TREE OF AEONS 2

We had not heard anything from the group that left, but it was fine. I thought itÆd be years before we got news from them.

Food - wise, as the forest started to reclaim the land, the gods started to work their magic and regular monsters and animals started appearing again. I mean, it was really just divine spawning ability.

And with regular monsters and animals, meat started to return to the survivors diets. A welcome relief, really, and the remaining survivors now looked a lot better.

Although I felt sad that so many decided that they had enough of being here for over twenty years, I supposed I should then focus on those who remained instead. After all, although four hundred had left, three thousand still remained!

That was a big amount of people whoÆd decided to stick with me rather than go away.

With meat, proper lodging, and a bit more space and time for activities, the survivors were, of course, much happier.

- Well. why didnÆt you leave, Laufen? Go with your daughter? - I asked Laufen one day.

- Nah. IÆm too old for that. -

- As an elf, you still look really young. Elven agelessness is amazing. You should be able to go. -

- IÆll just hold Lozanna back from her adventure. ItÆs her coming - of - age moment. Me as her mom, I should just stay out of her way. SheÆd hate me if I tagged along. Besides, I am really quite content being protected and safe! -

- Really? -

- ItÆs better for her that I stay here, where I am safe. ItÆll put her at ease that her mom is under your protection. She wouldnÆt have made the decision to go if you werenÆt around. -

Hmm, true. I supposed IÆd become the safe harbor for her to come back to.

There were few children among the survivors. The young that grew up didnÆt think of having kids, not in this hostile environment. Some did, of course. Perhaps an accident, or perhaps they didnÆt care, but the more rational of them chose not to. It was a tough choice. I imagined it was like, well, how would you even know if you and your family would even have food or proper shelter? But I guessed that was also partly due to elves, centaurs being more rational than humans, who would just fuck and get pregnant regardless of the situation. It was more draining on their body, perhaps?

Many were now finally considering it, convinced by the recent three years of safety, comfort, and stability, and many approached me for advice on whether they should have kids.

I had yet to study the effects of pregnancy between different types of species. Would I then be the first pregnancy doctor? I mean, surely the effects of childbirth of different species were worth studying, and there was probably no worldwide compilation of various herbal and traditional remedies and therapies.

I digressed.

But I said sure. I would support and feed their young should they fail to.

It was not much anyway.

- Are you here to gloat? - the two heroes asked.

- Not really. I came to talk, as usual. With the demon, if possible. -

- WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT? - They instantly turned to the demonic voice.

- Tell me something. What would make you stop coming to our world? -

- GOD. MOTHER. PLANET. STOP. THEM. -

- Stop the gods. Kill the gods. Sounds impossible to me. - I shrugged. I was a tree; killing the gods didnÆt sound like something I could do. - Then why do you come every ten years? -

- ANCIENT. MAGIC. RULES. -

Oh. Okay. There was a magical rule behind it?

Well, I didnÆt even know whether the words of this demon could be trusted. It couldÆve lied to me.

I mean, we must assume a demon or evil creature had no incentive to tell the truth, but letÆs consider that if it spoke the truths, there were some key points.

There was an ancient magical rule that clearly whatever god or thing that controlled these demons had to follow. I could therefore surmise that this ancient magic existed above the gods, and so the gods of this world were not entirely omnipotent or omniscient, and it may actually be possible to stop them.

Next was that they conflated the god with mother and planet. Their homeworldÆs god was probably some kind of earth - god, then? Something like a nativist conscience like the will of a groupmind like Alpha Centauri again? Or perhaps it was a tree mind taken to the extreme? A global network of trees that functioned as a planetary scale neural network and brain?

Or were those spires some kind of artificial intelligence and they were collectively a super AI, and the demon kings sent to us were their version of Terminators?

Or more fantasy - aligned, just an evil sleeping god and the demons were its worshippers?

- What rules? -

- ANCIENT. -

- Why? Who? -

- ANCIENT. -

- Who is GOD? -

- GOD. MOTHER. PLANET. -

If I had the power, I really should catch a demon king and try to talk to it. I felt like I was talking to some rudimentary chatbot from the earlier years of my life. I was stuck in some kind of conversation loop despite trying to ask more. This was probably the lowest - level answer they could give.

With that, the demonic voice faded and the two trapped heroes returned.

- Well, did you learn anything? - The two heroes looked quite annoyed. - We didnÆt, and honestly, it really does sound like some kind of computer program. ItÆs really simplistic in its logic once you get it. -

- So you understand the demon now? - I asked the hero.

- To some extent. It just wants to grow, and build, and do whatever its mother asked of it. -

- Mother, not god? -

- It feels like a mother rather than a god. It nagged. -

I smiled and probably wouldÆve chuckled if I could.

- YouÆre not going to help free us? - Simone asked.

- . maybe? - I thought long and hard about this, even though I rejected the divine mission. I didnÆt want the gods to start having influence over me. But should I still help them, then? - I probably canÆt free you. -

- Oh. -

I probably could guide the few surviving heroes to them to help free them. But I chose not to reveal this to them. The demon was always listening, and I wondered what it would do with such knowledge.

Yeah. I probably could get the other heroes to free them rather than me doing it personally. They were mobile and would have the right skills for it. The heroes had every reason to help their fellow friends, didnÆt they?

As the year approached its end, I had a small breakthrough with my demonic tree research.

Skill: Hybrid - botany

Able to communicate and cultivate hybrid trees.

Hell yeah.

I tried it out. Even though it was supposed to be winter, the localized effects caused by the demonic trees meant it was an exceptionally warm winter. So warm that it was probably like spring.

Well, all I got was spam.

It was nostalgic. Like when I had rootnet for the first time and all the grass and trees started giving me weird shit. ItÆd take some time before I understood these demonic trees.

- Is our combat ability significantly impacted by Lozanna Æs departure? -

- With you back. no, - Yura said. - Lozanna is strong, but there are a lot of us who are level eighty. Me, Nero, one of the captains, there are easily fifteen people left who are now level seventy - five to level eighty who can play her role to a lesser degree. Her key advantage is that her special familiar has a lesser version of your power, so without you, her aura was key in reducing our casualties. -

Hmm.

- EveryoneÆs replaceable, I suppose. - Yura laughed out of nowhere. - I mean, thatÆs how it always has been, right? ThatÆs why so many kings raise so many different children. You never know which one turns out a little crazy. -

It was risk management not to put all your eggs in one basket. But even for people?

- I suppose if you could give your special familiar to more of us, that would really help us. I guess the Valthorns were a step in that direction, until that day came. -

You know, maybe the kings had the right idea. I focused too much on developing Lozanna , and I lost track that Lozanna was also partly meant to be my first try at doing this at a larger scale.

I was a tree, and my domain was nature. Grow, strengthen, cultivate. I should now use what IÆd learned from all these years to massively expand that program.

If I was to rebuild, I should do some things differently, and some things bigger and better. I had Yura , Lozanna , and a few others as my elite, then. In hindsight, I shouldÆve thought on a larger scale.

Like any nation or even a large company, talent scouting, hiring, development, and retention were an ongoing affair, constantly expanding to meet future needs. I somehow got sucked into the minutiae and messed up on the bigger picture. I needed a proper process for this, and on a larger scale, some dropouts and loss like Lozanna Æs departure were just part of the natural attrition of any large body of people.

Scale. What else should I do on a larger scale?

27

YEAR 110

Another year. Time passed really quickly these days. I thought it was the effect of the curse. Even if I was awake, I felt as if it wasnÆt totally gone. It was somewhat like nursing a mild headache, and I never quite felt like I was at my 100 percent state.

I supposed this was what a curse felt like, and that was why Yura never quite performed at his best when he had the curse. I wondered whether that princess I saved last time, the one that still had a bit of the curse left, was still alive. Maybe sheÆd died since Baroosh was destroyed. She, too, had a curse, and so did Meela, at least until that hero removed it.

Curses could be removed, and they could also heal naturally.

So my curse was one of overexposure to demonic mana. It was honestly very similar to the princess who had overexposure to void mana. Therefore, treating the curse was likely to be similar to the princess. In the case of the princess, her soul spring was wrecked, destroyed by the exposure to void mana, and so she was dying. In my case.

My soul spring was not destroyed, so I was able to survive those twenty - plus years. But perhaps it was damaged, and if damaged, I would have to find out how to mend my own soul spring. All this was conjecture; I didnÆt even know if my soul spring was damaged yet.

After a while, my musings led me nowhere, and I attempted to find out.

I mean, IÆd never seen my own soul spring. It was kind of like asking a doctor to self - diagnose. Not exactly possible to be objective about it, and I may have certain bias, too! But oh well, I needed to know whether somethingÆs wrong with me and how to fix this curse!

I thought at lengths about whether it was possible to build a soul forge that was aimed at me while being powered by me. If the soul was the engine of the individual, then like a car engine, I must be able to add sensors, readings, thermometers, and all, and from that gain a sense of whatÆs happening.

- That analogy may not be the most suitable one, Master, - Trevor commented. - ItÆs more of the driver trying to figure out whatÆs wrong with the driver. If I may, it is similar to trying to figure out whether the driver is sick from the way he is driving. -

- Uh. - That was. howÆd he do that? Was he using my memories?

- Yes, Master. We have access to your memories. -

Still, I tried.

I did something similar to a meditative state, trying to feel my own body and be one with myself. It was like Buddha meditating under a Bodhi tree, only, well, I was the tree.

And my senses were once again assaulted by the demonic mana. After all, the edges of my network of roots and trees were a constant battlefield, where the mixed mana produced by me and my fellow trees faced off against the demonic mana.

- Not working, - I mused to myself after about one month of constant meditation. In hindsight, it was obvious. I wasnÆt able to meditate myself out of the curse, so why would it work now? - Any suggestions, Trevor? -

- Before you go there, Master, I would like to remind you of the things you wanted to do last year and the years before, which was to work on expanding your mana pool, improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your mana, work on your experiments on the hybrid demon trees, and also develop even more Lozanna - class individuals. -

Once again, my scatterbrain reared its head.

- May I add, Master, you have yet to decide on a vocation for your two contracted souls, Yvon and Eriz. You backed away from turning them into Mana Farms. -

- That wasnÆt the most effective use of their skills. - I had a lot of thinking to do. I mean, this soul contract should be extremely overpowered since the person retained their memories. Even if they died, I could reuse their souls constantly. An individual who gained a ton of experience and therefore could retry different things at each life would be super powerful.

That was, after all, what made reincarnators like myself, or even heroes, super powerful, because their existing body of knowledge was brought over to their next life! So, as I wondered what happened as my soul contractors died, it appeared. The dreaded notification.

No penalty for first death. For subsequent deaths, one - year time penalty will be imposed and doubled with each subsequent death. One - third of all memories are wiped with each death after this first. No penalty on reassignment, as not considered as death.

Ah. The system wasnÆt stupid, after all.

So, in a way, it was best to use their living knowledge and match it to somewhere where they could be most useful.

So I assigned Eriz, the maid that was responsible for caring for Roma all this while, to a subsidiary tree that was focused as a childcare area, and she took the form of a Nursery Tree . I wanted someone dedicated to look after the new children that the survivors would have and feed them supplements to make strong, high - potential individuals to support my future Lozanna - class project. Yes. Lozanna - class was a name for an individual at that grade. I imagined the Lozanna class to be something like the Corvette - class, and I would like to eventually reach Battleships and Aircraft Carriers.

As for Yvon, I fused her into one of the Training Trees , creating a different version of Treeiner. This was because she did have a long stint serving in the Valthorns as their guide and trainer, and she had good combat skills that I wanted her to pass on to the next generation. Though we didnÆt agree with each other, she had some wisdom and knowledge of the world that would definitely contribute to a more holistic education and training for the next batch.

- I wonÆt have to care for people for a long time, - they both said, noting that the population of young children was extremely small. The survivors were almost all adults now. ItÆd been twenty years, and there was no immigration from abroad to fix the lopsided population pyramid.

- ThatÆs fine. - I would think they needed some time to get used to their new bodies and their newfound abilities. I wanted to monitor what they could do. I had initially just let Meela and Alexis somewhat free rein, and I must admit my awareness of what Meela did was close to none. - You can provide training to the existing people. Consider it a gym. -

- How about me? ItÆll be some time before any of them have kids, - Eriz mentally responded. She found her new body awkward. All of them did, since they were far too used to humanoid forms.

- Create supplements for the new moms. IÆm sure they need to boost their body to take on the load of having children. -

- These two. trees are Yvon and Eriz? - Yura seemed extremely perplexed when I informed him of what IÆd done.

- Yes. -

- I didnÆt know you could do that. - Yura seemed to think about it at length.

- Lady Mika was one. -

- Oh. - After a while, he asked, - So if. if I were to have a soul contract with you, and I died, you could, in practice, make me into a tree? -

- Yes. -

He paused, and then of course, he quickly told Laufen about this, and soon the entire group of survivors knew about it. And then some interesting comments emerged.

- Well, I know the elves used to say that when we die, we return to the trees, but I didnÆt expect it to be a literal statement. I always imagined it was more of a figure of speech. -

- What did they give for that? - Yura asked later that day.

- For Eriz, it was a punishment for luring an army here. For Yvon, she traded her soul for a patch of grapes and blessings on the land for her winery project. -

- Really. Was I there when that happened? -

- Yes. - I recalled Yura was in the same room. He was quiet for a moment.

- Lozanna got one? -

- No. -

Yura breathed a sigh of relief.

- I trust her. -

- ThatÆs good to hear. I. I donÆt think we want to be turned into trees, like. literally. -

Was it? It wasnÆt that bad. YvonÆs Training Tree had a humanoid - shaped tutor that was able to verbally communicate once she gained a few levels. For now, as a level - one training tree, she was just like a combat dummy that was unable to talk. Eriz, I was not sure whether she would eventually gain the ability to talk, but I wouldnÆt be surprised if she could. What was so bad about trees?

Trees didnÆt really need to eat; we could generally regenerate almost all our body parts, and well, we could keep growing! What was not to like?

- Did you offer it to Lozanna ? -

- No. Why? -

- Ah. am I right to say this is more of a punishment than a reward? -

- You could say that. I have rarely offered the soul contract. -

Yura looked relieved, and then he changed the topic. - Good, good. So. children. ThatÆs the plan for them? -

- Yes. We will have more children, and they need to grow up strong. I hope to make them as strong as Lozanna , if not more. -

- Ah. Planning for the long term. -

- Yes. -

Then Yura spoke about some other priorities, such as weapons for the survivors. Over the past few years, as the responsibilities for defense shifted to my army of beetles, the survivors were able to take a break from combat. Still, it didnÆt escape anyoneÆs notice that they all needed anti - demon weapons, and that was something Lozanna had requested from me before she left. All her spears were damaged or broken over the decades. I dedicated some time to equip the remaining survivors with anti - demon weapons.

Over the past few years, the repairs to the general environment had been ongoing. This meant things like farms, houses, outhouses, gardens, things that generally contributed to happiness.

Some even asked for the Tree of Prayers . I gladly made one, again.

I went back to the next topic on TrevorÆs list.

- Hybrid demon trees. -

I had a dilemma with them. If it was to be seen and known that I had some limited ability to control these demonic trees, would the outsiders suddenly suspect that I, too, might be a demon? After all, I already had demonfire on the top of my branches like Hades; it wouldnÆt be a stretch for these narrow - minded natives to suspect that I was perhaps a demon, and that would make me a target of the worldÆs temples and kingdoms.

Yet understanding and controlling them were key to my attempts of breaking out of this place. If I could break them free of the demonÆs controls, I would be able to accelerate my expansion. And I didnÆt trust any of the survivors to not leak this fact to the outside world, and that was not because I doubted them. This world clearly had mind - controlling and mind - reading magic. The fact that the demons were able to access the heroes memories was obvious enough.

So, some things must be kept absolutely secret. Just like the fact that I was also an Earther.

My newfound abilities over the hybrid - botany meant I could vaguely, very vaguely, influence them. It was not yet outright controlled, like with the regular trees. We spoke different languages, and I was just a beginner in their language.

I would need more time with them. Secretly.

- Mana. - Trevor read out the list. - Mana processing, mana efficiency, mana allocation. - Yes. Mana. That juice that powered all the living beings of this world. That involved working on the Giant Attendant Trees to create super - mana farms.

- List of repairs. Grand Mind Tree. - Trevor went onto the next item. - WeÆll need resources for this, Master. Which we do not have. - I wondered whether I could configure the Grand Mind Tree into a diagnostic program to check me, since it did have the ability to reduce the effects of any mind control on me, so it should have some kind of scanning ability to identify what the curse did to me.

- Inventory items. Forest Rod. - I wanted to keep the forest rod for any magical ley line I found, in order to get access to other kinds of soul forge colors. Though I believed they wouldÆve been extremely useful in converting this general area back to normal, I still thought the forest rodÆs unique ability to capture special magical locations should not be wasted on just any regular sludge and corruption.

Well, unless I found the main source or node of this corruption, then I would want to use the rod. I mean, IÆd risk it for the chance to convert the entire corrupted continent into my domain. That would just be awesome.

- Preparations for the next demon king? - Trevor asked. - Would that be something of concern? -

- Yes. We have to be prepared. - Though, if something like this happened again, what could I have done differently? Well. I honestly had no answer to this. If this corruption happened again, what could I have done?

As the year drifted ever closer to its end, a group of survivors returned, about thirty of them. Their return was met with a massive celebration.

- A/ , - the leader of the returned survivors spoke. - There is civilization out there. After four months of travelling, we finally got out of the corrupted area and made contact with a kingdom. Only our continent suffered significant damage from the corruption, and many are amazed that a pocket of us survived in the middle of the Rottedlands. -

- Rottedlands? - Yura and the rest of the survivors asked. They were very interested in the outside world.

- Yes. The outsiders refer to the entirety of the corruption as the Rottedlands. Well, it differs by region, but most call it the Rottedlands or the Blightlands. Many that weÆve met are interested in forming diplomatic relationships with us, but the terrain is too hostile unless the group is at least level fifty and above and has the ability to create their own food and filter water, since thereÆs nothing to harvest for a whole two months, and thereÆs no clean water anywhere in the entirety of the Rottedlands. -

- How many did we lose? - a Remainer asked.

- Of the four hundred, we lost one hundred on the journey out. We lost twenty on our way back, even after we came with better equipment and supplies. -

- HowÆs Lozanna ? - Laufen asked.

- Lozanna is fine. She and a small group of the younger ones are on a journey to the other cities and kingdoms. But more importantly, we have a map. - The returned men unfurled a massive map that indicated the edges of the Rottedlands, and as Yura described it to me, it seemed Lilies was so far away that she wasnÆt harmed.

But my other forest and the Verdant Volcano were both in the range of the Rottedlands. Were they destroyed?

I only lost connection, but I didnÆt get a message that Dimitree was destroyed. What about the Verdant Volcano?

The map was important for a few reasons. One, it showed the shortest path to civilization, where the edges of the Rottedlands and where Freeka once were. Next, well, who we wanted to form any sort of diplomatic relationship with. As it was, it was a large distance, and I may be able to open one path out of the Rottedlands. Maybe a few more once I got stronger.

On the flipside, I may also not open a path, such that the Rottedlands formed a natural moat or barrier. After all, the prospect of marching an army through these Rottedlands would greatly discourage any attempts to invade us.

So who and how we exposed and declared our presence was important. And I needed to balance this with other aspects of my long - term plans.

The demon king incident was my first but certainly wouldnÆt be the last one I faced. If I lived for hundreds of thousands of years, as great old trees often did, then I must consider the plans to prevent such events over the longer period.

Sure, the first time wasnÆt really my fault, but if I let it happen to me more than a few times, that was entirely on me.

