《Bloom》 Death A normal life. Normal interests. Normal wife. Normal children. Normal mid-life crisis. Normal divorce. I guess, except for that last ditch effort at the end to save my favorite tree from destruction, I really didn¡¯t do much did I? No, you did not. Eh? Why am I hearing things after the fire burned me to ashes? Your soul has been traded by Earth¡¯s diety, Mr. Gates. Goodness, soul trading? That sounds a bit shady. I¡¯d like to talk to my lawyer about this first.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Unfortunately, your lawyer is still alive. Tsk¡­that bastard¡­ Indeed. I bet he was the one behind the fiendish attempt to destroy my Pinus Longaeva wasn¡¯t he?! ¡­doubtful¡­ Hah! Some grim reaper soul trading sucker you are, you can¡¯t even see the truth when its right in front of you! Moving along now. Since your now under the jurisdiction of the diety of Tael, is there anything we can do to help smooth this trip for you? We? I¡¯m only talking to one disembodied voice¡­right? We. ¡­.now that is a disturbing voice, please do not do that again. Well, normally we wouldn¡¯t give you anything and just transfer the soul directly into a newborn. However, that old diety, he seemed to have a thing for the same tree so¡­some conditions were attached to your new life. We wouldn¡¯t have accepted them, however, we¡¯re in a bit of a rush at the moment. Oh well, whatever is fine with me. Actually, I¡¯d like to be something less stressed than human. Something that lets me relax a bit, or sleep a lot. Something enjoyable this time around. Ho¡­I think we have just the perfect thing for you. Really? Most certainly. Just be careful when selecting¡­things. That¡¯s certainly vague¡­ Indeed. Time to go now, enjoy! Seed 1 After all the sparkly lights were gone, darkness had returned. The only difference from before is now it felt a bit warmer, and well more¡­ Physical. Still, I wish I could know my status.
StatusThis story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Name: Mana Tree Stage: Seed
Health: 5 Mana: 5
Level: 0
Skills: None Talents: Growth
Languages: Aboreal Abilities: Inherent Mana Manipulation
Well, that¡¯s certainly¡­useful. I guess this is what that soul reaper type was talking about. Trees are most certainly relaxing. I can sit around asleep all day while the body takes care of things like eating and drinking on its own. Wait, wait. Isn¡¯t there like a massive downside to this? That¡¯s right, don¡¯t people¡­cut¡­trees..down. Panic. Now now, it can¡¯t be all that bad right? I mean after all, no one would go through the trouble of reincarnating someone and then let them die right afterwards. Actually, that reaper didn¡¯t seem the most reliable sort¡­ Meh, I''ll figure it out when I wake up. Time to take a nap. Seed 2 Warmth comes, and then it leaves, and then it comes again. I¡¯m making a random guess, but isn¡¯t that like, the cycle of sunlight? Hmm. Let¡¯s go with that. So, this is day, ~3ish? Not counting from my recent nap, which could have been several days for all I know in this lightless place. Since the ¡®Status¡¯ told me I had a single ability, ¡°Inherent Mana Manipultion¡± perhaps I should try it out? No, no, no wait. It could be a trap. Just think, what if I try something like manipulating fire? Fire? A seed? Am I the only one that thinks that might go horribly wrong? Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Exactly. Therefore I¡¯m going to try something perfectly logical. Something any tree would desire. Water! Hah, I¡¯m suuuuuuuuch a genius. Neh, neh, tell me I¡¯m a genius right? Tsk. There¡¯s no one else to talk to in this place though¡­. Anyways, here goes, Experiment#3! Oh? What happened to #1 and #2? We don¡¯t talk about that ever, m¡¯kay? Indeed, it¡¯s a sacred memory that is not important at this point in time. At. All. On with the Experiment#4. What? I seem to have skipped ahead? No, no. See? The new lake that¡¯s just above me? That was #3. I accidentally concentrated on two things at once while talking to myself. So, anyways. #4, this time instead of making a small puddle, let¡¯s see if¡­. I¡­ Can...
Health -1 due to (Frozen) debuff.
Health -1 due to (Frozen) debuff.
Oops. I seem to have frozen the water around me in a sphere. Status¡­please¡­
Status
Name: Mana Tree Stage: Seed(Frozen)
Health: 3 Mana: 1
Level: 0
Skills: None Talents: Growth
Languages: Aboreal Abilities: Inherent Mana Manipulation
This¡­could be worse. Snap.
Health -1 due to (Frozen) debuff.
Crack. Tsk¡­ Fire it is then! What could possibly go wrong now... Seed 3 Fire.
Level Up!
The most devastating element for certain creatures.
Level Up! Multiplier now in effect!
Namely, those made of wood.
Level Up! Multiplier of X2 now in effect!
Like, trees, for instance.
Level Up! Multiplier of X3 now in effect!
I would like to preface the blazing inferno now raging above my humble seed as¡­
Level Up! Multiplier of X4 now in effect!
Not my fault.
Level Up! Multiplier of X5 MAX now in effect! Title Unlocked: Seed of Destruction!
Honestly? How the ever living goat munching Godly Gardener¡¯s nimble nuts was I supposed to know a Mana Tree creates Mana Flames?Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Level Up! Skill: Mana Flame Manipulation learned! Skill is absorbed by Inherent Mana Manipulation!
What are mana flames?
Level Up!! Growth talent multiplies effect of Mana Flame!
Well, you know, just a minor type of fire that feeds off mana.
Level Up!!! Inherent Mana Manipulation ability has gained a rank!
I suppose I should have realized that being a Mana Tree, I must have been seeded from¡­.
Level Up!!!! Skill: Elemental Fire Resistance learned!
So. Not. My. Fault.
Level Up! Elemental Fire Resistance has gained MAX rank!
Actually, perhaps I should just admit that in my desperation to well, not die. I didn¡¯t think quite as logically as possible?
Maximum Level possible for Seed stage has been reached....deferring experience gained...
Besides, how was I supposed to know a single point of mana could be used to create a devouring blaze of utter destruction.
Title: Seed of Destruction combined with Maximum Level possible has force-started Morph process!
This is clearly¡­
Morph process engaged...
Not. My. Fault.
Morph process complete! +9,990 Health. +9,990 Mana. Health and Mana regeneration unlocked!
At. All.
Unlocked new Stage: Seedling!
Seedling 1 Status, please.
Status
Name: Mana Tree Stage: Seedling
Title: Seedling of Destruction Age: First Cycle
Health: 9,995 Mana: 9,995
Level: 1
Skills: Fire Resistance MAX Talents: Growth
Languages: Aboreal Abilities: Inherent Mana Manipulation(Fire Affinity*)
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. There are some rather disturbing changes there. A forest burns down, and then, a suspicious tree is found growing in the ashes. A ¡®Seedling of Destruction¡¯ with ¡®Fire Affinity¡¯ and, nooooooo one would connect the dots right? Hah! Hah¡­ Ok, these Elves obviously connected the dots rather fast. ¡°We should burn purge the damn tree immediately!¡± ¡°That would be a violation of the sacred-¡± ¡°The ENTIRE Northern forest is GONE you fool, GONE. Imagine what happens when it grows up further!¡± Currently Elf A, now hereby known as the ¡®Doomsayer Elf¡¯ is arguing with a much more senior female Elf B, hereby known as the ¡®Favorite Elf¡¯. Doomsayer Elf believes I should be exterminated. Favorite Elf believes I should be contained. This admittedly was not a hard pick for me. Favorite Elf wins by a landslide. Unfortunately, my Favorite Elf appears to be losing the popular opinion. This is bad. Very Bad. I need to come up with a move that showcases how valuable I am as a tree. Something flashy. ¡­something flashy without flames¡­ Hmm. ¡°Ancestors! Its making a move, defend the Elder!¡± Ho¡­ Experiment #6, connecting my mana to a Favorite Elf has worked. Spells start flying in all directions as my Favored Elf now lays the beatdown on her surrounding compatriots. Even the most civil races, sometimes resort to baser methods of negotiation¡­ ¡°Are we all agreed then?¡± Favored Elf states to the now-beaten-majority. ¡°E-Elder, I still think we should¡­¡± Doomsayer Elf attempts to interject a comment but is ruthlessly shut down. ¡°I¡¯m glad we could reach this consensus. The new Seedling of Destruction will be taken to the recently appeared Dungeon on the outskirts and thrown inside.¡± Favorite Elf, thy title was wrong! Seedling 2 Dungeons are rather quiet places. I¡¯ve been given a lot of time to think down here. After a long period of sleep, it came to me in a dream. I am not actually crazy. Why? Hah! Because, there is a perfectly good reason for hearing a second voice in my head. Russssstle. Exactly! Because there¡¯s two souls in this body. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The questions, the constant nagging, the unwillingness to experiment further with fire mana manipulation¡­ It¡¯s all you! Russstle. Russstle. Admit it! Rustle... Exactly. I admit, I wouldn¡¯t have figured it out, but you waved those branches one too many times against the wind. What? There isn¡¯t wind in dungeons? Ah, you are right, that¡¯s the giant lizard sleeping off to the side. Rustle. Don¡¯t pretend you had nothing to do with this situation! I was going to melt those goblins into liquid artwork, but nooooooooooooo. Someone didn¡¯t want to make waves in the new territory. Rustle. Well yes, it is slightly possible something could have gone wrong with my intended use of mana. Rustle. What the hell! It isn¡¯t like I¡¯ve been using mana my whole life. We used electricity where I came from. Russssssssstle? Bottled lightning, we captured lightning elementals and learned the secrets of forcing them to do our bidding. I mean, that¡¯s basically the closest thing to what we did. Rusttttttle. Is that shock and awe I hear? Ruuuuuuustle. Well of course, I mean, I could do it. If you really wanted proof. Rustle. Let me get this straight, you don¡¯t want me to melt goblin masses into grosteque artwork¡­. However it¡¯s ok to open a portal to a highly unstable Elemental Plane of Lightning in order to capture and tame one of the denizens there? Rustle. What do you mean all we have to do is not wake the lizard and it¡¯s all fine? Does that sound logical at all? Seedling 3 I really haven¡¯t thrown enough credit to the massive cheat that Inherent Mana Manipulation is. To describe it, well, imagine if you could literally control the energy in the air all around. No, no, that¡¯s a horrible way to describe it. How about this? Imagine if you could control fire like that famous superhero. Now imagine further that the fire is everywhere around. The very fabric of reality bends to manipulation at a quantum level. Yes, that¡¯s kinda what this talent does. Unfortunately, there seem to be a few minor side effects now that I¡¯m ¡®Fire Affinity¡¯¡­ Specifically¡­ Everything other than Fire is like herding cats. Large cats that hate you with utter loathing, and desire nothing except a painful death for thee. So, when Tree, yes dammit that¡¯s my alter ego¡¯s name, and no, I better not hear any wood jokes! Rustlllllleeeee. No. Wood. Jokes. Capish?! ¡­Rustle. Well now that that¡¯s sorted out. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
-4,995 Mana. Portal to the Elemental Plane of Lightning opened!
Oh wow. Glowing portal is preeeeeeeeeeeety. Rustle! Yes, yes, I¡¯m hurrying. See? Exactly, I¡¯m creating what¡¯s known as a negative charge using mana. And then¡­ BOOM. That happens! Eh¡­that¡¯s a rather large humanoid sized being of pure lightning energy. Russstle. What do you mean size doesn¡¯t matter? Who the hell really believes that! Rustleeee. The giant lizard is waking up? Well of course he is! I mean, lightning isn¡¯t exactly quiet. Rustle¡­? Don¡¯t worry, I have a plan for this. Rustle. Hey! My last plan was perfectly logical, if you don¡¯t remember we were FROZEN IN ICE and DYING. Put those roots right back in the ground, mister. Don¡¯t even try to escape. It¡¯s too late anyways. Rustle. When was the last time I steered you wrong? Rustle! Rustle. Rustleeeeeee! That last one didn¡¯t even count, two times tops. Oh, wow they are really going at each other now. Sparkly Crackly is kinda holding his own against Giant Dragon with Sharp Teeth. Rustle. Well, I mean he¡¯s pretty much cheating since he can move at the speed of lightning and all. Otherwise the big lizard would have sealed the deal by now. Ho¡­ Dragon magic is some flashy shizzle. Lucky for us¡­ It¡¯s based on Fire! Hah! Rustle??! Yes, that was indeed my entire plan. ¡­Rustle. No we are NOT doomed to failure, see how the dragon breath is just curving around us while striking the poor lightning elemental? Just like I planned. All. Along. Eh¡­ Why is the lizard glaring at us? Rustle. What do you mean he can sense the connection between our Tree and the portal? Do you think this might be important information to impart BEFORE the start of this? Russsstle. It¡¯s fine, see we got the Sparkly Crackly guy once he was weakened. Just don¡¯t let him escape the fire orb sealing it into the upper branches. Tsk¡­ Giant lizard, dragon, whatever.
Acquired new Title: Dragonbane!
Fire is my Domain. Status check please.
Status
Name: Mana Tree Stage: Seedling
Title: Seedling of Destruction, Dragonbane Age: First Cycle
Health: 11,000/11,000 Mana: 1,012/11,000
Level: 2
Skills: Fire Resistance MAX Talents: Growth(+1)
Languages: Aboreal Abilities: Inherent Mana Manipulation(MAX Fire Affinity**********) (Lesser Lightning Affinity***)
Minion: Minor Lightning Elemental Contracted Beasts: None
Seedling 4 I suppose this should have been foreseen. The eternal enemy of innocent trees has finally arrived drawn by the smell of dragon¡¯s blood. Insects. They are too late however, to stop Experiment#12. Rustle. If you were so concerned about flying in the air, why didn¡¯t you say anything before idiot Tree! As I was stating, with the correct use of Experiment#12, now formally known as Flying Awesome Tree System. F.A.T.S¡­ Wait, wait¡­ Ruuuustle. Ok, fine we¡¯ll go with that. Flying Advanced Reality Transformer! Hey, wait a second¡­ ¡­that is a No. Go. I¡¯ve got it! Zwoosh. Rustle.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. With the Zwhoosh system in place, we now have LIFTOFF! Russsssssstle. Ok, fine we¡¯ll just go with Artifact#1, geez your so limiting sometimes, Tree. With the advanced new hover system our minor foot high seedling is now out of the way of advancing insect legions. That dragon corpse though¡­ Rustle. I agree, they are much faster at consuming it than piranhas would be. Although, in order for piranhas to have a chance we¡¯d have to throw the corpse in water. Tsk¡­ Flying insects. Fire is my Domain, worms.
Gained Title: Insectbane!
Rustleeeeee. What do you mean I¡¯m more trigger happy these days? Where did you even get those words? Rustle. And you only NOW mention that we share memories gradually? There is a serious lack of communication on your end, pal. Rustle. What do you mean sharing memories is hard for you? Rustle. Oh, because of genetic transfer of information all your memories are pre-packaged deals. Ok, yeah. I see where this situation might be difficult. Russssstleeeeee. Excuse me? How dare you blame my memories as being a sloppy shoddy slipshod quagmire of the trivial and the crucial¡­ Everything is organized just where I need it! Yes. ¡­hmm, if only I could remember that section on gardening with stone¡­ Whatever, it will come back to me later!
-2 Mana. Liquid Flame has consumed Giant Spiderx34
Recently, it has been rather difficult to see threats. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve been working on a new method of seeing the world.
Aquired New Skill: Mana Sight!
Bingo! Now I can actually see something besides shades of green. I¡¯m not saying it¡¯s a bad thing to look at the world as pure energy, it¡¯s a nightmare. Put on some tinted glasses. Go ahead, do it. Now walk around for days. That headache you get? Multiply that by a bunch and you have the same feeling I¡¯m constantly working under. It¡¯s annoying. Add the fact that my Fire Affinity makes me quick to emotional distress, like anger. Even worse my Lightning Affinity causes me to be prone to snap judgements. Combined with the constant pain, well, perhaps I might have spent a bit too much time learning various methods of melting things as a form of emotinal outlet.
-10 Mana. Mana Flame Inferno Blaze started.
Ah¡­there¡¯s something calming about watching an entire room go up in flames. Rustle. Rustle. Russsssssstle. Hmm. Perhaps I should spend more time in research, your right Tree. Artifact#1 to the upper levels! Rustle. What do you mean that name is cheesy, you picked it! Seedling 5 Adventurers are literally more entertaining than anything else I¡¯ve seen in this new world. For some reason, they take the sight of a floating, glowing, shimmering, hovering, white tree with inner red veins along with sparkling luminescence as a personal challenge. I have even personally heard several of them say things like, ¡°That tree must be worth a FORTUNE!¡± or even ¡°By Bulgard¡¯s Bulging Nutsack! A floating tree! Quick, grab it!¡± Rustle. Well yes, I do happen to enjoy leading such groups into dungeon traps. I admit, it¡¯s not very sporting to lead individuals so focused on my capture into pits, pitfalls, rockfalls, spear traps, dart traps, poison gas clouds and the like. Rustle. What do you mean I¡¯m the only one enjoying this show? Tree, let¡¯s be frank here. I¡¯m not the one that heals them up afterwards so we can do it again. Rustle! Suuuuuuure, I bet you felt sorry for them. Don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t notice that the only Adventurers you healed were the drop dead cute or drool worthy gorgeous ones.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Rustle. Rustle. Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuustle! That¡¯s not even a legitimate excuse, Tree. Lately though, I feel I¡¯m kind of close to a breakthrough. Fire is my Domain. Flame my Calling.
Fire Affinity consumed by Growth(+1), Flame Root created.
¡­ ¡­ ¡­Rustle. Seriously? Your first question is why did the fire turn blue? Don¡¯t stare at me like I¡¯m the only one involved here. The upper levels are rather tame in this Dungeon place. Mostly they consist of: A) Bats. B) Goblins. C) Floating Mana Trees. or D) Giant Spiders. There was a Dragon on upper level Ten¡­ Sadly, with a heartbreaking anguish he attempted to eat us which was a bad choice. For him at least. After that insect wave consumed him though, the Giant Spiders have risen pretty high in the upper level hierarchy. They got a little ballsy and tried to eat us though, so I set their Nest on fire. The resulting smoke has clogged the top three levels of the Dungeon causing untold number of Adventuring parties to curse my name in various ways. Oh! Look, it¡¯s that party with the three idiot guys and intelligent hot lady! Let¡¯s go see if we can trick them into another acid pitfall. Rustle. Don¡¯t pretend you don¡¯t want to see her three-quarters naked as she beats her companions senseless again, Tree! Status check, amigo! Status: Check
Status
Name: Mana Tree Stage: Seedling
Title: Seedling of Destruction, Dragonbane, Insectbane Age: First Cycle
Health: 13,000/13,000 Mana: 10,988/13,000
Level: 3
Skills: Fire Resistance(MAX) Mana Sight Talents: Growth(+2)
Languages: Aboreal Abilities: Inherent Mana Manipulation Flame Root Major Lightning Affinity
Minion: Lighting Elemental(Growing) Contracted Beasts: None
Well, that drop down-esque method of showing the Status is certainly new...but it works I suppose. Elyssas Side Adventure 1 Elyssa Lockridge stared intently into the recess of the current Dungeon level. Gray, waist long hair was tight tightly in a braided ponytail. Sharp green eyes glowed with enchantment as she searched the darkness ahead for danger. Her charming face was marred by the twitch in her left eyelid. Recently word had begun spreading among Adventuring parties about a dangerous new creature in the Dungeon. They called it, Red Death. Apparently it took the form of a small miniature tree that hovered and flew about with utter uncaring nonchalance. A team of elites even claimed the creature was responsible for slaughtering the level ten Gate Guardian, the Dragon, with utter ease. Elyssa knew better, the damn thing was a prankster of the first order. That filthy Red Sparkling Tree had lured them into a sleeping dart trap the last time. It wasn¡¯t the darts that were the dangerous part, it was the goblins that patrolled nearby waiting for a free sleeping meal.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Lockridge swore once she had her way, that tree¡¯s sale would fund the potions that had been required to grow back her hair and eyebrows. Goblin cooking was notoriously¡­high temperature¡­after all. Her team had jumped back into the Dungeon as fast as they could, because she was a true daredevil among humans. Glancing back at the three men who were part of her team she sighed. Gods, please grant me patience. She thought. ¡°There it is!¡± said Brons, the tank of the group. Elyssa whirled to see the floating tree hovering in the passageway just ahead. The damn thing didn¡¯t even seem to see them as it inched back from something in the tunnel ahead. Wait a second, what could such a formidable creature be afraid of...She thought, before a hideous growling noise reached her ears. ¡°Havenestra¡¯s Hairy Buns! A Two-Headed Hellhound!¡± Tivet, the party¡¯s thief whispered. It looked like their adventuring days were going to be cut painfully short. Unwilling to go down without a fight, the last member of the party, Edward, started buffing everyone with all the magic he had available. Snap. Crack. Shatter. BOOM! The air in front of the floating Red Tree literally rippled before melting was the only word she could think of. The melting air seemed to expand like a balloon under too much pressure before exploding. The result threw the entire party backwards. They were the lucky ones. The Two-Headed Hellhound was disintegrated by the very element it was supposed to be most resistant too. When everyone managed to get to their feet, the floating Red Tree had disappeared. ¡°We are NOT chasing that tree again. Ever.¡± Elyssa stated with furious calm. Her three party members glanced at each other before bobbing their heads in agreement. Seedling 6 This level of the Dungeon is new to me. Rustle. Of course I¡¯ll take precautions. Rustle. No, it is NOT my fault we fell down this deep. Clearly this Dungeon has never heard of safety building codes. To think you would place a faulty ceiling section above a faulty floor section. The combination together resulted in what happened after we melted that overgrown puppy. Rustle. Don¡¯t take that tone of voice with me! Rustle. Rustleeeeeeee. Rustle. Nag, nag, nag. I¡¯m starting to believe you are not a male, Tree.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Rustle. ¡­are you saying¡­ Rustle. So that was the reason you kept wanting to spy on all the beautiful women in the Dungeon? You were doing ¡®research¡¯ for the new form? Rustle. I¡¯m the Tree? Well then what the hell are you? Rustle. ¡­what¡¯s a Dryad? Rustle. Rustle. Russssssssssssssstle. A physical incarnation of the tree that lives in symbiosis with it, interesting. Rustle. And you get thumbs? What the hell this is complete and utter cucking horse manure. Ruuuuuuuuustle. I guess, it does make sense though true. I mean I was sort of getting a bit wierded out by how much you wanted to see the women in some of those Adventurer parties. Not that voyeurism is bad mind you, just the fact that you focused a lot on when they were tangoing. Rustle. For research purposes, riiiiiiiiiiiight. Rustle. Dryad forms are female only, and you truly required a large sample size in order to craft a good honey trap? That right there is probably the best excuse I¡¯ve heard for such blatant peeping in a long while. Rustle. I throw up my hands in defeat, fine, you win! I¡¯m going to practice with this new upgrade to manipulating fire element mana. I have an idea for a new defensive spell. Rustle? Well, I mean I think a defensive spell is best because I get rather distracted when I¡¯m doing research into new stuff. RUSTLE. We¡¯ve only been narrowly eaten like five times, where do you even get these numbers? Sometimes I feel your just exaggerating things to sound worse than they are. Anyways, I¡¯m going for a shield spell that will do around 15M Kelvins. The trick is isolating the heat so it is only that hot in the thin layer ¡®inside¡¯ the spells shell. Rustle¡­ What do you mean my experiments have sometimes unexpected consequences? Trust me! What could possibly go wrong? Seedling 7 Did I not tell you nothing would go wrong? Rustle. Stop swirling your branches around as if your waiting for the other shoe to drop, dammit! Ruuustle. Um, no I haven¡¯t noticed the air getting thicker, wait, is that fog? Rustlllllle! Pffft, there is no need to fear fog. This shield is utterly unbreakable by physical means. Rustle. Spirits? What do you mean there are Spirits that do non-physical damage? Are you trying to imply there are such un-scientific existences lurking in wait to eat us?The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Rustle!! Well¡­I guess that¡¯s true, science can¡¯t explain my current circumstances¡­ Eh? Isn¡¯t that fog turning a rather nasty shade of crimson blood black? Rustle!!! Yes, yes, I can see the giant devouring mouth now too. RUSTLE?!?! Calm down, I have everything under control. Rustle!? Do you forget what landed us in this situation in the first place! ¡­Rustle¡­ NO, it was NOT the burning of the entire Northern Elvish controlled forest. ¡­Rustle? Where do you even get that theory from? I mean, you can¡¯t even justify that with a proper defense! Rustle! Exactly! Fire is my Domain. Flame my Calling.
-1 Mana. Mana Flame lit. Mana Flame is fed by Growth(+2). Mana Flame is magnified by Flame Root.
Watch and learn little girl.
Mana Flame has upgraded into White Mana Flame.
Rustleeeeeeee. Pretty? That¡¯s your response to upgrading our flames to a level that can burn Spirits? It¡¯s never enough is it? IS IT?
-1,182 Mana. White Mana Flame Inferno has been casted.
Screeech! We really should get¡­ ScreeeeEEEEECH! Some¡­ SCREEEEEEEEEECH!
Gained Title: Soul Extinguisher! Level UP!
Marshmellows. We definitely need to research marshmellow-type plants. ¡­.Rustle¡­. Of course I would never use those type of flames to melt you out of existence, what type of question is that? I¡¯m not crazy you know! Rustle. Hey! Hey! We didn¡¯t die did we? Russsssssstle. I will not even dignify that with a comment. Seedling 8 Time really blurs together into a long stream down here in the mid-levels. The only reason I know we are in the mid-level of the dungeon is the three Adventuring parties that made it down this deep. Well¡­two now, but they really shouldn¡¯t have tried to eat me. I didn¡¯t even really do anything, the White Flameshield I had up reacted badly with the corrosive fog their meanest mage summoned. There was a sharp crack, a boom, a flash, and one less party to hunt innocent red floating tree. However, now I¡¯m in a bit of a dilemma. See the party was mostly dead. That¡¯s a long way from all the way dead. A single female mage, the one that was recommending not to attack me, is partially dead at my feet at the moment. I¡¯m on the cusp here of a difficult decision. I know I¡¯m not human anymore. I¡¯m not. Yet, I find it incredibly hard to just kill another humanoid like I would, say¡­a Giant Spider. There¡¯s just something that feels¡­off about it. Well, what the hell. I mean, maybe it will be good to have a second person to talk to around here.
-328 Mana. White Mana Flame has been casted.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. If I had a forehead I¡¯d be wiping the sweat from it right now. See, it¡¯s tricky healing with fire.
-5 Mana. Cost of maintaining White Mana Flame reduced by 1.
Inherent Mana Manipulation allows me to cheat reality in really interesting ways.
-4 Mana. Cost of maintaining White Mana Flame reduced by 1.
Currently, the mana flames are purifying the wounded body, while the pure mana is being used to regenerate cells. The mana provides energy for the body, similar to what food would, allowing rapid regeneration.
-3 Mana. Cost of maintaining White Mana Flame reduced by 1.
I admit, the effects are working much better than I thought they would. Although, the resulting scars will definitely make the young lady stand out. Tissue, veins, bones, or really anything that the pure mana I¡¯m using touches glows radioactive green.
-2 Mana. Cost of maintaining White Mana Flame reduced by 1.
A good 35% of this young lady will quite possibly glow for the rest of her life.
-1 Mana. Cost of maintaining White Mana Flame reduced by 1.
At least she¡¯ll save on lighting expenses.
White Mana Flames have mutated into Truefire Domain. Cost of using Domain is 0 Mana within 1 ft.
Whew. Done, finally. That felt like forever! According to my recent Experiment #24 though it was only two years?! Perhaps this clock is wrong? Rustle. What the hell! Why didn¡¯t you bother to mention anything to me about the time? The heck is Truefire Domain, let''s experim- OH GOD PUT IT OUT, PUT IT OUT NOW. Ruustle. That is NOT true, I wasn¡¯t yelling at you for interrupting me during the last experiment. I was yelling at you for distracting me so badly I lit half our branches on fire. And where were you on stopping me from almost incinerating us a second ago huh? Nowhere! Rustle. I damn well was concentrating, it is not my fault you were screaming ¡®NAKED WOMEN GET THEM WHILE THEY¡¯RE HOT¡¯ loud enough to wake the dead last time. This time was even worse, you can''t undress a woman right in front of me with air manipulation when I''m trying out something lethally named ''Truefire Domain''. Rustlee. Just because it worked, does NOT mean it was ok. I can barely control it now, sheesh. ¡°!@^^!$#^%@?¡± Great, she doesn¡¯t speak Aboreal. What idiot goes into a dungeon with something nicknamed the Flaming Red Tree of Death inside without bothering to learn Aboreal? Rustle. ¡­seriously? Our mother tongue is so ancient only Elves speak it? Tsk. Alright, we¡¯ll start Experiment #25 then now. Teaching a Beast-Kin Mage the language of the Forest. Tevril Side Adventure 1 Tevril Windwhisper woke up slowly. She could feel mana flowing in her body so strongly it was almost effortless to cast the Purge Sleep spell. Almond shaped yellow eyes snapped open assessing her surroundings before she froze in place. At the Guild, there was a picture of a very specific subjugation target. It had many nicknames given over the last fifty-seven odd years, but one of them stuck very well. Red Death. Like something out of a traveling playwright¡¯s works, the creature was described as one of the most terrifying of the Dungeons allies. It was Guardian Rank Unknown, mostly because no one had actually ever successfully fought it. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! When her team had encountered it here on the 39th floor, the party leader had made a snap decision to attack it. The lure of over ten thousand gold. ¡°Anything worth ten thousand gold dead or alive, is obviously not something we could handle without backup. Damn idiot, leader.¡± Tevril said, as she rose to her feet wiping away tears. It was bizzare, the Red Death just hovered there. Although the swirling lightning surrounding it flashed like a miniature storm, it was the strange artifacts that lured her eyes the most. One appeared to be a mad clockmakers wet dream given form, while the second some incredible circular array that allowed it to float effortlessly. Both inventions would probably be worth their weight in platinum. ¡°Hello?¡± Tevril said, hoping against hope the creature could communicate. It had obviously healed her since she was still alive. Alive and green. What the hell? Tevril noticed how the mana flowed so smoothly through her glowing green body parts. Like a master sculptor had reached in and crafted her body, perfectly altering the mana alignment in her beast-kin form. She looked upwards from her body at the Red Death before a crazed itch took over her right eye. Fire. Everywhere around is Fire Mana. Ancestors! The entire room is flooded with it, there¡¯s not a spec of Wind to be seen. And the tree, so bright, like a sun given flesh and form. It BURNS. Tevril managed to tear her eye away before the retina was damaged. A glowing tree formed in front of her averted eyes, a perfect miniature of the Red Death. ¡°********¡± a voice said. Tevril¡¯s jaw dropped as she realized she¡¯d been saved merely as a conversation partner. Seedling 9 Things had been going so well, lately.
-1828 Health. Beholder''s Eye drains -1 Mana.
Honestly, I felt I¡¯d really gotten stronger. And then of course¡­ This world just lays on the beatdown. I mean, who creates a room with no mana in it??
-1828 Health. Beholder''s Eye drains -10 Mana.
That right there is sadistic. Rustle. Utter lies. My partner in crime isn¡¯t even able to admit she had anything to do with this, silly future Dryad. ¡°Mr. Gatewood, I don¡¯t think we can hold out for long. It¡¯s eating the mana we throw at it too now.¡± Tevril said. She¡¯s the newest addition to Team Tree. It took approximately five years to learn Common Beast Tongue, probably because the language is so twisted. It definitely was not because I am an idiot. Nope.
-1828 Health. Beholder''s Eye drains -100 Mana.
¡­ha¡­Ha¡­HA.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Haaaaaaah¡­thank god Trees don''t feel pain like humans due, I''d probably be dead of shock by now otherwise. I really didn¡¯t want to try this. It''s not really an attack, more of a Final Strike type move...
-1828 Health. Beholder''s Eye drains -1000 Mana.
Experimenting with things outside my body is fine. Something goes wrong there, we can likely survive.
-5869 Health from Critical Strike. Beholder''s Eye nullifies White Mana Flameshield.
That hurt dammit, alright, I¡¯ve been kind. I¡¯ve been generous. Now I¡¯m just really pissed off. Activate, Expiriment #91!
-10000 mana, White Mana Flame has merged with Truefire Domain. White Mana Domain created.
Please...let this work.
-1819 Health. Status: Burning. Near Death.
...Now would be a good time...
Growth has activated consuming White Mana Domain.
Yes!
Inherent Mana Manipulation has twisted effects of Growth.
YES!
Skill: Mana Augmentation gained!
Fire is my Domain. Flame my Calling. Blood Burn. There is no time to hesitate now. No time to watch the health lowering from my desperate gamble. I overload the mana to explode Artifact#1 behind me to provide propulsion and launch myself at the enemy. Bzzzzzzzt! Hissssssssssss! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Level UP!
Thank god that worked.
Level UP!
I don¡¯t feel so hot, now heh. Time to take a short nap. I''m beat. I''m also on fire, but hey, can''t have everything. ¡°Gah, turn of the flames or I can¡¯t help heal! Old man! Hey! OLD MAN!¡± Tevril shouted, waving her hands at me. Bleh. Such a noisy woman. Why did I think it was good to have a second companion again? ¡°Smother¡± Tevril spoke, her words embodying a Spell of Air. She''s grown much stronger the last few years. Ooooh, that feels nice, at least I¡¯m not on fire now, good thing I have a second companion for this stuff! I don¡¯t think we can recover from this though. Trees don''t feel pain like humans, but when 70% of your body is on fire, it still hurts baaaaaaaad. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­Ruuuuuussssssssttttttlllllllle. Yeah, sure, I¡¯ll leave the rest to you, sleeptime now. Dryad 1 Finally, it¡¯s my turn to take center stage.
&(@!%(@^)!)(*@&&^$^*)!!!!!!!!???????
Who am I you ask, o Mysterious Voice of the Void? Duh, the Greatest Dryad Under the Heavens?(Future) of course.
!(%(@!*#&%(^*@$^*!)@_#()^&_(!*()%u^(!!!?????????
Since we are friends though Mysterious Void Voice of the Void, you can call me¡­
F..i...e..nd???
Awesome Possum.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Greatest Dryad Under the Heavens?(Future) is just a title really.
S..ve..
What? I should get to work? Look, let¡¯s be clear here. I had nothing to do with this recent disaster. No serious, I was just doing my thing, absorbing the ambient mana in the surroundings.
K...n...w!!!
What? I should have known a Beholder was the 40th Floor Guardian? I¡¯m calling horse manure on that Voidy!
Sp....k....Tr....NAME!
No, I¡¯m not changing your name back to something better like ¡®Heaven¡¯s Voice¡¯ or ¡®Blue Message Maker¡¯ or ¡®Ancient One¡¯ it¡¯s my naming, and I¡¯m not changing it!
We offer a trade.
Trade? I don¡¯t need a trade, just because Mister Gatewood is unconscious doesn¡¯t mean we are going to die. I¡¯m a Dryad you know? I can¡¯t command more than one Element like Gatewood can. But¡­ The Element I control¡­ Life, is my Domain.
-500 Mana. Element: Wood, Major Regeneration cast.
GROW! See? Nothing to it. Ah, Tevril was carrying us on her head wasn''t she... Oopsies. Seedling 10 Mana deprivation manifests itself in terrifying ways. Headaches that multiply over time. Whispers in the back of one¡¯s mind. Then there¡¯s my personal favorite. Psychedelic Moss. Oh, mock the Moss if you want, there isn¡¯t anything more terrifying though. Nothing can hold a candle to multi-color moss that clouds Mana Sight as far as the eye can see devouring reality constantly. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s just the lack of Mana, although, if it¡¯s not¡­ Floor 41 officially scares the ever living manure out of me. ¡°Is this going to be a permanent issue?¡± Tevril asks from below me. Ah, yes, due to my beloved Dryad, I¡¯m currently in a spot of recovery. For some completely bat guano reason Dryad dearest casted an advanced regeneration spell with the last chunk of my mana. Now that wouldn¡¯t be a problem, I¡¯m all for someone saving my dying roots. No, the issue is however that the spell was cast when I was being carried atop Tevril¡¯s head. Why she was carrying me atop her head instead of in her arms, I will probably never know. All attempts to ask such questions have resulted in tense uncomfortable stares that make me think she might be deciding to try a new diet. Perhaps. One containing innocent Trees. So, yes. I have decided it is in my best interests to stop asking. For now¡­ ¡°This will probably not be a permanent issue?¡± I reply to Tevril, using my limited mana to manipulate a tiny flame that mimics the Beast Tongue. I finally have the ability to communicate with people. Well, Beast-Kin at least¡­ Probably for the best, I¡¯ll just keep telling myself that until I¡¯m unable to chat with a busty gorgeous human girl due to language issues. As a side note, things aren¡¯t all bad. Due to regrowing a major portion of my Tree, I¡¯m doing some redecorating on the outside. I now sport the appearance of deep crimson flames, in fact if someone was to see me from a distance I would appear like a miniature burning tree. What can I say? People expect the best appearance from the Flaming Red Death Tree. And I gots to deliver what the crowds need right? Well, assuming there is anyone to see us on this level¡­ Seedling 11 I admit. I have grown arrogant. As a Mana Tree my manipulation of mana reaches the level of a Picasso or a Rembrandt. I was sure I was unrivalled under the heavens, perhaps even the universe. Tevril¡¯s father has shown me the depth of the ocean of mediocrity I currently swim in. There is nothing quite like almost dying. The sensation of your life bleeding out into the uncaring cosmos, consciousness darkening, it is completely and utterly horrifying. Since I have already experienced this once, I of course have no desire to do so again.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. So how did I almost approach the line of life and death again you ask? Oh, that¡¯s easy to answer. I mistakenly attacked a desperate father searching for his daughter. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Beast Kin, especially the canin foximus type variety have an amazing sense of smell... Things might have gone worse. I might be suffering another Regrowth right about now. The poor father though, he¡¯s currently suffering something along the lines of the Spanish Inquisition. ¡°The hell were you doing trying to kill my Guardian Angel, Papa?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Why did it take you almost six years to find me, Papa?¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± ¡°Say something dammit!¡± Tevril, brilliant mage, daughter of a loving family, Spanish Inquisitor(Side Job) it has a nice flowing ring to it, don¡¯t you agree? ¡°Your father is nice. I mean, except for attempting to kill me. Losing 85% of my mana in a single strike against my Flameshield is terrifying, Tevril.¡± I whisper into a small flame placed inside her ear. It doesn¡¯t transmit heat only sound, one of my better inventional uses of mana. ¡°It¡¯s not my fault I didn¡¯t recognize you sweetling, you¡¯ve had a rather extreme set of changes!¡± Poor father, he should understand that logic simply won¡¯t work against an enraged woman. ¡°Changes you say? Do. Tell.¡± Don¡¯t fall for the obvious bait, Mr. Father! Thwack! Pop! Smack! This man is hopeless¡­ Elyssa Side Adventure 2 Elyssa stared at the walls of the Guildmaster¡¯s office that surrounded her. It had been decades since her last foray into the Mericite Dungeon, almost a full twenty years. She still had nightmares sometimes about when she first saw the Red Death inside it. Glancing down she re-read the missive her latest A-Rank party sent from deep within the Dungeon. Currently trailing the Lord of Foxes, Azvril. No sign of the Red Death in the past 35 levels. It wasn¡¯t the lack of sighting that was a problem, it was what it portended. The damn tree has to be sentient. It¡¯s the only way to explain such rapid progress. Elyssa thought. Even after performing enough merits for years to rise through the ranks it took two decade to become S-Ranked Guild Master of the Burning Toad Guild. As the top Adventuring Guild in the kingdom, she had requested permission to move the Guild House from the Capital to Merryweather. The new location was just outside the Mericite Dungeon entrance. Many guildmembers had disagreed with her choice, yet she knew it was crucial. The Blazing Inferno of sixty years ago was proof enough that the Red Death couldn¡¯t be allowed to escape the Dungeon alive. The town sat on the trade roads between Elven lands and the nearby Human kingdom. Profits from the Dungeon delving ensured that the route remained plenty valuable. As such, the town was granted limited freedom by both parties after a lengthy treaty had been signed. It helped that the Northern Forest had suffered a massive setback. Even sixty years later, there was minimal recovery on all fronts. Elyssa moved her eyes back to the massive load of paperwork requiring her attention just in time to be interrupted by her door bursting open. ¡°Guildmaster, the Red Death is escaping the Dungeon!¡± a receptionist screamed.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Summon the Black Boar raiding party, gather all affiliated members, contact the city guard for reinforcements, and make sure the elves know!¡± Elyss said reaching for the mana around here before twisting it to summon her combat gear on. A resounding crack of air accompanied her teleport to the outer edge of the Mericite Dungeon. Before her a creature looking like a weird cross between a fox beastkin and a Dryad was talking carelessly to Azvril. What drew her attention though was the delicate tree on the Dryad¡¯s head. It was no longer floating like the last time she¡¯d seen it, however the strange mini-bonsai type tree was now accompanied by a complex mechanical device that seemed to tell time. Taking in the sights she noted the Black Boar raid party appearing behind her in the same snap crack of displaced air. ¡°We will make reparations to the Beast Emperor for this, attack now!¡± Elyssa said, her voice whipcracking in command. Her opening salvo launched immediately, twelve glowing spheres of combat magic the size of ping pong balls shimmering into existence. Each sphere contained the might of the ¡®Explosion¡¯ spell at MAX rank, combined with their innate homing magic. They were the least draining spell she could launch on short notice, each sphere targeted the tree before launching in a stream of glowing light. The members of the Black Boar raiding party wasted no time either, the two healers on their seven person team threw massive buffs on the four warriors. Haste, DefenseUP, AttackUP, Magic Resist All, the list went on each buff worth a fortune on the open market. The last member of the Black Boar raid team created rippling walls of smooth water shielding the casters within. Elyssa watched as her spheres impacted on a Flameshield that materialized around the Red Death. Her eyes bulged as she realized there wasn¡¯t a single Explosion to be seen, instead it was as if a giant mouth simply swallowed the spells. By the Green Godess, what height of fire magic has it reached? Elyssa thought despair starting to rise in her mind. Thrusting the fear back to the depths she sacrificed her left arm to power a ritual, blood staining her combat robes a rusty iron red. ¡°Frost is my Domain.¡± Elyssa chanted, even as the Black Boar warriors closed the final steps to their targets. The first warrior who managed to reach the two fox beastkin attacked Azvril¡¯s leg with a sharp horizontal cut. The Beast Lord snorted as he performed a simple check with his knee shattering the sword on his crystal combat armor. Without pause the warrior launched himself at the Foxlord attempting to tie him down for a moment. The man¡¯s sacrifice was in vain as elbow met helmet in a gory explosion. Rage dotted the features of the other three warriors as they threw honor to the winds attacking in combination. Elyssa didn¡¯t have time to watch the rest of the fight, as her spell was starting to take effect. Freezing wind surrounded the Dryad and Red Death while frost started to form on each of them. Directing the spell, she sacrificed four mana stones to decrease the temperature even further. Crystalline ice started to creep up the Dryad¡¯s legs, while frost congealed on the Read Death¡¯s branches. ¡°This violation of the treaty is amusing, are there anymore garbage wanting to play?¡± The Foxlord Azvril said, as his right hand crushed the skull of the last Black Boar warrior. Elyssa ignored him more focused on the strange flame that appeared floating between the two parties. ¡°Fire is my Domain. Flame my calling. Blood Burn.¡± ¡°Impossi-¡± Elyssa managed to get out, before the world erupted in pain and heat. Seedling 12 I¡¯m being kidnapped. Rustle. No, wait¡­why would you think there is candy involved? Rustleee! I do not have memories of anything like that, you are absorbing more sordid TV shows again aren¡¯t you! Rustle¡­ Hah! That¡¯s a guilty answer if I ever heard one. I really don¡¯t see how we need to allow ourselves to be kidnapped. Rustttle. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. What diplomatic incident? A group of thugs and their magical thug backups attacked us and I disintegrated them. Sounds like perfectly legal self-defense to me. Ruuustle. There¡¯s no such thing as Law and Order? Anything a King or Emperor of the country says goes, huh. I mean that just sounds like a recipe for some GoT type anarchy imo. Rustle. Hah, you fell into that trap so easy. How would you know what GoT is if you weren¡¯t absorbing TV show memories. Age and treachery wins over youth and idiocy anytime, young lady. Russstle. Why should we be concerned about where the Tevril+Papa combo are taking us? Look at it this way, if she didn¡¯t do anything during the life threatening situations in the Dungeon why would she change her modus operandi now? Rustle. Yes, HUMAN greed is certainly appalling, except, I don¡¯t see any humans kidnapping us. Rustle? Absolutely not. That right there is completely fallacious thinking. Applying human thinking to something called a Beast Kin is stupidity. Rustle. Hmm¡­ Ok, I mean I don¡¯t think we have to worry about treachery, but sure I can do that for you. If it makes you feel better, never say this Tree didn¡¯t look out for his future Greatest Dryad Under the Heavens? kapish? Rustleeee. I don¡¯t think throwing normal mundane level soldiers at a father type that literally obliterated a high level Adventuring group in seconds is a wise choice either. This town however, doesn¡¯t agree with us. Oh. Oh my. Elves. I think I¡¯m getting a little worked up now. Rustle. Yes, that is lava floating in the air around me now. I need to concentrate for a bit, stop talking, ok dear? Seedling 13 First, let''s see how I''ve shaped up so far. Status: Check
Status
Name: Mana Tree Stage: Seedling
Title: Seedling of Destruction, Dragonbane, Insectbane, Soul Extinguisher Age: First Cycle
Health: 23,000/23,000 Mana: 23,000/23,000
Level: 5
Skills: White Flame Resistance(MAX) Mana Sight Mana Augmentation Talents: Hungry Growth(+3) White Mana Domain
Languages: Aboreal Beast Tongue(Royal)(Common) Abilities: Inherent Mana Manipulation Flame-Lightning Elemental RootsUnlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Minion: Lighting Elemental(Statis Growth) Contracts: Future Greatest Dryad Under the Heavens
Good, good. Progress has been made. The banter flowing back and forth between Tevril+Papa and the Human/Elf alliance is slowly winding down. "Daring to block this Fox Lord''s path, the insects have certainly grown bolder with numbers." "Numbers don''t mean much Papa when there''s no air in your lungs to speak it right?" Excellent, and here I was mildly worried there might actually be some type of alliance in place with my allies. Typical snobish elves and humans. I can depend on them for that at least.
