TREE OF AEONS 2

A fluctuation may be internal or external, and after all my abilities, I was rather certain I ruled out the internal factors. So, that left the fluctuations in the curse down to two possible external factors: the gods, or the demons. The curse was a matter of the soul, and something I wondered was. what if a hero was sacrificed in a blood ritual? Or could blood magicÆs ability to interact with the outer soul be used to fix the curse?

Harris, of course, hated the idea. - Blood magic should be outlawed. ItÆs a gruesome ability that shouldnÆt even exist in this world. -

Ngeh. The worldÆs pretty gruesome. I mean, you gained experience by killing stuff; wasnÆt that gruesome? HowÆs blood magic different? It was just the way of killing, wasnÆt it?

IÆd concede that the only thing different was that blood magic reached into a personÆs soul and ripped it out, and perhaps that was a kind of desecration of the sanctity of the soul. Again, only if one believed that the soul was sacred.Æ

A mortal belief, really. For someone like myself who now had a good understanding of the soul, it certainly didnÆt feel sacred.

In fact, I felt a bit of desensitization that came from knowledge that a personÆs inner soul could always reincarnate, and death was but the departure of the inner soul from a physical vessel. If so, in this cycle of death and reincarnation, it was just a convoluted version of swapping one car for another or stopping one game and starting another new game.

So. why should outer souls or lives be sacred? If anything should be sacred, it was that moment in space and time. Space - time was sacred, because death took it away, and each period of time was unique, and what happened in that space was unique. So, death robbed away oneÆs ability to experience each unique segment of space - time.

Anyway, back to the blood magic. I certainly wanted to use my blood mage class seeds, and I wanted to use them differently.

All the previous blood mages had quite warped perspectives and were up to no good, so I was going to try to train a good blood mage. There must be something in their magic that was worth learning.

Yura , Laufen, and Yvon were horrified at the idea of training young blood mages. - No. No. No. -

- Our existing trainees generally gain their levels and experience against monsters and hybrids. Blood mages require blood sacrifice, and that means people! No. -

Something like that. DidnÆt make much sense, though. What was wrong with using those about to die anyway?

38

YEAR 121

My own curse flared up. I wasnÆt sure why, but if it could happen to the heroes, it certainly could happen to me.

Thankfully, Root of Life helped suppress it, but it felt like one of those days when I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and had to nurse a migraine the entire day. It was really one of those days.

And well, it was one of those years.

I had a few rebellions to crush. A few invasions to defeat. A surge in monsters and creatures from the Rottedlands.

But there were some good parts. I sent three of the ancient - tree shards to Lilies. Strangely, they actually agreed to give an enchantment should I ever ask for it. They had some powers over death.

They gave me a brief origin story of their powers of death. Because they took death - ceremonies to another level.

In the Lake of Lilypod City, any and every death was brought back to be submerged in the lake in a tradition almost a millennium old. Lilies had developed a method of gaining experience from the bodies of the dead. Beneath the lakeÆs murky waters were floating roots and vines that consumed the corpses of the dead.

They had somehow developed a skill that allowed them to collect experience from the dead. I mean, I got experience seeds, but they got experience and levels! I wondered if it was a function of their different species?

When we were small and few, we lived in this lake where the dead were thrown away. The dead fed us, strengthened us.

Class. Experience. Levels.

Perhaps, so many years ago, did Indra set me off on this path of being a Soul/Spirit Tree by requesting a familiar? Had I received experience in a different way, would my evolution had been different?

- IÆm afraid not. - Yura shook his head. - A/ has a rather poor opinion of the Hutan Council after his encounters with your people a few decades ago. -

- Could you talk to it and convince it otherwise? The council has changed a lot over the twenty years. Surely itÆs unfair for the Tree Spirit to pin the blame on this generation for the sins of the previous generation? - The Hutan Council had sent a decent - size delegation to Freshka after the news of the Great Druid class being gifted to Faris. It took them some time, but here they were.

Many wanted the class, of course. Some of these druids had been regular druids for decades and saw the upgraded class as a chance to break through their stagnant lives.

Yura shrugged. - Trees have long memories. I suggest you come back in, say. fifty years. - I thought that wasnÆt true. It was just that we trees perceived time differently, so those memories felt quite fresh to me. It took more time for me to forget a grudge, even though it felt just as long or the same to me.

- No. Great Druid! To a child! - the druid shouted at Yura . - Even the entire Hutan Council, only two druids have that class! -

Yura frowned. - Perhaps A/ sees something in the child. And I donÆt recall druids ever challenging the wisdom of the Tree Spirits. -

Domain and Grand Mind Tree has blocked attempted influence.

- And A/ has just said that he is annoyed at your attempt to use your power. -

The druid frowned. A few other druids looked unhappy. And they stomped off. Jasmine helped to monitor them, but then, a bunch of them were spotted sneaking into the Valthorns offices and buildings.

- The tree spirit may have hidden some of the class - granting fruits in the premises. We should sneak in and try to find it. - They managed to bribe a Valthorn employee to reveal where valuable items were hidden in the Valtorn OrderÆs premises. So they snuck in.

- But wouldnÆt they hide it in its main tree itself? - another Hutan druid asked. At this point, I thought no one ever revealed to the druids that I had line - of - sight of the entire valley. WouldnÆt anyone be able to figure it out?

- Do you want a chance to find a Great Druid class or not? -

They snuck into the premises and then got a shock when they saw the valuables store only had money.

- ItÆs just storing money. -

That was because all the weapons and other items had all been given to the Valthorns, and they were responsible for caring for their own goods. Seriously, the concept of a store was not really valid when Jasmine and the other artificial minds could pretty much track all movement of these items almost all the time.

Distributing them minimized any risk of theft, and since the valley itself was under heavy surveillance, it wasnÆt hard to find who took what, especially if it was of value. Money, on the other hand, was rather worthless to me, so its security was left to the Valtorn Council.

