Today is the 27th.
Alissa and Lina wake me up. I open my eyes to see Alissa sharing half the bounty with Lina.
I smile at them and once everyone uses [
Clean
] we share our usual morning kiss. I turn my head to the side and kiss the nose of the sleeping Ciel, who decided to use my arm as a hugging pillow. Her arms are like tentacles. Not saying I dislike it, though, on the contrary.
Alissa gets up and opens the ice box. She picks up a cut of deboned fish. With a poof she pulls out a grilling grid and a heating magic tool. She turns on the tool and seasons the fish with some herbs and salt.
Soon the smell awakes Aoi.
"You want one too?" Alissa asks the little blue dragon.
Her nostrils flare and she gives a smile full of sharp fangs. Dragons don't smile so she's copying us, to slightly frightening results. She nods and Alissa picks another cut of fish.
Gify stops pretending to sleep and the other girls slowly wake up, they all get up and sit at the table. I'm the last one up.
That dream is making me feel weird, I felt like my body wasn't my own anymore. The pressure at my back increased and my heart aches for something.
That was the Everlasting Storm. Outside of the 3 continents there's nothing else out there, there's only the Storm, the remnants of the fight between the Gods. This Eternal destruction that ravages most of the world.
"You feeling okay, Wolfy?" Alissa asks as I sit to eat.
"I had a weird dream. I'm feeling odd."
Ciel uses [Diagnosis] and casts [
Purify Body
] but nothing happens.
I take a look at Gify but he's ignoring the situation. His face buried in a soup he's slurping.
I let a sigh escape my lips.
"It's just an uneasiness, if I get worse I will tell. Ciel you are second-in-command if anything happens," I say.
"Y-yes. I don't think anything will happen, though," she answers.
No one besides me is experienced in leadership but she's the one with the most level head here so she's the best for it.
We pull out our cloaks and leave in the light drizzle.
Slowly the drizzle turns into rain that turns into a thunderstorm. The light of the sun is almost put out, forcing us to cast our [
Spirit Lights
]. The forest looks extraordinarily depressive in this low light.
I swear I'm hearing giggles, it's not the wind.
The gnomic personal heating tools work to keep us from freezing, but they are costing too much mana and they don't stop the water from seeping into our bones.
"Just endure it!" Hana yells.
I barely hear Roxanne groan. Lina and I say nothing but our mood is horrible. Alissa and Ciel are a little more used to rough times. Aoi puffs smoke and keeps her own body warm with little effort. Gify is a cheater and he doesn't even get wet.
Gih.
Yeah, spirit body is cheating, you only feel temperature if you want to.
I feel Gify shrug inside my head.
Hana, Ciel, and Alissa are the ones with the most energy so they keep us moving at a steady pace.
The storm lightens up and Alissa stops us.
"Four large animals are coming!" She yells over the rain.
Animals? Hardly any exist in the Sea of Trees due to orcs and goblins. Now, four
large
ones? This ain't good.
I summon 3 water elementals. I can't use [Electric Magic] because I don't have enough control over it to not shock myself. I take my points off of it and put it all on [Earth Magic], now I can use [
Dust Storm
].
Due to the light rain we see them before we hear them, but I think that even without the rain we would never hear them coming. 4 large black panthers with long, muscular legs and huge paws. Their claws are thicker than my thumb and look extremely sharp. Their mouths show impressive teeth while their yellow eyes and facial expression show unbridled anger. They growl wildly like panthers.
Gatun's, the mounts used by the high elves of the High Forest.
They walk low on the ground. Their long limbs move quickly while their heads move smoothly without bobbing. An eerie sight.
They split and circle us, their gaze never wavering.
"What are they doing here?" Alissa asks, clear surprise on her voice.
"They are not running away, they are ignoring my [Intimidate]. They are trained" Hana says.
"Then they belong to someone. Don't attack unless attacked, they might be protecting something," I say.
They suddenly pounce towards us.
"Uah!" Roxanne yells.
Mana runs through Lina's body and she counters with a shield bash. Her shield diverts a paw away and she parries the other paw with her axe. The mouth of the Gatun continues down but it is thrown sideways as an [
Explosion
] gouges out a small chunk of his ribs.
Hana immediately counters, before the Gatun can dodge her spear shoots forward. The enchantment and her thrust results in an incredibly fast strike, the spear gets lodged on it's throat. The Gatun extends it's long limbs and rakes her shield. A [
Water Blade
] splits its snout in two, exposing the bone.
Ciel is not so fast with the counter, her glaive gets stuck on the ribs of the Gatun. Both paws strike her flank, its claws sink on her armor and stop at the fur lining. The Gatun receives a [
Torrent
] on the face and is pushed back. It pulls Ciel down as it claws are stuck on her armor.
I cast a desperate [
Earth Bullet
] on the face of the Gatun. Its face tilts upwards due to the spell but it barely loses momentum. One paw strikes my shield and the other hits my sword arm, one claw sinking into my armor and shallowly breaking my skin. The force of the animal is so strong I feel like I'm getting crushed. An arrow pierces its throat and a [
Torrent
] pushes it back. The claw on my arm pulls me forward, making me stumble.