-10,000 Mana. White Mana Domain activated, Fire based spells within 20 meters cost 0 Mana.
I won¡¯t kill all the elves, I mean, that nice one(s) that didn¡¯t murder me as a young seedling are among the group. The elder that helped me has made contact and talked to a few of the others, it seems they are a minority. Ok, I won¡¯t kill those ones. The rest of these people¡­ They are going back to feed Nature, now. ¡°Do you truly think you can stand against everyone arrayed here, Lord Azvril?¡± said the one I now name Snobby Soon Dead Elf A. ¡°In a word? Yes.¡± Azvril said, with a wicked smirk on his face. Oh, he¡¯s nasty. He can clearly tell I have my Domain active since he felt it once in the Dungeon already when I tried to kill him in self-defense. The elves and humans however, they just don¡¯t have the same crisis perception he has. Too bad for them. Fire is my Domain. Flame my Calling. Blood Burn. Adar!
0 Mana. Minor Sun Orbs casted. Chain cast activated. Chain cast activated. Chain cast...
I often thought in the Dungeon, how could I counter a crowd of powerful enemies? My solution is very simple. Powered by the realization of my true name for Fire, I simply create. Suns. They are the size of a quarter, tiny miniature, a bit cute. Countless. Burning. Blazing. Suns. My exile into the Dungeon taught me the value of friendship. At the cost of my care for mercy to enemies. Let the screaming dance of burning torches begin. Seedling 14 Elder is such a crappy title made by small minded people. In all her several thousand years of being an ¡®Elder¡¯ of the Great Elven Forest today stood out as one of the worst. Not the absolute worst, definitely within the top 10 though. Emerald Ash stared at the Tree that was the cause of all the commotion. Sixty years ago when it had been found in the remains of the Calamity, there were those that forgot the old ways. They spoke of destroying a Tree like it was a stick of kindling instead of a sacred creature deserving of respect. Even the World Tree had started out as a mere seedling so many years ago, who knows if one of its many title was ever ¡®Seedling of Destruction¡¯. Therefore, she¡¯d argued against genocide, not just for the teaching of the ancients she followed. It was also for a deep abiding belief that the very destruction of any Tree was simply, wrong. It went against the fabric of her very being, and therefore she¡¯d proposed a compromise. The Mericite Dungeon was at least a 100 floors, if not more by now. Throwing the Tree inside was a method of ensuring the fanatics among them were placated. If the Tree died inside, well then, it wasn¡¯t a very good specimen. And now it had returned. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. In the hands of Lord Azvril and his daughter no less. Emerald frowned, it was clear the Tree was much stronger than before. She couldn¡¯t place her thumb on exactly where the feeling came from though. Attempts to use Appraisal, Inspect, Identify, or Observe were all being blocked by the sheer amount of mana flowing around it. Suddenly, tons of bright shiny orbs the size of small golden coins started appearing around the two fox beastkin. Elder Emerald felt another migraine rising up. +++ Azvril was annoyed. Out of all the forces arrayed against them perhaps only the Elven Elder, Emerald, could be a true threat. The rest of this garbage was merely there to make up the numbers. His muscles flexed as he drew upon the energy of his crystalline armor, preparing to take the Elder out in a single strike if she interfered. His daughter beside him quietly drew upon air mana shielding them within a small space to prevent noise from being overheard. ¡°Father, could this turn into a diplomatic issue?¡± Tevril asked him, her brow crunched up cutely in worry. Her new shape was easy on the eyes for sure. Although, if he caught any of the young men back home staring at her, well, they might lose their eyes. After a short thought Azvril replied, ¡°Doubtful. You know Emperor Leon the Fifth won¡¯t trouble us over something minor. Mother would be irritated if he did, besides, I don¡¯t see anyone of actual critical importance in front of us. With the exception of Elder Emerald the world could swallow the rest up and no one would notice.¡± ¡°Too bad.¡± His daughter said, her eyes glowing bright green. ¡°Indeed.¡± Azvril replied, his bloodlust rising. Suddenly, tons of bright shiny orbs the size of small golden coins started appearing around the two fox beastkin. ¡°Father¡­don¡¯t move.¡± Tevril said, cold sweat beading on her forehead. Azvril froze the hand he had reaching for one of the shiny orbs. The tone of his daughter¡¯s voice had only been so afraid once before. Yes¡­ When his Mother had decided to take her Air Magic training in hand. It was a voice of complete and utter terror. +++ I am actually a reasonable person. Recently though, I admit, I think I might need to look into getting a balanced amount of Elemental Roots. I mean, Fire is just too¡­ Angry. What is the saying again? Peace is a lie. There is only peace when people understand that both sides have a big stick. Now, I apparently need to demonstrate a simple principle. Trees have the biggest wooden sticks. Wait, wait, that came out all wrong. We have the biggest stones. Eh¡­somehow that¡¯s not much better¡­ Ah, ah! I have it now. We have the best, toast. Rustle! What? I only said wood joke weren¡¯t allowed. Puns are completely different! Ah well, I¡¯m getting tired holding these Sun Orbs back. Vwhoosh. Oh, wow, even their shadows melt. That¡¯s so cool! Rusttttttleeeeeeeeeeeee. Yes, yes, I made sure not to target the nice Elf. So much nagging, sheesh! Core 1 Finally, that Tree is gone. Core thought. It had taken him over three hundred years to build his Dungeon. Currently it was a place he was confident even a S+ Rank Adventuring party could die in it. Centuries of timeless mana manipulation, the gathering of rare species, and multiple purchases from the Dungeon Store. All of it almost going up in smoke due to a single Mana Tree. That thing is as much a Mana Tree as I am a pacifist. Core thought in anger. Clearly something at the Divine level was being used to conceal the Tree¡¯s true powers from others. There was no other way Appraisal MAX could be deceived in Core¡¯s own Dungeon no less.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Core shuddered to think what might have gone down if the thing masquerading as a Mana Tree had made it past the 50th Floor. Since he¡¯d already thrown everything from the Deeps at the creature, he¡¯d have been totally undefended. Thankfully that Foxkin lured him away. Note to self, make sure Foxkin do not die in my depths unless it is from pure stupidity. No way to know if they might be family of hers. Core thought, engraving the principle in his mind. Now that the main threat had been removed, Core started moving his pets down from the upper levels. There was no need to scare off the mana meatbags with the Tree gone. Although, it wasn¡¯t all bad. That Tree certainly understood the Flame and Lightning Dao to the absolute peak. If I was strong enough to be sure I could chat without being obliterated, I¡¯d definitely have a few questions for such a powerful entity. Core thought, regretting his weakness had prevented him from doing so. Weakness brought on by the destruction of his previous dungeon core during a cultivation session. Since he was connected to the Labyrinth, it wasn¡¯t a huge loss. Drawing on the massive magical construct that spanned every universe, Core had needed to pay a price to regrow the dungeon core. It wasn¡¯t a massive expenditure, yet it was one that lowered his strength at a critical time. Well, as long as I can Ascend to the next tier, perhaps we can talk another time. Core thought, turning his attention back to the badly mauled Dungeon. Seedling 15 I feel a little sick at the moment. Rustle. Rustle. Oh, no I don¡¯t have issues with killing people. I mean, I was a soldier once when I was young back in my homeland. It¡¯s just¡­ Magic is terrifying. Rustle. I¡¯m not crying! This is just a lack of water retention from my new leaves! Rustle. That¡¯s another thing, people here are stone cold. Melt a few hundred attackers with coin sized orbs heated to a Sun¡¯s temperature? No biggie. Just another day in the suck.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. I guess it¡¯s very hard to comprehend the complete and utter change in social values. Rustle. Rustle? No, I mean yes, I see what you are saying. Me and mine will always be the ones I look out for first and foremost. Rustle! Since when did I agree to that? Rustle¡­ I most certainly was NOT drunk during the after party celebration to ease tensions between the Elves and the Foxies. I was testing that Elvish wine for poison. Russstle. Damn straight, that¡¯s my story and I¡¯m sticking to it. Rustle? Dao? What in the Godly Gardeners growing crotch rot is that? Rustleeeeee?! What do you mean how am I so powerful if I¡¯m clueless about the Dao? Science, duh! Ruuussssssssstle!! Uh, I don¡¯t think there is a Dao of Science¡­ Rustle¡­ It¡¯s all about H.O.E.S. Rustle. No, not Whores, that¡¯s a totally different terminology. H.O.E.S. it means Hypothesize, Observe, Experiment, and Study. Step 1, you make a Hypothesization. Fire is hot. Rustle. Are you going to listen or just make smart arsed comments? Rustleee. So, anyways, ignoring that blatant lie right there¡­ Fire is hot. Observe why it¡¯s hot. It vibrates molecules in the air to create heat. Experiment on the various ways that can make this process occur better, and poof! White Superheated Flame is formed. Study the Flame, then rinse and repeat. Rustllllllleeeeeee. No, I am not some mystical hermit from a million years ago. And, no, I¡¯m not going to teach you Dryad-Fire-Kung-Fu! That¡¯s not even a real thing. Rustle!! My memories aren¡¯t all real, so there. ¡­Rustleee¡­ What? No I¡¯m not demented, where do you get this from seriously? Seedling 16 Flames are dancing about my branches and leaves. It¡¯s an amusing application of the Domain. Rustle. What do you mean it¡¯s a waste of mana? I¡¯m not even using any mana. The Domain is established due to the ten thousand mana used to create it. Since the effect doesn¡¯t have a cost other than the amount of mana to create it I¡¯m still trying to understand how it works. My best theory so far, is that creating a Domain is like standing in a locked room. Before you do that, the room is locked. After you pay the 10k mana fee, the ¡®key¡¯ if you will, you can enter said room. Once you are in the room, an effect is given to you. Something like ¡®within 20 meters all Fire spells cost 0 mana¡¯ and as long as you stay inside the effect continues to exist. The room itself is a part of the reality controlled by the universe. Hence essentially a Dao is in essence knowledge of the various ¡®keys¡¯ that allow manipulation of reality at a primal level. This next part is just a guess, if you could learn every key to a particular Dao then it would be possible to completely control that aspect of reality. Such as the Element of Fire. Or any Element really. Going further out on a branch here, enough mastery in a complete Dao would allow you to ¡®re-write¡¯ the so called ¡®Law of Fire¡¯ to something else. Perhaps even allow you to create a ¡®Bloodline¡¯ in which your genetic information contains pre-programmed ¡®keys¡¯ that allow easy understanding of the Dao.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Rustle. Well, I mean I don¡¯t have any actual evidence of this no. It¡¯s all guessing. Ruuuuuustle. No, I¡¯m not really that interested in experimenting too much in that direction. Besides, didn¡¯t you want me to save mana so you could create a body? On that note, why do you need a body anyways? Rustle. Since when is it impolite to ask such a question. Thwack. I stand corrected. Won¡¯t happen again. Anyways I¡¯m glad Tevril got me the materials to make this new Artifact #101. Without the faults of the previous device I can now create a passive shield using the Domain and at the same time move faster about. Rustleee! NO, I did not just make this so I could scare the living daylights out of the Elven Elder for kicks, that¡¯s pure coincidence. Besides, don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t notice you making snotty branch waving motions at her. She could obviously understand them too. Her face kept looking constipated when you did them, it was rather amusing. What were you saying anyways? Rustleee¡­ Is that even anatomically possible for a humanoid creature? Rustle. Wait, you can¡¯t just go to sleep like that! Dammit, who am I going to talk to now¡­ Oh, I did have some questions for Tevril¡¯s dad. +++ Azvril, Lord of the Foxes, Vassal of the Emperor, Hand of the Shadows, kept his face impassive with a massive amount of willpower. How could such a powerful creature be so lacking in the basic knowledge of the world? Azvril thought. ¡°So essentially, when you were fighting I didn¡¯t notice any fluctuations of mana, like at all. What exactly were you using to power such attacks?¡± the Red Death asked him politely. As a Mana Tree, his daughter claimed that she¡¯d taught it the Common tongue, and that this creature of nightmare had above average intelligence. I should introduce the Red Death to the Librarian. Hah! Azvril thought, a sinister smile flashing across his face. He could already envision the Librarian screaming in anguish as his books burned for being unable to answer ¡®simple¡¯ questions. ¡°Helloooo? Anyone there?¡± the Red Death said, sounding annoyed before Azvril snapped back to focus on him. ¡°Aura. The power I use is Aura. Aura is generated from a combination of several factors. The major uses of Aura for combat are speed, strength, increased lifespan, and resistance to damage.¡± Azvirl replied succinctly. ¡°What¡¯s the difference between Mana and Aura?¡± ¡°Aura comes from within, Mana from without. There¡¯s many schools of thought on the matter. I don¡¯t really care personally, Aura is almost instinctual to manipulate for most Beastkin. For the Fox clan it¡¯s even easier. Armor like my crystalline armor is powered by Auric Runes embedded in the armor. It creates a force multiplier causing a simple punch to be able to shatter steel.¡± Azvril said before asking, ¡°Did you teach Tevril the Air magic she demonstrated to me?¡± ¡°Air? No, I just gave her some basic concepts to work from. All the spells from there on were developed by herself.¡± the Red Death said. Casually giving a journeyman mage advice to raise her to a Master? Unbelievable. If she didn¡¯t support this story and there wasn¡¯t a single scent of lies, I almost couldn¡¯t comprehend it. Azvril thought in shock. Covering his disturbance he asked another question, ¡°Why were those tiny fire orb spells able to obliterate the attackers at the gates?¡± ¡°Each of those orbs was the same temperature as the Sun overhead.¡± Azvril felt faint. Red Death, what an apt name. He thought before stating he was required elsewhere and escaping. Seedling 17 ¡°A place where no one will disturb research?¡± Tevril said, her face scrunching up in pondering. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve decided to take some time off to build my foundation.¡± I said, branches waving smoothly. ¡°Foundation he says¡­¡± Tevril muttered, it was barely audible, yet I heard it. ¡°There¡¯s always the Colosseum. I bet if you took over a large room there it would fit your needs perfectly.¡± Really? I¡¯m having trouble imagining how that would work. ¡°Exactly how?¡± I say, confusion evident in my ¡®voice¡¯ from the tiny flame floating between us. ¡°Well, as a competitor any room you can claim and keep is yours at the Colosseum. All they request is you fight at least once a day, week, or month depending on the room size. By fighting you could then test the theories you have!¡± Tevril said, triumphantlyIf you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Ah, that seems¡­very smart. I didn¡¯t expect that from you¡­¡± I admit. Thwack! ¡°I mean, as expected from you, Tevril, genius!¡± My tone changes quickly to avoid further branch beat-down attacks from my Dryad. She plays favorites too much in my opinion. ¡°I¡¯ve think I¡¯ll develop some non-combat magic for a bit. I¡¯m particularly interested in several of the fields I tortur--, er, discussed about with Lord Azvril.¡± I said, trying to disguise my slip of the tongue. Really, the old fox didn¡¯t mean to say I was torturing him to death with my questions¡­probably. ¡°Such as?¡± Tevril stared at me suspiciously. Honestly, it¡¯s not my fault some of my early experiments had a tendency to go BOOM! when she was sleeping. That was just bad luck. Honest. Seriously it¡¯s not like I enjoyed watching her spring awake twitching in fear. THWACK! Dryad, couldn¡¯t we go back to the rustle rustle it was so much more peaceful before this time of violence. Rustle. Tsk. I see how it is, fox-sisterhood-favoritism over your own Tree. Evil it is, evil! ¡°Eh, normal stuff like Blessing, Enchanting, Artificing, stuff like that.¡± I said. I missed her eyes bugging out since I was focused on my plans for the future, but it was impossible to miss her tone of voice. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­go¡­get¡­some transport then.¡± Tevril said, gritting her teeth as she walked out of the room. I¡¯d managed to turn the room into a nice forest area with the help of Dryad. I was the only Tree, but, it¡¯s a small room. Time to take a nap. I¡¯m sure when I wake up I¡¯ll be somewhere more Colosseum-ish! Seedling 18 Rolling hills, dirt, more rolling hills, plains with knee high grass, more dirt, more rolling mountains. Travel in this world is boring beyond all belief. I mean, perhaps to a normal individual the goblin horde we encountered, or the wolf pack of a few hundred, stuff like that might be a challenge. Yeah, not for my escorts. The goblins died choking on a face full of spellcasted suffocation, and the wolf pack was ripped into meaty chunks. Now though, after a few weeks of travel, the Colosseum in all it¡¯s glory rises up in the distance. I can tell the damn thing is huge because I can see it from here days away. Someone took Sun Wukong¡¯s Staff and threw it right down from the heavens. The super-sized staff. Rustle. Get your mind out of the gutter for the Godly Gardner¡¯s sake. Anyways, the whole place seems to be made of the same grey stone. Probably because whoever built it couldn¡¯t afford anything better, sub-contracting suck sometimes.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Apparently due to space constraints the whole place is enchanted to be bigger inside than outside. Guess when you get bloodthirsty Archmages together for kicks they do a few favors to grease the palms. ¡°Now remember, as a representative of the Fox Clan, please¡­do not burn the Colosseum down.¡± Tevril said to me with a devious grin. I can¡¯t believe some of the crap that gets thrown on me, what am I? Some type of pyromaniac? Rustle. Always with the ¡®Great Fire¡¯ that was just not my fault. You don¡¯t hand matches to small children, or seeds! After a short nap I¡¯m inside the gates and being transported by a group of slaves to my new rooms. There is a short break to sign a magically binding contract for the room. It says I have to fight every year, I¡¯m not allowed to burn the Colosseum down, and I¡¯m responsible for any spectator deaths. Wait, aren¡¯t the spectators guarded by a massive force shield thing? Rustle. No, I would not just randomly see if I could burn it out for the joy of melting random bystanders. This reputation of being an evil tree that burns things at the slightest provocation is just completely unwarranted. Now that there¡¯s no one around to bother me, time to start my new project. First, I release several thousand types of fungi, mold, bacteria, and spores into the air around me. Soon the entire room is coated in a thick covering of rich velvet green moss. From there the base of the food chain is established. Seed pods that I have carefully kept within my leaves open up releasing a vast array of earthworms, spiders, centipedes, beetles, ants, and bees. After some time passes, I let loose the next batch of seed pods containing different mice. All of the mice have a magical affinity towards one element or another, like I requested. The mice that favor water affinity create small pools of constantly renewing water, which further fuels growth. Earth affinity mice create burrows, while fire mice sleep underneath me. Slackers. Just because I favor them, they get a free pass. The benefits of nepotism. The wind mice float around harvesting flying insects to eat. Since the fire mice are my personal favorites they are treated like royalty by the others. Food is brought to them without issue. More seed pods open revealing the next layer of my forest kingdom. Seeds flow outward creating flowers of all shapes and sizes fueled by my mana to grow fast. Bees immediately take to creating a hive in the corner of the room. Lastly, I place the seeds of several different trees around me in a circle. They grow rapidly to shadow me. The ceiling becomes the ¡®sun¡¯ as I place a light spell on it to mimic the movement of the real sun. The light spell was gotten from Tevril after I explained one of the advanced theories of aerodynamics to her. She¡¯ll probably become a grand Archmage in the future. My second to last set of seed pods release a large amount of young birds that immediately take territory in the trees. Finally, my crowning achievement, my last seed pod remaining releases a pair of beautiful foxes. Now that I have all my test subjects available, things should proceed nicely. Seedling 19 Rustle. Russssssstle. Ruuuustle. It wasn¡¯t my fault. Rustle! No, seriously, how could anyone predict that adding mana to a growing ecosystem would turn out that way. Flying mice with the speed of bullets, watery mice that stealth with unparalleled skill, earthy mice with adamantite defenses. Worms that regenerate in a flash, birds that harvest souls, things like this can¡¯t be predicted. Russtle. What do you mean you saw it all coming a mile away? Since when could you see in the future!?
Kehoko the White Fox has Evolved! Light Magic unlocked due to mana saturation!
Now, let¡¯s not be hasty here, I¡¯m sure that was just a coincidence.
Kurhoko the Black Fox has Evolved! Dark Magic unlocked due to mana saturation!
I¡¯m sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation. Rustle. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. What do you mean reasonable explanations and me do not coexist, I take offense, offense I say! Besides, if they hadn¡¯t upgraded they wouldn¡¯t survive in my Garden. My carefully crafted Garden is like a slice of nature. I love gardens. They have all the peace and serenity wrapped into a delicious cut of heaven. There have been a few rather¡­odd¡­changes due to my mana, yet the basics are still firm. Sadly, some of the slaves that wander in go missing. Same for the thieves, assassins, spies, tax collectors, and disgruntled losers from previous matches.
Level UP! Mana Augmentation raised to 4. Elemental Resistance reaches MAX!
I have had mixed success lately with my Blessing experiments. Somehow, I can¡¯t get a blessing without something going wrong. Take for example, Experiment #172. The common Wind Mouse. Normally these creatures are in no way threatening as they use their wind magic for speed to escape predators. This is a valuable use of magic, ensuring the species survives and even prospers even in predator rich environments. When you add enough mana though you get something much different.
Wind Mouse has Evolved into White Cloud Reaper Mouse! Wind Law unlocked!
Something with speed like a certain MCU hero, flying, and a total disregard for air safety traffic concerns. I still haven''t figured out what exactly a "Law" in magic is, it''s peculiar to be sure. Somehow the mana costs for certain actions under a law are massively reduced. The previously innocent wind mice also ramp up in aggression, no longer content to simply flee from predators¡­ No, instead they turn into bloodthirsty ninja mice of scariness. Rustleeee! Well yes, everything in here likes us. Just wait till they start talking though. That¡¯ll be the day things all go wrong. I can already see the word, no, evolving into something horrific.
Crow has Evolved into Soul Thieving Shadow! Soul Magic unlocked due to mana saturation!
A plus to this situation is of course my recent discovery of viable Summoning magic. Nothing says, ¡°I disdain combat with peons like you types¡± better than a good old multiple monster summoning beatdown. Recently there has been word that Summoning magic might be restricted in the Arena as it isn¡¯t quite fair. Rustle. Rustttttle. Ruuuuuustle. Well, you are right. At least we took the gambling halls for everything we could before they changed the odds on us. I still think we should have narrowly won a few more. Rustle. True, true, that Barbarian did insult us...people shouldn¡¯t say things like that, even in a life and death combat. I really didn¡¯t have a choice except to render his arms and legs into ashes while letting our pets feed on him slowly. People need to understand there are limits on certain things. At least our room isn¡¯t a total deathtrap, I mean there are those two nice young children that visit us. All the pets seem to like the little girl too, it makes me want to try something for the boy. Yes. Yes. I¡¯m getting a good feeling about this. Let¡¯s see how Enchanting works shall we? Seedling 20 Ah, I forgot. Truly, my memory deteriorates with age. Well, ok, not really¡­ I speak many languages¡­ Except none of them are human ones. Tsk. All this screaming and gibbering in fear from small children disturbs my tranquil Garden. However, hah. HOWEVER! I have had a rather interesting breakthrough due to these human children. Yes, indeed. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I have made incremental discoveries in the vast sea known as Enchantment. First things first. Did you know that Runes are utterly meaningless? I truly thought those tomes I acquired from Tevril might aid me. Utter idiocy I now know. Intent matters. Just like when I learned to master Fire, intent runs just as deep, or perhaps deeper in meaning for enchanting. Symbols have power yes, but only the power we grant them. A ¡®good¡¯ enchanter in my opinion must be able to enchant a pigdoodle with meaning. Rustle! Ah, no that¡¯s not why I doodled all over the boy. Ok, maaaaaaaaaaybeeeee¡­ A little¡­ Anyways, anyways, it worked right? The strength of a hundred bears, the speed of a lightning bolt, the defense of an anvil, and the senses of an elf. The kid¡¯s got talent for sure now. Enchanted talent is still talent in my humble opinion. Now, I could have done without my Garden being used as a playground for a young godling, and all. Tsk. Do you have any idea how much time it will take to coax those two foxies down from the ceiling? Hours of brushing fur. Days of calming nerves. Only to have a zippy boy scare them again? He was lucky I merely melted a hand. My patience is not endless. Rustleeeeeee. I cannot for the life of me fathom how he is so different from his sister. Ah, yes. The girl. A true diamond in the shadowed Colosseum. Patient. Kind. Generous. Good with my pets. Good with flora and fauna alike. Since her brother seems to like to stretch his wings and bully her a bit, hm¡­ Rustle! Yes! I agree! Let¡¯s try something different for her, something inspiring. Yes, for the girl, we¡¯ll do Non-Physical Enchanting. Hue hue¡­ I can already see the sparkling glyphs now! Seedling 21 Rustle. Rustle. Russsssssstle. ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll be fine Grandma. Don¡¯t worry!¡± ¡°Just give up if anything is going to kill you.¡± I throw my two cents in. ¡°Whatever, Old Man.¡± Discrimination. Dryad gets called Grandma and I¡¯m relegated to the ¡®Old Man¡¯ scenario? This world is just not fair, not fair at all. I don¡¯t see why I had to correct my doodles anyways, they were functioning perfectly fine. After my wonderful enchanting experiments Dryad had a chat with the children while I was napping. They¡¯ve taken over the whole ¡®perform in the Colosseum¡¯ thing. In exchange though, my branch was twisted into getting a bigger room, much bigger. Nothing too fancy mind you, just bigger.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Rustle. No, moving wasn¡¯t an issue. What¡¯s the point of mastering magic if you can¡¯t even move a simple room like flipping over one¡¯s hand? Roll up the moss, float out the animals and trees in mana spheres, and viola! Bigger room being overtaken by lush forest type stuff, presto! Ruustle? No, I am not dealing with the children. You wanted to take them under your Dryad tits, it¡¯s all on you now missy! Anyways with the boy calling himself Flicker, and the girl calling herself Shimmer, things are much easier on me. We¡¯re in that word, yeah, a symbiotic relationship. They do all the work, I get all the time I need to keep having fun. That¡¯s symbiotic, right? Right. Dryad keeps manipulating the nearby plants in order to produce amazing delicacies that I¡¯m pretty sure do not exist. Things like fruits that taste good, are healthy, and build up immunity to poison. The first two I can see, the third, I mean, really? Rustle! What reason would I have to test biological weapons out on young children? That¡¯s crazy talk that is. I would¡­ Probably¡­ I mean it does sound interesting doesn¡¯t it? RUSTLE. I say, how did you discover my secret stash of recently created ''moss''? It''s for recreation, honest... Really good reacreation, heh. Rustle. Rustleee! I mean, who knew tax collectors would touch brightly colored flowers like that? Swish. Don¡¯t they know bright colored anything is the Godly Gardener¡¯s method of culling stupidity? When was the last time you touched a random brightly colored creature in the Amazon Forest? Never that¡¯s what, it¡¯s suicide, that¡¯s what. Rustle? Oh, it¡¯s a super large, super awesome, super complex forest. Rustleeeeeee! That sounds like tons of work¡­explain again why I would do something like that? Rustle. Wait, wait, you can teach me water manipulation with my mana? ¡­Why did it take you so long to make this offer¡­ Seedling 22 135 years. 1,620 months. 7,039.3(rounding up) weeks 214,112.1(rounding up) days 156,301,977.6(rounding up) hours. 6,846,034,119,813.5(rounding up) minutes. 1,7991,397,383,448,131,584(rounding up) seconds. That¡¯s how long my Artifact experiment to create a clock tells me I¡¯ve been living in this world. The knowledge that you are no longer mortal, that time is a constraint that doesn¡¯t exist except in theory¡­ It¡¯s hard. Very hard. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Rustle. I agree, this is probably the single most defining reason I research. Can you imagine in a thousand years? A hundred thousand? Millions? What the utter ever loving Godly Gardener¡¯s nutsack will I do with so much time. I mean, think about it. There are in broad terms a finite amount of things to learn. Rustllllllllllleeee! Your right, right, you are. This is just depression brought on by a recent incident. When the young man, Flicker, showed up screaming he was going to free his sister from our ¡®vile¡¯ and ¡®corrupt¡¯ influence it was amusing. When he tore up my Garden with his hired thugs and glyphed out lackeys, the humor wasn¡¯t there anymore. He couldn¡¯t even be bothered to ask his own sister if she even wanted to leave. As if the concerns of the individual being ¡®saved¡¯ mean nothing? Poor deluded fool. What I give, I can take. Did he think his power was bestowed by some Divine mandate? Did the stupid creature think that it was his right? No one comes into my Garden, wrecks it, and leaves. Even now he quivers on the bridge between life and death. Rustle. Mercy to this clown? Why? Rustleee. Hmph. Fine then, since his sister has requested it alongside my two favorite foxes. I will grant mercy. Oh, yes. Mercy, will I grant.
Tribulation of the Martyr has been cast. May the Divine have mercy on the target''s soul.
I will not slay him, no, I will Bless him and Enchant him. Am I not, merciful? He will thirst, yet never die. Hunger, yet never feed. Live, yet never die. Enemies cannot drown him in a sea of flame, or cook him in a vat of lightning. His flesh will never falter. Immortality indeed, true Mercy for a price. All for the small, small price¡­ Of the Itch. Perhaps, in a thousand thousand years, when my Garden has grown greater than before, and my anger has cooled¡­ Then. I might be truly merciful. Or not. Seedling 23 Time really passes when one is having fun.
Water Affinity has risen to MAX. Water Affinity is now Water Root!
Also, I can¡¯t stay angry forever. This probably has more to do with my new ¡®Balance¡¯ achievement. Due to the way Fire and Water Laws interact I find anger hard to hold onto. It probably helped that every day for the past four centuries Shimmer asked, ¡°Graaaaaaaaaaaanpaaaaaaaaaa, pleeeeeeeeeease cure brother!¡± Rustle. Tsk. Fine. I suppose several centuries is enough punishment. The boy has certainly been obedient enough since then.
Tribulation of the Martyr has been Purified.
I guess it¡¯s fine, my Garden has grown to encompass the entire Colosseum now. Rustleee. What? They want to go out and adventure around in the world now? Whatever for? They aren¡¯t going to find half the magical herbs, piles of treasure, or cute magical pets they will in here! Ah, this is that¡­ That thing again¡­ Wanderlust. Tsk. Fine, fine! I see how it is with both of you making faces at me. ¡°Go on then. Have fun.¡± I said finally to the two young adults. I¡¯ve made such improvements in the vast sea of Blessing and Enchantment. Just like with my recent advances in Fire and Water, I realized a truth. It¡¯s all about [Balance] in the end. No enchantment or blessing that grants a boon, can be without an effect that is also a bane! Rustllllleeee. Exactly. Proof of concept, once the Itch was casted along with the associated boons he already had, did not Flicker, become more stable?Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Proof indeed of the truth of [Balance]. Although, admittedly, having a semi-immortal guardian duo taking care of my Garden was nice. I am after all a Tree. A powerful. Handsome. Cute, miniature tree, true. My ¡®nap¡¯ and ¡®sleep¡¯ are measured in years or decades, not paltry human hours. For that, it¡¯s obvious I need guardians, caretakers, gardeners. Rustle. That! That¡¯s so cruel! I am not a lazy Tree! Research just takes a lot out of me. And now with our dynamic duo gone, who¡¯s going to protect me when I rest?
Kehoko has reached MAX level! [Humanoid] Evolution Path unlocked!
Eh¡­ Did you plan this, Dryad?!
Kurhoko has reached MAX level! [Humanoid] Evolution Path unlocked!
You planned this! It¡¯s more obvious than the difference between Water and Fire! Rustle. Smirking! I can see it! You. Are. Smirking! Well, whatever. Even you have to admit Dryad, the number of Adventure parties that try to sneak into the Colosseum in order to kill me is on the rise. The first century it was a pittance. Then a pile. Now, it¡¯s a damn flood. I think evasive action needs to be taken to filter out the garbage. Rustle? A thresher if you will to separate those worth spending time on from common wheat. To that end I have made¡­ This! Rumble. Behold! A flying Colosseum and Garden in one! ¡­Rustle¡­ No, no I did not just make my Garden fly to follow around my two prot¨¦g¨¦ like a doting older relative. That, that¡¯s not...true. Our flight path just might be vaguely in line with their travels. Vaguely you hear me? +++ An old man stared at the reports on his expensive desk. The normal tidy reports were arrayed in a haphazard manner that practically screamed terror. It wasn¡¯t unusual for the Sargosso Colosseum to sprout some new mystical herb, or rarely seen magical creature over the last few centuries. Take the two twin terrors of Sargosso, the foxes of legend, Kehoko and Kurhoko. Although he, Simon Garfunz, had never seen them in person in his life. Legend claimed that almost half a millennia ago, the foxes created the Garden of Sargosso Colosseum. Under their care and concern, the entities known far and wide as demi-gods were created. Flicker of Life, Shimmer of Death. No one had any clue what their human names were before they were changed, altered. Archmages had given lifetimes to unravel the secrets of the undefeatable duo. More gold had been spent in pursuit of trying to discover exactly how their immortality was achieved. Adventurers threw their lives away en mass on a yearly basis. It was the secret that powerful entities would quite literally, kill, for. Simon grabbed his head in both hands and slumped on the desk. And now it¡¯s gone, all gone. There is no doubt War is inevitable now. No country, Archmage, Martial Overlord, or Emperor is going to just accept the excuse that the Colosseum floated away. It doesn¡¯t matter how many eyewitness reports there are, or how many people disappeared inside. Every party will merely conclude the other has realized a way to grasp immortality, before taking steps to deprive the others. ¡°Guildmaster¡­what should we do?¡± asked a young man dressed in the latest magical gimmicks. His sense of fashion left a great deal to desire, but, to Simon he was a godsend. Raising his head off the desk, Simon straightened his flowing robes, ¡°We are going to lie.¡± ¡°Er¡­lie, Guildmaster?¡± ¡°Yes, Nel, we are going to lie.¡± Simon said, his expression now calm and completely collected. The fingers of one hand tapped on his desk in nervous rhythm. ¡°When asked, ¡®How¡¯ or ¡®Why¡¯ this happened there is of course a simple explanation.¡± Simon said, rising from his chair to pace behind his desk. Ignoring the incredulous expression of Nel, Simon continued, ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? This action is beyond mere mortal comprehension. Obviously those two Foxes have chosen to make their escape by air!¡± ¡°Sir! That¡¯s genius!¡± Nel said, his expression morphing to awe. ¡°Exactly, Nel, exactly!¡± said Simon, triumphant. ¡°Obviously those two monstrous Foxes managed to reach the pinnacle of Beast evolution, perhaps they can even take human shape now!¡± Simon paused stroking his thick beard, ¡°After all, at last report didn¡¯t they have eight tails apiece?¡± Inspiration struck him further, ¡°That¡¯s it, they managed to break the barrier and reach human form!¡± ¡°And of course, as newly evolved, they wouldn¡¯t want just any random garbage bothering them while they are weak¡­¡± Simon said, his well manicured fingernails tapping once more on the desk as he stood nearby. ¡°That¡¯s all well and good, Sir. However, how are we going to explain the disappearance of the Holy Red Tree?¡± said Nel, sweat appearing on his forehead. Simon glared at him as he tried to think up another brilliant excuse. ¡°Ah!¡± ¡°Ah!¡± they both exclaimed in unison. ¡°We¡¯ll just blame those two for everything!¡± Simon said, his expression relieved. Seedling 24 There are moments in life where something can make you feel small. It could be a bully, a rival, a mistake of your own devising. I¡¯m having one of those moments, here. Floating in my Garden, that¡¯s floating in the air in front of a giant. Yes, as you see, it¡¯s the World Tree. It¡¯s moments like these that make me realize¡­ I¡¯m still just a small. Tiny. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Plant. However, I do not despair. Moments like these are where you can also realize a basic truth in any world. It¡¯s something humans do at an instinctual level, every second, of every day. Improve. Adapt. Overcome. From second to second a person¡¯s DNA is changing constantly to adapt to the environmental stress outside a body. Similiarly one¡¯s DNA is adapting to the mental stress within. I do have to admit though¡­ I have never had a stronger urge to burn something in my life. I mean, the feeling is like that one from the TV show I watched all those many years ago. What was it, Houland? Hiylander? There can be only one. Now, I¡¯m sure this big fella had a loooooooooooong time to get to his current size. So, I need to be patient. Rome wasn¡¯t built in a day. And this World Tree won¡¯t fall in one either. Time is on my side though. After all, isn¡¯t it a basic truth in the world? New replaces old. Young replace elderly. Red Trees replace World Trees. Rustle¡­ Hah! Don¡¯t pretend that¡¯s crazy, I could see you drooling at the thought of all the power of being a World Tree Dryad from here! Rustle. Oh? It wasn¡¯t drool? It was tears of joy you say? I have bad news for you. Click. Rustle!? That¡¯s right, a camera! Now your sordid past will be revealed in all its magical photographic glory! RuStLe. Now, now now, there¡¯s no need to¡­ RuSTLe. We can talk this out! Violence isn¡¯t the answer! See? See? I deleted all the pictures. Rustle. Or did I¡­ Seedling 25 ¡°Watch carefully, little girl. This is how you, cut.¡± A grizzled old man said, taking a strange sword stance. Phzzzzzt! In front of the old man tens of towering trees fell like a radiating wave of dominos. ¡°Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, master!¡± a small girl said with shining eyes. Meanwhile, thousands of feet up in the air, I watched. What the hell was wrong with this guy chopping innocent trees down? Hey! Hey! Hey! You think trees don¡¯t have any way to fight back? You think, wrongly. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
White Mana Flame has been cast!