- You know it wonÆt be there. - Edna appeared behind the druids. There was a group of other Valthorn Knights with her. - The fruits of a special class only appear when A/ itself decides it is so. -

- You! - The Hutan druids turned and summoned animals to fight. They were outnumbered, honestly. There were knights everywhere. The knights overwhelmed the druids, and those who surrendered were arrested and thrown into a prison.

Time for Freshka to hold them ransom for some rewards from the Hutan Council. I had the impression they were on the decline, though, so I wondered what they were willing to cough up.

Later on, I awarded two more Valthorn Initiates with special classes: one a Mountain Druid and another a Ranger Master .

To some extent, a part of me began to enjoy the chaos that these advanced classes caused.

- IÆm rather surprised that you have so many unique classes, A/ . -

- IÆve been hoarding them for some time. - There was some truth to it, but I also had an orchard of class - seed growing trees in the Valley of the Unrotten. And it helped that I gathered class seeds, skill seeds, and experience seeds when people died.

Everywhere, as long as it was within the range of my soul harvesters, essence, class - seed, and skill - seeds continued to come in. So I always had materials to fuse into bigger or upgraded seeds.

- Master, we need upgrades, too! - Horns reminded. Their level cap had increased to level sixty, but as previously, their upgrades required materials and gems.

I decided to upgrade Trevor and Dimitree first, since theyÆd been supporting me for so long, and they were both at their level cap anyway. After that, I upgraded Horns and Yura Æs Bamboo. The Yellow - type upgrades generally granted my artificial souls to choose a class - specialization, so in Trevor and DimitreeÆs case, they both gained Administrator - type skills. Horns gained General - type skills to control my large army of beetles.

I also created more Artificial minds, placing them subordinate to Trevor, Dimitree, and Jasmine to oversee my vast empire. I already had Acacia, Brootus, and Cyprus from earlier, but since Trevor could now hit level sixty, I elevated him to be pretty much my chief of artificial souls. Dimitree was his deputy.

I felt that my artificial souls or minds were like extremely good AI. They were extremely competent at monitoring and administration, but they were constrained on creation in scope and only improved by the new soul - forge colors.

The level cap also meant that they would never be able to really fight at the level I needed, simply because enemies like the demonic walkers needed a force around level eighty. Thinking about it, they were probably an organizationÆs field managers and middle managers.

Somewhere, in a quiet corner of my vast kingdom, I also had a secret experiment.

This was far from the rest of the inhabited area, away from Yura or Freshka.

I created a tree and infused it with blood. A lot of blood. My roots were able to transport liquids, so I stocked and absorbed the blood from the sick, the dead, or the dying and then infused a tree with all the blood.

Though the elves didnÆt agree on my experimenting with blood mages , I could very much do it myself.

So, a tree.

I did so secretly, and eventually, I received a notification.

Unique Tree: The Bleeding Tree created.

I was swept with a sickening feeling, like nausea.

Grand Mind Tree blocked attempted influence from unknown source.

Then I felt better.

I needed to further upgrade the Grand Mind Tree.

Then I had my beetles secretly smuggle criminals to that location. It wasnÆt hard; after all, through the entire Freshlands, all these vassal - states had criminals of various kinds. I supposed I was doing some mental gymnastics when I justified my process that these criminals were on death row anyway. So I may as well test some basic blood magic with their bodies.

Conceptually, runes were a kind of rituals. Blood magic, too, was a ritual. I myself, and my entire network of trees, was pretty much a massive magical array.

I tried to use my roots to cast a blood ritual.

It failed.

I tried again.

It failed.

By the time I was done with the fifty or so criminals, I had failed all my attempted blood magic. Why did I fail? Was it because I used a bleeding tree?

I was frustrated, but I got a skill.

Skill upgraded! Magic Labs - Blood Magic Sensor unlocked.

So, later that year, I spotted another bunch of blood mages. The world was filled with blood mages, very much a legacy of the hexbomb - era, when the knowledge of how to cast a hexbomb was widely distributed to so many kingdoms and countries.

Once again, I let them use their blood magic, but with my new blood magic sensors, I thought I began to understand it a bit more.

Blood magic essentially used their own soul as a chip in order to hack into the souls of those sacrificed. Each use of blood magic weakened their own soul and made them even more susceptible to the corruption of blood magic and the strange voices from beyond. It was like taking a part of themselves, making that into a consumable nail.

So the insanity and curse that came with all high - level blood mages was an inherent outcome of their use of such abilities. That insanity was also mixed into the very fabric of the loosely knitted outer soul fragments. Maybe it was like using a diamond to cut another diamond, because they didnÆt have enough power for its alternatives.

- Have you never found who was spreading the hexbombs? - I asked the heroes one day.

- Find them? No oneÆs going to reveal themselves as a blood mage! -

In truth, it should be possible to find them, since their souls would clearly be damaged. Each use was like leaving gunpowder residue on their soul. But then, one would have to be able to spot it. I would be able to spot it; all I needed to do was put them under my biolab and itÆd be clear as day.

Curse: Weakened Soul from Blood Magic . That was what appeared in the few captured blood mages. Their soul spring was clearly tainted, the spring itself cracked, and the waters in their spring were a muddy brown.

Based on all this, I was confident in my assessment. Hex was essentially a radioactive decaying outer soul fragments stitched together with blood magic. The decay was how the outer souls untangled the stitching and decay into normal matter.

39

YEAR 122

I did another controversial series of tests. I hauled a bunch of death row criminals to my soul forge and attempted a clean version of the outer - soul stitching. If blood magic was incomplete work, then could I, the master of four colors of the soul forge, perform a complete version?

I failed at first.

I failed my first ten tests, and in doing so, close to five hundred criminals were killed.

- ThatÆs hell of a gruesome way to die, - the heroes said.

