TREE OF AEONS 3

What was the point -

My thoughts were instantly interrupted by a surge in power. The heroes were fighting. The demon king finally made its appearance! A large - winged demon, its scales so shiny they resembled polished chrome. It had large claws, and its swipes made large gashes in the ground with every swipe.

How and when did it appear at the outskirts?

- We canÆt let it fight here! - Harris shouted as he dodged an energy attack. The ground cracked where it landed. I felt the pain of the ground and the trees damaged by it, and soon, the area was already decimated. - ThereÆs a city not far from here! -

- Then we lead it into the Rottedlands! - Mirei said, and she transformed into lightning itself, and all three heroes were sucked into a lightning sphere. The demon king effortlessly followed. It was out to kill them!

They didnÆt go too far. They managed to travel about one beetle - dayÆs journey into the Rottedlands and bought some space between themselves and civilization. I could see it. because this entire area was filled with hybrid trees that I gained control over.

I was relieved that even with the demon king so near I still had control.

- Should we cut it off, though? - Trevor asked. - The demon king may use some kind of psychic attack. -

- No. - I wanted to watch the demon king fight. - Just prepare countermeasures. -

The heroes crashed in an uninhabited area far away, filled with hybrid demon trees. It was rocky terrain, filled with small mounds and hills and the explosive demon trees.

The three heroes were all fully armed, and they dodged. The demon king wasnÆt about to let them talk, as the demon kingÆs massive claws created another scar in the ground. I felt it, the sudden extinguishing of lives, trees that often just got destroyed in every single combat.

The heroes used attacks IÆd never seen before. Beams of starlight, slashes that had energies of the star mana. Bright, white - colored energy slashes.

The demon king and the heroes traded blows, and dozens of demon champions appeared as well. The demon king summoned them to annoy the heroes, because in this star - mana form, they could destroy the demon champions with a single skill.

Yet the demon king stood strong and took hits like it didnÆt hurt. But it probably did, because Gerrard managed to cut away one of its six silvery wings.

Each time they traded blows, some trees got crushed or destroyed. It reminded me of the saying, - When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. -

But the heroes were too weak. MireiÆs performance was dragging them down, and Harris, too, was slower.

- My curse is acting up! - Mirei winced in pain. The curse, long suppressed by my magic, was aggravated by the overuse of star mana and her physical exertion. The demon king didnÆt let them have a break, either. Barrage after barrage.

They may not have noticed that IÆd been gradually replenishing the vegetation so that I could maintain my vision over the event.

Harris took a hit, his armor crushed by the sheer force of the demon kingÆs silvery claws. A silver - demon. The other two heroes unleashed an attack similar to a mini - nuke; they tried to put some distance between the demon king and Harris.

Harris was first to die.

The demon king just tanked the attacks and lost one of his remaining five wings. But he got into distance and with his claws grabbed onto Harris. The demon king caught him and crushed him.

Harris has died. You received a fragment.

But Harris had prepared for this eventuality, and his body exploded into a mist of blood. The blood mist then transformed into multiple sharp, spear - like shapes. Those blood spears then smashed into the demon kingÆs body. It pierced through multiple parts of the demon kingÆs body with tremendous force; an attack made of the heroÆs blood surely was something else.

The power of the attack stunned my magical sensors temporarily at this distance. It was honestly off the charts.

Another set of the demon kingÆs wings were knocked out. The two heroes didnÆt flinch as they watched their friend die. TheyÆd been through loss, and they were still focused on the demon king.

The demon king took damage, roared, and shot out beams of energy. Their tanker and defender were taken out, so they had to rely on a wide set of items, like their crystal matrices, which created massive wooden shields. Those items didnÆt hold up for very long.

Each of the shields took two hits.

MireiÆs curse acted up some more. But rather than retreat, she seemed to gain a boost of energy, and she threw herself at the demon king. - Damn you! - she shouted, and she ran in with a staff of lightning. I felt all my magical sensors go nuts against them. She was drawing her soul into her attack!

And the demon king, already weakened by HarrisÆs blood - spear, had half of its head blown off by an intense purple - lightning blast that contained all of her soulÆs power.

Then Mirei collapsed.

Mirei has died. You received a fragment.

Gerrard was the last. He stood alone, against a silverish demon king with two wings left, half of its head and body destroyed. Purple lightning seemed to constantly attack it from nowhere. A thunder and lightning curse. Each lightning strike seemed powered by the heroÆs soul.

- Just you and me, buddy. - Gerrard closed his eyes. - ItÆs finally time for me to also return home. Wait for me, my friends. -

He, too, threw his entire soul into his gladiatorÆs gladius. It shone with a bright - blue light, its energy distorting the air. Its glow was so bright that it seemed like the sun itself appeared. Once again, all my magical sensors went insane.

- I wonÆt live through this anyway, but you are going down with me. - Gerrard charged at the demon king. The demon king somehow roared, and I felt the worldÆs demons all drained into it. Some of the hybrid trees were sucked up, and the demon kingÆs two claws glowed.

Both of their attacks found their targets. GerrardÆs gladius stabbed right in the demon kingÆs chest. It pierced through the blood - speared body. The demon kingÆs claws stabbed through GerrardÆs stomach.

- Die with me! - Gerrard shouted. - Drunken Explosion . -

His body seemed to turn into an alcoholic mist, and it ignited all the naturally explosive hybrid trees together.

There was a loud and massive boom.

It set off a chain of hybrid - tree explosions that destroyed everything within a hundred miles and created a smog so thick that it lasted for three weeks.

Demon King Guihwang has been destroyed.

Gerrard has died. You received a fragment.

You received 3 heroic souls. You can now create 3 titans. You currently possess enough energy to support 2 titans.

You gained 10 levels. You are now level 168.

Skill significantly upgraded: Woodforming

Skill significantly upgraded: Hybrid Botany

Skill significantly upgraded: Constriction

Skill significantly upgraded: Subsidiary Tree. Subsidiary tree limit increased on 300,000. Great Attendant Tree Limit increased to 10,000.

Skill significantly upgraded: Demonic Suppression Aura

You reached level 160. Domain ability: A/ ic Variation unlocked.

A/ ic Classes and variants have been introduced to the world. Class - users worldwide can now obtain A/ ic - variant classes such as A/ ic Ranger, A/ ic Knight, A/ ic Priests, A/ ic Druids, etc. You may also now upgrade a class to their A/ ic variants. A/ ic variants have slightly different skill sets and gain extra boosts when using A/ ic items. Animals and monsters around A/ Æs valleys may also have A/ ic variants.

YouÆve unlocked two unique classes. Each of these 2 classes can only be awarded to one person at a time.

A/ Æs Demonslayer. Class focused on demon-slaying. Gains significant anti - demon slaying boost. Able to remotely apply demonic suppression aura thatÆs equal to A/ Æs main body around itself.

A/ Æs Field Scientist. Class focused on magic and research. Unlocks a wide range of lab - related and soul - related skills. Can instantly set up teleportation beacons between a field lab and the magic labs within A/ Æs secret hideout.

I gained ten levels!

- Holy cow. -

And it wasnÆt over. There was a string of messages and notifications that came from Mirei and the other heroes.

Mirei has bequeathed 30 experience seeds.

Mirei has bequeathed ten Lightning Mage class seeds.

Mirei has bequeathed twenty Mage class seeds.

Gerrard has bequeathed 22 experience seeds.

Gerrard has bequeathed 15 Brewmaster class seeds.

Harris has bequeathed 10 king class seeds. King class seeds absorbed into Anointed King class seed.

Harris has bequeathed 10 Master Trader class seeds.

Harris has bequeathed 10 Inquisitor class seeds. Inquisitor modified to A/ ic Inquisitor class seeds.

Harris has bequeathed 25 experience seeds.

Ah.

Where did I start?

43

YEAR 125 (CONTINUED)

All three heroes died in their fight. TheyÆd managed to kill the demon king, but they fell with it. HarrisÆs broken empire immediately devolved into war. War was declared the day the news arrived in their cities. He must be sad if he knew that the truce he brokered didnÆt even last a day after his death.

It was a common thing and had happened throughout history. After the heroes died, whatever they built tended to fall apart.

- If I die, the Freshlands will collapse, too. - I realized in a way this empire I had right now was almost the same.

- Certainly, - Yura said. - As it is, the safety of the entire valley is backed by your prowess. Without you, nothing much else holds the valley together, other than a shared area. And weÆve seen them, happy to slay each other. -

- Conflict is eternal, - Yvon said as she trained a new bunch of children. - But so is progress. Train, and we get better. -

Progress in level terms, or progress in a society?

Also, I could create Titans. That meant I could choose to power up that dormant walker I had. But those were not the only choices I had. For the titan souls, the system gave a few options.

Giant Tree Serpent, Nydus - A massive serpent. Able to use earth and wood magic. Starts at level 70. Gains powers to summon all sorts of serpents and poisons. Master of poisons and has the ability to brew multiple types of potent poisons and cures. Able to grant poison immunity.

Giant Storm Bird - A massive bird with powers of wind, water, and thunder. Gains power to summon eagles and hawks. Eagles and hawks can carry goods and people. Has power to grant Wind Mage and Flight ability to those worthy. Can control the local weather and improve irrigation. Starts at level 70.

Fusion with Yura Æs Bamboo to form a Titan - class summon. Starts at level 80. Takes the form of a massive wall of thorns. As a summon, it has high burst type output. Transferable, and also significantly improves its hostÆs strength and base stats. Host of the Titan Summon will not age.

Fusion with Horns. Starts at level 80. Transforms Horns into a Goliath Kingbeetle thatÆs able to use earth magic and various other protective and offensive abilities. Goliath Kingbeetle can create Royal Warbeetles. Also produces very high - quality beetle - silk. Royal Warbeetles can improve crop output in the area.

Fusion with a Giant Attendant Tree - Creates a Warmaster Treant. Starts at level 70. High toughness and use of wood magic. Warmaster Treant is able to create lesser treants to assist in combat and other duties. Also produces high quality teas and fruits.

Fusion with Grand Mind Tree - Creates the Tree - Over - Mind. Starts at level 75. Massive psychic magical abilities. Expands secured telepathic communication to the entire continent. Unlocks Mind - Reading Ability for anyone within the local valley, which allows limited mind - reading of any targeted person in the local area. Also unlocks psychic/mental attacks and the power to send nightmares and dreams to anyone in the local valley. Psychic attacks do not work on demons.

And lastly, activate the walker.

Fusion with Walker Corpse. Creates the Walking - Tree - City. Starts at level 75. Has the ability to produce wood - warriors and also simultaneously control them. Limited to 5,000 wood - warriors at any point, and wood - warriors cannot travel far from Walking - Tree - City. Has ability to use long - range projectile attacks. Also carries a mobile healing spring and accommodation on its body able to accommodate and feed up to 1,000 people. Produces fruits and vegetables on its back, too.

I was quite struck by analysis paralysis, and I had no real urgency to select one, since, well, I had three of them and I could keep them until I noticed what I really, really wanted. I mean, I had three titan souls, and I could support two of them!

In truth, I wanted all of them. And from my experience with this system, it was likely that IÆd unlock even more choices as I went along or just became aware of them. So there may be merit to choose the next option later, when I had more choices.

I mean, all of the titan choices were good, one way or another!

What do you think, Lilies?

I shared the news of the Titan Souls to Lilies. I wasnÆt sure why I did it, but I wanted to tell someone, so I told Lilies and Yura . Yura was too stunned and didnÆt quite know what to advise me. To him, this was the realm of gods, and he wouldnÆt be able to choose. Which was strange, but maybe he just couldnÆt bear with the weight of the choice.

Any choice is a good choice.

No preferences?

No. Choose and live with it.

Hah! No! I was not going to do that. Or maybe I should? I didnÆt know. I wondered what kind of choices Lilies would have gotten if they were in my place? Maybe something over death or something like a city? Since that was what they had power over?

Lilies, if you made an item for the heroes, what would you make?

It didnÆt reply to me. I mean, I asked that question because the heroes were making items for the few next generations, and I wondered what was a good item I would give.

I mean, could we cheat this system in some way? A sword that accumulated power as it passed through the hands of each and every hero, eventually reaching the point that it could kill the demon king outright? I mean, that was like an anime plot, but magically and system wise, that was possible, right?

A weapon that kept gaining levels. A weapon to slay all the demons. I had that idea a while ago to fuse an artificial soul into a sword or spear, but that didnÆt really make a weapon that much stronger. A weapon made by the hero, formed from star mana, was still stronger. Partly because artificial souls on their own werenÆt that strong.

But if I could make a Titan - Soul version of a living, growing weapon, wouldnÆt it eventually reach a point where it could slay the demon king?

- The heroes are dead, - Yvon announced to the group a few days after it happened. The Valthorns were mostly quiet. For them, these young ones, theyÆd lived their entire lives with Harris, Mirei, and Gerrard as the surviving heroes.

To some extent, this was Pax Harrisan, a period of relative peace thanks to the quick destruction of the demon king by the heroes. This era had finally ended.

- What now, Principal? - they asked.

- Nothing. It was just an announcement that all of you should know. For us, we go on as usual. We prepare for the next demon king, and the next. -

Edna looked at Faris. - Well. Our worries were for nothing. -

- What, you wanted to face the demon king? Did power get to your head? - Faris rolled his eyes. Since their last battle with the demon champions, theyÆd been constantly gaining levels, and now Edna and Faris were both in the early level seventies.

- Ah, no. -

- Another ten years of relative peace. -

- Eight. Data collected suggests that the two years before the demon king arrives is filled with demonic attacks. -

- Minor attacks. Nothing we canÆt handle. Especially now that there are three of us Grand Knights , - Edna said. - I hear from Master Yura that he may be considering a second Great Druid , too. With all this strength, I think we can handle a demon champion or two. -

- Really? - Faris seemed worried. - Who? -

- Who do you think? - Edna smiled back.

- Ah, come on. DonÆt play coy with me. You know the answer. -

- I donÆt. I swear. - Edna just walked.

- Hey, you two seemed happy. - The Spearmaster , Lovis, poked in. - Are we having a gathering of the upgraded classes soon? -

- Ish. - Edna frowned.

From what I could see, all of them were still somehow around 70û80 percent of Lozanna Æs full strength. Lozanna had the special familiar, the possession of the devoted , and that alone made her stronger, even if she had just regular classes. But the possession of the devoted had strange, unwritten conditions, and I had not been able to award them to anyone yet.

As the young batch of upgraded - class Valthorns talked, Yura and Yvon just looked at each other. - What do you think of this batch? -

- TheyÆre good, - Yvon said. - At their level, stronger than me. -

- Well, you used to be stronger than me. - Yura smiled.

- Used to be. Not anymore. On that topic, tell me, how did A/ break through your cap? -

- Well, something that wonÆt help anyone. I think only he can do it. ItÆs something soul - related. -

Yvon shrugged. The Valtorn OrderÆs staff strength had increased to about fifteen thousand, with twelve thousand in Freshka itself, and the remaining three thousand in the various city - states. They acted as our representatives, recruiters, and caretakers.

The Valtorn OrderÆs two main wings, the military wing and the social wing, were meant to be mutually reinforcing. The Social and Health wing, in addition to its social support services, was also a means of funneling young children with nothing much to lose to the Valtorn OrderÆs ways. It worked well, and the local rulers recognized it, so they often set up competing institutions in order to divert talent away from me.

The Social Wing, in addition to regular orphanages, also included funeral parlors, hospitals, childcare facilities, some schools, and some food stores.

Then the Valtorn Order started getting notified of it.

I could feel them. They were scattered throughout Freshka, at first, ten, then twenty. Then a hundred. It was like I instinctively knew where they were.

- My class. it changed when I woke up. ItÆs now A/ ic Ranger , - a ranger said to his colleagues on the walls of Freshka. He was not the first, but many others started getting similar notifications.

- What does it do? - Not everyone got it. Some did.

- I. donÆt know? - the ranger said. He was still coming to terms with his changed class. Those whose class changed generally were a bit more spiritual, and they tended to either pray to some kind of tablet or regularly visit the temples and other social sites that I had. Some were familiar faces; IÆd seen them at my Tree of Prayers .

They would be healthier, and as long as they were near to me and my network of trees, they would be stronger. Their defensive moves were upgraded, too, and they would gain some advantages when fighting demons.

A few priests, who regularly performed rituals, funerals, and births gained Priest of A/ . As a priest, they gained the power to grant Protection of the Valley , a temporary blessing that granted them energy from the valley.

Faris, too, woke up one day, and he was A/ ic Great Druid . - You didnÆt get an upgrade, Edna? -

- No. I suddenly feel inadequate about it. - Edna frowned.

Indeed, Jasmine and my artificial minds were quick to theorize that all those who got the A/ ic classes were, to some extent, believers. Perhaps not to the degree of a god, but as a local deity. And now that belief had manifested itself as a class.

There was a small uproar, too, among the priests.

- A/ has ascended and has gained power to grant unique classes. This is proof of divinity! - they shouted and claimed. I cringed. Sure, now I could grant special classes. But divine? There was a massive spectrum to the gods, surely.

Congratulations are in order, Lilies spoke suddenly, abruptly.

Huh?

We lived for centuries, and itÆs been a while since we sensed a new deity.

What. level are you?

It didnÆt answer. Maybe asking their levels was like asking a womanÆs age. It was probably offensive.

Sorry.

We feel your energy stretching throughout the fabric of the world.

What?

Beware of the Others. They now know you exist.

I didnÆt know what they meant for a moment. But then I soon got a rather quick notification from my network of informants.

- The Church of Neira has declared A/ as a heretic and a demon. Accordingly, the Valtorn Order and the Freshlands are monsters that must be exterminated. -

- The Temple of Gaya has formally cut all ties with the Freshlands. - Woot. - We do not recognize and will not do business with anyone who professes to be a believer of A/ . -

- The Church of Aiva has declared A/ of the Freshlands as an enemy of the religion. -

- The Church of Gawa has declared A/ of Freshka and the Freshlands as a heretic and enemy of the faith. -

Ah. It came suddenly, but four churches suddenly declaring me as a heretic? And just as quickly, I had an uprising in my own realm. All this while there had been believers of all these other faiths co - existing with us, but now these temples and religious organizations pretty much declared outright war on me.

I felt a sense of anger. And fear.

What could they throw at me? Did their gods suddenly realize that IÆd stepped closer to the realm of the gods and now considered me an enemy? If this was going to be a conventional war like with the other lesser kingdoms, I would crush them.

- A/ , - Yura said, a large council present. - The four temples have declared you a heretic. Many of our own have decided to emigrate. There will be a slaughter, and there will be war. The temples have vast armies that they can summon. Resources that they can put together. -

- And yet they still depend on heroes to defend them from the demons. - In our broken continent, the hold of the temples was weak. There was little faith in these temples when theyÆd seen so much damage. But the faith of the believers was stronger where the temple institutions were strong. So, if there were enemies, they would likely come from the other continents. - How many? -

My artificial minds got to work quickly. - Across the entire Freshlands. not that bad. Ten percent of our population may leave. -

Not that bad at all. Ten percent was small. Perhaps the issue of faith meant little when their safety was constantly threatened.

- Among the nobles and leaders, though, itÆs about 30 percent. -

I had to do something. I couldnÆt fight a war without leaders. So I turned to Yura and the representatives.