Watching the old man below turn into a dancing flame man, accompanied by a cheering girl I nodded to myself. Even if I wasn¡¯t irritated enough to burn through his Aura, it was enough to demonstrate my stance See if you practice your arts on any more innocent kin of mine. Rustle. So what if the relation between a Mana Tree and a normal tree is the same as the ground and the sky? They are both part of the same planet, therefore my logic is impeccable. Besides, isn¡¯t it fun to watch a burning human run around? Look, he¡¯s even jumped in that lake full of hungry fish! Oh! There¡¯s even a tentacle monster involved now from the small lake¡¯s depths. Wow, that munchkin can sure cut, she¡¯s making sashimi of those tentacles. Uh oh. Why are they both staring up here¡­ Strategic departure, go! Sword Aura arced up attempting to slice my floating Garden into pieces. Too bad, they couldn¡¯t get through the Flameshield around my Garden island in the sky. They would need another ten thousand years to reach my level. Eh? Why is the midget girl covered in a dark forboding Aura. I¡¯ve seen that type of Aura before, it was¡­. Hm¡­ Actually, I can¡¯t remember. Is this what they call ¡®getting old¡¯ these days? Tsk. Let¡¯s check the memory bank I¡¯ve made from my Roots. There it is! That aura is Demonic! Ho ho, what¡¯s a normal human doing teaching a demonic half-breed? Rustle. What? You think we should offer them asylum? Can you imagine what would happen! Think about it, Sword Aura slicing everywhere, the mess, the cleanups, the constant renewal of targets¡­ Ruuuuuustle. I¡¯m sure we can find better playmates for the Kitsune kiddos. Rustlee. Ok. Fiiiiiiiiiine. I¡¯ll send a leaf down to take them up. If it all goes wrong, just remember, you bullied me into this! Seedling 26 Children give me a headache sometimes. Especially bubbly, happy-go-lucky, cheerful, ditzy children. And now there are three of them running around me in circles. Just because I¡¯m small doesn¡¯t mean it is ok to use me for these terrifying rituals known as children¡¯s playtime games. I have dignity. I have rights. Important rights. Like the right to take a damn nap without people prancing around me in sing song voices as they hold hands.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. This calls for drastic measures. Yes, yes it¡¯s time for that. Hue hue. Since that grizzled veteran of a thousand battles is sleeping, and thereby refusing to assist me¡­ Devon, may you rest in pieces. Amen. It is time, time to release Experiment #7! Squeek! Ah, watching the children pause in their evil ritual, I see terror flash in their eyes. That¡¯s right, who wouldn¡¯t be afraid of¡­ Teenage Mutant Ninja Mice. They are the final stage of years of production. All the skills of every affinity I¡¯ve worked with so far in mice, fire, wind, water, earth. Their skills are beyond compare, nothing can stand in the way of their terror inducing rage. Wait¡­ Why do all three of those kids have sparkling eyes all the sudden. Squeeek? No more questions, implement punishment! Whizzzzzzing! Snick! Phzzzzzzzzt! That is not a cuddly pet, stop that right now you three! Tsk. They escaped, dammit Devon, why the hell are you never awake when I need you. ¡°What was that noise?¡± the grizzled veteran Devon said, finally waking up. Typical. He can¡¯t manage to awaken until after disaster strikes. No wait. Could it be? Could he actually be that damn good? I mean he looks like a slovenly idiot from almost all angles, yet maybe it¡¯s a disguise? Wait, who the hell would he be disguising against thousands of feet up in the air? ¡­ ¡­ ¡­it couldn¡¯t be me¡­right? Seedling 27 Right now I¡¯m hiding. I¡¯m hiding in my own Garden. It¡¯s not out of fear. I fear nothing in my own personal paradise, no, I¡¯m hiding for my sanity. I¡¯m sure those among us remember the game, what was it called, Wurcroft? Wavecrift? Well whatever, it had that one expansion¡­ What was it again¡­ Ah yes! The one with Ygg-Sawg, the giant jelly monster with super duper mind melting powers. And one of his attacks, the one that gave so much pain¡­ Yes. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. The insanity one. Where turning to face him melted your mind into a puddle of proto-goo. Then your powers would be turned on the rest of the raid group, and poof! Mass deaths. So, I¡¯m hiding for my sanity, but really, it¡¯s to save the world. Really, I¡¯m such a great Tree. Sometimes, I just shock myself. Rustle. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s fair. Just because I like looking like a sparky red tree with a million shades of color does not mean my fashion choices are the cause of this. You live with these bra-, I mean, spawn of evil too! Too quickly you forget the time they ate all your newly grown candy tree samples! Who cleaned up that mess, huh? Uncle Devon that¡¯s who! Damn straight I wasn¡¯t going to do it. Besides, my perfect decoy plan has been working well so far. 3 kids. 3 T.M.N. Mice. Rustleee! Hah! You don¡¯t like it? Well guess what it¡¯s called bribery! It¡¯s one of the perks of being a Grandfather type. All you can do is bake food and make delicious things because that¡¯s what Grandmother types do, so there! ¡­Rustle¡­ Pffft! Do you think I¡¯m afraid of you? Wait¡­ Do you hear a noise? Snick! Gah! That sword brat has found us first again, quickly, retreat! I throw out a mass of seedpods filled with a variety of chocolate candies as I retreat towards the upper layers. Whizzing past a startled Uncle Devon I quickly conceal myself in the branches of a Redwood. The coloration of the leaves easily masks my signature redness. Within minutes the three bra-, I mean, spawn of evil arrive finding the unlucky Devon starting to take a nap. Heh, take that you good for nothing old man. Time for you to suffer the same pain I suffer! If I¡¯m not allowed to sleep, NO ONE IS. I quickly melt into a nearby wooden wall to make my escape complete. Children are far more terrifying than Beholder Eyes. Seedling 28 Time passes much slower when you can¡¯t sleep for fear of being ambushed. Whoever said ¡®cuteness is justice¡¯ has obviously never taken care of real live children in their lives. Cuteness isn¡¯t justice, it¡¯s a sadistic mind trap that lures poor victims into a child¡¯s grubby clutching hands! Then you get petted! Or pruned! Or licked! Or¡­or¡­.worse! Not me though, even though I can¡¯t sleep, I¡¯m perfectly fine. That¡¯s because I my entire Garden is like a gigantic sensor machine. Mostly I made it that way due to the fact that since I can¡¯t sleep, or do research, I needed something to take my mind off the constant stress.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. In order to make things work, I made the Garden slightly more self-aware. Not at the level of true sentience mind you, but enough to raise the danger rank. Rustlllllllle. Fair? Who the hell plays fair against Adventuring parties? Only some nutjob would play fair against people that come to plunder their home. Adventurers are like parasitic moss, that¡¯s why I apply the same solution to both of them. Blowtorches. It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t give them a chance. The sign on the entrance does give proper warning. Ruuuuustle. What do you mean misleading? ¡°This place can grant you Immortality.¡± There¡¯s nothing misleading there. I will absolutely grant immortality to any Adventurer that¡¯s able to survive and reach me. As long as they read the fine print at the bottom of the sign¡­ The part that says, ¡°Immortality granting requires a service period of one thousand years minimum.¡± See? There¡¯s nothing shady about using fine print, demons do it all the time! Rustle. What do you mean I¡¯m picking up bad habits from Devon? I¡¯m a Tree, that claim is ridiculous! Do you see me drinking myself to sleep? Or singing in off-key pig wails while almost falling off the edge of the Colosseum? How about that one habit he has of trying to kill whoever wakes him from his mid-afternoon naps? I don¡¯t do any of that stuff. I¡¯m a perfectly normal individual. Oh? We have new guests. Finally, something for the children to play with besides me. Seedling 29 In the interest of fairness my Garden is not filled with lethal death traps. At least, not within the first layer. I mean, honestly if you ignore a well-crafted sign that says something like, ¡°Lethal Deathtraps Ahead, Beware!¡± you really should be removed from the gene pool. I think in that manner I¡¯m actually doing most of the rest of humanity a service. I mean, I may not be human anymore, at least the thought is still there right? Isn¡¯t it the thought that count¡¯s the most in these things? Watching through my various plants I enjoy the greedy expressions that cross each face of the six human Adventurers. It¡¯s an equal split between men and women this time around. Sometimes we get all female, or all male parties, neither seem to last long though. For some reason the all-female parties get distracted by the Jewelry Room, which, is bad. That¡¯s one of the ¡°Lethal Deathtrap¡± areas after all. I mean, I certainly am not going to explain to Dryad how her favorite toys got stolen. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Again, the all-male parties don¡¯t fare much better, they get taken out in the Body Crafting Room. I actually had no idea that room existed till Devon told me about it. Apparently, until I have enough mana to sustain a physical form for Dryad, she can¡¯t survive outside. That doesn¡¯t stop her from crafting a variety of extremely hot bodies. How do I know they are hot? Well, I mean, if they weren¡¯t ¡®hot¡¯ then 99% of all male Adventures probably wouldn¡¯t stop and stare at them. I mean, I admit, I¡¯m just guessing here though. Perhaps they just like to appreciate the plants used in crafting them. Riiiiiiiiiiiight? Yeah, I thought not. Anyways, male parties seem to have the need to, you know, touch things. Sadly, I even have multiple, glowing, blinking signs that say, ¡°Do NOT Touch the Bodies!¡± I can¡¯t figure out why that doesn¡¯t seem to deter them. Meh, whatever. Strangely enough, equal split parties like the one currently just arrived do best. Normally they last through a few hundred rooms before something goes horribly wrong. Rustle. Hmm, I don¡¯t think I ever actually took note of that. In fact, thinking back that¡¯s true though. Most equal split parties usually start making mistakes in the third section of the Garden. I suppose it can¡¯t be helped, though. I mean, that¡¯s the part where I throw the experiments that don¡¯t work very well. Amusingly enough, most invaders think that junk is actually worth something. Like who the hell would want a hover disc that only lasts for a few hours before needing mana recharge? Or a time keeping device that slows time around the user? Oh, and there was that last one folks seemed to lose their minds over. I called it the ¡®Compass That Never Points South¡¯ as a matter of fact it does point somewhere though. Said compass will point to the correct location in any maze, with the most treasure. I¡¯m sure you can see how that can go wrong in my Garden right? Any place with a thing that I deem treasure is accompanied by, ¡°Lethal Deathtraps¡± of course. I mean, I don¡¯t want people stealing the stuff I actually want to keep around. Tsk. It appears they are making the rookie mistake of splitting up. ¡°Kehoko, Kurhoko, Random Sword Kid#1, there are three groups of new playmates in the first section.¡± ¡°Playmates!¡± ¡°Playmaties!¡± ¡°Mates, yay!¡± Eh, I think there was something wrong mixed in there¡­ Well whatever, decoy mission complete. Watching the little ones scamper off with their favorite mouse in hand I decamp to get some much needed nap time. Seedling 30 The value of sleep is never apparent until you cannot have it anymore. Thankfully, I was able to catch a decent two year nap finally. Although in most cases I rather detest Adventurers, in this case I have to say thanks. Thank you for sacrificing your sanity for my own. May you rest in pieces. Connecting myself to the Garden¡¯s sensor network I view the progress so far. Interesting. It appears that all six of them are still alive. Ah, that¡¯s because the children are being bribed.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Tsk, so those brats will be nice to anyone that offers slices of roast meats, eh? Unbelievable. They obviously get this shady behavior from Devon. I mean how else could they carefully lead their prey in circles, all the while milking free meals from them? Devious true, yet somehow, it almost feels evil. Meh, whatever. They have decades to grow up, no need to rush things. I mean, if they rush to grow up then I don¡¯t have a chance to spoil them properly. Still, since the children are having fun at the moment I guess I can finally try a new experiment.
5,888 Mana used. Mana Augmentation cast.
Yes, I¡¯ve been a red mini-bonsai-like tree for long enough, it¡¯s time to Grow. First my color. All the shades of red bleach away leaving my form a pure alabaster white, the color that you might see on the finest jade stones. Slowly, ever so slowly the veins within my trunk turn deep ocean blue shades. As the mana rises through my whitened form, the coloration extends further, until even my leaves are veined in light blue. I carefully rework each leaf adding a sparkle to every single one, courtesy of my Lightning Root. Meanwhile, on top of the hover artifact I¡¯ve always sat upon like a throne, my roots alter. They turn bright red, then orange, and finally molten lava red. Within the molten lava ground that I now lay, three Roots are clearly visible. One extends directly into the molten liquid magma held in place underneath me. Another, with the deep blue of a shifting sky drinks from the magma, without being burned. The final Root sparkles with a white crackling glow. Any onlooker can clearly tell these are my Fire, Water, and Lightning Roots. Manifesting them like this actually upgraded my powers, something I wasn¡¯t quite sure would work. Well, at least now the children will be surprised when they come back from playing with their toys. Ah¡­they probably won¡¯t mistake me for an intruder¡­right? Seedling 31 Swish. Eh? Swish. Feels like¡­I¡¯m moving while I sleep? Swish. Wait. Swoosh! I am moving, gah! I rapidly wake up to darkness around me with little sparkles of light nearby. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Swish. I¡¯m in a cloth sack of some sort, what the hell? Help! I¡¯ve been tree-napped while napping! This, this is horrible. Wait, how did they get through the Garden without me noticing!? This is horrible, and, scary! Rustle. How can you say I¡¯ve been slacking? Eh, why didn¡¯t you wake me up? Rustlee? Oh, we were both sleeping at the same time. Well, damn. Swoosh! The noises outside the cloth sack sound strange, and the surrounding temperature seems rather low. Could we be in a mountain perhaps? I quietly grow a branch tendril to peek at the many gaps in the cloth covering me. After a short glance outside I withdraw them all and shudder. We are not in a mountain, no, it¡¯s much worse. We are several tens of thousands of feet in the air being held on the side of a quaint old lady. She¡¯s a rather nice looking old lady as old ladies go, but that¡¯s not the really disturbing part. The really disturbing part is the adult dragon underneath her. The one with multiple heads, and a deep silver color to their scales. From what I know of dragons, the more heads, the stronger, the deeper the scale color, the older. In other words, this nice looking old lady is strong enough to force subservience from a creature far above me. Like, earth to sky type of above me. I can see what happened already. A nice old lady who likes plants probably happened to notice my floating Garden as she was flying around on her dragon steed. Of course she would go take a look. Of course she would be amazed by all the rare plants and species. Of course she would catch me napping after my transformation. Choke on it Murphy, choke on it, and die slow. Seedling 32 When people say, ¡°There¡¯s something in the water.¡± they don¡¯t usually mean it literally. I do. Since being planted in this suspicious soup with a high mana signature level, I can affirm, there is something in the water. Not just the enormous amount of mana. Not just the tasty bits that I don¡¯t look closely at. No, there is definitely something further. I can¡¯t really place what it is though¡­ However, I am sure of what it does, the something in the water, it imparts Law to me. I have a Fire, Water, and Lightning Root, however now I¡¯m getting inklings. I feel like I can almost grasp the beginnings of another Root. Ethereal, uncontainable, without form, or flavor.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Minor Wind Root has formed!
This¡­does not bode well. Even though it¡¯s been a long time away from the Earth, I still remember those documentaries. The ones about livestock. The ones about fattening livestock. Just because I¡¯m a plant doesn¡¯t make it any less probable. Here¡¯s my working theory. Old Lady A finds a plant with 3 Law level Roots growing on it. She thinks to herself, ¡°Ah! If I feed it more stuff, can I get more Law Roots?!¡± And thus the current circumstances arise. Rustle¡­ No, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m being paranoid here! We could be on the verge of being fattened up, and then, killed! And then ground up in a mortar and pestle and used for some evil purpose! ¡­Rustle¡­ What do you mean you recognize the old lady? The hell didn¡¯t you share this valuable information earlier?! Rustle. You knew we had nothing to fear? This wasn¡¯t information you thought was valuable enough to tell your partner immediately!? Rustle! Ruuuuustle! Rrrrrrrrrrrustle! Wait a second here, I tell you everything important! Rustle. Well, no, I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d want to be bothered by the fact that there was an accidental outbreak of carnivorous moss in my lab. Rustle. Seriously? You never indicated you cared about when I harvested all those samples from your newly grown greenery. Besides, who could have known they would almost eat the kids? RUSTLE. Eh¡­.ok, perhaps I sometimes keep a few things from you. However¡­. ¡­. ¡­.. ¡­¡­ Ok, I can¡¯t think up a good reason for some of that stuff under the pressure of possible imminent death. Rustle. What do you mean there¡¯s no way we could die under the care of a suspicious old lady, who you still haven¡¯t told me who they are? Rustle. What!? There are actual Gods around here?! Wait, that¡¯s a stupid name. Can¡¯t she think of anything better? Rustle¡­ On second thought that¡¯s a delightful name, the Green Lady, yes, lovely. And no, you don¡¯t need to tell her what I thought about it. Devon 1 Devon stared at the bloody mess the three insane imps had made of the six Adventurers. With puddles of blood everywhere and random body parts strewn around it was definitely a bit on the gory side. ¡°Unca Devon!¡± ¡°Unca Devon!¡± ¡°Master!¡± Massaging his forehead to work out the tension that accumulated after being frantically woken from his afternoon nap he sighed. ¡°Where is He?¡± Devon asked. The alarm that had woken him from a delightful dream about three triplets he¡¯d met a few centuries back was both loud and annoying. Trust a disturbed Tree-Alchemist-Garden Nutjob to make something so perverse. Probably only did it to see if it would actually work, the bastard. Devon thought. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen the creepy shrub, Master.¡± said Elaine, his only disciple. If she wasn¡¯t always so serious Devon knew she had the potential to be super cute. ¡°Grandpa Tree was swished and then swooshed!¡± said Kehoko, the cute little foxgirl was a marvelous joy to watch twirling about chasing nearby butterflies. Apparently in her world, if it wasn¡¯t edible it wasn¡¯t of interest. ¡°According to the data from the Garden¡¯s sensor network, Grandfather was kidnapped by a being of extreme power. They showed up merely as a large blob of human shaped mana. Then of course, there was the dragon they were riding.¡± said Kurhoko, the least cute foxkin ever to exist. He was almost constantly using the massive Garden that filled the Colosseum to stay alert. As soon as Devon had found out the Garden could be used as a sensor network, he¡¯d asked to be shown how. Unfortunately, Kurhoko had stared at him before stating, ¡°No, I¡¯m not allowing you to use the sensor network to drool at the female adventurers that arrive.¡± Tsk. Such a brat. Devon thought in remembrance. A mass of human shaped mana? Either a God or an Old One, neither of which is good for us. Fingering the hilt of his sword, Devon asked, ¡°Can you move this hunk of flying greenery, Kur? Whatever got the Old Man could hit us again.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The boy seemed to pause for a moment before saying, ¡°Yes, but, where would we go? Grandfather never bothered with mapping. Most of the systems in place, like the food plants, waste disposal plants, water accumulation network, and such are automatic. Navigation actually isn¡¯t a system per say, since the wind moves us at random unless Grandfather specifically changed the flying artifact underneath us.¡± I was promised constant sleep, free food, and entertaining idiots to kill. Devon thought as he moved towards the pieces of the Adventuring party. Fighting his way through the waste disposal moss and greenery that was already starting to envelope the bodies he ripped free all the pouches he could find. As the children watched he dumped the mess out one by one until finally a map dropped out. Unrolling the map scroll he glanced at it for a moment before matching landmarks he¡¯d seen below to the map. ¡°Alright, we are here.¡± Devon said, pointing to a small place between the border of the Empire of Beasts, and the Empire of Men. ¡°Do you know anyone in either Empire?¡± he asked, glancing up at the two foxkin. ¡°Aunty Tevril!¡± ¡°Uncle Azvril!¡± Devon blinked, ¡°Do you mean the Lady of Air, Tevril, Archmage of the Floating Palace?¡± I guess the Tree was more connected than I thought. Devon mused before asking, ¡°Who¡¯s Azvril?¡± ¡°Tevril¡¯s papa!¡± ¡°Tevril¡¯s father.¡± Wait, aren¡¯t they talking about the Bloodghost Foxlord? Devon thought. ¡°He wouldn¡¯t be chap with shiny crystal armor that pulps his victims, er, attackers into liquid mist would he?¡± Devon asked, trying to clarify things. He ignored the cold sweat starting to form on his backside. ¡°Maybe?¡± ¡°Possibly, we¡¯ve never actually seen them, Grandfather described them though.¡± Royalty. Dammit you wooden bastard, you didn¡¯t mention anything about this! Devon thought with irritation. ¡°We¡¯ll need some money if we are going to travel. Do any of you remember where the main treasure room is?¡± Devon said as he started moving deeper into the Garden. ¡°Grandfather would keep the really expensive stuff next to his lab. That¡¯s because most of it was also useful in experiments.¡± Kurhoko said as he moved to follow Devon. Both girls flanked him from each side, like a min-honor guard. Apparently the brat had some sort of natural charisma even though he was barely sixteen. Sighing, Devon reminisced about how cute his disciple had been before she got interested in boys. Ah well, she could do worse than the Old Man¡¯s favorite fox. Devon thought. It was irritating that he¡¯d have to stay awake for so long to take care of such a mess, though. If it wasn¡¯t for Dryad promising to ¡®take care¡¯ of me for a century, I would already be gone. Devon thought. A quick pillaging of the main treasure room outfitted everyone with money, weapons, and swank clothing. ¡°How good is this stuff?¡± Devon asked, staring at the strange ensemble of clothing Kehoko had picked out for everyone. ¡°Grandfather said it was all S-Ranked or better. Although he also called them ¡®failed experiments¡¯ to be sure.¡± Kurhoko said with a smile. ¡°Hah, only Tree that I¡¯ve ever met that considered S-Rank to only be the starting line.¡± Devon said with a chuckle. It was good to finally be working with someone that spared no expense for safety. ¡°Uncle Devon, we¡¯ve moved into position above the nearest large city.¡± Kurhoko said. ¡°Either of you able to get us down in one piece?¡± ¡°Wheeeeeee!¡± Kehoko said before light enveloped everyone. A flash of light passed before all four of them appeared in a dirty alley. The hell did that wooden bastard teach these kids? Devon thought. ¡°The most likely place to get good information would be the large structure in the distance.¡± Kurhoko said, pointing at the large castle in the center of the city. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s head out. Try not to kill anyone really important, since we might need them to help us find where Tevril is.¡± Devon said, adjusting his gear. ¡°Understood, Master.¡± ¡°Ok!¡± ¡°Affirmative.¡± I need to re-negotiate the agreement when Dryad get''s back. Devon thought, as the four set off towards the city center. Seedling 33
Elemental Roots have combined into Chaos Root!
I¡¯ve been fed everything over the past few days, all different types of essence made up from Laws. I bet the Green Lady has a distilling station in the back to make this stuff. I¡¯m still not certain she¡¯s not going to chop me up and use me as a rare spice ingredient in some Godly Pasta though. Dryad has been cool as a cucumber the whole time.
Level UP! Maximum level has been achieved!
Whatever is in the stuff the Green Lady keeps feeding me, it has been custom made for growth. I¡¯ve flown through almost a hundred levels, my resistances are maxed to everything as well. Now don''t get me wrong, I don''t think getting stronger is a bad thing.
Elemental Resistances combined into Chaos Resistance!
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. It''s just, there¡¯s the weird synergy that keeps happening. I keep evolving rapidly, as if She knew exactly what to do to make it happen. If I had to say, there is only one downside.
Evolution from Mana Tree into Chaos Tree has begun!
Yes, that¡¯s the downside. I have no idea what a ¡®Chaos¡¯ Tree is. I could end up with tentacles in strange places. Or leaves on my branches that talk back to me. Or even, Green Lady forbid, a different gender. That isn''t as funny as one would think when it could happen to you. This is madness, hasn¡¯t anyone taught this Divinity that forced genetic evolution can have dire consequences?! Who goes around randomly kidnapping rare plants and forcing them to evolve anyway? I certainly wouldn¡¯t do that. All the samples I¡¯ve taken during my stay here were for scientific purposes. Besides, it isn¡¯t kidnapping if they are dead right? Then it¡¯s like, I¡¯m just taking pieces of them for research. They are donating their bodies to research! Heh. Rustle. Moral compass? No self-respecting Tree has one of those useless things. Besides, they started it. It¡¯s a jungle out here if you haven¡¯t noticed. Half this Green Lady¡¯s Garden is feral. A quarter of the other half is just weird, and the last quarter tried to kill me. Since three-quarters of this place is hostile, I damn well am going to be hostile right back. If it wasn¡¯t for you demanding I don¡¯t burn the place down, there wouldn¡¯t be anything left of this Garden except smoking ashes. I stare morosely at the Green Lady as she approaches again with another pot of mysterious liquid. Rusttttllllllleeeeeeee. No, no she is not taking care of us. She¡¯s just waiting till I drop my guard, then kapoow! right into the soup we¡¯ll go. Even if I can¡¯t see it, that eyeroll is still obvious! Seedling 34 Chaos is not grey. Grey is a singular thing, a slice of the eternity of everything. As such, Chaos, I have found is not ¡®grey¡¯ in color, texture, taste, or sense at all. Chaos has no shape, form, flavor, or identity.
Evolution complete! Mana Tree has evolved into Chaos Tree!
I¡¯m pure white now. My gorgeous blue veins are gone, my flashy sparkly leaves are gone. I¡¯m eye searing white, and I glow.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. It¡¯s not a stable glow either, no, the glow pulses. In short, I am damn creepy now. I will probably be mistaken for an Undead tree without a second thought. Thankfully though, along with my evolution, I have gained a strange property known as ¡®Chaos Resistance¡¯ unique to my new form. At first I thought it was a decrease in power, until one of the nearby major contenders for Jungle Overlord of the Green Lady¡¯s Garden attacked me. Let me just say¡­ That poor bastard. Chaos Resistance is apparently more than just mere magical resistance like the Elemental Resistances I had before. Chaos, resists, everything. Except itself¡­ I found that out when I accidentally melted one of my branches off with Chaos Flames. Note to self, experimentation should be limited to dead parts of me. For now. However, I still have a severe distrust of the Green Lady. Maybe I¡¯m paranoid, but, am I the only one that thinks kidnapping is wrong? Rustle. Your just too nice to her! We don¡¯t even know her for God¡¯s sake! Rustle! Sarcasm is NOT appreciated at a crisis time ok? All I¡¯m saying is, things are fishy. And I¡¯m not talking about the stuff that tried to eat us in the lake over there. There¡¯s something strange going on here, and my paranoia will pay off! Mark my words! Seedling 35 Success is within reach now. As much as I trust Dryad, I¡¯m not sticking around to learn the flavor a Chaos Tree can have when eaten. Due to the fact that my hover throne artifact is gone, I am forced by circumstances to another method of transportation. The speed is rather¡­ Slow¡­ My roots inch along the ground pulling me further into the Green Lady¡¯s Jungle Greenhouse. Various things try to eat me during my escape, and subsequently are melted. However, now, I am in a bit of a bind. There¡¯s a weird fluctuation in space in front of me. It almost looks like a stable teleportation portal, except it feels anything but stable. Could this be a hidden route to escape? Even worse, how long has this thing been here? Centuries? Millenia? Eons?Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. I pity whatever¡¯s on the other side if plants from the Green Lady¡¯s Greenhouse have been escaping into it from time immemorial. I mean, that would mean the other side could be filled with plants. Plants. That I¡¯ve never seen. Rustle. What do you mean it could also be filled with a pit of lava, or a dragon¡¯s gullet? Have some optimism here, this is an escape, after all. And not one more word of your grumbling, if she¡¯s really a nice person then she won¡¯t mind us leaving. If she¡¯s not, its better that we leave than find out ontop of the frying pan. Stir Fry Chaos Tree is not on my menu. Rustle! No, I am NOT having an overreaction to meeting something greatly more powerful than myself. I am having a severe preservation reaction to meeting something that casually creates Chaos Trees. Chaos Tree. Does that name sound like something a sane Divinity would putter around to make? ¡­Rustle¡­ Have you ever considered that the reason you are so accommodating to such a Divinity is due to what you are? I mean, you are like a zillion times more suspicious than me, in fact, in some circles you are considered the voice of reason. Obviously those people are idiots, yet, they do serve a purpose. Don¡¯t you find it strange you are so willing to extend the olive branch to a completely unknown entity that kidnapped us with no warning? I mean, from where I¡¯m looking that¡¯s not the action of the ¡®kind¡¯ or ¡®benevolent¡¯ Divinity you keep claiming she is. Rustle! That¡¯s a cop out, ¡®concerns that mortal minds cannot comprehend¡¯ that¡¯s horse manure and you know it! What would giving us 10 seconds to makes sure the munchkins knew about us leaving do in the long run? I bet with the alarm suddenly going off, they are probably frantically searching for us right now. Imagine it. Two children with extremely powerful affinities to Light and Dark, a random Demonic Sword Girl, and Devon. Rustle. Yes! Exactly! Empires could be crumbling all because we weren¡¯t given any chance to leave a communication! Does that sound like a ¡®good¡¯ thing? Not by any longshot of the Godly Gardener¡¯s Silver Sickle it doesn¡¯t! Rustle. No, the discussion is over! I¡¯m leaping in this random wormhole to who knows where, and that¡¯s the end of it! Creeping closer with my roots I tilt myself, falling into the strange warped portal. No frying pan for this Tree, no sir! Seedling 36 Portals are rather strange. Of course that strangeness comes from the fact that you are essentially stepping through a ¡®fold¡¯ in spacetime. Normally that¡¯s not an issue for a short range portal, however, longer portal distances have shown problems. For something like a city to city portal you might just get a small feeling of easily dismissed vertigo. For longer portals like Empire capital city to other Empire capital city, there can sometimes be severe reactions. This portal I leaped into is so much worse. I¡¯m pretty sure, it¡¯s not connecting to anything on my planet, probably not anything in the previous universe. So, I think I should be forgiven for what happened when we exited.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Honestly, it¡¯s not the first time I¡¯ve burned down a forest, so really, it shouldn¡¯t be unexpected. Rustle. I am not a pyromaniac! Did you just take a separate trip or what? That portal gave me the bends! Of course the first thing I would do when it spat us out was try to make a light! How am I supposed to predict the combustability of another universes mana? I. Am. NOT. A GOD. Powerful, yes! Debonair, yes! Young, yes! Rustle. No, you can¡¯t slip that kind of word in there during my monologue, that¡¯s vile! Anyways, point is, I can¡¯t foresee a goblin ambush much less the combustability of another universes mana. Rustle? An excellent question, to which my answer is stimply¡­.Status check! ¡­ ¡­. ¡­.. And there you have it. Different universe, different rules. Hm¡­ Flash. Crack. BOOM! Well, certain Laws are still in effect, although, there are severe differences in power output. Also, what is with this rather annoying tide of insects rushing at us from underground? Just because we burned the carnivorous forest by accident, doesn¡¯t mean we should be attacked by unhappy bugs. Squish. Oh. Oh my. These things are tasty. Crunch. Very, very, very tasty. That¡¯s it, whatever this species of insect that appears to be a cross between a beetle and a praying mantis is on the menu. I haven¡¯t had such a delicious taste in a long while. Yes, it tastes like¡­ Old Earth Chicken. Seedling 37 Unlike the last time I burned a forest down, this time I pre-emptively hid myself after the insect massacre that followed. From this action I was able to trail the investigation team made of what appeared to be dwarves, elves, and humans back to a nearby camp. Since I am currently a miniature glowing white bonsai-like tree, I activated a Chaos spell to keep myself from being seen. Chaos attribute magic is quite literally, a massive cheat. I¡¯m still honestly in debate between Inherent Mana Manipulation and Chaos magic. On the one hand, sometimes the effects of Chaos magic are rather¡­ Baffling? For instance the first time I attempted the hiding spell without a clear image of what I wanted, everything around me vanished. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. I realized it had indeed hidden things. By hiding everything I could see. Another time, I attempted the Chaos flame spell I¡¯d previously used to great success, however this time, nothing happened. Chaos magic is indeed powerful, yet it requires absolute concentration to properly manage. On the other hand, Inherent Mana Manipulation was far, far, far easier to use precisely. I¡¯m still up in the air about which one was better. The group of investigators seems equally split at a 5:5:5 ratio between the races, although the gender ratio is not. Elves have more females, dwarves more men, and humans trend to the male side as well. I can¡¯t understand a word of the gobbledegook they are speaking though. Several attempts later I manage a Chaos spell of language translation, to no great effect. Apparently it translates the language, badly. ¡°Burned forest hotly gone.¡± from Elf A. ¡°Evil, crazy, crazy, madness.¡± from Human B. ¡°Beer. Beer. Beer. Life gone?¡± from Dwarf C. It took me five days before I could get a language spell that not only translated the language, it added grammar, syntax, and host of other things. Did I mention Chaos magic is hard? Scratch that, it¡¯s abysmal! It only got better when I managed to craft a spell that allows me to duplicate successful spells by ¡®tagging¡¯ them with a Name. Having so much time to myself without any experiments, kiddos, or Garden has made me reflect a bit too. I¡¯ve changed. I mean, yes I¡¯ve changed into another species. The really important issue is, I haven¡¯t ever had to eat before. It¡¯s a small thing, in the great scheme of things. However, after several days without any bugs to eat, I realize¡­ I really didn¡¯t miss subsisting on pure mana at all. I thought about making a Chaos spell to feed myself, and Dryad shut that down. Admittedly, I might not have been thinking about possible consequences due to hunger pains. Ah! Finally, everyone is packing up to leave. Two weeks of investigating with me subsisting on thieving from their group, and finally they are heading out. I make a snap decision and follow the humans. Worst case scenario, I go from burning forests, to burning cities. How bad could it get? Seedling 38 The recent investigation team formed from Ruven city moved rapidly on their way home. Whoever had decimated the Blood Forest, and crushed the Threek Hive nearby left no traces. In order to give a personal report to the higher ups, everyone had decided to race back at top speed. ¡°Someone is following us, Sir.¡± ¡°Are you certain, Mark?¡± said Sir Williams, lead investigator on the team. ¡°The traces are faint. They are practically invisible to all intents, I¡¯m only able to track them from the complete lack of beasts. As you know, normally we would have suffered at least one magical beast attack by now.¡± Mark said, his eyes peering forward while sweat beaded on his forehead. Whatever was stalking them was so far above their group in power rating, it was causing the surrounding animals to avoid them. There were several possibilities that could account for this, however, all of them were fatally bad. ¡°Runes?¡± Mark asked, hoping the leader would agree. ¡°No. We can¡¯t be sure there isn¡¯t more than one of them. Besides, burning the Runes to increase our speed isn¡¯t a garuntee of safety. We could attract something far worse.¡± Sir Williams said, looking worried. Mark agreed with his reasoning, yet felt there was little that could be more threatening. Although he wasn¡¯t the strongest member, his perception was the highest. Since they had split from the other teams, it had been screaming at him.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Something is coming, something old, ancient, and inhuman. Mark thought, turning his focus back to the trail. ***T*** These people are just weird. I mean, really weird. I may be a human-turned-tree now, and I still am more normal than them. I can practically smell their fear. I mean, if it wasn¡¯t for me warning off the surrounding creatures with my Chaos Aura¡­ These folks probably would have been slaughtered by now, it¡¯s that bad. Honestly, who allows themselves to stink of fear in the middle of a monster infested forest. That¡¯s like throwing out a sign for all you can eat buffet, with icing on top to starving lepoards. Seventeen times. That¡¯s the number of times so far I¡¯ve had to intervene and save their sorry asses. Naturally I haven¡¯t left any traces though! These poor saps probably don¡¯t even know they are being followed. Of more importance though is the recent investigation I¡¯ve made of all the things they are carrying. I mean, the least they can do is let me look through their stuff since I¡¯m guarding them from painful death. That¡¯s how I discovered those sparkly rune talismans they are carrying around. Whoever wrote those things was obviously drunk, or high, or insane, possibly all three. There were so many mistakes made in the production process I couldn¡¯t help, except to make corrections. I also copied a single enchanted book on Rune crafting to memory. Sure there were security measures on it but, seriously? They weren¡¯t that good. While the work done on those talismans is amateur hour, the symbols are completely new. Completely new symbols means a new method of utilizing power. I think I can experiment effectively working my way up from the basics and craft a decent artifact that makes utilizing Chaos magic far easier. Of course¡­ I could also make something that vaporizes half the continent by accident¡­ That¡¯s why I¡¯m starting from the basics! Seedling 39 Glowing green eyes watched the humans as they moved through the territory. Each of the wolves hungered, but the Alpha knew this would be their last chance to strike. Beyond the final hill crest lay the Human city, and any attack near it would result in swift retribution. Rising from his observation point, the Alpha gave a long drawn out howl. It was time to summon the rest of the pack. It was time to hunt. ***T*** Sir Williams heard the howl nearby while the group sped along mercilessly to reach the safety of Ruven. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Sir, that¡¯s¡­¡± Mark said, pausing as fear flashed through his eyes. ¡°Bloodwolves.¡± Sir Williams spat, his voice filled with venom. ¡°So close to the city¡­can we make it Sir?¡± Mark said, hope apparent in his voice. ¡°Impossible. Bloodwolves will not sound the Howl unless they have their prey surrounded. We have to find a defensive formation, something that we can use to hold them at bay.¡± Sir Williams said, looking around at the scraggly forest that was slowly giving away to Ruven¡¯s farmland. Mark¡¯s eyes clouded in despair, this close to the city, there was little if any cover. The very thing that made the city safer, also made the group more likely to die. Suddenly a thought flashed through his mind, ¡°Sir, what about whatever is following us? Could we perhaps?¡± ¡°Use a borrowed knife to cook?¡± Sir Williams said, pausing in thought. ¡°Do it. We¡¯ll retreat to that copse of trees over there.¡± The group turned off the main road to the city, retreating into the small group of trees nearby. ***T*** Unbelievable. I take a nap for a few days and these idiots manage to get themselves surrounded! What did I do to deserve this? What? All I wanted was a brief nap. Moving with Chaos magic is no cakewalk. I see them retreat into a nearby copse of trees and manage to restrain a sigh. They are obviously being tested for intelligence by the wolves. Retreating into a position without a solid defense is suicide. Wait. Could they suspect I¡¯ve been protecting them all along? Perhaps they want to use my power to kill the wolves! Hah, if I didn¡¯t know you had the Rune talismans I recently made so much better I might actually intervene. Silly humans, tricks are for kids! Seedling 40 Sir Williams watched in the faint moonlight as hideous forms slunk out to surround his group. Bloodwolves unlike normal wolves, greatly desired to increase the fear of prey. Stories surrounding the torture of teeth and claw before a suffering victim was granted death, were numerous. The massive form of the Alpha though, was what gave the most despair. Each of the Alpha were smarter, faster, and more deadly than normal Bloodwolves. The difference between a Pack with an Alpha, and one without was obvious to anyone. ¡°Mark, break out the Runes.¡± Sir Williams said in a low tone. His hope that whatever had been following would intervene was lowering with every passing second. Small noises rang out in the muffled night as the Rune talismans were distributed among the group. Without warning, a signal seemed to pass among the Bloodwolves. Without warning, they rushed the group in the trees in a half-moon formation. Sir Williams readied his blade pulling deep from the Aura within him. Faint silver light mirrored the blade, soaking in moonlight to cause a blurry sheen on the weapon. The first wolf to reach him was decapitated with a single blow. Every wolf that fell was replaced with another, the war of attrition bleeding strength and Aura from them all. ¡°Runes out! Activate!¡± Sir Williams screamed, as he slaughtered his third wolf. Light burst from the five members of the group, outlining their forms in wavering red light. Something is wrong! These aren¡¯t the Runes we normally use! Sir Williams thought, as rage overwhelmed him. Five red forms rushed among the Bloodwolves, blades swinging as their eyes filled with madness. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ***T*** Growling the Alpha stared confused at the human warriors, Runic talismans were nothing new to him. However, none of the groups they had ever ambushed before used these type. They seemed to grant an incredible boost to the human fighters, enough to even the disadvantage of numbers. Unable to allow his Pack to take further losses, the Alpha attacked the strongest of the humans. Hardening his fur against the blade he managed to avoid damage while his fangs ripped the non-weapon arm from his opponent. Moving back he waited for his opponent to tire, yet it was in vain. Seeming to not understand the crippling blow he received, the human attacked in a lightning fast thrust straight to the Alpha¡¯s right eye. The sword buried itself up to the hilt in his brain. As darkness closed in all around the confused Alpha couldn¡¯t understand how the human was still able to fight. This wasn¡¯t how things should go. Creatures missing a limb died, didn¡¯t they? ***T*** Well, I mean. Ouch. I used Organic Organize my new favorite Chaos spell to quickly dismantle all the corpses around including the two human males. From a group of five they were now three. The single remaining man was missing his left arm which I treated to prevent him from bleeding out. As payment, I devoured all the corpses. I must say, ¡®Bloodwolf¡¯ tastes a lot like deep fried caribou from back home. A slightly spicy taste mixed with the savory deliciousness. The women watched me eat with widened eyes. Honestly, it was slightly offputting, however the hunger won out. If they made any weird moves I would use Organic Organize on them. It was a fantastic spell that would separate flesh, bones, and organs from a target or group placing them neatly apart. The incredible uses to experimentation could not be overstated. Rustle. Well, it¡¯s true I wouldn¡¯t have ever thought of the spell myself without effort¡­ Organic Organize was actually a result of random chance. That¡¯s right, the brilliant Tree can sometimes get lucky. I used a self-designed spell Chaotic Casino which gives me a once a day weekly draw. Previous prizes had included a leaf, a rock, a burning bush, and a small lizard. I¡¯d actually set Chaotic Casino aside as a useless piece of garbage until I struck paydirt just before the fight went down. Now if only I could somehow rig the odds on this magic lottery, I could be swimming in useful Chaos spells! Rustle. What do you mean attempting to rig something like a divine lottery is a bad idea? It sounds like pure genius to me! I can already imagine all the incredible spells raining down like the rain currently falling on us now! Ah¡­ I suppose I should help these folks back to the city, it would be kind of pointless to let them die now¡­ Besides¡­ I¡¯ve chosen my new ¡®owner¡¯, yes indeed. The female survivor with green eyes and raven black hair reminds me a lot of Tevril in one of her favorite illusions. Rustle! What do you mean picking companions based just on looks instead of intelligence is a bad idea? She¡¯s female isn¡¯t she? Aren¡¯t all females inherently intelligent? Rustle¡­ Hah! Got you! Seedling 41 I¡¯m not really sure about what I¡¯m seeing here. However, I am absolutely sure. It¡¯s not my fault. I mean, how could I have anything to do with a city partially on fire in the middle of the night? I know I¡¯m a Chaos Tree, but that¡¯s asking a bit much don¡¯t you agree? Rustleeeeeee. Not a far stretch of the imagination? Exactly what are you implying here Dryad? Look! Those flames aren¡¯t even magical! ¡­Probably¡­ That¡¯s beside the point, aren¡¯t you happy with the friend we¡¯ve made? Rustle? No, not that meathead. The other friend, the one with both arms! Isn¡¯t she great? She even cooked a few parts of those leftover Bloodwolves for us on the way here. Well, I mean, yes I helped with magic fire and whatnot, but still! It¡¯s the thought that counts!Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. See how we are being carried on the shoulders of such a nice friend? Rustle. No, I don¡¯t think that shaking is fear. What could she be afraid of? I¡¯m here. I mean, unless she¡¯s wanted by a Divinity or something. In that case we¡¯ll just¡­ Peace out. Abando-, er, depart for greener pastures. I can¡¯t wait to taste all the delicious varities of food in this partially burning city! Think of it Dryad! How long have we been without needing to eat? Rustle! Millenia! Exactly! Certainly in a few millennia the food culture must have improved right? Rustle¡­ Are you implying that a time dilation could have occurred? That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s¡­. Ok, that¡¯s depressing. You are such a downer sometimes! Rustle! Realistic? This! Who makes me call them Greatest Dryad Under the Heavens(Future) ?! Anyways, why are these city guards trying to hassle us? City guards should just stand, salute, inspect stuff, and take bribes like a champ! That¡¯s all those overweight slabs of meat are good for anyways. Ho. Hoh.. Hooo¡­ Are we going to let that pass? Copping a feel on my slav-, er, ride eh? Fire is my Domain. Flame my calling. Burn bright, Aedar! Ah! I forgot¡­ Mana here is much more, combustible¡­ At least that part of the city was already on fire, right? Rustle. No way! How could they suspect me? Rustle¡­ Chaos mana shouldn¡¯t have a mana signature¡­right? Rustle. Nope. It doesn¡¯t, that¡¯s my story, I¡¯m sticking to it. Besides, it¡¯s not like these three are going to tell anyone. Tevril Two, I mean, Natalia, she¡¯s a loyal minion. Rustle. Loyalty through absolute fear is still loyalty. At least we didn¡¯t get the short end of the stick this time. That guy, Left-Arm Gone Guy, whatshisname¡­ Sir Williams, yes. Good thing he lived in the other part of the city. The non-burned part. The garden in his manor is now, mine. I just need to make a few changes here. Nothing drastic, mind you, just a few scenic alterations. Crunch. Snap. Bzzzzt! Ssssssssssh! Burrrble. All done! Look at this fantastic place now. Rustle. No, I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll mind the alterations. We saved his life! What¡¯s a few missing rooms, walls, and stuff compared to a life. Besides, with your talents, we¡¯ll be growing arm regenerating plants in decade or less. Rustle? I..I don¡¯t think anyone would end up worshipping us¡­ Would they? Seedling 42 Rustle. Yes, yes. I¡¯m not sure what to do now, though. Here¡¯s an idea, do you think we should mind our own business or interfere in world affairs? Rustle! Tsk. Bloodthirsty, very bloodthirsty there. I guess there¡¯s nothing else we could do though. Turning away from the spirit conversation with Dryad I move my attention to the plants, animals, and insects within the small manor garden. First, I alter the plants on a genetic level by flowing large amounts of Chaos energy through them. Unlike my normal usage of mana, this is a less precise application of the same general principle. Watching carefully I ¡®prune¡¯ species that appear overly aggressive, or provide no real benefit. For example, that bush running around on frog legs, had to go. Same with the ivy vines that turned into predatory trap vines, last but not least, the patch of carnivorous grass. It¡¯s murder if you leave that stuff lying around for long. After pruning the vegetation to be more in line with ¡®useful¡¯ things, I alter the insects. Ants are given the intelligence and power to allow them to maintain the growing Garden without interference. A few tweaks to their genes give me elemental ants specific to each type of the four elements. A short conversation with each of the four Ant Queens allows us to arrive at a satisfactory agreement. The ants will tend to my Garden, and I will gradually increase their size over time. My thinking is that with enough time I will be able to create a new race of creatures with a solid link to me. Humans are reliable, but only in the short term. Their minute lifespans, with the exception of talented Aura users, is too short. Even worse, I have absolutely no understanding of Aura at all. Mana yes. Magic yes. Aura, hell no. This means that unless I start at the beginning and work my way upwards with a completely new race, I feel there won¡¯t be serious progress. While the ants may be small and weak now, by the time I¡¯m through the new race will resemble ants about as closely as elephants resemble mice. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Taking a short nap daily nap, I move onto the next section, my airborne allies. Bees are naturally inclined to a Hivemind similar to ants. As such, with careful manipulation and negotiation we arrive at another solid agreement. I leave out spiders, because, in the insectoid world they are just too untrustworthy. Leaving aside the issue of possible links to something like Lloth, or worse, they just get on my nerves. Giant spiders? No thank you. Two weeks of careful manipulation pass and my first ¡®crop¡¯ is ready. Don¡¯t let anyone tell you otherwise, money makes the world go round. It doesn¡¯t matter if it is paper pieces, copper pieces, silver pieces, gold, platinum, or wooden tokens with the face of a ruling goblin! Money makes the world move. Any large scale alteration that doesn¡¯t have the financial backing of a heavyweight is doomed to futile failure. On a side note here, from what I¡¯ve seen so far this world has a rather simplistic feudal power structure. Kings, Nobles, Peasants. Sir Williams is a mid-ranked Noble, at the level of Baron. Apparently the entire city of Ru-something or other is under his control. That¡¯s probably why no one is willing to bring up the fact that there¡¯s a magical Garden growing in the center of his mansion. Such things just don¡¯t make it to the table talk of Nobility, they seem more interested in backstabbing each other for honor. That might just be my prejudice talking though. Rustle. No, see, you agree with me so it¡¯s not. I turn my attention back to the ¡®crops¡¯ that are about to finish maturation. Normal cash crops consist of things like wheat, corn, beans, and so forth. At least, historically in the long term sense. Before I died on Earth though, we were finishing the last round in creating genetic ¡®supercrops¡¯ things far superior to those ancient relics. Dryad had grown a great deal in the preceeding several centuries back at the first Garden, however it was time to take that knowledge and apply it. I don¡¯t know anything about Aura. But, I¡¯ve learned a thing or two about growing in my many centuries. Four main trees begin their final phase. The apple tree, or whatever the local equivalent is called, is the first to blossom. This specimen¡¯s fruits will grant two hundred years of life. The added benefit is it will also raise the talent of the user, by at least one rank. That last bit was particularly hard to isolate because so many things contribute to a person¡¯s ¡®talent¡¯ level. I may or may not have cheated at several points using Chaos magic. Ok, I did cheat, but it wasn¡¯t me! It was the Chaotic Casino! Where else would I find a spell like, Vegetation Variation? Now, like almost all Chaos spells except the ones I personally design, it does have a flaw. Although the apples will grant two hundred years of life, and a boost in talent, they also have a secret problem. That¡¯s right. Genderchanging. A man taking this fruit will find his little brother¡­missing in action, so to speak. Rustle. I¡¯m not going to try harder to solve issues like that, no. I¡¯m a Chaos Tree, it goes against my nature to do something along those lines. Next I watch the oranges, or whatever the local equivalent is called, which is the second to blossom. These oranges are actually something I came up with on the fly. Seeing as how there is mana around, well, at least I see something resembling mana around¡­ Actually, scratch that it has to be mana, it tastes the same. Anyways, seeing mana around I had this brilliant idea! What if someone could change elemental affinities! These oranges are the final finishing touch to that theorization. They do have the minor issue of Silencing the user though. However, is that really an issue? I mean any real magi would be able to cast without chanting a spell. I can and I¡¯m a damn Tree. The last two fruits finish at almost exactly the same time in maturing. Peaches on one tree, and plums on the other. I¡¯m really not sure what they do though. Rustle. Well whatever, I¡¯m sure if you grew them they have to be fantastic. As long as they aren¡¯t explosive it¡¯s all good. Rustle¡­ Really? Did you think I didn¡¯t notice your failures over the centuries? Who do you think disposed of all of them!! Anyways, now that our fruit is ready for testing on humanoids, we just need to call Natalia over. A short message pulses out through the earrings I crafted for my favorite local. Soon enough, these fruits will flood out into the world from the city of Ruven, and then, Chaos! Seedling 43 Making the trees was exhausting, so after they finished maturing to bear fruit I was quite tired. Before taking a nap though, as a responsible Chaos Tree, I made sure the shields around each fruit tree were solid. They would only respond to the genetics of Natalia, or any of her bloodline. I also added a twist that cost me, for the direct bloodline of Natalia, none of the Chaos effects will occur. That particular twist took me begging Dryad to help me figure out. She was adamant during the negotiation that after I go to sleep, her word would represent us. I was too tired to argue, so I agreed. Hopefully when I wake up things will be semi-normal. Chaos Tree, signing off for a nap! ***T*** Kneeling in front of the Holy White Tree, Natalia continued to remain in deep subservience. Today was the day the entity would slumber, and it might be decades, centuries, or even millennia before it awoke again. Even then she wouldn¡¯t be kneeling, except for the fact that the Tree Spirit commanded her too. ¡°He¡¯s asleep. Get up now. Let¡¯s talk business.¡± the Tree Spirit said, in her entrancing voice. It had taken days before Natalia could speak with the Spirit without being completely hypnotized. The voice itself was clearly female, and even without a body to go with it, she knew she could never compare to the owner¡¯s beauty. ¡°What do you require of this servant, Great One?¡± Natalia asked while brushing her robe clean. ¡°Create an empire. I¡¯ve studied the maps surrounding this paltry excuse for a ¡®kingdom¡¯ it¡¯s barely the size of a large island. This won¡¯t do, it won¡¯t do at all.¡± the Tree Spirit said. It was true the kingdom of Celna was small compared to others, however they made up for it with a higher amount of Aura users. Ruven city was an outlying city on the border between the Elven and Dwarven kingdoms of the west. ¡°As much as I would love to do that, I¡¯m not sure how a weak swordswoman could assist in that endeavor.¡± Natalia said. Brushing her robe off, she continued, ¡°Williams can barely be a Baron in this tiny kingdom. If he were to go to a higher rank kingdom he might not even be able to live as a guard, much less a noble.¡± ¡°Power is easy to grant.¡± the Tree Spirit said. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Go ahead, take five of the apples, four of the oranges, one peach, and one plum from the surrounding trees. These are my blessing, succeed, and my blessings will increase.¡± the Tree Spirit said.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°What do fruits have to do with creating an empire?¡± Natalia said, as she picked the various fruits lit by small glows. ¡°Did he forget to tell anyone? Tsk. As expected¡­¡± the Tree Spirit said, ¡°The apples grant two hundred years of life each. The oranges will attune you to elements you aren¡¯t already attuned to for using magic. The peaches will keep you looking youthful, but not stop you from aging. Lastly, the plums will expunge impurities from your body allowing it to smell nice, and open the pathways for Aura use.¡± Natalia¡¯s jaw dropped as each explanation was more fantastic than the last. ¡°As long as you succeed in creating an empire for my beloved, then there is no need to destabilize it with your death. For as long as the empire lives, so too will you.¡± the Tree Spirit said. I can live forever! Natalia thought, already thinking of the last name she would take for her own. Servants couldn¡¯t have last names unless they married into the Nobility. An empress however, didn¡¯t have to follow such stupid traditions right? With the fruits it would be possible to extend her reach deep into the surrounding kingdoms. Mages would kill for the chance to increase their affinities, rulers for the chance to extend life, women for the chance to remain young, and peasants for the opportunity to gain Aura. Each fruit was cleanly tailored to bring out the maximum effect for human greed. Natalia stared at the small white tree, unable to keep a shudder from passing through her. ¡°Only your bloodline is safe from the effects of the side effects of the Fruits.¡± the Tree Spirit said. ¡°Side effects?¡± Natalia said. ¡°The apple will change a person¡¯s gender. You may consume as many as you wish, but only your direct bloodline is exempt from eating more than one. The other fruits have similar issues.¡± the Tree Spirit said. That¡¯s not a problem, I¡¯m sure I can find plenty of test subjects for two hundred more years of life! Natalia thought, while grinning. ¡°Do not fail me.¡± the Tree Spirit said, before finally falling silent. Natalia realized if her bloodline could be exempt, than perhaps others could exempted as well. Eternal life, or eternal regret. There was no question which would be preferred. Bowing once more, Natalia departed the Garden. She had an empire to forge. ***T*** The king of Celna was old, and the recent events had only aged him further. Cities across the kingdom were going dark. Messengers disappeared into thin air, emergency teleport portals stopped working, and mages vanished overnight. Something was attacking his kingdom, but it was a silent strike. Quiet, deadly, and almost completely unknown. After the Blood Forest had burned to the ground, a Hive¡¯s remains had been discovered in the ashes. Whoever had burned the Forest, also took care of the insects. Could the recent occurences be the result of another Hive? The king glared somberly at the councilors surrounding his war room, ¡°We are under attack. Someone, tell me what the hell is going on.¡± Of the five men and four women in the room, only the General of the North, Duke Eversen spoke, ¡°It¡¯s the non-humans Sire, has to be. There¡¯s no other force in the world that could take out our communications so fast.¡± ¡°That¡¯s dogsh*t and you know it, Eversen!¡± the Ambassador, Duke Olsen shouted. ¡°I¡¯ll not have all my years of work deconstructed by a barbarian from the northern mountain wastes!¡± The king watched as each of his councilors took sides in the argument. Ruling is not all it is cracked up to be. King Evans thought. Sure your every word is heeded, but your every action is watched too. Sometimes, it¡¯s just tiring. A door to the council room opened with a nameless butler approaching the king to whisper into his ear. The king stood abruptly without warning at the shocking news. ¡°Bring them in at once!¡± Evans thundered. Moments later a young woman clad in stunning robes of pure white walked in. Evans could clearly feel the gaze of the men in the room lock onto the beauty. Her hair was pure raven black, with eyes of sparkling ice blue. If it wasn¡¯t for the lack of pointed ears, the king would have guessed she was an elf from her gorgeous appearance. Could also be higher level illusion magic, but then if it is, we are all dead. Evans thought. ¡°Good afternoon, Lords. My name is Natalia Everlast I¡¯m here to offer terms for your surrender.¡± the woman said. ¡°This commoner is stark raving ma-¡± Eversen managed to get out before there was a sudden sensation of heat. Everyone in the room stared as Duke Eversen¡¯s arm melted into ashes from the tip of his fingers to the elbow. Ashes simply floated down to land on the floor without a sound. Only the instant heat had betrayed anything at all. ¡°Archmage!¡± the feared gasp of his entire council said. ¡°Oops, did I do that? Ah well, I¡¯m still learning control. Anyways, it¡¯s not like there isn¡¯t benefits for you. Aren¡¯t you feeling old, King Evans? The power I serve is willing to remove that issue for you.¡± ¡°What?¡± King Evans said, his eyes widening at the implications. The woman approached with a few strides and presented a single apple to him. ¡°Go ahead, old man. Take a bite. The small price you pay will be worth two hundred years.¡± Everlast said. The king couldn¡¯t control himself, even now the fear of death was a quiet voice in the back of his head. He found his right hand rising almost without control to take the apple. Crunch. ¡°Long hail, Queen Evans, First Govenor of the Everlasting Empire!¡± Seedling 44 That was probably the best century long sleep I¡¯ve had in the last century. Whew. Stretching my senses I notice a plethora of greenery around me, it appears while I was sleeping some gardening got done. Rustle. Empire? W-Why? The hell are we going to do with an Empire? Rustle! How could you let your stomach make such a decision! ¡­is the food really that good? Rustleeee. A competition every decade to find supreme chefs and get them to make delicious things to eat? The hell! Why didn¡¯t you wake me up ninety years ago! Rustlleeeeee. Traitor! So since it¡¯s every decade, how long until the next competition? Rustle. What do you mean I just missed it? Call those chefs back, they need to re-compete in my line of sight!This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. By the way¡­ Why are there all these people tending to the plants around here? Russsstle. Religion? What religion? Tell me you didn¡¯t mix religion and empire building together, that never ends well. Rustle. Looking at the people dressed in their white robes as they move about I pick one at random. A small grey flame bursts into being, I keep it the size of a candle flame to avoid alarm. ¡°Hey.¡± My target whirls around staring about wildly. ¡°Hey, random person trimming the gessona plant, come over here.¡± Aren¡¯t I such a great Tree? I¡¯m going to give this guy a chance to be famous! ¡°DEMON!¡± Uh¡­ Wait, this isn¡¯t good¡­ ¡°Brother Alson, what¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Did you see an apparition near the Holy Tree?¡± ¡°Summon the Holy Guards!¡± What the¡­ Rustle. What do you mean they think their Holy Tree is female? ¡­ ¡­. ¡­.. This is not my fault for sure, this time it is all you! There is only one way I can let this slide. Rustle? Exactly. Tell them to get those chefs competing again, immediately. Otherwise I¡¯ll do nothing but terrorize our worshiping masses! I might even accidentally burn a few rare plants by accident¡­ Mana in this universe is so combustible after all¡­ Rustle. I am not acting childish. I¡¯ve been starving since I woke up! What is the point of being worshiped if the worshipers can¡¯t take care of a minor thing like my hunger? I¡¯m sure this Empire can afford it. I mean, I see no less than fifty rare plants in my immediate vicinity. Rustle. Wait, you let them experiment with Mana Wells?! I told you that was only a theory! They, they didn¡¯t make one nearby¡­did they? Rustleeee. Oh, thank the heavens. Just in case anything goes horribly wrong we should be fine at 10 kilometers away. Rustle. More than one nearby? I mean that shouldn¡¯t be a problem unless¡­ ¡­ ¡­. ¡­.. They built them in a circle around me didn¡¯t they? Ruussssssstleeeeeeeeee. That¡¯s it! I¡¯m taking this whole show up in the air! My senses spread throughout the Garden to the limit of the entire structure around me. The entire thing is a good chunk of real estate, however, I¡¯m much stronger after a good nap. I reach out to each of the Mana Wells around me, and I pull on them. Thousands of tons of dirt rips free from its earthbound moorings pushing upwards into the air. Runes cycle constantly outwards from my form, as I enchant everything to bind and fly. A few unfortunate souls fall to their deaths from being too close to the edge, but oh well. They should have picked another day to visit the Holy Tree. Once I¡¯m a decent height in the air, I craft another set of Runes to control floating. ¡°Attention. Attention. If you can hear this message, tell Empress Everlast she has one day to meet me. Or else the Tree gets it.¡± I say, spreading my voice throughout the entire structure. Rustle. Hmph. I¡¯ll be as dramatic as I want to be. Besides, being that close to all those Mana Wells made me nervous. Those things are practically bombs waiting to go wrong. I should know! I designed them! Rustleeeee! Those were theoretically good failsafe¡¯s! I¡¯m not going to trust my life to them, good grief. Seedling 45 Empress Natalia, I mean she calls herself Everlast, is decked to the nines. I honestly don¡¯t think if she wasn¡¯t empowered by the fruits, that she could handle the weight of all that finery. Phoenix style headdress, hair down to her ankles, robes inlaid with pure silver Runes, practically a walking treasury. Behind her stand two young men, and three young girls. There¡¯s an older male in the background behind her as well. Right now I¡¯m listening to the most ridiculous logic I¡¯ve ever heard in this lifetime being spouted by one of the young men. ¡°You owe us for keeping this garden maintained, fees for feeding, fees for land usage, and lastly fees for creating the Mana Wells. Everything here that is provided for you is done by the graciousness of Mother!¡± the young prince shouted. Honestly, my first impulse was to melt him. However, on second thought I probably couldn¡¯t find a better source of entertainment. On the other hand, he is asking me for fees. I¡¯m curious if they are ignorant of what they owe me. Since the small grey flame trick didn¡¯t go well, I reach out and cause the air to vibrate in order to mimic speech. This takes more effort since air isn¡¯t one of my usual methods. Chaos allows me access to all forms of the five elements, true. It¡¯s just that the ones I used the most such as Fire, Water, and so forth are much easier to use even now. ¡°Are you functionally braindead, Prince?¡± I ask. I really am being honest, it¡¯s possible the poor guy has something wrong with his head. Maybe the Empress dropped him when he was younger? The young prince turns a particular shade of red before screaming, ¡°I¡¯ll chop you into kindling and use you to light my winter mansion, you worthless wooden leech!¡± Now, that¡¯s rather cute. I¡¯m still calm though, I mean, do they think I can¡¯t sense my own creations? I can clearly tell that everyone here in the Imperial Family has used the fruits of my labors. Hah. Couldn¡¯t resist that one. Seriously though, I can tell they have all used the fruits. Did the Empress happen to leave out that those were my creations? Their talent comes from me. Their longevity comes from me. Without me, these people are nothing. Yet they dare to scream, and whine, and spout garbage to my face. Rustle! No, you are right. I shouldn¡¯t get worked up.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. I ignore the prince as Empress Everlast steps up, she¡¯s clearly allowed him to set the tone of their negotiation. ¡°Empires are expensive. More than anyone else here, I understand the true level of the ¡®gifts¡¯ that have been given. Times change though, costs increase, and money doesn¡¯t grow on trees. There has to be give and take in order for a relationship to prosper. Perhaps another ¡®gift¡¯ could allow us to work better in harmony together?¡± Everlast said, her tone conciliatory. What is this, an episode of bad cop, good cop? I¡¯ve been patient. I didn¡¯t immediately kill anyone out of hand. In fact, I¡¯m not going to kill anyone at all here. No, what they need is a lesson. That¡¯s right, they need a teaching moment. They need to understand that Dryad is far nicer than me, and that I am not to be trifled with. Reaching out my senses I pull. Chaos magic, at the roots, is magic based on the application of the enormous power of disorder that exists everywhere. From the basic disorder of Chaos, arises the Order of mana, ki, and all other forms of power. Chaos in itself is bent into useful structures merely through the power of will, or sometimes naturally existing formations. At least that¡¯s what I theorize so far. So, when I pull on the Chaos magic that is part of the Imperial Family it easily unravels like a badly knitted sweater. After all, like calls to like, far easier to destroy than create or maintain. There is a brief pause as a sharp collective gasp of pain flashes out from the gathered individuals. ¡°Let me help you understand your positions.¡± I begin to explain, ¡°You are servants, valued servants yes, but in the end servants. Not rulers. Not kings or queens. Not princes or princesses. You are my agents in the world below.¡± Anger has given way to fear on their faces now. ¡°I am not an amoral psychopath. I am willing to trade, to barter, to negotiate, to assist even at cost to myself. As long as the end result is within a certain margin of profit, I can allow my servants to act as they please.¡± I pause for effect, ¡°However, when those who I allow to serve me attempt to place themselves higher¡­¡± I am interrupted by the prince who was talking of chopping me into kindling. He pulls out a strangely formed weapon and leaps at me. Dammit, who allowed spatial rings to get circulated like this! Those things are security nightmares. Crack! ¡°As I was saying before your idiot son interrupted me¡­¡± I ignore the young man¡¯s attempt to injure me. Unless he has something on the level of a Divine weapon, or a Chaos empowered hatchet, he¡¯s not going to dent my bark, much less injure me. ¡°I grow unhappy. Unhappiness is something that grows the longer it is allowed to fester, and so, I lance the unhappiness without delay.¡± What is wrong with this moron? Hasn¡¯t he realized he can¡¯t injure me yet? Ah! One of the princesses is distancing herself from the rest of them. Perhaps they entire family isn¡¯t a wash. ¡°You.¡± The young woman that¡¯s moved away from the rest of her family points to herself. ¡°Yes, you. Come here.¡± I motion with my branches for her to approach me. ¡°Explain why you were backing away from the rest of them.¡± ¡°I-I didn¡¯t want to be near them if you decided to, um, melt them. Brother attacking you seemed like something that might, uh, result in bad things happening.¡± the young woman said with a slightly fearful tone. ¡°Do you care about the rest of your family?¡± I ask curiously. ¡°Not really, they always treat me mean because I like to research things and read in the library. I¡¯m not into politics, swordfights, or horseback riding.¡± Oh! I like her immensely already! Yeah, I never was good at any of that crap either back on Earth. ¡°Would you like to represent me? Since you have already seen what can happen to those who displease me, would you like to see the other side of the coin?¡± I ask. A memory of a creepy white van flashes through my mind for a second. Nah, I¡¯m definitely not luring a small child with power coated candy. Rustlee. Silence you! I¡¯m solving this problem my way! ¡°Uh, yes?¡± ¡°Good, good, what was your name again?¡± I ask. ¡°Emily Everlast?¡± the young woman says. Reaching out to the Mana Wells I try something new. The fruit is still a good idea, but I want something further. I want to avoid this issue from cropping up again. Looking at the young woman I reach deep into her gene structure and start to change it. I alter her telomeres so they no longer degrade with aging. I increase intelligence, by altering brain tissue, and increase her memory capacity. Bones shift as I alter them to take the shape of carbon nano-tubes, while organs are strengthened by being re-woven into optimal shapes. I increase the size of her heart, while changing the shape to be more effective. Her nerves are replaced by silicone structured pathways that increase her reaction speed immensely. Yes, this should do for a test subject. Emily gets up off the ground after the convulsions wear off. Her hair has been bleached pure white due to the recent changes, while her eyes are blood red rubies. I doubt she¡¯ll have any problems with male attention if the drooling from her brothers are any indication. The final change is simple in form, but devastating in effect. I bridge the gap between us weaving a structure of pure Runic Chaos. Now she can draw on the power I use in a very minor way. Of course a few safeguards are in there as well. Small stuff like if she attempts to betray me Organic Organize will reduce her to red mush and other safeguards. There¡¯s no need to burden her with that knowledge though. ¡°Take this small gift, and, please restart the chef competition.¡± I say with a pleading tone, ¡°I¡¯m very hungry after waking up!¡± Seedling 46 Delicious! Fantasy food, in a fantasy world, with fantasy skilled chefs is! D-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s! After the unfortunate issues were resolved, Emily moved with unstoppable momentum. All those who refused to bend the knee were sent off to various Dungeons in the Empire. ¡°If they can return with a Core, then they are worth sparing. If not, I save the cost of an executioner¡¯s axe.¡± Truly words of wisdom, indeed! As for the Imperial Family, well, they seemed to have a number of tragic accidents befall them. Even though Emily was in full view of me the entire time¡­ I suppose the Imperial Guards wanted to make a solid show of loyalty.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. People that can see the change in the winds an act on them without remorse are truly valuable indeed. I doubt it hurt her chances that she is an albino bombshell, now. Dryad and Emily were in talks while I¡¯ve been continuing to eat my solid wooden heart out. I have gotten a few creepy shivers down my trunk from the giggling that occasionally can be heard from them both. However, I am feeling quite proud. I didn¡¯t kill anyone! I resolved this entire issue, and got my delicious food without a single fatality. ¡­That was my fault! Yes, that¡¯s a step up towards a brighter future. Several hours of feasting later, I finally finish up. It will take me time to memorize all these incredible flavors so I can reproduce them with Chaos magic later. With that in mind, I¡¯m going to take a short doze. Unlike a nap, a doze is where I am semi-conscious, it¡¯s not true sleep though. As a result of maintaining a half-awake level of awareness I cannot rest one hundred percent. On the other hand, I just had a century long sleep. I¡¯m not really in need of anymore for quite some time. Especially now that there aren¡¯t children around, or Adventurers, things are nice and quiet. Russstle. Boring? I mean, well, a little yes. Rustle. Really? I mean that sounds like a good idea¡­ Rustle! Yes, that Dungeon was rather fun except for the near death parts¡­ That¡¯s it! Let¡¯s build our own Dungeon! We¡¯ll make it so awesome it rivals that garbage World Tree! I bet I can make it so fantastic we get our own place in the Guiny Book of Dungeoning! Rustle. Really? That, that¡¯s unbelievable! Dungeons can connect across through the Labyrinth into other universes? Do you think we have a chance of getting back to our old world? Russsssstle. Well, a 1% chance is better than 0 I suppose¡­ It¡¯s worth a shot though. I can try to get back, and have fun at the same time. Ruuuuustle. Oh? I guess that works. Yes, let¡¯s make it like that. The first Dungeon that charges an entry fee to delve it, what a novel idea! Seedling 47 Ruussttleee. Now, now hold on here. That should have worked perfectly. The smoking crater in front of me looks like the remains of an atomic bomb strike. It wouldn¡¯t be so bad if it was just that, the attempt at replicating a Core with Chaos magic caused minor issues. I watch a shambling monstrosity attempt to climb up the melted walls of the pit. Due to the abundant heat, all of the pit¡¯s walls are smooth as glass providing no handhold. That won¡¯t be enough though as the Core continues to summon more monsters every second. Eventually like African army ants they will pile up and escape on the bodies of the dead. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Well, at least they would if I wasn¡¯t here. Creeping Chaos Crush is a mild mannered spell that has several components woven into one. First the creeping part of the spell means it doesn¡¯t take effect immediately. Instead, the spell powers up gradually over time. With the addition of Chaos to the spell, in terms of energy cost it is vastly more efficient than elemental mana. Of course the final part, Crush gives obvious name to the effect. Gravity slowly rises in the pit, bit by bit, until everything including the Chaos Core I created are nothing but fine powdery mush. I mean, that really should have worked out better than the last eight attempts. At this point, perhaps I need to re-think my Dungeon building method? For the first time in a long time, I think I might need some help. Rustle. I am not going to go kidnap some innocent Core and force them to assist me. I¡¯ll bribe them instead! Bribery works wonders from what I¡¯ve experienced so far. Besides, do you really want our nascent Dungeon to be created by someone with a grudge against us? That just seems like a really bad idea. Even from my view of what a bad idea constitutes. Rustle. Exactly, we should definitely find a professional to assist with this. Let¡¯s go ask Emily for help, I made her smarter, she might have a better idea of how to approach this. Seedling 48 Human resources is not my thing. Literally. I mean, not only because I¡¯m no longer human. It¡¯s also because, I have literally no patience for the boredom of an interview. Looking at the several hundred magic engineers, mercenaries, noble mages, and other riffraff my patience takes a serious hit. The square Empress Emily threw everyone into is part of an old abandoned dueling colosseum which brings back good memories. Ah, well, enough with the trip down memory lane. I need a simple way to sort the wheat from the chaff. Something that will give me the people with sparks of genius that I can nurture into flames of unreasoning insanity. Dryad throws her two cents in with the new power she¡¯s unlocked tapping into Chaos. I¡¯ve grown so used to translating Arboreal, or Rustle in my mind, the new mind speech is almost tame in comparison. *We could always do a battle royal, the losers could be eaten, and the winners would contribute to the Plan.*Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Dark! Dryad you¡¯ve gotten too dark talking to Emily! *A battle royal depends too much on luck, we could get a bunch of meatheads that couldn¡¯t plan their way out of a pickle jar opening.* I have a better method in mind. Chaos has more uses than just being a source of unimaginable power. Chaos is power based on disorder, and what is more easily disordered than the human mind? Nothing that¡¯s what. *Do you remember the old memories, Dryad?* *Are we talking about the ones with all those mice and cheese, Tree?* *Yes, yes. Those are key points, but the part we are going to use is much easier.* Chaos lends itself to power from disorder, and from disorder, madness is merely a step away. Reaching out with my will I pull on the Mana Wells surrounding my titanic floating island. A massive square cube of giant proportions forms out of the air. It¡¯s the product of my favorite types of puzzles, and my most fond memories. *I think I¡¯ll call it¡­* *Mousetrap?* *Hmph, no Dryad, I¡¯m going to call it the Madness Maze.* The entire Maze will likely cause a high casualty rate of around 95%. Honestly it¡¯s a brutal method that will likely garner a great deal of dissent. On the other side of the coin, those who can finish the Madness Maze intact will be gifted with inspiration granted through Chaos. Even though Chaos is the power of disorder, it also has the singular unique talent to bring out the potential of anything. One day a Tree, the next a noble king, a desperate mage, a starving street rat, or even a blood soaked mercenary. Before the power that is Chaos, all are equal. There are no gifts that cannot be given. There are no talents that cannot be granted. To create a Dungeon that has both riches beyond belief, and horrors beyond imagination, there is no better power than Chaos to create it. *Now, let¡¯s feed the mice through the Maze, with the offer of cheese Dryad.* Dryad¡¯s soft hypnotic voice tones ring out over the masses. While they listen entranced like drooling madmen, I create a small opening at the base of the Maze¡¯s cube. A stairwell crafted of stone rises up to the doorway. Dryad only talks for a little under five minutes before the male portion of the group is rushing forward. She¡¯s even got a small part of the females to move as well, truly impressive. *While we are waiting, let us discuss something I¡¯ve been meaning to ask, Dryad.* *???* *How much power do you need to take physical form?* *Hmmm¡­.maybe one-third?* *Of what?* *This World, silly Tree.* Seedling 49 While the various individuals are going through the Madness Maze, I have a bigger problem being solved. Namely that. That part of every Dungeon that leads to fear crawling in the gut. That¡¯s right! Floor Masters! They also go by other names like Party Killers, Death Incarnate, Bosses, and Rat Bastards. Every floor boss is unique, and every five bosses is uniquely powerful, but it¡¯s the bosses every fifty levels that will be broken. *Broken?*(Dryad) *Broken!*(Tree) Broken, as any indecent gamer understands the term, is a boss that is without question, unfair. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Not just unfair they cheat. For instance, a boss that when they hit 5% on the health meter they gain Aura of Life Drain. Then of course they proceed to wipe the entire army arrayed against them in three seconds flat. Or the demonic type boss that is supposed to be weak to holy, but actually powers up from holy attacks. Those types of bosses are considered ¡®broken¡¯ some even say ¡®cheats¡¯ in any manner, those types of guys are what I¡¯m aiming for. *Didn¡¯t you want to gain more refined Chaos from the delvers too? In that case don¡¯t all the bosses need to be defeatable?*(Dryad) *¡­.why did you have to remind me!*(Tree) In that case every ten floors. I can¡¯t have a cheat boss right away I guess, that would scare away the delvers. Since the population of dungeon running according to Emily is around 80% male, that is a good thing. Female floor bosses are always a big draw. *Abilities are up to you, but aesthetics is mine!*(Dryad) *What? I can design nice looking female bosses too!*(Tree) *No. Just¡­.no.*(Dryad) *This requires a valid explanation!*(Tree) *Breasts too big, legs too long, hands too soft, eyes too large, hair too easily used as a handhold in combat. Limited magic, limited physical structure, limited¡­.*Dryad* *Those! Those were just¡­experiments! Yes! Experiments! Of course they might go wrong¡­*(Tree) The sense of a strict schoolteacher staring me down overtakes me and I crumble. Dryad might do something drastic if I don¡¯t fold¡­ However, I have a plan, heh. *¡­Aesthetics is yours, dear.*(Tree) *I always knew you were a Wise tree, as well as a Chaos one.*(Dryad) Heh, heh! I might have lost on designing the body, but the gear is still all up to me! Take that! The incredible strategy of piles of silver, to acquire mountains of gold! I¡¯ll show her, I¡¯ll make the Floor Boss gear so damn good it¡¯s practically a cheat of its own! To make matters even better, I can try the new technique that came to me when I made the Madness Maze. Yes, this Soul Binding idea can¡¯t possibly fail me. Dryad will be so surprised! Seedling 50 I¡­.might have made a mistake. Math isn¡¯t my strongest suite now¡­ Yet I¡¯m very sure 95% percent of two million people should have left me with around a hundred thousand remaining. Why are there only three in front of me? *Why are there only three?*(Tree) *While you were busy giggling like a small kitsune over a candy tree, the applicants discovered a new facet of the Maze.*(Dryad) A new facet? What? I¡¯m pretty sure it was only supposed to¡­ Wait. Maze made from Chaos. Ah, I see the issue already. That still doesn¡¯t explain the massive decrease though¡­ *Aren¡¯t they much stronger than normal humans too?*(Tree) *I wouldn¡¯t rank them in the same level as our normal associates, close though.*(Dryad) *Taking a stab in the dark here. The maze allows them to consume the power of those they kill inside it?*(Tree) Why am I being stared at like this is my fault? It¡¯s a chaos maze, obviously this would be par for the course Dryad! Well, whatever. At least the dead contributed to my secondary plans. Reaching up with my senses I encounter a lump of refined Chaos power formed through those who failed in the Maze. Pulling the lump of power out I bring it down to earth to hover in front of me. The lump looks like a colorless rock the size of a human head. Although it cannot be seen effectively with the naked eyes, to inhuman senses it radiates power. During my previous experiments I found that the human mind can be used as a ¡®refining¡¯ receptacle for Chaos power. Through a mechanism I cannot yet explain properly, they take pure disorder and make it even better. That¡¯s humans for you, crazy enough that chaos can¡¯t make them much worse. I glance at the two women and one young boy in front of me. Well, not that much worse at least. *Is there a reason the boy is staring at you with such a fanatical look in his eye, Dryad?*(Tree) *Youth are very impressionable you know. I¡¯m sure his active imagination is putting a face and body to my voice.*(Dryad) Smirk! That¡¯s definitely a smirk!This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Now that the preliminaries are done, I¡¯ll have to report to Emily about the unfortunate accident. Normally the lives of 1,999,997 people wouldn¡¯t mean anything to me. However, I did say I would try to keep as many of them alive as I could. I think the prevailing explanation she gave me was that many of the people came from countries outside the Empire. All of them dying is probably a large diplomatic incident. I guess if they invade the Empire I¡¯ll take action to remedy the issue. Since I caused it to start with, I should clean up the mess that could occur. On the other hand, the two women are from differing countries that border the Empire so we could say it isn¡¯t all bad. Something like, ¡®See how powerful you can become in the Madness Maze?¡¯ As long as we leave out the failure rate there should be no shortage of applicants¡­ I take another look at our survivors. The boy is dressed in nothing but street rags. There is a suspiciously large amount of metal, wires, glass contraptions, and poisons on his body. If I didn¡¯t know any better I¡¯d say he was a professional cleaner. Probably the kind that took out a rival gangs ¡®trash¡¯ were I to guess. The two women are rather ugly. From my point of view at least, although that¡¯s probably because during my experiments in Soul Binding my sight has altered a bit. I can see past their gorgeous exterior to the darkness writhing inside both of them. Strangely enough the boy doesn¡¯t have any, almost like to him, killing is merely a way of life. It must be because the two women took pleasure in slowly drinking the life force of their opponents, while the boy didn¡¯t. He merely executed them like one would step on an insect in the way. The disparity between the three is very large as well. The boy it at least 60% of the total. The remaining 40% is split between the women, so they only have roughly one-third of his power. *I¡¯m going to take the women under my wing. They make a nice match for Emmy, she¡¯s been needing some helpers for running things, lately.*(Dryad) I mentally sigh at the poor women soon to be overworked by their inhuman mentor. *I guess I¡¯ll take the boy then. At the bare minimum I can rest assured with him designing traps. He might even be good at architecture, I¡¯ll need to test that though.*(Tree) With the decision made to split our efforts, I tell the boy, ¡°What is your name.¡± A small look of shock arrives over his face as he realizes that Dryad isn¡¯t the only part of this awesome Tree. Watching him kneel immediately makes my heart warm. This kid, he can see which side the bread is buttered on, yes he can. ¡°Rat, m¡¯lord.¡± the boy states with a tired tone. ¡°Hmph, a garbage name for a shining uncut diamond. Remove it, from now on you are my representative in the world. Your name will reflect your status. I will not have others disparaging me. As the Empress is your sister-in-service you will be known as Venenum Mundi. The blade that strikes without failing to kill.