully the thirty beetles can join the battle midway. Or if you want to intervene directly. with root strikes. -

- Heh, - Well, I was itching for a fight.

Rooting field .

Roots emerged from a field of grass, and they quickly entangled the group of three hundred demonoids. The leaders of the group were able to cut the roots off, and then my squad of fifty beetles arrived. The beetles charge easily destroyed quite a bit of the regular demonoids.

Except the knight. It had a black sword, and in a single slash, it cut one of the beetles in half.

- Noo. - Horns was upset. - Kill that enemy. -

The demon knight cut down a few more beetles. I recalled seeing demon knights during the previous war, the demonized humans. But this knight was pure demon, and I would say he was about level. forty? I wasnÆt too sure.

Heh. No point delaying.

Serpentine Rootstrike .

Multiple roots appeared and pierced through the demons, like a multi - headed hydra. The knight dodged and cut through some of the roots, but the roots, when cut down, instead split into more roots, which attacked the knight.

The knight cut down more roots, but it kept breaking up into more roots. And then one root speared through the knight from the back.

And it turned into ash.

- Huh. - If the demons could create more knights at that level, the kingdoms were going to have a whole lot of problems.

Turned out, shit was already pretty bad. News from the Southern Continent came, and it wasnÆt pretty down south. Another walking castle had been spotted, and theyÆd overrun a few kingdoms. The Southern continent was essentially in a pure - war mode, every nation in the region combining their forces, where they could, to delay the demons advance.

- These numbers. -

The captain started to read out the merchants guild report. - Are they trying to ask for help? - The report had a whole load of numbers on the size of the demon armies. In the southern continent, theyÆd spotted six different armies with at least fifty thousand demons.

- Sounds like it. The merchants guild canÆt formally request for aid without the consent of the local kingdoms. At best, they will try to build a coalition with the local kingdoms, but itÆs something they were already doing. -

- Is it normally this bad? - I asked the captains. They shrugged.

- I donÆt know, but. itÆs sure messier this time around. -

- How many have been displaced? - Yura wondered. - Are we going to get more refugees? -

- A lot. With all continents facing some demon issues, the refugees donÆt really have a lot of choices on where to go. -

- What about the islands? -

- Hmm. sounds like they wonÆt be able to run away from the south that easily. So, if anything, weÆre still going to get Baroosh - ian refugees. -

- The elven kingdoms were up north, right? - Laufen suddenly asked.

- Yeah. WhyÆd you ask? -

- If Baroosh was in trouble, how about the other elves? -

Madeus paused. - I - I believe they would not be in any better shape. The demon walker is a massive size and the armyÆs not been defeated yet. -

- We need to figure out how to hide, - Yura pondered. It was only six months into the beginning of the demons, and things were already not great.

And that was how I spent more time on the underground tunnels. The farmers did already have warmed farmhouses and underground chambers, but I didnÆt, and I thought I may be able to do things. differently.

The underground tunnels were humid but had no sunlight. Any plants that needed to survive here would have to have long roots and somehow have tubers that stored their food in the tunnels, which the refugees could use.

Using root tunnels , we built a network of tunnels, with rooms, and with some wood magic and woodcrafting made wooden furniture and flooring to make the rooms somewhat habitable. In the event the demons overran the surface, though, they would need a source of food and water. It was fairly easy to create roots that stored some water and food as emergency rations, since I had the tuberous storage , which, when not storing energy, could be converted into a massive edible potato and a high - water content potato.

- Preparing for the apocalypse? - Meela seemed quite interested in all the preparations. I thought she recently added a few underground chambers to her hotel, so I thought we were aligned on that part.

- Yeah. This demon king feels different. -

- I doubt itÆll be that different. Maybe itÆs just a change in the minions. The previous demon king we faced was a floating castle. -

Alexis then butted in. - I like all these preparations. Reminds me of the kind of nuclear bunkers we have, preparing for eventual doomsday. -

- I should add something like that to the basement of my hotel, huh? -

- Of course, if a disaster happens, a hotel must have a safe space for its guests! It should be reinforced and close to impenetrable. - Alexis laughed, and Meela nodded.