The Gatun falls to the ground and swipes at Lina's legs. Its claw pierces her leg armor and breaks her skin.
"RAAH!" Lina yells.
She strikes with her axe and it cuts off the leg of the Gatun, the blade went clean through the bone.
Hana's spear shortens and she spews fire. The fire doesn't go far due to the rain but it's enough to burn the face of the Gatun. The breath and a fireball Aoi threw burns his eyes, blinding it.
The Gatun pulls it's claws in. It opens it's mouth and bites into Ciel's head, its steel jaw muscles bend her helmet. She drops her glaive and grabs the throat of the Gatun. She fires multiple [
Air Blades
] point-blank on its throat. Blood flies as the Gatun nearly gets decapitated. It spits her in surprise and pain.
I stumble forward and strike its snout with the brim of my shield. The Gatun opens its mouth in pain and to bite at me, the bad smell of animal breath fills my nose. Another arrow enters its throat and I fire an [
Earth Bullet
] after it. The arrow pierces through its throat and it chokes. I remove my arm from its claw and slice with my sword, splitting his snout.
The claws on Lina's leg dislodge, leaving a thin trail of blood. Another paw comes down, the claws break the scales and bend the metal of her shield. With an overhead strike she hacks at the attacking paw, forcing the elbow to point at the wrong way. It's roar of pain is interrupted by it's head exploding like a watermellon.
Hana's Gatun retreats in pain. She strikes again at the neck and tries to keep it in place by using the spear with both hands.
Ciel staggers back and points her finger forward. Aoi spews a fireball, the Gatun jumps upwards and the fireball explodes right under his chin, forcing his head upwards. From Ciel's finger an [
Air Hammer
] invisibly flies forward and hits its chin, forcing it backwards. A [
Torrent
] hit its chin again, forcing the head to an impossible position, breaking the neck. The Gatun collapses.
I cast [
Dust Storm
], a large amount of dust gets lifted off the ground and surrounds the head of the Gatun. He swipes at it, confused. I fire an [
Earth Bullet
] at its body, making it roll on grass. Now he's completely disoriented. He stands still for a second and an arrow pierces his eyes. He falls limp.
A thin [
Ice Lance
] pierces the skull of the Gatun Hana is holding. It collapses immediately.
An arrow pierces the eye of the paralyzed Gatun.
"What the fuck!" Hana exclaims, "The hell are these things doing here!"
Ciel spits blood and heals herself. I instantly heal myself and Lina, our wounds were shallow.
I check on Ciel. We needed Hana to pull her helmet apart so we could heal her. We both use multiple heals on her until she's back in shape. Lina spends some time reshaping her helmet with [
Manipulate Metal
].
"Gify..." Alissa says, a hint of anger on her voice.
All this time the little griffin was just laying still on my shoulder like he's glued. Normally he dematerializes whenever we fight but now he looks around casually, as if nothing happened.
Don't tell me this is a fucking test.
I kiss the drenched faced of Ciel and she smiles weakly. Her helmet is now misshapen.
I store the bodies and dismiss the elementals. I feel even more sadness at killing animals than I do at killing monsters. What a shame to kill them because croikey, what a beauty they are.
Then we huddle together under a huge snaking root to give us a small respite from the rain. We briefly warm ourselves with the [
Warmth
] magic tool.
"Everyone okay?" I ask.
"Yeah..." Roxanne answers faintly.
The others nod. Everyone is taking a look at Gify on my shoulder.
The first-class actor does not show a single reaction.
"It's a test," I say.
Alissa nods in agreement. "Whoever protects this forest wants to know who you are," she says.
"I would rather not do this through deadly tests," I say.
"Nature shows no mercy."
"Next animal we attack on sight," Hana says.
It certainly is like how the Gloomy Pervert said. I hope we didn't screw ourselves over due to the moon aspect.
We continue our way forward. The rain turns back into drizzle, allowing us to finally warm ourselves again.
The landscape changes slowly. We see patches of brightly colored trees and moss increasingly often. The bushes grow in size, forcing us to trudge through them with some effort. The mushrooms become more numerous and more eye-catching. The huge roots are a constant sight.
"Do not touch any of these," Roxanne warns, "Many of them have poisonous spores and the rest I have no idea what they are like."
"If I don't know the poison [Diagnosis] then [
Purify Body
] won't work," Ciel says.
This is getting dangerous. No wait, this is already dangerous.
"Form a line behind me," Alissa says, "I will make sure we avoid anything dangerous."
Our traveling speed reduces but we avoid any danger.
I start to see small amounts of suspended dust particles. After a while I realize they are colored and that they are spore clouds.
The mushrooms start to pulse and glow. They come in many weird shapes, they resemble morels, brains, beards, skinny umbrellas, blood clots, or even underwater corals. Thinking of them as alien dicks lightens my mood.
We find a skeleton of an adventurer sitting down with his back laying on a large root. At his feet there are multiple sinister looking glowing mushrooms.
"Why did no monster eat his body?" I ask.
"Monsters easily identify poisoned meat," Roxanne says.
"The Mossy Fangpines use poison," I say.
"But the Fangpines know the taste of their own poison."