- After the fall of the demons, my power has grown. My most recent powers involved the introduction of A/ ic - variant classes into the world. -

A silence among those present.

- Even among some of you, I can sense the presence of an A/ ic class. - One of the present representatives was an A/ ic Warrior . - And so this provoked the temples in retaliation. -

- They fear your rise, A/ , - one of the representatives said. - This is a mark of a jealous god. -

- Not uncommon. The crusades of the Northern Frost was one such war. - The representatives discussed the matter among themselves.

- A treeÆs roots will break through rock and stone, if it must. If they dare to step foot in my valley, I shall break them, - I declared. I was high level; surely I could hold my lands against some templars.

The representatives nodded, and they all went out. The Freshlands Federal Authority would prepare for war. I had things to think about.

From the declaration, and the consistent timing, I concluded that this must be a divine message. Else, why did four temples act in unison to denounce me? The gods, or whatever they were, were in limited contact with the temples, and at the same time, their ability to see or perceive the world was probably limited. Somehow, when my Domain ability added new classes to the world, that made them aware of my presence.

So would the temples summon heroes to counter me? That would be a very interesting data point. Or were the gods tied in that they were unable to summon heroes?

I thought they couldnÆt. If they could summon heroes to destroy me directly, they would have done so. There was no need for the temples to publicly declare war on me. So the declaration of war must mean the gods had limited tools when dealing with non - demonic matters. At best, they would request the heroes to attack me when the next demon king arrived in the future, but that was still some time away.

In short, I could expect the forces these temples would muster would be conventional in nature. Nothing extraordinary.

About a month after the declaration, IÆd heard of various crusading forces preparing for an invasion. It took time for them to form a coalition - after all, the temples own standing armies were generally small, and they called on a network of believer states to donate forces for their cause.

Per our network, weÆre looking at about one to two million soldiers in total across the four temples armies, but in actual fact itÆd be less, simply because not all kingdoms would give the full amount requested by the temples. At this point, it was a good thing to ask, - So, where was this same army when the demon king was rampaging throughout the world? -

- Defending their home cities. -

Stupid. Politics was stupid. At this point, a part of me wanted to smack some sense into them, like, hey, IÆd been protecting the world from demons, and this was what I got?

- A/ , we detected a spy approaching. HeÆs moving quickly, - one of my A/ ic Rangers commented. He must have believed that he would not be found.

- Intercept him. -

My A/ ic rangers attacked, and he dodged. - Wait! - he shouted. - I want to speak to A/ . I bring an important message from the church of Aiva. -

- If it is war, you have war. -

The spy shook his head. - ItÆs more complicated than that. -

The spy was led to an area with a large Tree of Prayer . - Speak, - I telepathically said. Edna and a few knights were there. Just in case.

- May I have some privacy? - the spy said. - The things I say must be only for A/ . -

- No, - I said.

The spy sighed, but then he took out a small pendant. Instantly, I felt a kind of holy energy, and EdnaÆs sword moved in. - What are you doing? -

- This is AivaÆs Pendant of Truth, one of the five sacred treasures of the Church of Aiva and proof that I speak for Aiva. -

EdnaÆs sword closed in. The spyÆs finger gently touched the tip, pushing it aside slightly.

- Aiva has no intention of going to war with A/ . But the other three temples have received divine messages to some degree. Aiva, our patron god, has decreed that a war is declared as a formality, but no hostilities will break out. -

- Breaking of trade routes does not count for hostilities? - one of the rangers shouted.

- Some concessions must be made to keep up the charade, - the spy said. - But we will not send anyone of significant skill or power for this endeavor. This war is a silly thing, with demons at the border. -

- What do the temples want? - I asked.

- I do not know. But Aiva was clear. This is a fake war. An act. - Well, an act of war, then.

- But there will be real wars with the other three. - I felt sad. Especially with the temple of Gaya. I recalled being housed in a temple of Gaya. It mustÆve been destroyed by the Rottedlands. It didnÆt have to be a war, no?

Was this the part of my life where I was going to play tower defense against a wave of attackers from across the sea?

44

INTERLUDE

Circa Year 125, immediately after the time the demon king died

- The Captain said weÆll reach Port Killos soon. - One of Lozanna Æs party - mates announced the news to the group of ten. They were adventurers, the Playing Swords, and theyÆd been sailing for a good five weeks from Port Anggar of the Southern Continent to Port Killos on the southernmost edge of the Eastern Continent.

The oceans were vast. It took a month from one place to another, sometimes three months should the weather be exceptionally bad or some of the large monster - fishes created hostile patches. ThereÆd been times when a sea serpent made a whirlpool large enough that trade was disrupted for years across the straits.

Port Killos, the Southern Fortress. Home to one of the largest Aiva temples, and seat of Grandmaster Engka, one of Grand Triumvirs of Aiva. Its walls were made 830 years ago by the Summoned Hero, Don Mex, and one of the strongest hero - enchanted walls in the world. Still, on the southern part, there was a large hole, a crater from a demonic supercannon blast. A relic of the era of Demon King Sabnoc.

There was also a memorial there to remember the seventeen thousand who died from that explosion. The ship was finally ready to dock.

- All right. - Lozanna nodded. She wore a deep green jacket, and she had three wooden spears on her back. - So what in the world happened in a month? -

The party and many other passengers disembarked. The crew and the docksmen started unloading cargo, too. But they quickly picked up something that felt different. There were far more soldiers and templars.

Aiva had templars, but the templars rarely left their training grounds except during the demon wars.

- The demon king has fallen! The three heroes died! - They got the news, and Lozanna just nodded. ThatÆs good, she thought.

A templar approached them. Normally, it would just be a regular port official that did visitor screening. - Name? Which party? -

- IÆm Ardi, of the Playing Swords, - a man in his early forties answered. He quickly showed his many adventurer guild badges. Lozanna Æs husband. It was funny, because Lozanna was more of a spear - user. Swords were pretty low on her list of proficiencies, but the party had a lot of sword users. Each kingdom recognized their own adventurers differently, so most parties obtained multiple certifications.

- All right. - The templar nodded. - Cleared. The temples are off - limits, however. -

- Off - limits? - one of the party members asked. She was the partyÆs healer, and she was a priestess - warrior. That meant she actually had a holy - enchanted sword, albeit a lesser one. - Is it open for the clergy? -

The templar looked at the healer. - Clergy may access the outer temples. Central temples off - limits to everyone. The Triumvir is receiving a divine message. -

The priestess - warriorÆs jaw dropped. - A divine message! - The templar nodded and signaled them to move along.

Lozanna walked next to the priestess. - Lexi, whatÆs a divine message? -

- The gods, they sometimes send a divine message. Only those who have the right levels and skills can receive it. But the messages usually need a long time to be received, sometimes months, so the high priests would enter into solitary confinement, often with only a skeleton crew to support them. -

- Why do they want to receive it? -

- Usually it comes with some kind of divine blessings, and almost all priests level up quite a bit after receiving a divine message. -

- Really? - Lozanna just nodded. Ardi patted his wife on the back. - All right, letÆs get to our inn. WeÆll check out what quests we have tomorrow. -

They woke up the next day to sounds of marching men. An army.

- WhatÆs happening? - Ardi asked the innkeeper. It was about time for breakfast anyway.

- Not sure. But the central temples have been closed for three weeks already. I donÆt recall something like this happening in a long time. -

Lexi nibbled on a piece of meat. - That usually means the divine message is quite long. Usually. -

- Have you ever received a divine message, Lexi? - Lozanna asked, curious.

- No. ItÆs a gift for the select few, those chosen by the gods as their voice . For mere mortals like us, we never get a chance. -

Lozanna nodded. Ardi came back with a few files. - All right, the guildÆs got some typical hunting missions and some demon extermination missions. I think the jobs seem relatively easy, so we can split up into two groups. Lozanna will lead the demon-hunting mission. The usual split. -

She nodded. That usual split meant Lozanna , two swordsmen, and one mage. Their team was usually smaller, simply because Lozanna , at level eighty, due to her unique history, massively outleveled everyone else in the party. Everyone else was around level forty to level fifty - five. Ardi himself was only a level fifty - two Swordfighter .

They spent the whole morning going through the quest dossiers, but then a group of ten heavily armed templars marched into the inn.

- WeÆre looking for the Playing Swords, - one templar captain said, and Ardi nodded.

- Yes. We are the Playing Swords. -

- Per our records, is Lozanna Searwind, of the Greenspears, present? - the templar asked.

Lozanna stood. - Yes. That would be me. -

The templar nodded. - All right, Lady Searwind, IÆm afraid we need you to come with us. The rest of you can stay here. -

Ardi panicked. - Wait. SheÆs my wife. Is everything all right? -

The templar paused. His brain was probably processing the information. - IÆm afraid the Triumvir only ordered for her. The rest of you, please wait here. -

- Will she be all right? - Ardi asked again, noticing that the templar didnÆt answer his question.

Lozanna smiled. - IÆll be fine. - Honestly, what could they do? Lozanna had the best chance of escape; she did have her Warden.

The templar escorted her to the Core Temples. They didnÆt attempt to restrain her, so Lozanna assumed it had not been a crime. At least, not yet. She did not take her woodspears along; her three woodspears were with her party, but still, if she needed a weapon, Warden was more than able to create a few.

The Core Temples were large, ancient buildings, built during the era of the heroÆs descendants. Don Mex was summoned by Aiva, at least, according to Aiva Scriptures. Who knew how the scriptures had changed over the hundreds of years? Regardless, it was still imposing and grand, and Lozanna nodded. She felt a pressure pressing down on her, but it was a lot lighter than A/ Æs Haunted Forests .

The templars guided her to one corner building that resembled a small keep. It was the templarÆs headquarters. She noted the armored guards throughout the building, as the templar captain led up the stairs to a higher floor. Eventually she arrived at a large room with glass windows that had a beautiful vantage of the ports and the bay of Port Killos.

- Greetings, you must be Lozanna , - a middle - aged man said. He sat on a large, beautifully decorated seat, and he was flanked by a few high - ranking templars. She nodded and vaguely sensed some kind of skill.

Warden has applied Magic Suppression Aura. Skill effects cancelled.

Lozanna just smiled. It wasnÆt the first time someone had tried to use a skill on her. Warden, a special familiar, was unique in many ways. It was like having a mini - A/ around, with many of A/ Æs abilities, to a lesser degree.

The manÆs head jerked a little. HeÆd probably noticed his skill was cancelled and the presence of an aura. - Well, I should have known it wouldnÆt be so easy. All right, let me just give you a brief explanation of why you are here and why you should cooperate. -

Lozanna didnÆt respond.

- Our records say you originated from the Freshlands and were born in New Freeka. You lived there until sixteen or seventeen years ago. -

- Technically, I was born in Freeka, - Lozanna corrected.

- All right. So you confirm you lived there until sixteen to seventeen years ago? -

- Yes. - Lozanna didnÆt see where this was going.

- So, what do you know about. A/ ? -

Lozanna paused. She didnÆt like talking about A/ , simply because, well, most people didnÆt understand what it was like to live with a massive demi - god whose energies just permeated her world. She grew up under his care, and to everyone else, that was an alien concept. In fact, she spent a few years adjusting to the reality that her experience was extremely unique. - What do you want to know? -

- His powers. His weaknesses. -

Lozanna had a gut feeling it wasnÆt going to be good. - Honestly, I donÆt know of his weaknesses. Maybe. demon kings? -

The questioning templarÆs eyebrows moved.

- His powers. he can summon beetles, create walls of trees and roots, and attack with root strikes. He also has a lot of healing abilities, like, he healed my uncleÆs dismembered arm. He also has massive shield abilities. - Lozanna honestly didnÆt know the full breadth of A/ Æs abilities.

- How far can he attack? -

Lozanna shook her head. - I donÆt know. -

- WhatÆs the furthest? -

Lozanna paused. - Everywhere in the valley? That puts it at. sixty to eighty miles, maybe even one hundred? - Honestly, Lozanna didnÆt know, either. She was not aware of A/ Æs battle with the faraway walker, nearer to Lilypod City. These questions actually made her wonder how much she knew about A/ , because she realized that she couldnÆt give a definite answer for most of it.

The templarÆs eyes widened, and he quickly jotted that down. The middle - aged templar flipped through his notes and a book.

- What is this about, really? - Lozanna asked.

- There will be war, milady, - a templar answered. - With A/ as a false deity. -

- False deity? - She didnÆt like the sound of that at all. To her, he was a deity and guardian spirit in every way. She stared at the templar. - On what grounds? -

- Our god decreed so, - the templar said. - From what I understand, so will Gawa , Gaya, and Neira. -

Lozanna paused. She wasnÆt sure how to take the news. Was this war? Were all these people going to march on the Freshlands against A/ ?

Were they insane? Had they not seen the thousands of beetles he had? As far as she could remember, A/ Æs supply of beetles seemed almost limitless. Sure, a high - levelled individual could kill hundreds, if not thousands of beetles, but exhaustion eventually sank in. They needed to sleep, eat, pee, and poo. A/ could just repeatedly throw beetles at them until he finally won.

He was a tree. Roots could break stones, and he was not afraid of taking forever to do it. She wanted to speak. No, she was quite tempted to just shout.

But the templar said, - WeÆre rather confident. We are even authorized to use hero - items. -

Lozanna paused. Hero - items. she thought about it for a moment, and she recalled the hero - made wooden armor that Uncle Yura had. She remembered it quite vividly. If they could deploy hero - items, A/ had them, too. She knew for a fact that hero - items were weaker in the hands of regular folks, and A/ had way more mana to power the hero items than the temples.

Had these templars lost their minds? Emperor Harris made so many hero - items for A/ ; did they know about that?

She felt conflicted. TreeTree would probably tell her to not say a word. He was fond of pulling off little surprises like that. Maybe heÆd even use tunnels and sappers, like he did so many years ago.

- Am I under arrest? - Lozanna asked. She was relatively sure they wouldnÆt be able to hurt her. Even now, she was confident in defeating everyone in the room.

- Oh. - The templars flipped through some notes. - Uh, yes. IÆm afraid we have to keep you under house arrest for a while. -

The higher - ranked templars walked toward her, and she shook her head. - ItÆs all right. I wonÆt resist. -

The templars led her to another area of the Core Temple grounds, and she was given a small but comfortable room. - A maid will attend to you, but during this time, IÆm afraid you have to be here. We cannot have you leaking our troop movements to the Freshlands. -

Lozanna shrugged. She sat, and she processed her feelings. She believed A/ would be fine. No. She knew they would be fine. Only someone with a heroÆs power could stand up to A/ . All these cities struggled to even contain a demon walker; that was why they resorted to hexbombs.

TheyÆd have to bring out their hidden big guns to even have a chance.

- Are you all right? - Ardi came. The templars strangely allowed her husband to visit her and even gave him the option to stay with her during her house arrest. - I heard the gist of it from the templars. -

- IÆm perfectly fine. - Lozanna nodded. - WeÆll just have to stay here for quite a while. The team can go on with their missions. In fact, you can join them if you want to. - Lozanna winked. Being confined for a few years, what was new? She was confined in a valley for twenty years before and had to fight hybrid demons every other day; this wasnÆt a big deal. In fact, this was pretty much a staycation.

- Do I need to warn anyone? -

- Nope. - Lozanna shook her head. - I donÆt want my mother to know. -

Her husband sat next to her and gave her a hug. - All right. -

- Go with the team. Pretty sure they need you more than me. IÆm just going to be trapped in this building for a while, nothing particularly dangerous, really. -

He paused, and he looked rather conflicted. Eventually he nodded. - WeÆll probably drop the demon-hunting missions without you around. -

Lozanna shrugged. - Give yourself some credit, dear. IÆm sure you can handle them. Go, donÆt waste your time trapped here with me. -

Ardi gave her another hug. She gave him a knowing look. The I - can - break - out - anytime look. He smiled. - All right. -

- Good. -

He left later that day, and Lozanna spent some time exploring her new prison. It was a simple bedroom, and she looked into the mirror. Her hair was short now. She had it cut a few years ago after she found it rather annoying during combat. Short hair didnÆt get tangled so often, especially when they were in close - combat situations. A templar came in.

- Milady. Your presence is requested by the grandmaster. -

- Oh? - Grandmaster Engka. Now that was a person sheÆd never met. He was famously reclusive and refused to meet. And now she had the chance to meet him.

They met in a small, cozy tea room. There were four sofa chairs with plush cushions, and the grandmaster was known to be an old man and had maintained control over the Aiva temples for almost half a century. His hair was entirely white, yet his body was in no way frail. In fact, his body looked as fit and muscular as any of the templars. From a distance, one may think he was no older than forty.

He gestured to the sofa opposite his, and Lozanna sat. A few servants served them tea and cookies. - I was told ladies like tea and cookies. Have some. They are the best in the region. -

Lozanna smiled and took a tea. She sipped it. It was a kind of flower tea, a rose and chrysanthemum mixture. It had good balance and a bit of light, fluffy sweetness. The aftertaste was very gentle and didnÆt stay long on the tongue. - It is a good tea. -

Grandmaster Engka nodded. - Good. You must be surprised by these sudden developments, but IÆll be direct. IÆve received a divine message from our patron god, and well, it certainly is complicated. -

Lozanna just smiled. She vaguely sensed a skill, again, and she pushed back at it. It wasnÆt a problem to push it back. She was, for all that it was worth, an A/ ic Weaponmaster with a total level of eighty. She was originally a swordswoman, but after she increased her use of spears and bows, her class fused together. The grandmaster was perhaps of a similar level.

The grandmaster chased everyone out of the room with a wave, and he activated another kind of skill. - What I say here is for your ears only. We donÆt want war with A/ , but we must be seen as doing war with A/ , - Grandmaster Engka said. - The other three temples do want war, but AivaÆs more interested in just being seen as participating. -

Lozanna frowned. Why was he telling her this? What was the point? There was nothing she could do.

- Are you able to communicate with A/ ? My scouts and past reports claimed that communicating with A/ is a perilous affair. Many suffer nightmares from being around him. -

Lozanna wondered again. She had to ask; that statement was borderline absurd. - Why? ThereÆs no such thing as a pretend war. The worldÆs certainly not a safe playground where people can play - fight. Anyone else will tell you that you are bullshitting and trying to lie to me. -

- Indeed. ThatÆs my dilemma. ItÆs a difficult message, one that I had not told anyone yet. How do I tell others that my god wants me to send these men to their deaths, with no actual intention of victory? For what? -

- Then? - Lozanna didnÆt get it. - Why am I here? -

- Can you communicate with A/ ? -

- Yes. But not here. Only back in the valley. -

- My informants told me that you have an extensive history with A/ . So can we find a way to communicate with him? Any. how should I say this, pointers? -

Lozanna frowned. - Be frank and honest. Tell him what your god said, word for word if possible. I believe A/ may understand your gods intentions far better than we do. In my experience, we cannot understand the thoughts of a tree spirit, so the best tip I know is you can only say what you want and see how he responds. -

Grandmaster Engka nodded and visibly relaxed. - Indeed. Us mere mortals cannot truly fathom the thoughts of greater beings. In honesty, this. war is a futile endeavor. If A/ is really a semi - divine being, we mortals have no way of truly harming such a being. Perhaps only heroes and ancient monsters stand a chance. -

Lozanna leaned forward. That was an upsetting thing to hear. - Then why? -

- The gods have a wish. We, their humble servants, must try our best to fulfill it, lest we lose our classes and suffer a divine retribution. A curse. The closer one steps to the gods, the more we are bound by their whims, - Engka said. - Even if it seems as if the task is futile, we must believe in the gods that they will bless us and that we play our supposed role in their larger, unfathomable plans. -

- So even if it seems like suicide or stupid, you will do it because itÆs part of the gods plan? - Lozanna asked. She couldnÆt help it.