- True. I guess if I wanted to make a hotel like the Continental, it better be a battle - ready hotel. -

- You can start by adding a vault, a strong room, an armory. - Alexis rattled on a list of things to add.

- Uh. I think weÆre getting sidetracked. IÆm trying to make habitable hideouts for the citizens in case things deteriorate. - I had to bring the conversation back on track. - And if both of you want to help, help me with it. -

Alexis stopped and thought for a moment. - Hmm. itÆll need some artificial sunlight. Perhaps mana - powered lights, and then with it, grow some kind of vegetables under those lights? -

- Oh. - That was kind of like the greenhouse idea again, but indoors.

So we tried it out. I got Trevor and Dimitree to help, since I was really kind of tired of doing things on my own; there was just so much to do, so many things to manage.

We upgraded the tunnels into canister - like compartments, each canister a self - sufficient setup, with a water storage plant, fungi and plant growing area, food storage, and wooden beds. It had metal - reinforced wooden pillars and walls, for additional strength and toughness.

It was kind of like segments and sections in buildings.

New skill acquired: Customizable Roots

Customizable Roots function like the underground equivalents of your customizable branches. Each subsidiary tree now can support one customizable branch and one customizable root. Choosing the customizable roots will shrink the Tuberous Storage of that subsidiary tree.

Oh. Cool?

- How does it look? -

Yura and the elves looked around at the new network of underground housing cum hideouts.

- Just needs some more lights for additional brightness, but for a war - time hideout, absolutely luxurious. -

- The food supply may be insufficient, though, since these things depend on you growing your own vegetables. But at least there is water, and the potatoes on the wall are still growing. - The potatoes on a segment of the wall were still linked to the roots. It was like the seed of the potato, so the refugees could pluck the potato and a new one would grow.

- Good enough. I suppose next will be fortification and security. -

Alexis and Meela added, - How about air? Is there sufficient oxygen down there? Ventilation is super important in underground spaces! People could die from choking and smoke! -

- Good point. - I had thought of using the plants, but the plants probably didnÆt produce enough oxygen.

- Could you use mana to create oxygen? -

- Uh. is there a spell like that? -

Natural Tree Ability: Water, oxygen, carbon cycle - converts water to air, or air to water. Uses mana.

Oh. That was easy. Turned out I had that ability all the while.

But it didnÆt solve the problem if I wasnÆt there. How did the refugees get air?

- Do you have plants that create air? -

- No. - Maybe there were, but IÆd need to find them.

It was Madeus that gave the solution. - WeÆll get some Gems of breathing. Those gems can produce air at a mana cost, and with that we can breathe. It doesnÆt require much mana that ordinary folks with some magic should be able to operate. -

- ThatÆs quite expensive. - Yura nodded after the Treasurer told him the expected cost. - But weÆll get a dozen. And the gems of sunlight as well, if we plan to grow these plants underground. -

Ah, turned out, there were some off - the - shelf solutions already.

Alexis paused. - Can you ask for some of those gems? Ask Yura to buy a bit more? -

- Our coffers are a bit low after my recent spend on the gold and jewels for the Grand Mind - Tree, so. -

Alexis frowned. - I could use some of those for research. -

YEAR 81, MONTH 6

The magical sensors went crazy. Across my many subsidiary trees and biolabs, the array picked up multiple large surges of energy.

- SomethingÆs happening. - Alexis was the first to be disturbed by the sensor readings. The air seemed tense, and a sudden gust of wind followed. A while later, my network of roots started to detect tremors from afar, the sign of a massive explosion.

- Yura , any idea whatÆs going on? - Yura was oblivious to it because, well, unless you had a built - in magical sensor in your body, you wouldnÆt notice it.

- Uh. -

It was Madeus who ran in, along with Yvon, to the Yura Æs Counsel Chambers. - A massive magical explosion has been detected. The demon walker was attacked with some kind of projectile weapon. -

- Oh, isnÆt that good news? Who did it? - Yura asked.