"Some adventurers use an Escape Bomb on themselves so their bodies are not eaten after they die," Ciel says.
"Why?"
"They believe it protects their soul," she shrugs, "I think it only delays reincarnation."
"If you meet something like an undead then this might be a bad idea," Alissa says.
"Or any monster that can manipulate the soul," I add.
"Can we cremate him?" Ciel asks, "It's a shame to leave this corpse like this."
"Wolfy. Can you lift him with [
Telekinesis
]?" Roxanne asks, "Nobody should ever be getting anywhere close to a glowing mushroom."
"Stand back," I say.
I focus on every bone that I can see. I have to be really delicate here, can't let a single bone fall.
I start lifting him up. His leather and cloth armor rips even further but fortunately it doesn't fall down.
Something shifts inside him and a leather bound notebook falls off his jacket. It opens into ruined pages and I catch a glimpse of Andraste.
*FUSHH~* A black cloud emerges from the disturbed mushrooms. I drop the bones and run. The skeleton breaks into hundreds of pieces.
We run with an increasing amount of spore clouds emerging from behind us.
We reach an area clear of mushrooms and Ciel stops.
"Leave it to me!" She yells.
We stop and cover our noses. Ciel hurriedly chants. The spore cloud gets closer.
"[
Wind Storm
]!"
We are assaulted by mildly uncomfortable wind bursts. They sting my cheeks every time they hit my face.
The wind around us calms but our surroundings get enveloped by a rainbow of spores. The tornado intensifies and slowly the spores are sent back to where we came, clearing our surroundings.
"Gihihihih."
The little shit giggles even though he receives glares from all of us, even Aoi.
"Sorry. It wasn't a good idea," Ciel says.
"It's okay," I say.
"I apologize for disturbing his rest but our lives must be preserved," Ciel prays.
Since we are already on a clearing we take this opportunity to have another hearty hot soup for lunch followed by hot tea. Comforting warmth fills our insides as the cold was starting to seep through our bones.
Our soured mood abates for a good half hour of relaxation. But when we pick up our pace again the anxiety comes back.
The hills start to increase in height, we are near our target. I feel the pressure in my back increase.
There are barely any trees left. Only a mess of roots, glowing mushrooms, and rainbow patches of moss.
"This is certainly a weird place," Ciel says.
"You never heard of it?" I ask.
"No... This is the weirdest part."
Her mood slowly improves as the mystery thickens. But it's hampered again by Alissa.
"Two large animals are coming. They seem rather humanoid," she says.
Fuck me, again.
The terrain is in our disadvantage, we are on a slope.
"Form a line over here. We can't disperse due to the mushrooms."
The wind rustles again and the drizzle quickly turns back into rain. The cloak protects us from the rain but we have to pull the hood down when fighting. The wetness and the cold is getting on my nerves.
The wind picks up speed and Alissa frowns. This amount of wind is unnatural and will divert her arrows. I can hear the giggles again.
Out of the woods come floating two hulking figures, at least 2 meters tall. The head is made of a conical dark cloud, the neck is represented by constant lighting, the chest is composed of mossy rock, the arms and legs are tornados of dust. Wild storm elementals, magical beings, extremely rare.
Lina's axe switches to a hammer. Hana stores her sword and shield, she pulls out Lina's old war hammer and her emellanat sword. Me and Ciel take a step back from the line. I switch to my emellanat sword.
"Give me a point into [
Earth Magic
]!" Alissa yells.
"Me too!" Ciel follows.
I quickly obey.
"[
Explosion
] will be very ineffective!" Roxanne yells over the rain and wind.
"Use anything blunt!" I yell.
I summon two earth elementals. I don't want to waste mana, I hope this is enough.
Roxanne points her staff and I hear her chanting. Aoi is also concentrating her mana, she's trying to somehow improve her own fire.
The storm elementals float forward. One points his arm forward and a lighting bolt hits Hana's sword. The second raises his arms upwards and a tornado starts to immediately form in the middle of us, it almost topples us over due to the sudden wind. Me and Ciel immediately interrupt it.
Both elementals reach us. Hana fires an [
Earth Bullet
] into the shoulder of the first storm elemental and follows with a strike. A considerable chunk of stone is pulverized. He swipes with one of his arms and a large gust of wind hits her. She has to summon her wings to not be swept away.
My earth elemental punches the first enemy. The storm elemental simply raises his other arm and the fists of the earth elemental stop in the air.
Lina strikes the second elemental in the chest and I see it float back a few centimeters. I follow with an [
Earth Bullet
] and rock pulverizes.
The elemental swipes just like the other and Lina is thrown back into me. I grab her and we roll a few meters down the slope, drenching us in mud. Choosing this a part of the slope with no mushrooms behind us was good thinking on my part.
Alissa and Ciel fire pathetic [
Earth Bullets
] at the second elemental, they only make it sway a little.
Lina quickly gets up and starts to charge.
"RAAAH!" She yells in anger.
Hana strikes at the elemental repeatedly. It returns with more and more gusts of wind. Small cuts appear on her skin and along her armor. She uses the emellanat bastard sword on the limbs of the elemental, giving her small reprieve from the storm of cuts.