¡± I say, solemnly. It¡¯s a good name based on one of the old languages I remember from Earth. Considering the array of tools he has, it is more than accurate to say the least. Now comes the real fun. Scanning his gear I reach into the lump of refined Chaos power in front of me. Slowly as if by the hand of an unseen tailor, an exact duplicate of the gear he is wearing appears. It may look the same true, but the appearance is the only similiarity. The rags will cloak him allowing him to conceal himself within, travel through, and create shadows. The various pieces of iron, steel, wires, and glass contraptions are all duplicated with mythril, orihalchum, dwarven copper, and plasti-glass. I¡¯m reasonably sure that there are more of these metals on my servant than available in the real world. Plasti-glass for sure, that¡¯s a chemical derivative I pulled from Earth. It¡¯s similar to glass in terms of being see through, but in terms of hardness it outclasses diamonds. For protection I outfit the entire set of clothing in graphene. Unless someone strikes him with a divine blade, or cuts through with magic power on the same scale as the Green Lady he should live. Melting away the boy¡¯s previous gear with Chaos Flame I get to work on the actual body. Similar to the Empress I improve intelligence through re-wiring his brain. I reduce the effect of pain by altering his pain tolerance by lowering the amount of space it takes in the brain. Removing the affinity for other elements, unlike Emily, I specialize him in the Darkness element completely. Moving on I recast his bones into diamond hardness. His marrow is altered in order to extend longevity into the distant future. Muscles are rebuilt, specific focus on the fast twitch side. When he moves it will be faster than a normal human can even recognize. Organs are rebuilt with a focus on intaking impurities to excrete them as weapons. Death by poisoning will be quite literally impossible for this young boy. For the skin, I darken it allowing him to blend effortlessly into the shadows. The eyes are my masterpiece though, through careful use of the refined chaos, I add a touch of my own sight to him. From now on, no matter how pretty the outside is he can see the soul within. As a result though his eyes go from a bland black to a brilliant silver. ¡°Get up Ven. For now, a simple task. If there are any diplomatic issues that the Empress needs ¡®resolved¡¯ you will take care of it for her. Since you can travel through the shadows, distance is nothing to the reach of your blade.¡± I inform him of a few other simple things, before turning my attention away. Ven is a quick study, immediately using my shadow to jump into the Palace nearby. I¡¯m sure him and Emily will make a wonderful combination. I bet Dryad will be shocked though, I finally managed to delegate! Even though I sometimes enjoy it, it¡¯s not always fun and games using fire to solve problems. Ven is a reminder to me that sometimes a more delicate touch is required. I banish the Madness Maze so that it teleports to over the empire¡¯s Capital. I¡¯m sure Dryad can explain in her spirit form how it¡¯s a gift from me. They¡¯ll have to build their own staircase up to it though. Now it¡¯s time to begin planning the Dungeon itself. I¡¯ve always been enamored of the ¡®Tower¡¯ dungeons in my memory. With my knowledge of how space elevators work, I think I¡¯ll try to build up. Most dungeons go down, so perhaps both ways! A dungeon that reaches into the worldcore and another part that stretches above the sky into space. Hmmm¡­. I like this concept, let me ponder this for a bit after a short nap. Seedling 51: Villager Robert Side Story 1 My name is Robert. I am a peasant. My father farmed his entire life. My grandfather farmed his entire life. My peasant stock is born and bred, hardier than the mountains surrounding our village. Today, I am writing in my small expensive journal stolen from a caravan that passed through the village early last year. It¡¯s about the Madness Maze. Word has passed throughout the nations of the world about Celna. They have a Holy Tree. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. They have a Holy Spirit of the Tree. They have powers that are greater than mortal men or women, things that sound like the fairytales told around the fireside. And today, they have proven everyone wrong. It¡¯s said the Empress her great self, Emily the First, reached up with power granted by Heaven and called out for us all. And the heavens they say responded. A giant cube, named the Madness Maze, something that grants powers to those able to pass through. Rumors say few make it out alive, but those that do, well they are stronger. Those rumors are what drove me to walk the nearly five thousand kilometers from my village to Celna¡¯s Capital. I am a peasant. I have lived in the dirt all my life, farming like those before me. But. I. Will. Be. More. A maze of madness cannot hold a candle to the insanity of a peasant that desires greater things. Whatever spirit, demon, monster, or such lives inside the Maze it should fear me. I may not have powerful weapons, incredible magic, or ancient potions. I have more. I have the centuries of my forefathers being crushed beneath the garbage nobles of this world. I have will. In all the rumors about the Maze, one thing always repeats in the stories. The maze doesn¡¯t test your power, lineage, birthright, or intellect. It is a test of the inner fire. The spirit that all creatures hold within. For those that fail the test, the flame is extinguished. I will not fail. I am Robert, and I will be the first of my family to rise from the dirt and reach for the stars. Putting away my scribbled journal, I pay the copper fee to allow entry to the Stairs. Walking up the giant cube above me grows ever nearer, the hold cut in a side corner, seems like the mouth of a massive beast. Fear flows in my veins, before being quickly burned out by desire. I will return. I will live. I will change. The darkness of the Maze beckons as I step inside. Seedling 52: Villager Robert Side Story 2 I¡¯m watching a rather decent young man walk through the Maze right now. My recent nap was only a few months long, I haven¡¯t really needed much sleep lately. Maybe I should look into that¡­anyways, at first I wasn¡¯t paying attention, yet I couldn¡¯t help after hearing the Maze whisper to me. Apparently this guy is like a sun compared to the candles that have been winning through lately. He brings me remembrance of those long years ago, the indomitable moment when I fought against fate to save my favorite tree. Memories of when I¡¯m human are difficult to recall these days. It takes a special spark to ignite the ones that remain. It¡¯s not that they aren¡¯t clear, it¡¯s just that I don¡¯t care to purview them as much anymore. I¡¯ve been thinking a lot about what to do with all the memories I have. I don¡¯t want to forget them, but I can¡¯t hold onto them forever. I mean, just from talking to Dryad I can look forward to living at the bare minimum thousands of years, if not millions, billions, or even eternally. The amount of memories I have merely from just under two thousand five hundred years is already a bit overwhelming. It¡¯s at this moment that the spark of genius strikes me. I stare at the lump of raw refined chaos in front of me. Yes, why not take a page from all those stories, oh so long, ago? There is no reason the memories have to remain inside me alone. With newfound purpose I begin pulling on the refined Chaos. I¡¯m going to bring back something that¡¯s part of my old world, and part of this one. I think I¡¯ll call it¡­ Memory Crystal. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ***T*** I¡¯m close, I can feel it now. There¡¯s something just ahead, something waiting in the center of the Maze. It calls to me stronger than anything I¡¯ve felt in my life. I may be a peasant now, but the whispers it holds tell me I could be so much more. A noble, king, emperor, or even greater! More madness rises up, flowing from the mirror bright walls around me in a tidal wave of insanity. I¡¯ve watched others that I encounter lose their minds, ripping flesh from bone, clawing out eyes, the list goes on. The tide of madness strikes me and I pull from the will deep within me. The well of sanity lit from the flame that all creatures have inside themselves. I break the madness with my own sanity and force myself deeper into the Maze. I¡¯m close, I can feel it now. A few more walls, a few more steps. And then the walls open up, and in front of me is a large circular room. I¡¯ve reached the center. I have won. No longer will the madness affect me, I am Robert, and I did not break. My reward floats gently a few feet above the floor of the central room. A sparkling crystal, appearing like a well-cut shard of glass. My hands reach out for it, almost of their own volition. ¨ª touch the crystal, and then, I see. As the crystal is absorbed into my body it takes me a moment to realize that the change of scenery isn¡¯t an illusion born of madness. I am within someone else¡¯s mind. And they are looking within mine. I see them peruse the memories of my life like a child flipping through a scrapbook. When I learned farming. When I learned the first spark that led me to the Maze, the power of the written word. When I fought my way for five thousand kilometers for a chance to change my fate. I can feel the one in my mind, and they acknowledge me. Then, they pull back the veil and I see into their own mind. A world. A world of utter and complete madness. Glass towers that reach the sky. Flying metal beasts that consume humans. A world where information is more powerful than the strongest sword. Knowledge flows into me, brought by the creation I now know is a Memory Crystal. I know the secrets of science. The power of technology. The basis of energy. The laws of reality, or physics as they called them. I know these and more. I can see the history of this world, how the humans there rose from dirt and became each an emperor to themselves. How nations rose, how they fell, how gold became more worthless than secrets. The tide of pure memory almost destroys me, but at the last moments the creature¡¯s will supplants my own, fusing them to my very soul. Do not forget. This is what humanity can do. I will not remain in this world forever, but you, are my gift to them all. I am the Tree. And you, Robert, are the Avatar that I have chosen. I can see the long stretch of infinity extending out from these words. The will that powers the Tree shows me that we are merely tiny insects on a planet bigger than his home world. There is so much space out there waiting for us to discover. So many horrors, and so many brilliant lights. I try to look further, but my time is up. Even your will is not enough to last here forever. Return, Robert Wood, and be reborn. These are the last words I hear as darkness takes me. Seedling 53 Well now, my Avatar should be all set to do whatever he wants. I hope this mudball likes the gift I gave them. Now, on to more important things! That¡¯s right! It¡¯s time to make the Tower! I can¡¯t wait. Can. Not. Wait! Ven is standing in front of me with two people, besides himself. One is the greatest architect this world claims to have. The other is the greatest explorer of dungeons this world knows. Although, I mean, this world doesn¡¯t have decent dungeons. Nothing compared to the one I got thrown in all those years ago. Mostly these poor creatures called dungeons are barely surviving eaking out an existence consuming what they can. It¡¯s time to change all that. It¡¯s time to let people know what a real Dungeon is all about. I¡¯ve already sent letters to all the known dungeons in the world through Ven.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Once the Tower rises they will be given a chance to improve themselves as well. If the plan succeeds we will not just have a Dungeon, we might build a Labyrinth. Why do I care about that? Simple. I have a theory about the way I arrived in this world. My pet theory is that enough magic congregated in a single point can punch a hole through the dimensional ¡®wall¡¯ that seperates universes. Dungeon Cores are uniquely suited to assist in this because they already create a natural weakspot. That¡¯s how they can summon monsters into their dungeon. Dungeon menu, status, or whatever they use here is a natural ¡®weakener¡¯ of the dimensional wall in my theory. As such, like any good theorist, I choose to test it out! There is a miniscule chance that this method could completely destroy the current world¡­ Good thing my Avatar is here! That way damage should be kept to a minimum! Since him and Emily get along like a house on fire, at least the humans of this world won¡¯t all die out. I know they get along, they spend all that time in the bedroom together wrestling so it¡¯s obvious! The architect is babbling to me about how there is no way the structure I want to build can support its own weight. Has this idiot only ever worked in stone, wood, or metal? Obviously we are going to build the Tower out of a superior element. Carbyne. If someone was to make a chart it would go like this... Wood is beaten by Stone, Stone is crushed by Iron, Iron is cut with Steel, Steel is sliced by Alloys, Alloys are deflected by Graphene, while Graphene stares up in awe at Carbyne''s greatness. However, there is a massive cost. Changing atomic structures of something isn¡¯t the same as altering a human to make them better. It¡¯s much, much, much more costly. Lucky though I have the Maze running up and good. With the flow of refined Chaos we should be set. Interrupting the architect I say, ¡°We are building a Tower. You can either present a gorgeous piece of work that reality would never allow, or die.¡± Turning my attention to the explorer I say, ¡°You can work with Ven, I want traps the likes of which this world just barely could avoid.¡± Finally, I tell Ven, ¡°I¡¯m going to be designing floor master armors. Unless there is something utterly crucial, don¡¯t interrupt me. Make sure Emily and Robert understand as well.¡± Ven bows low to me and shifts the three away through the shadows. I am going to follow the principle that Chaos has been urging for awhile now. The old rule of magic armor: The less you have, the better it protects! That said, the strongest bosses will obviously be scantily clad men or women with tattoos on their body granting almost-invincible might. The rest will be varying layers of clothed. The weakest will have full plate armor sets on. Soul Binding will allow the armors to be taken by adventuring parties, however they won¡¯t be tradeable. Anyone wanting to buy power, or use gold to make the devil grind the millstone, will have to enter my Dungeon to get the gear. They may pay the people they have helping them, but if something better than they can afford drops¡­ Accidents happen. Szzzzzft! Crunch! Ah, perhaps I should have built this a bit further from the Capital. Well, I¡¯m sure the nobles can afford to re-build their homes in that section of the city. No big loss. Seedling 54 A decade has passed since the Tower rose. Humanity on this planet has redistributed themselves almost completely. At first, Celna¡¯s Empire received a trickle, then a small stream, finally a river, and last a flood. My creation, the Tower Labyrinth is a great wonder of the world. Weapons, crystals, blueprints, anything and everything is possible to find inside. The Core Conglomerate ? that was formed from dungeon cores makes up a massive part of the success. Sure I built the thing, but adding dungeon cores in was pure genius.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Using the structure of the Tower each core connected their dungeon to it. The total sum, is not unlike reverse tree. The tower is the trunk that descends from the sky, and the branches are the various dungeons connected to the trunk. Each dungeon has moved to master a specific element that they favor. There are water dungeons, fire dungeons, earth dungeons, darkness, light, and even more. Things are moving well along for me too. At the top of the Tower I¡¯ve been watching fluctuations for quite some time now. My investigation has proven that they are spatial currents forcibly swirling at the top. Within the next century, perhaps two at the most, I expect to break the chains of this world and depart. Since this is such a short time, Dryad has laid down the law. Before we leave, I have to complete another project of hers. She wants me to figure out how to make it so we can return later. In her own words, ¡°If you can¡¯t figure out something so simple with all that power, what¡¯s the use of being so strong anyways you idiot Tree!¡± So, of course, I have to get it done. I don¡¯t want the major woman in my life to be angry at me for the next ten thousand years after all. It¡¯s just. I keep getting distracted. I mean, who wouldn¡¯t? Screwing with Dungeon delvers is just so much damn fun! Seedling 55 A group of four beastkin, one demon, and one human stare at the glittering sigil floating in midair. A large cavern filled with runes currently glowing brightly as they defend from the System are slowly burning out. ¡°Are you sure this will lead us to Grandfather?¡± Kehoko asks. ¡°When have my calculations been wrong in the last few centuries?¡± Kurhoko replies with gusto. The nearby darkness seems to treat him as something sacred. ¡°Aunty Tevril, can we trust this math obsessed idiot?¡± Kehoko grumbles. Light moves about her form in waves, each one a different color, as if a thousand shades of rainbow surround her. ¡°Of course dear, if he¡¯s wrong I¡¯ll string his guts up and let the blood ravens lunch on them.¡± Tevril states calmly, standing next to her father. The air around her is restless, as if a small concentrated wind surrounds the foxkin¡¯s form. ¡°According to the ancient texts of both Empires we should have a really good shot!¡± Azvril shouts, his ancient form belying the amount of youthful vigor he still possesses. Only his face remains visible, the crystal armor of his youth now grown into a symbiotic entity keeping him alive with pure Aura. Kurhoko makes a complicated face as he ignites the Divine portal they stole from the Green Lady¡¯s backyard. It took a few centuries of planning to execute the theft, but now everything is fine. With this portal, they can trace Grandfather¡¯s location and arrive at the same place! ***T*** Finally, it¡¯s time to attempt our escape from this world. Two centuries is two naps, with a small break in between to make sure the wheels haven¡¯t fallen off the apple cart. I perfected what I hope is a magic that can allow me to return. After a long discussion with Dryad I had to explain that, untested magic, is not something I can guarantee. Especially Chaos magic. At the top of the Tower, both of us wait patiently. Seconds after landing, the magic formations I have laid take effect and a small portal barely enough for me to fit through opens. Thank all that is holy. I really worried there would be no escape. As we fly into the portal I look behind and see a few figures exiting from a larger portal just behind us. They look sort of familiar¡­ ***T*** A figure dressed in a death robe stares down at his minion. Behind him is the coffin he recently awoke from. It has taken almost three millennia to recover his strength. In that time the plan should have progressed without any issue. Which makes the statement his aide said even more strange. ¡°What do you mean, we lost him? How the hell does one lose a stationary Tree?!¡± the Lord of the Dead states in a questioning tone rumbling with fury. ***T*** A beautiful elderly lady steps out into the Garden that is her favorite jungle paradise. She had been taking a short nap to pass the time before starting the next phase in her herb cultivation.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Such a wonderful Tree has the chance to ascend, allowing her to have a qualified talent to replace the old fuddy duddy World Tree. Which is why the current situation is so confusing, the pond of Primal Energy is completely vacant¡­ ¡°Where in the Seven Hells did that brat go?!¡± the Green Lady shouts. ***T*** Emily and Robert Wood, Emperor and Empress of the Celna Empire, stare at a messenger stating that things have been starting to escape from the dungeons. Creatures that have never been seen before on the planet, creatures from the myths. Pointed ears and tall slender figures. Furry ears and tails with muscled forms. New life is arriving on the planet, escaping from the dungeons bit by bit. Monsters are on the rise. Attacks against the Empire have occurred. At this time the Tree is gone, just as he claimed he would. Witnesses had seen him depart from the top of the Tower mere moments ago. Another portal opened up behind him, disgorging one human, one strange creature, and four of the so called ¡®Beastkin¡¯. Robert sighed, it was clear that this was the tribulation the Tree had spoken of. It was time for the Emperor to stand forth, and prove that this world belongs to those the Divine Tree sheltered. It was time to show the invaders the power of Humanity. ***T*** Where the hell is this? I mean that literally. Grosteque forms. Wings, horns, and everything in between, talons claws, and everything else. Spike tails, and scaled skin, the whole view of ¡®monster¡¯ is here. Behind me the portal is open, with a thin thread of Chaos anchoring me to the previous world. *Cut it off! Now! I won¡¯t let these things near my girls!* Dryad screams at me. She recognized the forms just as we shifted through the portal. It was clear if we¡¯d remained even a second longer, we could have been re-united with our family. However¡­ We are surrounded at the moment by things. If I spare any attention away from keeping them at bay, things would go very badly. *The secondary method still isn¡¯t tested, are you¡­* As the creatures move in towards the portal sniffing at it Dryad makes her point clear. She won¡¯t allow me to risk going back through the portal and being followed by the Enemies. With a snap I close the connection cutting the thread that attached us to the previous world. The secondary measure springs up, giving me a sense of time and place through the soul Seals left behind. Now however, I do not have time to thank whatever gods might have made that part work without any prior testing. The place we are at now is a barren plain filled with monstrous forms. It¡¯s hot, dry, and full of crazy. And I¡¯m not talking about myself here. I¡¯m angry at Dryad, but, I can¡¯t do anything right now. Lucky for me, there are plenty of things to take my rage out on. Fire is my Domain. Flame my Calling. Burn brightly. Aedar! This world may be a hell, these creatures may be devils, demons or what have you. It doesn¡¯t matter. In front of the power of Chaotic Flame, I will teach them the consequence of angering me. I just needed a few moments and I could have brought us back. Just a few seconds¡­ Seconds that will never be given. I am. Angry. I will teach them the meaning of fearing a Tree, I will show them how to burn. ¡­ ¡­. ¡­.. Several hours later I am regretting my somewhat hasty actions. Honestly! Where are they all coming from dammit? Endless waves are truly endless. I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m actually using a sliver of Chaos up. Sure, there¡¯s a zillion more to spare, true. I feel a slight sense of terror though, if there are truly endless waves I won¡¯t be able to hold out forever. Holding out for merely 10 seconds and 10 thousand years are both the same if the end is death. Chaotic flame is the flame of disorder, the breaking down of the organized energy in a universe by Chaos. Then, is it possible to use the Dao in this hellish place? If I can use the Dao¡­ If I can manipulate the Fire without using my own power, this war can be sustained. I am absolutely sure I am at war, here. The difference between using the Dao of Fire and not is crucial. A simple example would be a man powering a lightbulb through a bicycle. That would be what I¡¯m doing now, using my own power to fuel the fire. Another example would be a man powering a lightbulb through solar energy. That would be the Dao, the existence of a rule that is supported by the universe itself. Status? Tsk. Nothing, damn useless System. Where the hell is it when I could use it for once! No wait¡­ If this universe had no rules I would have unlimited amounts of Chaos to work with. Then these demons or devils wouldn¡¯t be worth my time to worry. That means there must be a Dao here. There is no System to make it easier, but I didn¡¯t go through thousands of years without learning some tricks. Over time I have learned that Fire is not the simple act of burning fuel, but the act of turning potential into kinetic. It is a transformative process that alters reality at a basic level. Fuel is the potential that allows a Fire to burn. What is fuel then? At the most basic it is anything that can burn. Anything? Yes, anything can burn. This must be true. I cannot believe otherwise, I cannot allow doubt. How could I not have seen this simple truth? Because, even the simplest truth is profound. This must work. Work¡­ BELIEVE! Aedar¡­ I pause, as the world around me stills. Light from the heavens above illuminates my form, as I feel the universe twist to confirm my will. Ignite. Chaos Flames ripple out from me in a concentric wave as they grasp the things seeking to devour us whole. Anything is fuel. Air, water, earth, bodies. This is the furtherance of my Law. The flames of Chaos change from being fueled by my power to being fueled by the bodies of the fallen, the air surrounding us, the very barren earth without life. Even the red light from a fallen sun in the distance is turning into fuel. From the simple epiphany I have created an Everburning Flame. The name makes itself known in my mind, and it is without question. The knowledge of how this is accomplished sears itself into my soul written in the ancient language of the Dao, from before time began. Dao is eternal, and it transcends all universes from the smallest speck, to the greatest infinity. I was afraid, for a brief moment. Now my fear is gone, and there is only one thing to do¡­burn the enemies alive. I reach out spreading the Chaotic Fire further, pushing it past the limits imposed on growth. I will show these creatures that no tide is endless, no enemy without fear. Fire has long been mankind¡¯s oldest ally against the darkness. I will teach these creatures that no matter what universe I am transported too¡­ No matter how far I am from those I call kin, or those I call family. Nothing can stop me. Nothing. To my enemies, I burn, forever. Seedling 56 One meter. The difference between success and failure was decided the moment the Dao descended. I fought for millimeters, then centimeters, then finally¡­ A single meter circle around me. Each passing second I confirm my Dao, furthering my Law. One meter turns into ten, then a hundred, then a thousand. I understand now that a thousand meters is the limit. A thousand meter sphere around, above, below, all is mine. This is¡­. Absolute Domain. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Within this space, my will is Law. Within this space, I set the rules. I pause, before my words echo out across the barren world. ¡°None that desire harm, shall pass.¡± The words spoken have a profound effect. Every one of the things that passes the thousand meter mark vaporizes. There are no ashes, the Flame is simply too much. Each creature is reduced to refined Chaos and fed to me. It is a silent unending banquet of complete eeriness. I can no longer tell time, because the sun doesn¡¯t move in the sky, it simply sits there. I think it might not even be a real sun. The reason behind that thought is I still feel no energy emitting from it, like normal sunlight contains. If I cannot find intelligent life, that is fine. There is fuel. There is fire. Given enough time, this place will melt. I hope that sentient creatures exist, because, if not, nothing else will either. ***T*** A woman so beautiful that a human mind could never encompass her form stares down at the kneeling servant from her throne. ¡°A what?¡± the Queen says stunned. ¡°A new creature from Outside has arrived, my Queen.¡± the kneeling servant says, sweating. Others have been drained to death for lesser offenses, and what he is claiming is practically a lie. ¡°There is nothing in the Wasteland. Every Lord and Lady know this to be true. Why would you state such an obvious lie?¡± the Queen asks. She is puzzled because before her, is one of her most loyal servants. He¡¯s practically family, and family although treacherous, is not stupid. ¡°My beloved Queen, I swear this is the truth.¡± Both servant and Queen stare at each other before shock flashes across her face. No oath can be made without penalty falling on one who betrays it. To swear such an oath before her is equivalent to committing instantaneous suicide if it were false. ¡°A creature is on the Wasteland, the home of the Outcasts¡­¡± the Queen stares off as a smile grows on her face, ¡°Marvelous¡­let us visit them!¡± Servant and Queen both rise as their forms shift blurring at once before the throne room is empty once more. Seedling 57 The monsters within the immediate vicinity are acting rather strange. At first they continued to charge forward, and thus, disintegrate. Now, things have changed. The creatures, no, the Horde seems to have something similar to a hive mind. They are standing right outside the range of my Domain, staring. Except¡­ They aren¡¯t staring at me. The creepy feeling as Horde of creatures stare at something in the distance is very unnerving. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Something is approaching, something on the level that they instinctively recognize as a threat. Not only that, I can tell by the fact that none of them are moving, it¡¯s something worse than a threat. It is something they fear. With the knowledge that the Dao exists in this place, my mind strolls over horrific possibilities. In theory anything practiced to the apex can be deadly. Even something as amusing as chopping vegetables, boiling water, or throwing a single punch. There are however, ¡®Daos¡¯ that give themselves more to widespread destruction than others. I consider Fire a cheat because it¡¯s good at both single target, and area of effect damage. Although, if forced, I would admit that something like the Dao of Disease could cause worse area of effect damage. Nothing really beats watching your opponents decay from flesh eating bacteria, right? And something like the Dao of Light could do even better single target damage, lasers for the win, right? At first the change in the demons around us is slow, almost invisible. If it weren¡¯t for my sight being inhuman, and based on energy detection, I probably would have missed it. Unfortunately, I can see clearly what occurs. The surrounding demons, devils, or whatever their name is in this place are being drained. The effect is so miniscule that it¡¯s barely noticeable. I can clearly understand the terror though, this effect seems so minor, because the creature causing it is a long way off. As the effect grows though, it indicates they are coming closer. Since the effect grows exponentially, they are moving, very fast. I¡¯m not affected, only due to the Domain. Nothing that can harm me can cross to me, unless of course it is more powerful than my Chaotic Everburning Flame. I am, to note, severely joyful that this drain effect is not more powerful. I may never have been so happy in my entire plant based life. Seedling 58 *Hmm¡­*(Dryad) *Hmm¡­*(Tree) The figure standing just outside our Domain is surrounded by withered corpses as far as the eye can see. *I mean, she¡¯s gorgeous in an inhuman manner, but doesn¡¯t she remind you of those creatures in your memories? The ones with, wings, tails, horns, and smoking hot bodies¡­*(Dryad) *I can¡¯t for the life of me remember what they were called. I do remember though that their main method of killing was draining the souls of their victims to feed the insatiable hunger they had.*(Tree) *You can¡¯t really hold that against someone though. Once I have a physical form that¡¯s very similar to how I feed.*(Dryad) *Hmm¡­*(Tree) *Hmm¡­*(Dryad) *What do you think?*(Tree) *Let¡¯s see if she can communicate. Although, I don¡¯t think we should let the creature in her shadow in, he¡¯s creepy.*(Dryad)Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. I guess I can try normal methods of communication before going exotic. ¡°Howa! We come in peace!¡± I say, using the surrounding air in my Domain to mimic speech. Eh¡­why is the female creatures staring at me like I¡¯m an idiot, I¡¯m not! I know that¡¯s the ¡®You¡¯re an idiot Tree!¡¯ stare because Dryad uses it a lot¡­ ¡°Are you stupid?¡± the female creature states, while tilting her head to the side. Gah! I knew that was the same stare! They even raise their eyebrows in almost the same manner! ¡°No! I am not stupid.¡± I state firmly. ¡°Prove it.¡± ¡°¡­.¡± *Can I just kill her? We can always find another one.*(Tree) *I like her! She reminds me of the older sister¡¯s in my inherited memories!*(Dryad) If I could cry tears, I would be doing that right now. One is bad enough. Two of Dryad though¡­ I shudder at the potential disasters. ¡°Are you one of these things?¡± I ask. I am rather curious why she can even understand me. Wherever we are it certainly isn¡¯t a place that would seem to contain the Celna human language. ¡°My name is Vex, Queen of the Souldrinkers. If you ever suggest I share anything with an Outcast I will eat you alive.¡± Vex says, with cold eyes. Note to self, do not mention Vex looks like a pretty monster. Outcast. Whatever. ¡°Ok.¡± See? I¡¯m a brilliant master of conversation! *Move aside and let me talk, before you get us into a war with the first decent creature around!*(Dryad) I was doing fine. Until that death threat. Bah! Whatever, let¡¯s see if you can do any better! *Moving aside, moving aside, do your best dear!*(Tree) Dryad uses the same magic I do to manipulate sound in the air, however when she does it the voice sounds like a smoking hot woman. For some reason I always sound like an elderly grandfather¡­ Life is so damn unfair. ¡°Hi! Could you point us in the direction of civilization, a hot shower, and the closest place to start world domination?¡± Dryad says, in a bubbly cheery voice. Vex blinks for several moments, before pointing behind her, ¡°We could start at my Lair.¡± What. The. Hell! Dryad! I worry sometimes about my other half¡­she¡¯s sometimes much less stable than me¡­ Seedling 59 Ruling the world. Sounds great in practice. In reality anyone who has ruled anything longer than ten seconds often asks themselves a simple question. What in the bloody blue blazes of the Godly Gardener¡¯s creeping coffin did I pick this route?! That¡¯s because, any attempt to rule a sentient species is like herding cats. Herding cats is hard. Even with Chaos Flames. The damn critters are ninja fast with creepy reflexes and the ability to vanish into thin air.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Wait, I might be describing gremlins. Well cats and gremlins are practically the same thing in my mind. Also, cats are evil. With this viewpoint, it¡¯s no wonder that I developed a serious method to deal with my slight phobia. As anyone would understand, being a Tree, I developed the perfect solution¡­ Something that has never been seen before. Probably because most cat loving humans would combat it with every possible weapon. Carnivorous cat devouring catnip moss. This stuff is absolutely the best method of removing the vermin short of wide scale genetic warfare which I¡¯m uncomfortable using. Gene viruses can mutate fast and there no telling when todays cat killing gene virus could mutate to a cat helping or Tree killing one. The moss is the safe play. This reasoning is why when Vex showed us to her diabolical Lair, I was well prepared. I could smell the sense of cat-evil a mile away. Upon entering the place, I immediately took action. Releasing a small portion of the spores kept within one of my leaves, I started the massacre. Vex seemed troubled by the creeping blue moss that started eating her collection of vermin. I know she¡¯ll understand the favor I¡¯ve done her though. Anyone that has such a large infestation of the annoying creatures probably hasn¡¯t developed effective countermeasures against them yet. Hmm¡­ The expression on Vex¡¯s face seems to be getting worse¡­. Wait¡­ Why is she looking at me suspiciously like that! Just because moss is plant related, one shouldn¡¯t immediately suspect a nearby Tree! Seedling 60 Vex didn¡¯t immediately take action against me which is how I managed to salvage the situation. I told her how such pathetic creatures were not worth of a glorious leader. I didn¡¯t do it because I hate cats, this point must not be understated. I did it because I loath cats. Filthy vermin¡­ Ah, were was I¡­ Right, how a leader needs the best minions. Since every cat lover loves them so much, I turned the tables on Vex. Cat-type creatures are sinister. Think back, think!The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Remember how they flee from cuddling? Remember how they disdainfully stare at their food as if it¡¯s not good enough? Remember how they leave dead creatures in your footwear to show their hatred? That¡¯s right! There¡¯s a far superior creature that doubles as a supreme pet! Canine-types! Dogs! Wolves! Foxes! Kitsune! Their superiority is so obvious, I¡¯m actually shocked such a great leader hadn¡¯t considered them yet. Of course, Vex wasn¡¯t convinced right off the bat. So I tweaked a few of the genes of some samples I kept on hand. Shadow dogs. Shadow foxes. Ninja shadow wolves. There were also a few more that I haven¡¯t found names for yet, regardless each one is unique and unrivalled. As a side result the cat-type population around Vex¡¯s castle has died out largely due to the moss. The innocent canine-types had nothing to do with it. Hmm there¡¯s another canine one with a dead cat creature in its mouth¡­perhaps they are very nutritious? Yes, that must be it. Well, things are fine now anyways. After introducing the canine-types, Vex was won over almost completely. A huge selling point is their solid loyalty. She can string them up, beat them, torture them, fry them, fricassee them, it doesn¡¯t matter! They still give devoted cuddles! I¡¯m such a genius! Dryad simply had no words for my awesomeness. Yes, now that things have been resolved I¡¯m going to take a nap. I¡¯m not an idiot though, I¡¯ve carefully left a large amount of security measures in place. Vex and Dryad get along nice, true, however I¡¯m just nervous. My recent, to me, occurrence with the Green Lady Kidnapping Incident has perhaps made me a bit¡­cautious. Not completely batshit crazy, just cautious. The mines, carnivorous blood moss, explosive nettles, shadow predators, and of course my Domain are merely me being safety-conscious. Anyone would be strained in this place, so I don¡¯t feel bad about all the lethality guarding me. I¡¯m a Tree, it isn¡¯t paranoia since things like woodcutters exist in the world. Paranoia is when they aren¡¯t out to get you, and you still take drastic measures. Seedling 61 High Paladin Eckhart stared at the enormous tide of humanity below the steps of the temple. Activating his holy magic, his voice reached out to the assembled units below, ¡°Today is the day of our victory!¡± ¡°For too long have the demons in this land oppressed us! For too long have we cowered in fear, afraid of the very creatures that hunt us!¡± he said. The towering square remained silent, as flames lit in the eyes of all the believers. ¡°It is time! Time to drive back the darkness, time to reclaim our land from the invaders!¡± continued Eckhart, a soft glow of holy light surrounding him as he spoke, ¡°Today, here, now, we will open the portal to the depths of one of the Seven! Our forces will flow through, united in purpose, invincible in intent!¡± ¡°The leader of the succubus will fall! Death to the Queen!¡± shouted Eckhart, holy fury shining from his brow. ***T*** *Tree.* Hmm? Is someone calling? Tell them to come back later I¡¯m having a nice dream of crunchy insects. I¡¯m certain I left a few messages in the death traps and guardians surrounding me that inform people not to bother me. *Tree.* Dammit, I¡¯m almost fully awake now. This had better be more important than the inspiration I was looking for lately on how to create a physical form for Dryad.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. *Tree.* ¡°IF THIS ISN¡¯T IMPORTANT, I WILL BE DISPLEASED.¡± I said, finally growing fully awake. My vision was met with throngs of metal clad humans fighting against a tide of Vex¡¯s various pets. I could spot various Lieutenants of Vex at different points in the fighting. Strangely enough, someone had expanded the room I started sleeping in. Although the room was bigger than a football field now, everyone was careful not to approach near the ash line that encircled me in the center. From the amount of remains, it appeared someone, or several thousand someone¡¯s, had attempted to reach me. If they had been innocent victims of the battle around me at the moment, there wouldn¡¯t have been any fatalities. After all, if some small innocent demon child or mild mannered puppy got obliterated by my defenses I¡¯d be unhappy. *What in the purple pink people eaters of the Carnivorous Green Lady¡¯s garden is going on?*(Tree) *Humans are invading Vex¡¯s castle.*(Dryad) Wait, humans? There were humans on this planet? Why didn¡¯t anyone bother to mention this? Ah, wait, I remember right before I went to take a nap there was mention of two legged insects. *They don¡¯t seem to be doing very good.*(Tree) *That¡¯s because we killed the High Priest leading them. He attempted to use us as a rallying point.*(Dryad) So some rat bastard thought he could just approach me? Clearly my defenses worked just fine. If he¡¯d been a true innocent man, and the men following him didn¡¯t mean me harm, they wouldn¡¯t be ash right now. *Should we help Vex? It doesn¡¯t look like she needs it, but if she¡¯s a friend of yours¡­*(Tree) *Nah. She can handle it. The really dangerous humans are being cut off from the rest by her subordinates. After that two or three of her daughters drink them dry. I¡¯ve seen quite a few new techniques that should be easily applied when I have a physical form.*(Dryad) Yes, a physical form¡­dammit! I was so close to getting inspiration on that while sleeping¡­ *Can you ask Vex if she can store some of the attackers for me? I would like to run a few experiments with ¡®humans¡¯ from this place.*(Tree) *I can already state with full confidence that Vex will want a trade of something. Probably a new set of pets, something not feline or canine based.*(Dryad) Watching the last few humans flee through the portals they had used to invade, I shrugged my branches. *I guess I could whip something up, as long as she provides more ¡®ingredient¡¯ for my use.*(Tree) I don¡¯t mind helping out a friend after all. Even if she does have wings, horns, a tail, and inhuman beauty, it isn¡¯t like I don¡¯t have bark, twigs, branches, leaves, and godly glowingness. A flexible mind is what let me keep my sanity to start with when I woke up after all. Well with the excitement over, I''m going back to sleep for a little bit. I know I can figure out a way to get Dryad a physical form if I can just remember more about atomic power. Seedling 62: Vex Side Story Vex stared out at the broken landscape surrounding her castle. The view from the tower of the castle¡¯s central keep was breathtaking, if not particularly good. Scraggly bushes along with boulders littered the desolate landscape until they petered out at the Wasteland edge. Trapped in this section of the Shattered God¡¯s Plane for the last several millennia, many of her associates had lost themselves. Even with her unlimited lifespan, a world without any life was still mind destroying. Among the Seven, she was the only one remaining with enough sanity to grasp the chance when the Tree arrived in the wasteland. Talking to Dryad about their adventures allowed Vex to understand a part of what had occurred after Heaven¡¯s War. Apparently the universe had split into an infinity of different ones, similar to how a broken mirror created shards. Considering that some of the weapons that had been used in the War were so destructive, it was no wonder. While the Tree was slumbering, a paltry invasion force of humans from the edge of the Plane attempted to storm the castle. Vex had long suspected the Tree didn¡¯t simply sleep without protecting himself, and the destruction of that annoying high priest proved her right. The loss of the High Priest was a crucial blow that shattered the human forces allowing her daughters to feast. The stolen life force, souls, and blood essence were a boon that would go a long way. It wasn¡¯t mercy that caused Vex to hold her hand from attacking the Tree either, in their first encounter she had tried to drain the Tree. A glance at her inner right arm revealed what a costly mistake that had been. Considering how small the Tree was, it was strange how much power flowed within the tiny trunk. The feeling of draining the Tree was akin to the feeling of drinking an ocean of life force, no, of pure energy. Energy that was so pure, so unlimited, the very act of attempting to drain it caused harm. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. When channeling a drain against the Tree, her body suffered a massive backlash, similar to what occurred when lightning struck. So much energy, so freely given, quite literally began to burn her from within. Only by concentrating the damage to her right arm bone could Vex manage to avert catastrophe. After that experience, she had spent time talking to Dryad, and after finding so many things alike, decided to make the Tree an ally. His blatant destruction of the felines Vex had bred to pass the time in this prison was completely unexpected. Although, she learned later, that he understood his mistakes and diligently made up for them. Vex took a moment to pet her favorite Shadow Kitsune, while staring out at the landscape. With the advent of the incredibly loyal canine archetypes the Tree gifted her, Vex had no doubt she might be entertained for years to come. Even though the Tree was sleeping for the last few years, his dreams affected the world around the castle, and even the castle itself. The room that he¡¯d placed himself in grew larger than the laws of space would normally accommodate. However, the true gem gifted by the dreaming Tree lay directly in her line of sight. A single patch of green barely thirty meters away from the castle wall stood alone against the desolate landscape. The tiny patch of grass and shrubs ignored the world around it, as if declaring how minor such a thing as a lifeless place was. The words spoken by Dryad last rang through her mind, ¡°With enough time, even nothing can be influenced by Chaos. Perhaps this plane, nay, this prison might even shatter. Since we are both close to immortal, does it matter how much time we might need for a miracle?¡± Vex decided to bet on her new allies. ¡°Servant.¡± Instantly the kneeling monstrosity that first brought her news of the Tree appeared in front of her throne. His very atmosphere exuded servitude, even with the increase in his rank. ¡°Mistress?¡± the servant said. ¡°Send a portion of the prisoners to Dryad for the Tree to experiment on later. In the meantime, while he slumbers, let¡¯s go acquire more material for him.¡± Vex said, her eyes blazing. ¡°How many¡­samples¡­should we get?¡± the servant asked, still kneeling. ¡°All of them servant, all of them. There is no reason to allow others to live, if there is a chance to break this world asunder and escape.