The heroes and the demon king were part of a continuous cycle and therefore were a predictable, preventable crisis.

What could I do?

Find ways to let them fight it out elsewhere far from civilization and nature? How could I prevent them from destroying all the gains made by the jungles and forests? All the destroyed natural habitats?

That involved knowing, no, influencing where the demon king and heroes appeared. That was. unlikely.

Or should I aid the heroes such that they killed the demon king as soon as possible? I had hesitated in participating in this conflict, but as I predicted previously, it came for me whether I liked it or not.

Or could I. kill the demon king myself? How did the demon kings die so quickly? Was there some trick? I clearly needed to investigate this hex power and see whether I could make a safer version for myself. Like Clean Nuclear!

So. how should we approach the future? It came for us.

Hex. And I would need to gather power to slay the demon king myself. Only with power could we preserve nature. Without power, nature would just remain a setting for their conflict.

28

YEAR 111

- I didnÆt think that the great protector of New Freeka lived, - Harris said as he arrived at the edges of my restored valley. He came with a group one hundred strong. - The rumors of the survivors are true, after all. Good decision, Commander. -

A commander bowed next to him. They saw the field of normal green trees. - Indeed. I wonder where they have hidden the past twenty years. -

- Perhaps they were biding their time. -

- All right, letÆs stop. WeÆre in their territory now, - Harris said.

- Yes, Your Highness. - They nodded, and the group of one hundred moved nimbly. They were clearly well trained and of a decent level. They didnÆt look like guards, and they were armed with magical star manaûenchanted weapons.

Yura went to meet them, along with one hundred other survivors.

- Stop. Who goes there? - Yura and all were well - armed, but their equipment paled in comparison. In a straight fight, they wouldÆve lost easily. Still, they were alerted to these visitors, and they moved quickly.

- This is the entourage of His Holiness, the Emperor Harris the First, Slayer of the Demon King, Supreme Ruler of the Harrisan Empire, and you stand before the Emperor himself. It would be wise to kneel, peasant, - one of the men said. He leaped ahead with his armor gleaming, showing off his enchanted gear.

Yura shrugged. He hadnÆt lost his distaste for royals. - Greetings, Emperor Harris. You walk on the blessed lands of A/ the Ageless, the great Tree Spirit and Defender of the Valley. We, the believers of the true spirit of the land, kneel before no king or royal. -

The man was quickly offended and wanted to attack, but then Harris stepped in. - Greetings. Pardon my entourage. Their zeal to glorify my name is but a minor crime. Truly, does A/ still live? -

Yura shrugged. - WeÆve never doubted him. But it seemed that the outsiders have. -

Harris laughed. He was no longer a child now, a man in his late thirties, yet the glow of his heroic presence was unmistakable. He was equipped from head to toe for war, every item he wielded radiating enormous amounts of star mana. It would not be out of place if anyone assumed he was preparing to face the demon king.

- What brings you here, Emperor? -

- Watch your words, - one of HarrisÆs lackeys interrupted.

Yura ignored it. Harris took a step forward. - I stayed very briefly in New Freeka, before my fateful battle with the demon king. I still remember the great Tree SpiritÆs massive wooden shields that blocked out the demonÆs attack. In hindsight, I shouldÆve predicted that the Tree Spirit lived. I still have his familiar, after all. -

Some of the lackeys expressed surprise. Goodness, the hero surrounded himself with sycophants?

- Anyway, may I speak to the Tree Spirit? I have much to discuss with a being of such great power. -

Yura paused, but I thought he wanted me to tell him what to do. I mentally agreed, and Yura looked at Harris. - Certainly, but the Tree Spirit would not have all of you armed, and only you alone. -

The lackeys were about to say something ridiculous again. - If there are any accommodations or rest stops for my group to rest, that will be sufficient. Perhaps a hotel, if such institutions survived. ItÆs fine for me to meet the Tree Spirit myself. -

- Unfortunately, twenty years without customers has been extremely hard on our hotels, so none of them remain, - Yura joked. - LetÆs go this way. -

Yura led them into one of the tunnels, and from there, they arrived in the submerged valley. They looked quite surprised to see a massive tree with a burning top that was hidden underneath.

- How did we miss this? - Harris said quietly. But before the sycophants could answer, he cut them off. - Rhetorical question. -

Yura and the survivors watched the group carefully, and soon, they saw the beetles. But right before one of the sycophants wanted to attack the beetle, Harris stopped it.

- Idiot. Can you use your brain and think why is there a beetle here? It must be the treeÆs servant. I see they havenÆt changed much. -

- Oh? - Yura asked. - YouÆve seen them? -

- Yes. I have. Over twenty years ago, - he said. - So. where can I meet the tree? -

- Ah, right this way. Could you request your men to wait over at that area? - Yura pointed to a resting area that had been made last year. There was a lot of wooden furniture, a small blossoming collection of fruit juice stalls, and some barbeque stalls that roasted the local meats, kind of like an alfresco food court.

Harris nodded, and the men obeyed. Only Yura and Harris walked to one of the larger Giant Attendant Trees thatÆd been converted to a meeting room. He sat alone inside.

- A/ will speak to you here. - Yura nodded, and he shut the door. Inside the Giant Attendant Tree, there was only him.

He looked around, as if he was waiting for something. - Hmm. -

- Hello, Harris, - I said.

- Ah. Makes sense that a tree spirit is telepathic. The last time we met, all I got was a notification about the familiar when Lady Mika spoke. Greetings, A/ . Much has changed. -

- I was told you sought us out once you learned of our existence. -

- Indeed. - Harris sat. - Let me cut to the chase, A/ . We are four years away from the next demon king, maybe five years if we are lucky. IÆm trying to gather a force to defeat the next demon king as soon as it spawns, and your defensive abilities are something thatÆs quite firmly etched in my mind. Would you help me? -

- Interesting offer, but I suppose you did not forget that IÆm an immobile tree? -

- ThatÆs true. But we could make artifacts that could temporarily store some of your abilities as a single - use skill. With a bit of star mana and some special crystals, we could create a spell - matrix that could store some of your shields. In fact, IÆd also like to store that demonic suppression aura of yours. It would prove incredibly helpful in a battle against the demon king. At least it would help to weaken the lackeys for the rest of us. -

Hmm. Well, it seemed all the survivors were making plans for the demon king, so that was an encouraging sign. Certainly, it was aligned to my own goals, so in this case, I should cooperate.

- Agreed. But I will demand some of those spell - matrices for my own use. -

Harris laughed. - That was quick. I expected a tree to take a longer time to deliberate such things. ThereÆs also another matter. -

- Oh? -

- Over twenty years ago, New Freeka played host to many. refugees. Royalty of many families. And you might remember many kingdoms were destroyed, essentially beheaded, because the demons possessed powerful ranged weapons. -

- And? -

- Well. may I ask you to offer the same protection to my offspring? -

- I find that hard to believe, hero. You have star mana and the ability to create powerful magical defenses. Certainly your capital has been enchanted many times to prepare for such an event. -

- Yes, it has. But the children are fools. They squabble with each other over petty goals and trigger their star mana artifacts too easily, exhausting them. Artifacts meant for greater dangers, - he said, sighing.

A cup of tea appeared next to him.

He sipped. - And damn, I missed this tea so much. - He drank another sip. - Seriously. This damned world is trying to kill us. -

- Huh? - Who?

- They got Becky. Ah. ItÆs the tea that makes me feel upset. - Harris sighed. - The demons. They killed her a few years ago. Even though we fought together. Well, maybe except Gerrard, whoÆs too busy getting drunk and hiding in strange places throughout the world. -

The human hero looked sad, confused, and tired all at the same time. I wondered whether the tea was alcoholic, because I was damn sure it wasnÆt. It was just a bit of hospitality.

- Fuck the gods, yÆknow. This fucking game is just engineered to kill us. WeÆre leader - heroes. We have armies of magical summons, and the gods just fucking turn it around and spawn super - demons where our army of magical summons are just fodder, and wide swathes of my army - boosting abilities are just absolutely useless. They made this game and tied one of our hands right behind our backs. -

Why was he ranting?

- Ah. ItÆs just so nostalgic to come back to the first place where we were saved. Dammit. I suddenly feel like IÆm a young teen again. -

I checked whether any of my Tree of Prayers or psychedelics were active. Nope. I thought he was just having all these things pent up.

- Fuck it. I mean. - He took a deep breath. - I mean. yeah. Stupid kids. Would you protect them? TheyÆre still my children, but damn if they are not idiots. I donÆt remember being so idiotic as a young teenager. -

- When you look back, every generation has always thought the younger generation was idiots. -

Harris paused. - Well. Yeah. But still, they are my idiots. And that annoys me. This fucking world is out to kill us. Me, Mirei, Gerrard. Just three of us left. I just hope my stupid kids donÆt get involved. -

- How many kids do you have? -

- Uh. - I thought he blushed. - I think about twenty - six. The youngest one is. one. Two of my wives are pregnant. -

I didnÆt know what to say about that. Wait. He was only in his thirties; maybe he was going to turn forty soon. DidnÆt that mean he had at least one baby a year?

- Well. Ahm. - He finished the tea. - Can I have more? -

A small vine produced hot water, and another added crumpled, dried powder into the cup. - YouÆve been productive. -

- Ah. Yes. So uh. -

- YouÆre asking me to offer protection to a very, very large number of people. -

Harris frowned. - Yes. -

- I still donÆt get it. You donÆt trust your own magic, and you prefer to trust me? - I was skeptical. Extremely. This sounded like a royal asking for protection again.

- I thought long and hard about it. So long as I live, I am certain my family will survive. My star mana and my heroic powers mean I will still be able to protect them with my powers. IÆve tried my best to store my powers in spell - matrices and all that, but artifacts able to store hero - grade powers are few and far between and very often usable only once, sometimes twice. Unlike other generations of heroes, our powers are mostly summons and creatures, and that doesnÆt extend to grand magical formations. We could still do them to a far lesser degree, but itÆs not the same as what a ritual - focused hero or what a pure enchanter hero could achieve. When we level, our hero - grade skills are given, and itÆs not like we can force those skills into something they are not. For example, Mirei has extremely powerful lightning abilities, but none of those are a usable shield of any kind. Strange to say this, we are constrained by the scope of our gifts. Our talents for skills outside our designated hero class is ordinary, and if we want more, we have to trade our hero levels for them. -

He paused.

- And so, if something falls outside our rather specialized scope, we have to then turn to native experts for aid. My life is unfortunately fragile, weak, and I am a marked man, hunted by future demon kings. I will fail eventually. -

- Before that, tell me how did you survive two demon kings? -

- Oh. The first one. Astra. - Harris took a deep breath. - He did a cursed ritual, melding blood magic, star mana, and the magic of the land. And whatever he did, well, it blew up the demon king. When the second demon king came along, he tried the same thing, but something happened and he died. That meant me, Becky, Mirei, and Gerrard gathered together to face the demon king when we found out it was headed toward the Northern Isles. And although Astra died, whatever it used weakened that second demon king significantly. Yet we still lost Becky. -

Ah. So whatever that hero did worked. Only the price was too high to pay for it to be done more than once?

- The next demon king, we wonÆt be so lucky. -

Harris seemed to be waiting for a response from me, but I didnÆt reply.

- So, my family. My luck will run out eventually. I intend to still protect them, and existences like yourselves is an insurance I hope I never have to use. -

- Decades ago, though to me it feels just days ago, I told the royals then that they are free to seek refuge in my lands. I intend to maintain that principle, and so your offspring is free to seek refuge in my land. But like then, no special privileges. -

Was this the fate of people like me, repeating the same sentences over and over again? I felt like a broken record, and it should fucking annoy me. I should outsource it to an artificial soul or train a bunch of people to repeat my principles. Kinda like a call center or a visitor center that repeated the rules to a bunch of unruly tourists. ItÆd be even better if they got to do it with the same lack of enthusiasm and boredom.

Yeah.

I should outsource and automate it. ItÆd be the first TreeTree service and call center. Or maybe an artificial mind, tasked to repeat the same responses many, many times.

- Hmm. not what I hoped itÆll be, but that will do. - Harris frowned. - So. where have you been hiding for the past two decades? -

Me? - I was asleep. -

He laughed. - Ah. And the survivors, they somehow made do in this. sunken valley? -

- Yes. -

- Never mind. Back to what I initially came for, once I return, I will begin commissioning the construction of the spell - storage gems, and I will have them delivered. Let me know once youÆve finished infusing your skills in them. -

- How? - I mean, IÆd never seen such an item. I doubted they came with easily understood manuals, and even if they did, they were usually made for humanoids, not trees.

- Good point. IÆll come over with it. -

At this point, I remembered the two heroes that were trapped. I pondered whether to let Harris know about them, and I considered the consequences, whether he would doubt or suspect that I had anything to do with it. Then I decided it was probably best if I told him anyway. Maybe heroes got special rewards for freeing their friends souls. - Harris. When I was asleep, I saw your friends. -

- My friends? -

- Simone and Victor. Their souls were captured by the demon king, and they are being corrupted. -

HarrisÆs face paled instantly. - What?! Where? How? How do you know? -

- I donÆt know much, and I saw it in. a dream, but they are likely to be near where you all fought the demon king. Look for a red crystal, and break it. -

He paused, and he paced the room in circles. - I swore we cleared out the field in an attempt to clean up the corruption, but then again. it could be hidden underground. I must let Mirei and Gerrard know if this is true. It explains the weird dreams weÆve been having. They must have been trying to speak to us but couldnÆt get through. -

Outside, HarrisÆs entourage was getting restless. ItÆd been almost two hours.

- IÆm not able to free them, but maybe you could. - Honestly, there really was no way I could reach the demon kingÆs site, with all the sludge and corruption between us and them.

Harris nodded. - On this matter, I will handle it. I will be in touch. -

And with that, Harris and his entourage left. There wasnÆt much he could do about the message systemÆs failure in this area, because the magical interference came from the vast fields of sludge, and the hero with the communication tower ability died a few years ago.

Theoretically, if I cleared out enough of the sludge, magical interference and decay would drop and the messaging system would restore itself. I supposed on top of behaving like a polluting oil, it also emitted some kind of magical wave that caused magic to break down over time. Very similar to hex, really.

- He was here before, TreeTree? - Yura asked.

- Yeah. You donÆt recognize him? -

- He said he was mostly with Lady Mika, so he didnÆt really particularly stick in my mind, - Yura said. - ItÆs hard to recognize people I met twenty years ago. He doesnÆt even look the same. -

- He looks largely the same to my spirit vision. But his glow is larger than before. I suppose itÆs the levels. HeÆs not exactly hiding his presence. Or maybe he canÆt. He doesnÆt have the right skills. -

- Ah, well. Thankfully, his entourage was well behaved once he was out of sight. TheyÆre just putting up a show when he is around. Interestingly, they donÆt like each other all that much. I think they all work for different people. -

- His different wives, perhaps. - I mentally chuckled. Was this the logical outcome of a harem? I mean, sure, the harem could get along, but once everyone had their own children with the same father, it was just a source of conflict, wasnÆt it? Every mother wanted to protect her own offspring, so they competed for attention. Human nature made it so that it was hard to be fair and be seen and perceived as fair. Even if he acted fairly, it may appear as favoritism.

Yura laughed, too. - Well, thatÆs why IÆm single. I spend too much time practicing. -

My efforts to mix normal mana and star mana did help to improve its efficiency, but I still hadnÆt gotten a skill for it. Thanks to that, weÆd managed to expand the forest to cover a long strip of land that led to one of the nearby towns. IÆd decided to still leave a large patch of unconverted sludge between my forest and the town, just as a moat, but this entire process meant they only had to travel about one month through the sludge, and theyÆd arrive at the edges of that long forest.

Viewed from above, it was like the forest extended one long - ass vine to reach for the town.

Meanwhile, my research on the demonic hybrids also made some progress. IÆd gained some more understanding of their nature, such as their bodies actually absorbed ambient energies and converted it to their demonic mana. In a way, it was. air - powered. They didnÆt need sunlight, but they did need some water, and they absorbed it from the air, which was why they could exist in multiple forms and colors. They also had some kind of water - vision, which meant they would often target non - native animals, like elves or humans, or even ordinary wildlife that had far higher water content than the demonic hybrids.

Were these demons like. some kind of reimagination of animals in a post - water scarcity world? Mars in its dying days?

IÆd yet to connect to the wider network of these hybrid trees, fearing that they may overwhelm me. So far, all my attempted connections had been with standalone hybrid trees that had been isolated. They responded well to demonic mana, but when flooded with my normal mana, they just froze and entered hibernation. Still, I persisted, and I carved a segment where I experimented more on them.

Maybe these hybrid trees could act as a first line of filter, such that they weakened the demonic energyÆs pressure at the edges. Something like an absorbent or suspension, having a transitory species of trees that could act as a medium between the two varying ecologies. Maybe I could engineer something.

A new plant species that straddled the two worlds. At that very thought, I felt a huge repulsion from the rest of my network of trees. These feelings, they came from the native trees, and they despised that thought.

Hah! Natives. I was a foreigner, outworlder, too! Why did you not reject me, then?

Besides, plants certainly evolved in my world. These hybrids were clearly an adaptation, an evolution in this world. Why exclude these newcomers?

29

YEAR 112

At first, I left a gap of Rottedlands between the wider, uncorrupted world and my recovered areas as I expanded. Beneath all the once - corrupted lands were normal lands, and some of them had minerals or had geological features that were once hidden by the sludge. Clearing the land meant all these were revealed, and the new trees used to clear these spaces discovered the higher concentration of certain minerals when their roots extended into the ground.

Some of these were common minerals, like regular iron or copper. Some areas were just certain types of soil that were suitable for making pottery or clay. IÆd imagined these resources would be suitable for construction or allow the creation of certain industries. Though our population was still only about three thousand, if the refugees came along, I would see this amount increase over time.

There would be refugees.

- How would they get past the Rottedlands? - Yura asked.

- Good point. - That was when I realized my idea of creating a moat was quite stupid. Sure, the moat made it harder for enemies to come in, and it also helped to thin any armyÆs numbers by having to fight the demons, but it almost completely denied the refugees or anyone who wanted to live in my domain. And that meant I would forever have a far smaller army to work with.

Refugees in this world were mostly escapees of war; though they were desperate and may have levels, they were mostly unarmed and would not survive a whole month through the Rottedlands.

Since any army that wanted a piece of me would march through the Rottedlands anyway, with all the necessary logistics to survive the journey, I decided to make smaller paths to the outside world, which would then be fortified with walls, various tree - defenses, and a huge bunch of beetles. That way, prospective refugees could still get a safe path in.

I couldnÆt do the same things and still expect a better result.

An expansionary approach was something I didnÆt try, though I was fond of the turtling concept. In fact, maybe that was why I was even a tree. A tree by nature was immobile, but perhaps I should embrace rapid expansion of weeds.

- WeÆre already drawing attention, - a few of the survivors said. - A/ Æs expansion has made our lands very attractive. -

- There are so few of us. We canÆt hold off those lands. -

Yura shook his head. - A/ has decided to hold on to those lands. Anyone who wants it will have to go through his army. -

In fact, a nearby kingdom officially launched an invasion force of thirty thousand. They would cut across the small strip of Rottedlands and then start to settle in reclaimed areas closest to their kingdom. It wasnÆt much of a battle. By the time that army did cross the Rottedlands, they lost about two thousand people. They gained levels, though.

When they emerged from the Rottedlands, Yura helped make an announcement that they were invading my lands. Of course, they ignored it. Then they were attacked by hidden beetles scattered across the newly made forests. There were some high - leveled individuals in there, perhaps around level fifty to eighty, and I dealt with them personally, mostly by just harassing them with serpentine rootstrike and a volley of poisonous fruits from everywhere.