Lina strikes the elemental and buries her hammer on his chest. He swipes her again but she remains in place by griping her hammer.
"KWEH!" Aoi yells, fire dangerously escaping from her mouth and nostrils.
"Lina! Get down!" I yell.
She dislodges her hammer and literally throws herself on the ground.
A fireball flies and explodes in the chest of the second storm elemental. It loses a large chunk of stone and staggers backwards. The earth elemental is blocked no more. It punches at the storm elemental repeatedly, both losing large chunks of stone.
"[
Earth Bullet
]!"
"[
Earth Bullet
]!"
"[
Wind Hammer
]!"
Me, Alissa, and Ciel fire our spells. Alissa used much more mana on this one, it breaks a chunk of stone. Ciel's do little damage but dissipates part of one tornado arm for a few seconds.
"OH!" She squeals, "[
Wind Storm
]!"
Hana staggers back while the storm elementals shudder. Their arms and legs dissipate and struggle to reform. After a few seconds they finally turn their chests towards the middle of the [
Wind Storm
] and interrupt it.
"Wow!" I let it escape my lips.
"HANA!" Roxanne yells.
Hana ducks and rolls sideways.
"[
Ice Lance
]!"
A 50-centimeter thick lance flies out of her staff and gets impaled in the chest of the first storm elemental. It's chest cracks and glows for a few seconds, then it explodes in a shower of sparks and large chunks of rock.
The other elemental turns into a tesla coil as hundreds of sparks leave his body. Lina is unnaffected due to her emellanat shield.
We take a step back and both earth elementals start pummeling it, barely feeling the electricity. I feel a "path" forming behind me. I dash towards Roxanne. I hold my sword upwards and a lighting strikes it from the skies. My sword gets so hot I drop it to not burn my hands. The sparks subside and the storm elemental holds both earth elementals away with its tornado arms and legs.
"[
Wind Storm
]!"
"[
Earth Bullet
]!"
"[
Earth Bullet
]!"
"[
Earth Bullet
]!"
"[
Earth Bullet
]!"
"[
Fireball
]!"
And another unstable fireball is thrown at it.
The tornado limbs dissipate and the elemental is hit by all spells at once. His already battered body is broken down in a shower of sparks and large chunks of rock.
The stormy wind subsides and the rain goes back to a drizzle.
Ciel, Aoi, and Roxanne are panting with pain from overuse. Alissa and Lina have little mana remaining from putting it all on their spells. Hana is okay but she's physically tired.
"Who would have thought... That storm elementals are... Vulnerable to [Wind Magic]," Ciel says between breaths.
"Only instant-cast spells. If you chant they could have a better chance to prepare," I say.
"Perhaps... But [
Wind Hammer
]... Is still powerful..."
Me and Lina use a potent [
Clean
] gnomic magic tool and the mud disappears from our clothes and armor.
I turn to Aoi and grab her from Roxanne's shoulders. I hold her on my arms. She's quite warm, or maybe I'm just very cold right now.
"Your fireballs were very useful," I rub her nose. She closes her eyes in happiness, she's feeling very proud of herself. "But be careful with it, though. They seemed unstable."
She huffs smoke but nods to me. She knows she would disappoint me if she hurt herself.
"Giih."
He doesn't want us to stop.
"Is it over?" I ask.
"Gih."
"Okay, just a five minutes break."
We collect the stones and I store them. They are charged with mana and could even be used as gems for wands and staffs.
We move on and the landscape changes again. The mushrooms die out, the trees disappear, all are substituted by the roots. The roots are so thick they almost form a wall of mossy wood. We shimmy our way through them and notice that the drizzle disappears.
Suddenly the wall of roots opens up and we reach dry grass. There's not a single cloud in the sky, our first real sun light in two days.
In the peak of the hill in front of us is the biggest tree I have ever seen. It might be bigger than a castle. Full of branches and leaves, it's a vertical pillar of dark green leaves. Hundreds of vines hang from the branches, visible from the few spaces you can see through. The bark is much darker than any tree on the surrounding, it's almost a creepy black.
We stand still for a good minute admiring this ginormous tree.
The thing that stands out the most is the quiet. Barely a wind, barely a ruffle, this place
feels
special. I don't really feel tense anymore, the pressure on my back finally released.
"Two, uh, people, are coming," Alissa says.
"Not sure?" I ask.
"Yeah, weird souls."
We stand in our battle formation but trying not to look
too
threatening. The encounter with the Gatuns made be slightly wary.
Behind one of the few roots in the way to the tree comes out two nature elementals. A man and a woman, both naked.
Actually, if Alissa said they are not animals then they must be dryads. When they get close enough I can make up the details of them, too much detail.
The woman has long hair made of heart-shaped yellow leaves that reach her hips. Her face has round lines with very full lips. Her skin is light green and seems rough like moss. Her torpedo breasts jiggle in an impossible way, they are far too long for them to sustain themselves, they should be sagging heavily. She has an exaggerated hourglass figure with thickness that makes Ciel blush. Her bush in the middle of the legs is made of four-leafed clovers, I wonder if they signify luck in this world.