¡± Vex said, her tone colder than elemental ice from the center of the Plane. Ignoring the servant as he departed she turned her attention back to the green patch of land. Staring at it ignited memories of a world long crushed beneath the boots of Divine madness. Soon, soon we will return from our exile. Soon we will repay those who banished us here. I will watch as my Kin take their green worlds for our own. Vex thought, petting her Shadow Kitsune as she drifted off to a bloody dream filled landscape of revenge. Seedling 63 Shocking. I¡¯m not shocked at the new material available to work with. I¡¯m not shocked at the treatment I now receive from Vex¡¯s subordinates. No, I¡¯m shocked at something far more important. I¡¯ve grown. It¡¯s almost barely detectable with my senses. Barely. One millimeter of growth in three millennia! Wait, I¡¯m making a huge false leap of logic here. What if my growth spurt has nothing to do with my length of time alive? Let¡¯s think of the things that happened when I arrived here. Killed some stuff. Made a friend. Killed some vermin. Took a nap. Accidentally killed some humans with my self-defense measures. Eh? I¡¯m not seeing anything out of the norm on this list. There has to be a reason for growth. After being such a small size for so long, I refuse to believe it takes anything less than Divine intervention to grow. Wait! Divine¡­ Yes, wasn¡¯t there a¡­ A guy¡­whatshisname¡­priest!This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. A High Priest! That¡¯s right! How could I forget something so important! I turn my attention to one of the nearby servants that Vex has provided for me. ¡°Hey, Scaled Guy.¡± I say, vibrating the air to mimic speech. ¡°Y-Yes, Exalted One?¡± the lizard monstrosity nearby says, nervously. ¡°Do any of the new materials have a relation with divine beings? Like priests? Priestesses are ok too, shrine maidens, anything?¡± I ask in a hopeful tone. I¡¯ve been small for so long, the chance to grow bigger is just too attractive! ¡°Uh¡­yes?¡± the lizard guy replies. ¡°Bring them all in! All of them, to me right now!¡± I shout. I¡¯m almost drooling at the opportunity to grow. I can tell that even though I have only grown by a sliver compared to normal plants, my power reserves have almost doubled. Growth is apparently the easiest way to increase my pool of Chaos with which to work. On a side note I take stock of my recent spells. Chaotic Casino, Organic Organize, Linguistic Laz-Faireness, Gene Geometry, Soul Binding and one more. The recent addition to my group of spells, Crunchy Munching, courtesy of putting myself on auto-pilot to cast Chaotic Casino while I was sleeping. It took just under a decade for a useful spell! The other random garbage I¡¯ve learned due to the Casino, is tossed in a corner of my steel vault mind and forgotten. Who cares how many lemmings die in a single year? Not me! As the assorted clergy are ushered into my presence I take a good look at them. And there it is. The shining spark that hangs about each and every one of these people. Divinity. The touch of a higher power, formed from the very Chaos I am familiar with. It reeks to my senses, like a rotten odor, a taste I can feel on my tongue, the taste of Order. The mystery is solved now. Consuming that High Priest and his Order, which is likely a result of his service to a higher power, allowed me to grow. Now I¡¯m in a bit of a pickle. I well remember from my farm days before I got educated back on Earth, before my glorious career in Botany¡­ That famous quote my father was so fond of. You can shear a sheep a thousand thousand times, and only slaughter them once. In essence, killing the High Priest was a tragic accident. I much would have preferred the guy to be captured alive like this bunch. Once I figure out a method to drain the Divinity from them in small amounts so that it is allowed to replenish over time, if that is possible, then¡­ I¡¯ll finally be able to grow. This of course ties into the inspiration I had about getting Dryad a physical form while sleeping. I¡¯m reasonably certain that Dryad has to form herself from me. To be more precise, she has to form her physical body from my own. Normally this would not have been an issue if I was a normal Mana Tree. Due to my issue of stunted growth, it appears that Dryad has suffered as well. She can¡¯t form a body from a mini-bonsai size tree. These clergy are the answer to both our problems. I have the servant line them up in rows before stripping them of clothing. I need the clothing out of the way in order to place Runes on them. Runes of Servitude, Agelessness, Drain, Transfer, Power, and Compulsion are branded on all the huddled clergy. Servitude will ensure they don¡¯t attempt something drastic like suicide, or escape. I¡¯m merciful, the things in the castle moat are not. Agelessness is so that they can last a long time, like rechargeable batteries back on Earth. I¡¯m not really worried about the mental side effects that a long life span might have on these folks, after all, I¡¯m perfectly sane? Why would they have any issues! Drain is to slowly drain the divine power of Order from them, Transfer is to feed it to me. The rune of Power is a stroke of genius on my part. Increasing their Power has two crucial functions. The first function is to make sure they aren¡¯t killed out of hand by anything, like say, Vex. The second is that increasing their power also increases the amount that can be drained, a sort of positive loop. Over time, the amount of Order that is drained will be a net plus in terms of gain. My last rune, the Rune of Compulsion, is a final safeguard against any issues that might arise. In the event that another creature of Chaos, even though I don¡¯t know of any such thing existing, gets ahold of them¡­ They won¡¯t be used against me. Simple as that. Now that those few problems are taken care of, time to go back to sleep! Hopefully, everything works out well in the end. I can vaguely feel a bottleneck approaching, this recent setup should allow me to break through! With a successful breakthrough, I am almost one hundred percent sure I can get out of this dreary place. Closing off the main part of my consciousness I leave a small portion running in the background of my sub-conscious. This is my first attempt to split my mind, in order to avoid the accident that happened with the destruction of the High Priest. A divine-touched mind is a horrible thing to waste! Seedling 64 Four millennia. When I say it out aloud in my mind it sounds simple, short, and easy. The last thousand years have actually been rather profitable for everyone involved. Dryad has taken up my hobby of Gardening turning the area around the castle into a lush primordial forest. Some of the creatures she let¡¯s take up residence in there are¡­ Not what I would call¡­ Safe. On the other hand, it kept her occupied until I could break the bottleneck I encountered a thousand years ago, so it all worked out. I¡¯ve grown a great deal in the intervening time! Now, rather than a tiny seedling I have matured! My size is great, dreamy, fantastic, and amazing! Yes¡­ Ok, no. Just, no.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. For some reason my dimensions are the size of a large sequoiadendron giganteum, at least, for the first meterup. A meter. That¡¯s all I¡¯ve risen in height, on the other hand my girth¡­. I blame the recent problems on the Crunchy Munchy spell. It allows me to eat anything and everything turning sustenance into Chaos power. The downside is all the growth given through the spell only applies out never up. This means that there is enough for Dryad to work with now, in terms of creating a body. It¡¯s just the body will have to be a smaller, younger, and less well-endowed version. When I told her that, well, it wasn¡¯t pleasant. She didn¡¯t shout, or scream, or yell at me. It was tears, the brutal weapon of women everywhere. Tears that said, ¡°You¡¯re an evil, mean, sadistic Tree that couldn¡¯t even support his Dryad properly.¡± Tsk. It¡¯s not like I quickly sprang the fact that I figured out a way to escape from this place on her as a distraction to counter the waterworks. Hmph, this old man has more tricks than a bag of amazon rain frogs. Crunchy Munchy may sound like a strange spell, it may even be a strange spell¡­ However, it¡¯s the ticket out of this place! That¡¯s right. I have made progress in another Dao besides Fire! Be amazed! Be in awe of my greatness! Most of all find me another batch of those crunchy insects that taste like¡­ Ah! Distracted again¡­. Right! The greatest Dao, the shining apex, or close enough that I can¡¯t tell the difference. It¡¯s the Dao of Nix, I have no clue where the name came from, it just appeared in my mind one day. Ignore those pests around that call it the Dao of Gluttonus Trees, or the Dao of an Unending Maw. And I find another individual throwing up posters around claiming I opened a portal into the Abyss in my stomach¡­ That bastard will live a loooooong time. In absolute agony. Anyways, it shouldn¡¯t take more than a century to get out of this prison. At first I admit, I was a little leery to break out. I mean, if someone is in ¡®prison¡¯ then, they probably did something bad. After talking with Vex though, and using a few truth spells on the sly, I¡¯m convinced it is a terrible crime of injustice. Those exist! I remember how some poor guys were imprisoned for years in Earth, sometimes even decades for crimes they didn¡¯t commit. The choice to break out or stay put looking for a safe method to exit had nothing to do with the fact that Divinities might respond to the escape. Tasty. Divinities. I was not in any way lured by the promise of Divine corpses to feast on. At. All. Dryad forming her body is going to be a pain, so I¡¯ve decided to sleep through it. I¡¯m not a coward, this is simply a result of marshalling my power before the finale. Yes, if I tell myself that enough times it might even become true! Seedling 65 A century passed, barely enough time to get a good sleep. I wasn¡¯t sleeping to avoid Dryad, no, I was sleeping to regain the energy lost from when she made her physical form. After she formed her body, Dryad looks like a small cute adorable young girl. She¡¯s probably something around a meter tall based on my semi-precise measurements. If I were to go with terminology from my old world¡­ A loli. Definitely a loli. More importantly I have discovered the reason she always wanted a physical body! Aura. It is sad, but true, Dryad is actually not a magic user like me. I feel at a bit of a loss, kind of like a husband learning his wife likes Thai cooking, instead of their own Vietnamese cooking. Oh well, at least she was having fun practicing combat with the martial minded monsters around the castle. It was almost like watching a mini-female Azvril run around, minus the crystal armor of course. I would never let my second half use shoddy crystal stuff like that! After learning how to ¡®sculpt¡¯ my body with Crunchy Munchy I managed to craft a decent looking wooden armor for Dryad. In the tradition of all superhero armors, I made sure it was full body, skintight, nigh indestructible, and filled with extras.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. It has a few interesting effects too, only three really stand out though. First, the Chaos armor will absorb the blood, bones, and flesh of fallen enemies that she doesn¡¯t consume completely. The consumed substances are used to allow the armor to continuously empower the user¡¯s Aura growth. The second notable effect is of course my second most favorite out of the three, eyebeams. Without eyebeam lasers, a person can¡¯t really say they have superhero armor. Anyone who would argue otherwise is clearly delusional, and should be helped to the nearest psych ward. My favorite of the three effects though, is what I like to call the Root Effect. When standing in place, Dryad¡¯s strength factor multiplies at an exponential rate. I based the power curve off of one of the superhero¡¯s from Earth¡¯s past the big green guy that always had anger issues. With that guy as the baseline, for every second she stands in place, the effect multiplies using the Fibonacci sequence. In theory I suppose she could stand still long enough and shatter a world with a single punch. The recoil would probably destroy her physical form, and gravely injure her spirit though, so I have strictly forbidden her from testing it. In the past century, quite a few preparations were made to escape this place. They are all coming to a head in a few days now. I¡¯ve talked extensively with Dryad about the possibility of betrayal from our comrades. Vex and Dryad share similar methods of eating, having fun, and killing things so it isn¡¯t likely she¡¯ll betray us. The other six of the Seven though, are completely unknown factors. Frankly, if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that I don¡¯t think anyone deserves to be imprisoned in a place for eternity¡­ Well, I might be projecting a bit too much of my past from the Dungeon into this¡­ Be that as it may, I¡¯ve made countermeasures in case the others cause issues. Since it is only a few days until the red sun changes color, I guess there isn¡¯t any reason not to try a few experiments. Lately, I have noticed the sources of Order that I was feasting on are slowly going dry. It appears after all this time, the Divinities that were favoring my slaves have realized something is amiss. I¡¯m not really sure what to do with them now¡­ I guess leaving them behind is fine, it¡¯s not like I am going to put up the effort to remove their Runes though. I am extremely hopeful our escape from this Prison Plane will go off without a hitch. Lately I¡¯ve noticed with my increased size, I don¡¯t sleep as much. Which is really annoying. Sleep is a great way to ignore problems that crop up. For example, when Dryad shattered a fourth of the castle when testing her armor out. I was able to bail on that one by pretending to be asleep. I think Vex was suspicious, but since she had no way to prove I was awake I got away with it. Now though, it¡¯s hard to even fake sleep. I wonder if the increase in size is increasing the amount of time I am awake. Wasn¡¯t there something like that for children as they grew up? Hmmm¡­. Seedling 66 Vex, Dryad, and me are standing facing the half-circle of the other six. At the moment, we are having a slight argument about who leads the escape. ¡°I should be the leader, I eat the most! Well, besides that damn Tree!¡± said a very fat humanoid, thing. ¡°That¡¯s all well in good to claim, but everyone knows only the best of us, namely me, deserves to lead.¡± said a very proud humanoid, thing. ¡°As long as someone pays me enough, I will side with them as the leader¡­¡± said a very greedy humanoid, thing. ¡°Who cares who the leader is, can we just get this damn thing started!!!¡± said a very angry humanoid, thing. ¡°I don¡¯t see why I can¡¯t be the leader, I¡¯m much prettier than Vex is!¡± said a very envious humanoid, thing. The sixth guy is sound asleep, out like a damn log, on the floor, he¡¯s a pretty slothful humanoid, thing. Frankly, I empathize with him greatly, and thus, have sneakily moved him over to our side. In the entire thousand plus years I have known the guy, he¡¯s the only one to sleep more than me. Thus, he is considered practically part of team Tree anyways. The other five though can pound sand, I wouldn¡¯t help them unless Dryad¡¯s life depended on it. Even then I would find a way to screw them over at the same time. There is just something inherently wrong with them. Maybe it¡¯s the fact that one of them treats me like she wishes she was me. Or maybe it¡¯s the fact one of them kept trying to eat my leaves. Then of course there is the fact that another of the group continually challenges me to a duel, while I am sleeping. Another bastard just rages at me all the time, he got even worse after I offered a chill pill made from iced Chaos to him. The last one kept trying to buy me from Dryad, until she crushed him into pulp and forced his body to reform over the course of a decade. Whatever the problem, they all irritate me except for Vex and Sleeping Guy. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that they were imprisoned here for eternity for crimes that aren¡¯t too big in my book¡­ I¡¯d seal them in a dimensional prison myself. Ah well, I can¡¯t let this stress me. We are finally escaping! I¡¯ve already taken measures to make sure Vex, Dryad, Me, and Sleeping Guy don¡¯t get separated. The other five are on their own, and if they end up the same place as us¡­Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! I will show no mercy. Spreading my senses out, I check the Runic circles around us. The runes spread out in concentric circles from where we are standing until far into the distance. They required the blood of a large majority of the creatures trapped in this Plane. Nothing went extinct mind you, just don¡¯t expect the goblin, ogre, ettin, hobgoblin, or other monster populations to recover anytime soon. Since I didn¡¯t condone the wholesale slaughter of humans, they managed to avoid being culled. Arguments against my sentimentalism were solved by Dryad ripping the offender¡¯s arm off. I hate to admit it, but Aura is pretty damn awesome. I wouldn¡¯t trade my Chaos for it though¡­. ¡­. ¡­.. ¡­¡­ Probably. Ooooh! The runes are starting to light up with glow, oh, wait they are getting brighter now! Snap! Crack! ¡°Pitiful scum, did you think you could escape!¡± The voice thundering out comes from the golden skinned toga wearing humanoid that steps out from within the spatial rift created by the runes. A second after he appears two more females, and four more men appear. Is it some sort of Divine rule that you have to copy the numbers of your enemies? That¡¯s a stupid rule. Especially since they didn¡¯t copy Dryad or me. Vex¡¯s eyes turn to slits of rage, and her chest heaves as her breathing grows rough. If I didn¡¯t know it, I¡¯d think she was attempting to distract the enemies with her anger. She isn¡¯t completely successful because only three of five guys look at her. The other two, we¡¯ll call Divine Leader and Divine Vice-Leader ignore her. Both of the females just pretend she doesn¡¯t exist, which I suppose is easier when you look drop dead gorgeous in your own right. On our side, things devolve rather fast. One of the five offers to buy his way out. One of the five leaps into a flying tackle at the Divine Leader. One of the five shifts into a duplicate of the female divinities. One of the five pulls a sword of pure utter malicious darkness and attacks Divine Vice-Leader. The last of the five starts eating one of my leaves¡­what the hell? ¡°He¡¯s eating my leaves! Where did he even get those!?¡± I ask petulantly. ¡°Remember when I did some light trimming to help you look better after forming my body?¡± replied Dryad. Ah¡­there was that¡­I never did track where those clippings went¡­ ¡°Vex can you handle the three drooling at you?¡± I ask. ¡°With pleasure, Tree.¡± Vex says, as she saunters off to the side. ¡°Dryad, handle the Divine Leader, Divine Vice-Leader, Angry, and Proud guys please.¡± I ask, calmly. ¡°What about the rest?¡± Dryad asks, her face curious. The rest of them¡­ Will melt. ¡°I¡¯ll get the remaining ones.¡± I state, without changing my tone of calm. My plan for the two Divine females on their side, and the greedy gluttons on our side is simple. A small multi-colored flame flickers into existence in front of my form, before it splits into four pieces. I throw the flame at all four of my targets. The greedy guy grabs it, the glutton eats it, and both Divinities ignore it as beneath their notice. Once the flame touches each of my targets¡­ I strike. Chaos pours into the tiny flames pulled from the inner well within my very being. Enough to create worlds. Enough to destroy gods. I leave barely enough to keep my form intact. I called out for power, and it answers back to my need. Chaos is the flame of disorder. I have said this before, and perhaps it seems almost like an afterthought. However, as the fire begins to grow disintegrating my targets without end, the truth is apparent. Disorder, destroys, consumes, no, eats at Order. All four of my targets have just enough time to recognize the danger before they are vaporized. It cost me everything in my tank except for the small amount I kept back in my core. I had to be sure though. I had to be fast, precise, and overwhelming. Do I regret the fact that I have no Divine corpses to eat as a result of my actions? A little¡­yes. It¡¯s ok though, Dryad will make sure I don¡¯t starve. If she doesn¡¯t, I¡¯m sure Vex can be bribed into giving some of her victims. Their fighting styles are totally different. Dryad punches and crunches her enemies. She¡¯s resembles nothing so much as ¡®loli¡¯ made into a perpetual engine of annihilation. Vex just softly strangles them to death with her body while draining them out in complete pleasure. Then again, that is how a succubus feeds, so it¡¯s not unexpected. Sleeping Guy¡­he isn¡¯t doing anything at all except sleeping. Notably though, every attack that hits him does zero damage. Not even his blanket, pillow, or hair is touched. I think it would be wise if we didn¡¯t wake this guy up. I¡¯m not afraid here, it just seems like a bad idea to wake the guy that takes no damage from full power Divine attacks up. Besides, I wouldn¡¯t want anyone to wake me up in the middle of a battle, so, yes I¡¯m voting we let him keep sleeping. That¡¯s not to say I won¡¯t bill him later. Damn straight I¡¯m keeping count of how much he owes me. If someone thinks they can sleep through a major battle while we escape and not pay for it later? That¡¯s just crazy. The battles wind down after Dryad dismembers her four. It was sad, she was the slowest one out of all of us. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll claim later that she was fighting the four strongest, and thus, took longer as a result. Vex¡¯s opponents are all completely naked, and look like nothing more than withered corpses. I don¡¯t pity them though, sticking any piece of yourself into a succubus is just asking for agonizingly pleasurable death. Now of course comes the important part of the fight. The one far more important than our escape. Distribution of loot. Seedling 67 Everyone ignored the still-alive figure of an envious person. Even though killing her would get us one more body, it would cause an uneven distribution of loot. Currently with seven bodies available, two went to Vex, two went to Dryad, two went to me, and one was sold to the envious humanoid. The amount we all got in trade for a single Divine body was enough to make me accept the fact I couldn¡¯t eat it. Barely. After finishing distribution of loot, the envious humanoid leaped into the portal first. Once she was gone Vex and Dryad grabbed me with a hand each before leaping in as well. I watched the portal close behind us with glee. Since my ¡®sight¡¯ isn¡¯t limited by degrees, I clearly see and hear the voice in the golden light that appeared behind us at the portal slit. Without warning the light pulses shattering space behind us, and the explosion from it throws the sleeping guy into the portal as well. I try to grab hold of him, but he slips away into the beyond we are traveling throughafter entering the portal. I admit, I didn''t try veryhard to grab him. Not that I''m paranoid, or scared of the sleepy guy, he''s just hard to grab with my roots. That''s my story and I''m sticking to it if anyone asks me later. I ignored the threats that rumbled out, because only an impotent weakling would threaten a successful escapee. Poor divinities need to suck it up and get on with their eternity. This portal jump was shorter than the previous one that landed me in Celna. I knew this from the simple fact that I didn¡¯t feel the urge to regurgitate the Divine corpses I¡¯d consumed.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Such tasty things, Divinities. They had the flavor of the most divine filet mignon and just a touch of aged ginger to spice the tongue. I truly hope that their worshippers don¡¯t get obliterated when the object of their faith is eaten. That would be a terrible waste, by any measure. When the portal jump finished we exited out, for the first time, in a non-dangerous situation. I was to put it mildy, shocked. Wavy grass as far as the eye could see, a single sun overhead with a bright yellow, blue sky, if I didn¡¯t know better I¡¯d think it was Earth. The goblin bowing down in front of us though shattered that theory. Like almost no goblin, anywhere, he didn¡¯t have a single weapon. No sling, no wooden spear, not even a rusty knife. It was also notable that his legs had been chopped off at the knees and then cauterized by someone. What kind of sick people would leave a person without knees? That¡¯s just wrong. If the effort is made to use fire, at least make sure not to leave a three-quarters living corpse. Whenever I find the idiot who can¡¯t seem to understand the simplest things required of the Dao of Fire, I¡¯ll be sure to incinerate them. After a short conversation with Vex, we got directions. The conversation was rather short as the goblin clearly had trouble processing anything. At least, anything other than the sight in the middle of Vex¡¯s chest. As a passing favor to the guy, I threw in a small upgrade to his body pushing him into hobgoblin form. I threw in a Rune of Agelessness, because, it¡¯s always nice to have someone helpful live as long as possible. ¡°This is where we part ways, Tree.¡± Vex said, her wings extending outwards. ¡°Keep in touch, if I don¡¯t hear from you within a thousand years, I¡¯ll go looking.¡± I reply. A short burst of flight later, and Vex is nothing but a distant figure fading into the blue sky. What to do now¡­ Dryad is staring at lion that has appeared in the distance with a hungry look after Vex departed. ¡°Hunting?¡± ¡°Mm!¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to start eating too. If you get lost in the grass it¡¯s fine, since we are Soulbound.¡± I say while sighing. Is this world truly ready for a Hungry Dryad? Doubtful. Rooting myself into the ground I begin to expand by consuming the space around myself with Crunchy Munchy. As I start to eat, Dryad lopes off towards the group of lions that are appearing in the distance following their scout. The hobgoblin has run off somewhere, which is lucky for him because I am starting to devour without limit. Each atom of the world that I consume is shattered forcing the enormous amount of energy within to assist in regenerating my reserves. The fight to escape the prison plane took an enormous chunk of my energy. I have no doubts that Dryad is even now massacring the animal population for similar reasons. I put myself into hibernation after setting up safety measures, along with the normal defensive measures. A small portion of my mind is left awake, in case an emergency situation arises. Once I wake up, it will be time for exploring! Seedling 68 After waking up, I had a brief moment of d¨¦j¨¤ vu, considering the fact that around me appeared a wasteland. No animals. No plants. As far as the senses could see. Perhaps I ate a bit too much? Tap. Staring down at dryad from my lofty height of half a meter while she slept I noted her twitching was causing slight noises against my bark. It took me a few moments to clean up her drool, dispose of the half-eaten ox carcass, and finally prepare to wake her. On second thought, that doesn¡¯t sound like a good idea. Imagine if it became a standard to wake me up later, with the excuse, ¡°Ah, Tree, you thought it was ok to randomly wake me, ha ha¡­hah!¡± Even the thought of such a possibility causes a shudder. Of course if I can¡¯t wake Dryad up, the next best thing is¡­ Crafting the dirt around us for a few hundred meters in every direction with Chaos magic until it is harder than steel. A few Runes of Flight, Shield, Temperature, and Air Refreshment later and everything is ready! Flying Artifact # 817, go! I made sure to ensure while flying that Dryad wouldn¡¯t wake up due to something minor like wind preassure, air movement, or sound. Runes are great stuff, especially if you set a portion of your mind to deciphering better ones. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Potentially in the future I could find a Rune that works for everything¡­ Dirt, sand, more dirt, more sand, less dirt, less sand, aha! A mountain appears! The wasteland created by Dryad, since I clearly had nothing to do with it, is giving way to lusher grassland. Behind the grassland is a towering forest, and behind that is a mountain that climbs above the clouds. Turning around I climb to a greater height to try and see the end of the wasteland Dryad made with her hunger. This increase in height allows me to discover a strange fact about the grasslands, namely, they are shaped in the manner of a bowl. A gradual slope downwards appears if you pay attention. My branches raise in curiosity, this pattern, it appears almost like an explosion of enormous power. I recognize it because, during many of my experiments this familiar ¡®crater¡¯ shape appears as a result of people interrupting me. Why people think it is funny to interrupt a tree during experiments with high explosive materials is another story entirely. I move away from the forest, turning the flying artifact inwards to the center of the massive crater. Going deeper into the wasteland, eventually it gives way to clean grasslands again, with herds of various animals roving around. Water holes visible to be at least several hours apart denote how the ecosystem around here functions effectively. I notice goblins in small bands moving about the closer I get towards the center of the grasslands. Goblin tribes give way to hobgoblin ones, which in turn give way into small kingdoms. Each kingdom is a day or two away from each other, which is strange. Kingdoms give way to select ogre huts, which in turn give way to¡­ Wait, isn¡¯t this like the evolution path for goblins the closer I get to the center? That would probably be explained by the sharp increase in mana the closer to the center of the grasslands I go. Something from the explosion seems to have increased the level of mana in the world the deeper one goes into the grasslands. So far as I have observed the pattern is Goblins to Hobgoblins to Goblin Kings then Ogres, and finally something I can¡¯t make out. The creature after the Ogre¡¯s land moves too fast to see at this height. Stretching my senses I realize it is a half-vampire Ogre which is puzzling. Further in the half-vampire Ogres give way to full ones, and finally what must be True Blood Vampire Ogres. They look tasty. There are only a handful of them though, so eating them all at once would be a bad idea. As a careful cultivator of incredible Gardens filled with a variety of dangerous and lethal flora or fauna, I am well aware of the dangers of overeating. Unlike my dear Dryad who caused such a tragic wasteland that we passed a few weeks back, I can restrain myself. I hover overhead waiting patiently like a predatory vine-trap tree, without the vines. The moment I see any sign of dissent, war, mayhem, or shenanigans I¡¯ll swoop in. I¡¯m not doing this because I want to taste a True Blood Vampire Ogre, no. I¡¯m doing this for gathering information. Few people can manage to withhold information under questioning by me. I dare say, using fire to elicit information from an enemy is practically secondhand nature to me. Granted I haven¡¯t done something like this in quite some time, but it¡¯s like riding a bike. I¡¯m sure I can get the hang of it before half my food source, I mean, half my information source is gone. To ensure there are no sudden problems from Dyrad¡¯s end I wrap her in a chemical solution. It¡¯s the equivalent of sleep gas for wooded creatures, not that I don¡¯t want to share the food. I refuse to share the food. I¡¯m sure Dryad would understand if she ever found out. Good thing I won¡¯t have to test that out though. Hurray, sleeping gas! Seedling 69 Math isn¡¯t my strong suit. Take for example the problem I¡¯m having now. Four bodies. Five souls eaten. Somewhere along the way¡­ A body went missing! I admit, I¡¯m a rather young tree in terms of height, but I could swear I shouldn¡¯t have memory issues this soon in my life. The energy pouring out of the central part of the grasslands makes it hard to extend my senses around. With that in mind, I have to go low tech. Over the course of the time spent in the Shattered Plane, I made a few upgrades while sleeping. Each of my thousands of leaves is a very distinct spatial pocket dimension, the better to keep things in order. Even numbered leaves are living creatures, and odd ones are non-living. For this particular problem, I open the space leaf holding a set of tiny creatures allowing them to fly out. That¡¯s right! Without any shadow of a doubt can there be a better seeker of missing items with blood in them than a Chaos Mosquito? Definitely not! Without a doubt this bloodsucking monstrosity that¡¯s only the size of a grain of rice is the answer! Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Granted the swarm I¡¯m using is several thousand strong, but that shouldn¡¯t cause any lasting problems. It isn¡¯t like a monster right¡¯s organization is going to blacklist me for carrying out mass hunting. Not if they know what¡¯s good for them at least. The swarm itself is controlled by a singular ¡®emperor¡¯ mosquito, one with enough changes to make it able to understand language. I mean, if one is making minions, they have to at least meet a minimum standard of intelligence. Not bright enough to be a threat, but not stupid enough to electrocute themselves in the testing chamber either. It¡¯s a delicate balance, true, yet worthwhile to pursue. Regardless, after issuing simple instructions to find the missing corpse, I sit back down to wait. Thankfully, the #4 sleeping gas is working fantastically on Dryad. Sadly, due to her Chaos form, it will only work once, and at a limited amount of time. I¡¯ll only get roughly another two months out of the gas before it stops working. That¡¯s not a problem though since I already have a perfectly logical explanation ready to go. I¡¯m going to blame the sleeping guy that didn¡¯t make it through right away with us. I¡¯ll claim he dropped by when Dryad was sleeping and as a result of affinity, she slept longer than normal. Crazy things happen around a Chaos Tree so much so that even a half-baked excuse like that can fly. I¡¯m still unnerved though, how in the Godly Gardener¡¯s nimble nuts did someone, or something sneak a corpse away from me? I¡¯m distracted while eating, yes, but this is another level. This is like super ninja spy secret thread cutting ribbon dancing level. Irritating. No, no. I can¡¯t get worked up. Next thing that would happen is I just get angry, and melt things till the screams stop. I can stay calm even with Dryad out. That¡¯s right. I¡¯m a master of my flying artifact, I¡¯ll just let the mosquitos do their job, and patiently wait for results. ¡­ ¡­. ¡­.. These little guys¡­are slow. At least until I have another chat with the leader. I explain to my Chaos Mosquito emperor a few simple truths. Truth one, I will not kill any of them if they do not speed up. I will simply starve them for the next ten years on a strict diet of experimental test subject blood. Since, some of that stuff is expired even, it won¡¯t be a pretty picture. I didn¡¯t even need to explain the other truths to the intelligent insect leader¡­ Tsk. I had them all planned out from one to forty-two with bar graphs and sliding metrics as well. Hah! Nothing beats the speed of these results, within moments another True Blood Vampire Ogre is brought before me. This one is slightly paler skin than the previous ones, and his hands are clamped around the missing corpse. Ah, I see what happened here. This fellow has a connection with this corpse¡­ Well, I guess I can just stick this partially eaten soul back in, twist a few Runes with soul binding, and, viola! True Ancestor Vampire Ogre #1, Chaos Ogress is born! I¡¯m sure if they are truly in love, he won¡¯t mind the small horns, slightly darker skin, and glowing veins. Even if he does, too bad, she¡¯s probably about a thousand times give or take a few tens up or down, stronger than before. Hmph, lucky Dryad wasn¡¯t awake for this. I¡¯d never hear the end of it. The other corpses though didn¡¯t have anyone dedicated enough to come save them, so¡­ Crunch. They aren¡¯t going anywhere except my stomach. Seedling 70 I was previously going to simply dine and dash. The only reason I didn¡¯t was curiosity. While something like that normally kills vermin, it has no effect on me. Besides, who wouldn¡¯t want to know what unspeakable things happened here ages ago? I say ages, because it is quite obvious due to soil erosion, natural weathering, the movement of the sun and clouds, and other factors. Without enough time passing I¡¯m also completely sure the creatures around here would be reduced to piles of magically radioactive sludge. Of course, this hasn¡¯t happened because these goblins came here ages after whatever caused the crater. That means the most likely place for the source of the magical energy waves is underground! Hmm¡­ It¡¯s not that I¡¯m claustrophobic. I just don¡¯t like going underground. I¡¯m not suffering from any trauma due to being dumped into a hostile Dungeon ages ago. No. Not this Tree. I¡¯ll turn over a new leaf and¡­ I think I¡¯ll investigate this when Dryad wakes up. Yes! Splendid idea, hah! I really do come up with the best things sometimes.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. So, should I administer the antidote for the sleeping gas now¡­ Wait, wait, if I administer the antidote now, then Dryad wakes up, and then things could get sticky. I mean, I have a totally believable excuse, but sometimes female intuition is sharp. Like an inquisitor¡¯s torture chamber of secret revealing sharpness, the kind of sharpness that Death would use for their scythe. Yes, on second thought let¡¯s just go check out that forest from before. It isn¡¯t like the magical energy source that has been slowly radiating the goblins for untold ages is going to get up and walk off. The probability of that is less than 0.0001% so I feel reasonably certain it won¡¯t occur. Still¡­ There¡¯s no reason not to leave someone behind to make sure things don¡¯t go wrong. My senses fall upon the newly made Chaos Ogress. Perfect! A few runes of Servitude, Power, Agelessness, Beauty, Charm, and Obedience later¡­ And the grasslands now have a new ruler! Stronger! Faster! Younger! Sparkling¡¯er! I¡¯m sure the Ogress won¡¯t mind taking care of the small details around here. With her charm and beauty runes it¡¯s highly unlikely she can¡¯t consolidate the grasslands under her rule now. Hah! That lucky fellow that saved her can also enjoy the fruits of my labor. I consider briefly for a moment doing more, and decide not to. It takes time to open a person up, rewire their brains, rewrite their dna, alter bone structure, and so forth. These runes are a shortcut, and shortcuts have costs. For example if I was to rank my creations in power, well¡­ Robert would be No.1 of course, I mean just the willpower of a peasant is enough to crush opposition. At least when placed in the body of a highly advanced test subject with a plethora of my memories. Next would of course be Emily, it¡¯s no coincidence that both of them are No. 1 and 2, as I spent the most time creating them. Ven would round out at a solid No. 3 to be sure. Ah, these are personal rankings though¡­ I mean I¡¯ve been out of contact for at least a thousand years so who knows what the best or worst of them are now¡­ Well, the point is that this Ogress would be something like, #9,999 compared to my previous creations. Sure for this world I bet she¡¯s an overpowered monster of unparalleled beauty, but that¡¯s it. The power structure, of the limited amount, that I¡¯ve seen so far is nothing like previous world. It kind of feels like after going through Hell Mode I¡¯ve made it to a safe zone? That type of feeling, yes. I like this feeling. Hmm¡­. Perhaps I should restrain some of my power? If both Dryad and Me are so powerful that the world around us is akin to a paper tiger, then, we need to take steps. Soul Seal! With 95% of our power sealed, things should be much more fun! Ah, to give an accurate estimate I used the Ogress as a measurement. Since she is equivalent to about 0.01% of my reserves. I¡¯m placing a restriction on myself, not attempting suicide. Being less powerful, is not the same as being powerless. I still want enough that I can use the break in case of emergency soul seal. At that point, unless we are fighting a Divinity, I think things will be ok. With this new setting we can get that ¡®traveling while strong¡¯ yet not completely broken feeling. With everything set up and handled appropriately it is time to visit the forest. Ah¡­ If it has elves, I¡¯ll probably burn it down just to be safe. It¡¯s not an anger issue, no. I just really don¡¯t like elves¡­much. Seedling 71 The forest is filled with the primal smell of life. Green energy floats around in a misty manner filling the cracks and crevices with the pure power of growth. That¡¯s not to say the forest is a kind, nice, huggy place full of creatures that can be cuddled. I¡¯ve seen dire wolves, dire bears, dire butterflies, and even once a dire swamp-thing type creature. The reason they are all called ¡®dire¡¯ moniker is because they are 10 times bigger, 10 times meaner, and 10 times more dangerous. I didn¡¯t come up with the terminology either, the caravan I¡¯m shadowing did. Prepare to be shocked¡­ The first people I met are not humans! They aren¡¯t elves either! They are¡­dun dun, drumroll¡­.half-elves! I like half-elfs, they have a sense of pinash, a sense of excitableness, they also have an alchemist. This young lady has the right sense of how to do experiments. Explosions! Bigger Explosions! Louder Explosions! And then¡­ Creating a totally useful potion that does something amazing in a critical moment! Did I mention I like half-elfs? This girl has the right spirit, you can¡¯t be a coward when you are aiming for understanding the universe! I haven¡¯t gone out of my way to help them, since I¡¯m still observing them as they pass through the forest in a circular loop. The road being used is a barely maintained mess. Unlike well maintained roads, this one slices through the greenery, it¡¯s more as if the trees have an agreement not to encroach. Monsters though, they don¡¯t seem to pay as much attention to such an agreement. I noted that the leader of the caravan has been surprised lately. Apparently they were expecting a much harder fight on their collection route this time. This is likely due to the simple fact that even with my soul seal, and a reduction in my overall fighting power, I¡¯m strong. Even though I¡¯m a tree, and not a tall one yet, I have a ¡®bother me and be crushed¡¯ vibe. At least that¡¯s how it was described to me by the green land dragon that investigated who was invading its territory. We had a nice cup of extra-dimensionally made Tree Tea, along with meat cubes made from the remains of a few Vampire Ogres I collected as snacks.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I think the thing that made the poor green dragons eyes bug out was those snacks. From what I understand anyone who can casually take out high level monster meat as a snack is upper class. Thanks to the tea meeting, I learned there are levels in this world. Starting from S at the top, A just below, all the way down to G. The letters are used to represent higher level creatures, adventurers, and so forth. Each level is divided into ten parts, so you can have an S-1 adventurer or monster, and an S-10 the single digit being stronger. Ranks are something I¡¯m not unfamiliar with so I casually asked the Mizarul my draconic companion what he¡¯d estimate me at. ¡°X-1.¡± the green dragon had said without pause. X is apparently the level that corresponds to the stuff above the limit. With that in mind I increased the Soul Seal on Dryad and me to restrict 97% of our power. At that point, Mizarul informed me we felt more like S-5 level monsters. S-5 Rank while being tough, isn¡¯t so outstanding we¡¯d be immediately hunted by all the world powers. This world is split rather unequally between Elves, Demons, Humans, Gnomes, Dwarves, and rare races. Dragons, Naga, Sea Elves, Mermaids, Sirens, and so forth are among the rarer races. Monsters tend to follow the longer lifespan, lower power ratio here. This means that most monsters that are S-1 have lived a very long time. As such instead of fighting a human hero, or any hero, to the death they are more likely to escape. I have to say, I consider that smart. Escaping doesn¡¯t mean they give up the fight either. As Mizarul explained to me, ¡°I may run away from a hero or high level adventurer, but I remember their scent. From that I¡¯ll hunt down any family, friends, allies, guild members, and make them understand their mistake.¡± Apparently such tactics are necessary when the population difference is so great. My understanding of these tactics does not denote condoning them. In my opinion such a method is far too low brow. If one is going to teach a lesson it needs to have impact. Poisoning the nation¡¯s water supply with green land dragon venom for example. Starting a cult that would allow you to reach tentacles into the power structure of the nation. Even something like traceless death of every adventurer except the one that attacked you. The better to pin the crime on the only survivors, and then of course spread rumors of a massive treasure they own. Things like that are more what I would go with, but hey, I also believe if things aren¡¯t broken I probably shouldn¡¯t melt them down. Needless to say, after a good chat with Mizarul I¡¯m much better informed about the surrounding area. I also found out the center of the grasslands is known as a Forbidden Zone. It was the site of a great war between differing deities in the past. Monsters have tried venturing in to eat whatever emits the magical equivalent of nuclear radiation for millennia. However, with the goblins in their path, and then Ogres, and finally Vampires it doesn¡¯t end well. Apparently the goblins and their upgraded counterparts are well able to understand what¡¯s allowed them to get stronger. While they may not have an exact lock on the reason, they are clearly able to understand that it is something that shouldn¡¯t be shared. As such, intruders into the Goblin Grasslands are treated as complete enemies. Tribes will set aside a tribal war in order to form alliances to kill invaders. Also, the grasslands have their own method of balance. Whenever the population becomes too great, a Goblin Wave will erupt out in all directions every few decades. Thus the territories surrounding them are all highly militant. In order to reach signs of civilization I need to leave this continent and travel to one of the other two. Thus, my brilliant reason for shadowing this half-elf caravan. Besides the fact that it¡¯s load of fun to watch a young alchemist blow things up, I am not afraid to admit I¡¯m lost. No, not lost. More to say, I¡¯m directionally challenged. Lately I have noticed the reduction in my power through the soul seal has unforeseen results. Before I could spread my senses around for thousands of kilometers. Now I can barely cover a single one around me. As such, it¡¯s a lot harder to find my way around than it was beforehand, and thus, I have chosen and easy out. Following someone else. Thankfully, through some arcane method I haven¡¯t grasped yet, the caravan doesn¡¯t get lost. As such I can easily float around following them without worry on my end. Several weeks pass since my meeting with Mizarul, and finally it appears time to exit the forest. Now a slight problem has cropped up. Outside the forest heading towards the ocean port town, is grassland. A tree in the forest that follows you around, that¡¯s hard to spot. A tree in the middle of grasslands that follows you would probably be very creepy. In order to avoid this I have snuck close to the alchemist¡¯s tent, placing myself in an easily discovered location. When she wakes up to go herb hunting with her companions, I expect my discovery will allow me easy entry into the camp. Of course, if she tries to experiment on me. I will take steps. Seedling 72 I watched the alchemist walk out of her tent into the morning sunlight. Stretching for the invisible rays of light, she did various exercises. Minutes later, hands on her waist she rotated 180 degrees and stared. After approximately five minutes of time a single delicate blonde eyebrow raised in my direction. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± the alchemist said, staring me down. Thankfully, I don¡¯t retain water in my bark, and thus, I didn¡¯t sweat. ¡°Interesting¡­¡± she said, slowly backing away from me. I watched the alchemist hurry away to the main caravan leader¡¯s tent. There was shouting, among other noises before a small group of guards, caravan leader, and the alchemist returned. ¡°What in the seven lower hells of the burning ice could you need me at this early in the morning!¡± the caravan leader shouted, while his hands waved dramatically in the air. ¡°Wait¡­tell me you didn¡¯t blow up the supply wagon again¡­¡± he said, pausing to stare at the alchemist in horror. ¡°That was a single time, and it wasn¡¯t my fault either! They sold impure ingredients to me, even the investigation proved that!¡± replied the alchemist while she waved a pointed finger in the leader¡¯s face. All of the guards had impassive faces, marred only slightly by smirks. It was clear this was a well-known incident. ¡°Anyways, anyways! Look at this!¡± she declared, pointing at me triumphantly. ¡°An entire new species!¡± The caravan leader stared at me while a single eyebrow raised in my direction. I have the strangest feeling these two might be related¡­ ¡°Is it dangerous, S¡¯neli?¡± the leader asked, being careful to stay behind the now alert guards. ¡°Hah, hah! I have absolutely no clue, Boss.¡± the alchemist S¡¯neli replied with a taunting tone. ¡°That¡¯s not the important part, look, look! The dirt underneath it doesn¡¯t match with the forest floor. It either moved here, was transported here, or teleported here! Think of it, a teleporting species¡­¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. I noticed while the Boss¡¯s eyes lit up with greed, they quickly dimmed down. ¡°Anything that can teleport is at least S Rank, pray very hard that it grew here overnight S¡¯neli.¡± the leader said with a sharp tone. Tsk. If I¡¯d known that I would have chosen a better method. I guess it¡¯s time to show my acting skills! I uprooted myself from the ground as everyone watched and then approached the alchemist. Rustle. Rustle. Rustle. ¡°Oh. My. Goddess! It¡¯s so cute! Can I keep it? Please, pleeeeease Boss!¡± S¡¯neli said, her eyes shining with stars as she stared down at me. ¡°This¡­¡± the Boss replied weakly. ¡°It could be dangerous?¡± A laser beam stare knifed through the air as the alchemist petted me protectively. ¡°There is a higher likelihood of goblins overrunning us in the port town than this poor tree being dangerous.¡± ¡°Now, you can¡¯t be sure of that S¡¯neli, remember the last time you took in a feral goblin and it almost murdered me in my sleep?¡± the Boss said, making conciliatory gestures with his hands. ¡°Hah! The only reason it was in your tent was the meat you stole from the cook!¡± said S¡¯neli, firing back a critical strike. The guards now turned for a moment to look at their beet red leader. ¡°I, I have to¡­take inventory¡­yes¡­¡± the Boss said weakly, summoning the guards to follow him as he rushed off. ¡°Hmph, sneaky Boss¡­¡± S¡¯neli said, as she picked me up with one hand and moved me into her tent. Amazingly, upon entering I realized the tent had several types of enchantment on it. Concealment, Spatial Enlargement, Repair, among several others in order to allow S¡¯neli to work without issue. I was briefly reminded of the sterile clean labs back home on Earth all those years ago. It was apparent that technology was extremely advanced on this world, if a caravan could afford something like this. The only way would be mass production lowering the cost, or the caravan carried such value that this was an acceptable cost. For someone who explodes things on a daily basis, I¡¯m impressed with her financial situation. After being deposited with my roots on a strangely glowing runic plate I watch S¡¯neli fiddle with some nearby glyphs floating in the air. ¡°Mana unreadable? Composition unknown? Physical properties in flux? Spatial disturbances detected? How utterly fascinating!¡± she said, eyes glittering while she licked her lips hungrily. A few moments later I¡¯m deposited in a small metallic container before the container is sealed from the top. I can hear humming from outside, ¡°Time to start a more drastic testing process!¡± says S¡¯neli. Slowly the temperature in the box heats up around me, 10 degrees, 100 degrees, 1,000 degrees, 10,000 degrees and upwards. I make a small chuckle of amusement. Playing with the Dao of Fire in front of this Tree? Pfft. Eventually, we reach the temperature in the Kelvins that equates to the nearby surface of the planet¡¯s Sun. That¡¯s when I cause a bit of mischief, reaching out I draw all the heat energy around me into my mouth. A short gulp and burp later and nothing remains, which in turn causes massive vibrational temperature shock. As the box around me disentigrates into shards of glittery metal, the shocked eyes of S¡¯neli appear. Her expression of amazement makes me smirk inside, before she starts whooping and dancing around. ¡°A new species! A new species! A new heat resistant species!¡± S¡¯neli says, before racing out of her lab. ¡°Wait till that sneaky Boss hears this, hah!¡± are the last words I hear as she leaves in a flash. Meanwhile¡­ Left alone. With all¡­ This wonderful¡­ Equipment, hue hue. Seedling 73 When someone rushes out of a laboratory, it is of course, an open invitation for any decent scientist to use it. Gem arrays that focus light into cutting beams, chemical composition dissectors, mass spectrometer gamma sensors, and others are all around me. I haven¡¯t had access to this array of equipment in a long time. Anyone who has ever had small children near a lab environment can understand why. For now, I¡¯m currently using my branches along with low-level telekinesis to create a Chaos Stone. The more common name that a person might normally use is a Philospher¡¯s Stone. Such a Stone has an immense amount of potential in the hands of a decent alchemist. Of course, it is highly possible that if anyone discovers my gift to the half-elf, they might kill her. I¡¯m confident though due to my observational time, that would likely not be much of a problem for her. It¡¯s not like people haven¡¯t tried to kill her for blowing stuff up already, S¡¯neli should be able to handle something minor like that. I¡¯m taking a more hands-off approach, since Dryad still hasn¡¯t woken up yet. I¡¯m not afraid of this brave new world, just cautious. Even though the green land dragon Mizarul gave me a ton of good information, I still am keeping a low profile. I already considered the simple fact that the information I have could be wrong, inaccurate, false, or all three. Therefore until the other half of my Dynamic Duo is awake and operational, I¡¯m going to just putz around with minor things. Well, minor to me at least. The expression as S¡¯neli comes back into her laboratory with the ¡®Sneaky Boss¡¯ is amusing to say the least. I watch her quickly notice the new shining blood onyx colored gemstone lying on the nearby table. Her eyes immediately snap to me, but I am already positioned back in the broken machine. Without allowing the Boss to see, she quickly pockets the stone in her white lab coat.Stolen novel; please report. Smart lady. S¡¯neli explains to the caravan leader that I¡¯m a heat resistant species of tree, something completely unheard of. I¡¯m not actually heat resistant, although it won¡¯t be an issue to create such a species that mimics me when I decide to leave. Boss practically has dollar signs in flashing in his eyes, and there¡¯s even a small rivulet of drool that he wipes away with the back of his hand. I had no idea that heat resistant trees were so valuable. A short discussion goes on between the two of them as each one argues for a different goal. Boss claims they still need to complete the rest of their route. S¡¯neli beats his stupidity down claiming the discovery of a lifetime trumps finishing a pathetic contract. Boss reverses with a counterattack, ¡°So are you going to pay the contract penalties for failure to complete, S¡¯neli? Because if you are, we can leave for the port immediately without delay!¡± S¡¯neli stares him down with fury before muttering, ¡°Itching powder, where¡¯d I put my itching powder.¡± I watch the poor Boss shudder in horror and escape in a lightspeed retreat. That guy has no combat strength to speak of, he probably is more survivable than a cockroach though. The rest of the time passes quickly as the caravan finishes their route. S¡¯neli spends each day creating various potions, alchemical reagents, explosives, and explosions. I am able to understand the workings of almost every machine now, bar a select few. The machines I don¡¯t understand are apparently so rarely used it is unlikely I will be able to see them in action. They also might be under the ¡®use in emergencies¡¯ only type as well. A portion of each day is spent rather annoyingly though. Laser beams. Diamond cutters. Aetheric wave-vibration. Those are a tiny few of the methods that S¡¯neli has tried in a desperate attempt to get a single sample from me. I found out afterwards, that the testing chamber reaching the Sun¡¯s surface didn¡¯t show on the outside. It was a convergence of Chaos and Chamber effects combined. That meant that to S¡¯neli on the outside, the chamber merely malfunctioned and the machine shattered. She didn¡¯t have any clue that it was a result of me being myself. As such, every day just before noon, a new attempt is made to garner a sample. Each attempt has done nothing but reinforce the fact that Chaos Wood, of which I am made, is to put it mildly¡­ Solid. I have so far had 37 tests, some of which if they were not performed on me, could have damaged the lab. To this end, S¡¯neli now walks around when not in her lab muttering words to herself. Several times she¡¯s accidentally almost brained messengers while swinging a metal pipe she uses to help think. It was very amusing to see her knock the Boss out by accident when he visited. Sharp words were said when she woke him up with smelling salts. That¡¯s how I know we are almost to the port city. I have been careful to keep a scan up on the surrounding 1 kilometer around the caravan. They¡¯ve had a few fights here and there ever since my Soul Seal has restricted my presence. The caravan leader is far more comfortable now that monster activity is more ¡®normal¡¯ than before. Even with that, no one has yet linked anything to me. I am just a new species. The Philospher¡¯s Stone that S¡¯neli is still trying to figure out how to use has nothing to do with the innocent new Tree species. I can¡¯t wait until she figures out the simple method I¡¯ve set to trigger it though. What woman can resist eternal youth? Especially when they think it¡¯s all their own discovery, heh. Seedling 74: Guard Captains Mystery Guards for the port city of Mizarul¡¯s Rest were the best of the best. Corruption was low, pay was high, and effectiveness was miles ahead of other cities. That¡¯s why, as a Guard Captain, Miles Rodreguiz could spot problems. Currently his laser focus was staring at the day¡¯s mid afternoon report. The yearly half-elf caravan from the elven continent had finished their standard route and entered the city. In their wake were absolutely stunning numbers. A prostitution ring the Guard had been hunting for months, one built on the explotation of small children had been shattered. Three major bounties had mysteriously appeared in front of the local main street Guard office. Their heads had been removed and decorated with obscene symbols. Even more stunning each of the three bodies belonged to top experts at the A-5 Rank. They were significant players in the underworld, and some said enjoyed the flesh of young children. Seventeen burglaries had been foiled, and three of them had been fatally foiled. Specifically, those against the yearly half-elf caravan.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. What caught his eyes was part of the report where one of the thieves claimed a demonic old man¡¯s voice warned him before he struck at the carvan. The voice claimed that the caravan was under their protection. The same voice had told the thief that mercy was only being shown because they knew about his starving daughter at home. The same daughter that caused the judge to grant him a working pardon for the crime. Miles was rubbing his face in his hand when the door to his office burst open and a Guard immediately saluted before handing him the late evening report. Glancing down he saw more disturbing news. A pile of gold had appeared at the doorstep of every orphanage in town that harbored half-elf children. Attached notes had explained this was a gift to favor the giver¡¯s favorite race. Those who had attempted to steal the gold had been cursed with a horrific melting that left nothing but ashes. Five gangs within the inner city, and harborside had been crushed to the last man. Each gang had a history of abusing elves, humans, and especially half-elves. When the investigators arrived nothing but ashes could be found. It was as if all the gang members had vanished at the same time. Still steaming cups of coffee, and chilled beverages were found next to small ash piles. The mystery was swept under the rug, literally. ¡°Is this¡­?¡± Miles stared at the Guard lieutentant standing across from him. ¡°It¡¯s been triple checked, sir.¡± his subordinate replied flashing a smile. ¡°In a single day someone has completely cleaned out a majority of our problems¡­¡± Miles rose from his chair to stare out the single barred window of his office. Arms crossed behind him he flashed a thrilled smile. Turning back to his lieutenant he said, ¡°Take a gift in appreciation of the ¡®Boss¡¯ F¡¯neli returning to town with an unknown Senior. Make sure to show our appreciation for their efforts.¡± Miles said, smiling. While he couldn¡¯t be exactly sure what reason the caravan would have to help clean up his town, he couldn¡¯t care less. Results were what mattered at Mizarul¡¯s Rest, not answers. This incredible event would easily shift public opinion, allowing Miles to get re-elected without a single opponent! Seedling 75 Metalworking is fascinating in many aspects. Watching the solid metal heat up into a glowing mass of white-hot enchantment is hypnotic. Since the unfortunate demise of the previous chamber S¡¯neli used we are now at the town blacksmith. The testing chamber device requires a new ¡®cage¡¯ to be created. With that, S¡¯neli is confident she will be able to salvage the rest of it. I haven¡¯t been making progress lately in my Dao of Fire. As such, I am thinking of taking up another hobby. Currently I only have the Dao of Nix, and the Dao of Fire to my name. I have considered gaining insight into other daos for some time now, yet I don¡¯t feel it would help me at all. The Dao of Nix focuses on consuming to empower, or annihilation to creation. The Dao of Fire focuses on flame, the absolute manipulation, use, and destruction of energy from which all else flows. Sure I have Chaos spells, and can manipulate the chaotic energy, but that¡¯s due to my Dao of Fire. Energy manipulation is like a tiny subset of Fire, thus it isn¡¯t too hard to pick up. With that in mind, if I mastered the Dao of Fire to a higher degree couldn¡¯t I start to control reality itself? However, metalworking is intense. There are no cheats and no shortcutting involved in the creation of a weapon, armor, or device through this method. Runes can be used on the item being forged, but all the power comes from perfect control of the Flame used. Low level blacksmiths use wood as fuel for the flame. Mid-level blacksmiths would use coal and coke. High tier blacksmiths use the very flames of their inner energy in order to deconstruct the metal at its most primal form. Watching this blacksmith is giving me a plethora of ideas. I have a large amount of treasures on hand, since I would never leave my most valuable items in a mere treasure room. Besides, what possible fuel source could be more supreme than Chaos Wood? With my new plan to improve the Dao of Fire, I decide to start with the basics. I am nowhere near the level of talent required to create a sword, plate armor, or suchlike things. Thus, I plan on going low key to start, in other words, jewelry! Rings sound like a solid plan. Simple bands of heated metal inscribed with simple Runes shouldn¡¯t cause any issues. Yes, like that story from back on Earth with the rings and the small people. I¡¯ll take a page out of the evil mastermind¡¯s book from that series and create some good rings. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Hmmm¡­ What type of rings should I make? Ah! I¡¯ll do that! Combination runeworking! Space, Agelessness, and Shield all in one ring. Linking the Runes won¡¯t be the problem, instead making sure I inscribe them correctly at the right time will be. From watching the blacksmith work, I can tell that the difference between items inscribed during the forge process, and those done after is massive. It is practically the difference between heaven and earth! Unlike a mere mortal blacksmith with a few outstanding talents though, my understanding of Flame reaches a higher level. I may not be a metalworking master, but if I were to say in this world I was second at understanding Fire, no one could claim they were first! Once we get back from the blacksmith¡¯s with the new testing chamber, I get left in my comfortable cage. It can¡¯t really hold me, but it is chock full of comfortable items. Water that flows from a powerful enchantment on a set timer. Soil filled with nutrients provided by high level magical beasts being ground up and mixed into it. Small bugs, two mice, a gerbil, and a few lizards mix in a miniature ecosystem within my cage. It¡¯s only three meters by two meters, but it¡¯s a comfortable place. Besides, it provides fantastic cover for me. Several times the sneaky Boss has accused me of various things. S¡¯neli points to the fact that none of the soil has been disturbed, nor any of the animals, insects, or enchantments disturbed. How could a tree that hasn¡¯t even moved an inch be responsible for the deaths of five anti-half elf gangs? That¡¯s right! Impossible! Heh heh. Am I disturbed by the deaths I caused in this city? Pfft. They should be thankful that I¡¯ve sent them onto the wheel of reincarnation, be better in your next lives, pondscum. If I was truly evil I¡¯d be charging them as part of a soul contract for letting them escape this world so easily. Bah. Once the alchemist has left to take her assortment of crafted wares, at least the ones that can be sold here, out to sell I get to work. Using telekinesis I manipulate a small chunk of gold ore to hover in front of me. As my assorted cage-mates watch the gold lights cherry red, then white hot within moments. I¡¯m fueling the Flame with a miniscule sliver of Chaos Wood. From my current testing it appears I will be able to use this tiny sliver to craft several thousand rings alone. The energy ratio of pure Chaos is simply that damn good. Dross drops off the hovering chunk of metallic ore. I make sure to catch the slag and teleport it out of the room. I¡¯m sure the thugs who were preparing to attempt to rob the caravan will appreciate my gift. It takes less than a minute to purify the ore until only gold of a 100% purity remains. Carefully I trace an interlinking set of Runes for Space, Agelessness, and Shielding onto the still molten ring-shaped creation. Several minutes of smoothing, and I prepare for the final step, air quenching. I gently lower the temperature around the newly created ring simulating what quenching in liquid oil would do. A final rune of Solidarity was thrown in, since pure gold is too weak without magical hardening to be useful. On the other hand, the high conductivity of pure gold allows magic to easily flow through it. Going slowly, I scan every atom of the ring making sure there are no disturbances that would cause shattering. If I had sweat glands they would be going crazy right about now. Half an hour passed before I manage to finish. In total the new golden ring inscribed with Runes took me over an hour total to create. Much longer than I thought it would, on the other hand I need to test it on someone. Just as I was thinking about testing, S¡¯neli comes back inside the lab. Discretely I place the ring on a small square of slag that has been polished to mirror brightness. I make sure the location of the ring is nowhere near my cage. I¡¯m being so generous because, it¡¯s easier to get things done as a pet than on my own without Dryad being awake. A small note describing how to use the Philospher¡¯s Stone is engraved on the plate I placed the ring on. S¡¯neli is brilliant in many things, but she still hasn¡¯t figured out how to activate the Stone. The ring should prevent any ¡®accidents¡¯ from killing her before she figures it out. While I don¡¯t think she could ¡®break¡¯ the Chaos Stone with her current level of power, I¡¯ve decided not to take a risk. Watching her find my prepared gift I nod to myself and then drop off to a well deserved nap. Seedling 76 After my short nap I got to watch an entertaining scene. F¡¯neli, the sneaky ¡®Boss¡¯ being berated by his young female alchemist. It had all started with a marriage proposal from a nearby noble in the town. F¡¯neli had wanted his sister to take up the offer. Money, land, title, what more could a woman want? Poor guy, he approached his sister with the concept right after she¡¯d received the ring I left for her. The ensuing conversation was cute. ¡°They¡¯ll never take me alive!¡± S¡¯neli said, her hand holding several round potion bottles between her fingers. I knew those bottles contained highly ¡®excitable¡¯ substances. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Why not?¡± F¡¯neli had asked as the two flunkies near him stayed carefully behind him. Sometimes, guards are about as useful as cockroaches. ¡°Because I¡¯m going to kill all of them! Dead people can¡¯t take me alive!¡± S¡¯neli said, her eyes blazing with fury. One hand was twitching in throwing motions towards her erstwhile brother. It was enough to have them backing out of the place, fast. After her brother left, S¡¯neli spent several minutes channeling her fury into making a potion that glowed with a peculiar bright orange glow. I didn¡¯t trust the constant bubbling the solution made after being poured into a bottle either. Watching her slip the gold ring on, I witnessed a skyshattering smile of blooming brilliance before she pulled out the Stone. Placing it against the newly created potion she made a small cut on her other hand linking the blood sacrifice in a flash. The completed magical circuit imbued the potion with even greater power from the Chaos of the Stone. Whoever had that volatile potion thrown at them¡­wouldn¡¯t live¡­long¡­ I prayed silently for the noble who¡¯d made a poor choice, ah, beauty is the root of great misfortune, eh? At least said noble¡¯s family won¡¯t have to pay large funeral costs right? The unfortunate ones that will be caught up in the collateral damage are just unlucky. Well if they are hanging around someone who thinks their mere ¡®nobility¡¯ grants them the right to harass my alchemist, hmph. They deserve their fate. Seedling 77 Kidnapping is such a distasteful method of attempting to persuade someone to marry you. I¡¯m at a loss exactly how this fancy noble and his hired thugs think the situation will go in their favor. Even with the fact that they¡¯ve ambushed S¡¯neli inside her laboratory, don¡¯t they understand, that this only means she is armed. I don¡¯t know about anyone else, I wouldn¡¯t attack an alchemist right next to a great many chemicals. That just doesn¡¯t seem like a very wise choice, especially for a man wanting to continue his blood linage. Oh! I take that back, apparently the noble brought a decent mage. A noble, a mage, a group of thugs, I feel like I¡¯ve seen this situation somewhere before¡­ Wait!? Why am I getting kidnapped too, dammit!This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. I haven¡¯t offended anyone recently¡­ Hmm¡­. Well, anyone that matters¡­ Tsk, S¡¯neli can¡¯t do much when she¡¯s frozen like an ice sculpture. Good thing she¡¯s wearing that ring I made. They left her with her all those valuable ingredients in her ring, ha, this can¡¯t end well¡­ As we leave I see F¡¯neli, his eyes flash with rage that is concealed behind an impassive mask. So, this noble has enough pull that the caravan can¡¯t go against them directly, eh? That¡¯s fine, this Tree will take care of problems, hisself. The thugs carry S¡¯neli and me to a mansion inside the port city. As we pass through a barely passable garden, they place us into a well-decorated room. Glancing around at the rich opulent surroundings the room practically screams at the lack of coherent fashion. If I didn¡¯t know better I¡¯d say more than one interior designer had tried to decorate it at varying periods of time. As soon as the thugs leave the door makes a clicking noise before glowing purple briefly. I might not know everything there is about magic, however I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s some sort of pathetic magical lock. Since my pot is placed behind the ice statue of S¡¯neli, I clearly see the ice as it starts to fracture. A golden light begins to shine through the cracks, before the entire sheath of ice shatters. S¡¯neli is revealed with a golden light covering her like a second skin. Hmph, I do good work on shielding. I added a few extras too from my understanding of things back on Earth. In emergency situations the Shield on the ring will auto-deploy much like airbags. Essentially there is no such thing as ¡®ambushing¡¯ S¡¯neli unless the ring is destroyed first. Watching her expression I see molten fury slowly melt away into an expression of icy calm. Yeah¡­ These guys are all walking dead, now. S¡¯neli spends a few moments getting some equipment out of the ring before she starts crafting. Minutes later there is a decent row of newly made potions. Waving her hand, S¡¯neli places everything back into the chaos gold ring I made. Picking me up in one hand, she turns towards the door with a bubbling, glowing, orange potion in hand. This isn¡¯t going to end well, heh. I''ve seen that potion before... Seedling 78 As I¡¯m watching over S¡¯neli when she moves through the mansion, I consider the energy I felt a moment ago. It was definitely a sliver of Dao. Being, that I¡¯m not a genius in the Dao, I can only feel one I¡¯ve seen before up close. So, out of all the Dao I know, this one had a peculiar sensation that can¡¯t be faked, yes, a feeling of sharpness. Someone in this mansion is gaining, or has gained, insight into the Dao. This is confusing to me though, the Dao of the Sword doesn¡¯t seem like something that can be developed here. I¡¯m not saying this mansion doesn¡¯t have all the requisite training areas, just this place also has a ton of distractions. If it isn¡¯t the gorgeous maids, it¡¯s the even better dressed slaves. Or should I say the ¡®less¡¯ better dressed slaves? I find it hard to believe someone could train a Dao that focuses on sharp in a place that would dull most blades. Oh, wait though¡­ That¡¯s implicit bias isn¡¯t it? I mean I know at least one supremely gifted female Sword Dao user. That¡¯s right, couldn¡¯t it be that?This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. As we finally burst into a hall conjunction that joins the center of the mansion to each section I see my guess is right. Standing in the center of the lobby area is a single female slave with a sword down at her side. The sword itself is an unassuming rusty piece of garbage that I wouldn¡¯t equip a dying madman with for use. However, the young slave girl seems to treasure it greatly, as evidenced by her clutching it tightly. Well, even though I only sense a sliver of the Dao, it is enough to completely crush S¡¯neli. I wasn¡¯t originally going to take action, but I won¡¯t allow someone I¡¯ve invested valuable time and energy into to be turned into meat paste. The slave girl raises her sword shouting, ¡°One world, under the Sword!¡± An awe inspiring aura bursts out, flattening S¡¯neli to the ground as her body shudders in fear. Her hand unclenches, causing my traveling pot to fall towards the floor. The feeling of sharp reaches out billowing from the girl as if a sword has been pointed a both of us. Killing intent mixed with bloodthirst drenches S''neli slicing into her will, attempting to devour her whole. Enough. In a fraction of a second my pot levitates before hitting the floor as I instantly appear in front of S¡¯neli. My bark begins to glow with white energy as I activate my power. Absolute Domain. Like a soap bubble popping from the pressure of a touch, the sword aura is dispersed, brutally. I could have stopped there except, I sensed a chance to show S¡¯neli a piece of the path she could walk. From within my leaves a combination of ingredients ripe with the power of the Dao of Alchemy converged. In front of S¡¯neli I deliberately slowed the formation of the alchemy array so she could see the flow of power. Ingredients refine into essence, which is condensed into crystallized pill form. The pill formed is more powerful than a hundred thousand glowing orange potions. Throwing the pill forward I watch in glee as the ignorant slave does exactly as I expect. She cuts it. For a brief moment, the sun is brought to earth, contained behind the power of the Absolute Domain I established around the sword user. When the light vanishes, nothing remains of the slave girl with the exception of a single sword that falls clattering to the floor. I quickly scoop up the sword into my leaves, since it happens to be a valuable piece of Metal, I haven¡¯t lost out on the exchange. I move back to rub S¡¯neli with my leaves, and watch as she stares blankly at me. Tsk, people are so easily amazed these days. A single whack of one of my many branches brings S¡¯neli back to reality. She stares at me again, but I refuse to be worried. Just a normal tree here, hallucinations not our problem, moving on now¡­ Seedling 79 When someone stares at you it is very uncomfortable. When they stare a short time it can be a bit weird. When they stare a long time, depending on the length, one can find themselves losing mental control. I have a simple solution that I employ in these types of situations. I. Do. Nothing. Hah! That¡¯s right, I do nothing, just because I do nothing while sleeping, does not mean I just sleep through the stare. That would be rude. I meditate. Yes, that¡¯s right, I meditate through a long stare. S¡¯neli held some suspicions I¡¯m sure, but since she was pressured so much it didn¡¯t matter. The nameless slave girl had used a sliver of Dao, yet even such a tiny fraction of power was enough to blur events. A mind protects itself by reducing the memory of a traumatic event. That¡¯s why in many cases, such as those types of crimes victims cannot remember clearly. It isn¡¯t that they can¡¯t, it is that their own minds fight to protect them by forgetting key traumas.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The same situation protects me now. S¡¯neli is suspicious sure, so what? Can¡¯t prove anything nah nah, na nah nah! So what if she used a blowtorch to attempt to get a reaction from me. I have nerves of wood, nothing breaks my composure. Besides, heat at that level is barely noticeable to me. Drowning, falling from a great height, pressure tests, nothing fazes me. I¡¯m just a normal new species with extraordinary properties! As long as I don¡¯t act weird now how could anything go wrong? F¡¯neli walked into the lab in a rush, his robes swishing with importance. As the caravan leader he was the one who had to deal with the fallout from what occurred at a certain mansion. ¡°Sister! How. Could. You!¡± F¡¯neli shouted in fury, ¡°You know Von Arlen is part of the moderate Vampire faction! Our family has been trying to connect with them for decades, ever since they took over this part of the trade route!¡± S¡¯neli had an expression that appeared as if someone had shoved cow manure in her face, ¡°I couldn¡¯t care less what that bloodsucking piece of garbage wants! There are tens of pretty girls in our family, why does that piece of trash keep bothering me, dammit!¡± ¡°Who knows why a vampire does anything!? That¡¯s not the point, the point is we have a chance to move the clan¡¯s standing higher than a mere one or two ranks here!¡± F¡¯neli said, trying to control his tone. ¡°Really? Do you have another alchemist rank four lying around? What? No? Then who is going to provide the elders with Eternal Life Elixir, hmm?¡± S¡¯neli said waving her hands theatrically in the air, ¡°Think before you babble some pathetic string of meaningless crap like ¡®marry for the clan¡¯s interests¡¯ eh? What do you think benefits the clan more? Elders living longer, or a few extra ranks gained in our trade empire? Pah!¡± F¡¯neli tried to control his face purpling in anger before he threw his hands up in the air and strutted out of the lab. S¡¯neli gave a sniff before moving to sit down in front of me in a chair she¡¯d placed there several days ago. I ignore the stare that was directed at me. I ignore the fingers tapping on the chair armrests. I ignore the coaxing conversation attempts. I feel like I completely understand those poor plants that have to listen to music of their owner¡¯s choosing to grow ¡®healthier¡¯. Let me say, S¡¯neli does not in my opinion have the ability to choose music. Tone deaf. No, no that¡¯s being kind to deaf people. S¡¯neli¡¯s ability to choose horrible music is a talent all in a different league of its own. I often have theorized lately that this is perhaps and attempt to garner a reaction from me. To that end, I have finally decided today after suffering for a few hours¡­ This music device, it must be purged in fire. Seedling 80 I had to wait until S¡¯neli went to sleep before taking action to remove the music device. After the deed was done and the melted remains hidden in one of my leaf space pockets I felt better. In order to make the point even clearer, I created a shining ruby red crystal fragment the size of two fists. I¡¯m sure S¡¯neli won¡¯t miss much of the reagent used to make it from her lab. Carving a few basic runes I turned the crystal into an otherworldly floating music device. From memory I pre-loaded it with a large variety of jazz, blues, classical, and techno. I also threw in some of the famous singers from my earthly past, whose names I didn¡¯t quite remember anymore! Now, I could listen to good music. Since the floating crystal was rotating around me, I figured it would be hard to explain so I created a small note. This crystal is a gift to my favorite Tree! Signed- Music Person Perfect! In this manner I can completely avoid suspicion, muahahaha! There¡¯s no way anyone can suspect an innocent tree of creating epic gadgets right? Right! Now, on to more serious matters. Nothing I try seems to be able to wake up Dryad, and I¡¯ve tried a lot of things. Since she doesn¡¯t seem to be waking up due to some unforeseen technical difficulties, I need to utilize Plan C. Plan B was a mistake, like eating cold turnips. Onwards, C! Plan C of course involves utilizing available on hand personnel. Exhibit A, a half-elf alchemist. A few nudges, a few pushes, a few cliffs, and some grandfatherly mystic advice, and presto! A superb alchemy genius is born! How to give advice without exposing myself, hmm¡­ There¡¯s always that¡­ When in doubt, create a patsy! I need someone pliable, easily induced, simple, honest, trustworthy¡­.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Ok, that type of person doesn¡¯t exist, let me be more realistic¡­ I need someone greedy, cowardly, and easy to manipulate¡­ Hmm¡­ ¡­ ¡­. ¡­.. I¡¯m drawing a blank here, because, frankly I haven¡¯t really interacted with almost anyone except S¡¯neli, F¡¯neli, and random kidnappers. A-Am I turning into a shut-in Tree!? No! NO! This, this is just a small minor mistake, ha! Hah hah¡­ I can fix this easy, I just need more exposure. That¡¯s right, with enough experience, any fear can be conquered! I¡¯m not saying I¡¯m afraid of crowds or anything, I¡¯m just more cautious. Dying once already does that to a person, so I¡¯ve heard from people I know. I know lots of people! Shimmer, Flicker, Kehoko, Kurhoko, Devon, Azvril, Tevril, Sword Girl, Robert, Emily, Ven, S¡¯neli¡­ Can it be?! My circle of friends is barely above ten? That¡¯s perfectly normal, I think¡­ Yes! Pe-r-fect-ly normal! If anyone disagrees¡­hmph hmph¡­ I don¡¯t need to expand my circle of friends anyways, they spread across universes! So there! Moving on, Plan C will require local assistance to implement. In order to indirectly guide S¡¯neli I need someone to be my cat¡¯s paw¡­ Oh? I wonder if they really have those in this world¡­ I¡¯ve always had good relations with the Beast races, perhaps a slave with a ring that helps¡­facilitate¡­things. Yes! Slavery is bad, unless it serves my ulterior motives, indeed! Reaching out I stretch my senses forward. I¡¯ve noticed that while I¡¯m sealed I cannot go further than 1km in a circle around me. However, the caveat is that if I focus only in a single direction I can ¡®thread¡¯ my sense. In essence pulling it into a much longer range of detection. This results in something like a radar picture, instead of the clearer than a microscope type view I had before. For my purposes now it works fine, since all I need is to locate the slave market if one exists. To my joy, and sadness, there is a slave market located close to the harbor, probably for ease of transport. I can¡¯t get a clearer picture than that, so with S¡¯neli sleeping, I make a break for temporary freedom. In order to avoid any problems, I leave a decoy in place. I knew watching all those ninja films would come in handy four millennia later! Invisibility is a simple Rune compared to Agelessness, even better it prevents guard patrols from the city taking notice. Stealthy like only a ninja tree can be, I make my way down to the slave pens near the dockyard buildings. Old, old, male, male¡­ The heck! Where are the half-naked gorgeous tender female slaves? Tsk, this is apparently a low-level market. Higher priced commodities might not even be seen here, ever. I wonder¡­ There has been that Rune I¡¯ve been working on, Reverse Aging. It¡¯s based off Agelessness, yet I haven¡¯t found a test subject for it. Mostly because all the females I know are nowhere near elderly. Walking close to a cage with an elderly lady I say, ¡°Freedom?¡± The old woman in the cage is like a zombie horror movie extra, her eyes flash open with blinding speed and she stares straight¡­through¡­me. I watch her assess the situation before focusing on where my voice came from, ¡°Freedom¡­price?¡± Ho ho! This lady isn¡¯t half bad! ¡°Service, lifetime, grant youth in exchange.¡± I state, I could use more words, but I¡¯m having fun talking shorthand. The old lady is old, she has wrinkled skin, matty white hair, cat ears, and eyes that appear like dead greenwood. She¡¯s the perfect test subject for my semi-theorized aging Rune. ¡°Accept.¡± the old lady whispers, hope lighting up in her eyes. For a moment, a brief, cruel, evil moment, I think about just leaving her there. The moment passes though and I melt the cage before cloaking the old lady in invisibility. A quick trip back to the lab and I¡¯m ready to get down to business. I create a sound and light barrier sealing us inside. The old lady stares at me as I place the decoy into one of my leaves, before bringing out a chunk of gold ore. Turning gold ore into chaos gold isn¡¯t an easy process. Even with the two hours it takes to make the new ring, the old lady doesn¡¯t move a muscle. Her eyes are laser bright focused on the forging process, as well as paying particular attention to the Runes formed. I threw Reverse Aging, Agelessness, Shield, Space, Mind, and Fire on this ring. I mean, there¡¯s no point in having a patsy that can¡¯t do anything with Flame when several of my gifts clearly needed it. S¡¯neli isn¡¯t an idiot, and thus, the extra runes are a hedge bet against any problems. A fire rune grants a sliver of Dao to the user, more like a¡­. Seed, yes, a seed of Dao that given enough time could blossom into something greater. Mind will allow me to communicate with my agent without words, and the rest are quickly turning into my ¡®standard¡¯ go to Runes for rings. I watch the old cat lady put the ring on her finger. Power ripples out from the ring, fighting against the laws of the world. The heavens decree, yet chaos opposes the order, balance shifts in visible ripples of might. The ring heats up on the elder¡¯s finger, burning white hot as it fights against the lawful rules of the world. That which ages, must die. For a fraction of a second I release my seal, and push, before re-sealing my soul. The result of my push is enough to alter reality, and with a visible snap, the world re-aligns along the new paradigm I forced. The old cat lady is now a middle-aged woman with sparkling green eyes, raven black hair, and skin smoother than milk cream. Hmph, a tiny world like this, a pathetic universe like this, thinks it can bully this Tree? I think not. Now, I need to do something about these rags. I can¡¯t have someone representing me in barely wearable garbage. A few minor changes later and my agent is dressed to the nines in classic fashion from the twentieth century. The cheongsam never dies, no matter the era! Seedling 81 ¡°Mishra.¡± the middle aged catlady said, while bowing with both hands crossed to her chest. I have the strangest feeling she is much more than a mere slave, that bow was almost picture perfect. Mah, whatever. Welcome to my service, Mishra. I send mentally, testing the ring out. Thank you for freeing me, Plant. Mishra sent back, with images of deep respect accompanying them. Oh, this is totally much better than normal communication with Dryad. I definitely need to place this on the list of upgrades to make sure she has available. Gah! The work never ends, even in another world! Do you recognize where we are at the moment? I ask. Master Plant, would you like to know the name of the city, province, country, or empire we are located in? Mishra counters with a kind tint to her mental voice. All of the above please. I reply, goodness this place is already so complicated? What happened to just having empires lying around like plucked chickens¡­ Master Plant, we are in Zelos Port City, the province of Camb, the country of Talev, all of this within the First Empire of Sun Elves. Mishra responds, her voice smooth and calm. Isn¡¯t my eye for picking servants like, almost at a divine level? I think so, indeed it is! Is the caravan of half-elves a normal occurrence in this area, Mishra? Yes, before I became too old to¡­satisfy¡­my previous Master, I worked in one of the top merchant firms in this city. The caravan comes ones every five years to gather resources from the Green Nightmare. Master Plant, do you come from the Forest? Yes! I woke up after a long time, so I decided to leave after a nice chat with Mizarul. I could see dropping the name of the green land dragon here was super effective. Mishra froze up for only a brief second, before returning to impassiveness.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Well, it would be obvious why, anyone who can casually meet a green land dragon and return alive isn¡¯t a pushover. The ring you are wearing has a few perks. Let¡¯s go over them now. Mishra places herself down on the same chair S¡¯neli uses to stare at me. Her entire body expresses a desire to listen. First, Reverse Aging. This ring goes against the Laws by forcefully altering reality at a basic level to return you to your present appearance. I had to provide a little force to push the change through, and as a result removing the ring will kill you. Never fear though! As long as you wear the ring, the second property, Agelessness takes effect. In essence, you no longer age, at any level. You will retain this appearance, quite literally, till the universe ends. I pause for a moment because it appears my new servant is frozen like a software glitch. Minutes pass and then Mishra takes a deep breath before bowing deeply from her sitting position. I nod my branches back, before moving onwards! The third property is shielding. In a moment of life and death, a shield will deploy. I haven¡¯t tested it fully yet, however from my own power it should probably stop anything but a direct Divine strike. Oh, that¡¯s a strike from a god, a full power one. The fourth property is space, if you push your mind into the ring, you will find a large area of space separated for your use. I went through extra effort to allow you to place living things inside. As a result of that however, the objects inside age, although at a much slower rate than outside. In theory you could create a miniature garden inside, since there is also a light source inside to help you see what¡¯s in there. The fifth property, is, of course mind, allowing us to communicate like this. I pause the explanation for a moment. It takes a moment to think how to introduce the last part, the Rune of Fire. The way a teacher demonstrates the Dao can have a profound impact on their student, for all eternity. The final property, is a small portion of the Dao of Fire. It is a seed that can grow within you to be a blazing forest fire, a tiny candle, or anything in between. Only you can nurture the Seed to a final form. I call it, a Dao Seed of Fire. I take a deep mental breath before saying my final advice. Fire burns, it consumes, yet it can also give life, renewing the world around it for other things to grow. If you do not master the Flame, it will consume you, because to true Fire, all things are fuel, even the user. That¡¯s the best advice I can give without impacting her more than I¡¯m comfortable with. A dao is something personal, and to me, rather close to sacred. I would feel rather bad if I led her down a path that ended in nothing but smoke and ashes. The advice I gave should hopefully keep that to a minor possibility. A moment later the glazed eyes of Mishra return to reality. I watch her take her first step on the Dao of Fire by conjuring a small flickering candle flame above her cupped right hand. She stares at the flame for a long time before banishging it, and then standingto give me a deep bow, before sitting down again. Well, that went well I guess? Is there anything you need to do before morning comes? I ask politely. The fact that Mishra is taking the changes well isn¡¯t lost on me. I would appreciate a bit of time to take care of some minor matters, Master Plant. Mishra replies with a somber tone. As long as they do not affect my ¡®owner¡¯ S¡¯neli, you can have until noon to take care of any issues. I reply before preparing myself for a nap. Thank you, Master Plant. Mishra replies, before rising from the chair, giving a short bow, and exiting the lab. I¡¯m not concerned about anyone stopping her becaue, F¡¯neli has many ¡®night visitors¡¯ who look worse than her. That happens to be one of the things I was counting on. Besides, if someone really does stop her, I¡¯ll be much less impressed with catkin. Silent steps, ghost like speed, if a random caravan guard could discover that easily, then why the hell are they working for F¡¯neli? They could make ten times more guarding a random noble house. Now that Mishra is gone, it¡¯s time to focus on the vampire noble. I¡¯ve been considering things from a few angles, and I really can¡¯t see any benefit to leaving him alive. I guess I¡¯ll take action in the morning, since there¡¯s really no reason to delay my nap further. Seedling 82 My nap is disturbed by screaming from two individuals. ¡°Fine! If you want it that way brother, I relinquish my rights to the Clan. Have fun telling the Elders that you lost the brightest alchemy star in ten generations!