DidnÆt take long for the thirty thousand to become only twenty thousand, and then deciding that it was better to just run away, since they soon realized the army of beetles was a lot bigger than they were prepared for. I had one hundred thousand subsidiary trees, and that meant if I ever maxed out on beetles, that was a total of five hundred thousand beetles. Five hundred thousand beetles that regenerated to one hundred thousand beetles per month. It was just. I could zerg - rush the nearest kingdoms. How many kingdoms could fight off one hundred thousand beetles each month, anyway?

Of course, I couldnÆt practically max out beetles, since I had some dedicated for other roles, like housing, like training areas, or some as defenses.

There was also the issue of levels. I mean, if someone killed one hundred thousand beetles, I was damned sure the system was going to give him some super beetle immunity or beetle resistance or beetle - slayer abilities.

In fact, this very issue was why it was better to have a diversified army, because if at any time your opponent ever gained a skill advantage, it applied over the entirety of the army. Imagine if a general had beetle slayer general or something like that. That would mean my beetles were effectively useless. Or maybe some mage got Bugspray or something.

Ugh.

After that defeat, there was no more invasion for the rest of the year. I counted that as a yay, because obviously now the other kingdoms realized it wasnÆt easy trying to take land away from a tree.

Trade and commerce were gradually returning, so the survivors reorganized themselves as a new administrative body for the entire land, once again with me as the spiritual leader. There was no large - scale refugee movement yet, not with the land being relatively peaceful. The demonic rifts had yet to reopen, and the hybrids of the Rottedlands didnÆt seem to stray far from their native environment.

- Any opinions? - Yura went and met Yvon in her training tree. Yvon gained a wooden form that could talk and communicate with people, but unlike Meela or Alexis, her wooden body remained stuck in her tree. Quite strange, and I reckoned the heroes just had special treatment.

- Strategically, A/ should communicate with all the nearby kingdoms for alliances, and since the land is unoccupied, perhaps he could arrange some kind of lease or vassalage system. Maybe work with some unhappy nobles in the kingdoms whoÆd be happy to defect over to A/ Æs side, since A/ would probably allow for a wider range of flexibility than some insecure king. In short, an arrangement similar to New Freeka, but open to the rest of them. -

- ThereÆs going to be conflict. - Yura shook his head. - YouÆve seen how sensitive A/ is with certain matters. -

- It can be managed. I personally have begun to realize itÆs a question of distance. A/ cares a lot less about what the kingdoms do when they are far away. I suggest declaring this entire valley some kind of Holy Land, then all the cities that spring out around the valley to be the Holy LandÆs Defender Nations. -

Yura just paused and stared at YvonÆs wooden face. - Seriously? -

- ItÆs what the human kingdoms did a long time ago. The lesser human vassal nations around the main human country were referred to as the Paladin Kingdoms, and the capital was the Sacred City of the Hero King. -

- Huh. -

- HistoryÆs interesting. It tells us what has been done before and what we can do again. - Yvon nodded. - I would definitely recommend this strategy to A/ . Lesser nations under one Spiritual Protector. A/ Æs already worshipped back in the days of New Freeka. A returning deity surely can sway the minds of many. He should very much take advantage of his past reputation and his now - public relationship with the hero. -

The hero, Harris.

Ah yes. HarrisÆs visit was widely publicized. The affairs of Harris, the Harem Hero Emperor, were tabloid fodder. They speculated whether there was a woman waiting for him at my place, or perhaps an illegitimate child. Harris had quite a special position according to the merchants, as he built his empire by reclaiming vast amounts of Rottedlands. In fact, his entire territory sat on reclaimed Rottedlands, with his army of summoned knights to patrol and fight off any monsters. Each time one of his many women had a child, he would reclaim more land, which would be awarded to that newly born child, though still managed by the crown.

I couldnÆt help but mentally laugh at the idea. I mean, he was living the life of many isekai main characters, and the consequences of that sort of lifestyle, such that he had to reclaim land to secure the future of each of his many children. As it turned out, heroes children actually did not inherit any of their fatherÆs or motherÆs special blessings, so their children were absolutely ordinary, except for their special station in life.

Of course, their special station in life meant they got the best trainers, teachers, equipment, and gear, which, if they used it properly, thatÆd be good. But his oldest child, a teenager at seventeen years old, was rumored to be arrogant, abused his status as the prince, and like his father was a womanizer. I mean, he had fun during the years having so many women; so now he had to deal with the consequences of having so many women, right?

Once he passed away some day in the future, maybe his kids would squabble and a war would break out among their children over the land. Since all the children all received special star - mana weapons, extra enchantments, and stuff, surely there would be perceived inequality and there would be war. IÆd seen it in telenovela, or even business empires!

In a way, maybe Yvon was right. I was in the unique position of being a nigh - immortal tree; surely any empire I built would last longer than one of human heroes. It was a norm that few empires survived their founders.

I spent some time thinking about it, and I thought it was a good idea and totally worth trying. LetÆs try an expansionary strategy. I did like the idea that this entire valley was sacred land.

The survivors grouped together and split the territories around us into ten parcels, for now, with more to come as I expanded further, and a declaration was made: ten parcels of land awaiting for settlement, a constitution drafted, with terms closely resembling that of the old New Freeka, but with some modifications.

A map was made, areas marked as protected territories, where no large - scale settlement or logging could be made, and areas where the settlers could build their own homes. Each of the ten parcels were to determine their own rulers or governors, but they would have to operate under my umbrella, provide a contribution to the overall military and magic defense, and accept instructions that I may periodically bestow.

In short, IÆd become the tooltip or foreign monarch that was now going to hand out duties to my new vassals. Kind of like Tropico.

Then, with the aid of some merchants, an invitation was made to everyone on the entire continent. Though I supposed the message first got to the rich and powerful, eventually itÆd spread to the common folk.

Come. Join the Rottedlands Restoration Effort! Open up New Lands! Rebuild the Lost Cities of the past! Be part of A/ Æs Domain. A/ Æs Frontier! Be a pioneer! Ten largely self - governing parcels for the taking! Come!

And I waited.

Of course, this decision rather surprised Yvon and Yura . Neither thought I would do something like that. I knew I probably wouldnÆt. But my old strategy was not working; I wanted to grow! If it didnÆt work, I could just crush them with my army of five hundred thousand beetles!

With that settled, I moved on to other matters.

Harris was supposed to return with a bunch of artifacts that could store my skills, but he didnÆt come this year. A messenger came and notified us that procurement of the necessary materials took far longer than expected.

And ErizÆs transformation into a nursery tree was quite interesting and fascinating. She was essentially a large tree that was like a childcare center, and like Yvon, she too could take the form of a tree person. Interestingly, she could make multiple copies of herself within the childcare center, and her mind somehow allowed her to do all the things together. A part of her tree was able to produce all sorts of milk and saps to feed the young children, some even directly via vines that were shaped like milk bottles, or for the centaurs, udders, or for the treefolk, thick sap - like drops. It was really cool, and she gained levels quite quickly.

- ItÆs quite surreal to still see you, Mom, - Roma said to Yvon. He sat inside her tree, practicing. - I mourn your death, and yet here you are. -

She tapped Roma on the head. - Well, looks like fate has other plans for me. -

- More like A/ had other plans for you. And IÆm not quite sure if I like it. -

She shrugged.

As the year slowly reached its end, after all that fighting and expanding, I got something I wanted.

You have gained a level. You are now level 153.

Your skill û Natural Mana Overwhelming has been upgraded.

I hoped for a new skill, but it seemed the system was more keen on just upgrading my skills. Still, it made it easier for my mana to push back and put out the demonic mana.

Next year, I would be closing in on the volcano and the southwest forest. IÆd hoped to see how the rod and DimitreeÆs artificial mind was holding up. I had the notification that I lost my connection to Dimitree, but not one that indicated that he died. Perhaps, with the use of the magical ley line, he was able to use its mana to push back against the demonic corruption. That would be great, since I wouldnÆt have to rebuild that entire southwest forest.

I would like to start reconnecting with Lilies again. I had a lot of questions, and I thought only great old beings like them could answer it.

Oh. Naming!

- So, we need to brainstorm a name for our new city. - The survivors reconvened. Apparently it was an important matter, because they didnÆt know how to describe themselves, and they didnÆt want to use the name of New Freeka, which was destroyed.

The conversation went somewhat like this:

- Neo Freeka. -

- Too similar to the old name. -

- Freekabaru. -

- Eww. -

- Free - la? -

- No. -

- A/ Freeka? -

- Sounds too much like a bad nickname. -

- A/ land? -

- No! -

After days - and maybe even weeks - of numerous meetings, no one could settle on a name, because everyone wanted something else, and in the end, they voted as a whole to force me to name the area.

I didnÆt have a good name, either.

NewNewFreeka? Nope. EvenBetterFreeka? Freeka 3.0? Nope.

In the end, because we were deep in the Rottedlands, I decided something that opposed the meaning of Rotted.Æ

Freshka.

Yes.

The City of Freshka. I felt numerous facepalms in the entirety of the valley, as if a million dreams were silenced and crushed all at once. I thought I was quite clever, but everyone else didnÆt. But they reluctantly accepted my proposed name. Because Freshka was fresher! Fresh! Like new, but fresh! It was like a bad, cringey commercial. If Meela was here, sheÆd say my naming sense was atrocious.

Freshka! The good thing was it was just going to be the name of the new city that was going to be built at a new location, quite a distance from the valley. I mean, now that large areas were back to their normal, forested ways, not everyone wanted to live near a giant flaming tree anymore. So they found a place where there was a river, a nice slightly sloped flatland to start their new city.

Three thousand people made the move there to the second new capital of the other restored lands. The other was HarrisÆs empire, of course, which was on the other side of the continent. If the entire Rottedlands was an apple, his empire would be shaped like a bite into the apple.

Should I call the general area Freshlands, then? Freshans. Freeshkans. Freeshans didnÆt sound that bad, either.

30

YEAR 113

Time was running out, and HarrisÆs panic reflected that.

- Only ten? - I asked. I looked at the ten crystalline objects.

- ItÆs a lot harder to obtain spell crystals at the necessary quality and purity. These ten spell - matrices are able to store one skill or ability, which can be reused up to three times each. -

- ThatÆs only thirty uses. -

- ItÆs a lot better than nothing. - Harris nodded. - If I manage to get more, I certainly will bring them over, but rather than wait, I thought of just testing these ten out now. -

- True. Never know if they might fail. -

Harris was alone in the valley; his army of entourage was not allowed in, so they made themselves comfortable in the new city of Freshka. I looked at the ten items and asked, - So youÆll give me some of them? -

He paused, and he rubbed his head. - I know I agreed to give it to you, but, uh. itÆll affect my survival chances. Can I just give you one first? And if I live, IÆll give you five of these spell matrices. -

- Will they break after they are used? - I sort of thought they wouldnÆt because they looked incredibly well made, and the material was gorgeous. IÆd imagine these things to fetch an incredibly high price if one were to even try doing it.

- Uh, they shouldnÆt. They need to have the skills re - inserted again. They just become empty. You can try it out, though, uh. ThereÆs a recharge time before they can start receiving skills again. -

It wasnÆt hard to input a skill into the crystal. All I had to do was think of the skill I wanted to use and then sort of will it into the gem. I got it after, like, twenty tries. So, all ten gems now had Steelwood Barrier , and he kept nine of them. They had a faint greenish glow.

- Partly why it took me so long is because I wanted a gem that essentially replicates all the effects of a skill, not just stores the skill. There are plenty of spell - matrices out there that store just the skill, but those lose the passive effects and other caster - specific qualities that make the spell or skill strong. After all, IÆm quite certain your strength comes from a lot more than just the skill alone. -

I didnÆt have to reply.

Harris probably noticed my reluctance as he quickly changed the topic to something else. - Oh, I didnÆt tell you, but we found the red crystal that was mentioned. It was indeed hidden under a massive pile of sludge. And we broke it. - Oh. I hadnÆt checked on the two heroes in a while. Indeed, I couldnÆt access that area anymore.

- We? -

- Gerrard and Mirei found some time out of their busy schedules to visit. They should be on their way here. -

Two more heroes? I wasnÆt prepared for that. - Why are they coming here? -

- Nothing much, just to meet up and discuss some things in your presence. Gerrard seems to have something that he says will be valuable to you and us. -

- Me? - What could a hero say that could be of use to me?

Harris took some time to stay in the new buildings in Freshka as the rest of the heroes arrived a few days later. They looked different, and in MireiÆs case, sheÆd grown a lot taller. Gerrard was lean, tanned, and had shoulder - length hair. They both had aged and now looked like actual adults.

- So, this is where the tree is? - Gerrard asked.

Mirei nodded. - Yeah. We got lucky when we started out around here, and we got our basic combat training here. At least, well, when it was here. -

- I see. - They soon approached Freshka and regrouped with Harris. After a bit of chitchat and catchup, they came to see me.

Gerrard seemed quite interested. - ItÆs really, really big. -

- I had the impression that all tree spirits are large, - Mirei said. - Or is this one of your half - drunk statements? -

- Not at all. I might be half drunk most of the time, but tree spirits do go through regular growth periods! IÆve met small tree spirits before. - Gerrard looked quite relaxed around me.

Harris took out the spell - matrices and showed it to the other two. Mirei oohed. - IÆm still working on spell - matrices that are able to absorb and temporarily recreate the anti - demon aura. ItÆs a lot harder than I thought. -

- I could upgrade your familiars to special familiars. It comes with the demonic aura after a few levels, - I said as I recalled Lozanna did have a lesser version of the aura. - ItÆs not as strong as mine. -

They agreed, so I upgraded them. For Mirei and Harris, it seemed the levels that the existing familiars carried over to the new star manaûpowered familiars, and they unlocked the lesser demonic suppression aura instantly. For Gerrard, this was the first time he received the familiar, but he didnÆt seem entirely surprised by it.

- Fascinating, isnÆt it? - Harris said.

- Not bad, - Gerrard said.

- So. you said thereÆs something you wanted to share? -

Gerrard nodded and opened his bag. He took out a strange item; it resembled a really, really dried piece of wood. - Yes. I also have a gift for A/ , actually. - He placed the dried piece of wood on the table, and the moment I touched it, I felt a notification in my head.

YouÆve received a fragment of the ancient tree that was destroyed thousands of years ago.

That very moment, I felt happy. It was a joy that came from the entirety of my network, like all my trees felt happy to be touched by that. fragment.

I couldnÆt respond for a while, as I had to manage a rush of emotions that went through my head. Thoughts, too.

There were objects that could do this to me in the world! Was it because my Grand Mind Tree still needed repairs? The three heroes waited for a while for my response, and they just talked among themselves.

- A/ ? - Harris asked. Gerrard looked at Harris and Mirei and then just sat down.

- ItÆll take a while. I gave this same thing to a few other spirits, and they all froze or didnÆt respond to me for at least a day. Maybe we can go have a drink first. - The heroes chatted among themselves again, and then they left.

YouÆve analyzed the ancient treeÆs fragment. You gained a level. You are now level 154.

Skill: Subsidiary tree upgraded. 200,000 Trees!

Skill: Woodshaping significantly upgraded.

Then I started to see. visions. It felt like I was watching television, as scene after scene flickered before me. Memories of the ancient tree engraved in its body. Like how a tree recorded what it suffered through in the rings of its trunk, the fragment contained its ancient memories.

A vision. Vast expanse of forests, jungles. Sea. Monsters. Dragons. Humans. Elves. Small towns and some cities.

Then a falling red star. Then it was an. emotion. Not a scene, but a feeling of instability, of falling. Like I was pulled out by something and then started falling.

Then demons. Demons everywhere. I saw visions of. dragons -

Then it ended, so very quickly.

No. More? I tried to access it again, but it felt like a teaser trailer that was too short. I accessed the shard again, but all it did was play the same scenes in repeat.

- I need more. - I spoke to the three heroes, who were relaxing in Freshka. That feeling, was like I was robbed of knowledge, of knowing some but not enough. I needed more.

- IÆm afraid thatÆs the last one I have. IÆve given out every shard I have to other tree spirits. YouÆll have to get it from them. - Gerrard shook his head. - I didnÆt even know there was a tree spirit here, so I only kept one. -

- How many did you have? How many have you given out? - I asked, my entire being trying to hold back a sense of need and desperation that came from the rest of me. Was this a kind of mind control? I needed that Grand Mind Tree repaired as soon as possible!

- Uh. I had three. I gave one to you, one to Lilies, and another one to the Frozen Tree in the Northern Isles. -

Lilies had one. Maybe I could negotiate directly with Lilies for a loan. I didnÆt really need to keep the fragment, just analyze it to get a more coherent picture of the past. Wait. Why was I going down this train of thought again?

Harris ribbed Gerrard. - So, uh, wait. What were you trying to do? -

- Oh. You know IÆve been going around making all sorts of herbal liqueur? I found that collecting those from ancient tree spirits or powerful tree spirits can produce a high - quality herbal liqueur with strong suppression qualities. So I set out creating, uh. a blended herbal liqueur. IÆve collected about seven tree spirit herbs, leaves, and barks. -

Mirei just smacked her palm to her face. - Oh. So all this just to fulfill your alcohol desires? -

- Look. DonÆt judge me and my hobbies. Harris has his harem, and you have your ballroom and fancy otome - game politics. Leave me as the hermit eccentric brewer of strange drinks. - Gerrard got quite defensive. - I even gained levels with it. -

- What?! - They both paused. - I havenÆt gained a level since we fought the demon king! -

- The systemÆs busted. We all know that. But it turned out you can actually gain levels from doing non - fighting things. -

- That doesnÆt match my experience. - Harris frowned. - IÆve been clearing up large areas of land and all, not a single level. -

Mirei nodded, too. - Which class did you gain a level in? Your Hero class or something else? -

- No, not Hero . My Master Brewer class. Collecting unusual and rare items and brewing with them did gain me levels. ANYWAY! - Gerrard shouted. - A/ , right? Uh. I want your herbs, leaves, and a bit of your bark. -

- Fine. - He gave me a level; that was fair, I supposed. IÆd made herbal drinks and tea all the time, anyway. Herbal alcoholic drinks, well, I sort of mentally smacked myself there. Why didnÆt I think of that? Wait, maybe the wineries did create herbal versions of the wine. - But I want the other piece, the one with that Frozen Tree. Tell them itÆs a loan, and you can return it to them after IÆm done analyzing them. -

- Uh. - Gerrard seemed even more defensive. - A gift given to a tree spirit is never asked back. I wonÆt do that. IÆll lose my supply of magical frozen herbal leaves! -

Hmm. how did I negotiate this? Maybe I should do so directly. - Then bring a small sapling of mine to it. Place it near to it. - A small Tree of Prayer , a messenger from me. I would have to find a way to communicate with my other trees that were outside the network. Could I have roots that crossed the ocean? But the chance to communicate with another tree spirit!

- That. that I can do, - Gerrard promised, and he looked at the small bag of leaves, bark, and roots with great interest. He took a small piece of root out and smelled it. He licked it a bit. The other two heroes looked at him, and their faces were just plain disgusted.

- You lick your materials? -

- IÆve got to know how they taste. My tongue has a special skill, BrewerÆs Taste Buds , which lets me know how well itÆll go together with the rest of my brew! DonÆt worry, IÆll clean it up. -

- Eww. -

- You guys donÆt know how hard it is to get an audience with tree spirits. So far, this tree fragment has been my most successful method to get new herbal materials! -

- Where did you even get such a thing? I donÆt imagine you would end up checking every single fragment of wood you encounter, - Harris asked.