- But itÆs painless. The overwhelming energies of my soul forge instantly kills them and liquefies them. - It was true. The amount of mana used to attempt clean soul fusion was absolutely insane, so much so that when I used it, everyone in the entire Freshlands could feel the mana flickering in the air.

Each time, I had a better understanding of the process.

- A/ , where do you get these ideas? - the heroes asked, unaware that IÆd been watching and experimenting on the blood mages.

- Dreams. -

- Trees can dream? -

- Why not? -

- You donÆt have brains. -

- Are brains necessary for dreams? -

Anyway, it was key to separate the inner soul and the outer soul as smoothly and cleanly as possible. After separation, the inner soul core was released so that it could proceed with its reincarnation, and what was left was a floating magical plasma blob of outer soul fragments.

Next, I used my overwhelming mana to forcefully compress the outer soul fragments together. The first few times, I didnÆt control my mana properly, so the outer soul fragments leaked out, and then it just dissipated.

Then, as the soul fragments fused together, it finally turned into a small, solid object.

YouÆve created a Soul - Strengthening Seed.

Consuming the Soul - Strengthening Seed will increase the level capacity of one individual. Needs to be combined with an herb of sufficient quality.

What? I thought. I expected something far more powerful than just a soul - strengthening seed. But then, the level capacity seemed to suggest that each individual had a cap, and I had just discovered the item that broke the cap!

And I knew exactly the person to give it to.

- Yura . - I fused the Soul - Strengthening Seed with a high - quality five - year - old ginseng from my Ginseng Trees. - Eat this. -

He did, and he felt like his entire body burned for the rest of the day. - A/ , what are you feeding me? Why do I feel like every part of me is breaking? -

Well, a good day later, he woke up and felt much stronger and healthier, as if he was younger by a few decades.

- A/ . I. I have a blessing! And I gained seven levels in Warlord overnight! -

- Oh? -

- Soul - Blessed . -

Did the Soul - Strengthening Seed give levels, or were those like overflow levels that were not affected because he was capped at around level eighty?

The only way to prove it, of course, was to make more and give it to someone else that was not stuck at the cap. It was a little disappointing, though; I had hoped to create something comparable to say. a fusion power plant. But I supposed a level - breaking ability was not bad, either.

That meant Lozanna could also break past level eighty if she wanted. But I thought she was still happily adventuring in the world.

- I want to talk about A/ , - Harris said to Gerrard and Mirei. They were gathered in a room in one of the lodges in Freshka.

- You know heÆs listening, right? - Gerrard looked at Harris like an alien. - A/ Æs presence permeates the entirety of this region. This entire region is a police surveillance state. We agreed on this. No talking about tree spirits anywhere near them! All of us have his familiars! Who knows if theyÆre eavesdropping on us? -

- I know, but I think I donÆt mind if he listens, - Harris said. - I just wanted to say that he seems to be very intimately familiar with our worldÆs thought processes. Almost as if he knows what we know. -

- Evidence. -

- Remember how Yura described our wooden arms as Power - ArmorÆ? - Harris promptly showcased his wooden limbs, made from familiar. I was still unable to fix the two lost parts, due to the effects of the curse. But at least it wouldnÆt get worse.

- So what? -

- There are so many little references here and there that he understands. I believe he knows about Earth. -

- Look, I can posit a few theories of how he knows about us. One, heÆs old, and he met a lot of us Earthers. Two, he has the power to create and alter dreams; by extension, he must have some access to our memories, such that he can create those dreams. Three, his soul harvesters harvest the souls of the dead, and each time, he gains something from the dead. If those dead include Earthers, it is no surprise that he knows what we know, - Mirei said.

Harris froze, and after thinking for a long time, he said, - YouÆre right. I probably didnÆt think it through. -

- We have four years left till the next demon king. WeÆre in no condition to fight it, - Mirei said. Though she wasnÆt dead, she was weakened by the curse. - If I must admit, we must be prepared to lose and die. -

Gerrard nodded. - So letÆs do what Astra did. Kill ourselves and bomb it to death. -

- No! - Mirei said. - You saw what the system did to him! It made us hate him! -

- Well, if we want to go out with a bang, I canÆt think of a better way. -

Mirei stopped. - Bang? Maybe we could make ourselves into a living bomb. You know, like that manga! This old dude fought the Ant King but as a failsafe planted a nuke into his heart. We could try that. -

They all got a headache at the same time, but Gerrard had already prepared cups filled with some herbal liquor. They all took a sip.

- Damned system meddling with our minds. -

- ItÆs a good idea, but who can make a bomb that powerful? -

- A/ Æs been experimenting with souls. We could ask him to try it. Maybe he can do something about it. -

Harris looked confused and bewildered. - I cannot believe that both of you are suggesting to make yourself into some kind of suicide bomber. -

- ItÆs not suicide bombing. ItÆs a. contingency, - Gerrard said.

- I wouldnÆt do it. - Harris frowned.

- If the demon king lives, itÆll still kill you. You know it can and will look for us. YouÆve felt it. WeÆre just like the Ringbearer. The demon king can see us, one way or another. The higher levels we are, the brighter we are to him, - Mirei said. - ItÆs better for us to knock it out. -

Harris had been still busy quelling the conflict among his many sons and daughters, so the idea of dying to the demon king really didnÆt sit well with him.

- So what are your alternatives, Emperor Harris? You know you canÆt outrun it, and you cannot move your childrenÆs kingdoms. Do them a favor, buy them some time, and knock out the demon king when you die. If the demon king lives and comes for you, your childrenÆs kingdoms will be in ruins anyway. -

Harris was silent.