- The Barooshian court gathered their mages and the voluntary sacrifices of a few young men and women. ItÆs. forbidden blood magic. And it didnÆt work. Instead of destroying it, the magical projectile heavily injured the demon walker, and now itÆs marching for the Barooshian capital. -

- Blood magic. - Yura looked at Madeus suspiciously. - Baroosh has blood magic? And sacrifices? -

- . there was a hidden faction in the wizarding academy studying blood magic. Secretly. But the king gave his consent to do this. -

- The blizzard may have links to Baroosh. - Meela said. - WhatÆs BarooshÆs relationship with Nung, Takde, and Salah? -

Madeus shrugged, a little bit ashamed.

- Okay, I donÆt know. But whatever it is, that magical disturbance came from Baroosh. -

The magical sensors went off again. But this time, it wasnÆt from BarooshÆs general vicinity. It came from further north, from the coast.

- Uh. any idea whatÆs going on? -

We didnÆt know. Until news came about a week later that the same Blood Magic Ritual was repeated in another kingdom south of Salah. with more sacrifice.

And the worse part? The second projectile missed the demon walker and left a crater filled with an unpleasant miasma.

- Madeus. is there a cult practicing blood magic throughout the continent? -

- Uh. there are all sorts of cults out there, practicing all kinds of obscure magics. No one really knows, but I would say. yes? -

- The demon walker changed direction. It. itÆs now heading south. -

- What? -

Another magical disturbance. My sensors were starting to become quite attuned to this. It was the same country, and they did the ritual. Again.

- How many times can this ritual be repeated? -

- I - I donÆt know? -

This time, we all saw it, because the dark purple and red magical projectile flew overhead. Even with my spiritual vision, I could see it. It was a missile made of condensed magics, sacrificed lives, and a whole load of unknown energies.

- ItÆs from a country called Gila. - The array of magical sensors could now track the movement of the magical energy. A kingdom led by a new king? There was little I knew of them that wasnÆt outdated.

This third blood ritual bullet exploded at the edges of Barooshian border. Scrying revealed half of the castle on the demon walkerÆs back was destroyed. The regular demons died. But it didnÆt stop the walker.

Oh no, it didnÆt. - Uh. itÆs still headed south. -

- Are they planning to use this against the demon king? -

Well, it turned out Gila and Baroosh were not alone. In the southern continent, a few similar spells were used to great success. They destroyed a demon walker.

The demon walker, though, now moved as fast as it could toward Gila, devouring every single town or village in its path and, with it, a growing army of demons.

- Uh. itÆs coming here. -

- This is insane! - Alexis screamed. She used the readings from the magical sensors and her own sensors. - ItÆs pretty much a magical nuclear weapon, tuned to cause immense destruction in a narrow area. -

News indeed spoke of the location of the missed shot turned into a corrupted, haunted, poisoned place, where everything died and strange alien monsters emerged from it.

But, despite the costs, the fact that there was a reliable weapon against these demonic walker - giants gave great hope to many kingdoms. A weapon that could fight back! So it seemed there was widespread propaganda that the magus had discovered a potent magical spell able to defeat the demons. No longer did they have to fear the champions.

- TreeTree, I hate you, - Alexis said one evening at the news that more such rituals were being used throughout the world.

- Why? -

- You were preparing for underground hideouts. Did you have a spirit vision or epiphany that you somehow saw this coming? Hex Bombs? - Alexis called them hex bombs because they left a hex on the land.

- Honestly, no. I was preparing for the possibility that a demon champion would defeat me. But this feels too coordinated. WhoÆs teaching the process of this ritual to all the different kingdoms? The speed this ritual spread was unreal. -

- The kings wonÆt hear naysayers now. They all bought the story that this spell can defeat the walkers, and they have two success cases now. - One in the Southern Continent, and one in the Eastern Theatre. People celebrated, ignoring the reality that there were sacrifices needed for each shot, which numbered between hundreds to thousands, less if the person was of a high magical power and level.

- But one was still walking our way. - After GilaÆs two shots, they stopped. The demon walker was wounded, with a strong hex on its body, but it was still headed this way.

Deep inside, I just knew that it was going to come through here. I didnÆt need a messenger running inside the room shouting.