- It was in a random abandoned temple on the Shaffar Coast of the Western Continent in my quest to find rare herbal ingredients for my herbal alcohol. I was led there by a druid who spoke of a dead religion of some kind. -

At this point, I intervened. - Never mind. Are there more? -

- Uh. I took everything. Unless I missed it, which I could have, because honestly, I didnÆt pay those fragments much attention. They look like half - rotten wood, not exactly something my eyes are drawn to. -

Half - rotten wood!

- LetÆs change the topic. - Mirei shrugged. - Harris said A/ has some rather interesting. weapons. -

It was then that Harris brought out some of the wooden spears and swords. - Yes. These are the anti - demon weapons, and IÆm wondering if we, the three of us, together with A/ Æs wooden weapons as the chassis, would like to explore that possibility together. -

Harris didnÆt mention this the last time we met, but heroic - grade anti - demon weapons made sense. The weapons they created using the rare materials from this world were strong, but not specifically anti - demon.

So the three heroes spent days with me. I used wood - forming magic to form wooden weapons infused with my anti - demon powers, and the three heroes added their enchantments. Later on, they formed the wooden weapons together with me as I shaped the wood into its weapon shape; their star mana joined in and helped.

It was a long process, but the heroes clearly feared for their lives. I could sense all three of them had lingering, deep - seated memories of their many battles with different demon kings, and it reflected the sudden focus they had.

After two weeks, they all had wooden weapons they were satisfied with, yet they still feared whether it was enough. As Mirei put it, they were summoner - heroes, and yet the world forced them to still play the role of a combat - focused hero, so they had to resort to such preparations.

- We canÆt do this forever. - Gerrard looked at his curved wooden blade infused with a mix of wood and heroic energy. He sounded a bit dejected. They left all the rejected ones behind for me, which were all incredibly powerful items in their own way but just not to the level they needed. I intended to later spend some time to further analyze them and see whether I could use my own star mana to similar effects.

- No, we canÆt. But we must try. -

- Age catches up to us, even if magic keeps us young for now. Killing the demon king is just. temporary. If thereÆs some way we can just seal the demon king, I wonder whether that would stop the demon king from repeating, - he said, and then he had a headache immediately. He quickly opened a gourd next to him and drank from it.

- We canÆt even seal a demon walker. - Mirei laughed. They left a few days after.

Seal the demon king. Would that actually stop the cycle?

My prior yearÆs effort to market myself as fresh land for refugees, unhappy nobles, and all that brought a huge amount of people. There were fights, naturally, among refugees squabbling over the best spots, but the space was large enough that they dispersed over the ten sectors. Even then, fighting was going to happen, and this time, I was staying out of it. I would work with whoever their chosen ruler was, and so long as they operated under my framework, I would leave them be.

That was what a vassal was, right?

This promise of unclaimed lands attracted all sorts of people who were unhappy with their existing rulerÆs tax regimes, or with insecure borders, or people on the run. Some just wanted to try out something else, and eventually, a few smaller settlements formed. Over time, many of these smaller villages and settlements would agglomerate and form into towns and cities proper, but thatÆd be over a few more years.

Freshka, too, located in what was considered the core region of the new land, experienced some influx of settlers. The promise of fertile lands and bountiful harvests blessed by a watchful tree spirit was attractive to some farmers.

In each sector, after the migrants started coming in, I placed a Tree of Prayer and a few Giant Attendant Trees , which acted as their segmentÆs focal points.

Yura , and some of the followers, set up a new Valtorn Order. And the Valtorn OrderÆs task, this time, was to recruit promising young children from all the ten segments to form my new Valthorn Initiates. Of course, for now, no recruitment had actually started.

It was only the first year they were coming in. IÆd start next year. But the plan and infrastructure were ready.

By the end of the year, five of the ten sectors had been settled, and on average, home to about ten thousand each, for a total of fifty thousand! There were a bit of gang wars and internal fighting, but nothing overt yet.

I probably should get someone to watch them, like Ivy, to keep watch of any high - risk individuals, so I created a new artificial soul.

Jasmine. Not the princess, of course.

During this year, IÆd also stretched my trees to reconnect with the Verdant Volcano and the Southwest Forests.

I was relieved to discover they both survived, even if the area they covered had shrunk significantly. It seemed that the energy from the volcano and the ley line was strong enough to push back at the sludge, and it helped that they were quite far from the epicenter of the sludge than I was, so lucky for them, the pressure from the sludge was weaker.

Dimitree, which IÆd lost connection to, was still alive, if not a bit. insane. He went off in gibberish for a good three months as I spent time repairing his internal structure. So I was just glad to not have to start from scratch. Dimitree eventually recovered from his insanity caused by being disconnected from me for so long.

I didnÆt allow him to speak for a long time, because he was just incoherent.

The volcano crater and the Forest Rod survived, thankfully, but the sludge got as far as halfway up the volcano.

So, with this, my soul forgeÆs other abilities were restored, and my soul collectors were back in business.

31

YEAR 114

A group of five mages came, selling some kind of service. For payment, they would help create spell formations around and on city walls for use against monsters and demons. They were all quite high leveled, around level fifty to sixty, and they quickly met the Freshkan leaders. In their mind, every new town or city must have protective enchantments.

They all were well dressed and clearly made good money making these enchantments for many towns, but they came to the wrong place. The new ruling body told them they were not interested, and they soon left to the rest of the smaller towns to ply their wares.

That said, I was actually quite interested in defensive spell formations, so when one of the new smaller villages actually coughed up a bit of money for a spell formation, my trees watched it intently.

Simply put, I was trying to learn their defensive spell formations by observation. Clearly, if I could augment my defensive formations with magical spells, thatÆd make me even more tanky.

Though, from what I could see using my spirit vision , the defensive spell formation was essentially a five - part process.

The first part was the power source; in the case of the small village, this was a set of mana stones they embedded in the village headÆs home. The second was a set of runes or spells meant to extract power from that mana stone and also an activation keystone.

The third was the actual defensive spell, written into a formation of runes or stored in crystal matrices. Unlike the ones used by Harris, these crystals had the spell written into the crystal itself via physical carving of runes into the crystal, so that the spell memorized didnÆt get forgotten.

The fourth was the projection and casing of the crystals, such that they didnÆt get accidentally knocked out or triggered unnecessarily. So, there was a smaller set of items, usually metallic or wood, with some more runes to protect the crystals from other triggers. There was also an item - in the case of the village, a wooden holder that pointed the crystal outward - so that it projected the spell in the right direction.

The fifth was a coherence and synchronization process, such that all the crystal matrices triggered at the same time and responded to the same activation key.

Of course, the mages were more than happy to explain the mumbo jumbo to the clueless villagers, because they knew the villagers probably wouldnÆt remember it anyway, nor would they be able to reproduce it. One of the mages was more than happy to show off how smart he was as he explained the process of creating defensive formations to a bunch of young ladies. Maybe he would get laid that night, but I didnÆt care.

Essentially, if I were to think about it for me, it was entirely possible for me to use a magical ley line, or the volcano, or even myself, as the centerpiece of a magical defense formation. Or use a vast field of tuberous storage , which stored mana, as a massive battery array.

Then IÆd use the mana from the tuberous storage to power a huge set of magical runes, which super - charged my various shield generators to create far stronger wooden shields.

Or if I could create star mana storage arrays, that would greatly work, too, but from what I overheard, the extraction method from the storage would need to be compatible with the spell. Runes were sensitive things and needed to be written to the right size and with the right types of mana.

I should learn runic enchantments, no? A magical tree with runes! What could go wrong?

Later, I spoke of this idea to Yvon and Yura . Strangely, Yvon was quite supportive. Then it hit me.

- ItÆs a good idea, but I donÆt recall runes working on living beings. Runic carvings and symbols are usually on inanimate objects. -

- Oh. -

But why?

We did some research, Yura spoke to some surviving mages, and it seemed that runes needed to be fixed, in the sense that the shape and material needed to be fixed. So because living things grew and moved, the runes on living skin or bark would change shape.

In short, runes were like a language that somehow mana could understand and interact with, but it had to be fixed.

This concept was quite easy to understand. I imagined it as an integrated chipboard, where the shape and layout helped to produce a certain result. There was an energy source, and that energy source passed through a set of logic gates and then out came a result, as designed.

These runes were quite similar to wifi or wireless emitters, and their specific shape, design, and material allowed them to absorb or release these mana - waves. A specific runic shape, therefore, triggered an interaction with mana, which caused it to do certain things.

So, now that the communication channels had returned, I insisted that we gather all the known runes from the world. If I could understand and use runes to make myself even stronger, I must do so.

- ArenÆt you concerned that your mana may interfere with the runes? - Yvon asked.

- True, but mana can be manipulated, and certainly I can shape it in such a way so as to not interfere with each other. - Taking the logic circuit concept a step further, surely there must be a way to isolate each runeÆs input and output such that they did not clash with each other.

Yura and the Freshkan Council soon put out a request for rune - related books. A young mage was nominated to read the book to me, in Lozanna Æs place.

Eriz levelled up quite quickly, and she was now level twenty and had the ability to create a split - body of herself, which I placed in the largest new town outside Freshka. Her service as a full - time babysitter was invaluable for parents who wanted to work the farm and all that. That was the angle we worked with, though she did have to hire some of the older folks to work with her in her Nursery Subsidiary Tree .

Unlike me, her limit was very low, and right now at level twenty, she could only create one subsidiary. In a way, it made sense, since I did get my subsidiary tree level at maybe around level eighty, so mine could make more parts. Now I could make tens of thousands! If she could make that many nursery trees, she could definitely flood the market and put nannies out of business.

Still, children were few, but at least people were giving birth to kids. Laufen, now that her daughter was not around, had more time to dedicate herself to the charity arm of the new Valtorn Order, again to help support and provide social services, which were so formally lacking in this world.

- You never give up on that idea of orphan children as weapons of war, do you? - Yvon rebuked me one day as I discussed the idea with Laufen. - ThatÆs why youÆre always out gathering young children. -

- They have few attachments and nothing to lose. They have everything to prove to the world, and they need protection. Training them to fight is only natural, and giving the path of serving as potential fighters is a benefit. -

- I still think that isnÆt the best way forward. Fighters and mages are best when they have motivation and drive from deep within them. Some of these kids will get that, but most of them wonÆt. DonÆt force them to fight if they donÆt really want to, - Yvon disagreed. - I can tell from how they swing their weapons that theyÆre here because itÆs the way to get fed. -

- Then what system do you propose to replace this? Unless parents are willing to subject their children to extensive training. The odds of creating the Lozanna - class warrior battlegroup are next to none. -

- A recruitment event. Promise them things. Find those with a passion for what you do. In this world, it is often better to have one level - ninety man than one hundred level fifties. Everyone loves heroes, and they aspire to be like them. -

- So you want me to sell a dream instead of training all these children who canÆt fend for themselves? -

- Just give them basic training, but whether they want to move on to the next level, that depends on their passion, talent, and whether they really want it or not! TheyÆre children. I wouldnÆt force Roma to learn what he doesnÆt want to learn. What you are doing, even if these young, impressionable children seem eager and willing, is forcing something on them, but they donÆt really know what they want. -

- WouldnÆt that postpone their growth? -

- Why do you think so, A/ ? Levelling is not limited by age. A teenager that goes through hardship in his teens can gain as many levels as a young child under ten. Starting late is in no way a bigger impediment. A big part of levelling is about our own understanding and comprehension and is in no way slowed by starting late. -

- WouldnÆt a person who learned how to swordfight younger than an older man who just started be more skilled? -

- Yes, but the older manÆs intellect and wisdom would have grown, and if he was the same level, he would catch up in time. Life experience contributes to level growth, not just starting from young. -

That made no sense. Lozanna clearly gained and reached levels far faster.

That was when Yura and one of the migrant scholars came into the training room. - Lady YvonÆs explanation of the late - bloomer levelling effect is fascinating, but itÆs still unclear which idea is right. -

Huh. - Oh, pardon me, A/ . The idea of whether to start levelling young or levelling older is something thatÆs quite contentious, though most still prefer to start levelling from a younger age. In Lady YvonÆs defense, her argument can be modified that it is better for a young child to level in a wider variety of levels, or in generic levels, and only specialize in a later age. -

- True. - Yvon nodded. - ThatÆs a good point. ItÆs really about specialization, not whether a child should learn and level. But back to our earlier conversation, A/ . What IÆm trying to say is that a child may not know where his passions lie. I agree with training from young, but they should be exposed to a wider set of skills and let them see where their heart takes them. Passion for a cause and a set of skills is important, and people are more likely to find it in their later ages, as their life experiences tell them where they fit best. Passion contributes to levelling speed, not just age. -

- IÆm confused, but I take it that I will continue to train children, but only at a base level for a wider skillset, and then let them choose their own focus or specialization. -

- Yes. -

I was not actually attempting to reinvent the wheel here; this was just a rehash of our common primary school education system, where the kids went shallow on a broad number of subjects and then went deep when they found something they liked.

Only, well, the curriculum was more combat and survival focused, like combat training, basic magic assessment, farming, basic businesses.

But Yvon, now a Training Tree , quickly renamed herself, with a big signboard outside her tree. - VonAcademy. -

- Quite full of yourself to name it after. yourself, - I teased her. Academyvon. But at the same time, I was pretty sure my poor naming sense infected her. Or was it just a Tree thing that trees werenÆt good with names?

- What? IÆm now a tree that focuses on training. The big training schools in the world all have big, well - known names, so I should have a name, too. - Naming aside, her job was to produce the future Lozanna - class warriors, and part of this was to recruit from the growing countryside. Because of that earlier discussion over late and young bloomers, sheÆd decided to accept disciples from all ages, though the training was age - segregated for now.

Yura , deciding that he didnÆt want to do much politicking, converted his role to an advisory chairperson role in the Freshkan council, and he introduced a centaur migrant to me later that day.

- You stand before A/ , our true guardian of the valley and the refresher of the Rottedlands. Introduce yourself, Kavio. -

Refreshka. That was the next name if Freshka fell again.

- Wow. - The centaur Kavio had never entered the sunken valley before, referred to now as the Valley of the Unrotten. - So there really is a giant tree that survived in the valley. -

Yura shrugged. - Why do people even think we invented that story. in spite of all the evidence for it? -

- I mean, well, rumors. - Kavio nodded. - They tend to be massive, and because rumors are so common, the truth, if strange, becomes difficult to believe. -

- Anyway, introduce yourself. - Yura pointed to me.

- IÆm supposed to shout? -

- No. I can hear you just fine, - I spoke. He instantly stumbled, and for a centaur with four legs, well, he wasnÆt expecting it.

- Ah. IÆm sorry. IÆm Kavio, the newly elected leader of the Freshkan Council. I migrated here last year, and I was told that the council is in need of new people to help. IÆve been told that all incoming leaders of the council should meet you. I just wasnÆt expecting it to be so. erm. massive. -

Yura smacked his head. I knew he tried, and anyone with a half - decent intelligence network knew I existed. But still, there were a lot of ignorant people in the world. I mean, in a world of demons, you didnÆt believe a giant tree existed?

- So, uh. -

- The intent of such a meeting is simple, - I said. - The valley exists because I do. My powers hold the demonic sludge at bay. ItÆs important that any leader who enters the Freshkan Council is made fully aware of that my will is law here. -

Kavio gulped. Yura smiled. I thought he did say I needed to be more. aggressive in what I said. Being too tree - like and passive meant everyoneÆs going to try and get their way.

- The Freshkan CouncilÆs ability to govern is a delegation of authority. My authority. Is that clear, Council Leader Kavio? -

- Yes. -

- Good. Your audience was well noted. You may leave. There are more lands I must reclaim. -

Yura nodded, and they both left. But I listened to their conversation as they walked out of the Sunken ValleyÆs tunnel.

- IÆm not really a leader, am I? - Kavio asked Yura .

- Well, thereÆs a reason why no one wanted the job and you got it. Your new job requires you to regularly meet A/ and advise him on what is happening. Key diplomatic and military decisions must be approved by A/ personally. -

Kavio smacked himself. - No wonder none of the original survivors put themselves up for election. -

Yura smiled. He had the unfortunate task of being my spokesperson, and it was something few others actually wanted to do. - So do you still want the job? -

He paused and sighed. - I must. -

- Good. A/ Æs not that bad once you get to know him. -

- Really? I need to get myself some fear charms. -

Meanwhile, the expansion of the lands continued. With my improving control of mana and the increasing effectiveness of natural mana overwhelming , weÆd reclaimed more land. I estimated by now, IÆd reclaimed about 5 percent of the entire Rottedlands, and that made my domain far larger than HarrisÆs country, which was 4 percent of the Rottedlands.

Of that land, some two hundred thousand migrants in total had begun resettling in the ten segments, and slowly they were forming up into new towns. There was still no city proper yet, but I observed the presence of new guilds, new adventurers.

The new villages and towns were given a choice, that if they contributed a certain number of bodies to the Valtorn Order, which I would train into a proper military force, warbeetles would be stationed near the villages and protect them from monster attacks.

But, if the citizens were to stray, on their own volition, into the protected forests, the monsters there would not hesitate to attack them. And there were no beetles to stop them. The protected forests were essentially my national parks, and the beetles only served to mark the barrier. What happened inside was at their own risk. If they lost anyone, or if anyone was lost in the protected forests, they had to mount their own search party.

For those villages who did not contribute headcount to the Valtorn Order Militia, a levy was instead imposed, a tax on all income or produce, in exchange for protection. For newly setup villages that were still trying to get their industry growing, I gave them a one - year to two - year tax - free incentive period.

Also, as I expanded, I eventually managed to breach past the southern part of the Rottedlands, and I found that my subsidiary trees that were outside the Rottedlands were all in hibernation mode.

They were all sleeping, resembling ordinary trees.

Once I reconnected them, I felt the entirety of my southern network return to life. Including my Titan Walker that was still covered in vines and leaves.

Lilies, are you there? I asked, using its way of communication.

Ah. Fellow Tree. We are glad to see you live.

Yes. But before that, you have a shard from the hero? A fragment of the old tree? I referred to the item that Gerrard gave. He said one fragment was with Lilies, and in my mind, I imagined to myself that itÆd be difficult to get it and wondered what I could give to entice her.

Yes. We have. A memento of the tree that was, a time when we were few and tiny.

Can I have it? I just need to borrow it for a while.

Silence. Was Lilies going to reject me?

Certainly. Where should we send it to? A mementoÆs value is a memory shared. Let us share them.

Oh. Wow. Send them to my main body. Do you know where?

At that moment, I felt a root make contact with one of my subsidiary trees. In an instant, right in front of my main body, a small flower bulb emerged, and it gradually unfolded itself, revealing a wooden fragment.

What kind of magic was that? Wait. It was like that teleporting ability that I had with my star mana! Lilies could do it, too!

Thank you.

It didnÆt reply. But my focus turned back on the fragment.

Such a small fragment, but I knew its history there. So old, old.

I greedily took it and started analyzing it. There were now two pieces. Then I saw the vision again. It was the same.

- dragons. Monsters. Dragons soared, and they fought. demons? They fought, and then a large demon appeared. It was massive; it resembled a demon king. The dragons fought the demons. Then the vision shifted. Giants of other kinds. Ice giants. Krakens? They fought the demons -

And that was it.

Fuck. I felt that greedy feeling again. I wanted more. I needed that third piece. The two pieces floated in my biolab.

You have gained a level. You are now level 155.

Skill: Psychedelic Dreams and Therapeutic Dreams upgraded.

Skill: Regenerating Sleep significantly upgraded.

Skill: Dream Academy upgraded.

What? Me going on a vision trip upgraded my dreaming and sleeping ability? And wait, was that four skill upgrades with one level? How did that work?