Gerrard looked at Mirei. - Well, if anything, both of us will find a way to make us self - destruct if we die. ItÆs honestly a pretty fitting way to end our lives, and ironic, too. We all died in a car crash. Now we get to die with a Michael Bayûstyle explosion. -

- Why canÆt we summon the next generation of heroes? - Harris said. - There must be a way I can trade powers for the right to summon more heroes. -

Then he had a massive headache, so much so that it looked like he was having fits. Gerrard and Mirei quickly fed him some herbal liquor. - Wow. ThatÆs some intense mental attack. -

- Ugh. - Harris took a while to recover and then said, - I mean, it takes power to summon heroes, right, but can we summon heroes, or perhaps aid the gods in summoning heroes? That way I donÆt have to die. I donÆt mind surrendering my blessings or my levels as cost. -

- You know, thatÆs really a rather good idea. - Gerrard nodded. - But where do we even start? How do we even commune and discuss this with the gods? -

40

YEAR 123

Since time immemorial, man searched for means to make themselves more powerful. That was true then, and that was true now. Even nature itself was forever locked in an arms race, as species evolved for an advantage and other species evolved in response to that advantage.

War and evolution were tied together in many ways. - This is the latest generation of wood - formed weapons. -

I showed my latest upgraded versions of the wooden spears to Yura and the selected Valthorns. I had given out two more upgraded classes, one Grand Knight and one Spearmaster . It was a small group, less than ten.

- Is its effectiveness against demons improved? -

- Slightly. - I had spent a lot of time analyzing the crystal matrices and had managed to copy a little of its effects. But to replicate it wholesale was still beyond me, for now.

Every iteration was slightly better, slightly more powerful. Sad to think that my Woodforming was used in this way. I shouldÆve made statues instead.

One of the wooden spears shrank, and the attendees jumped. - Wow. -

- ItÆs now. expandable. That way itÆs easier to move around. I copied the idea from one of the heroes star mana withdrawable swords. - In hindsight, I shouldÆve made something like this way earlier. It was essentially just a magical lightsaber, but with wood. Not exactly difficult to make a seed - like thing that released a spear and later on retracted it. Nature already had many similar mechanisms.

In a way, it was also partly pocketspace, similar to my secret hideout .

- ItÆll be tuned to all of you. -

- Tuned? -

- Yes, with runes. The gem - inserts have runes, so add a drop of blood to it and itÆll recognize you as its owner. - Again, not an original idea. Some heroes had invented star - mana weapons that only recognized people who had their blood, essentially as a means of preserving power for their descendants.

- The heroes have this? -

- Well. no. - They had better ones.

- Ah, - Edna said, examining her new lance and shield. As a knight, she got some mount - specific boosts, and so there was some new wooden protective gear for her mount. - Seems like IÆll have to fight demons soon. -

- ItÆs not hard. The rule is simple: focus on your target, and donÆt stray too far outside A/ Æs suppression aura, - Yura explained. He was now level ninety.

- A/ Æs suppression aura should be everywhere, - Faris said as he too examined his wooden staff and armor. There were not many weapons I could make for Faris, because he was a ranged and support hero.

I agreed. But sadly, my suppression aura was weaker as I went further.

- This means A/ puts the odds of the heroes winning the next battle at close to zero, doesnÆt it? - our Spearmaster asked.

Yura paused. - It would be so. ItÆs not exactly uncommon for heroes to die to the demon king. Their recent string of victories is quite abnormal and has happened no more than five times in the past few hundred years. -

- And so the peace of Harrisan ends, - Faris said. An era of relative peace named after the most visible of the hero kings, Harris. - It seems our upgraded classes have not been given out for no reason. -

- Are you afraid, Great Druid ? - Edna smiled.

- Should I not be? -

- Worry when the time comes, - Yura spoke. - For now, practice, and keep gaining levels. -

- Certainly. - Edna nodded. - A/ , are there any restrictions of use for these items? -

- No. Try them out on the hybrids. I recall a large group has been spotted. -

- Gladly. -

Those with the upgraded classes and Yura went for it. I believed they would succeed. Maybe even Yura himself would be sufficient with his recently acquired strength.

On the home front, the heroes had been experimenting with new kinds of spells. They wanted to make themselves into a bomb, just like the demon king. I couldnÆt help them. I mean, I didnÆt have the ability to give them that kind of power. Trees didnÆt blow up. Except for hybrid trees, but that was an outlier.

So they had to speak to others, and Gerrard had been travelling everywhere.

Harris, too, had to frequently intervene in his family conflicts. It was just lucky that his curse did not flare up when he was temporarily away.

- A/ , - Mirei said when the two heroes were away. - WhatÆs it like, being a tree? -

I didnÆt answer. It was more like I didnÆt even know where to begin describing it.

- Sorry. Must be offensive. I suppose itÆs the equivalent of you asking me whatÆs it like being a hero, - Mirei said. - I asked because, well, IÆm an alcoholic and tea addict now. Rumors are swirling about, that the heroes would not survive the next one. Of my curse, and HarrisÆs. -

She looked wistful.

- What do you think of this idea, the hero - bomb? - It wasnÆt the first time she asked. I said it was a wise decision.

- ItÆs a good one. ItÆs pragmatic. -

Mirei paused. - I hoped youÆd not give me the same answer. Tell me itÆs wrong. -

- ItÆs wrong. -

Mirei laughed and then cried. - Fuck it. GerrardÆs running around in a wild goose chase. I donÆt think thereÆs any mage who knows how to make themselves into a walking nuke. Even if itÆs a damned good idea. -

- Keep cursing. -

- Yeah. I should probably stop wallowing in my misery. - Mirei stood. - HereÆs an idea. Write runes inside my soul. Can you do that? There must be a nuclear rune somewhere. Invent one. -

- Runes work on physical objects. - Well, in honesty, IÆd never tried. I wasnÆt aware whether runes could be written in the soul realm, but then, the soul spring did have rune - like inscriptions and patterns.

- Says who? -

- No one. -

- Then can you try? -

- Writing runes in the soul spring. - I wasnÆt sure if that was possible, but certainly worth trying.