The man has short black grass as hair that curls in a spiral. His face is chiseled and handsome, coupled with his smirk and he looks like an action hero. His skin is the same as the woman's. His body is more defined than a weight-lifter, I feel like starvation survivor near him. The worst is that he has a literal horse dick dangling about up to his knees.
We all uncomfortably look away from the two shameless dryads. The footsteps stop for a few seconds and then resume. We glance towards them and thankfully their sexes are being covered by palm leaves growing out of their bodies. The bulge in the man is still ridiculous, though.
"We are sorry for making you feel uncomfortable," says a slightly coarse female voice, "We rarely get visitors looking for something else than having some fun."
"You are dryads, I assume?" I ask.
"Yes...?" The man lifts a handsome eyebrow.
"Gih."
The dryad duo turns their heads to Gify and their eyes slowly open wide as realization sinks in. Their demeanor suddenly takes a change to a much more stiff and formal posture.
"Oh my. Please come forth, you are guests of our Lord," the woman bows lightly and motions us to towards the tree.
"I am Pallido and this is Camassia. We are the Speakers for our Lord," says the male dryad.
Alissa, Ciel, and Roxanne stiffen up, their mouths hang loose in surprise.
I only heard a passing about Speakers. It was only a very distant legend from the High Forest. This is certainly interesting.
"Please follow us," Pallido says.
I see the three girls are surprised but relaxed, I sheathe my sword and follow the dryads. I see that they do not trample the grass, wherever they set foot the grass actually grows a centimeter or so.
"So what are Speakers, exactly?" I ask Alissa.
"T-this must be the Lord of the Forest. A legendary being that existed before humans were created. A Speaker is someone who translates the language of the Lord to us, humanoids."
Oh boy. I only heard that there's a theory that the high elves might have gained their knowledge to manipulate the High Forest from trading with a Speaker.
"Are they dangerous?"
"I... Don't think so."
I will reserve my judgment then.
We reach the base of the huge tree and the musky smell of nature becomes stronger. It has a calming effect on me.
At the bottom of the tangled mess of roots we reach a doorway carved on the wood. Inside there's a cozy room with heating magical tools on the walls, multiple colored wool cushions, a low table with a beautiful porcelain tea set, and multiple twinkling crystals on the ceiling that illuminate the area.
"Please take your boots off. You can spend some time here to warm yourselves," says Camassia.
The wooden floor is warm to the touch. We take our armor off and huddle around the tea table. Alissa pours tea for us, it tastes like hibiscus. The porcelain is decorated with flowery patterns all over it. There's even a pot with sugar cubes.
The two dryads stand by the doorway to the corridor deeper inside. They remain motionless like two status looking forward.
Ciel sighs and massages her eyes.
"Now this is unexpected," she says.
Small vapors come out our bodies as the gnomic personal heather does its work.
"I just... Can't believe it's really the Lord of the Forest," Alissa says lowly, her eyes barely focused on her tea cup.
"Gih!"
I guess that now that we are finally here there's no point more in him hiding it.
"Okay, okay. I believe
you
." she says to Gify, "I just can't believe that
I
am going to meet the Lord."
"I'm more surprised I never heard they were so close to Rabanara," Ciel says, "I mean. The temple hears
everything
the common folk talk about. It's hard to think nobody would try to explore this place."
"We did have quite some trouble coming here." I say, "We even found a skeleton."
"Forgive me for interrupting but we do have a lot of secrets that keep other people out," Pallido says, "Very few people know about our existence."
"I wonder why," I say.
"You will know about it when you meet the Lord," he smiles faintly.
Well, whatever.
"What exactly is the Lord of the Forest?" I ask.
"This tree," Ciel says, "Tree of Mana, Lord of the Forest, Symbol of Nature. Those are the names it is known as. A being of legend that has been reincarnating ever since the war between the Gods of Change and Order created this realm."
"They say the Lord of the Land lives inside the Wild Steppes, this is why the empire never invaded the Steppes," Lina says.
"So, there are more than one?" I ask.
"Theoretically. It is said they are the incarnation of the 10 elements," Ciel says, "Though we only know of the Lord of Storms, who lives beyond the sky lands of the chimeras."
"How trustworthy is it? Could it harm us?" I ask.
I do not care whether it can hear us or not. Gify is already kind of a spy for it, anyway.
"Well..." She taps her cheek, passing through her memories, "It's a rather neutral figure. It never got involved in the matters of the humanoids unless we threaten it."
"Gih gih."
Harmless. On the contrary, it wants to
help
us.
We are all in a kind of stupor. How do you react when a being much bigger than you offers their hand?
I dismiss Holly but keep Shad on Roxanne. I'm not 100% comfortable yet.
After a few minutes getting warm we stand up with regret. Those cushions are really comfy.
"Ready to meet our Lord?" Pallido asks.
"Yes, please," I say.
"Follow us, then."
We can all stare in silence as our brows are perpetually lifted in surprise.
The halls are filled with ivies and other leaves even though there is no sunlight here. Flowers scent the air with their sweet perfume. Slugs, snails, and a small hermit-crab-like animal moves about, thankfully they are found exclusively on the ceiling. Small children that look like bulbous roots run around giggling in a very high pitch, they are the non-monster version of mandrakes, the Children of the Forest. Amber fireflies twinkle about, mostly resting near the ceiling crystal lights, those are Manaflies.