- Demon walker was headed for New Freeka. expected to be two to three weeks away. With an army of forty thousand demonoids. -

It was just how it was. I was a magical tree, and somehow, I would always end up fighting demons.

Which was fine. Demons were my natural enemies.

I just didnÆt appreciate being potentially in the line of fire of a Hexbomb.

YEAR 81 MONTH 6

The demonoids came over the hills, the giant walker with the body of something resembling a mutant giant tortoise with a castle on top. The castle consisted of multiple reddish spires with jagged edges, resembling the teeth of a monster.

It wasnÆt hard to tell that it was approaching. The demonic army would cut down the trees in its path, and I could feel the walkerÆs energy; with each step, a bit more of its energy pushed back on my bubble and caused the effective radius of my lesser demonic suppression aura to shrink.

But whatever that was, it only worked on the outer area. At this distance, in this valley, the aura from my main body was strong, and here, it overlapped against whatever that demon walker emitted.

Together, with the walker, the fifty thousand or so demonoids crossed the rolling hills. By the scouts count, the army increased by ten thousand, and this was due to the bases and the walker itself being a mobile demon production factory.

Or as Alexis called it, a hive. Like a beehive that made more bees.

The past three weeks, along the expected path of the demon army, we built a few more layers of walls, filled with traps and places for the soldiers to retreat, and tunnels for the beetles to spring a surprise attack.

Honestly, I felt confident. A defensive battle was pretty much how I could fight, and it was something that I was good at. And we had been preparing for this fight.

And when the demon walker emerged, I felt ready.

The demon walkerÆs spires somewhat recovered, the damage from the blood hex magic was no longer noticeable, so we presumed they had some self - healing ability. Until we saw the other side of the giant walker, where a large chunk of its body glowed purple, as if it oozed a magical rot. This massive giant tortoise with a big castle on its shell stomped, and the earth shook. Luckily, the walls held. The roots and plants helped to absorb the shockwave.

- A zaratan. - Alexis was the one with a wide general knowledge. - A walking zaratan, instead of an island on its back -

A loud but deep roar shook the entire valley.

- Trivia will have to wait. -

The demon walker roared again, and that signaled the beginning of this battle. The army of demonoids charged toward the first layer of walls into the carnivorous plants and cactus defense systems .

And the sound of wood and demon colliding became the background chorus. The demons chopped the defenses down, but not before the carnivorous plants devoured some of the demonoids, and in doing so, gradually, but surely, reduced the number of demonoids. I reckoned about one thousand to two thousand demonoids fell before the outermost layer was breached.

Yura , Madeus, and Yvon prepared on top of the fourth makeshift wall layer. - Lozanna , stay with TreeTree. This is not your battle, not yet. -

- But my level is already in the thirties! I should be out there fighting! - the young lady protested. She, too, was armed for battle, and she had two anti - demon wooden short - spears on her back.

- SheÆs right. SheÆs a valuable battlefield asset. We need her on the field, together with the girls, - one of the captains said. The archers got into position. TheyÆd been waiting for this moment. Many had a good meal last night, perhaps in preparation of death.

- No. Not Lozanna , and not the kids. The Valthorns stay back, - Yura insisted. - Right, TreeTree? -

- Lozanna should be fighting, but let her take one of the flanks where itÆs less risky. Together with Horns, the beetles will cover her. - The beetles were all hidden in the tunnels. All ten thousand of them. But I could spare some to act as Lozanna Æs squad.

The demon walker roared, and the demonoids all received a boost it. My lesser demonic suppression was effective, and the roar merely offset the effects of my aura.

Yvon nodded. - You canÆt coddle her forever. Fighting demons is a regular affair. She best get some experience -

The giant walker had a large head, and its head resembled part - tortoise, part - dragon. It had spikes and horns, and it roared, revealing its fangs. It was a different roar; the vibration was different. And that roar sent out an energy blast.

Steelwood barrier Woodshield Shield Generators .

The subsidiary trees that functioned as shield generators created a large wall of wood, blocking the energy blast -

Crack.

The energy projectile from the blast slammed into the shields, and it crushed the first barrier and woodshield and then cracked the last shield.