32

YEAR 115

The demon king didnÆt come that year. The entire year, though, the heroes were out and about attacking and fighting any demon walkers that appeared. This time, they mostly resembled regular demons.

No unusual demons. The large demon champion or demon walker - class monsters were just giant upright demons with massive wings and claws that resembled something out of typical RPG games.

It was a good thing, I thought. Just regular demonic monsters that looked demonic. As the heroes travelled the world to fight demons, they occasionally dropped by.

This year, Harris managed to obtain another fifteen spell matrices of very good quality, so the heroes now had twenty - five crystals, of which I kept four, so each of them had twenty - one crystals, with three charges each. Sixty - three charges. These crystals were far superior to the ones used by the mages from last year that created the defensive matrices. They contained more runes and various crystals meant to absorb a different aspect of a spell or abilityÆs effects. It was through a combination of all the components within the spell matrices that they were able to store a wood shield that contained almost 90 percent of my real wood shieldÆs power.

It was impressive crafting and something Harris paid a lot of good money for.

- I come here so often I probably should set a teleportation beacon here. -

- If you want to set it, set it up in Freshka. Not here. -

- Of course. ItÆs good that the message system is partly online. Even if it takes a bit of. work. - Thanks to extensive clearing of the demonic sludge, and the conversion of more hybrid trees into my network, I was able to suppress the effects of the magical interference, and so message could now work, but it must be routed through the southern exits. Kind of like having to build telecommunication towers around an impassable mountain.

Without Astra, the heroes no longer had a flexible teleportation system, so they were forced to use the teleportation system of the natives, which meant portal magic, like the one used by Madeus when I healed the princess.

Harris was not a mage, so if he wanted to use portal magic, he had to use a beacon and a scroll, something normal mages didnÆt, since they could manipulate the portal magic spell directly.

Of course, this was a good lesson. Just like me, as a tree, there were some things I was naturally better at. Like offensive abilities, mine was very low, if not for all the other boosts I got. The class system, while it worked to amplify certain skills, at higher levels was quite limiting.

- Why donÆt you take mage classes? - curious, I asked Harris.

- I already have five classes: Shield Hero, Warrior King, Weaponmaster, Inquisitor, and Master Trader. -

- DonÆt some of those overlap? Why not remove it? -

- I needed their offensive abilities to cover my defensive - focused Shield Hero class, else I would be quite useless in the battle against the demon king, and magic didnÆt synchronize well with my base hero class. -

- Then the trader class? -

- My kingdom was poor when I started. The Master Trader skill gave my kingdom some financial boost. -

- Oh. -

Five classes for a human hero?

- You must be very high leveled. -

- If I add everything up, IÆm almost level two hundred twenty. But I think thatÆs not how it works, because one hero level converts to about four to five normal class levels at the higher normal class levels, and if you divide it up using that principle, IÆm probably about level one hundred forty or so. -

- So your base hero is about. level one hundred twenty? -

- Yes, about there with forty or so levels in king and about twenty levels each in the other three classes. -

- You havenÆt unlocked a domain? -

- WhatÆs that? -

- . Nothing. -

- In terms of pure hero levels, GerrardÆs the highest because he only traded away ten hero levels for his forty - five levels in Master Brewer. So his hero class level is one hundred thirty - five. Embarrassing, isnÆt it, to think that Gerrard the Drunkard actually managed to keep most of his hero levels, and we two, the sane ones supposedly, traded more of our hero levels away? - Harris said. He placed his cup on the table.

- Is this supposed to be some kind of classified information? - I asked. Levels didnÆt seem like something one should state out publicly.

- On the contrary, as king, itÆs in my interest to publicly state my levels. My levels help to encourage and convince the citizens of my ability to protect them and the benefits that we have. Assassins are deterred by the fact that IÆm so high level that they donÆt even bother. But my children. well. they have reasons to keep their levels secret. -

- TheyÆre going to fight each other? -

Harris sighed. - I could use another pot of tea right now. Yes. EveryoneÆs jostling to be the next crown prince. IÆve already told them that the will explicitly states that the country is to be broken up should it fall. -

- IsnÆt it better for it to be together? -

- Honestly. yes, - Harris said. - But already I can see that my children are preparing for conflict should I not survive this next demon king. -

- Disgusting. Why do you not punish them? -

- I canÆt. In the end, they are all my children, and what they are doing is building up their own group of supporters, and they have been clever enough not to actually start a fight. My spies tell me theyÆve been goading and baiting each other to start an incident. -

- The younger ones will suffer. -

- I know, the lines are somewhat drawn by my wives. - Honestly, I was not interested in his kingly drama. This was the kind of thing that China or Hong KongÆs Ancient China Period dramas were super fond of. Courtly dramas. - ItÆs going to be like the warring states era. -

- Oh, so all the children of the same mother band together. ThatÆs clever. How many wives do you have again? -

Harris frowned. - Uh. seven? - Seven splintered kingdoms.

- And how many kids? -

- I think twenty - nine now. - Twenty - nine smaller districts split into seven wives.

- YouÆre absolutely insane, - I mused. - You arenÆt even being a good dad. -

Harris sighed. - Look, IÆm not cut out for it, and my wives. theyÆre so sexy! And hot! When they speak and tease me, I just canÆt help myself, and my wives refuse to take any contraceptives! They say itÆs a sin to not receive my seeds, and the way they say it is so sexy and hot, at that moment I just canÆt think! IÆm human, too, and I need their care, their gentle touch, their pleasant, warm embrace. IÆm alone in this world, and they are the closest thing I have to my old family, and they are my new family! I feel their love is genuine, even if IÆm aware they are subtly manipulating me and taking full advantage of my status as a hero. -

I just felt so sorry for Harris then. I used a vine and poured another pot of tea for the poor guy being manipulated by his harem. But it was an equal exchange, no? - All human? -

- I took one elf, one they call Sandpeople, and yes, the rest humans. I prefer humans, I mean, but elves are sexy, too. -

He was just thinking with his dick, wasnÆt he? But then, the demon king was defeated, and he was at the age where his libido was bursting. He wasnÆt even twenty, and no wonder he succumbed.

- Honestly, IÆm not even sure if thatÆs all the women I spent time with. I only invited seven into my harem as my consorts, but I may have had more than that. I mean, before I even started the kingdom, I already was kinda. uhm. fucking around. -

He was absolutely thinking with his dick. - Well, now that you might die, your mistakes are now starting to act up. I wonder what your kids think about you having that many wives. -

Harris laughed. - ThatÆs a strange question from a tree of this world. Most people in this world are very accepting of a harem, and that question has never popped up. It is a medieval world where kings like to have many wives. -

Oops. Did I just out myself? Did I reveal my otherworldly origins?

- But my kids, well, they accept it. ItÆs just the norm here. Maybe because heroes that survived in the past. many end up having harems, too. Even the women keep an army of pretty boys around them. -

Harris finished his second cup of tea.

- Anyway, letÆs get to work. -

We made armor and shields. One of the ideas they had, if the crystal matrices were insufficient, was to make actual shields that were strong enough to take a few hits. Gerrard and Mirei both were a little weak on defense, so Harris, being the guardian, with an army of summoned shield units, wanted to make real versions using my enchanted anti - demon wood as the base.

It was a mix of both heroic enchantments, star mana, and a dense, naturally anti - demon wood.

Over a course of two weeks, we made five sets of enchanted wooden armor for each of the three heroes and ten shields for each of them. They would store them in their pocketspace for later use. As payment, we also made five sets for me, which I may someday award to any of my promising minions. Well, actually one set was already meant for Yura .

I called these five sets the Woodshield Set.

IÆd learned a lot from making these items with Harris.

The heroes essentially got a special system bypass, since they got to use their mana to shape a certain item, just by thought, without needing much effort.

They also had a special skill that all heroes got called the HeroÆs Forge , which was used to make the special hero - class weapons.

It was kind of like some games where the heroes had the option to unlock upgrades and buy new equipment without actually having to go to a blacksmith or physical shop. The system handled the nitty - gritty stuff on their behalf.

The rest of us plebeians just had to do it the old - fashioned way. But observing how one of them used it constantly made me learn more about how the system did it, and I developed a better understanding behind the process of making their heroic weapons, and as a result, I got my skills upgraded.

Skill: Woodshaping significantly upgraded.

Skill: Subsidiary Tree option expanded. Woodshaping Workshop unlocked!

I wasnÆt sure why Harris was quite amicable with me. Why couldnÆt I have such a relationship with Meela and Alexis? Where did I go wrong? Or was it them that did it wrong?

They must be alive. I didnÆt get a notification. What had they been doing the past twenty years?

I shifted my focus back on the hybrids and the growing of Freshkans and Freshlands. To me, they were segments one to ten, but each of them referred to themselves differently, and they had names that I felt too lazy to even remember.

Kavio, too, came rather frequently to provide briefings. He was gradually getting used to the role, and to ease his mental state, I made a Tree of Prayers at the meeting place and told him to present it as if he was talking to the smaller, much, much more peaceful - looking Tree of Prayer instead. It was a mental crutch, because apparently his fear charms broke every other week.

The regular updates were mainly for news, diplomatic activities, things that I couldnÆt see using my trees.

Jasmine, IvyÆs replacement, had been hard at work securing the border together with Trevor and Dimitree, and I made three more artificial souls to help oversee my massive territory. I named them Acacia, Brootus, and Cyprus, and their task was to monitor the new refugees and ensure that the protected forests remained protected.

- How about some more beetles? - Horns asked. - We represent massive untapped potential, Master! Imagine it, an army of massive, hero - level beetles. -

And I agreed. ItÆd been too long since I had made more subordinates, and now was the time for massive expansion.

Exponential growth!

All right, I actually struggled with that concept.

So I made two more artificial souls to accompany Horns. I named them Bugsy and Thorex and sent them out to gain levels. They needed to fight monsters, demons, to hit their level caps, but Horns was just super eager to show off to his two new juniors.

I thought Horns was going to be quite useless in actual combat against the demon king, since, well. they were too powerful.

I needed to think about activating my Titan Walker, preferably with a heroÆs soul. Maybe it was a good thing that Harris was close to me. If he somehow died of old age, IÆd get the soul. Oh, and Lilies. IÆd better check in with them.

Do you want the fragment back? Could you lend it to me again once I get the other piece?

Hold on to it. We do not need it.

Okay. I have questions. You once said that the demons won before. Do you know the details? Like, how did it happen? What happened next? What do you mean by won?

Gods champions destroyed, a decade of slaughter. Still, the world recovers, and life finds a way.

But why? Why do the gods not intervene?

It didnÆt answer me.

Seeing that I wasnÆt going anywhere with it, I went back to my own affairs. My attention was back on my large territory and the hybrid trees.

Within each protected forest, there were patches of demonic hybrid trees. I was beginning to understand them, at least their inner structure.

In a way, imagine a natural tree that had to deal with an overabundance of oil, and part of its chemical reaction was to manage the oil surplus in the environment. Naturally, they may try to break down the oil, or burn the oil, or store the oil somewhere. The demonic tree reacted to the natural mana, air, and water, so it spent these natural mana the way it knew, which was to blow it up.

In a greenhouse environment tailored to them, they were probably just as harmless as a normal tree.

Something tried to make trees that were adapted to the environment. I suspected maybe it was the spawning system.

Perhaps there was a spawning god whose main job was just to populate the world, quite like playing a strategy game with randomly generated maps and enemies. In its logic, it tried to create something that suited the environment.

Now it would be quite lame if this entire thing was just a game, no?

Skill: Hybrid Botany upgraded.

Control over hybrid trees improved.

33

YEAR 116

The demon king arrived. The heroes were ready. A battle was fought in the Southern continent, far away. It was the battle of legends. The heroes fought valiantly, and after days of constant fighting, they won a hard - fought battle.

The battlefield was ripped, the ground itself twisted by the magics.

Demon King Nergal was slain.

Or so the news went.

But on the very day the demon king died, the heroes teleported to me.

- A/ . - Gerrard was so frantic, he ran. - All of us have been cursed by the demon kingÆs disease. -

Gerrard looked extremely pale, and though he ran, I could see his spirit flickering, not a good sign by any measure. Mirei was awake, too, but she was flickering as well. Harris lost an arm and a leg, and he had a massive gash across his body, the armor that protected him half - charred and burned. Mirei, too, had lost both her legs, and two massive lightning elementals carried their master. In HarrisÆs case, one of his summons supported him like a crutch.

Gerrard was the only one with his limbs intact, but it looked like big chunks of his skin were covered in. pus. They all used their heroic magic to hold themselves together.

- A damned plague demon, - Gerrard said. - And we donÆt have a healer! -

- And. -

- YouÆre a great healer, - Harris said, coughing.

I paused, and inwardly I took a deep breath. - Fine. But my medical services will cost you. - At that very moment, memories of exorbitant medical - insurance bills flashed before my very eyes, but then, I was the hospital. I could probably earn a lot of valuable supplies from this endeavor.

That was how I had three heroes in healing pods in my body. All of them suffered, and somehow, even though they lost their limbs on that very same day, the demonÆs plague - touch meant it couldnÆt be regenerated.

In normal cases where the cut occurred just recently, the soul hadnÆt forgotten its limbs, so it was possible to regenerate a limb. But this demon king somehow inserted something into the soul that stopped that. I had to quickly intervene so that the limbs of their souls didnÆt disintegrate. I also had to quickly use all the healing I had to gradually extract the demonic energy out.

But this was a plague - focused demon king, and its power here was not to be trifled with. It was almost like the demon king who received the bombardment of hexbombs learned to use the disease - like power of hex.

Adaptive demons.

That was such a scary, scary thought.

The three heroes rested in their pods for days as I tried to lessen the effect of the wounds. Gerrard, comparatively, had it easier than the rest. It was significantly easier to just cut off the sick part and then just regenerate it.

- CouldnÆt you cut off for us, too? - Harris and Mirei both asked.

- In both your cases, the demon kingÆs damage is in the soul. Cutting it wonÆt fix it. The corruption must be purged from the soul, then only the limbs will regenerate. -

- Shit. -

Gerrard, relieved to be the first to be discharged after a week in the pod, didnÆt leave yet. He stayed in the secret hideout and watched his two fellow Earthlings.

- We wouldÆve died if not for HarrisÆs beacon. There was no way we could get anywhere with a good enough healer in time. -

- Tough fight, eh? - I entertained him. Harris and Mirei, since the damage was a soul - level damage, had to go to sleep. I reckoned they needed something like my Domain: Roots of Life to actually fight back the demon kingÆs corruption. I had to use my soul forge to prevent decay of the soulÆs blueprint for their limbs.

- Yeah. It wasnÆt very physically tough to kill, but its use of gases, poisons, and that gooey stuff meant we were all constantly taking damage. All our armors were destroyed. - Gerrard showed off his specially made anti - demon weapon; it was half rotten, as if somebody poured a fuckton of acid on it.

- At least it didnÆt detonate. -

Gerrard nodded. - That, too. I for one am relieved this demon king didnÆt have a death - bomb ability, just a death - plague ability. -

- Plague. -

- Yeah. This game is rigged. - Gerrard took a deep breath. - Will they die? -

- As it is, no. They wonÆt die. But they wonÆt heal, either. I can keep them on suspended animation or probably prevent further deterioration, but unless I find a way to overpower the demon kingÆs corruption, it wonÆt actually heal. -

I wondered how those demonic cultists removed the demon kingÆs flames from my trunk so many years back. But then, that was just a physical ever - burning fire, not soul - level damage.

He breathed a sigh of relief. - ThatÆs. thatÆs great. At least they live. When will they wake up? -

- IÆve put them to sleep for the next few days. IÆll inject them with food via my vines. You can get a drink if youÆd like. -

He opened a magical holding bag and withdrew a really old - looking wine and some cups. - Yeah. - He sat there quietly and drank the wine for some time, and once he was done, he left for Freshka and found accommodation in FreshkaÆs many inns.

Harris still needed constant medical care as the demonic corruption and sickness were still in his soul. But physically, other than the lost limbs, he was fine. He still had only one leg and one hand, and I had Yura come in and teach both Mirei and Harris how to use their familiars to create a wooden leg.

- I lost my hand until A/ healed it for me, but still, itÆs a useful ability to have. You need to first let your familiars take up the armor form, and. -

- Got it, - they both said and were able to replicate it. To them, magic was easy, and the system aided them, so they quickly understood what Yura wanted to do.

- Wow. - Yura was impressed. It took him some time to learn how to do it. - Heroes really are a different breed. -

But even with the tree familiars functioning as their artificial legs and hands, the two couldnÆt leave very far. In MireiÆs case, the demon kingÆs attack penetrated near her chest, so there was a swirling demonic corruption very close to the center of her soul, and it took a lot of my energy to just suppress it.

This situation was different from what I expected. The demon kingÆs very own attacks possessed high - tier soul - damaging abilities, which meant it could potentially hurt me directly, even if I had extremely high anti - demon defenses, though, like the demonic curse, it may be possible to suppress with Roots of Life .

Harris, now that he began to feel a bit better, despite his limbs still burning in pain, sent a message to his subordinates and minions back home. I wondered if they were happy or sad that their king lived. Perhaps the kingdom would hold itself together for a bit more. Or it may just mean the conflict that happened when all the kids were older would be more deadly and ferocious.

- We both canÆt leave this place, - Harris said. He sat in the lounge area in the secret hideout . Even with my healing, I was only able to suppress it so that they could still afford some degree of freedom, but left unattended, it would flare up within a week.

- We could teleport there and back, - Mirei said.

- I canÆt run my kingdom like this, - Harris complained, and he had a lot of concerns. - I would have to delegate my role. -

Mirei just laughed at her friend. - Good! Finally, you have to bite the bullet and cut the damned cake. Handing over power and ensuring that they donÆt fight each other before you die is the best thing you can do as a father, Harris. This medical issue is the best thing that has ever happened to your kingdom. -

Harris seemed reluctant to face the problem. It reminded me of myself, and damn, that hurt. I, too, hesitated far too much when faced with problems. - A/ , any chance you can uh. remotely heal me from my capital? -

- Uh. no. - Truth was there really was not. The kind of mana and energy needed to suppress the demon kingÆs curse on their bodies was something I had only here, and it needed the presence of my main bodyÆs energies.

Mirei was cheerful, even though her condition was the worst of the three, because of the curse close to her soul spring. She took some time to enjoy herself in Freshka and went for long walks. As a hero, her powers meant she could still move around very quickly.

- WonÆt you miss your pretty boys? - Harris laughed.

Mirei just shrugged. - That was my hobby a few decades ago. IÆve moved on now. How often do we talk about it, anyway? - To be fair, even though she was now in her mid - forties, she still looked really fit and youthful due to the influence of heroic magic. Heroes, I reckoned, if they survived, would probably live until they were in their two hundreds, just like the humans that practiced magic.

- Then what do you spend time on? -

- Like most typical ladies, good food, tea time, good cakes and cookies, and fashion! - Mirei laughed. - All I have to do now is move my entire operation here. -

- Oh. -

- You canÆt move a kingdom! - Mirei ribbed him. - So let it go, Harris. ItÆs better to let your many children have their thrones now. At least you can watch and advise them. - After days of discussion, eventually Harris succumbed to MireiÆs idea.

Anyway, now that I was their healer and essentially their lives were in my hands, IÆd started to demand for more things as compensation for my healing services. Like gems. A lot of them.

So, this finally allowed me to repair my Grand Mind Tree .

With that, I felt a return of more statistics and numbers to my mind, and it checked my thoughts for the presence of external influences.

Throughout this entire time, I continued with my Rottedlands expansion and claimed more areas. So, once a good amount of area was reclaimed, I opened up five new segments for new refugees and migrants. There were some areas IÆd set aside as hybrid - tree parks, where these were the hybrid plants that IÆd gained control over.