- Yes. We must put aside our disagreements and carry out our godÆs will. -

Lozanna felt tormented, and she stared at the grandmaster. He seemed every bit the wise and smart man, and yet something like this came from him. Were the gods all like this?

Now she felt like she should send a message home and ask A/ to be merciful. She thought of the heroes again, and she remembered how they, too, seemed like they were pawns of their gods, despite their incredible power. How they were constantly, subtly influenced by the gods.

She sighed. - And because of this foolish endeavor, IÆll remain under house arrest? -

- IÆm afraid, yes, milady. Though I can tell our walls honestly cannot hold you back should you ever wish to escape. -

Their eyes met, and she felt it was they who were imprisoned.

45

YEAR 126

The first wave of attackers was just plain conventional armies. WasnÆt hard to scare them away with an equally massive display of force. I had a lot of beetles, and my beetles were strong. In a straight fight, IÆd win.

When the first wave knocked on our doorsteps, those who wanted to leave had already left - or, at least, most of them. There were some that stayed back, and I suspected they were in cahoots with the temples. Jasmine and my artificial minds were actively monitoring them.

I didnÆt arrest them immediately, because I wanted to know what they knew. It may be a good idea to find out how deep their network was. So, for now, IÆd play along, let them win some small victories, and catch all of them in a single swoop. It was like dangling a lure to catch a prey. There was a general consensus among the populace that I knew what they were doing, but that didnÆt seem to have stopped those that sympathized or supported the other four temples from plotting.

Most plots were rather simple, really: find a way to cause damage to me, or find a way to convince people to change sides, or reveal/expose some kind of strategic advantage.

It also relied on a great deal of trust, that those who plotted could trust those who assisted them. So it wasnÆt entirely difficult to cause the whole thing to collapse once a bit of fake news and intelligence were added to the mix.

Were they willing to act on intelligence that may be fake?

- There are skills that help that, such as discern truth , - Yvon said. Apparently, plotters had some means of verifying facts. That said, kings and rulers had counter - plot skills, too, such as discern loyalty , or unravel plots , or some rather cutely named ones, like Monkey Wrench , which apparently caused the forces of chaos to mess things up.

Of course, I wondered whether there were abilities that therefore interfered with my ability to observe them. I believed there were; after all, IÆd seen the heroes do something like that. Like a silence bubble or something.

There were largely three groups, one of Gaya and Gawa , one of Aiva, and another one was a ragtag bunch. The last temple apparently was more straightforward and did not believe in plots. I didnÆt believe it, though; I suspected this was some kind of false information.

Some operated in a typical military function. They focused on gathering information about my military forces, and well.

Domain has blocked attempted espionage skill.

Yeah. That happened multiple times during this month. It seemed that Domain also interfered with a wide variety of skill types, especially those that came from afar.

Domain has blocked attempted scrying.

The temples sent many waves, and throughout my borders, those kingdoms and nations had been forced to let the crusading armies pass. It wasnÆt a choice for them.

- Should we just let them march through our neighbors? - The council gathered. It was more of a war council now, with the representatives across the Freshlands sending their generals and leaders. There were many who were now my sympathizers.

As I was a divine - tier being, the nobles and rulers of the various segments and cities had a clear choice: side with the temples, or side with me and earn some of my divine favor. For the local nobles, it was actually quite a clear choice that I could bring more to the table.

- Unless A/ permits us marching an army of beetles into our neighbors lands. -

Most of our neighbors were economically intertwined with us, so they were in a difficult position. They were mostly smaller nation - states or kingdoms, and they did not have a large standing army. Nothing that could stand up to a three hundred thousandûstrong crusading army.

I paused and wondered what the objective of this army was. Did all of these three hundred thousand really share the goals that the gods and temples leadership decided?

They probably didnÆt know the true extent of my reach, and so IÆd extended subsidiary trees in all directions, even through the lands of these other neighboring kingdoms. I also made subsidiary trees all the way to the port city where most of the crusading forces landed. Most people did not notice trees by the roadside.

The port cityÆs packed. It was not the only port to receive the crusading army. These forces were coming through five to six different port cities and would converge along the way to me. In a way, if I wanted to spring a surprise attack, the best time was when they were still here.

There was a lot of idle chatter. A sense that the enemy was still really far away.

- I still canÆt believe I sailed across the ocean just to fight a tree, - some of the soldiers said. - CanÆt they just send a woodcutter and chop the tree down? -

- IÆm sure the temple thought of it. -

- ItÆs not just any tree. ItÆs a tree that attained the cursed power of the evil gods. -

- An evil - tree god, really? - Some of the soldiers seemed baffled by it. - I mean, all IÆve heard of the Freshlands is that this evil - tree god has been shielding them from the demons, and suddenly they tell me this magic tree is now evil? -

- Shush, donÆt let the templars hear that. -

- Aw, fuck them. IÆm just here for the money. -

- IÆm just here because the big boss says so. -

The soldiers didnÆt seem like they all believed in their cause all that much. It was a shame that wars, being what they were, meant we would cross paths, and they would die. From my observation, the composition of the crusading army was roughly similar to a typical army: 90 percent regulars with soldiers or warrior classes, and 10 percent unique. It was the 10 percent I needed to pay attention to for any unusual skills or classes.

ItÆd been some time since I had a large - scale fight with other humans.

- Council. - I spoke to the war council. - Reach out to all the neighboring kingdoms and ask for an alliance. If they want to side with the temples, we will declare war and we will invade. If they join us, I will offer them protection. -

The council did as they were told, and surprisingly quite a few of the kingdoms agreed to form an alliance. They instantly rejected the crusadeÆs demand for freedom of entry, and I populated the allied kingdoms with my subsidiary trees . Fools, these temples. I had five hundred thousand beetles I could use in combat, and they regenerated in about three to four months.

But I needed to get their effectiveness up. TheyÆd been traditionally geared against monsters and demons, but since I was facing a large - scale war, I needed to have additional advantages and perks.

- Horns. -

- Yes, Master? -

- What sort of anti - army or anti - templar research do we have? -

Trevor and Dimitree popped in. - We have numerous potential research. We can deploy poison - laced beetles. -

- I want assassin beetles, - I said. - I want beetles that are able to hunt down their elites. -

- All right, weÆll get the research started. - Horns made a fist pump. It would take a few months, so IÆd just drag the battle on.

Meanwhile, a few smaller skirmishes broke out. I had not deployed most of my own abilities yet; it was better to keep some of my powers hidden. The less they knew about me, the more mistakes they would make.

The Valthorns needed some pep talk before every battle, though. They were trained to fight demons and hybrids, so an all - out war against other humans, elves, and sentient races still needed some mindset change, even if I had included it in their training regime. If it wasnÆt for Yura , IÆd have a lot more to worry about.

I also had to make sure that the enemy didnÆt level up too much, especially survivors. Survivors may often return far stronger, and since they survived a fight with beetles, they would gain anti - beetle skills. It was really a case of just killing everyone.

I wondered whether there were anti - human or anti - elf skills. - There are, - Yura said. - Such accursed skills exist. -

This crusade, I felt, was going to drag on for a while. The temples could keep reinforcing the ports. If I wanted to cut them off, I must march on the port itself.

If I could hold onto the ports, the temples would have to take a long detour.

- There are six ports that are on the side of the temples. Honestly, I think a few of them will fold if we manage to capture one or two of the port cities. Their loyalty to the faraway temples is tenuous at best. -

- I see. -

So, again, I was a tree. I could fight wars differently. The enemy, from what IÆd seen so far, had not been able to detect subsidiary trees. Or, at least, they didnÆt display that they were able to.

If I wanted to end it, IÆd have to swiftly capture all six port cities in one go. They had some defenses, but nothing too big. And I already had trees all the way into the city. Now, I just needed to make sure I had trees in all six cities, and I could spring a sudden surprise attack.

Therefore, I called on the council and changed the tactics. I wasnÆt sure whether any of the council leaked information to these crusaders, perhaps unwillingly or unknowingly, so I didnÆt disclose the full plan. The strategy, simply put, was to delay the crusaders as long as possible. I told them that I would have a way to decisively win, a special weapon.

This was partly true. I could deploy my titan souls against this crusading army, but I felt that was a waste.

I wanted to drag it on, because I needed the time to design and research special beetles, assassin and anti - human beetles that could fight effectively in cities, not just open areas. Spiders, too. I had the web spiders, and I figured spiders would operate a lot more effectively in the city area, so I increased research on poisonous spiders.

And I created a few more artificial souls for Horns. Five beetles, and five spiders. My new insect - army commanders.

Now that IÆd leveled up to level 168 and had trees that stretched the entire Freshlands, my artificial - souls limit was quite high. Sure, I could field a large quantity of these sentient assistants, but they were still no match for elites. They would take a few months, at least, to reach the mid - level twenties to thirties, and before that, their combat strength was mediocre.

And so, the plan was on the way. Tunnels were made into all the six port cities, and a lot of subsidiary trees were created. IÆd also created Giant Attendant Trees in the forested locations nearby and used my camouflage ability to hide them.

I would unleash at least seventy thousand to one hundred thousand beetles on each of the six cities in one go, effectively cutting off their supply lines. Then smaller attack forces would strike at the crusading army.

Because the crusading army was so large, they were led by multiple generals and lords . It was also a logistical challenge, so the army was split into two large groups of about two hundred fifty thousand each, and a few smaller, ten thousand to twenty thousand contingents. It was entirely dependent on imported supplies and resources, so a targeted attack on its supplies would thin out the force rather quickly.

A few of the generals had the ability Create Food Supply or Army Skill: Reduce Hunger or some variation of it. But the power had a size limit, so a large portion would be outside the effect of the skill and would therefore desert the army.

But, for now, smaller skirmishes.

It wasnÆt time yet.

Timing was everything.

- IÆm getting a little frustrated, - Edna complained after a skirmish with the crusaders. It was trench warfare, really. IÆd reinforce a large segment with walls, and the crusaders would march on it. TheyÆd fight a bit, but they usually didnÆt make much progress.

- Me too. -

- I wish I can just charge out there. -

- YouÆll die, though. -

- I know. - There were about eighty thousand soldiers on the other side. They were bombarding the walls with rocks and magic, but wooden shields and barriers meant those bombardments werenÆt making a dent. There was also a thick web of thorns and human - eating plants.

TheyÆd been using fireballs and all, trying to make a dent at the walls, but with a Giant Attendant Tree at the back, they could take a few hits.

- This is just a boring stalemate. - Edna frowned.

- A/ wants it that way, - Faris said. - And I think the enemy knows it. -

- We should just charge in. - The enemy seemed to forget that even grass could have ears. And there were roots that could just peek out of the ground just a little bit. Right below the commanderÆs camp. - This is a waste of time. -

- The general said we should hold. -

- What for? -

- The generalÆs giving the enemy too much credit. Other than that massive wall, we outnumber the enemy force by five to one. And we have one thousand elites of at least level thirty. Why send us here if we are just playing this waiting game? - The commander was a young man, eager, anxious, and wanting to prove himself.

He walked a bit, and a thorn gently pricked his leg. A little bit of sap to stimulate his hormones and testosterone. A hormone - filled mistake, here and there.

- I command our force to charge in. - His body flared up, hot. Anger. Frustration. The sap merely pushed him off the cliff.

- Commander, the general said. - The assistant and captains tried to say otherwise.

- I am the commander here. And I say we charge. -

They charged into a wall of thorns and maneater - plants, while A/ ic Rangers and archers rained death. They quickly realized the folly of their attack and retreated. But that mistake cost them ten thousand lives, and none of the defenders.

Meanwhile at another front.

- I was told to expect large beetle armies. - The general was in a large camp, flanked by his advisors. - And in all of our intelligence, weÆve only seen beetle armies no larger than thirty thousand. Whatever it is, our enemy is hiding its strength and wants a long - drawn war. -

- Does that mean it wants to test our supply lines? - a strategist asked. - A long war becomes a test of logistics and resourcing. -

The general nodded. - That makes a lot of sense. Our enemy, as a heretic tree on the very edges of divinity, must have tremendous powers over plants and growth. It must be confident that it can continuously feed its population, so it is not afraid of a long siege. -

My beetles were just mostly doing hit - and - runs on smaller forces.

- So it wants to draw it out until the temple decides itÆs no longer worth it. It expects the temples to pull their funding and supplies, - a strategist concluded.

- A swift attack might be just what itÆs not prepared for, - the general said. - But itÆs rather clear that we canÆt mount a swift attack, either. - It was a big piece of land, and even with the general Æs skills, it was probably too much.

- We should do a precision strike, then. A group of elites right at the center of the enemy. -

The general of the Coalition of Crusaders pondered the idea. - I have ancient records to suggest that it wonÆt work. Written by one General Ackbar. ItÆs probably a trap. -

Ancient? Forty years was ancient?

- ItÆs our best chance. -

- Not if we use our heroic artifacts. -

Now my ears perked up.

- The temple has not authorized use of the heroic artifacts. -

- If the temple wants us to slay this heretical evil tree, then we should be allowed to use our heroic items. A heroic weapon can destroy that wall, easy. -

Ooh. IÆd be on the receiving end of a heroic - grade item. Now, that was something worth testing out. I was a level 168 tree; could I survive a hit from a hero - grade item?

- Then we must send a request, - the general said. - Outline our observations, insist that a quick victory is ideal, and demand authorization for our hero - grade items. -

The temples had a lot of hero - grade items. Items left by previous heroes, or perhaps just claimed by the temple. People like Harris and Mirei even donated some items to the temples, too, for political reasons. So the temples, over the years and decades, accumulated a decent stockpile of hero - items.

Of course, they couldnÆt make full use of it, but because they were hero - items, they should still pack a strong punch.

Well. Bring it on.

46

YEAR 127

- Activating the hero - item, the Holy Cannon of Alantara! - the templars shouted. The hero - item itself was a small item, but to power it, they had to build a massive array of crystals and mana - storage items. The array was ten times larger than the hero - item itself, and that single use broke most of the crystals.

The cannon was really just a small, shotgun - shaped item. Probably one of the heroes was a gunner or something when they made it.

The item glowed, and whoosh, a huge blast of energy shot out toward the walls.

I activated five Steelwood Barrier . Was this power stronger than the demonic supercannonÆs long - range attacks? It easily tore through my five barriers and then defensive shields that were already there. Then that entire section of reinforced wall exploded.

- Wow. - I was impressed. The heroÆs item really made my wall look like cardboard. So, in short, the demonÆs attacks had previously failed to break through my defenses because of my innate anti - demonic properties. Against the heroÆs items, I was blocking it entirely based on stats and levels, and on that front, it was still not enough.

Did this mean if Harris or Mirei tried to kill me, they could have succeeded? From this incident alone, I thought the answer was yes. They could. They really could.

So I decided I needed insurance of some kind.

Like the grass that regularly regrew after fires scorched the lands, like the plants of the floodplains that respawned after every flood, I decided to extend my roots deep underground. As deep as I possibly could.

Then I put my Tree - heart there. Even if they chopped off my entire tree, as long as my tree - heart survived deep underground, I believed I could survive. I also added a big batch of tuberous storage around my tree - heart, like a seed; I had the nutrients and energy from the storage potatoes to respawn should I need to.

- They wonÆt be using that for a while, - Edna said.

- But we donÆt know what else they will use, - Faris said as the crusaders charged at the hole. The forces quickly retreated to the next defensive point. - The temples have a lot of inherited items. -

- But each use is a waste. - Edna frowned. - Why didnÆt they use such items against the demons? -

- IÆm sure they did. They just have a lot of them. -

- Maybe since the heroes were around, they didnÆt see why they needed to use it, unless they were really desperate. -

Since the strategy for this entire plan was to delay the enemy as long as possible, there were numerous layers of walls made.

Yura came and mentioned his concern. - Since the temples are willing to use heroic items, itÆs possible they may attempt to use an elite force, armed with heroic items to attack you directly. -

- I agree. - Of course. There were probably heroic - grade teleportation items or heroic - grade stealth items that they could use to attack me directly. The problem, of course, was that their users probably couldnÆt fully activate their abilities. Which was why the most heroic items were defensive in nature, because they needed large magical formations and runes to channel power to the heroic items.

Unless there were heroic - grade batteries. Which made a lot of sense.

They grow weary. A few more years will blink by, and they will stop.

Already? I responded to Lilies. I had hoped this war would last until the next demon king.

Mortals, they are not suited for long wars. They forget their grudges and pain far too easily. Conflict is but a temporary dance. True wars are long and last a few thousand years.

Surely the older races would remember.

Time is memoryÆs archenemy. This is but a casual spar.

It probably is.

Lilies, again with odd commentaries. I didnÆt recall whether there were any long wars in this world, not any more, at least. Unless that war was invisible?

Your long wars. is it the demons and the gods?

Maybe.

Maybe? That was a yes, dammit.

The Crusaders advanced a little.

My forces slowly moved into place. IÆd had tunnels ready, and IÆd secretly occupied various little forests near the port cities. Maybe they had a heroic item able to detect me? But still, I wanted to drag it out, see what exactly these temples were able to bring to the battlefield.

- This sucks, - Edna complained. - I donÆt like being forced to retreat. -

Her compatriots just rolled their eyes. The crusaders revealed another hero - grade item. A large bow. They brought an army of mages along to create a runic formation on the ground, and they shot it again.

This time, I used ten steelwood barriers . It still tore through all of them, but at least it didnÆt cause my walls to explode. All it did was blast a big hole in the wall.

So the magical number was around ten? Or maybe twenty?

- Unless you have a solution for the hero - grade items. -

- Master. Research on assassin beetles completed. We are working on the flying beetles now, - Horns updated, and I quickly started transforming my beetles into their assassin forms. They were smaller, leaner, but with sharp limbs and spikes. They also had poison and could shoot out a poison horn.

- Great! -

Another piece to the puzzle.

Eventually, the second layer of walls fell, and the forces retreated. At this point, Jasmine quickly updated that morale was falling, and we needed a small victory to keep the stalemate going. So the temple used the Holy Cannon of Alantara again, this time at a fort. It blasted the fortÆs walls and a segment to smithereens.

But it was a ruse. Using root tunnels , I had the army sneak around them and then, with my new assassin beetles, rushed in for the kill. I would seize the Holy Cannon of Alantara for myself. There would be no survivors.

It was chaos. Perhaps a slaughter, too. Fifty thousand assassin beetles appeared from the ground, together with the Valthorns and the regular armies. A proper counter - attack.

The enemy died, and now, I had the cannon. In the chaos, the commander was able to send a distress signal.

- This is the commander of the Vanguard force! WeÆre being attacked by new beetle types! The cannon is lost. The cannon is lost! - A root strike dismembered him.

The general was a day away, and he got the message. - Hmm. New beetle types. I have an ominous feeling. -

Well, you should, General. You stretched your supply lines, spreading your men thinner, and when I strike, you wonÆt be able to rush back and save your port cities.