- Try it on me. DonÆt let Harris or Gerrard know. -

- Why not? - I had the impression Gerrard was open to the idea of nuclearizing themselves.

- Fine. DonÆt let Harris know. -

I wondered then if it was possible to write a rune or blood ritual into the soul spring, such that it triggered a hexbomb - like event. Was this how we could assure victory, by making heroes into nukes? It was pragmatic, certainly. Sensible, even. But I got Mirei and HarrisÆs point that there was something quite wrong with it. How was it different from a kamikaze attack? Or in the case of a soldier charging into the firing range, preparing to die?

I couldnÆt quite answer that, but no matter.

I poked into MireiÆs soul spring again, and this time I used my feelers to attempt to write runes in her soul spring. It didnÆt work.

Not on the rocks of the soul spring. But I could write runes on the water or the ground around her spring. But then the waters from her soul spring quickly washed the rune away.

It was. actually possible. I was amazed. If one could find a way to make the rune stick, then it was possible to have a soul that was covered in runes. Or at least outside of the soul spring.

- What? Does that mean you can make me a nuke? -

No. Not just that. Could I use runes to suppress her curse even further? But. how and where did I start? There were two main hurdles. One, there was a need to find something that made lasting runes in the soul area, around the soul spring. Two, what runes should I use, and what were their long - term effects on a person?

That was, of course, something to research.

Criminals existed in every society. Each of the segments of the Freshlands administered its own set of rules and justice, and this was something we, as the Federal entity, did not generally participate in.

It was a federal - state relationship, though, simply because I didnÆt want to be bothered by the minutiae, and I was also not interested in micromanaging people. IÆd rather focus on trees, gardens, and stuff.

One area in which I did make orders was that every large town and segment had gazetted gardens and parks and long strips of tree - flanked roads. This was something the Federal Freshlands Authority, headquartered in Freshka, gazetted and required of all of its cities. A small requirement, really, since IÆd handle the creation of trees and parks; the towns just had to leave the space and path for it. That was on top of the protected forests and jungles.

In a way, it was almost possible to imagine the Federal Freshlands Authority like the National Parks Service on extreme steroids, to the point that it was the main authority. The Valthorns rangers were just a militarized version of the park rangers.

And since they were militarized, they did also catch. criminals.

Which was useful.

Rumors had been swirling about that criminals caught were subjected to my experiments. That the A/ of Freshka was outwardly a benevolent deity, but it treated its criminals as materials for gruesome experiments.

I was rather amused by it. Because it was true.

Serious criminals were used for my soul - related experiments. For blood magic. For creating the Soul - strengthening seed .

After all, the legal terminology used to describe the punishment for serious crimes was Subject to A/ Æs Mercy. I didnÆt know who came up with that - I suspected one clever lawyer or justice of peace - but yes, it was a phrase that had begun to strike fear into everyone.

No one subjected to A/ Æs Mercy had ever returned. How could they, with their souls ripped out of their bodies and turned into living experiments?

Still, criminals persisted, and many of these states had added a layer beneath that punishment. Their citizens demanded something less frightening. Most involved life imprisonment.

Criminals were quite fun, actually, and I received some rather interesting criminal classes. I even fused them to create more powerful criminal classes. Like Bandit Lord or Master Thief . As I thought of this, Yura had just finished capturing a runaway murderer.

Punishment for multiple murders? A/ Æs mercy.

I felt like that was such an evil euphemism. It was like saying walk the plank, instead of jumping off the ship. The criminal was tied up and loaded into a beetle with a cage. A Cage - Beetle. There were hundreds of these beetles, travelling between all the various segments of the Freshlands, collecting all these criminals and ferrying them here.

To me. For my experiments.

A logistical network of high - sec criminals set up to feed my need for materials, coordinated by my artificial minds.

- All right. ThatÆs three. - Yura locked the criminals inside. They wailed and screamed.

- Let me out! Please, counsel, I beg you. Not A/ Æs Mercy! -

- The Federal Law is clear. Multiple murders and domestic crimes put you under Federal Jurisdiction. A/ has every right to claim you. -

- Please no! -

Such exchanges were common. Why was it that bad? Kings sentenced criminals to death all the time. Usually, an executioner with a massive axe would do the dirty job.

Yura shrugged. - You may consider your appeal before A/ himself. -

None succeeded. The very fact that my artificial minds had assessed them as targets meant theyÆd passed the preset thresholds.

A fellow Valthorn just gulped and looked at Yura . Every year they collected about one thousand or so criminals. It was on a steady decline, as more and more criminals learned not to cross that threshold. Not much, when the entire Freshlands region was now home to some four million people spread across the fifteen segments and the fifty cities, three hundred towns, and five thousand or so villages within it.

The Freshlands were massive, now that I had recovered close to 10 percent of what was the entire Rottedlands. Time needed for a beetle to travel from one end to another without rest took a full seven days. Freshka itself now was home to about one hundred and fifty thousand, being the Federal Capital and Administrative Seat of the Freshlands Representative Council.

TheyÆd been changing the names every now and then. Little matters that I left to Kavio and the representatives.

- Oh, the A/ of the Freshlands. - My attention was drawn to a voice that called out to me. Jasmine was quick to prompt me to look. It was one of the nobles of the outer cities, he was alone, and he called out to me. - If you can hear me, please talk to me. -

- Father, have you gone insane? - His son was behind him; he was a lot younger, in his teens.

- No, - the noble said. Jasmine quickly gave me his brief. He was a level thirty - one Noble , and he was the ruler of this city. It was a mid - size city on the northern edges of the Freshlands and mainly worked with mining and farming from the recovered lands.

- Then why are you talking like that? -

- I got a skill, young foolish son of mine, and that skill tells me A/ knows IÆm talking to him. -

- Really? What skill is that? - the teenage son asked.