I reckoned some of these new refugees would be surprised by it, but I decided to let it be.

- You guys seriously didnÆt find anything that was the source of the corruption? - I asked Harris about the crystal that they destroyed a few years back.

Harris probably was quite surprised that only now I spoke about it, since, well, we had that discussion many years ago. - Uh. no. We were honestly just looking for our fellow heroes. After we destroyed the crystals and got the notification, we just. stopped? -

- Is there a source of all this corruption? - I wondered to myself. It may be possible, if my understanding of the hybrid botany improved, to trace its energy source through the roots of these hybrid demon plants. It must come from somewhere.

But it was something I feared to do.

If it was the abyss I was looking into, it may well look into me as well. Would I end up like Zeratul, accidentally revealing the location of the homeworld to the demons? I immediately set the Grand Mind Tree to act as an antivirus and firewall to block out any attempted intrusions into my mind. Alexis had already revealed plenty to the demons when she was trapped in the fire - demon mode, and so did Simone and Victor.

- IÆm home! - Lozanna returned after years of travelling. She gave Laufen a hug. It was pretty much the first thing she did.

- YouÆve been away for very long. - Laufen looked at her growing daughter. - How was it? -

They had lunch together. - Oh. IÆve been to all the continents! I fought lots of monsters and creatures. -

- ThatÆs good. Did you find anything or. anyone? -

Lozanna nodded shyly. - Yes. Erm. thatÆs part of why I came back, Mom. -

- Oh? -

- I. uh. joined an adventurer team when I was in the continents. And, erm. I travelled with them for a few years. -

- And? - Laufen had the look of an expectant mom, like, come on, drop the bomb already.

- IÆm thinking of getting married to him. My captain. -

- Ah. - Laufen nodded knowingly. - So is he here? Did he come? -

- Yes. HeÆs in the inn. I wanted to just, uh. tell you about him first, before you meet him. -

- DonÆt be silly. I was expecting this to happen! No young elven girl goes travelling around the world for almost seven to eight years and does not find someone to fall in love with. - Laufen smiled and gave her daughter a knowing look. - So youÆre here to invite me to the wedding, I suppose? -

- Yeah, - Lozanna said shyly.

In my mind, well, that escalated quickly. She was just a kid. Then a teen. And now she was getting married. I. if I was human, IÆd probably need to take some time off and accept this. Like. wow. Time sure moved quickly, and it was even more pronounced when I saw all these other people moving on with their lives.

I felt. lonely. At that moment, I could feel a sense of warmth and belonging from all my fellow trees, like they were trying to comfort me.

Grand Mind Tree has intercepted attempted Influence from trees. The following message was deleted: We are one, we trees are all one.

Yeah. A treeÆs forever alone. All these other trees in the forest, but I was still just me.

34

YEAR 117

- This way. - Yura led them into the tunnels, fifteen of them, young teenagers whoÆd trained for a year or two. In another world, theyÆd be school - going teenagers, but here, they were warriors, rangers, mages, druids, or knights, ready to face monsters to the death.

- This way? - one of the young mages asked. He held up his staff, and the crystal glowed in the darkness of the tunnel. It was one of the many root tunnels that led to the Valley of the Unrotten. TheyÆd never been there, after all; access to this area was restricted to the heroes, Yura , Laufen, Kavio, and a few others of the new priesthood, who escorted the dead bodies to their burial grounds in the valley.

- Yes. - Yura pointed. They walked past a bunch of beetle guards. They stood, a little surprised to see the unmoving beetles. - Your promotion awaits. Come. -

The fifteen nodded. They knew this was it. The moment many had been waiting for. They saw the faint light at the end of the tunnel, and they soon stood at the entrance of the Valley of the Unrotten.

The valley now was home to very few people, so Giant Attendant Trees, many of them on fire scattered throughout the valley, were the main source of light. There was still one small stairwell at the top, above my main tree.

The valley glowed with the orange fire. The trees here survived mainly on the nutrition and energy I fed them. Herbs and flowers were everywhere, and then there was the small stream of black fires, the suppressed energies of the demonic corruption. The excess corrupting energy gathered here to be processed by my main body and the trees.

Their path was made of wood, hardened from the roots that covered everywhere, and flanked by wooden statues. I made them, as practice. My surplus wooden weapons and the large anti - demon bolts were also used as fencing, since I had little place to store them.

They soon passed a field of olives, fruits, and a mix of other crops I had cultivated in small quantities, remnants of the earlier era when the survivors still lived in the valley. The old buildings looked like theyÆd seen some years. And ghosts. Soul harvesters and nightmare harvesters. Here in the valley, where they were closest to me, they were easily visible to anyone with the slightest affinity to magic. They resembled giant shrouds, and they floated everywhere.

Some of them felt fear.

Haunted Forest .

Yura tapped them on their backs. - DonÆt embarrass yourself. A/ Æs watching. - A test for the young Valthorns to receive their familiars. In many ways, this was actually a ritual more than an actual test, walking to the Valley of the Unrotten to see the origins of their institution.

A beetle would occasionally run across their backs, and they would turn, startled, the rangers especially with their bow and arrows.

Eventually, they arrived at where Kavio gave his briefing in a small, round area flanked by tall trees, with a small Tree of Prayer in the middle. There was also a pedestal, where they could stand to see my main tree.

- Well, weÆre here. Stand on the pedestal and receive your familiar. -

A ritual. It was a silly thing; I could just as easily give them their familiar when they were sleeping in their rooms back in Freshka. But given easily, they would not know the weight and value of what was given, and they were young, impressionable teens. A part of me felt it was important that the weight of the responsibility was made clear.

So, a ritual it was.

A walk to the Valley of the Unrotten to see where the survivors lived and meet the protector of the valley.

How could one receive the familiar without ever knowing what gave you your familiar?

The fifteen teens broke down in different ways when they received their familiar contracts. TheyÆd never been here.

One cup appeared for all fifteen of them, and each of the tall trees that flanked the tree of prayers revealed a pod.

- Time to drink, - Yura instructed. - Finish it and enter into the pods. -

Tree sap , Mystical Dreams , Dream Tutor

A dream was just a dream, or it could be more. For these fifteen young teens whoÆd accepted their familiar contract, IÆd given them a dream of what the familiars could do, like a tutorial. At the same time, it was also. a message. Familiars had served many masters over the century. Many had died with their familiars, and I felt it was important to drill in to them the fact that when it came to familiars, though useful, it ultimately was up to them to make the full use of them.

Again, with power came responsibility. But also, with responsibility came power.

After about three hours in the pod, they all emerged a little dazed, and Yura led them back to Freshka.

I wondered about my methods. It was probably a little too. big brother. What I did with dreams maybe in another world would reek of a government reeducation camp.

After the kids were back in Freshka, Yvon asked Yura , - HowÆd they take it? -

- TheyÆre quiet. I think theyÆll be okay. - Yura nodded. ItÆd been a long day; he had a large cold tea mixed with a bit of lemon and ginger for refreshment.

- I wish I could be there. - Yvon sighed. - My form restricts me no further than ten feet out of that door. - Again, heroes were unique like that. ErizÆs ability to split her body into multiple nursery trees was special to her class, and Yvon too could split her body into each of the training trees she was in. Right now, she could have three training trees.

- Just talk to them when you see them. I think they all need a bit of sleep after what theyÆve seen. -

Yvon frowned with her wooden form. SheÆd been their trainer for some time now, and she was about level forty as a Training Tree . Naturally, she cared for her students. - I hope A/ didnÆt give them the dreams of brutal warfare. -

Of all the kinds of dreams I could give a person, the dreams of the brutality of war were apparently the scariest. It was the dream where they were placed in a massive battlefield and everyone around them was killed and mutilated in different ways, and all they could do was run, flee, feel pain, and scream.

- I think he didnÆt. They didnÆt look that horrified. -

- I see, - Yvon said, but she was not convinced.

The New Valthorns were recruited from all over the Freshlands, from all of the small villages and towns, to the few growing cities. Politics was messy, and Freshka was like the federal government squabbling with the cities and towns that functioned like municipal and state governments.

Kavio, the elected chief, had the difficult task of managing the loose federation, and he had to frequently rely on the strength of the beetles to make his point.

Fighting eventually broke out between two cities. To the refugees, I was but a distant, faraway image. In the minds of the cities quasi - independent rulers, they did not believe I would impose my authority until I did.

One hundred thousand beetles descended on the two cities, along with the Valtorn s men. The size and massive show of force meant the two cities surrendered quickly, and those responsible were quickly captured. Both leaders and those we found to be involved were publicly judged in accordance with the founding constitution of Freshka.

Defiance against their delegated authority was death. A root - spear through the heart. Gruesome, but a statement.

It was a statement I had to make. I had already foreseen my power to be challenged every few years, as the people did not believe what they did not see. This was my experience from New Freeka.

The law was meaningless until enforced. In the medieval times, order was established through force and fear. So, for a time, Kavio found his job as the chief mediator of the various segments easier. It was a job Yura did not want to do, because he saw how different the scale of things was. It was a difficult task for one person, so it had to change.

It was ironic, I supposed, when I remembered Freeka itself suffering because their king then demanded a draft and was punished for not complying. And now, I did what the kingÆs men did. I could only hope that I meted out these punishments justly, instead of randomly like the soldiers of Salah.

Soon, the Freshkan Council had to be expanded into something resembling a parliamentary or congressional system. Each city and district would send a representative, and those representatives together would elect a segment leader, for a total of fifteen segment leaders, one for each segment.

All of the segment leaders were given an audience with me.

Again, a ritual.

Just as how monarchs of my world had coronation ceremonies or how religious orders had complex conclaves, I saw it fit to drill the weight of my authority and that these men were delegates, that the constitution of this land had its weight and power derived from me, and it was important to cement the thought in their minds that their position represented a delegation of power. My power.

Perhaps I was a bit too power crazy. The thought of going crazy with power stirred in my mind for a moment. But this was a world of power and conflict. A world where higher - leveled people would not hesitate to have their way, and sometimes I thought maybe all this power was too much for one person. Then I recalled their stupid conflicts, and all my concerns faded away. Not everything from our world could be transplanted over. Not when the balance of power was so whacked.

The fifteen were brought to the Valley of the Unrotten, and unlike the young Valthorns, I gave them a different. drink. I gave them visions of the past.

The lives IÆd taken. The foes IÆd slain. The destruction of the valleys in the hand of the demons. The burning of Freeka. The corruption of the demons. The haunting screams of the dead. Wars.

The fifteen came out, holding their feelings in. Kavio escorted them back to Freshka, where a comfortable inn awaited. But a message was made, and these representatives now understood their place.

- You will outlive him, Lozanna . - Laufen held her daughterÆs hand one day as they sat in a cafe in Freshka.

- I know. It is something I thought of, and you need not counsel me otherwise. -

- I didnÆt mean to. Not when your wedding is tomorrow. I outlived your dad, too, even though we were both elves, - Laufen said. She sipped on a cup of coffee, a newly imported delicacy. - Our long lives mean little when the world is so cruel to us. Few survive till their hundreds, like Grandma Casshern. -

- I never met her. -

- You have, but you were just a baby. - Laufen smiled, and she tapped her daughterÆs smooth palm. A human might think these two were good friends, or perhaps sisters, since elven aging slowed down dramatically once one reached adulthood. Maybe, except an elf would notice the faint lines around the eyes or the aging colors of her hair. - Are you ready for tomorrow? -

- Yeah. I already went through one. I donÆt think our A/ ic wedding is going to be more challenging than the Gawa - styled ceremony. - For Lozanna , she held two ceremonies, one a Gawa - styled one in accordance with the Eastern Gaya TempleÆs traditions on the Eastern Continent. It was meant for her husbandÆs extended family, and the need to travel from one continent to another meant it took a whole year to get both of her events sorted out.

- Good. -

The next day, a ceremony was held at the FreshkaÆs Valtorn prayer courtyard. It was an entirely new city, so we had space. I, together with some of the surviving priests, had designed this large park - in - the - temple - style courtyard, where there were multiple Tree of Prayers so different ceremonies could be held simultaneously.

It was also where I designated one of my many tree eyes , so here, the trees took on different colors every season. I remembered the verdant flower patches of home, the colors of fall, and spring, and winter, and had it recreated with the local plants. So it was a lovely place, a wedding in a garden, but still in a temple. An Earthling may vaguely tell the influences of Asian gardens and temples, and even the vast courtyards of many historical sites in the West.

Lozanna and her husband stood before a Tree of Prayer with light pink leaves. It was a garden of many colors. The couple wore ceremonial dresses and shirts. A ritual, for a wedding.

In a world of systems, rituals were also a means of communicating with the system. Weddings, burials, all acted to inform the system of change in status. For married couples, it was not unusual for them to receive a temporary blessing immediately after the wedding.

There was a small pedestal, and on it were two small pieces of wood. It was smooth, except for one part where it had a thorn, and they both pricked their fingers on it, a drop of blood on both pieces of wood. The wood absorbed the blood and was made into a necklace with a bit of magic, and the two would exchange necklaces. Wooden necklaces of the twoÆs blood.

It was a relatively new process, adapted from the practices of nearby nations. After all, ancient traditions were oft forgotten, so new ones must take their place.

Yura said quietly, - From one generation to the next. -

- DoesnÆt that only happen when Lozanna actually has a baby? - Laufen grinned. She was clearly happy to see her daughter find a husband.

- Well, are you pressuring them? - Yura smiled.

- Maybe not in the next few years. -

- ThatÆs a yes. - Well, in elven terms, a few years was very short. - So eager to see a grandchild? - Laufen grinned.

There was another event that happened during the year, and one with greater geopolitical impact on the continent: the great dissolution of HarrisÆs empire into the seven queenly states of his seven wives.

Harris had set up a teleportation beacon, and all of his wives and children came to Freshka. He used the tremendous funds he had at his disposal to construct a vast verandah on the outskirts of Freshka, where a treaty would be signed.

The treaty of Freshka. If it was up to me, IÆd totally call it Tree - aty of Freshka, but oh well. Maybe a future treaty would enjoy that tree - atment.

Harris declared the Royal Capital his personal imperial holdings and essentially delegated the management of his empire into seven parts, each under one of his wives, turning them into queens, and then his now thirty children each princes or princesses of their own regions. Armies, budgets, artifacts, and magical items were all divided into seven parts, and any undividable parts were to be held by him personally.

Of course, this wouldnÆt be ideal. But Mirei was right; it was better that the separation lines be drawn now rather than later. At least he lived to mediate any conflict. The signing was held. Everyone was present, even neighboring royalty. A big party was held, and the emperor himself, Harris, gave a long speech explaining that he had hoped for a peaceful transition of power to the seven wives and their children.

Jasmine, my spy - in - chief, quickly made me listen in to some of the politicians and some of the royals.

- ItÆs insanity, no? Has the emperor gone mad, to break up his own empire this way? The other nations will surely take the chance to bite! -

- ItÆs a heroÆs naivety, perhaps, - another delegate explained. - Heroes have made very strange choices in the past. It seems Emperor Harris is no different. -

- Ah. Still, this is a wonderful opportunity for us. Which queen do you think will be easier to convince? -

- I reckon we should speak to each of the young princes and princesses, who are eager to show off their chops. We could give them some winning chips but trap them into our influence. Trade and wealth is the way forward, with the emperorÆs summons still around to maintain peace. -

Though Harris was unable to depart for long, his army of summons still roamed his empire. No nation was foolish enough to fight the summoned armies of the hero; their strength in combat was legendary.

- A long - term investment, at least. until the next demon king. -

- A tough decision, honestly, - the delegate said. - These dissolved seven queendoms will surely fight the moment the emperor falls in battle with the next demon king, but then, if he cannot leave this place, surely the demon king will come here. -

A look of horror was on the other delegateÆs face. - Oh. That would be bad. We may not be able to retain our investment if the next demon king targets this continent. -

- Perhaps that is a question we should ask the emperor, what his plans are for the next demon king. -

So, as Harris socialized with the rest of his children and wives, one of them asked.

- Your Majesty, whatÆs your plan for the next demon king? With your condition, would you lead the fight with the next demon king? -

Harris smiled. - Well, though our condition generally requires us to remain close to A/ Æs healing powers, I foresee itÆs not a problem for the three of us to fight the next demon king. With a set of teleportation beacons, we could fight the demon king and then be back. We are also working on an alternative, should that day come, but it is not something I can reveal. -

If there was a metaphorical moment when everyone was taking notes, that was it. I could sense a flood of magical messages outward, and I was damned sure Harris and Mirei could, too. They were heroes, and they had innate magical sense.

But he just smiled and let it happen. Eventually, the ceremony ended, an empire officially broken up. Harris let everyone choose whether they wanted to enjoy the comforts of Freshka or whether they wanted to go back. All of them went back, and surely, Harris himself predicted a torrent of planning and politicking.

That night, he met Mirei for a drink.

- You left early. -

- I didnÆt want to steal your thunder. It was your event, Harris. No need for two heroes in the same event. -

- Heh. I still tire of such politics, even when I have levels for it. -

- You lasted the whole day. IÆd say your levels did their job. - Mirei smiled. - How does it feel, a weight off your shoulders? -

- A bit. At the same time, I fear I may have laid the foundations for a civil war. -

- You could use this time to make more magical enchantments, such that if war ever breaks out, the magical enchantments will stop it. You know there are magics that do that. -

- ItÆs inevitable. -

- Indeed. -

- Ever regret sticking your thing into so many places? -

- Sometimes. - Harris sighed, and he got drunk on herbal liqueur that night.

- All the time, you mean. - Mirei laughed.

35

YEAR 118

MireiÆs condition deteriorated, despite my best efforts to heal her. A part of me felt conflicted about it. If she died, I got a titan soul. If she didnÆt, well, thereÆd be one more hero to fight the demon king.

- IÆm going to die, arenÆt I? - she asked.

- Why is she deteriorating? - Harris asked. It didnÆt make sense to him, and it didnÆt make sense to me, either, but somehow, she just deteriorated like a sudden relapse. I spent months looking into her body, and I kept trying to suppress the demon kingÆs curse, but it was. weird. It was able to break through whatever my means of suppression and create new curses.

- If she deteriorates, you might, too, - I told Harris. - IÆm trying, but I donÆt know why it behaves this way. -

- It hurts, - Mirei said while she sobbed. The pain she felt was intense, and it was throughout her body. She described it like she was being roasted alive.

Some days, Mirei was absolutely delirious, and she just kept screaming, shouting, and struggling as the pain possessed her.

- CanÆt you sedate her or something? - Harris said, upset at his screaming, semi - conscious friend.

- Uh, really? Do I have permission? -

Mirei herself shouted, - Yes. Do it! Just knock me out! -

She was a hero. Status effect resistance was the norm for heroes above level one hundred. My attempted sleep drug wasnÆt strong enough to have any effect. - Not working, I need to overcome your natural hero resistance. -

- How? -

She screamed. She yelled.

I tried more things. Injected sleeping pills. DidnÆt work.

- I donÆt get it, - Gerrard, who was also around, said. - Why doesnÆt it work? -

- Maybe she must want to sleep herself, - Harris said. - I mean. her body must let A/ Æs drug do its thing. -

- Oh, you mean like my alcoholism, - Gerrard said. - Mirei, try to, uh. disable or suppress your hero status. You can do that by thinking about your hero class and then think about turning it off. -

Harris glared at Gerrard. - You can do that? -

- Uh, I donÆt recommend it to everyone. - Gerrard shrugged. MireiÆs screaming was blocked by the panel.