There are slow moving human looking people with bark or leaves for skin. Curinds and Cublends, respectivelly. They grunt and nod at us in greeting, the leaf ones make a lot of noise when the move.
We pass through dozens of rooms. Inside there's simple furniture like beds, cushions, shelves with leather-bound books, and counters that look like our kitchens with magic-tool stoves.
In many of these places there are assorted animals not found here. Deer, dogs, wolves, cows, bulls, turtles, sheep, Gatuns, and a few more magical animals. A few snakes lick the air when we pass.
There are plenty of Ronti, the mount of the Imperial Lancers. They are something like a mix of a mouse and a horse. Their rib cages glow with flashes of lighting.
A few times we see inter species mating. Surprisingly "civilized" instead of the rape-y kind you normally see in nature.
I even saw herbivorous animals eating cooked meat. From my classes on [Nature Magic] I knew magic beings of nature could morph how animals behaved but this is on another level.
"Sorry about that," Camassia says with a slight cringe as we pass a wolf mating with a Child of the Forest, "I understand humanoids are much more reserved than our kind."
"It's no matter, I understand our differences," I wave at her.
I have a very good hunch that the animals are all sapient.
We finally reach a big circular hall. Leaf baskets are used as elevators, multiple animals, and people can be seen using them. The elevator continues upwards so high we can barely see. Every floor there's a balcony where we see more living beings passing through.
The dryads lead us inside a leaf basket.
"Take us to the Lord, please," Pallido says to a vine that looks like a snake head.
The snake/vine nods slowly. The leaf basket turns into cage as vines close down any escape and the basket moves upwards.
Some floors have different layouts but they are all tall with wide corridors. Pack animals carry bags or pull wagons. I caught glimpses and the faint smell of stalls cooking food. This is simply a nature-themed town.
Eventually the floors end and we only see the heartwood of the tree. A little longer and we finally reach the top floor.
A circular room with tall windows let in large amounts of sunlight and a fresh breeze. The floor is covered in flowers and when our naked feet touch them we feel the softness of warm earth. It does not seem to dirty our feet.
A little ways forward there's multiple sofas in a circle surrounding a very large wooden head of a sleeping old woman.
The dryads lead us to the circle of sofas and motion for us to sit.
I stare at the wooden head and see it's moving slowly, the nostrils flare as if she's breathing in slow motion.
A branch that acts as hair for the wooden woman lifts up and snakes through the air towards the Camassia. It enters her ear and suddenly the butler-like demeanor of the dryad turns into grace as the dryad's entire body seem to constantly move.
Camassia turns to us, her feet still but her arms undulate slowly.
"Welcome, humanoids. Welcome to my body," she says in slow and gentle tone.
I recover slightly out of my stupor and speak.
"H-hello, uh, Lord of Nature. I am W-Wolf Ryder," I speak.
"Lord of the Forest, Symbol of Nature," she corrects with a giggle, "But call me Gecynd. No need to add Lord, too."
"Pleasure to meet you, Gecynd."
"You too. And you, Alissa, Roxanne, Hana, Ciel, Lina, and Aoi," she gives a light bow to us all.
The girls tense up and return the bow. Aoi is the only one who's composed.
"It seems you know us well," I say.
"Yes. And I could have known a little bit more, but you refused to get close to that tree in your house. A small shame," she smiles faintly.
I blink in surprise.
"What would warrant such surveillance?"
"It is not everyday someone appears out of nothing inside my forest,
realm traveler
."
Now that is surprising.
"Is there something you know about how I appeared?" I ask expectantly.
"No. This is one of the things that interest me. There was no mana, no spell, no traces. You weren't there and the next moment you were. After that the Threads of Fate slowly changed."
Oh. This dampens my mood. I would rather not get reminded of Earth or even if there's a way back.
"Wait..." Ciel meekly raises her voice, "You said the Threads of Fate changed?"
"Precisely. I can see them just like, well, what do you imperials call it?" Gecynd closes her eyes in thought.
"Oracle?" Ciel says.
Gecynd slowly opens her eyes and smiles again.
"Yes, that is the word. After a long time observing the world I started to see what was 'underneath'," she smiles proudly. "I can see his soul just like your Oracles can. And let us say that his soul is very different from the norm."
Alissa frowns. "His soul is normal to me," she says.
"To you. I can see deeper than that. His soul is..." She slowly turns to me and smirks, "Bizarre. It made me question if you were a human when you came."
"Hey... I'm surely a human, the system says so," I say, a little offended.
"Yes. But all I could see was an aberration without a Thread of Fate suddenly appear in my forest."
I don't like being called "aberration", justified or not.
"Do you know the meanings behind his soul's... 'Diffferences'?" Ciel asks.
"No," she slowly shakes her head with indifference and then continues, "You would need to go to your Oracle for that. What I do know is that his Thread is very... Unusual."
"What are these Threads?" I ask.
"They are the bonds that tie us," Ciel says, "The fate of every commoner is already set. Who they meet, who they fight, who they love, when they die. Very few people can change their Fate, they are the heroes, people who can beat the odds and rise above all others."