Letting the crusaders push further in was an intentional plot to spread out their men and their elite forces. Even if it seemed like we were losing, only Yura was aware that something was up.

- When is A/ going to bring out his superweapon? - the war council asked. - The new beetles, are those the superweapons? -

Yura nodded. - I believe thatÆs the first of the many weapons A/ plans to unleash. -

The next weapon was the spiders. I wanted assassin spiders to take control of the cities. The first time the enemy would see it would be when I attacked the cities.

Jasmine noted that our morale quickly improved as we had secured the hero - item.

The general gathered his advisors. A priest was present, and he read out the statement. - The temple has authorized use of more hero - items. - Ah. Looked like the temple was really going for it, but the fact that their ability to power the hero items relied on large arrays meant they were so obvious when they were about to be used.

Could a small assassin group really sneak in with it? Unless they built the array on site. or used an existing array.

But I didnÆt want to drag it out too long. I had been observing them when they used the hero - items, and now that I had claimed their hero - item, I turned it against them. My mastery of runes meant I, too, could quickly set up an array and activated the Holy Cannon of Alantara against the enemy force.

One blast drained all the runes and broke some of the stones and ground that channeled the power. The enemy retreated. That one attack killed probably a few thousand, and that wasnÆt even its full power.

I decided to try channeling my existing star mana into it. The hero - item drained all my star mana easily, and it was so greedy! After it used up all my star mana, it wanted more, and the item easily used up my normal mana, too!

Did the heroes always have so much star mana? HowÆd they keep their weapons working?

- Master, based on my surveillance of the heroes, they have approximately five hundred thousand to eight hundred thousand star mana each, - Jasmine commented, pulling on her past records of conversations between Harris, Mirei, and Gerrard.

I had three hundred. No wonder the hero - items just drained my star mana like I had nothing. They must be using at least one thousand to two thousand star mana to power the hero items each time. The weapon was now partially charged, and I used it on one of the crusading armies. The explosion was massive, far larger than what it was when powered by regular mana, and still it wiped a quarter of that army. Probably ten to twenty thousand just died instantly. The enemy panicked and then quickly retreated.

I was sorry, but death was what it was. I even felt their souls enter my main tree.

But I only regenerated star mana by a pitiful amount every day. That meant I couldnÆt even use the heroÆs item if I wanted to. My full three hundred star mana took an entire two months to regenerate, so the weapon could be used once every two months to this level of strength. So it wasnÆt as if I could just use the cannon like a machine gun.

Despite the enormous destruction caused by the hero - cannon, I was fairly certain this wasnÆt its full strength. Also, the hero - items used by the temples, and all the various nobles were inferior to pure hero items, in the sense that they had been made to also work with regular mana. True hero - items could only be operated with star mana and were useless to everyone else. Those pure star - mana hero items were superior in output and strength.

The army regained a bit of our lost ground, and we managed to retake the outermost walls of the Freshlands.

- How much longer till we research the next upgrade for the assassin beetles? -

- A month, Master. - The assassin beetles had not been revealed to our enemies yet. At least, I hoped that they were not detected.

The tunnels and my bases next to the six port cities continued to expand. IÆd researched tunneler beetles and had also commenced research on more types of spiders. The beetles made additional tunnels into the port cities, and I wondered whether the enemy realized it by now. I could tell some of them felt something, at least.

The mayor of one of the port towns kept sending miners to dig the ground. He said he felt there was an infestation or something, but he wasnÆt sure. I had to order the beetles to hastily collapse the tunnels before they were detected.

Surely, that mayor couldnÆt be the only one that possessed such skills. In fact, some of the military leaders we observed clearly had the skill, but they just didnÆt react to it.

- I canÆt shake off this feeling that weÆre all walking into a big trap, - a commander said to a fellow captain. - ItÆs a feeling thatÆs been nagging at me since I landed in this city. -

- Seasickness. -

- I feel like itÆs my skill. -

- YouÆve had it since the day you landed, and itÆs been a good three months since then. -

It was funny that one of the ways to beat such alarm skills was to keep scaring them until they stopped treating it seriously. Kind of like training oneÆs body to ignore its daily morning alarm.

- If itÆs something, it shouldÆve happened. - The other captain just shrugged. - WeÆre doing okay. The heretics are not making progress. -

That was just one of the many captains that was eventually lulled into a sense of complacency. For the rest of the year, there were smaller battles, but I was still waiting for more beetle upgrades. I wanted my conquest of the six port cities to be simultaneous and decisive. I wanted to break the crusaders once and end it.

- A/ , there should be another four hundred thousand soldiers arriving on our continent, - Kavio and the war council reported. Ah, this was in addition to the five hundred thousand to six hundred thousand soldiers that were already deployed across the entire battlefront.

I wondered why the war doctrine in this world still insisted on throwing numbers at an enemy at first, but eventually I got it. In terms of actual combat, sure, an army of high - leveled individuals could do way more damage than an army of lower - leveled conscripts, but I increasingly believed the temples were intentionally hoping that from a large pool of low - levelled individuals, some gems emerged. It was an interesting tactic; to sieve the gems from the scrap, they sent these large numbers to their possible deaths.

The Freshlands own defensive army was about three hundred thousand strong, conscripted from the massive population of the Freshlands. Yet that excluded my million - strong beetle and spider army. There were various smaller city - states that decided to side with me, and they volunteered in total, another sixty thousand fighters.

- And so, they send more to their doom. -

- They would outnumber us three to one once they land. I believe they may try a decisive strike once they land to minimize the load on their logistics, - one of the hired Generals advised. It was funny and rather strange to have generals on my side now, but I was not complaining. - They would try this path, I believe. - The general pointed to one of the entrances into the Freshlands. - Or force a way through this segment of the Rottedlands. -

It was a large army and may end up in a lot of bloodshed. A situation IÆd like to avoid, if I could.

I wondered whether I should pull my attack at the moment when they land or after. What was their supply situation? Was their food and accommodation going to arrive before the actual army of four hundred thousand?

Trevor tapped into the grand mind and quickly created a massive overview of the entire battlegrounds. He highlighted all the various supply positions. - Master, should we intend to cripple and starve our opponents, we may be able to do so by attacking all these locations. A decisive strike before they land may force them to redirect. -

The logistics and supplies usually arrived before the army. So the right time to strike was when the four hundred thousand were still at sea, but their supplies and all had landed. That way, the coming army was forced to deal with a lack of supply. Eight hundred ships, carrying five hundred soldiers each. Large galleons of the four temples.

I wondered whether my attacks worked in water. I thought the impact of my root strikes would probably be weakened by the water.

- How long before they arrive? -

- In two weeks? -

There was a tiny window, when the supply ships arrived just before the army itself. I paused, and I thought. By all the odds, it wasnÆt ideal. My fully researched assassin beetles were not ready, but if I wanted to cause the most damage, I had to take this window.

- Ready all the armies. There will be a strike in six to eight days. All mobile units, prepare for a long - range strike. -

That declaration made the entire war council pause before Yura himself, invited as a translator, mostly, asked on behalf of the war council present, - A/ , repeat that, please? -

- Ready all our forces. We will strike in six to eight days. Valthorns will receive specific instructions. -

About two thousand of my best Valthorn fighters gathered at a forward base near one of the outer walls. There were three Giant Attendant Trees , and they flanked a tunnel that led underground.

- Briefing time, - I announced telepathically, and the Valthorns stood to attention. Edna, Faris, and many other upgraded class holders were there. - All of you will be marching into the tunnels. You will be split into six groups, and your next orders will be given when you are there. Be prepared for urban combat and a siege, enemies expected to be high level, and large numbers. -

The order given, they started to board the carrier beetles. The fastest beetles were selected, and they had supplies for a month. The beetles would carry them to their targeted destination in a week. The Valthorns chatted. - Are we attacking the nearby forts? -

The crusaders had set up numerous advance forts to hold their supplies. These were my targets, but it wouldnÆt be the Valthorns target. I had intended these two thousand Valthorns to coordinate the attack on the six port cities.

These were my best and most loyal Valthorns. Most of them had A/ ic variants, such as A/ ic Rangers or A/ ic Druids or A/ ic Knights .

The beetles would provide the numbers, but I needed the Valthorns as the secret sauce, with their higher levels and special skills.

Two days later, I had moved more beetles into various locations near the port cities. There were now one hundred thousand beetles and spiders at each of the port cities, waiting for the time. Root tunnels were made as close as possible, and as many subsidiary trees added as I could, were in all the locations where I could place a tree without raising too many alarms.

- A/ , what are we doing in four to six days? - the general asked. HeÆd noticed the Valthorns were gone. - The enemy clearly is behaving strangely, and some of the smaller battalions have attempted to attack our walls. Is there something that was leaked? -

The enemy was nervous. Their generals and strategists all had some combat sense, and they knew something was happening. They just didnÆt know what, so some of them just attacked.

There was an air of tension.

- WeÆre preparing for war? -

- Is A/ revealing some superweapon? The Valthorns, whatÆs their plan? -

- WhatÆs the enemy up to? -

I decided to confuse them a little. - We will be striking at their fortified locations. - The council thought this meant all the nearby forts, and they started to make plans with the resources available to them. I had given them use of one hundred thousand regular beetles to supplement the regular standing army.

On the other side, I detected their discomfort. The generals and strategists all had skills, and so the crusader generals all increased their scouting efforts, and since there was only one week left to the trap, I didnÆt hesitate to kill their scouts with a root strike or a poison.

- A/ Æs forces are able to kill our scouts this far away from the walls. -

- They have an infiltration force? An assassination squad? - they wondered and increased their guards. They truly were not experienced in fighting against a tree . They assumed my tactics to be similar to regular kingdoms.

- WhatÆs their force projection ability? - The generals discussed at first the likelihood of a long - range strike from me. They noted it was possible, but they rated the risk as low, since they did not expect that I could field a war - significant number of combatants far away.

This trap was something I could only pull off once. All these enemies would learn of my tactics, and they would be prepared after this.

So, if this trap succeeded, I must hold onto the port cities and deny the temples a chance to regain a landing zone. At least, they would have to land further away and march a lot further.

Still, some of the more paranoid commanders reshaped their forces into defensive formations. The effects of skills were really interesting.

Another two days and the supply ships started to land. Some soldiers too had landed, but the bulk of them had not arrived. The small group of soldiers started to set up new tentages and areas, where the newly arrived soldiers would rest before joining the rest of their armies.

Too bad they wouldnÆt find any place to rest.

The Freshland army cavalry was ready, and the crusaders were clearly preparing for a cavalry charge. - We spotted Freshland cavalries and archers massing behind the walls and cities. They may be preparing for a charge. -

- If they want to strike at us before our reinforcement comes, then let them. -

In another day, most of the supply ships had arrived, and about seventy thousand of the four hundred thousand additional soldiers had arrived. True, not all would come at the same time, but no matter.

Already, some of the soldiers had a bad feeling. I was sorry, but war was a cruel thing. The temples had decided to declare war, and peace was off the table. Perhaps I must display a decisive victory; only then could a peace be negotiated.

The Valthorns arrived at their designated locations underground. TheyÆd been travelling in the root tunnels for an entire week.

- Where are we? - They were mostly lost. Their sense of time and place was distorted in the tunnels; there were no markers for the day - night cycle. TheyÆd lived with food prepacked or those made by the A/ ic druids . They even had special fruits and drinks to help them tolerate the effects of travelling underground for long periods.

The two thousand Valthorns had split up in the underground tunnels to their respective targets. Each group gathered in a small clearing, protected by the camouflage of subsidiary trees.

Time to start my second briefing. - Once you step out of these forests, you will be at the port cities of the crusaders. Our enemies. Rest well, because once night falls, we will attack the port cities. -

The Valthorns were nervous. - With so few of us? -

- No. The beetles and spiders will assist you by the tens and hundreds of thousands. They are hidden throughout the city and the land beneath you. You will join the battle once they start the attack. -

They nodded, and I let them soak in the information. I created a few wooden displays of the targeted port cities, and where the weak points are, which they took their time to analyze. They had never participated in a siege before.

The Valthorns chatted and planned, and I told them to rest well before nightfall. I gave them all a tree - syrup filled with energy nutrients. TheyÆd go into the attack with their full strength, whereas the enemy was exhausted from a full dayÆs work.

The moment of fighting finally came. The weather was pleasant in all six of the port cities, and the soldiers were all in various stages of sleep. Some were alert, for sure. I had decided to strike in the late evening, as my assassin beetles and poison - web spiders benefited from the cover of night.

I steeled myself and sent out the command to all my beetles and soldiers. - Generals and commanders, it is time to strike. -

The first port was home to two hundred thousand, but now it was temporarily home to an additional fifty thousand soldiers.

As the city itself didnÆt have enough accommodations, most of the newly arrived soldiers and their support team lived in makeshift housing outside the city itself. That meant they were always vulnerable to subterranean attacks since they didnÆt have fortified foundations.

It began suddenly. Tentages and their temporary bases collapsed beneath them. Multiple, almost a few hundred, holes appeared at the same time, and the beetles rushed out. A well - timed root strike also caught one of the commanders by surprise, wounding him severely, before a beetle finished him off.

The soldiers, most feeling safe and comfortable this far away from the front lines, were suddenly jolted into panic. Some of them slept without their weapons; many were not alert at all. The beetles took full advantage and attacked and killed the enemies by the hundreds and thousands.

- Attack! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! - the commander shouted, but his voice was soon silenced by a spider that ran into his mouth. The port itself found its walls broken. Some of them had been magically reinforced, but I had found weak spots after the past few months of planning. There were already tunnels that allowed my spiders and beetles to enter the port city itself. After all, not every city had the luxury of master builders who made thick foundations.

The soldiers scattered as loud explosions spread.

The Valthorns, too, joined the battle. They rode beetles and rushed for the walls, and some appeared within the city itself. They focused on the higher - leveled ones who managed to react and fight. Assassin beetles were more than a match for the level ten to twenty soldiers, but if the enemy soldiers were level thirty to fifty, it would require the Valthorns to effectively disable them.

A mage ran and tried to send a message , but an arrow went through his head. He collapsed.

A/ ic Rangers and Archers .

The fifty thousand soldiers quickly thinned to only twenty thousand to thirty thousand that fled, and the port city itself was flooded by beetles and spiders.

As a statement, the beetles dug up one of the squares, and I made a Giant Attendant Tree right in the middle of it. The giant tree emitted a healing aura and magic suppression aura , which made my beetles a lot more hardy.

Then an explosion went off.

- Master, a group of mages just activated a hero - item. - Right in the middle of the port city, it created a summoned giant fire elemental and started attacking the beetles. Ah, my beetles couldnÆt get to that group in time.

- Ugh. -

Thankfully, with my Giant Attendant Tree right in the city, it was rather easy to just launch constrict . My vines could take a bit of fire, and they could ensnare magical creatures since fifty years ago. They could even drain mana! So it was perfect for summoned fire elementals. The vines latched on, and gradually, the struggling fire elemental shrank until eventually it was extinguished.

The mages cursed and fled. The magical item summoned more fire elementals, but I had a lot of vines, and these fire elementals were pitiful. Had they been summoned with star mana, they may be worth taking seriously.

Most cities had some military resistance, but nothing I couldnÆt really handle. Progressively, I captured more and more artifacts and treasures.

They had higher - level units, too. A general here, a commander there. Some master swordsmen, too, who cut through my army of assassin beetles like nothing. But as my beetles or the Valthorns distracted these masters, a vine would occasionally ensnare their legs, and they would find themselves weakened, poisoned. The beetles would then deliver the knockout punch.

Once we got a strong foothold in the city, and my beetles had seized most of the key locations, I would telepathically speak to everyone in the city. - Surrender, or we will kill you. -

The Valthorns, like Edna and Faris, would then help to coordinate and communicate with the captured and surrendered civilians.

The port city fell by end of the day, civilians all under home quarantine as beetles patrolled the streets, and the enemy forces were all corralled into the squares. My main focus was ensuring that the port was no longer operational.

I still didnÆt have flying beetles, but some of the jetties and docks were made of wood. So it was easy to destroy them. Whatever supplies they had were quickly hauled away by beetles. Even if they managed to dock at one of the jetties made of stone, they would immediately have to fight beetles and spiders.

A similar chain of events repeated in all the other five port cities. All of these cities had magical defenses and high - level individuals, some more than others.

In one city, the Valthorns had to deal with a group of master pyromancers, and in another, a group of expert axemen.

Without healing aura , and the element of surprise, the losses would have been a lot higher. The soldiers, as ragtag as they were, were quite good once they found their weapons. Most were around level twenty, so they could go toe - to - toe with one beetle in a straight fight. Still, the element of surprise, coordinated strikes at all six port cities, and multiple other supply locations easily overwhelmed their ability to respond properly. Some of the soldiers retreated. Skilled ones, too, they had the right instincts to respond correctly. But sometimes, even doing things perfectly led to failure.

One of the port cities experienced constant combat till midnight, with long fights throughout the day. They had a few platoons of very well - trained soldiers at least level thirty to fifty. For them, the Valthorns fought hard, and I had to frequently assist them with my vines to prevent any unnecessary Valthorn deaths.

Two thousand elites meant only about three hundred to four hundred Valthorns per city. A small number of elites on my side, against whatever elites the temples had. I had to protect them. They were an investment into my future. I had vision, and I had beetles. So the Valthorns would usually attack from an advantage. I would never let them be wastefully sacrificed.

They were crucial to my longer - term plans. We were the trees, the anchor of the ecosystem, but the ecosystem must have other moving parts. I saw the Valthorns as a key part.

Nearer to the various crusading armies, surgical strikes that targeted their supply chains popped up everywhere. It hit at their tents, destroyed their food. Spiders poisoned their water. For the crusaders, this was their first brush with assassin beetles that popped out of the ground.

The crusaders had two large, two - hundred - thousand - strong forces, split across two campsites.

We didnÆt attack them much, just little hit - and - run attacks.

It was intentional. I had hoped that a portion might break off and try to rescue the port cities. I chewed through the smaller forces easily. For larger armies, the element of surprise was not as effective.

If they could keep themselves calm and hold the entire force together, theyÆd survive.

Their generals, startled awake by the sudden onslaught of messages and calls, actively tried to reassess the situation. - All our port cities have been captured? The supplies have been stolen? - It wasnÆt hard for beetles to haul away goods. That was part of their regular peace - time duties. - WeÆll be out of food in a week with the ports out of commission. -

- We must rush back to retake one of the ports! - Furious discussions broke out. Some pushed to retreat to the ports, and others recommended a push against Freshlands.

- The paths have been cut off. -

I was a tree. Terraforming terrain wasnÆt exactly difficult. I could easily add trees to a path and populate them with hostile vegetation. Then add beetles! Instant - terrain difficulty +1!

Trevor and my artificial minds had been planning for months on how to knock out all their transport routes overnight and leave only smaller, less useful paths. Even vast plains had tunnels collapsed in order to create a cliff.

- How? - That was a word that gave me joy. I felt like a master strategist who finally revealed his trump card, and the generals were my victims.

- Monster - trees? - Monstree. That was a bad pun.

In a period of about a week, the balance of power switched. Their entire logistics network and supply chain crippled. The general could probably beat the Freshlands force in a straight fight, but I would never fight them that way. I always wanted a subtle way.

There was a saying, if one was to remove weeds, they must also remove the roots. I thought these ports were the roots.