- Is that a good idea? - I asked. - ItÆs entirely possible her hero class is whatÆs helping to delay and suppress the demonic curse. -

The two heroes nodded. - True. DidnÆt consider that. -

Mirei continued to scream for days, my attempts at suppressing her pain or putting her to sleep not working. But she really needed sleep, yet her bodyÆs pain didnÆt let her.

- This is just cruel, - Harris said. - I never imagined our heroÆs resistance to status ailments would sabotage us in this way. - It was really this cliff effect, where the heroÆs resistance of status ailments did not prevent a demon kingÆs curse, and yet it prevented all attempts of suppressing the symptoms of the curse.

- ItÆs partly your level. - I remembered being able to put Meela to sleep, but then, she was a lot lower level at that time.

- What? -

- The effects of the heroÆs natural resistance to afflictions are correlated to the level. The higher your level, the stronger your natural resistance. -

- She canÆt give away her levels. We need her for the demon king! - Harris complained. Gerrard just stared at his fellow hero.

- Is her life more important, or is the demon king more important? - Gerrard asked.

- No. ThatÆs not what I meant. -

- It sounded quite like what I think you meant. -

- NowÆs not the time to argue. Let me see what I can do to put her out of her misery. Get me the strongest painkillers and sleeping potions and items in the world. My own sleeping and pain - suppression abilities are not strong enough, but together with the worldÆs best items, maybe I can still do something. -

The two heroes did so. Mainly Gerrard, since he was free to travel. HarrisÆs condition had to be monitored; his condition may suddenly deteriorate, too. They acted quickly, and within days I had all kinds of strange medicines and ointments from all over the world. Such was the power of heroes to mobilize their immense financial resources.

And we attempted to use each and every one of those ointments. Apparently, the sleep status, unless internally done, was viewed as a status ailment. Surely, there was a way to trigger sleep, even if her body was in pain?

The body naturally slept. That was a fact, and the hero system didnÆt intervene with that. Yet all these inbound influences that attempted to put her to sleep did not work.

So, logically, if I could somehow fake the system to think that I was natural, wouldnÆt that work? I was a tree with a nature Domain. If I couldnÆt do it, who else could?

Days of struggling. Weeks. There were days when the pain somehow became more tolerable, when the demonic curse somehow subsided. Perhaps it was the alignment of the stars, but I could totally relate to MireiÆs pain. After all, I too went through something quite similar.

If she could somehow gain levels to be level one hundred fifty, would heroes gain a Domain, too? WouldnÆt that mean theyÆd become even more overpowered if they got their heroic divine blessings and a Domain?

I tried all my healing and sleep skills, from suspended animation , to mystical dreams , to even trying to use hibernate on her, but nothing worked.

The heroes tried using their own heroic energy to help suppress the demonic curse, but somehow it just made it worse, so they had to stop. They cursed and wondered how the demon king managed to create a curse of this strength and persistence.

They left again and went to look for other kinds of cures. Gerrard, it seemed, tried to go visit other healers and spirits.

Lilies, are you familiar with demonic curses?

No.

Ah.

How?

I mean, was there a way for a doctor to reach to the soul and just. turn off the Hero class for a while? Like general anesthesia or something?

Are you then familiar with how to. disable a class? Temporarily.

Lilies paused. They replied to me a week later.

The system has the power.

Well, no shit, the system gave us the power of levels, pretty damn sure it had the power to remove it, too. How do I acquire it?

Such power is beyond mortals.

Well, thank you for telling me nothing. IÆd have to find some other way.

Mirei would have days where the pain subsided, and I would do extensive tests. Some days, the demonic curse just. shrank by itself. Its behavior was erratic and annoying. I didnÆt understand why a curse didnÆt behave consistently.

So I wondered whether it was outside interference, like. maybe something was remotely controlling the curse.

Could I form a magical barrier?

I had shield abilities, but did they work with demonic curses. uh. erm. entanglements? I mean, I guessed if the heroes magical transmission towers were somehow intertwined with each other without any obvious connection, that did suggest that a curse that was intertwined magically to something else was possible!

So I tried just that. Layers on layers of magical barriers.

It did nothing.

Maybe the type of barriers wasnÆt right.

She yelled and screamed every now and then. It reminded me of a mental ward, where some people just couldnÆt control their own mental state and frequently descended into shouting fits. Was this one of those?

Frustrated, I took Mirei to the soul forge within my body. I wanted to try to use my soul forge powers to temporarily suspend the effects of her hero class. Maybe I could then put her to sleep.

So, with the power of the soul forge, I examined her body again. At first, everything seemed the same.

Her soul spring was there; there were two massive vases that poured sparkling star mana into her spring. The spring was massive, and there were large chunks of it that resembled white marble. The curse was there, too.

Right next to the spring was a massive, swirling black pool of stuff. The swirling curse was fenced up by little bushes, which I thought was the result of my various healing abilities.

What powered this curse?

I used my soul forge, as I did before, to try and suppress the curse, but it did nothing. It was already fenced up.

Was it something else?

There was nothing else in here, in this inner body of hers. All. except the spring.

So I went back to my earlier idea. Could I turn off the hero ability temporarily? To do so, I attempted to reach for the spring, and nothing happened. With the power of the soul forge, I pushed at the spring itself. It creaked but didnÆt do much.

Then I pulled. In a way, the entire spring was made of blocks, kind of like large LEGO bricks stacked on one another to form a spring. Each of them represented a skill or some a class.

It was then I saw it briefly. A small black thing. Something hidden in between the blocks. Then the blocks pulled themselves back together. Kind of like magnets snapping back once you let go.

- ThereÆs something in your soul spring. - I told Mirei, Harris, and Gerrard the bad news. - I donÆt know when it got in there, but IÆm guessing itÆs the cause of your pain. -

- Uh. - They didnÆt understand the concept of a soul spring, of course. It probably felt like a young child listening to a doctor going about medical jargons.

So I had to explain in detail what I was doing and what I saw. They got it rather quickly. One of them described it like, - Oh, itÆs like Naruto! That shikigami thing that pulled out the snake guyÆs soul and chopped his arms off! So even if he had arms, he didnÆt have arms, right? -

- Yes? -

- Cool. So, now we know that in her soul, thatÆs something thatÆs living inside the central key part of her soul. That central part is tied to all our levels, our mana and stuff, right? -

- Yes. -

- What if. we give you more power? -

- Huh? -

- You canÆt move it with your power. But you have two heroes here. Me and Harris. WeÆre both heroes who have star mana, and star manaÆs like crazy juice. Could it work? - Gerrard asked.

I thought about it for a moment, and I supposed it was worth trying. The star mana didnÆt do much in suppressing the curse, because, well, it was already suppressed. That made sense in many ways now. We were targeting the wrong source.

- I donÆt know, but it is worth trying. I will need both of you in the pods. - I wrapped their bodies with many vines and branches, simply because star mana was immensely powerful, and I was not sure regular vines by themselves could draw their mana.

Then I started the soul forge again and telepathically gave them the signal to start the star - mana transfer.

The overwhelming quantities of star mana. These heroes easily had a hundred times of my star mana each. As it flooded through my body and into the soul forge, I had to quickly increase the quantity of vines, so much so it essentially wrapped them up entirely.

Then, with their star mana and all my power, I pulled at MireiÆs soul spring again. It felt amazing. I felt like I was working with a small hammer before this, and now I was given a massive excavator. So much. power.

I pulled, and indeed, the soul spring started to come apart. Piece by piece was dismantled, and then I saw it.

A large, entirely black piece of rock. Rotten and festering right in the soul spring itself. When it got here, I had no idea.

But with their power, I pulled it out.

Mirei was in intense quantities of pain. Pulling apart oneÆs soul spring was like ripping through oneÆs very core. I sensed all her readings and measurements shoot through the roof, and if she could scream, she wouldÆve screamed and fainted.

I flooded her with all the sleep powers I had. Mystical Dreams , Psychedelic Dreams , Suspended Animation , Tree Sap - Sleep . Everything. I threw everything into her body, hoping it worked this time.

And it did.

The soul spring was broken, so the Hero class could not play its part.

I then added more pain relief and pain suppression tree saps. She quickly calmed down and entered into sleep.

A black piece of rock stood before me. It oozed a blackish liquid. What in the fuck was this thing? My inspection just went ? .

I decided to just destroy it then. I hit it with all my borrowed might. A massive root. It cracked and broke and turned to small black ash. Then it disappeared.

MireiÆs soul spring was still broken. I had to start repairing it.

My star manaÆs running out, the two heroes telepathically communicated.

- I used too much to destroy that thing. -

Is Mirei alive?Æ

- Yes, but let me do some basic repairs. - I tried to put her soul spring back together. I could move the lesser pieces, those that did not look like white marble. But the Hero pieces, I couldnÆt budge them at all, unless. I had their star mana.

- My manaÆs out, - Harris said.

Ugh. - Fine, letÆs stop here. -

The two heroes came out, absolutely exhausted. - IÆve never had so much star mana used up except when we fought the demon king! -

It was only expected, wasnÆt it? Altering oneÆs soul was such a difficult thing, especially a heroÆs soul.

Mirei was in the longest, deepest sleep in a long time. She was in a dream. I could sense it. A long, long dream. I thought I detected that she cried at parts.

The two heroes needed a few days to replenish their star mana before we could get back to repairing MireiÆs soul spring. I had, in the meantime, done all the other pieces, and with each piece, her condition recovered. But throughout these few days, she just slept and dreamed.

The heroes said that their star mana used to refill a lot faster. When they fought the first demon king, all they needed was a four - hour nap and they were good to fight again. These days, a few days was the minimum. They claim it was the downgraded blessings.

We got to work, and again, with their star mana, I finally managed to put everything back together without that one piece that rotted.

Done, I jolted Mirei out of her dreams.

When she woke up, she screamed briefly, then cried for an hour. Then she gave Harris and Gerrard both a hug.

- Mirei, are you all right? -

- . no. -

- What, it didnÆt work? -

- Whatever you all did, it worked. IÆm not in pain anymore, - Mirei said. - But IÆm not all right. Not anymore. -

- What do you mean? -

- I saw home. -

- Home? -

- Earth, - Mirei said. - I dreamed of Earth, but it was so real, so vivid. I was back in school again. Friends. Our family. I could remember all their names and faces again. -

Gerrard and Harris looked at each other.

- WeÆve known for a while that the gods suppress our memories of home. But during that long sleep, all I dreamed of. was home. -

- A/ , what did you do? -

- I put you into a dream state, but I have little input on what actually happens other than the type of dreams. I gave you a pleasant one. -

Mirei bowed briefly. - Thank you, A/ . I needed that reminder of home. Harris, Gerrard, I want to go home. -

The two men didnÆt know what to say.

- IÆve had enough of playing here. Thirty years we lived here, fought this stupid war of the gods. I want to go home now. -

What could they even say to that? How could they even go home? How could I even go home?

- Mirei. -

- IÆm not going to kill myself, but if IÆm heavily injured in the next battle, donÆt save me, - Mirei said. - I had enough. I want to go home. -

- Mirei. -

- Harris, you had your fun. DonÆt you miss your parents? I saw them in my dreams. They were there. The gods told us if we died, weÆll be back where we started. IÆve had enough, Harris. ItÆs time to wake up from this silly game. -

She looked at the two dumbstruck men.

- IÆm going to need some time. -

- Yes, - the two answered and quickly gave her space.

Mirei was alone, and physically she was fine. She sat on a chair inside my secret hideout and spoke. - A/ , was that real? -

- I gave you dreams. But I donÆt know exactly what was in them. -

- Can you give me more of those dreams? -

- I. donÆt know whether your hero power will interfere with it. -

She paused, and then she asked me a question I never expected. - Can you take my hero powers away? If I give them to you willingly, is that something you can take away? -

The answer was yes, of course. It was entirely possible to give away oneÆs levels and skills. It had happened before so many, many, many years ago. - Yes. -

- I see, - she said. - Harris probably wants me to fight with him the next time. But IÆm tired of this artificial life. I miss my parents. I miss home. I miss being. normal again. I hate this hero thing now. -

- Things may not be well back home. -

- It doesnÆt matter. - Mirei sobbed. - I didnÆt realize how sad it is to never dream of my parents or my siblings all these years, that weÆve somehow accepted and rolled with this new role of ours as heroes so freaking easily. ItÆs just fucked up, so fucked up, and all I want to do is quit this game. -

- ItÆs not a game. - Well, who knew?

- It might well be, with how theyÆve been toying with our feelings and emotions, - Mirei said. - The worst thing is I didnÆt even know until you disabled my hero class! I never even realized how weird it is for us to just roll with it and forget so many important things about our world! -

I didnÆt say much. I just gave her some tea, and now that she was not in pain, there was no reason to lock her up in here. Her curse still remained, though, and that was something even with the heroes star mana I still couldnÆt solve. Maybe not yet.

She rested for quite a long time, alone. - A/ . I have a favor to ask. -

- Yes? -

- When itÆs time for me to die, can you take my levels away? -

- I canÆt do that. Levels must be given away freely. -

- I can give you my levels now. Or can I make it into a magical contract such that you take my levels the moment I die? -

- Why not give it to Harris or Gerrard? -

- They donÆt realize it, A/ . Maybe Gerrard knows, but he is drinking away his worries. Maybe he knows and doesnÆt want to admit it. ItÆs a kind of suffering to continue this game, knowing that our old life, our real family, is all waiting for me over there, on the other side. Giving them levels just prolongs their suffering. -

- ItÆll help them. -

- ItÆs a twisted kindness, that heroes die frequently. Imagine never being able to die and being stuck in this world. If you realize that your loved ones are still there. -

Hmm, at this point, well, if she wanted to give it to me.

- IÆll give it to you. -

But then again, I couldnÆt use it. If I remembered correctly, levels surrendered were converted to experience seeds . It just went into my growing pool of experience seeds . But. - Sure. -

That day, I gained a level. I thought it was when I used the heroÆs star mana to crush that black ? thing.

You gained a level. Level 156

Skill: Natural Mana Overwhelming upgraded.

Skill: Soul Forge upgraded. Improved control and abilities over soul forge functions.

I was really slow at gaining levels. The last time I gained levels was five years ago!

That was slow, right?

36

YEAR 119

During the past few years, IÆd been studying runes and formations. ItÆd been something on my mind since I saw those mages do it, and with the heroes financial resources, I had a lot to read and study.

Of course, I couldnÆt read. So the task was left to some poor Valtorn Order magic student whose job was to come to the Valley of the Unrotten and read the book out loud. Kind of like Audible, but only a lot more boring because the subject matter was runic formations, magical theory, and stuff like that.

This, of course, served multiple functions. It was a means of education for these students. Reading out loud was a good way of learning and committing to memory. Two, it helped me! Three, I got to have a sense of how these young children were. After all, their behavior was quite clear when they were asked to read a book alone in a strange and scary place.

I didnÆt get a skill, sadly.

But that was fine. I developed an understanding of the magical formations, and I began experimenting on them, mainly in some corner of my growing domain that wasnÆt inhabited.

I had a few things I wanted to do, one of which was to use formations as a source of mana on a large scale. Instead of using mana, you could create formations that did the reverse of generating mana, like some kind of mana - gathering facility. There were smaller - scale variants, but I was quite inspired by the former hero AstraÆs ability to apparently channel mana from various sources to create a super hex - bomb, no matter how he did it.

Mirei had been particularly cooperative, and she was very amused with the children reading books in the often uninhabited valley.

- Tree Spirits sure have strange ways of doing things. -

She helped with the mana - gathering formations.

- I had the impression trees are able to do this quite naturally. As in, trees gather mana naturally, do they not? -

- Yes. -

Mirei, after the earlier set of outbursts, stabilized. I suspected it was the effects of her hero class, now restored. It suppressed those emotions.

- But itÆs a slow process, and IÆm hoping to speed it up. -

- Why? -

- Why not? - A massive defensive array required mana. A lot of it. It took many, many iterations, but eventually we succeeded in producing an array of runes and structures able to produce more mana than it used. It had to be big, too, so it wasnÆt something you could hide.

But that meant I could channel more of this mana to fight off the demonic energy and expand even more.

Gerrard returned in the latter half of the year with a fragment, the third piece that was given away. I scanned it, and sadly, it was still an incomplete image.

- demons. Dragons. Combat. A lot of combat. Earth cracked, and so did the skies.

It was still incomplete. There were pieces out there. But how did we find it?

Grand Mind - Tree has blocked attempted influence.

Ah. Again.

- The Frozen Tree was very willing to share, - Gerrard explained. - It told me that it would like to meet you someday. -

- Likewise. - A frozen tree spirit. That was extremely fascinating. This Frozen Tree lived in a frozen lake in the far north, in an uninhabited island that was almost completely frozen over. Home to ice giants, monsters and all that, the Frozen Tree was the overlord of that island and had kept the island free of demons for millennia.

I wondered what other tree spirits thought of this entire situation? Surely they didnÆt just accept it like Lilies? Or they all did, because that was how trees were? Nature was what it was, and they just accepted it.

Was going against the rules of the world a thing that trees didnÆt do?

Domain and Grand Mind Tree has blocked attempted divine action.

Uh. I took that as a yes. It seemed that trees really did not attempt to break the cycle, even if they were long lived and could see things with the benefit of history. Surely, this systematic, demonic destruction was not acceptable, since it was way more than just regular constructive destruction.

And yet they did nothing.

Why? I didnÆt get it. Gods. Had to be the gods. Meddling, meddling gods.

YouÆve gained a level. You are now level 157.

Skill: Natural mana overwhelming upgraded.

Uh. Why was the same skill getting upgraded over and over again?

And I still didnÆt get why I gained a level from it.

The constant expansion of my territory and also the influx of more refugees meant the population had increased significantly. Outside of my research, I spent more time, together with Jasmine, watching over the multiple towns and cities that had popped up.

It was a very big area, and for the most part, Kavio and the new Council of Representatives all dealt with me directly.

The focus was on the next demon king and our preparations, readying ourselves for the coming wars.

The heroes also worked on making more anti - demon weapons, more armors, and more sets. Weapons! Yay! Over the years, IÆd managed to equip a two hundredûstrong group with a full set of anti - demon armor, and I hoped to grow this force to five hundred strong.

Of this group, about fifty were now at least level forty. Once they hit level sixty to seventy, they should be able to handle a demon walker without my assistance. They gained this level by hunting naturally spawning monsters and made regular trips into the Rottedlands to fight the hybrid spawns.

In a world where the Rottedlands was like a large dungeon, the level of the residents should be high, else it was jarring, even with protection like my army of beetles. But then, if their levels went up, that made them more dangerous to me, didnÆt it? I was not too worried about high - level merchants or craftsmen, but then. warriors, I had to get them on my side.

Anyway, we regularly deployed soldiers and recruits into the Rottedlands to fight monsters. That way, the soldiers and recruits who worked for me gained levels and prepared for the real demonic attacks.

Was this what rulers did? I mean, I didnÆt really actively do it, but it must be trying to do this whole play - each - faction - against - each - other schtick, balancing levels so that all the factions never got too powerful and they continued to obey me. Too fucking time consuming.

I mean, I was on this train of thought as news of civil war broke out in HarrisÆs now - fractured kingdom. I mean, the man was still alive, and already they were fighting. Children, fighting each other.

It must suck to be a father and watch your children fight. I suppose it was like a typical family drama where a wealthy tycoon passed away and the kids squabbled over the riches.

In fact, it absolutely drove him into depression of some kind. Well, I was not sure whether it was actually depression, but it made him feel very, very sad.

So much so that Mirei was the one comforting him.

- What should I do? - Harris was sad. Already, some of his sons and daughters came to talk to him and asked him to stop it. But he gave away his rights to those lands, and some of his more ambitious children were taking the chance to do something.