"So this confirms he's going to be a hero?" Alissa asks, hopeful.
"It would, if his Thread was usual," Gecynd answers.
Alissa turns her hope into thought. She tilts her head and puckers her lips.
"What do you see of his thread?" Ciel asks.
"It is a... Stormy sea, a constantly morphing plane of endless possibilities. Slowly I see the storm recedes."
"Then he's adapting," Ciel says, her legs crossed and her hand on her chin, deep in thought, "Since we know he's from another realm it's plausible that he wouldn't have a Thread. When he came here his Thread would be uncertain but slowly settle down."
"Yes, I believe it is so," Gecynd says, "Though now that I see him close I can see the sea starting to move on a single direction."
"You are like an Oracle, you have a lot of influence over his Fate," Ciel says.
"Oh," Gecynd slowly claps her hands, "Then it is good that we met, an unstable fate is a dangerous thing. For him and for the world."
"I hardly believe I would be able to change the world," I say.
"Considering your powers, it is certain you could, given time," she answers with amusement.
"Don't underestimate yourself, Wolfy," Hana says.
I frown again.
"The monsters you sent to us were a test of my powers?" I ask.
"Yes," she replies immediately.
"Why send your subjects to death when you could have asked for a demonstration?"
"It wouldn't have shown your personality the way the test did," she answers flatly.
"I dislike being put into danger like this. Such tests are unnecessary," I scowl to clearly show her my displease.
"You are an interesting one," she smirks.
"Please forgive Gecynd's bluntness," Pallido interjects with an apologetic frown, "When you live long enough the lives of others lose meaning."
"I do not live forever, I die often. I only recover most of my memories through my roots," Gecynd says.
"You still retain most of your personality in every reincarnation," Pallido smiles wryly.
"Fair enough," she closes her eyes slowly in mild annoyance.
"Didn't Gify tell you all about me?" I ask.
"He told me much,
too much
, actually," she glares at Gify and he puffs his chest in answer. "I would rather confirm them with my own eyes. Some spirits can sometimes, brag, too much."
"Gih."
"Yes, I know," she rolls her eyes, "But how could I believe he had such incredible powers?"
Gify's beak deforms as he pouts. Gecynd scoffs at him.
So I guess he's not her underling, just someone who respects her a lot.
Gih.
"Why now?" I ask, "Any reason to wait so long?"
"You seemed like a busy person. Only now you had a free half-cycle to come visit," she shrugs, then her expression turns serious, "Would you let me observe your Thread more closely? I feel it is starting to entwine with my own."
"How would you do that?" I ask.
"Let me touch you close to your heart."
"Sure..."
The voluptuous dryad comes dangerously close to my face and puts a hand over my chest.
I'm staring at myself, my old self, dressed in a tuxedo. I can also see myself, my current self, dressed in my emerald scale armor and with my fang sword in hand. I know I am the one dressed in armor, yet I can still see myself, looking forward with grief stricken on my face.
My old self is cold. His heart burns in pain. Pain and longing.
The hand pulls away and the dryad looks at me with surprise in her eyes. I feel something change within me. I feel weird, like my body was not my own anymore.
"Did you see something?" She asks.
"Yes, I saw myself and my old self from Earth. Like I was looking at the mirror."
"Curious," her constant movements slow as she thinks, "I also saw something, it was merely a wooden door with the word 'Legado' on the frame."
"Legacy" in Portuguese?
"What does this mean?" I ask.
"Who knows? Your Fate is strong, so is mine, we are bound to influence the world and each other."
Oh, that weird feeling is familiar.
"Wait, there also was this dream, when I woke up it felt just like I feel now. I dreamed of the Everlasting Storm."
"Oh? I remember you were sleeping near a bundle of my roots," Gecynd taps her chin slowly, "Perhaps your Fate interacted strongly with your soul just like it did when I touched you. Or it could be one of my memories."
"Why would I see a memory from you?" I ask.
"Perhaps one of my birth places? I have died more times inside the Everlasting Storm than anywhere else. These memories are strong inside me."
"Why would you die there?" Alissa asks.
"I am always reborn some place randomly," she lowers her eyes in sadness, "I do not know how to fully control my reincarnation so I often end up reviving on a place only to quickly die. I have found many of my roots all over the world with painful memories of such deaths."
"Perhaps. But I only saw the storm, I didn't see you anywhere," I say.
Gecynd closes her eyes in thought. Ciel sighs and holds her head.
"Cryptic prophecies. I am back into a hero story," she says.
"Why are you pouting?" Roxanne asks, "You are the one who wanted an adventure the most."
Ciel shrugs and holds back a chuckle.
"I just like to travel," she says, "What annoys me is why couldn't a hero's destiny not be cryptic for once?"
"It's always back to being called a hero," I sigh.
"Well, you have the markings of one," Gecynd says, "One just does not get sent into this world with your abilities simply to do nothing."
"It even extends to us," Alissa says, "Clearly there's something he's meant to do here which needs a team."
"A team composed of people very close to him," Lina shyly raises her voice.
"Didn't you say you can see our status and the name of the screen is named 'Followers'?" Roxanne asks to me.