I was going to drag it out until they starved, and even if the general was a good one, a starving army still represented a significant weakness. No amount of skill would suppress widespread hunger. Maybe a level one hundred general could, but I thought the enemy general was in their level sixties only.

Meanwhile, the Freshlands army finally got their marching orders, and they soon encountered the deserters and those who fled from my army of beetles and spiders. No army was going to hold itself together when food and water ran out.

Some segments of the two crusading forces broke off and marched toward the nearest city in hopes of securing some supplies. But morale dropped quickly as they encountered terrible, unforgiving terrain that was never there previously, and the two large armies fractured, as each force wanted to seek out their own sources of food.

The generals, lords, and priests tried to hold the army together, but ultimately, they were a coalition army.

The temples cobbled the force together from the armies of various kingdoms. There was never true unity or proper discipline. Once they fractured, it was a lot easier for the Freshlands army and my beetles to pick off the smaller forces. Many surrendered. Many soldiers did not have a personal stake in this conflict and were not blind zealots.

Within a month from that day, both of the armies leaders decided to surrender, while the three hundred thousand or so soldiers that were unable to dock had to forcefully redirect themselves to further ports, with whatever little supply they carried. There, their crusade stopped.

The First Crusade Against A/ had ended. I lost about two hundred thousand beetles from the one million deployed across the six cities and various smaller targets. Horns and my new artificial minds all leveled up quite significantly from the battles.

You gained a level. You are level 169.

Subsidiary trees limit increased to 1,500,000.

Of course, this sudden upheaval made my war council angry, frustrated. - A/ had planned to take the six port cities all along, - the general said. - We were the distraction from the main attack. -

- And he didnÆt tell us because we might leak it to the temples, so A/ just let us drag the war out. -

Yura earned a bit of sounding, but Yura himself had very little knowledge of the actual plan, other than there was one. In fact, he knew of the plan to attack all six port cities at the same time I announced it to the Valthorns.

A victory.

But the crusade was not over, not yet.

The temples remained formally at war, so this was pretty much just the First Crusade. I made sure research continued into more types of beetles and spiders. I would want to add flying beetles and bomber beetles. IÆd like to bomb the ships once they got in range of the shore.

There was also the political complexity of assimilating the six port cities into the Freshlands administration and the negotiations with the nations and kingdoms in between. Those that had chosen to side with the temples quickly switched sides when they watched the port cities fall. All of them also fortified their walls and reinforced their foundations to make it harder for tunnelling.

Politically, the six port cities were now a part of Freshka. I declared that since they declared war on me, I had, by the norms of this world, properly conquered the port cities. Something none of the kingdoms dared oppose, even if they privately mentioned their worries. Some of them got so paranoid that they chopped all the trees from their cities. Treeless cities.

Enemies. I declared cities without trees as enemies of the Freshlands. The few small city states that made such a decision surrendered in fear.

All in, by the end of the year, we had conquered six port cities and eight other kingdoms. Many expressed their regrets for siding with the temples.

I had initially considered being more ironfisted and considered executing their leaders but decided to demand resources, gems, and various other treasures as compensation. Throughout the new kingdoms that now came under my influence or indirect control, I thought of expelling those who sided with the temples, but instead opted for a widespread conversion program.

Like a forest reclaiming urban lands, I could convert them. I would try.

Wololo. I was the priest from Age of Empires, converting enemy units!

Most priests in this world were not specific to a god, though some did specialize and in doing so gained special classes for that god. But in most part, the priests of the world were generally polytheistic, and it was a mishmash of the pantheon and whatever local animistic belief that existed in a particular location.

It was this tolerance of various beliefs that allowed me to recruit some of my earlier batch of priests. The world had spirits, after all, and unlike home, the priests of this world acknowledged that each god had a focused scope, and at times, local spirits would reign over the wills of the gods.

In a way, it was strange that the gods outright declared a crusade against me. Why? TheyÆd shared the world with so many others, so what was wrong with just letting me rise?

Why a crusade?

Why send an army and so many lives to waste when there were demons to prepare for?

Why?

What was this insanity?

- ItÆs my first time seeing the ocean, - Edna said. She had lived inland. The Freshlands itself was landlocked; after all, the corruption bomb happened in the middle of the continent. - Little did I imagine for my first time, IÆd be part of a covert army conquering a port city. -

- Fate is strange, Edna. - A fellow Valthorn nodded. There were a few deaths. I couldnÆt save everyone, but a few deaths were still infinitely better than many. The losses on the opponent side were far larger, and the beetles gathered the surrendered soldiers into groups.

More of the regular army and cavalry had marched all the way from the Freshlands to reinforce the Valthorn strike team, including various local nobles and captains. They had a lot to do, like stripping the surrendered soldiers of all their weapons, briefings, taking over the military administration.

There would also be officials from the Freshlands Federal Authority. They had to set up offices to integrate these new cities into the Freshlands.

Formally the six cities were declared to be the Freshlands Six Ports, and they would have a sub - authority known as the Six Ports Administration. It made sense that all six ports were administered together, even if all six were previously independent states. Quite a few of the existing administration surrendered, and Kavio recommended that we assimilate them into the existing structure once they passed some loyalty test. A suggestion I agreed to.

But a lot of new people had to be parachuted over. It was kind of like when a company forcefully acquired another company. Some of the employees would remain, but usually the heads of departments would change. There would be a lot of system changes and migrations. Laws and processes needed to be modified to comply with the new acquiring holding company.

- YouÆll get sick of the ocean soon enough, Lady Edna, - a soldier said. The Valthorns were a sub - nobility, so they were often referred to as lady or lord, even if they did not formally carry the title.

- Indeed. - Edna nodded. She was in the southernmost port. - But for now IÆll enjoy it. - There were wreckages to clean up and holes to patch up.

Most of the civilians had private complaints about the new Giant Attendant Tree that now dominated their city, but they soon accepted that they lost, and the Tree was there to remind them that we would watch over them.

The Valthorns would be stationed there for at least a few years as a peacekeeping force, with regular rotations back to the Freshlands. A long - range beetle - transport service was set up, and the kingdoms in between happily gave permission. It wasnÆt as if they dared oppose me at this point.

Most of the nations swayed with the wind and changed allegiances. Like new converts, they compensated for their foolish past by insulting their temples with vigor and vitriol.

It was fine. Geopolitics was disgusting but ultimately necessary. There was no way I could populate the land without people, and people naturally gave rise to politics.

After the battle, I created more artificial minds. I had to. My lands and dominion had increased so much more, and Jasmine and the existing artificial minds could not handle the monitoring of so many new citizens. I also didnÆt expel those who believed in the four warring temples; I only demanded that they did not support any war effort against me. But that required my artificial minds to observe so many of these cities and kingdoms.

Intense monitoring and surveillance were required.

- Why not kill them? - my artificial minds suggested. - After all, we have killed so many. -

I didnÆt want to, though. But I felt comforted, too. This was a part of nature. In nature, death was perpetual. Did we weep for the millions of ants who died in their wars with each other? Did the ant queens cry when the super ant - colonies waged planetary warfare?

No.

Grand Mind Tree has blocked influence from trees.

Override.

Death on a personal level was a tragedy.

But in the wars I fought, they were but a statistic. A number.

A score at the end of the game.

A tree in its life would create thousands, even millions of seeds. All potential lives. It did not weep when mortals ate the seeds. It was part of a greater calculation that some would survive, and as a whole, we would all prosper and grow.

Pain and death were but a step -

Wait.

This was too far. I was going too far. No. I paused and pulled myself together. - Indeed, but they surrendered. As such, I must abide by the norms of those who surrendered that they are not overly punished. -

I could not go too deep at that end. I would become a pest, a locust. A tree of nature must never let itself turn into plague that destabilized the ecology.

- But they may well go against you, Master. -

I must mold the narrative correctly. I sought to change and prepare, but I must look to be constructive, not overly destructive. Even if I did use tools that were destructive.

- A risk, but a calculated one. Only by displaying mercy and the willingness to assimilate these people, these heathens that they once were, can we convince the world that we are here to stay. If one of every two converts to our cause, we are stronger as a whole. The risk is worth it. To build a stronger tree, we must sometimes accept some risks. -

The artificial minds mentally agreed. They would agree anyway.

- So, we watch. - Fifty new artificial minds. My second Grand Mind Tree would take eighteen months to be completed. The various surrendering kingdoms gladly volunteered the materials for its construction. They didnÆt know, of course. I merely asked for the materials, and the losers gladly coughed it out.

It would be long. Those who lost would nurse unhappy feelings.

I only hoped that we picked them up before those unhappy feelings led to more war and conflict. The temples started a war, but I had no intention of letting this crusade last for centuries, even if I was very much suited for a long war.

A swift victory.

Relatively.

They will regroup. Lilies had not participated in the war. In fact, Lilies city didnÆt send soldiers out at all, even though their city was home to many followers of these temples. And we see that you will be ready.

Hah. Was that a pep talk from Lilies?

If only it wasnÆt so.

Achieving equilibrium usually requires conflict.

So it is.

47

YEAR 128

A year of relative peace, though publicly, we were still at war. It was kind of like the whole South KoreaûNorth Korea situation. No one wanted to back off and sue for peace, and yet the temples needed time to rebuild their military force.

Nearby, none of the neighboring ports wanted to host the crusading armies, lest a similar incident unfold. Fear crept into the hearts of many kingdoms that suddenly a giant tree appeared in the middle of a faraway city and overwhelmed with a tide of beetles and spiders.

The Giant Attendant Trees, they towered in the six cities, as symbols of the crusadeÆs foolishness. The Giant Attendant Trees were so large that they could be seen from the boats and ships far from shore.

But our own informants indicated that the temples were mustering another force.

Why?! I didnÆt understand this foolishness.

In the meantime, the victory had made the Freshlands Federal Authority extremely busy; they spent a lot of time reallocating people and implementing a ton of new rules. A lot of the prisoners of war were made to do hard labor or farm work, but some were released to those kingdoms that surrendered.

There was a long set of agreements and treaties to secure the shifting allegiances of the kingdoms and nations sandwiched between the Freshlands and the Six Ports. I did not care very much for the regular prisoners, so I was happy to let them go. These were mostly low - ranking soldiers mostly under level thirty; their threat level was not that significant anyway.

The loyalties of many conscripted soldiers were suspect anyway. Most of them just obeyed their kings and rulers and may not truly believe in the cause.

- A heretic god? What does it have to do with me? - It was a common expression amongst the soldiers. - IÆm here because the king sent me. -

Quite a fair bit didnÆt even know what they were fighting; they only knew they had been instructed to invade the Freshlands.

I supposed it was rather difficult to ensure the correct messages were transmitted to the five hundred thousand to one million soldiers caught in the conflict. Especially in a world where messages frequently still traveled by mouth. Messages and magical spells remained a luxury of the elite class.

- What does it feel like, you know. to cause the death of so many? - Strangely, it was a prayer from a random citizen of the Freshlands. He made the prayer sometime after the armies surrendered. - Do gods treat us mortals as just playthings? -

I thought so. The gods certainly did. And I saw why. If the gods could disassociate the person from the body, that meant to them, each living person was nothing more than a gamer holding an avatar, and when they died, it was just game over for that avatar. It was like humans with our games. Many certainly thought it was weird to care when our avatars died. Most just sighed and just started a new game with a new avatar.

But for those living in the moment, they didnÆt know that, and even if they knew, they didnÆt feel that connection to those future new lives. Each life and death were not connected to the next reincarnation.

Maybe. maybe I was also starting to think that way. I should not. It was a flaw.

The war council met daily. There were always new things to discuss. Kingdom A switched sides. Kingdom B switched sides. Kingdom C demanded for so - and - so. Kingdom D went this and that. After a while, it was like little notifications in my in - game menu that IÆd gradually gotten better at ignoring.

Especially if it didnÆt require my action. It was like some corporate paper pushers who received hundreds to thousands of emails a day, mostly CCÆed. That corporate drone would click on the email, read the first few sentences, notice that he didnÆt need to do anything, and click delete or archive.

- Trevor, can you notify me if any of these daily meetings have something material? -

- Certainly, Master, - Trevor answered. - You may want to direct your focus on the beetle and spider research. We are making progress, but we do require your decision on the numerical allocation of beetle - types. -

- Horns. Update, - I mentally called out.

- MASTER! - Horns shouted with gusto. I wondered how he did it. - We have successfully unlocked Bomber - Beetles. We can further advance this into Explosive Beetles and also upgrade its range and damage. Each will require one to two years and additional resources. -

Trevor interrupted, - Which will not be a problem. We have secured means of collecting the necessary resources from our vassals. We can afford to undertake all of the research. ItÆs a matter of allocation that required MasterÆs attention. -

- Yes, yes. TrevorÆs right, Master. But I must talk about beetles. We also have made progress on Flying Beetles and also improved our existing beetles jumping strength. Our assassin beetles are able to leap twice as far, and our tunneler beetles can last twice as long! -

Well, that was great. Reality was all these upgrades did add to utility, even if its combat strength was mostly unchanged.

- Wait. Why do I need to decide on allocation? -

- The process of transforming a beetle from one variant to another is a long process, and the subsidiary trees need about two to three months to shift from one form to another. -

- Ah. Ninety percent regular beetles. I have no intention of alerting our opponents to our unique beetle variants. For the remaining 10 percent, can I ask for them to be split equally to all different types? -

Horns intervened. - Master. we also have Hybrid Beetles! Based on your advances in demonic - hybrid botany, we are also able to see some potential in demonic corruptionûtolerant beetles. Do you want us to research those, even if they are ineffective against humans? -

- Uh. Why not, but no allocation of beetles to them? -

Jasmine also commented. - Master, there may be significant value in small beetles that can operate as stealth units. -

- ThatÆs what assassins are for. -

- Assassin beetles are still quite large at the moment. -

- Master, Jasmine is right! We must have all kinds of beetles! - Horns nodded. - Can we undertake all of them? -

I felt like I was dealing with children. - All right. Trevor, do we have resources for all the research? And sufficient artificial minds to work on each and every one of these research projects without interfering with our operations? -

- Yes, Master. If you may create a few more. -

- All right. -

Power was really not the problem now. All in, I could power a good one hundred twenty artificial minds. The entire Freshlands, a massive space, was home to around two billion normal trees and ten to twelve billion shrubs. The conversion of empty land into large forests had been rapid, spurred on by Trevor and the other artificial minds dedicated and constant expansion of forests.

They were persistent and relentless, and the forests grew so quickly that the Freshlands was a woodworking mecca. Housing was commonly made of wood, because of its abundance in the Freshlands, and there were a lot of vegetarians. The Freshlands as a whole had a lot of food supply, particularly grain and fruits, and many of the city states exported their food as one of their key sources of income.

That meant there was always a natural place for the Six Ports in the Freshlands, and many merchant lords quickly jumped on the opportunity. Skip intermediaries and additional middleman taxes! They lobbied for a flat Freshlands tax instead, since the goods would be exported out of Freshlands - owned ports.

Kavio, in one of his many briefings, spoke of the intense resistance and trade disruptions as a result of this war.

- We still have trade, but the temples have implemented multiple blockages at sea. They have sanctioned privateer groups to sack ships affiliated or carrying goods from the Freshlands. -

I was a tree. How was I supposed to attack ships out at sea anyway? My beetles, too, had an operating range, limited by my trees. I could not send them far out to sea, nor were they suited for it. The ocean was really a massive wall for me, unless I was able to research seagoing plants. Lilies would probably do well at sea, at least better than me. They were a lake - bound existence; surely the open sea wouldnÆt be that much of a stretch?

- WeÆd have to have our own navy. - Which I agreed wholeheartedly. - WeÆll have to start from scratch, since as a landlocked realm, weÆve never had to have a proper navy beyond our riverboats. -

A navy.

But how did I fix our economy that was disrupted? High - level individuals would usually not have problems.

Wait.

I could create upgraded classes. I could create upgraded trade classes. I totally could create upgraded trade and crafting classes and supercharge the economy. If so, I should totally start doing it.

- Kavio. What class are you? -

- Me? - Kavio the centaur shifted uncomfortably. - IÆm a. Manager and a Trader . With some classes in Diplomat and Councillor . ItÆs. an odd mix. -

- I see. Total levels? -

- Around sixty, but itÆs rather spread out, so IÆm honestly quite weak, - Kavio said.

Jasmine whispered into my mind. - I believe he also has classes in Smuggler . HeÆs been observed smuggling certain mind - altering substances for nobles. In fact, Master Yura also helps to procure the calming teas and psychotic leaves for Kavio. -

- When did that happen? -

- In the past few years. The substances help to calm the minds, apparently very popular with the leadership of the FFA. They say it helps deal with their anxieties and stress from interacting with you, Master. -

I paused. I caused my supposed leaders to have mental breakdowns and anxiety? Oh wait. That was my intention. I wanted them to be afraid of me, right? This was the natural consequence of that. Inevitably, some would turn to drugs for assistance.

I felt conflicted. It was right for them to be afraid of me; for them to be druggies, that certainly was not the outcome I intended.

I checked my massively growing pile of skill seeds and class seeds. My soul collectors constantly brought these back to me, on top of the other class seeds I received when my A/ ic Priests performed funeral rites for the dead. I had all those class seeds. Even smuggler . I could make upgraded versions of them.

A simple formula I discovered, really, was to just mash twenty to thirty of the same class together, and it became an upgraded version. Sometimes twenty, sometimes thirty. Some needed forty. Classes that had to do with ruling over others or were faith - related were a bit more tricky. They sometimes worked, but sometimes they didnÆt. I hadnÆt quite figured it out why or what. Perhaps there was an underlying mechanic to their upgrades.

- Is there something, A/ ? - Kavio asked. He looked really nervous.

- How is the economy of the Freshlands? -

Kavio paused, and he looked extremely puzzled. Was jumping from classes to the economy too big a mental leap to make? He stood. - If you desire a more complete and precise report, A/ , I would need to gather some of the merchant lords and administrators. But largely, trade with the regional kingdoms is holding up. We have a healthy supply of food, though we are still working on distribution and allocating. The Valtorn Order is committed to distributing food and aid to the poor and those affected. Financially, the Order and the FFA have committed huge amounts of money to rebuild the lands destroyed in the last two years of war. -

Jasmine, my sky - eye and spymaster, intervened. - Master, should you ever desire a report on transaction numbers, you may actually ask us. We monitor the region, and we have in - depth insights into the number of wagons moving from place to place, the population size, and the general health. There is no need to speak to the centaur. -

I nodded but rebuffed her. - I appreciate your statistical input, Jasmine, but I believe when it comes to qualitative measures of trade, I must consult Kavio and the citizens. -

Indeed, JasmineÆs data was like a satellite system that tracked trade movements, but in terms of value and quality, that was a more subjective measure. JasmineÆs ability to provide insight in whether corn tasted good, or where the market trends were, was quite limited. Even if she and the artificial minds had a wealth of data.

- I have heard of the FFAÆs plans to rebuild and integrate the defected nations. But tell me, from your view, how does it go? -

Kavio paused. - ItÆs. complicated. We honestly donÆt know how much we can trust these defected nations, so even if we have contracts and all, enforcement of those contracts is suspect. The alternative is maintaining military presence so they donÆt try anything funny, but that is treated as a sign that we do not trust them. So that sows future discontent and unhappiness. -

Ah. I see. How did we peacefully and successfully integrate an enemy nation? One that fought wars against us? How could a population that lost their loved ones against me choose to even side with me?