- Territorial Awareness . ItÆs common for kings to have a version of it, but it seems I got lucky and somehow obtained this. -

- And so youÆre testing it out by shouting and calling out to A/ , our faraway supposed benefactor? -

The noble smacked the young teenager. - Watch your words. -

At this point, I supposed I should respond, so I telepathically spoke to both of them. - Yes, nobleman. You called? - A vine emerged from the ground and crawled in through the window. The teenager looked deathly pale.

The nobleman instantly prostrated himself before the vine. - Greetings, A/ . So it is true, those rumors of A/ Æs ever - presence in the Freshlands. -

- Had it not been true? -

- Indeed. It is just that us, those on the fringes, do not feel your presence. -

- Have the Valthorns not sent their men to deal with the hybrids? -

- . ah. - I was wasting my time.

- Is there anything serious? -

- No. I just wanted to test my skill. -

Ah. I sometimes wondered whether my presence and surveillance was a good thing.

I floated in my soul realm and watched the souls drift in. There were about one hundred fifty thousand souls in my soul realm , all awaiting reincarnation or whatever awaited their next step. When they were ready, they would shed their outer shells, and only the inner core would move on to inhabit whatever the gods had planned.

I wondered whether there was a standard process to it. I recalled Mozart, the being that reincarnated me, referring to himself as the administrator of this entire process. To think, since that day, I now played a part in the same process that they administered.

A cog in the big machine.

I once described the soul as a car and a driver, the driver as the inner core, the car as the outer core. But maybe it was also more accurate to imagine their bodies as the car, their clothes and look as their outer core, and their physical body as the inner core.

One could change their outer soul shells, just as how Meela and Alexis adopted new classes and new skills . The outer soul was, after all, just a frame and the skills that were attached to that frame.

Now that I had four colors, my ability to interact with these floating souls improved. Some of them were in need of repairs. In a way, this entire realm was my body, and there were segments where these damaged souls were repaired.

There were a lot of memories. Of their families. Of life in this world. I had chosen to just ignore these flashbacks. In a way, I was just behaving like a soulless office administrator, putting a stamp on their documents before sending them on their way.

I didnÆt want to care about their life story. It was too much. In fact, the more I learned of their life story, it just made me feel worse, because here I was, as a soul tree. It was like that meme from the MCU movies. I guided others to a treasure I could not possess. And here, I saw memories of a life had and lost that I could not obtain.

Are you a soul tree, too, Lilies? Do you have a soul realm ?

Yes, but we accept only the souls of those thrown into the lake.

Ah. What do you do with their. memories?

Nothing.

I paused. Yeah. Me too.

Maybe it was right that I didnÆt go through their memories. Did they deserve at least that bit of dignity?

I recalled that Lilies was rather aloof about this whole arrangement, that they looked at it all from the angle of an overarching ecosystem. That the death of one was but a necessity.

Was I becoming like that, desensitized to death? Now that my Domain and Grand Mind Tree were able to block outside influences, was this. really me that had transformed into this jaded tree?

IÆm. IÆm afraid of what IÆm becoming. I didnÆt know why I said that to Lilies, but at that point, I really didnÆt have anyone else to turn to for advice on life as a tree.

I had become desensitized. When I thought about it, some of my choices were not my best. Even when I tried making better choices, it didnÆt always turn out better.

Lilies didnÆt reply for a whole week, then one day they just responded.

We are many things.

Some, forced onto us by the gods.

Some a reaction, or as a response. We think, and we act. Or we donÆt think, and act. A reaction nonetheless.

What we become is a path on a confusing road.

Our faces are many, even if you are just one.

Fear not what youÆve become, because this world demands monsters of all kinds to do what we must.

How? Where? I didnÆt know.

Grand Mind Tree had blocked outside influence from fellow trees.

Override.

Grand Mind Tree has temporarily allowed outside influence.

I felt a sense of comfort. My fellow forests. Our now - vast network of trees that stretched the entirety of the Freshlands. The land had been damaged by the demons, but weÆd brought it back from the dead. The land was hurt, but we could fix it. Must I become one with the rest of the forests? Our fates were tied together. These trees depended on me, and as it was, I too depended on them.

Do you lean on your fellow trees? I supposed as a crutch. Maybe Lilies didnÆt need it, because she, they, were born this way. But I was human, and my mind still had the lingering structure and processes of a human. It was a lot.

Certainly. Numbers are strength. Lean on them, but let them not be your crutches.

I felt like it was.

The two of them sparred. Yura was quicker. Edna was still about level sixty, though she had an upgraded class; Yura Æs Warlord class was pretty much an upgraded class, too, though a common one. But as a Grand Knight , she had a unique set of skills.

It was the whole debacle of the fused classes, such as warlord versus specialist classes, such as Grand Knight and Great Druid.

The other Valthorns watched, Yvon, too.

- Yura Æs gotten a lot stronger. -

- He somehow broke through his level cap. -

It was a secret, of course. No one knew how he broke through the level cap, just that it happened. But Yvon was no fool, and she quickly concluded that I did something. After all, it wasnÆt the first time I tried to help Yura break through the level cap. She was also smart enough not to publicly say it.

Faris was level fifty - plus; his leveling was a little slower as somehow he didnÆt gain levels as frequently from battling hybrids or demons. If he wanted, his ability to influence trees was quite strong.

Luckily, he couldnÆt get past my defenses.

I wondered if the Lord of the Forest could, so I decided to just destroy that seed instead. If I wanted it again, I could just merge thirty Great Druid seeds, but keeping it lying around was a risk I didnÆt want to take.

41

YEAR 124

The demon kingÆs coming closer, and the weakening barriers somehow strengthened the hybrids. Then we spotted the demonic portals, and out came the champions.

Ah, shit. Here we go again.

Champions. Walker - class demons. Or more like walkers were champion - class demons. The Rottedlands occasionally spawned champion - class monsters, but they were quite passive, usually just roaming around where they spawned. But a return of the champions meant the demon king wasnÆt far.