"Oh?" Gecynd grins at me, "What a suggestive name."
"Alright, alright," I lift my hands in defeat, "I'm sent here for some reason. But what is this reason? I never had any guidance, all I ever got was a message from 'God' saying 'I'm sorry for this, but there's no way for you to go back'."
"'God'?" Gecynd questions, "Which God?"
"That's the thing, it was only 'God', no more information on it. It could be the 'God' of my original realm, since most religions there are monotheistic and the God there is referred that way."
"Monotheistic?" Alissa asks.
"A religion with only one god, as if only the Overseer existed," I answer.
"Oh, I see."
Gecynd takes a look at all of us with a kind smile.
"Whatever it is the reason you are all together know this," she says, "Your Threads of Fate are all deeply entwined. Do not stray from each other and your life will be what it is meant to be. Your Threads are strong, your future is important."
Hana smirks and shares a look with all of us. "That much is obvious," she says, "We are all bringing something to Wolfy and he's bringing something to us. We are stronger together."
Gecynd smirks for a few seconds and then her expression turns sorrowful.
"There's something I must say to you, dwarf Lina," Lina nearly jumps out of her skin from being addressed directly, "The ancient dragon who killed your previous master was my responsibility. I am sorry for failing on this task."
Gecynd bows apologetically and Lina's mouth opens wide.
"T-that's no-not a problem. I-I understand that-that mistakes h-happen," she hurriedly stutters her words out.
Gecynd straightens and smiles with her eyes.
"You may be far too flustered to understand but I am truly sorry for your loss," she says, "I hope you will truly forgive me one day."
Lina's mouth opens and closes soundlessly for a few seconds. Her embarrassment catches up to her brain and she blushes heavily. She finally closes her mouth and nods to Gecynd.
"You are responsible for the monsters of the forest?" Ciel asks.
"Yes. It is a treaty with Rabanara. I keep the worst of the Sea of Trees away from the Shore of Leaves and they allow me to live in peace and quiet."
"But what about Hiyoku Hara?" Hana asks.
"That place is under the influence of the Monster King," she shakes her head with a frown, "I cannot stop the monsters from appearing along the Rakontagne mountain range."
Lina's Trivia
: The dragonkin losing that stretch of land is what spurred the expedition into the Sea of Trees and the creation of the Shore of Leaves. Now Hiyoku Hara is an eternal battlefield for the empire.
Hana sighs in disappointment.
"There is one more thing. I wish to give something to you, Aoi," Gecynd says.
The little dragon tilts her head.
"Kweh?"
"If you would allow me, I wish to bestow upon you a gift that will be very useful as you grow."
Aoi turns to me and I feel she's asking my permission. I truly do not wish to control her too much but I guess I am the one with the most life experience so she's asking me for advice.
"What is this gift?" I ask.
"The ability to change the size of your body," Gecynd answers.
That's interesting. When Aoi grows too large she would be difficult to have around, I guess this is something very thoughtful of Gecynd.
"Why are you gifting us this?" I ask.
"I mean no harm to you. Think of this a gesture of good faith, I wish to have a good relationship with all of you in the future," she answers.
Alissa's eyes nearly pop out of her skull, Ciel chokes on her spit, and even Roxanne looks impressed.
I look at Hana and she shrugs.
"Well, go ahead, then."
A branch enters the ear of Aoi and she closes her eyes in pleasure. I feel a small amount of anxiety coming out of her but it quickly goes away and the branch retreats.
Aoi opens her eyes and I feel mana circulating through her body. Suddenly she doubles in size then immediately halves twice.
"Kweh!"
Aoi jumps in circles in happiness.
"Ohoh! That's wonderful. My shoulders were starting to hurt," Roxanne says, clapping the tip of her hands in happiness.
Aoi doubling in size makes her look slightly comical. The scales of a dragon do not grow proportionally to their size. So when Aoi increases in size she resembles something like a giant baby instead of looking older.
Gecynd seems to almost want to dance in happiness as she looks at the celebration of the little dragon.
"Now then," Gecynd slowly claps her hands, "That was all I wished to talk to you. Do any of have anything you wish to talk about?"
I'm feeling the tiredness of the repeated battles and this conversation. I just want to lay down and rest.
Alissa seems to want to talk about something but she eventually shakes her head.
"Please stay here as long as you like. You are all my guests so the others will receive you warmly."
The branch retreats from Camassia's ear and she stumbles forward. Pallido holds her and she slowly moves to a sofa.
"I will take you to your guest quarters. The bed of the main room should comfortably fit at least five of you," Pallido says with a grin.
With a little bit of embarrassment we follow him back to the elevator.
"When Gecynd told about having a relationship with us why did you react like that?" I whisper to Alissa.
"Having a relationship with the Lord of the Forest is an amazing thing," Alissa whispers to me, "Even the emperor would wish for such a thing. The neutrality of the Lord is something that vexed many emperors."
Huh. Hopefully word doesn't spread. Now
this
would be something that would attract a lot of attention.
As we go down the elevator I keep replaying the visions in my head.
Me, facing my old self? Why? How?
And then there's that dream. What would call me to a place where only destruction exists.