- Time, trade, and communication, - was Yura Æs recommendation, using his perspective as a Warlord . I thought it was a Diplomat aspect thatÆd merged into it. - Time, really. Time will heal the wound, and we would have to encourage a constant flow of people to and from those countries. -

Kavio agreed, of course. - I agree, those are commonly understood principles for long - term integration, but we still have to deal with the short - term bumps. It remains that each kingdom has a cultural difference, and they want to maintain their pride. They have defected, but they do not want to be seen as subservient, even if they are, in substance, forced to be. ItÆs a difficult balancing act. -

I had to pause to unpack that. Essentially, for the Six Ports, the FFA formally annexed those ports as new territories of the FFA. But for the kingdoms and nations in between, that formerly sided with the Temples, they surrendered or switched sides. So their status was a lot more ambiguous as, although they were on our side, they were not my servants. As such, they had every right to resist my attempts to integrate them into the wider Freshlands community, as they felt as that was me attempting to encroach on their sovereignty.

It was like some countries trying to force their allies to learn their language. Sure, they were allies, but donÆt shove your culture down my throat. Even if these allies were formerly affiliated with my enemies.

WeÆre talking about kingdoms. Nations. I could crush them. I could, if I needed to. But it had not reached that point. In the jungle, a species would have to find a niche to survive, and an ecosystem and the species needed each other. I would like to build an ecosystem where these nations could exist in a framework.

Many resisted the FFAÆs framework, one where I sat at the stop as the spiritual overlord of all the vassal states. A few agreed. Mostly those nearer and weaker, they were willing to accept me, a strange, magical being, a monster, as their supreme overlord. Most wanted their own dignity. Might made right. The world had no overarching enforcer of laws, as much as the gods pretended that they were.

Some of them still believed in their own strength. I ended the briefing and with Jasmine surveyed my lands.

The quality of the FFAÆs soldiers equipment was average. Not better than those of my opponents. I had thought IÆd made arrangements for their equipment to be upgraded? And from my surveys, it seemed that, yes, there were higher - quality items in the mix, but ultimately, there was a volume issue.

- I wasnÆt aware we did not have skilled blacksmiths , - I asked Kavio.

- We do. But the quantity of high - quality goods our masters can make is limited. Certainly not enough to arm three hundred thousand soldiers. And the quality of our metals has been inconsistent. But they are trying. -

Why was I not made aware of this issue? There was an awkward silence.

- ItÆs an ongoing process of renewing our forceÆs equipment. And thereÆs also the issue of channeling the higher - quality output to the Valthorns, who consume the higher - quality equipment at a higher rate. -

But IÆd already given them my wooden - made weapons. I spent a little more time observing my Valthorns and noticed that they treated my wooden - made weapons with unnecessary respect, using them only on missions that IÆd personally ordered. On their general duties, theyÆd used regular steel weapons. Even though I told them to treat them as expendable, they certainly still used them very, very sparingly.

- They mostly use them only against demons, due to their anti - demonic effects. Against regular monsters, they would equip regular weapons, - my spymaster updated.

Again. had I been so focused on the big - picture stuff that I did not notice how things decayed? I thought there was an expectation gap, in that when I gave a command, I expected it to be carried out consistently and constantly. But what I was observing was that for the citizens of the Freshlands, they would forget the orders and commands I gave a few years ago or there was a change of guard and the commands previously set out were not properly passed down.

It wasnÆt a surprise that the enthusiasm and obedience to orders and commands decayed. It would be strange if employees remembered everything their bosses said since many years ago. So for the general populace, this bureaucratic drift should have been expected. I recalled my own experiences working in that indie company; it was common to forget discussions and decisions that were made as we were busy with our own parts, especially if they seemed inconsequential at that time.

- We never forget, Master, - Trevor said. Indeed, my artificial minds resembled AI more than actual people, and as such they remembered my orders even from long ago. Things like overlays, constant expansion of forests. All made possible because my artificial minds almost never stopped once an order was given.

But people did. It was perhaps also why they were able to change, because one was not shackled by oneÆs past decisions. I looked at the Freshlands as a whole and wondered, Do they need more change, or more order and tradition?

I checked my classes. I had pirate classes, probably from some of them who died. Captain and Sailor classes, too. I could make upgraded versions of these classes if I wanted to start a navy.

But. how did I control them?

Once they were on ships, out on the open waters, I couldnÆt monitor them at all. My trees did not have vision in the ocean. What if those with upgraded classes defected with my ability to supervise so lacking?

- Trust, A/ . Unfortunately, that is the best we have. -

I sighed. I had gotten quite used to being able to monitor those who served me, at least directly or indirectly via my artificial minds. Now this required me to let go; I felt a little strange. Trust. That was an extremely heavy word.

It was especially if the class I was creating was a pirate . Pirates . did they have strong respect for authority?

- Pretty sure they do have some respect for authority, especially if they have good captains. -

I merged the Pirate and Captain classes together and noticed that five of each, combined, turned into a Pirate Captain class. I could create a pirate captain, but would they be loyal? They wouldnÆt. The best I could do was somehow align our interests. But sponsoring piracy against the temples was also not something the neighbors would desire.

Though I once vowed to avoid the game of politics, the fact that I had power and territory and neighbors made me a player in this game. Politics was unavoidable. I could not avoid people forever, unless I did not care of the decisions other nations made and their consequences on me.

Where should I go with this?

I wanted a cultural victory. Which sectors needed it the most? Blacksmiths and Navy ? Smugglers to break the temple - navies blockade? Master Farmers ? The Freshlands needed to be strengthened and reinforced such that the overall quality of life and the quality of goods were higher than the rest. Better adventurers , fewer monsters.

What was the best way for me to distribute these upgraded classes among the population, such that they aided the Freshlands?

- Based on our surveillance of the population? -

- Master, perhaps the Titans would be useful. - I nodded. I wanted to know how my people ticked. I may not predict what decisions they made once they were in the open waters or outside my domain, but the best I could do was screen them, vet them, and interview them properly.

I took one of the Titan Souls and nodded. Commencing fusion of Grand Mind Tree and the Titan Frame and upgrading and unlocking of Tree - Over - Mind would take a few months.

48

YEAR 129

A moment I long awaited, and I felt it happen quite clearly. The Tree - Over - Mind was shaped like a massive blob of neurons at first, but once it was complete, it shrank to the size of a small bush. But anyone who saw it would be able to tell it was no ordinary bush. It was as if a thundercloud was plucked out of the sky and made into a bush.

Lightning jumped from one part to another constantly. Flashes of light happened regularly. If not for various other strange, burning trees, itÆd look very out of place.

- I am awake, Master. I am the Tree - Over - Mind , and I can now be given a name. -

- Telepatreeck. Patreeck. - I had spent some time thinking of what would be a good name. It was either Telepatreeck or Psychiatreest. But I decided Patreeck would be a more common name.

- Activating local area Mind Access , - Patreeck said, and my mind was assaulted by the thoughts of almost everyone in Freshka. Freshka was the nearest town to the Valley. A lot of people suddenly jerked when they felt the Mind Access happen. It was like a sudden headache.

Yura was quick to detect its presence. - A/ . did something happen? I felt my mind was suddenly touched. -

The Mind Access felt quite like a version of the memories that the souls had. When the dead souls arrived in my soul realm , and after three additional colors to my soul forge, the quality and quantity of memories I could see from the dead had increased over that time.

This was a very similar feeling. I could feel little bubbles of thoughts. Not everything, quite surely.

That was when I could feel Yura Æs worry. He was wondering whether that feeling was a mental attack. It was the same throughout Freshka. Faris was back in Freshka after a stint at the Six Ports, and he felt it, too. Those who were higher level could feel it, something touching their minds. They didnÆt know what, though.

A deluge of random thoughts. Stupid things.

- Patreeck, can you filter those that are irrelevant? -

- Define irrelevant, Master? -

- Uh. anything that doesnÆt have to do with me. -

- Everything has to do with you, Master. Eventually. Please narrow down your choice. -

- Exclude thoughts about love lives, friendships, and issues of sanitation, food. - What else could I exclude? Or more like, what should I focus on?

Or was it better that I go about this in a machine - learning way?

So Patreeck spent quite a bit of time with me as we went through the thoughts of the people around me, grading those thoughts using a not - interested versus interested criteria; he would develop a framework of what would be relevant to me. But of course, this required training data, so I was swamped with random, silly thoughts for a long time, because though he had my knowledge, he still needed my decision making to properly assess what would be relevant to me.

Most of the thoughts were mundane. Thoughts about family. About their work. About food. I wasnÆt interested in things like that. I wanted things that were a risk. There was a context to it, too. Like, I would be interested in more mundane things from Yura than a random person I didnÆt know?

- But you do know them, Master, - Jasmine added. - We have knowledge about so many people. It is just a thought away. -

Ah. It was weird.

It was like one moment you didnÆt know them, and the next, all this knowledge got downloaded. It was uncanny and weird.

So weird. For a human. But so natural for them.

- Trees take forever to get to know a person. For us, interacting with a person for a year is good enough to make us relate to that person and makes him feel like weÆre good friends or sworn enemies. For a Tree, one yearÆs interaction is probably just a one - liner in the story of their incredibly long life. - Yvon was giving a talk to the new batch of Valthorns. - So donÆt feel discouraged and wonder why A/ still treats you like he doesnÆt know you. I believe this is actually a common feeling across all of us normal mortals when we interact with ageless creatures. -

There was actually a segment or class in their curriculum called Interacting With Ancient Spirit Trees. Apparently Gerrard helped them with the syllabus when he was here and was mainly for those who had a druid specialization.

- Druids must learn how to manage spirit trees. They are the creatures of the land, given power by their age or special events. The theory of how spirit trees came to be is complicated, and as druids, it is best not to presume each of their origins. According to one rare ancient script, spirit trees used to be far more common. This, of course, is a highly contentious statement. -

A young boy raised his hand. His name was Eiran, and he was a ten - year - old Druid . - Why? -

- The ancient script implies that there was an era before the constant destruction and war. If you believe this, then the theory that many trees surviving and achieving sentience would be true. -

- But do we know whether itÆs true? -

- No. Other than one rare ancient script, we have no other descriptions of spirit trees from the old era. Many records were lost to the numerous wars and battles. It could well be that this ancient script is a story of fiction, as this script was incomplete. Or the work of a speculator or troll. Most of the more recent Great Druids or Arch Druids believe that Spirit Trees are not created by the age of the trees, but more by unique magical circumstances. -

That would be fair, like me. I was not an old tree, just unique.

- For example, records about A/ did not exist prior to fifty to sixty years ago, when Freeka was founded, - Yvon said. - Where was A/ before that? We did not know. -

So close.

- Perhaps he was just asleep. - Yvon obviously didnÆt think so, but she didnÆt know the answer. I vaguely sensed she was still trying to unravel this mystery, and I discovered that itÆd been something she had been wondering for some time. It was just that no one knew the answer, and all Yura told her was that I was brought here by some druids.

- Maybe itÆs just magic made real, - another boy said. He believed in magic, that it was possible for magic to take the form of things. It was a remarkably pure view of magic. And I felt embarrassed when I felt the part of that boyÆs thoughts, that I was a magical existence. It was. weird and jarring to encounter these kinds of emotions. It was like being on the receiving end of a confession. Weird.

It was not all positive. Many did view me as a tyrant, a benevolent dictator. These thoughts were common among the visitors to Freshka, merchants or travelling nobles. Many had mixed views about me, most a grudging respect. On a day to day, though, most of them didnÆt really think about me that much. Their focus was mostly on their immediate issues. Food. Trade. Jobs. Safety. Relationships. Mundane stuff that I mostly filtered out.

For those who were used to Freshka or had lived here for a long time, their issues related mostly to jobs, studies, relationships, happiness, progression, and justice. Safety wasnÆt much of a big deal, because Freshka was extremely well - fortified. We had built many, many walls, and the Valthorns tremendous presence meant safety was not something they thought about.

Naturally, IÆd used my new mind - reading, though it was not pure mind reading. It was like I was able to access little thought bubbles that leaked out of their minds. It was a bit like The Sims, where there were little blobs over their head indicating their thoughts.

- IÆve looked through the memories, and I believe this display would be most consistent with the present layout, - Patreeck said. - Do you want me to present their thoughts in other forms? I can also arrange them as a ticker - style display or a live - thread. -

- This is fine. Can you color code it for the type of thoughts? Mundane ones as a pale gray. War or combat related as red. -

Patreeck instantly revised my interface, and most of the speech bubbles changed into pale gray. Little gray speech bubbles.

This was entirely possible because these companions of mine were able to intervene and connect to my mind directly. It was pretty much live editing similar to how TV channels added the banners and overlays for live sport events.

On top of that, I now had the ability to transmit thoughts and dreams into any one person. I could project emotions, feelings, and ideas into them; these powers were strongest right here, in Freshka. Honestly, these sort of psychic attacks felt like a big step toward outright mind control.

Was I becoming a hive mind that mind - controlled all the citizens in my valley?

I was quite sure I was long past the point where I could say this was too much power for one person to handle. IÆd had various powers that already qualified for that too much power thing. Like subsidiary trees and soul forge .

- Master? - Patreeck and the rest of my artificial minds were concerned. I thought they detected my emotional state.

- Ah. just. having some thoughts about my new powers. -

I summoned a few individuals to the valley. It was the same place where the Valthorns or the representatives visited. This time, Yura and a few Valthorns escorted them, and I reduced the effects of my haunted forests along the path.

- Master Yura , did we do something wrong? - one of the merchants asked as he walked carefully behind Yura . He was one of the few merchants who actively traded with us and with my newfound powers viewed me rather favorably.

- No, - I responded to them telepathically. I tried to control the strength of my projection. Yura had recently said that my telepathic messages had become rather overwhelming, even though the messages were simple. I honestly had not considered how my telepathic communication scaled with my levels, even if it made all the sense in the world. PatreeckÆs presence, too, of course. - ItÆs actually a happy occasion. -

The five individuals were two merchants, a carpenter, an herbalist, and a healer.

- The five of you must feel like an odd bunch. -

The herbalist mustered all of his strength to respond. - It is an honor. - I could see his thoughts. He was worried sick, and he wondered what would happen to his family if he didnÆt go home today. The others were thinking how to run. The merchantÆs leg was wobbly. I had the Valthorns serve them some calming, relaxing tea.

- But I promise you youÆll return home today. -

The tea worked swiftly and calmed their nerves. Then I got to the point.

- IÆve heard of your efforts to use local goods and promote local trade, and IÆm here to reward you. -

Trademaster , A/ ic Master Carpenter , Advanced A/ ic Herbalist , and Advanced A/ ic Healer . Somehow Trademaster didnÆt have an A/ ic variant, but then again, maybe that was because I myself had very little involvement in trade. But from what I understood, certain classes that did gain A/ ic classes either gained some mastery over wood and growth, some variant of my healing powers or anti - demonic properties.

The five were stunned at the fruits, but they all took it. Except one merchant.

- It is a great honor, but I must refuse, A/ , - the one who rejected it said, and I saw the speech bubbles. He didnÆt want to be seen as beholden to me, and I could tell he was extremely conflicted about it. - My independence is something I greatly value as a merchant. My skill Trustworthy broker relies on my continuous independence. -

- I see. - Oh well. But the other four were more than happy to take it. - That is fine. It is a gift, and you are permitted to refuse. -

Eventually they all left the valley, safely. It didnÆt take long for the effects of their upgraded classes to show up. Their works were finer, stronger. I wanted to see what their presence would cause.

The other nations who got wind of their new classes were quick to offer, but I had believed they had enough sense to refuse. At least, for a while.

- I suspect the Trademaster may move to other towns, - Jasmine commented a few weeks after that day. - But the other three are still based in the Freshlands. -

I mentally sighed. I guessed that a trademaster must move around to maximize his returns. Setting up a trading base was nothing more than a step to profit.

At this moment, I felt my ideas of a cultural victory seemed extremely farfetched. I could definitely assist in forming and shaping a culture, but ultimately the culture of a place was formed by its people and built over decades and centuries.

It was also constantly changing. The Freshlands was a newcomer in the world, culturally. There was no goodwill thatÆd built up over the decades, unlike the temples that were cultural and political institutions.

IÆd managed to sway a lot of the local nobles to at least give lip service, a word of faith and loyalty, to the Freshlands. But many of them conflated the faith and the authority together. I was both god and emperor, a religious and an administrative authority. The temples were religious figures, even if they lacked administrative clout.

The temples were gathering their forces.

There were already kings who opposed the crusade, not because of the cause, but because they were too weak. My victory had scared many of them, certainly; I was not the easy prey they believed I was.

On the Central Continent, most of them viewed me quite favorably, and so, one of the projects I had this year was to cut a path across the Rottedlands.

Right now, if we took the Rottedlands as one big pizza, IÆd taken a large slice out. Same for the remnants of HarrisÆs empire. What I wanted to do now was cut across and make a highway to the surviving kingdoms on the other side.

After analyzing the maps, I decided to do it the politician and capitalistÆs way: to the highest bidder.

- WeÆre going to launch a bid, - I told Kavio and the council. - I intend to use my powers to clear a pathway through and across the Rottedlands, so I want to invite the kingdoms who are interested in an alliance with me to participate. This means a trade route, protected by my trees and beetles. We can also set up new towns and cities along the path. -

A new silk road. A new. Tree Road. A Countree road.

The entire representative council was excited by what that meant. A pathway that crossed the Rottedlands would open up so many new economic opportunities for trade! It could massively reinvigorate the inland nations that bordered the Rottedlands.

- So invite the kingdoms to bid. What they are willing to offer for a connecting path? WeÆre also willing to offer a conditional defensive pact should a nation feel ever threatened by their neighbors. -

- Is this capitalism? -

- No. This is just me sending my roots to wherever thatÆs juicy. WeÆll open multiple paths eventually. -

This task would involve me cutting across where the demonÆs corruption was densest, but lately, I was feeling confident. I thought it was partly because of Patreeck. These Titans, they generated massive amounts of mana, and his psychic powers meant that he could help to offset the corrupting influence.

I could now dream of The Transcontinental Treeway.

The announcement was met with chaos. Even more than I had expected.

- Does this mean A/ is able to extend his reach as far as the entire continent? - That was pretty much the number one political and military question on everyoneÆs mind. Because if that answer was a yes, they had to quickly revise my ability to project power anywhere on the continent.

- Clearly the answer is a yes. Why else would the Freshlands put out an auction for a safe pathway across the Rottedlands? They must be able to do it. -

- No country on the continent is safe if this is true. If the Freshlands beetles are able to pop up on the other side of the continent, are we not sharing this continent with a monster? How is our throne and kingdom safe? -

- I think you mean, how are we still supporting the temples? This declaration is clearly a thinly veiled invitation to the rest of the kingdoms to switch sides. -

The temples were quick to attack the plan as some kind of tree - imperialism. That this was me building an empire. Well, yes. Of course. I was fighting temples who could summon armies from all the continents. Surely I was going to retaliate by expanding to such a point that I could force a stalemate and a peace treaty?

The FFA was extremely busy after the bid went out; many kingdoms, previously uninvolved in the affairs of the Freshlands, now had this offer. TheyÆd previously ignored me simply because I was on the other side, and the Rottedlands was this thick, impenetrable wasteland. As a potential neighbor, everyone wanted to do their own due diligence on what they were potentially inviting to their corner.