- So, are you guys ready for the next one? - The three heroes were in their fifties now. They came forty years ago, and this would be their fifth demon king, although they didnÆt have to fight the second one, thanks to AstraÆs bomb.

- No. We havenÆt fixed the fundamental weakness that we do not have a healer. - I couldnÆt fill their role; I was not a battlefield healer. I was like that hospital back in town that they rushed back to. - And we do have a gap in damage output. -

- We could recruit Yura , - Gerrard suggested. - I sparred with him a few times, and I think heÆs about 20 percent of our level, maybe less. -

- No. - I was quick to smack that down. I wasnÆt going to send my best man to his death. But that was an interesting estimate. The heroes were around level one hundred thirty to one hundred forty, and yet a level - ninety Yura was only 20 percent of their strength. That meant the growth at the higher levels was higher, in terms of stats.

- Aww, I guessed it. But A/ , you should train an archmage that can reach level one hundred fifty! -

Easier said than done. IÆd used so many experience - gaining and training - related abilities on my elite Valthorns, and Edna was only level sixty - two. Which was just a little bit faster than how long it took Lozanna to get there. I reckoned the speed was due to experience and also an abundance of hybrid demons for Edna and her batch to fight as real combat experience.

Anyway, Yura led my elite squad of Valthorns to one of the champions. They would attempt to fight one, with one of my Giant Attendant Trees nearby as aura and support. I wouldnÆt let them die, of course, but I wanted to see how my new elite squad stood against a champion.

Could they do it?

Anyway, this was a good time to watch.

The demon champion wasnÆt an exotic shape or form; instead, it took the form of a massive winged demon with horns. A typical demonic look.

Yura stood. - Well, itÆs more intimidating than I expected. - It was a group of ten: Yura at about level ninety - two, Edna at level sixty - two, Faris at level fifty - five, and the rest about level forty to fifty. The gap was honestly big, but most of them had upgraded classes, which put them above the strength of their level.

- Fear Ward , Morale Boost . - The Grand Knight used her skills. - Well? -

Yura nodded, and he too had received upgraded familiars. - Aura - demonic suppression . All right. ItÆs ten on one. A/ Æs watching, and he needs to know whether we can take it. -

There were swarms of beetles around to ensure that their ten - on - one fight was not interrupted.

They fought. They fought hard.

And they were still inadequate. Mainly, everyone else other than Yura . Even EdnaÆs shields and abilities were not at a level strong enough to parry the demon championÆs attacks, until she switched to the anti - demon weapons.

I supposed I cheated, because I had these hero - fragments, which just made me intensely overpowered against demons. Still.

They won. But I had to use a block or two. Conclusion, all of them needed to be around level seventy for the fight against the demon-champion to be a certainty. They also needed a far stronger damage dealer and live - healer.

A druid was not a pure - healer. Not like someone with the healer class was. I had some healer class seeds, and I wanted to create a pure high - tier healer.

It was not just healers. I wanted high - tier mages, too, and high - tier runemasters as well, to do the things I wanted.

Meanwhile, the heroes were getting ready. There was two years left, and already the continents faced the demonic attacks. It seemed that this time, the demons would be concentrated on our continent, because most of the demonic rifts had been detected here. Based on the heroes network of informants all over the country, this demon king was shaping up to be another conventional demon king.

Was that a good thing?

- We should be expecting hellhounds soon. -

Ah! That was nostalgic. I had a woodhound from back then.

- And the demon knights and their elites. -

- So, what should we prepare? - Edna asked.

- Anti - fire magic? The conventional demon king is heavy on fire, axes, and overwhelming force, - Yura advised. - What have you learned from our combat with the champion? -

- We need to be stronger, and our team - composition can be better. - Edna shrugged. - I have a few anti - demon skills as grand knight , but not enough. -

- IÆve been rather useless throughout the entire battle. - Faris frowned. - My vines are not strong enough to damage the demon champion at all! My summons are quite useless, too! - In truth, a druid and a fire - demon were a very bad matchup. The only reason I personally had any use was because my fragments made me overpowered.

- Stronger skills. - All of them agreed they needed stronger skills, but I wondered how I could give them some of my anti - demon properties, other than through my weapons and items. If only they could get some of my passives.

- Hero - weapons? -

- The gear we have here is as close to hero - weapons as we can get, - Yura explained. Well, I did have many, many sets of weapons I made with Harris and gang, but I kept that for now, mainly because after this generation of heroes, I may not get the chance to interact with the next batch, so I should keep this generationÆs weapons as a rare item. - It ultimately comes down to .levels, and I agree with Faris. Faris should therefore be stationed in the back. I will request A/ for the grand knights to be deployed. -

Later on, the Freshlands Federal Authority and the representative of the segment - states had gathered for a military briefing. The topic was obviously the demon king. For these representatives, this was their chance to extract maximum benefit from the federal authority.

The states had all appointed their own generals and military commanders, but as enshrined in the constitution of our federation, and with my blessings, the beetles would be deployed to defend all the segments against the demons. The Valthorns, of course, had to join the battle as the elite force.

The heroes, too, had deployed their summoned units to fight demons beyond the borders of the Freshlands. Gerrard was frequently away to tackle the demon champions that appeared. He, a high - leveled hero, could handle the demon champions easily.

I was wary of another Rottedlands - style event, so I increased the number of Giant Attendant Trees in the distant regions, forming a ring. The idea was that if something like the Rottedlands happened again, the giant trees could last a bit longer and give me ample warning to prepare.

The last round, the demon king was on another continent, so I too somehow felt safe. It was totally a flaw in my thought process, but yeah, there was an urgency to this matter. I had reinforced the root walls on all the borders and had begun stockpiling my tuberous storage . If needed, IÆd have to release large quantities of mana at one go to offset the pressure from a Rottedlands - style corruption bomb.