- Stop him, Father, - a boy said to Harris. - HeÆs attacking one of us. -

But the truth was everyone was provoking each other, and Harris had his own network of informants that seemed to suggest none of his children were entirely innocent. If he wanted to lay down the law, he would have to do it to everyone.

And yet he was but one person. He was not surprised if even those who served him were already taking sides in the conflict.

- You can do two things, - Mirei said to a sad Harris. - Stop it, and enter into a loop of constantly interfering. And eventually when you do die, they will still continue the fight that theyÆve postponed. Or do nothing. They have land and territory now. Let them fight each other over it. Let them prove themselves by blood and war. -

- ThatÆs so cruel. -

- ItÆs always been this way. Territorial disputes are as old as nations themselves, and the right to rule is one protected by might and magic, not by name or heritage. -

Harris regretted breaking his country up, then. He knew he would just be kicking the can down the road until the day he died and theyÆd fight it out anyway. But at least he wouldnÆt be alive to see it.

So, as much as he knew it was a stupid thing to do, he started leaving frequently to stop the fighting with his summoned army. There was no way he could let it continue, even if it did lead to a constant, vicious cycle.

A cruel fate.

Mirei said as much as she watched her friend feel like shit.

- You know, thatÆs partly why I didnÆt want to have children. After I discovered what happened to so many heroes and their families, I just felt really sad. I donÆt think I could ever watch my children drift apart and start doing that. -

- Conflict is eternal. But perhaps so is reconciliation. -

I used more and more runes and formations to gather more mana and added runic formations to the Valley of the Unrotten. Mana meant territory, and I was pretty damned good with using mana to push back against the demons.

More mana.

More mana.

More runes.

More mana! Eventually, I made a formation large enough to trigger a notification that I wasnÆt quite expecting.

Soul Forge: Yellow Unlocked

Artificial Souls Level Cap increased to Level 60.

All artificial souls now have Yellow option unlocked.

Class/Skill/Experience Seed merging unlocked. Ability to merge souls and classes, and multiple class seeds and experience seeds together.

Class/Skill/Experience Seed upgrade unlocked. Able to upgrade classes, skills, and experience seeds to superior forms.

oo.

Looked like I was one step further, and closer, to make myself an army of super elites.

Yellow Soul Forge from just using a massive array and formation to gather mana. Who wouldÆve thought of that?

That meant soul forges actually just required different types or origins of mana, not necessarily unique or special magical ley lines. But. wait.

If I got enough star mana, could I have Soul Forge: Star? I mean, theoretically possible, perhaps? What overpowered ability would I have?

Or what about demonic mana? Could enough demonic mana power some kind of soul forge, too?

So I began to explore both aspects of these mana, experimenting more on the hybrid demonic trees. I hoped to unlock a better understanding of the demonÆs mana at least somehow, even if it didnÆt lead to a soul forge.

At the same time, I started the whole class seed upgrade and merging process. Essentially, class seeds were upgraded when one added essence, mana, and materials. Combining them increased their strength and power, and fusing multiple class seeds created special ones.

It was a bit like crossbreeding, splicing and grafting different trees together to create something different at the end.

I began rather conservatively, like fusing multiple ranger and druid class seeds together, which formed the Mountain Druid class. Or multiple druid classes were fused together and then obtained the Great Druid Class. The ratio was like ten normal classes to form one single better class. And I kept at it. I had a lot of class seeds and essences accumulated over the years, and IÆd finally found a place to fuse them all!

Twenty Knight classes made one single Grand Knight class, and ten Warrior and Soldiers made a Warmaster .

It was honestly extremely enjoyable, and I felt like a cook when I fused all the different classes together.

Adding essences to it also did some strange things. Iron and mineral essences fused to a Knight eventually created a Steel Knight class.

But there was a limitation. Not all of these evolved classes could be further fused. I was still trying to find what could be fused.

Eventually, one of the few twice - evolved classes I discovered was thirty Great Druid classes fused into a single Lord of the Forest class and fifty Grand Knight classes fused into a Knight Master .

I was eager to test it out. So I selected one young, promising thirteen - year - old Valthorn.

His name was Faris, and heÆd been living in one of the outer sections of the Freshlands before he was recruited to join the Valthorns three years ago. HeÆd been training with Yvon for a while, and in three years, he was already a level - thirty druid .

A regular druid class. I gave a Great Druid class seed to Yvon.

- You want to give this to him? -

- Yes. -

- Are you sure? -

- Why not? -

- I mean. this is a rare class, right? - Yvon didnÆt know I unlocked the class - fusion ability. LetÆs keep it that way.

- Yes, I believe it is time I stop hoarding these things and grant them. -

So Yvon did, in fact, give it to Faris. There was a small ceremony, something like a small award ceremony in school where the principal would then give out certificates, only he received a small seed.

- This, young Faris, is a gift from A/ himself, a fruit that will grant you the class Great Druid . -

Everyone in the room clapped. Faris didnÆt waste much time and chomped down on the fruit. I observed him that entire day, and I watched his soul change slightly as the new class merged with his own. After one nightÆs sleep, he found himself with increased mastery over his druidic abilities.

Domain and Grand Mind Tree blocked passive influence from a Great Druid.

Ah. I supposed I should be more careful with giving out classes relating to control over trees. I thought that was a passive.

Faris and Yura came to me for an audience the next day. He was still a young boy in the end, even though he did have a good class.

Children.

So, so young.

- A/ , I bring the one that youÆve granted the seed. -

- Greetings, Faris. - I spoke mentally, and already I could sense some pressure pushing back.

Domain and Grand Mind Tree blocked passive influence.

- I believe you may be unknowingly using some passive abilities, young Faris. -

Faris flustered, and he seemingly nodded. - Ah. I. IÆm sorry. - Then I felt the pressure lift. Did druids have these abilities all this while? Was this how they attempted to control trees?

He was still but a young child. - Good. How do you like your reward? -

- ItÆs quite amazing, A/ . Upgrading my class to a Great Druid at my age is unheard of anywhere in the world. All my skills are stronger now. -

- Good. It is a gift, and a reward, and with it responsibility and expectation that you will do more and better for us. Our land remains heavily damaged, and we need people like you to help heal it. -

Faris nodded. He was very agreeable and impressionable.

At that moment, I wondered whether IÆd made a mistake in giving him such powers, the same way the gods gave their powers to young teenagers.

One of the foolish things about people was that, well, they seemed to forget that trees in the forests had eyes. So Jasmine and my artificial souls alerted me to the presence of some cultists.

It was common. A land newly reclaimed and filled with people, where law enforcement was still not yet secure and where leaders were still vying for power and position among themselves, some would inevitably turn to magic and occasionally blood magic.

So, in the depth of the unnamed woods, a group of thirty - five men and women were gathered. One of them was an old noble from the nearby city who migrated to the Freshlands and settled there. They had with them about fifteen slaves. The slaves all looked extremely afraid.

- Should we save the slaves, Master? - Jasmine asked. There were beetles and spiders who could easily intercept.

- Wait. -

IÆd wanted to see this for a long time now. Blood magic. I was sorry, slaves, but I believed the benefit I gained from learning how blood magic worked would allow me to save more lives in the future.

Thirty men formed a circle, and with a quick cut, one of the slaves was killed. His body splattered in the middle of a strange formation. They chanted, and I could see the soul very clearly, torn apart by the blood magic.

They did so repeatedly, with all the slaves. I watched, with all my sensors, magical and not, blood magic being executed right before my eyes. I saw their magic rip the soul out of the slaves and fuse them together.

Oh wow. It really was a kind of soul fusion. But it was incomplete. I saw the core of their souls break free and the remnant, the outer souls of the slaves, stitched together by their rough blood magic. Incomplete. Irregular and messy.

But it was strong. Just like how my artificial souls were without a soul core, from this alone I could easily see that their blood magic was essentially using the outer part of the souls and fused together into this mess.

After a chant or so, the blood magic compressed the tangled, fused souls into a small reddish drop on a plate. The noble took it, and he drank it. Instantly, I saw his bodyÆs energy levels spike up. This was quite like using blood magic to strengthen himself, and his features quickly turned younger.

Ah. Youth. Interesting.

The ritual was done. I thought I had an idea why the hex could be reversed gradually via those negative emotions.

No more reason to leave them alive. Most of them.

- Well. Capture the two chief ritual masters alive. - There were two of them that led the ritual, and I had plans for some good old interrogation.

An army of beetles and spiders descended on them. The noble was strong, his strength amplified by the blood magic. So it still took me a few hits of Serpentine Rootstrike , and an army of beetles quickly slaughtered the rest of them.

Hex. It was essentially an unstable fusion of the outer souls, which was why it leaked so much negative energy. And, because this negative energy was contagious, it caused others close to it to also suffer hex poisoning. Walking into a field of hex was like being infected with depression that killed you from within. A rot in the soul caused by exposure to unstable fusion of soul fragments.

37

YEAR 120

I gave away a Grand Knight class to a promising young student. She was fit, but with the Grand Knight class, she became fit and unnaturally strong. She had a skill that strengthened all the armor that she wore, and she turned into quite a monster to fight.

- These upgraded classes, A/ , how did you get them? - Yvon was extremely curious. At the same level, an upgraded class was at least 30 percent stronger. Perhaps this was the comparison between a lord and a king, or a king and an emperor?

- I collected them. - Which was partly true. Through all the souls of the dead, IÆd been accumulating so many class seeds that IÆd lost track of all of them. IÆd also been growing class - tree - plants that produced more class seeds of the rarer classes, like Dark Knight .

I mean, would thirty Dark Knights give me a Dark Paladin?

- You know, this news spreads out, many are going to come calling. Fruits that can grant an upgraded class are unheard of in the world. Even kings may grant royal variants, but those are nothing like true upgraded classes. -

- And? -

- Well. Theft, for one. WeÆll need to prepare for that, as there will be thieves who want to steal your stockpile of upgraded class seeds. -

Let them try. It was all inside me. How would they steal? Perhaps these thieves had some kind of skill, then?

Wait. That did sound possible. A thief with a skill able to take from oneÆs presumed safe pockets sounded exactly like what a high - tier thief should have.

- Jasmine, can you increase your surveillance for thieves? -

- Master, weÆve located many thieves. -

Already? Oh. It had been a year since I gave away my Great Druid Class.

- Most are petty criminals, but some appear highly skilled. -

Thieves. Should I just kill them?

Meanwhile, the captured blood ritualists were forced to do my bidding, mainly to conduct more blood rituals, using criminals that were on death row.

I had to learn a bit more about blood magic. There were some fundamental similarities between my soul forge and blood magic, and I intended to learn more of it.

The blood ritualists cooperated and used the criminals to cast all sorts of blood rituals, such as strengthening rituals and summoning rituals.

Of course, after over fifty rituals, they leveled up, and I thought they were close to level sixty. Then they got overconfident and started to attack me with the summoned creatures. Each ritual made them stronger, but I, too, gained a deeper understanding of blood magic.

I had a large army and now more elites.

I deployed my new Grand Knight and Great Druid , together with an army of beetles. The two ritualists didnÆt stand much of a chance. They honestly shouldÆve used blood magic to cast some kind of warped teleportation, but perhaps that had too much risk.

Blood magic was inherently unstable; it was power derived from the stitching of the outer souls together in accordance with ancient writings. Those writings guided the ritualists, bound the fragments of the soul together into a shape, and each shape then created a specific effect. Some of these shapes were actually benign, and hence they empowered their hosts. Still, they were inherently unstable soul fragments, so over time they decayed and created problems for the host.

It was like cancer, really.

The two overconfident ritualists were captured again. This time, their punishment was death, and I gave them a punishment that I gave a long time ago: death by deconstruction in a biolab.

I received Blood Mage class seeds.

I wondered whether I could somehow get Hero Class seeds.

- Mirei. -

- Yes, A/ ? -

- Would you ever be willing to give away your hero class? - I asked her one day as she rested in one of the courtyards of Freshka. She had slowly dismantled her business and sold it to various merchants eager to take over her clothing chain.

- Yes. - She had a headache after she said it. - The hero class is pretty much the godÆs remote - control button. ItÆs a trojan horse in our body. - It was quite predictable, and to some extent, Mirei got better at figuring out what triggered the headache. It was always something about heroes and gods.

She took a while to collect herself, and she continued.

- I mean, I would give it away, but I canÆt. The system doesnÆt let me do it. I just tried to do it just now. -

- Really. Yet it allows you to trade your hero levels for other levels. -

- Yeah. I could theoretically trade away all my hero levels for something else and then give you all those levels, but it sounds like you are interested in the hero class itself, A/ ? -

- Well, thatÆs right. - I mean, the Hero class itself was what was incredibly fascinating, like. was there a way I could trace it backward to the source, i.e. the gods? Did the gods actually have a physical location in this world? Like, was there a magical heaven somewhere, where they gazed on this world? Perhaps they were like players, looking at us through the screen. - Have you not considered it, giving away all your hero levels so that you can remove their influence? -

- I did think about it. But I didnÆt do it because I wanted to still help Harris and Gerrard. I doubt the gods would just let all three of us trade all our hero classes away. Pretty sure thereÆs like a limit or something. -

Made sense that the gods would put in a failsafe like that. They already went ahead to actively mind control and mind wipe these heroes; why wouldnÆt they put restrictions?

- Tending to flowers, Great Druid? - the young lady said. She was in full armor and had two large swords on each side and a long wooden anti - demon spear at the back. Edna, the Grand Knight , was only sixteen.

- As I am often compelled to do, yes. -

- Has A/ summoned you recently? -

- No, why? -

- ItÆs. well. I have had offers from nearby kingdoms to defect to serve them. -

Faris paused. - If itÆs a good offer, it is worth considering. Though the term. defection is a bit too strong. -

- Oh? - Edna sat on a rock in the flower garden. - Explain. -

- I believe A/ may be open to us acting as his mercenaries. -

- Mercenaries? - Edna frowned. - ThatÆs quite against the very nature of my class as a Grand Knight. -

- I spoke to some observers, Principal Yvon and Master Yura , and they agreed that A/ may be willing to consider stationing us in those other kingdoms. -

- Willing to consider doesnÆt mean he will. -

- A/ Æs willingness, of course, has a price. A good enough reward, he would definitely consider it. I believe if the kingdoms may offer something rare and unique from the ancient pasts, A/ may well be swayed into it. At least, Principal Yvon strongly thinks so. -

- I highly doubt he is willing to give any of us away. -

- Not give. Stationed. We are still loyal to him, and we act as his agents. Our services to those other kingdoms are similar to those of an adventurer. We would obviously abstain if those conflicts meant we would end up fighting each other. -

- So you have been similarly approached. - Edna smirked.

- Of course, - Faris said. - When the kingdoms, or even the Hutan Council, first gave me the offers, I quickly notified Valthorn leadership. Master Yura Æs advice then was to ignore it, as if these kingdoms truly are desperate, they would offer far greater rewards than what they offered now. -

Edna shook her head. - That really makes it sound. mercenary. I wouldnÆt do so. -

It was FarisÆs turn to laugh. - If so, itÆs best you stay put. I doubt the principles of these other kingdoms would be better than ours. -

- But a part of my class is enhanced by serving a King . There are knight - specific abilities for people like myself. -

- If thereÆs anyone who can make a king, itÆs probably our great A/ . -

I didnÆt have a King class, though. Wait. did Roma have the Prince class?

- Yes. But itÆs still level two, - Roma said quietly when Yura approached him. - Why do you ask, Master Yura ? -

- A/ asked, not me. -

- Ah. - RomaÆs an adult, like Lozanna . Unlike Lozanna , his focus had always been more academic and magical in nature, and now, having survived, he was mostly an administrator for merchant companies. It was almost like someone whoÆs a prince relegated to an office boy, though he certainly didnÆt seem any bit bothered by that sort of reality. - Well, if anyoneÆs asking, IÆm honestly not interested in the whole prince thing. IÆd even give the class away, if I could. IÆm honestly not sure why I even still have the class. -

- SalahÆs still around, in some form, so the title remains. - Well, I wanted the Prince class, and so Yura asked. - So, since you do not want the class, would you consider giving it away? -

- That is. possible? -

- A/ may have the ability to take it away from you. -

Yvon objected strongly. - ItÆs your heritage! -

- The hell with it, Mom. IÆm not interested in being caught in stupid political games that this faraway kingdom of Salah would probably have. I have no relationship with Salah, I never lived there, I donÆt know anyone there, and honestly, I may well be a lifetime citizen of Freshka! I donÆt know my father, either, and honestly, this class isnÆt worth it. -

Well, turned out, I couldnÆt take it away, simply because his level as a Prince was far too low. He needed to have at least ten to twenty levels in Prince for me to actually take it away from him.

Help, on this matter, came from a very odd party.

- IÆm a king, - Harris said, back from his many peacekeeping duties. He had to come back frequently, but still, the civil war went on. His wives, now all queen mothers in their own right, squabbled over territory.

There were days he felt sad. His wives truly adored and loved him, and that part wasnÆt a lie. But his harem was held together by him, and him alone. With him giving up his right over the entire kingdom, each queen had to protect her own children. Some of his children were more ambitious, and so, fighting broke out. He had no right to imprison his children now that they were legally king and prince regents of their own country. He could only reprimand them as a father.

- If you want my class, you honestly can take it. ItÆs useless now. IÆm probably going to declare my capital city independent, and let whatÆs left of the council of ministers decide where to go. -

- You just sound incredibly sad. - Mirei tapped him. - What do you say, you know, letÆs go out with a bang? LetÆs end this farce with the next demon king. -

The two heroes plotted their plans for the next demon king. Indeed, they intended to win, but they also intended to die.

Harris was able to give me a few levels of his King class, but no more than 20 percent of it. But strangely, in my hands, the King class was unusable.

I mean, I had a King class seed, but I couldnÆt give it or use it on anyone.

The class King cannot be used.

Could I change it such that I could use it?

So, with my Soul Forge: Yellow , I tried to experiment on the King class seed. and well, after injecting my own energy into it. it changed.

The King class seed transformed into a unique class seed The Anointed King, A/ Æs Executor .

Uh. that was quite corny, wasnÆt it? But that was so Starcraft. Executor. Maybe I could create a Hierarch, like uh. Artanis?

I had a dilemma now. I have a special class seed, and I wasnÆt quite sure who to give it to. I didnÆt want to give it to the heroes, because they had no ties with the valley and me. Ultimately, they were under the influence of the gods, and I wouldnÆt want them to be king.Æ

The first person I had in mind was Yura . He served me loyally over the years and had demonstrated all the necessary skills of war.

He shot it down. - No, A/ . Me, a king? ThereÆs no way I can do it. I prefer to just teach. -

Lozanna , perhaps? But she was happily travelling with her husband. Laufen? She shook her head; she was happy tending to young children at ErizÆs childcare centers and didnÆt want the stress or the duties of a king.

So I reluctantly put this class aside. But I had my fellow artificial souls pay attention to the young Valthorns. Perhaps of these young ones, some of them would show promise, and of them one that I could elevate to a king.Æ

- Six more years to the demon king. -

- If weÆre lucky, seven. -

- Six. I want it to come sooner, - Mirei said.

She was really quite eager to return home, so when I told her about the entire Soul Contract and how it worked with Yvon, she immediately rejected it. To her, a Soul Contract extended her misery in this world by one thousand years. She didnÆt want any of that. She missed home, and she wanted to go home.

The idea of suicide didnÆt quite work for her, so she was in this odd situation, perhaps quite like a Norse warrior seeking Valhalla through glorious battle with the demon king. Because little else could kill her.

Her curse had remained relatively stable since my last operation, and I still continued my experiments. I suspected there must be something that bound the curse to the demons, because I didnÆt understand why it fluctuated at odd times.