- Okay, fine. Go. Keep yourself safe. - Yura sighed, turned, and faced the horde of demonoids. The demon knights led the charge against the first layer walls. - Remember what we discussed. WeÆve got to take on the demon knights. TreeTree will focus on the demon walker. -

Yvon nodded and then shrugged. - Though I would prefer to observe TreeTree in action, but I suppose we donÆt have a choice. Be careful of the knights. -

Lozanna smiled. - Okay. Stay safe, everyone. - Yura gave Lozanna a pat on the head.

- You, too. Retreat or ask for TreeTreeÆs help if youÆre in trouble. Better alive than dead. -

An armor of wood surrounded Yura , and in his hand, a dark - brown wooden sword. There were multiple wooden spears on his back and multiple smaller wooden stakes enchanted to weaken demons.

- And Yvon, you can watch after the knights are destroyed. -

The demonoid horde still charged. And in one area where the density was highest, I activated Root Surge and skewered about two thousand demonoids.

The walker stepped closer, and the earth shook. It roared another energy blast, this time aimed for the second layer of walls. I couldnÆt stop the full power of the energy projectile in time, and this time, a section of the second layer walls disintegrated and killed about twenty archers and the beetles hiding underneath.

- TreeTree, can you stop that blast? - Yura asked while running toward the army. The archers had started their volley overhead.

- I am creating shields right in front of it to deflect and absorb the blast. That should take the heat off you. But be prepared to run if I canÆt stop it in time. -

- Great. - Yura cut down a few more demonoids in the way. He was looking for the knights.

A roar and another energy blast, but this time, I stopped it. It took four layers of steelwood barriers .

A special demon, one with wings, appeared, and it landed with a bang. The explosion from its crash crushed another section of the second layer of walls. And then it stabbed the few soldiers right in front of it.

- Yura , there was a winged demon elite. Look out for it. It should be on your left. -

- Aye. I donÆt see it. - Yura was deep in battle, fighting some more demonoids.

The horde breached through the new gaps in the second layer of defenses, like a pipe with holes.

The mages conjured their fireballs and spells. And the demonoids raised a shield made of their demon-matter. Since when did the demonoids have shields? The explosions from the spells still destroyed a few demonoids, but the shields reduced the damage.

Two knights closed in on Yura Æs position. Tall, dark, and honestly quite cool looking with that jagged - edged demonic body, one used an axe, and the other used a spear. I should create wood knights. They looked cool.

Rooaar.

An energy blasted from the walker again. My shields blocked it, but there was still collateral damage from some of the deflected blast; a part of the third layer walls was destroyed. It was using the blasts to open a way for the horde. These makeshift walls werenÆt that tough, but the fourth layer was the one we built previously. The fourth wall was tougher, and where most of the men were stationed.

- So youÆre the demon knights. - Yura was deep in battle near what remained of second layer walls, and his wooden sword glowed. - Show me what you can do. -

Speed slash . Yura Æs sword flickered like streaks of light, and the first demon knight turned to mincemeat.

- Oh. Easy? - Yura looked at the other knight and closed in. Indeed, the level eighty warlord crushed the level fortyish knight within five swipes. Honestly, using his high - speed skill was overkill.

Rooaar.

The walker stomped, and it interrupted the archers and mages spells.

Another energy blast, and somehow I got the angle a bit wrong. The projectile deflected and made a hole in one of the valley - cliffs.

The walkerÆs large size meant it could easily walk over the walls, and it did so. It stepped across the second layer of walls. HeÆd entered the range where my root strikes were at full power.

Something hopped off the demon walkerÆs back and landed right in front of Yura .

A demonoid with wings, proper demon-like horns, and a sword large enough to cut a cow in half, he radiated a magical aura.

Yura smirked. - So, the demons now have tiers of elite forces, too, eh? TreeTree, you watching this? This the guy? -

- Yes. - But my focus was on the walker. My three artificial minds were working really hard to help. Trevor, Dimitree, and Ivy managed the beetles, created root tunnels, and helped to activate all the subsidiary trees , cactus defense system , shield generators , and provided battlefield intel to Horns, who was deep in the fighting with Lozanna . It was a good thing I could delegate some of my abilities to them.