Some of the kingdoms quickly formed a coalition agreeing not to bid and to convince others not to bid. Well, they didnÆt want me next door.

But I just needed one. Someone to agree. A kingdom desperate enough to agree. A kingdom thatÆd been harassed, ignored, and bullied. One that was willing to accept a new benefactor and patron. The temples were suddenly willing to open their purses and give aid to the border kingdoms just to dissuade them from participating.

Ah, geopolitics.

Was it this chaotic when the Panama Canal or the Suez Canal opened? Surely the politics of having to skip a long detour for trade made everyone jump?

While the discussion went on, and the actual auction would happen one year later, I started to expand.

I had so many subsidiary trees. I pushed deeper into the Rottedlands.

Skill: Hybrid Botany upgraded

I pushed deeper to the center. Where was the daemolite? The center should naturally be where the demon king fell. There should be daemolite. Instead, I found a crater. A massive, smoldering crater.

What in the world?

Oh. Was this because Harris and gang destroyed whatever that was trapping the souls of the heroes?

The air here was different. The energies were chaotic.

I wondered whether this constituted a magical ley line.

49

YEAR 130

Strange how information was often volunteered when one was in a position of power. Across the world, many observed the Freshlands rise and were eager to make friends. I would not have called them allies, given their fickle nature, but for now, they were friendly to the Freshlands.

The temples were in conflict, of course. Political conflict, rather than actual war. Accusations appeared, perhaps from the kings and emperors, that the temples were dishonest. ItÆd been brewing for some time, but the in - tree - continental tree highway added fuel to the fire.

- Why do the temples demand our best forces when the temples refuse to send their best templars? -

IÆd seen templars. But in our first war and the string of battles, there were just a few hundred, at most a thousand, templars. Templars. The templeÆs military arm. Quite similar to my Valthorns, and surely, they were better suited for anti - demon activity than actually fighting me. Unless their god had marked me as some kind of enemy of the religion, and they got a boost fighting me. That made sense, too.

Again, free informants seemed to suggest that the temples had considered it, but their own intel suggested that their templars were ineffective against me. Simply put, the first few hundred templars were sent on a suicide mission. The temples, too, did not know whether the templars received any blessing or buff from fighting a non - demon enemy of the temple; their common understanding was that the blessings applied only against demons.

A common complaint, and at this point I was rather happy to be left alone. I didnÆt see the point in a war that proved nothing. There really was no outcome that was good as a whole. Like, so what if the temples won? Had they given up on their best chance of reclaiming the Rottedlands from the demonic corruption? The demonic corruption was weaker after the demon kingÆs death. The last demon king had recalled some of the demonic energies in the Rottedlands to fight the heroes.

The Rottedlands may very well undo itself if each demon king called on its residual demonic energy during the fight with the heroes.

Perhaps that was how the world maintained its current state. It would take a string of Rottedlands - type explosions all over the world to terraform the entire world into demonland. However, if the demon kings recalled the energies that powered it, eventually the Rottedlands would shrink.

- ThereÆs really no daemolite left in the wreck? - the representative council asked Kavio, and Kavio asked me. - Both locations? -

- A/ had only explored SabnocÆs location, as it is older and the corruption was weaker. -

The place of the demon kingÆs corpse had been thoroughly destroyed. I made trees through the area last year, and even now, not a single daemolite was left. The heroes had really destroyed the place. Of course, I was quite embarrassed that it took me so long to put two and two together, but then. who knew?

Daemolite wasnÆt just a great store of mana. It was also a good prison for souls. The two heroes were likely trapped in some kind of unique daemolite. Was the demon king harvesting souls, too? Or only certain kinds of souls?

- Our war potential would be greatly improved by having daemolite weaponry. After the great exhaustion of the daemolites in the last few decades, a new attainable source would be great. - The heroes didnÆt like daemolite. I recalled a conversation between the heroes about the perils of daemolite mining.

The global daemolite supply, which powered a small fleet of high - speed cruise ships, airships, and so on, had been heavily affected by daemolite shortage, partly because during the Sabnoc era, some of the daemolite was magically turned into greater demons. Then the two subsequent demon kings corpses were unharvestable due to the overwhelming presence of hex. It was the equivalent of poisoning a productive oil well.

It didnÆt help that the airships were unusable in the Rottedlands. Daemolite would interact with the demonic energies and behaved erratically, sometimes exploding. The terrain itself, hostile, meant if something went wrong, they would crash in demon hybridûinfested territories.

Darn.

But wait, if the demonic influence was weakening, would we be able to use daemolite?

I had the Valthorns send an exploratory delegation to the site of the demon king SabnocÆs fight. Other than the heroes, it was the first time someone had been here.

- So this is it. Where the demon king fell and Emperor Harris made his mark on the world, - Faris said. Harris was naturally the most famous of the five who survived, even if they all finally died.

- IÆm more interested in where he died, - Edna said. The landscape was apocalyptic. There were massive holes and gashes on the ground that four decades did not heal; only recently was some of that damage beginning to undo itself.

Still, it was a place where the demon king and heroes fought, and so the air and ground were unsettled, disturbed by the pain that this land once saw. Though I managed to remove the demonic corruption from this location, the ground was still poisoned from magic. Too much magic was used here. Here, magic itself was weak. Not a nice place for a mage , as they would find their magic less potent. Maybe in a few decades, the residual drain on magic would fade and this place would return to normalcy.

- Our briefing suggested that these places were always filled with daemolite. -

- ItÆs been four decades. Maybe the heroes mined all of them already. -

As I pushed more and more of the demonic sludge away, it revealed a battered terrain. There were huge underground holes, caves that were made out of magical blasts. We could tell from the circular shape of the caves, the smooth edges that indicated something annihilated everything in its path.

Faris was most affected by the devastation - the perils of a A/ ic great druid ; their emotions were very much affected by the condition of the land. He would witness a massive crevice, and heÆd pause, touch the ground briefly.

- You all right? - Edna walked over. There were many other Valthorns; they checked the area thoroughly for any potential magical items.

Faris had to pause. - Not really. This landscape. it weighs on me. -

- Huh? -

- A druid in some ways can be considered to have three main branches to their power. Trees and animals, wind and water, and lastly earth, - Faris explained. - Our connection to these three branches can be said to be almost equal at first, depending on our class, though we are usually more known for our connection to trees and animals. - There were variations across classes and teaching schools, of course. Some druids were pure tree - only. I believed my A/ ic druids were more tree focused, though Faris as an A/ ic great druid should be similar.

Edna got it instantly. - Ah, so the earthÆs pain speaks to you. -

- Something like that, - Faris said. - Not a nice feeling. -

Edna smiled and teased her friend and compatriot. - ItÆs like being sensitive, I suppose. -

Faris hit her with his stick.

The next location I wanted to explore was where Guihwang, Harris, and all died. I witnessed their death, of course, and the massive explosion left a large crater. That explosion destroyed the demon king and any trees I had in the area. Since then, the area had been inaccessible due to a perpetual firestorm.

- Magic storm. - Edna and the Valthorns observed the terrain. Residual magic. ItÆd calm down eventually. Maybe in a few years. It didnÆt happen all the time, though, which was strange. It was as if the gods rolled a dice whether there would be a magic storm or not.

- WeÆll have to wait for it to calm down, - I mentally spoke. - There are days when the firestorm weakens a little. -

Maybe there was daemolite in there.

Multiple kingdoms submitted their bids, despite the protests from the temples and so on. Some did so secretly. They didnÆt want to publicly declare to the temples that they were looking for alternatives.

The offers were interesting. Our invitation to bid went out quite generally, that I was looking to create a transcontinental path across the Rottedlands.

Some kingdoms offered their princesses for marriage. Some offered a cut in taxes. Some outright offered control of their entire army.

The representatives sat down and evaluated the offers.

- WhatÆs the point of this? - one rather cynical representative asked. - In the end, A/ Æs the one that decides, right? -

Kavio nodded. - A/ had agreed to three potential alliances, and he had said he would decide on two of them. The last one will be for us to decide. -

The reason I did this was simple. Jasmine, from her observation of the people, and PatreeckÆs mental reading had indicated that the council was growing weary. They had great authority over the lesser matters, but I had sensed that they were feeling left out of the greater direction of the Freshlands. Letting them have a say in the big things would help, I guessed?

I watched their thought bubbles. They were all thinking whether I was serious or whether this was a test.

- Kavio, had you ever thought of marrying? - I telepathically spoke to the representatives present.

KavioÆs face paled instantly. - A/ , you donÆt mean. -

- Some of the kingdoms offered marriages. Certainly. our representatives should be more than worthy and deserving of the station. -

Their minds spun, and I detected some horniness among the representatives present. Some of them were nobles, being the delegates of their parents who ruled their cities or domains. Some were elected representatives from their home state. There was some variation in how this station was perceived by the local rulers; some viewed this as a key training ground before they returned home to take over from their families; some houses sent their lesser children here, while their first sons were back home, actively training.

I considered that this would make these representatives not - so - loyal, since now they would have the input and influence of these faraway kingdoms. Their wives, or husbands as it may, would use them as their door to communicate with me.

A reality of geopolitics. The Freshlands wasnÆt just the valley of Freeka anymore.

I must have wisdom and accept that it was possible to manage competing priorities and influences. Just like how there were trees in the lush tropics to the cold, snowy areas of the high mountains to the dry, vast steppes. The world was not just one type of environment. Trees adapted and evolved, too, even if it seemed ever so slowly.

People, too, were different. The Freshlands was a growing, vast space. The ways and means of a city - state and that of an empire should be different.

The representatives had days of serious debate. There were about seventy - two representatives now, as the inner Freshlands had grown to over twenty segments. There were also delegates from the Six Ports, and then the representatives of the surrendered or allied kingdoms.

- Perhaps the hand should be offered to the High Representative of the Six Ports? -

- Or the hand of the kingdoms? -

It was a mess, and I didnÆt pay much attention to it. Each representative wanted something for their home state. After all, only one of the three spots would be chosen by the representatives.

- Glad youÆre not KavioÆs place anymore? - Yvon smiled and tapped Yura Æs shoulder. Yvon was almost level seventy as a trainer - master .

- Totally. - Yura nodded. - I may be a warlord , but dealing with squabbling nobles is really tiring. IÆd rather be fighting greater hybrid champions. -

My elite Valthorns were almost capping out, too. Edna was at level seventy - eight as an A/ ic Grand Knight , and Faris was level seventy - six. Many others were in their level sixties. They still had regular expeditions into the Rottedlands, but these days, it was harder to find champion - class demon hybrids to fight. So their growth accordingly slowed.

Instead, many started to moonlight as adventurers, fighting other monsters that spawned in the Freshlands.

According to our constitution, I had mandated security for certain designated routes. Beetles would patrol those places, and so these areas were safe. Monsters, however, still frequently happened, and magical anomalies, lesser necromancers, and nuisances were left to adventurers to deal with.

It was a concession for the adventurers lobby group.

- Are you level one hundred yet? - Yvon asked.

- Nope. Still at level ninety - four, - Yura answered. - But honestly, itÆs not a cap issue. ItÆs just a lack of suitable opponents at this level. -

- Maybe you could just dive into a dungeon by yourself and destroy them single - handedly. -

- There are no dungeons in the Freshlands. A/ Æs presence ensured that. All the dungeons are outside of the Freshlands. -

An unfortunate turn of events was that my overwhelming presence had prevented the growth of naturally spawning dungeons, so the Freshlands didnÆt have dungeons! This was a problem for adventurers, of course. Like, what proper fantasy empire didnÆt have adventurers? But if there were no dungeons, then the number of adventurers and their quality would naturally be lower.

I was aware of this issue for some time. It was just that, well, I could only focus on a few things at a time. Dungeons were natural events created from magical accumulation. The presence of trees and my roots that extended everywhere essentially drained magic and prevented too much magical energy from accumulating.

Instead, the magic was distributed and accumulated in forests instead. So the forests and jungles of the Freshlands had stronger monsters on average. Wolves, birds, and all that were generally larger, stronger, and more likely to have magical features. Some even had A/ ic variants, and I could give these A/ ic monsters instructions, though they may not always obey it. Most of these forest monsters were territorial, so they stayed within the forests, and coupled with the forests being protected territories, they were rarely encountered by the general populace or adventurers.

I was conflicted. If I wanted to strengthen adventurers, theyÆd have to fight stronger monsters. In the Freshlands, it was either I find a way to create a dungeon where stronger monsters could spawn or let these adventurers fight these A/ ic monsters. But I didnÆt want to; I was generally fond of these fellow forest creatures.

- We can use the adventurers to cull populations of monsters that have grown too large. - Currently, Trevor managed the population of the monsters in the forests. If they were too big, he would put them down with an army of beetles.

I still felt conflicted.

But really this was a short - term solution. Population cullings of large packs would not be sustainable, nor would it give a lot of quests for these adventurers.

The representatives eventually settled on one of the kingdoms that offered three princesses, a large amount of trade, and a regular payment. I still had to decide on the other two.

Which I soon regretted. I stared and contemplated all the choices and decided I wasnÆt very good at making decisions.

- Patreeck, Trevor, Dimitree. Give me a hand? I mean, a thought? -

- Certainly. -

There was some buzzing for a few weeks, and my artificial minds soon gave me a presentation. I felt like I was the CEO who was given a briefing on what was the best decision to make.

- We have evaluated the following proposal bids and have shortlisted the following five kingdoms for your consideration, Master, - Trevor started. He was the oldest of the artificial minds, so somehow he was like in charge.Æ

- The combined bid by the twin kingdoms of Illisar and Alenas are our first choice. They offered four children of the two kings as potential marriage partners. They also have access to four large precious gem mines, and theyÆve agreed to offer 15 percent to us, and their location is close to the northern rivers. They have had a history of war with their neighbors, and their two larger neighbors have always wanted to conquer them. TheyÆve failed in the past due to the two kings that were of a high - level, and they have a small circle of strong generals. But their strongest king died of a demon wound a few years ago, and the new king is weaker. -

I mentally nodded. All right, they were weak, and they had every reason to cooperate with us. They also had gem mines, which I needed for upgrades.

- They are also a landlocked nation, so they really need this alternative trade route. Their traders are frequently targeted by river - pirates, especially once the ships travel to the neighboring countries land, and so the main river that runs through their kingdom is an unreliable source of trade. -

All right, they were desperate.

- The second - best bid, in our opinion, is from the Kingdom of Tiapesok. Again, they offered five children of the royal family of our choice. -

- Patreeck, Trevor, maybe cut out the part on the children. Really irrelevant to me. -

- I believe they are relevant for our Valthorns, and politically, we may dangle them as rewards for the loyal nations, - Trevor said. - If we must maintain loyalty throughout the vast territory, it would be good to use these as rewards. -

- Really? - What? Was this like a game of Total War or EU4 or Crusader Kings where I matchmade royalties with deserving generals in order to maintain loyalty? Seriously?

- As such, the number is important, - Trevor continued. - Jasmine had also corroborated that many nobles frequently fight over good marriage candidates. As such, there is political and economic value from these marriage candidates. -

- But where do we come in? -

- We control the trade routes, Master. The wealth generated by the trade routes is a button we can turn on or off. -

Jasmine, Trevor, and Patreeck all paused.

- Also, obtaining marriage candidates is also crucial, as they are worth it for the potential hereditary skills. -

- Hereditary skills? - All right, what in the world was that?

- From our analyses of nobility, a common trait that allowed nobles to retain their power and influence, despite the worldÆs constant change, is the ability to pass on certain skills and benefits to their progeny. -

- . what? - That sounded extremely familiar. Had I had this conversation before? Was it some nobles that spoke to me about inherited skills?

- Master, our proposal required that we incorporate the skillsets of nobility to produce stronger offspring. Nobles and various races have been seen demonstrating the effects of inherited skills. Perhaps itÆs a slightly stronger physical strength, or just natural learning ability, or slightly faster levelling speed. -

- Why did I not know of it? -

- Not all nobles possess the ability to pass down abilities. Only some do, and those that never talk about it. -

- And. -

- We can read minds, - Patreeck responded. - Some of the nobles have been hiding this hidden advantage. They donÆt even tell their children, until their children gain a similar skill when they reach adulthood. Some of it is just the ability to evade negative traits or just generic healthiness. -

- Go on. -

- WeÆve also discovered that some royal families have certain dynasty abilities that bless their entire lineage. -

Damn. Even in the world of levels, the wealthy and powerful had a way to rig the game. Seriously.

- As such, the children of the royals have incredible value. -

- Do you think itÆs possible to spawn a super - noble, then? - I mean, if the inherited skills could be passed down, and the inherited skills could come from both father and mother, surely the nobles would have been accumulating advantages over time. WasnÆt this like how one - for - all works?

- From our observation, yes, itÆs already been done. - The nobles and royalties intermarrying suddenly made a huge amount of sense now. - But from our observation, these gifted children mostly turn overconfident and usually die young before they ever fulfill their advantages and potential. -

- I see. -

There was a very Mendellian quality to this entire thing. Patreeck and TrevorÆs proposal of mixing the royals with our elites reeked of geneticism. My soul forge altered an individual. This was altering successive generations via selective breeding.

- I understand MasterÆs concerns, but the effects of skills are real. The advantages are clear. Creating super - soldiers via selective breeding is possible in the long run. It is fundamentally not much more different from selective alteration of beetles. -

- In a world of magic and levels, weÆre still unable to escape the powers of inheritance and inequality. -

- Magic and levels amplify inequality. It gives legitimacy over oneÆs superior station over another. -

Dammit. Just fucking goddammit.

If I went down this path, eventually I would be selectively breeding my citizens to create supersoldiers.

- Master? -

- I need a moment. -

IÆd already taken one step into that path by training Valthorns from their very young age. This was an extension of that thought, by ensuring the quality and potential of the Valthorns were high, even before they were trained.

But there was clearly a conflict here. Valthorns were mostly children who were without families. WeÆd taken them in and trained them, given them a family and skills, and given them a purpose in life if they didnÆt have one, a cause and goal to fight for.

Was there a line I shouldnÆt cross here? IÆd killed thousands. Tens of thousands?

- Master? -

I needed more time to contemplate this. I could accept the fact that hereditary skills existed. In fact, it made all the sense that it should. A parentÆs love for their children may manifest itself as skills.

- The kings and nobles of the world have been doing this all this while, Master, - Patreeck interjected. - We are just taking it a step further. -

It was the difference between free - range chicken and massive broiler farms. I needed to think.

50

YEAR 131

On the proposals, I had agreed to the top two choices that Trevor and Patreeck proposed. For the marriage candidates, I had advised that we would decide on that at a later date. With the three winners decided, I started work on my long overdue Great Tree Road. I was already halfway to the other side anyway when we reached the center of the Rottedlands.

Now for the remaining half.

The Rottedlands energy had become weaker. Right now, it behaved quite like creep or ooze; there was still some push and inertia, but IÆd noticed the expansionary element had been slowly disappearing. That said, hybrids would continue to spawn as long as the terrain remained covered with demonic substances. The god of spawning animals, monsters, and plants didnÆt particularly care what was spawned, so long as they fit the terrain. It was a bit of a runaway process.