I also added another of trees and root walls around Freshka and the valley, for a total of three layers. One at the borders, one around the Freshkan region, and one around the Valley of the Unrotten. If a bomb blew up, IÆd be able to buy two to three hours for a response.

I had made a basic strategy framework for a demon king.

One. Survival up till the point the demon king was slain. This meant constructing defenses, mobile populations, and armies to deal with the lesser demons. On this point, we had the beetles and a growing Valthorn Elite, and each of the regions had their own armies, adventurers, and so on.

Two. Supporting the heroes to slay the demon king. The longer the demon king was not slain, the more damage it could cause. So, once the heroes appeared, they needed to be supported so they could get to the level needed as fast as possible. Sometimes this took one to two years, and during this time there was absolutely nothing that could stand in the demon kingÆs way. Maybe I could, but I wasnÆt sure, and I had no intention of taking that challenge on. Once the heroes were found, they should be groomed and properly armed. This, of course, was somewhat against my past practice of non - interference, but clearly it didnÆt work that well.

Three. Surviving the aftermath. WeÆd seen from the past few demon kings that there was usually a death trigger and a post - recovery period. In some cases, it was a bomb, in some others a plague. We didnÆt know what this demon king would bring, but walls, mana, a widely distributed force, and time would be needed. If it was a corruption - bomb, rootwalls would be effective. If it was a nuke, the rootwalls would be destroyed, but they would reduce the fallout area.

- What if a magic - interference ability happens again? - Yura asked. - We currently still have very little good alternatives to the message spell. ThatÆs the number one risk, I think. A communication breakdown will damage our ability to mount a response. -

Ah. So I had Yura train and set up a system of runners and messengers.

The Valthorns were a bit taken aback when I suggested having a system of locating and supporting the heroes.

- You want us to make items for the next generation of heroes? - Harris and Mirei were both rather surprised by it.

- Yes. If you donÆt make it, you should leave something for the next generation of heroes. IÆll keep it for you and give it to them. Unless you donÆt trust me. - This was a response to point two, of course. How did we get the new heroes up to speed as fast as possible?

- No. just that thatÆs a good point. Why didnÆt we think of it? - Harris said.

- Because thereÆs no one we could trust that would ever give up a hero - class item to the heroes. Why would they even tell the new heroes, who arrived a year or two after we died, that there are items for them? - Mirei answered on my behalf. - ItÆs a good idea, really. I just donÆt know why I didnÆt think of it, too. But then, we didnÆt have an eternal tree that we could trust. I mean, our lives are already in A/ Æs hands. What are some items? -

- Try to make enough for five generations of heroes. - If a hero could inherit the weapons of multiple generations of heroes, that may give them the leg up they needed. Or make them too powerful. But the heroes were already too powerful. The fact that there was always a successor generation of demon king, in ten years, essentially kept them in check. - If you want, you can also write a special journal or writing that can only be opened with star mana that you can leave for the next generationÆs hero to read. -

They nodded, and they spent months on it. They made items, wrote magical books. Things. Memories from one generation to be passed on to another. They all made things. Harris made shields that summoned shield soldiers. Mirei made lightning axes and staffs that also summoned lightning elementals and flying thunderbirds. Gerrard made multiple swords that also summoned magical gladiators.

When they made items for others, like their descendants, they needed to be mindful that the items needed star mana to activate, so they had to ensure the items contained enough self - sufficient star mana such that their descendants, who were born without them, could still use the items.

But when they made for future heroes, who would have star mana, they could pretty much go all out, since they didnÆt have to consider the star mana supply. So the power of the items contained, nigh unusable to anyone else because of its star mana requirements, was extremely high. Again, I didnÆt see why they couldnÆt have made it and stored it somewhere.

No one could have used these items other than heroes anyway. At least, the full abilities of it. It was still limitedly useful in the hands of non - heroes because it was generally strong and all that stuff.

And I had them stored. - I will give one of each item to one hero of the next generation, so each generation will receive around five to fifteen items. - It was rather difficult for the heroes to make the same items, so what I would do, as discussed with the heroes, was let the next generation of heroes choose what they wanted.

IÆd become the tree of items, too.

Secret Hideout upgraded.

Woodforming upgraded.

42

YEAR 125

DEMON KING GUIHWANG HAS ARRIVED.

The demon king was early. At first, nothing much seemed to have happened. - The demon king is here, but we donÆt know where it is. - The heroes convened.

- You donÆt? - I was rather surprised by this. It was on this continent, no? No damage?

- Not a single sighting so far. -

- Huh? But then, isnÆt it destroying anything? -

- I have no idea, either. - None of the heroes had any idea what was happening. Every demon king in the past left a trail of destruction wherever it went, so this one being absolutely unseen was strange.

- Is it in the Rottedlands, collecting its strength? - The Rottedlands were vast, and I did recall some demon kings generally just lazed around doing nothing for a while.

- We looked with our summons. Nothing, - Gerrard said.

- Then. -

Was this demon king. invisible? Or an assassin - type? If so, I had ensured that everyone was on high alert. - A/ thinks this demon kingÆs going to jump on us? -

- Yes. Likely to be an invisible or assassin type that would only pop up when itÆs really sure itÆs seen us. -

- We can sense it, right? - Gerrard closed his eyes and attempted to use his heroic sense. And yet, nothing.

- We should just travel together, just in case - An attack on the border. Demon champions, three of them. And an army of hybrid demons. I sent beetles to fight them, and then I allowed the demon champions closer. Once they were in the vicinity of my Giant Attendant Trees, I unleashed a flurry of anti - demon skills and my hoarded pile of anti - demon bolts.

They were tough. After all, the battle still occurred a distance away from my main tree, so the effects of my passives were weaker. But I eventually destroyed all three of them.

You gained a level. Level 158!

Skill obtained: Demonslayer Pit

Creates a pit that significantly weakens demons trapped within. Attacks made within the pit all gain anti - demon properties.

Huh. A stationary trap - ability.