Maybe some demons or hybrids, if they could think, would see me like I was an evil highway builder, destroying and encroaching on their habitat with this highway right through their homes.

On a macro level, it was like how roots broke rocks or dirt apart. A root went through it, and smaller ones gradually broke it up. Some plants and trees didnÆt like hard ground and soil and required worms and all to help loosen up the soil.

Anyway, I started the building of the treeway, and the entire process of spawning subsidiary trees and Giant Attendant Trees took seven months. Along the way, there were large parts that were submerged under the demonic sludge.

Ancient ruins coated with demonic goop, cities that were somehow not entirely destroyed by the sludge. Caves. Rivers. There were many interesting sights and locations along the way, and I made a note to Patreeck and Trevor to return to them.

- We need another artificial mind. One to control access to the path, - Trevor suggested, and I nodded. I had capacity anyway. I named my new mind in charge of the highway that branched to the three selected allies, Trent. I wanted Treerific, but what would the parents think of that name? So, Trent.

- Hi, Trent. YouÆre in charge of security and trade taxes of the Treeway. Alert us and escalate any unusual matters. - We mentally linked up, and soon he was on his way. HeÆd been given a large regiment of beetles to ensure the security of the path.

The Council of Representatives made a request for a formal party to celebrate the new path that cut across the entire Rottedlands.

But it wasnÆt ready yet. Although there was a corruption - free path, the terrain along the path wasnÆt exactly clean. There was still a need to build roads, build bridges, build rest stops. A lot of construction work needed to be performed before the path was ready for use. Some of this construction should start from the other side, since it didnÆt make sense for a construction team to travel all the way across the Rottedlands. That was a two - to three - month journey if one walked!

I watched as the other kingdoms, these new partners of ours, sent their builders and armies into the new path.

- ItÆs rather tiny for a path. -

- Big enough for a few wagons, for sure. But itÆs so jarring. ItÆs like someone planted a row of trees on both sides and now thereÆs a path through the Rottedlands. -

- Hush! - a lord on a horse said. - His Majesty instructed that we build whateverÆs needed for the trade route. This path will relieve our trade issues. -

- ItÆs probably calculated to be of a certain size. You canÆt march a big army through it. - The builders talked. They clearly had no concept of being secretive.

The path meandered through the Rottedlands, there were natural hills and mountains underneath all the demonic sludge, and it didnÆt make sense to cut a straight road and force traders up and down the path. I recalled highways from home usually tried to maintain a steady angle or slope, so I wanted to do exactly that.

I watched and admired how builders made bridges from nearby rock and stone. They didnÆt dare chop down my subsidiary trees, so they improvised and used other kinds of materials instead. Still, given how big and long the path was, the builders skills would actually improve travelling speed.

They needed a lot of time to build, and on the Freshlands side, weÆd sent our best builders to work on it. I even gave out a few Expert Builder class seeds to the leaders of the build to ensure that the path was built as fast as possible.

Because of the long distances, there was also a need for smaller towns. Back in the days of the silk road, I recalled that various cities would spring up along it.

Trevor and Patreeck had made some projections and calculated that since it took two to three months to walk from one end to another, horses and various mounts would cut that time by a third, to less than a month. So there needed to be at least four large - size rest stops along that path, equivalent to one weekÆs distance horse - ride, or three weeks of walking, and another twelve to sixteen medium - size smaller towns in between, such that it took about a few days to walk from one town to another.

Back to the builders, they would need a long time to finish the road. A rudimentary basic road with a simple bridge would be ready within a year, but it seemed like the kingdoms and also the Freshlands all talked about multiple upgrades, like bigger reinforced bridges and proper towns.

- The territory on Rottedlands Pass belongs entirely to A/ , - Kavio repeated to the envoys. - But he had agreed to all three kingdoms that each of these three allied kingdoms are allowed to set up one large city and three smaller towns in these designated locations. It is important that the administration of these cities and towns be made clearly aware to obey the constitution of the Freshlands or risk destruction. -

Envoys from all three kingdoms were the first to make the trip through the Rottedlands Pass, even though the builders had not finished building. I witnessed how envoys had rather impressive skills. One had the ability to make his horse jump across the entire ravine multiple times, and another envoy could travel for days without rest.

It was easier to communicate and coordinate construction and plans with an envoy from our end. It seemed that Kavio and the council had also sent envoys of our own to the other sides.

It was better that they were here.

PatreeckÆs abilities quickly revealed their multiple objectives. One that featured in all three envoys was to assess my strength. Envoys were pretty much spies, and they all had some kind of level - sensing ability. It was important when dealing with other kings and lords, since the level of the other king revealed the kinds of power they had.

Domain has blocked level - sensing ability.

Well, thank you. ItÆs really convenient that my Domain blocked most of these things.

- My ability was blocked, - the envoy said privately to his colleague. Each kingdom sent about five to ten people to Freshka. - You should know what that means. - They were most cooperative.

The road would only be ready next year, even with the Expert Builders on the job. There was also a second round of migrationary movement as we opened up certain sites for the future cities, which would be directly managed by the FFA.

- Migrate into the Rottedlands? -

Some looked at a chance to make it rich. Some saw it like insanity. I mean, all of them were probably insane when they accepted this plan, but there were second - generation citizens of the Freshlands, where it was their parents who made the move into the Freshlands.

The Freshlands was founded about twenty - plus years ago, some of them who came had children here, and now those children were young adults. That essentially made them second - generation Freshlanders.

A lot of them grew up in the relative comfort and safety of the Freshlands, so the idea of moving deeper into the Rottedlands was strange.

I supposed one generationÆs suffering did not transmit to the next?

Some of the nations neighboring our new allies were unhappy, but they didnÆt dare risk my wrath. TheyÆd heard of the stories of the Six Ports, and they were quickly focused on fortifying their own home cities. Some, though, were quick to secretly extend an olive branch to our new allies.

A spy from Aiva was present, too. - WeÆre actively trying to delay a second crusade. - The spy spoke to a small audience. Essentially me, Kavio, Yura , and some of the Valthorn Elites like Lovis, Edna, and Faris. Lovis was lower level than Edna and Faris, sheÆd only received her spearmaster class a few years back, and she was in her mid - sixties. - I believe we may be able to buy some time until the next demon king. -

- Essentially, youÆre telling us that there will be a crusade after the next demon king? - Kavio frowned. - HowÆs that a convincing argument? -

The spy shrugged. - Sometimes, the best we can do is to delay the fighting. The Triumvirs of Aiva will not publicly renounce the war. -

- And what if we publicly call you out on it? -

- Then it will be a real war. ItÆs in our best interest to have this stalemate. The priests get to retain their divine duty and obligations, but no one actually has to die. -

- ThereÆs going to be smaller skirmishes and rebellions. There will be death. The Triumvirs presumption of a peaceful stalemate is ridiculous, - Kavio said.

- It is. - The spy and envoy nodded. - But it is what it is. -

- Rubbish, - I said telepathically to everyone present, and the spyÆs face paled.

Like dominoes, a few of the kingdoms neighboring our new allies were quick to reach out for communication. They wanted a similar arrangement, lest they let their neighbors benefit. It made no sense to agree to them. They didnÆt have the balls to submit a bid, so why should I give them any arrangement now?

There should be an exclusive period where only these three allied nations got the benefit, since they decided to make the investment.

The temples were already in full swing, trying to sow discord and rebellion. A few temple men, realizing that attacking me was useless, decided to target those allied to me. They targeted the nobles, the lords and dukes, the kings, in a massive campaign to sow hate against the ruling government, simply because they were associated with me.

It was quite intelligent. The rulers, after all, didnÆt have an iron grip and a big brother over their population, and now their own citizens were fed all these accusations from the temples.

These accusations amplified the present dissatisfaction. The Freshlands first victory and the subsequent shifting allegiances relocated many people, and added to that were the surrendering soldiers, a few hundred thousand, who then increased the strain on the cities and villages that received them.

It was something that slowly built up over time. As the Freshlands expanded, natural stratification and fault lines emerged. There were those from the core cities, those who lived in the original segments of the Freshlands, and then there were the newly incorporated and assimilated kingdoms.

Each had different views of each other, and it could be something harmless like one cityÆs citizens viewing another cityÆs citizens as strange. All these little differences, suspicions, and varying cultures were a formula for conflict.

It was normal. As species expanded, many would come into conflict with other species who occupied the same niche.

Cultural differences were a source of conflicts, and the Council of Representatives, as diverse as it was, still could not allay all these accusations and suspicions. People just naturally formed in - groups and out - groups. Us, and them.

Rebellion broke out in a few of the neighboring states. It was something Jasmine predicted from her observations. My ability to watch these neighbors was quite restricted, since many had made fortified roads and plazas, and trees were mostly in gardens and designated avenues. Still, we had a good feel of the mood, their discontent and unhappiness.

I had worked out a plan with the war council. They knew something like this was going to happen. In fact, everyone knew. Even the kings themselves all knew that a rebellion was about to break out. Even regular citizens who had a bit more general knowledge could see it coming.

It was that obvious. Those cultural fault lines flared up. In some cases, it took a racial turn. Humans versus non - humans. Elves versus centaurs. Some kings had skills to suppress rebellion and disloyalty and were quick to do it. The weaker kings didnÆt, so a rebellion occurred. They would use their army to suppress them. I decided not to participate unless I was invited to.

For those kings who were able to control their kingdoms, we quickly offered assistance to help resolve the underlying forces that triggered their unhappiness. It was usually rather simple stuff, like a lack of food, or poor harvest, or just ill treatment from their local lords. Things that a wagon or two of food could sometimes help solve.Æ

In a way, it was just regular hearts - and - minds programs to help defuse the social pressures that existed in these kingdoms.

Abundance helped to allay the concerns of scarcity. Many of these population groups were barely self - sufficient. Still, abundance would never satisfy the greed of mortals. The only way to ensure aid and supplies were sufficiently shared was if I had people everywhere to distribute these resources in a reasonable manner.

- WeÆre going to expand the Valtorn OrderÆs social services arms to all our allied states. All of them. -

Laufen, of course, was overwhelmed. But by now, the Valtorn Order was a massive institution and had grown to almost forty thousand people. There were numerous Valthorns who had more defensive or supportive skills who could assist in widespread social and community work, even if it was simpler stuff like improving crop yields or fixing bad housing, to the regular kinds of social work performed by the temples, which were healers and rituals.

- We need a massive priest training system and support system. We canÆt just send our people to all these neighboring kingdoms and expect them to succeed without a robust logistic network. -

So the Valtorn Order went into a hiring drive. We had to expand the size of our workforce if we wanted to try and overcome this propaganda attack.

There were two aspects to it: resolving the short - term issue of a rebellion, and then tackling the long - term issue of what caused and fed the rebellion. This wasnÆt a conventional war.

This was a culture war.

A group of two thousand priests and various other social workers headed for the hotspots. Places where Jasmine and PatreeckÆs social models indicated that there may be unrest.

It felt a little minority report - ish that we were sending social workers before something bad happened, but in a way, that was preventive work, right?

No one rioted overnight. It was a culmination of decades of distress. Similarly, allaying those feelings of unwellness would also require dedicated care and attention. I could spawn more Tree of Prayers everywhere. Those trees could reduce the general stress levels and induce a sense of calmness and serenity. But it didnÆt work if they were already mad.

If they were in my valley, I could be even more obtrusive and use psychic and dream attacks on them, but that was like using a hammer to cut a cake.

So, a massive hiring drive.

Once I had the numbers, they needed to be educated and trained.

- LetÆs set up a massive priest training facility, - I mentally told myself. Since these gods treated me as a fellow deity, even if I was evil, it was time to go on overdrive and behave like a proper religion.

A culture war could only be defeated by another culture. If I wanted to sustainably push back these enemy cultures, I must first convert all those in the Freshlands to my culture and religion. Else, one edict or divine message, and IÆd have large swaths of my population rebellion.

That was not acceptable.

I marked a hilly area next to Freshka and started work. A large area of forests was merged with multiple Giant Attendant Trees. It was going to be like my Vatican, my Holy See, and I wanted the area to be visible even from afar.

I used my powers to make these the tallest Giant Attendant Trees ever made, and it took about a month of working and shaping with my woodshaping . It was easier, since I was working with bigger things. I made housing, lecture halls, training rooms, multiple ritual rooms, places for guests, and all that.

I called on ten of the most experienced and high - leveled A/ ic priests .

- I have been extremely pleased with your efforts in the past few years to counter the propaganda spread by our opponents. -

The ten all knelt in a circle around a Tree of Prayers . This was the same meeting area.

- It is time that you are rewarded for your faith and loyalty. - There were five men and five ladies.

All ten of them received either Patreearch of A/ or Matreearch of A/ . These were upgraded A/ ic priest classes, which should empower all their regular priests abilities to a greater degree.

They ate the fruits containing the classes, and instantly, all ten of them screamed. Their bodies shook, and I sensed their spirits glow brightly. Their skin turned slightly greenish, and all their eyes gained a green ring that glowed.

One of them, he was a middle - aged man who served mostly in the Southeastern Segments, was first to rise. - O A/ , our great patron of the land, we have received your blessings. -

All of them rose, their bodies healthier and stronger. I sensed the presence of my Domain flowing into them slightly.

Did my Domain choices influence the kinds of power my priests possessed? But no matter. - Rise, my Council of Arches, for the weight of expanding our faith rests in your hands. -

The ten rose and sat in a circle. Together, they seemed to emit a physical glow.

- The other gods deny my presence in our world, - I said. - I will need you to push them back. My first order is to set up the School of Treeology, where all the priests will be trained. My second order is to secure the faith and loyalties of all nations allied to the Freshlands. -

The ten answered in unison, their voice seemingly echoing like a choir. - We receive your commandments! -

Then I summoned the A/ ic priests for all over. If I wanted to be a true global religion, it was time to have a proper structure, a unified code of principles and, well, power. Generic Priests got the usual abilities, heal, cure wound, some barrier and shield powers.

It was time for these new ten Patreearchs and Matreearchs to run the show and spread the faith of the Tree to the world.

51

YEAR 132

- This is the third batch of prospective priests and students. - A priest gestured to the Patreearch as a group of fifty walked into the room. They all bowed and were quickly given a short interview. A test of their faith, as the Patreearch made them recite the constitution of the Freshlands. Then a quiz on my abilities.

It was a strange feeling, but at the same time, I was numb. The school of Treeology had to expand quickly in order to meet the need for social and cultural influence in the region, so this school had to grow quickly.

Conflict and confusion naturally emerged. Speed meant planning was not proper, and it seemed the ten Decarches - Decarches, because it was ten Patriarchs and Matriarchs - quickly had different opinions of how to expand the school. They soon squabbled over things like what was the right way to pray, what was the right way to do things, and their methods.

I summoned them all, and they all presented their cases. Each Patreearch came from a different place, and there was some diversity in races, too. One of them was a half - elf, another a centaur, another a treefolk. As such, each had different areas that they felt were important in their faith.

For some, it was caring for the land. That meant they were both priests and druid. For another, it was about the birth and death of souls, and the ceremonies. While they seemed like they could mutually coexist, their arguments would devolve into arguments about what was of a higher value or semantics.

For example, one of them, in their practice of honoring those who had died, would bury the body in the earth and plant a tree on them. Yet the bodies of mortals sometimes carried sickness or poison. For one, it was still right to bury them. For the other, caring for the earth took precedence, so the sick or poisoned corpse should be burned, or at least processed before burying.

It was often little but fundamental differences in which values held strong that created these conflicts. They were small conflicts, in the sense that they could still live with each other and operate within the same area, but certainly it was an ideological difference. In a way, it was like different teachers in a school, each thinking their own subject was the most important one.

But at the same time, I didnÆt want to clamp down on these differences in opinion. I didnÆt see myself as a founder of an orthodoxy where there was only a single source of truth or opinion; it certainly wasnÆt aligned with how plants evolved and adapted to their surroundings.

Thus, the faith I had must be able to evolve, and it was only right that the willingness to accept differences of opinion be set up at the start. But at the same time, a faith that could evolve was also one that would squabble and eventually break apart. Yet, as I pondered this problem, whether I set it up or not, faith would naturally evolve as the greed and instincts of man meant the rules would shift over time. It was only proper that I set up the mechanics to do so early on, and finetune it, since I was after all, their deity.Æ

So, to the ten Decarches, I decided to allow each of them to lead their own departments. A student would rotate and go through all of them over the two to three years of training as a priesthood. There would be a debate and a voting system as the ten Decarches would have to decide. In time, I saw that IÆd probably expand the Decarches into a proper council of high priests, but that would be in the near or far future.

For now, a departmental approach seemed better. I mean, I could in theory agree with any of the ten and decide that as canon, but a tree existed in the real world, and the proper way to do it was to let the priests carry it out and observe the consequences of such beliefs, then apply corrective guidance as and when necessary.

One thing I was quick to notice amongst the mortals of the world was that they didnÆt believe in neither a godÆs omnipotence nor omniscience. The concept of a one god of everything did not exist, simply because of the visible divinity of lesser deities and the higher gods.

So it came off rather strangely to me that in this aspect, these people were progressive. They could accept that the gods could change their minds, and frequently, in their prayers to the divine, they often tried to negotiate with the gods. Even if it was futile. Was it because theyÆd always lived in a world where there was an expectation of a pantheon of gods? And they seemed to acknowledge, without much reservation, that gods had a limited scope of powers.

Still, differences emerged from their different interpretations and priorities. It was only natural, and it was something I should let run its course.

In this period of tense peace, with the temples still planning for a second crusade, I continued to improve on our beetles and spiders - new assassin and anti - human variants and higher range for my new artillery bomber - beetles. They were larger, about the size of a giant beetle, and they moved a lot slower. But they could shoot out an acidic projectile that could travel a few hundred meters, so that made them a proper ranged attacker. Even if they were absolutely defenseless otherwise.

No matter. Little secret weapons I could use on the next crusade. Best to keep them hidden and only reveal them when really necessary.

Horns enjoyed all beetle - related stuff, but I did notice he cared more for the beetles. Trevor and the other artificial minds were the ones driving the changes to the assassin spiders. I thought I should make more assassin spider artificial minds, such that they acted as my assassin - generals.

Jasmine was quick to support the idea and recommended that they be assigned to her, since she and Patreeck coordinated the surveillance and monitoring of the denizens of the Freshlands.

I wondered whether that was the right idea. What if Jasmine and Patreeck made the wrong call and assassinated someone without truly checking? What if they killed someone who shouldnÆt be killed?

I didnÆt think that outsourcing the business of killing was something I was willing to do. Not until I could trust their judgment, even if they had been shortlisting and compiling crimes on our denizens. I felt rather strongly that I should be the one deciding on whether they lived or died. At least, in assassination situations.

In a war situation, as everyone present was a combatant, I was more willing to give my assistants free rein to decide. But in more covert and subjective situations, I didnÆt think it was fair. Many people had rebellious and treasonous thoughts, but that didnÆt mean they would all rebel or would be disloyal. In fact, I would suspect anyone who never had that thought at all, because that meant they had never internally considered it. That generally meant their loyalty had never been tested, and as such, they may switch even when they seemed loyal all this while.

So I demanded a dossier for every suspected person. TheyÆd been graded on a framework and risk rated. I felt like this was some kind of risk rating for loans or a little like the social credit scores, but. if I was the only one I trusted to make this decision, then this was the best way to thin down the risk.