¡± S¡¯neli states while sneering. ¡°Now, now that¡¯s going a bit far sister¡­¡± F¡¯neli says, his expression changing from angry to fearful. S¡¯neli ignores him moving around placing everything that belongs to her inside the ring I created for her. Finally she comes to my cage, picks up the handle, flips her brother off, and leaves the lab. Bright sunlight outside clearly shows it¡¯s approaching noon. Well, at least I got some rest. Mishra, are you done? I send out across the aether. I¡¯m finishing up now, Master Plant. I will be done in less than ten minutes? Mishra replies, her tone questioning whether she should depart immediately or not. That¡¯s fine, there has been a small issue with my current situation. I¡¯ll need you to acquire some funds, and then meet up with me. Oh, I don¡¯t care how you get the money either. Although if you happen to rob a certain Von Arlen vampire noble, I wouldn¡¯t be displeased. I reply back, my tone neutral. Master Plant, fire insurance is not something most nobles have. For the safety of the many, we should demonstrate that is an unwise stance to maintain. Mishra replies back, her tone neutral as well. Indeed. Understood, Master Plant. Heh, I like this servant, she¡¯s got spark. The short conversation took place in a fraction of time. So by the time S¡¯neli exited the caravan¡¯s encampment I was no longer stressed. Pausing, she balanced my cage in one hand while thinking about where to go. It was apparent that for all her bluster, S¡¯neli had never actually left the embrace of her Clan. Taking pity on the unprepared alchemist, I threw a large gold ore nugget at her foot. Glancing down her eyes widened, before she snatched up the nugget with glee. Moments later we were floating through traffic in the city, on the way to the Merchant¡¯s quarter. From there she would be able to exchange the nugget for a decent amount of coins. This would allow her to purchase or rent a place to stay, and from there it was just a matter of making a few potions. While a fourth rank alchemist was nothing in my eyes, to the masses a fourth rank alchemist was similar to a journeyman level. Not only that, fourth rank was a step below fifth, which was Master level. Most called it half-step Master level, since it only required a small burst of inspiration to cross the gap. For many it wasn¡¯t anything hard, but for others they could spend their entire life unable to cross this gap. S¡¯neli in my honest opinion wouldn¡¯t even see the tiny gap between ranks. From watching her recent forays into pill making, I knew she wouldn¡¯t even notice a tiny rank change. Alchemists in this world had nine ranks, separated by three levels each. The elven system went something like Blank Moon, Quarter Moon, Half Moon, Full Moon, Bright Moon, Dark Moon, Half Sun, Full Sun, and finally Sun¡¯s Chosen. The ranks would equate to Novice, Apprentice, Disciple, Journeyman, Master, Expert, and Grandmaster in a normal ranking. The final two ranks are more like titles, denoting how close an elven alchemist is to the divine. Of course that¡¯s all a moot point for S¡¯neli, since, well she has a Chaos Stone. Ranks are meaningless before true power after all. All she requires is a few decades of ¡®seasoning¡¯ before this world has a new Pill Lord.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Pill Lords are able to control not just ingredients, they can also alter the elemental essence in them, creating perfect pills. Such pills even can go so far as to invoke Heavenly tribulations, ranging from lighting, to floods, to anything in between. Once she reaches close to the apex, I can put my second major plan in motion. I haven¡¯t forgotten those tasty Divinities. I already know there are priesthoods in this city, and it follows they also worship. When S¡¯neli reaches Pill Lord, at that point she would be an S-Rank existence. With the world as ingredients, heaven as the forge, and the body as a flame I expect great things. At that point, I can start hunting for food. I haven¡¯t forgotten the fact that I¡¯m currently a short Tree. I haven¡¯t forgotten that, at all. While plotting the deaths of many Divine foodsources, S¡¯neli has already exchanged the gold nugget for a bag of coins. From there a small shop was purchased. Stepping inside the shop, S¡¯neli places my cage onto the counter before looking around. This place is¡­ A dump. No, that¡¯s treating dumps badly, it¡¯s a nightmare. Watching S¡¯neli I see her cold expression slowly degenerate into tears. ¡°Alone¡­¡± S¡¯neli says, crying into her hands. It must be hard to leave everything you¡¯ve ever known huh? That¡¯s ok though! I would never let someone I have plans for suffer much! Unless of course I had plans to make them suffer¡­regardless, this is an easy solution. Another few nuggets of gold fall out behind S¡¯neli, one of them rolling to tap her ankle. It¡¯s fun to watch her creaking as she turns, like one of those old horror films. Glancing down she sees the pile of gold nuggets. It¡¯s not like I haven¡¯t removed a few mountains worth, I could throw piles out for years and not notice them. That would of course crash the value of gold around here to nothing, but the point is demonstrated. S¡¯neli picks up the nuggets with her ring, staring at me suspiciously. Tears streak her face making her look like a total mess. Nothing strange here, gold nuggets are always just lying around¡­ After a short staring contest, S¡¯neli exits the door without me. Her stride is firmer, as if she never cried in the first place. I¡¯m confident she¡¯ll rebound even stronger than before. Which is just fine, since I am expecting my servant to return shortly. Moments later, Mishra enters the store on silent feet with unnatural quietness. Looking around she spots me in the carry cage, before moving in front of me to bow deeply. Did you take care of everything? I ask, concerned. I don¡¯t want anything interfering in my plans later, so it¡¯s best to let Mishra finish her business now. Yes, thank you. Master Plant, I went and took revenge on those that cast me down. I beg apologies for my actions. Mishra said, her tone contrite. Well, I didn¡¯t really expect much else when I gave a slave like her more power than most people would see in a lifetime. This wasn¡¯t unexpected at all, in fact, it would help her further. The dao is best contemplated without distractions, after all. Explain further. I state, my tone calm. I burned, looted, and killed the merchants that betrayed me after my fall from grace. Specifically, the slave market owner, the merchant house I served, and the Guildhouse for the Merchants. The guildhouse also happened to be located right next to Von Arlen¡¯s manor, so I was able to save time on both matters. Mishra said, her tone showing a small amount of excitement. Arson is rather addictive, especially if you are a user of the Dao of Fire, I guess. What is your total haul in terms of coinage? I ask, with a shadow of curiosity. Just under ten thousand gold, just under four thousand silver, and around one thousand five hundred copper in coins. Fifty-four thousand gold in ingots, seventy-two thousand silver in ingots, and one hundred ten thousand copper in ingots. I am not sure how to properly estimate the art that I took. There is one ton of assorted wood of varying types which I have no clue the price of. Lastly, I have a massive quantity of jewelry which should total out at around half a million in gold, as most of it is family heirlooms. I also took every ring I could find, of any type, make, or model since I didn¡¯t know if you would like to study them. Mishra replied, with prompt speed. This¡­ This servant is¡­ Priceless! Excellent work. Standby and await the return of S¡¯neli. When she arrives offer yourself as a servant. If she asks any questions say something like you saw her carrying me in the market place, and white trees are a sign of luck to your Clan. I state with amusement coloring my tone. As you wish, Master Plant. Mishra says, moving to stand motionlessly outside the doorway. With that matter taken care of, I pull out a large leather-bound book from within one of my leaves. When I had time I happened to plunder several libraries in Celna. I¡¯m sure even now the mystery of the legendary book thief, Branch, will echo even to the ends of their history. Staring at the cover of the book, I carefully use burning flames to leech away the ink from the previous title and pages. A few minutes later the entire book is blank. I took care to choose a black leather book. The reason for this is simply I noticed from watching S¡¯neli dress it is one of her favorite colors. On the cover of the book I write the runes for ¡®Alchemy of Agelessness: Dummy Edition.¡¯ Since the rune for Agelessness is also easily visible on her ring, S¡¯neli will be unable to resist checking the book. A small trap within the cover will force a single cut onto the finger that opens the book. As soon as the blood drips onto the pages, the book will soulbind. The first few pages have several simple pill recipes, and through this method I will endeavor to raise my Pill Lord upwards to the heavens. Mishra, make sure that whatever happens, S¡¯neli opens this book. Only her, kill anyone else that tries. I send to my servant before heading off for a well-deserved slumber. All this preparatory work is exhausting. Seedling 83 Women are scary. They bounce back from the most tragic circumstances with extreme prejudice. How do I know such wisdom? Is it my many years working with Dryad? My millennia of observing humanoid behavior patterns? Perhaps even, dare I say it, divine inspiration? None of the above! I simply am watching such a situation after I woke up. How devastating must it be to be unable to purchase the newest product of a genius alchemist, even if you are related to them? F¡¯neli knows such a pain now¡­ Ah well, life lessons like this are what keep people growing right? Right! Of course, no alchemist is able to get things right 100% of the time. As such, I have turned into the unfortunate soul tasked with taking care of the remains of pill slag that occurs. It is all due to accidentally devouring a tasty morsel of new-made pills when no one was looking. Somehow, someway, S¡¯neli drew a link between the missing pill slag and me. I say, that¡¯s just mean, it isn¡¯t like I¡¯m a glutton or anything! Anyways, while no one ever sees it, all pill slag that is placed near my resting place in the store¡­ Vanishes. I mean, it¡¯s not like I can just leave food lying out now can I? That¡¯s a travesty that is!Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Besides, some of this stuff is kind of tasty. Admittedly, it¡¯s not enough to keep me sustained. In order to keep from going hungry, I ran a root all the way out to the ocean. From there I consume massive quantities of marine life, water, and mineral mud. I can safely say, the recent lack of Krakens has nothing to do with me. At all. The fact that shipping has become noticeably safer has made a few merchants, the ones that Mishra didn¡¯t bankrupt, scratch their heads. However, good old greed has caused them to shrug and ignore the signs of a greater predator nearby. A side effect of my method of eating, is that it causes a decent amount of root growth. While my main body hasn¡¯t managed to grow due to lack of Order, I have managed to cover the entire storefront in my roots. I considered counting the root growth towards ¡®Tree Height¡¯ however, it just doesn¡¯t ring true. Root growth is different from actual trunk, branch, and leaf growth, there¡¯s no way around it. Shoplifters, thugs, shady guards, shifty bums, and the odd cat have learned the hard way not to cause trouble in the store. After all, those who cause trouble are not seen again. Pill ingredients are always needed after all¡­along with snacks¡­ For that reason my plan is moving smoothly, on average every two weeks results in another recipe being devoured by S¡¯neli. She¡¯s a sharp little alchemy genius that has even taking to improving the recipes I know. Now, alchemy does cost money. Of course, that¡¯s taken care of by S¡¯neli¡¯s trusted follower, Mishra. That¡¯s right, my servant is a trusted follower. She takes care of all the minor issues around here like zoning permits, legal staff on hand, shop sale taxes, and the rest. I must say, freeing this catkin was one of my most recent best decisions. Can I blame her for using her new powers to enact revenge here and there tracelessly? Nah. I¡¯m no ¡®Hero¡¯ with a limited view of the world after all. Mishra. I reached out into the aether to contact my servant. Yes, Master Plant? Mishra responded promptly. Has the research into temples, priests, and such things finished? I have a few things on hand, however progress is slow. The temples keep information on a tight leash, almost as if they have been warned. Currently I am searching for some excommunicated individuals to gather better information from. Those types always have particular tastes that require money to satistfy. Oh? Is it possible I didn¡¯t seal my soul fast enough? Perhaps the Divinities of this world may already have an inkling something hungers for them¡­ I briefly thought of going back into the forest to murder Mizarul who is the only other being besides my own that knows I exist, but decided against dragonocide. It¡¯s just bad form to murder someone that was so helpful after all, besides killing someone useful like that is hard to justify. What¡¯s the point of power if I can¡¯t make a mistake here and there? Admittedly, I should thank my lucky stars I decided to seal myself before they could locate me. I bet I blazed brightly in the aether, like a red sun to the background of normal power on this planet. Take your time, devote around 25% of our income to this expense. The chance to feed is priceless to me. Understood, Master Plant. I will devote greater efforts towards this action. Mishra replied, her tone containing fervous zeal. I¡¯m not sure where the zeal comes from, although I have noticed that when Mishra stares at me sometimes for long moments, there are flames deep within her eyes. Meh, it¡¯s not a big concern to me. I have occasionally thought of speeding up my plans, releasing my true powers, unsealing my soul, and simply gorging myself. However, each time the thought comes up I restrain myself. If I have learned anything, it¡¯s that I¡¯m currently in a long-term war with Divinities spanning across multiple universes. It might even be the famed ¡®multi-verse¡¯ theory in action. Such a war can take a long time, and one Tree cannot do everything alone. Witness how even now, my main partner Dryad is out of action? This means I will need allies, and there are no better allies than the ones you gain, I mean create on your own! I¡¯ve theorized that a Chaos Alchemist would possibly be able to help me grow even better than the crude method I have now. Just like normal plants grow better under the care of a Gardener than in the wild where they must fight for every resource. Eventually it might even be possible to create something like ¡®fertilizer¡¯ for me to grow in! The future is definitely looking up for this Tree! Watching everything working like clockwork around the shop due to the incredible efficiency of Mishra, I decide to go back to sleep. Ah, there¡¯s another group of thugs trying to muscle in, these guys are like cockroaches¡­ Crunch. Robbers have a taste unique to their breed! Seedling 84: Divine Meeting A dais of circular shape like a wedding cake stood alone on top of a vast mountain top. The mountain was accorded by legend to be the meeting place of gods, although no human had ascended it in millennia. The dais seated twelve, with space for plenty more, although the last Divine to reach such heights was over four thousand years ago. Currently all twelve seats were occupied, a rare sight that almost never boded well for the mortal world. ¡°I¡¯m tellin ya, I sensed something with a flash of power brighter than ¡®ol Ra in the sky! If it wan¡¯nt for the damn woods with their bleed¡¯in magic aura...!¡± a heavyset dwarven figure clad in adamantium armor, with mithril hammers on his belt screamed. His right forefinger was pointing at a calm female elf on the other side of the table. ¡°Claiming that our woods are what prevented the divine sight of the dwarven Forgelord? On one hand I would love to claim the superiority of wood on the other¡­really? Since when was divine sight so easy that a few mere plants could allay it?¡± the elven woman whose form seemed woven from the power of light and grace itself scoffed. She disdainfully placed one of her platinum bangs that fell forward back behind a pointed tip ear. ¡°There is no doubt that the Forgelord merely wants another excuse to invade the Green Nightmare, again. As if the last time our pet Mizarul decimated his legions wasn¡¯t enough!¡± ¡°Wooden bitch!¡± ¡°Metal maggot!¡± The head of the table was an old man that wearily rubbed his forhead. If he didn¡¯t radiate an aura of power that crushed the breath from his foes, no one would assume he was anything other than a kind old grandfather. ¡°Silence.¡± The old human said, his voice echoing with power. ¡°I won¡¯t have the Third Elven-Dwarf war started merely because you two can¡¯t agree whether or not a threat has arrived to our plane.¡± The elderly man threw a crystal he pulled from the air above the dais. ¡°According to rumours from higher up, there has been a breakout from the Shattered Gods Plane.¡± The faces of everyone at the table paled in fear. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Even the most powerful beings in the world of Vispar were merely equal to the lowest that guarded the Fallen. To think that something was powerful enough to escape the Fallen¡¯s Prison and it chose to arrive here¡­ ¡°We must mobilize our priesthoods at once.¡± the dwarf said, his voice rough with fear. ¡°We cannot allow this to turn into another incident like the Dawn Invasion.¡± The elf clenched her fist on the table, her eyes blazing in fury. ¡°Even though I hate this metal maggot, I must agree. The First Empire of the Sun Elves will stand by, ready to support with all means required.¡± Not to be outdone the Forgelord replied, ¡°The dwarven people will provide any metal requirements that must be met, at a forty, no, fifty percent discount!¡± even as he said the words, everyone could tell the Forgelord¡¯s heart was bleeding at the loss of profit. ¡°The Wind agrees to support this war.¡± ¡°The Water agrees to support this war.¡± ¡°The Fire agrees to support this war.¡± ¡°The Earth agrees to support this war.¡± Each of the four speaker were Elemental Lords of their respective elements. Long ago they came into existence when Vespar formed. Unfortunately they were¡­less than bright. That was one of the main reasons that the First High Human, Nif, was able to become the head of the Table of Power. Nif nodded at the six that had pledged support before staring at the other five across from him, ¡°What of the remaining votes?¡± he stared down the opposing faction with grandeur. ¡°The Darkness abstains from this conflict.¡± ¡°The Void abstains from this conflict.¡± ¡°The Nightmare abstains from this conflict.¡± ¡°The Shadow abstains from this conflict.¡± The four Lords of Darkness stared belligerently back at Nif, before the last one spoke. ¡°The Chaos abstains from this conflict, in the interest of unity, we will take no action during this time until the threat is dealt with.¡± said a smoking hot demoness. ¡°Vex, even you can see, this new creature must be a threat!¡± Nif said with passion. The newest of the Lords of Darkness had brought balance merely through her power alone to the Table. The new power from the Dark, was something that none of the Light faction had ever fought before. Previously, Vex rampaged after awakening, and when finally brought to the negotiating table, Vex had merely said, ¡°I was sleeping for a nap and when I woke up there was nothing but insects around me. So what if I destroyed a few empires here and there? It¡¯s not like they can¡¯t renew themselves. Besides, no one forced those Emperors to go mad over my body!¡± Everything about the demoness was perfect, body, shape, size, demeanor. Even with the wings, tail, and horns if she didn¡¯t represent the opposing faction, Nif would have been happy to spend time with her. However, she was dead set against the Light faction, who she viewed as upstarts that arose during her ¡®nap¡¯ of several thousands of years. Although no one gathered at the Table was certain, there were private wagers that Vex was older than Nif. Of course, no one was suicidal enough to state that to her face. People had died in her arms with expressions of complete satisfaction for less, after all. ¡°Fine. As long as you make a binding agreement of non-interference, and non-aggression during this time, I guess it will be good enough.¡± Nif said, his face tired. ¡°Of course.¡± Vex said, with a bright blinding smile. A few minutes later and the Pact that would doom Vespar in the future, was made. Vex smiled brightly the entire time while thinking, Fools that underestimate the White Tree, they will all turn into fertilizer soon enough! Considering a small part of her debt repaid, Vex departed to enjoy herself further in the bright green new world. Perhaps she might even be nice enough to let that pathetic High Human satisfy her, at the end. Seedling 85 History books speak of the mistakes of the past, to prevent tragedies of the future. History teaches us to avoid the calamities that our forefathers invoked, and take advantage of the windfalls of opportunity that arise. I love history. Particularly when it provides me incredible insight into the enemies that I may have in the future. Nif the great High Human that ascended to Divine status? The estimable Forge Lord, the dwarf revered to create armor and weapons of incredible power? The supreme High Elf who managed to rise up from the ashes of a forest to create the Green Nightmare? Elemental Lords, those that manipulate the elements as easy as breathing? All this and more can be found within history books, as long as you steal them from the right people, aka nobles! After all, a normal library would definitely not map the path to ultimate power for mere commoners. Reading these history books had shown me there was a major problem with my chosen plan. Notably, the massive amount of deaths that would occur. Being a Tree, I wasn¡¯t completely enamored with the concept of ¡®bad¡¯ karma. The amount of negative karma I might accumulate from killing an entire planet would likely be immense. I could take the chance that it¡¯s just mumbo jumbo hocus pocus, however I have a feeling it is much, much, bigger than that. So in order to not become a cosmic grease stain on the napkin of infinity, I need to take steps, I need a better plan. One more¡­user friendly¡­and less cataclysmic. How to remedy this? Simple. I have decided to take my concept of space pockets for my leaves and expand it one step further. Within a single leaf, a world, within a world, a thousand others. Theoretically with enough power, I could create an unlimited amount of worlds within my leaves. It wasn¡¯t precisely like a World Tree, but it would be my version of it instead! Yes, let¡¯s call it, Chaos Worlds! Creating a Chaos World would of course need a massive amount of energy to create. According to my basic calculations I would need the World Heart of this planet, and all surrounding satellites, as well as the sun. Other planets in the solar system would be extra delicious parts to an extravagant meal.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Thankfully, since I practice the Dao of Fire, consuming a sun should be possible. Imagine if I practiced the Dao of Water instead? Hah, ha that would go¡­very badly. Combining the Dao of Fire, with the Dao of Nix, I should be able to reasonably expect the formation of several worlds given proper management. Thousands of leaves, yet only enough power to create a bare few worlds. These won¡¯t be lush worlds filled with life either, at least, not at first. Well, whatever. It would be enough to place the creatures of this world on, and allow them to live. Except the elves. They owe me a debt, and I¡¯m willing to take a hit on karma to make sure it¡¯s paid in full. So recapping, Chaos Alchemist in the works, check. Servant with management skills. Check. Theory of eating a solar system. Check. Oh! I wonder if eating Divinities can help offset the cost of my plan¡­ Let¡¯s put that in the Test column here. Calculated time to succeed with plan? Rounding up and carrying the one¡­about two thousand years give or take. I mean this world, Vespar isn¡¯t big, but it isn¡¯t small either. First Empire of the Sun Elves is a continent, the Metal Mountains are a continent, the Green Plains are a continent, and so forth. Then there is also the random locations like Fire Sea, Endless Ocean, Skyfall, Mt. Eternal and so forth. Those places are home to the more vicious minions of the Elemental Lords. Even worse danger areas like the Void, Darkness, Nightmare and so forth also connect to this world through cracks in the World Heart. With that in mind, aimlessly wandering around with only a Master level alchemist is a bad idea. I need to ensure my people are at least the bare minimum level of power in order to prevent instant death scenarios. I refuse to have the people I invest into turn into human shaped meat patties of blood and muscle. With that in mind, I am currently in the process of napping while I make an exploration plan for Vespar. First we need to clean out the Sun Elf Empire of everything we possibly can. I¡¯m not going to use force¡­ No, I¡¯ll use something more despicable! That¡¯s right, I¡¯ll use the power of people¡¯s own greed against them. With my own alchemist pushing towards the Expert tier, it shouldn¡¯t be long before I can introduce a simple Elixir into the mix. Elixirs have many uses, but the one I plan on teaching is more than a mere restorative. It is the cumulation of many sleepless nights upon which I watched Dryad as she used Regeneration. The problem, which elves cheat on by the way, of aging is quite simple. At the end of that long string of information known as a DNA strand, is a tiny cap. This cap has the sole purpose of essentially ¡®correcting¡¯ or better to say ¡®maintaining¡¯ the completeness of the DNA strand¡¯s information. In essence, it is like an autocorrect that makes sure the new information matches with the old. That¡¯s what prevents mutations, aging, and even worse effects. Without this incredible thing, called a telomere, a human would mutate randomly every second of every day. Eventually turning into a sludge of organic material, akin to a Slime monster. However, no information relay system is without decay over time. As such, ¡®aging¡¯ is the process of decay in action, the telomere, over time, becomes 99.9% then 99.98% and so forth. When the decay reaches a bad enough state, things start being made wrong. Liver cells that don¡¯t filter well, lungs that can¡¯t take full breaths, spines that send pain signals more often, muscles that aren¡¯t built right, and so on. This is the terrible fact of aging. Humans, are machines, built with organic processor chips and bad information relays. Like any machine, they have a warranty, and once that is up, bam! Regeneration spells, are like corrective anti-viruses that fix the telomere as they speed growth and healing. Now, what if you could perfect a regeneration spell, and place it in a bottle? Elixir of Youth, that¡¯s what. Want to shave off a century? Half a century? Twenty years? Ten? I can make that happen. Of course, there is a price for such actions. Elixir doesn¡¯t last forever. Like any drug, taking it builds up resistance in the body. At the maximum, my patented formula could give a human around 1500 years of life. That of course is with the best case scenario. Elixir can¡¯t heal beheading, or poisoning, it is an Elixir of Youth, not Godhood. Even with that there are people, rich, rich, and crazy people that will pay through the nose for such a thing. A young guy, might not understand the terror of a ninty-one year old grandfather as his life slowly dims. The flame of his once great mind flickering, weaker than a candle in open air. I have seen it. The desperation of one on the verge of death. The knowledge that all their greatness, all their power, money, and fame are worthless in that final moment. And, I have seen the Flame deep in their eyes as it ignites when they realize there is a way out. It isn¡¯t a question of money at that point. It is simply a question of how much? Once she reaches the Grandmaster tier, S¡¯neli will be able to fund anything she wants. Flying ships, exploration, colonies, expeditions, caravans, whatever, wherever. And¡­ I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll bring her lucky Tree along for the ride! Seedling 86 Alchemist¡¯s Rule. Or as most know it, The Law of Equivalent Exchange. The basis of this law, or rule, is that nothing of value can be gained without exchanging something of equal or greater value. To this end, I have been pondering in the few years between naps¡­ What have I lost? There is no denying I am powerful now. There is no denying I have gained greatly from my adventures. Yet, with every new power-up, with every new advance in my Chaos I feel like something is being traded. Meh, whatever. As long as I¡¯m still me, who cares what I lose? I have Dryad. I have Chaos. I am powerful. Do the ants crawling in the dirt understand what the birds in the sky have lost or gained? Of course not. One day I¡¯ll give this more serious thought, but for now I¡¯m shelving this line of thinking. Because, today is the day. After just over a decade of learning, S¡¯neli is finally ready to produce her first Elixir of Youth. A mere decade to rise to the level of Grandmaster, I admit I had a great part to play in this, but still¡­ S¡¯neli has enormous talent in the field of alchemy. Not even the greatest chef can cook without ingredients after all. The shop has been closed since morning. Hordes of frustrated merchants, grumbling nobles, and even a few guardsmen were turned away. I can¡¯t let anything disturb S¡¯neli as she concentrates on this creation after all. There were a few attempted robbers, and three or four different threats made. Mishra took care of them all with prompt service. I¡¯m sure they will consider their body donations to science, I mean, alchemy as a great boon of karma. Currently I am occupying the seat of honor on a shelf above the table S¡¯neli is using to start the Elixir process. I watch her carefully separate the components, some of which took me days to prepare for her. Mishra made it look like they were all purchased on the black market, so there is no link to me. The moment when an alchemist succeeds in creating their first Elixir is a momentous moment in their life. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Elixir of course is one of the basic ingredients for a Philospher¡¯s Stone. Although she already has a Stone, there is truth in the words that only a Stone created by the Alchemist, is truly compatible with them. It¡¯s like a doctor who hand forges his own operating tools. There is just some link that makes those tools better than any mass produced models. I don¡¯t question this type of obscure thing, I just make sure to take advantage of it. This, as well as the massive profits, are why I carefully guided S¡¯neli towards this path. Besides, explosions are fun, if they weren¡¯t I might never have gone down the path of the Dao of Fire after all. While monitoring S¡¯neli and her progress, I am simultaneously forging within a small pocket of one of my leaves. Lately the ability to perform true multi-tasking has started growing on me. There is a difference between true multi-tasking and doing things so fast it appears you are doing two things at once. As such, my late experiments in the matter have caused no few headaches. At least, it was that way until I discovered that my branches are more than mere holders-of-leaves. With enough concentration I can actually use my branches to create something like ¡®parallel processors¡¯ reminiscent of Earth¡¯s computers. This of course is something that gave me great joy. Back in Vex¡¯s Plane I managed to learn how to leave a small part of me ¡®awake¡¯ while sleeping. Now, I¡¯m taking the next natural step. Sleeping while being awake. Hah! Of course, I¡¯m making sure there aren¡¯t any split personality issues. There¡¯s only one Tree in this body, and that¡¯s me! S¡¯neli moves her hands in a blur combining ingredients, manipulating the flame, and expertly using the machines available. Some people were surprised with the incredible amount of machinery around the shop. I ignored those idiots. The age of cauldrons and fire manipulation is over with me around. Centrifuges, fridges, heat pans, glassware, there isn¡¯t any reason to not use every advantage possible when crafting. I mean, can you imagine the number of impurities when using a cauldron? The sheer amount probably is over fifty percent of the failure cause. Alchemists are stressed enough as it is when doing high level crafting, there¡¯s no reason to force them to use stone age instruments too. Oh oh! There it is! The shining moonlight purple glow of a perfected Elixir, with a minor amount of permanent dexterity boost mixed in. Different colors denote different types of Elixir after all. I gently grab hold of S¡¯neli with telekinesis as she collapses from exhaustion. The past thirty-seven hours were tough. She cut, mixed, combined, separated, and perfected a host of herbs, metals, and rare ingredients. All told it was impressive work. I don¡¯t hold it against her that she was doing it for her brother either. Although she acts tough on the outside, I¡¯ve seen the notations in the accounts payable ledger. Everytime the caravan company F¡¯neli belongs to is about to go under, a mysterious ¡®donation¡¯ is made. Mishra is fantastic at that stuff after all, I¡¯m reasonably certain she¡¯s become the black market de facto merchant. Which is probably half the reason we keep getting robbers, the other half are obviously competitors trying to steal secrets. Competitive espionage is alive and thriving in any universe after all. After making sure S¡¯neli is taken care of, Mishra and I have a short chat. This progress is excellent for the plan. Are the buyers prepared? I send through the aether to my servant. Yes, Master Plant. After separating portions, we have enough for seven sales. The last portion I have reserved for S¡¯neli as discussed previously. Mishra replied, promptly. With this amount of gold, we will be able to open an account at the Bank of M¡¯zven. That will give access to the crystal card, and thus we will no longer be bound by the limits of physical gold. I said, my branches waving in glee. On this planet known as Vespar, there exist a curious people. They are a combination between gnomes, goblins, and dwarves with a mix of all three. However, the M¡¯zven are superior to all three races in a single aspect. Financial moxy. Financial prowess. Or, to put it shorter¡­ Greed. They are the literal midget embodiment of Greed. Now, don¡¯t get me wrong...the M¡¯zven won¡¯t ever rob someone. That would be crass! No, they will charge fees. They will provide loans with compound interest. They will buy debts and leverage them. These guys would make Earth financial institutions look like a group of small children begging for pocket change. However, as long as you have money¡­ They are the most reliable bankers in this universe, or likely any other. For the M¡¯zven only respect those with money! In their words, if it is a power money can conquer, then it isn¡¯t a power at all! There are those who seem to think that if they have enough strength, money is useless. M¡¯zven people have proven those folks idiots time and time again. So what if you¡¯re the strongest world shattering creature around. If you need to eat? They¡¯ll buy all the food around you and burn it. If you need to sleep? They¡¯ll buy every bed and throw it in a bonfire. If you need water? They¡¯ll buy every well around and poison it. These people are not the type you try to push around with mere strength! Best of all, to those with the ability to create gold, they are literally the most trustworthy servants around. Mishra is my servant, but, S¡¯neli needs some of her own. People she can trust to get the job done. People to handle her soon to exist travel plans, organize her schedule, take care of her sleeping arrangements, and so much more. Since I will be having Mishra take care of a few other things at this time, I¡¯ve decided to take care this issue, now. Make contact with the M¡¯zven and have them come visit me, before S¡¯neli wakes up. Afterwards, handle those issue we talked about previously. I want no loose ends on this, no matter who stands in the way. Pave the path in ashes and smoke if you must. I state, before focusing back on my refining project. With a short bow, Mishra departs to contact our soon-to-be new friends. Seedling 87: Bank Representative Guido Mzven Guido M¡¯zven stared. Branches waved. Leaves flickered. White glowing bark glowed brighter, and less bright in a hypnotic dance. Turning to the Black Marketeer Mishra across the table from him, he said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, are you telling me this tree is sentient?¡± It wasn¡¯t that he was surprised, it was that he was mind boggled. Trees aren¡¯t sentient. Not even elven ones. Treants were not trees, no matter how much elves kept trying to claim they were. Ergo, since this glowing white tree wasn¡¯t a Treant, it couldn¡¯t be sentient. Right? Right! Guido thought, his mind like a steel trap. Guido nodded to himself, his logic was flawless. ¡°Correct, Master Plant is a sentient Tree. Is this going to be an issue?¡± Black Marketeer Mishra said, her voice raising in a dangerous manner. ¡°Trees are not sentient. Ents and Treants are not trees, and therefore even if he was one, he is not a sentient tree!¡± Guido said, intoning in his most solemn voice. Black lines appeared on the gorgeous black marketeering catkin, before she said, ¡°Master Plant has trained a Grandmaster Alchemist, has mountains of gold, and can forge items that god¡¯s would envy. Are you sure he isn¡¯t a sentient tree?¡± Guido M¡¯zven paused, his mind moving lightning fast. Even at incredible speeds, it still was getting stuck on the words ¡®Grandmaster Alchemist¡¯ constantly. Alchemists are nothing new to the M¡¯zven. In fact, it could be said that nine point nine out of ten alchemists were the result of M¡¯zven investing. However, even with this, the Bank only had a mere three living Grandmasters to boast of. Of those three, they represented seventy-five percent of all known Grandmaster Alchemists! In other words, their market share had not only shrunk from seventy-five to sixty, but they had just insulted a Grandmaster¡¯s master! Guido coughed into a ring bedecked fist, before straightening his elegant suit, and then steepling his hands.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I am honored to make the aquintance of the first ever sentient Tree!¡± he said, bowing slightly in a standard gesture of respect. Oh, nice to meet you too Mr. Guido M¡¯zven said the Tree, its words echoing into his mind. Guido¡¯s jaw dropped for a mere second before his face instantly turned even more polite than before. It wasn¡¯t the mental speech that shocked him, it was the casual breeching of multiple barriers to mental intrusion. Guido wore no less than ten various items that would block, misdirect, or even attack mental intruders. Even with such heavy defenses, the tree casually spoke to him without an ounce of apparent effort! Guido took out a small handkerchief from his front suit pocket and blotted his forehead to buy time. This damn tree, it was terrifying! Making sure to control the tremors in his hands, Guido placed the kerchief back in his front left breast pocket. Calmly, calmly Guido! This is the chance to make a fortune! The chance to rise in rank, perhaps Bank Manager isn¡¯t a mere dream now m¡¯boy! he thought to himself, before putting on his poker face. ¡°What can the great Bank of M¡¯zven do for Master Plant, today?¡± Guido said, even more respectful than before. I would like to place seven portions of Elixir for sale with the Bank. Also, I would like to purchase an account, with accompanying crystal card for my disciple, S¡¯neli Whitetree. said the Tree, his tone imperial. S¡¯neli Whitetree? Eh? Wasn¡¯t that the name of the owner of that shop? The one that had come up in the yearly meeting almost ten times now? The one that had resisted all attempts to purchase? The one that had sent all their assassins, thugs, thieves, and even salesmen back in pieces?! Guido glanced around at the small caf¨¦ they were in, before whispering, ¡°Is it¡­that shop?¡± Cold sweat had started to form on his back causing the silk shirt to grow wet from fear. Mishra seemed amused as she answered, ¡°So it was the Bank that was sending so many¡­donations to research?¡± Guido gulped as he realized where all the minions had gone. Goodness, if he didn¡¯t handle this delicately it could involve, lawyers or worse! ¡°No! The grand, fantastic, safe, and reliable Bank of M¡¯zven would never do such a thing as robbing.¡± Guido said, his face giving nothing away. ¡°However, occasionally the Bank does place tasks up on the board. Sometimes, just sometimes mind you, the people accepting such tasks may have non-standard methods of completing them. Nothing illegal I¡¯m sure, just methods that don¡¯t match up with common sense. I¡¯ve been complaining for years that our background check system needs work, but, well I¡¯m only a Bank Representative after all¡­¡± ¡°Tsk, such a silver tongue. Definitely a M¡¯zven bank representative indeed¡­¡± Mishra said, her eyes glowing brightly with inner flame. Guido was a bit creeped out, normal catkin didn¡¯t have brightly glowing orange-green hellcat eyes after all. Perhaps after this deal was finished he¡¯d take some of that vacation time that had been accrued? Preferably somewhere far away from this crazy cat and her sentient tree. What is the annual interest rate of the crystal card? said the Tree, his tone curious. ¡°You know about the annual interest rate?!¡± Guido said, his voice shocked. Annual interest rate, compounding interest charges, hidden fees, fine print, monthly charge notice payments, I know all the petty tricks! said the Tree, his tone disdainful. Who the hell is this guy?! Guido shouted into his mind. These were all terms that only advanced Bank members should know! Clients weren¡¯t supposed to find out terms like this until after they missed a payment! ¡°10% usually?¡± Guido said, in a weak voice. Are you joking? 0.5% or I¡¯ll take my business elsewhere. A single Elixir sale to another Bank branch will be enough to get even better terms I¡¯m sure. said the Tree, with a ruthless counter. ¡°Payments due at the end of every month!¡± Guido managed to get out, as he struggled to breath. This damn tree was practically strangling him to death with its terms. Fine, but interest accrued must be annulled. In exchange I will allow the Bank to represent my student. said the Tree, with a smug tone. Gah! I have to get something more, otherwise no matter how sweet the pot it is only poison. Guido thought desperately. That¡¯s it! ¡°I say, does your student happen to have anyone¡­connected to help smooth the way for them? Are they planning to travel anytime soon? What with the profits from these Elixir sales, travel can be hazardous without the right type of management.¡± Guido said, his eyes sharpening like a hunter towards his prey. Even though he couldn¡¯t hear it, Guido could tell a furious argument erupted between the two parties opposite him. Taking a moment he sipped the fine cup of expresso that had been delivered by an attentive waitress. He could feel his synapses flashing with lightning speed. That¡¯s right! Every excellent client needs representation! How could I forget something so basic!? Dammit, this crazy herb almost got me! Guido thought, hiding a smirk inside. ¡°What kind of terms are we talking about, in order to represent Ms. Whitetree?¡± Mishra finally asked. Guido let out a smile with all his many sharp teeth. ¡°Let us negotiate something, eh?¡± Guido said, with a brilliant grin. Seedling 88 ¡°We could have saved twenty copper apiece if you were not so merciful!¡± said Guido as he loudly grumbled at the recent purchase of foodstuffs. Psh. As if copper is even in this Tree¡¯s sight? Perish the thought. ¡°Sweating the small stuff is what has kept you as a mere Representative, Guido.¡± Mishra said, not forgetting to keep digging at the poor M¡¯zven¡¯s sore spot. ¡°That¡¯s General Manager of Whitetree Incorperated, Miss Fluffytail.¡± Guido shot back with vigor. On the other hand, Mishra does have a nice fluffy tail, so there¡¯s that¡­ I enjoy the back and forth banter as S¡¯neli carries me. Currently our shop has already been sold and we are preparing for travel. To that end, one of the portions of Elixir was used to purchase the airship we now own. Airships are a marvelous invention! Boats that fly! Wings! Sails! Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Propellers! I have no clue how any of it works, that¡¯s for the gnome sailors that run it. On the other hand, I do love flying. Sure I could fly on my own¡­ But it¡¯s just not the same! The Whitetree name commands respect now in the Sun Elven Empire. After her first success, S¡¯neli went on to make large quantities of Elixir with all our remaining stock. The crystal card that she has tucked inside her ring is enough full of enough funds to buy a small country now. Of course, such paltry earnings were not enough to get ahold of a M¡¯zven. I used three mithril coins for that. Watching a person to whom money means almost the world as their eyes bug out is fun! With the increase in my forging abilities I have replaced both of the girl¡¯s rings with mithril. Guido¡¯s ring is golden though as per his request. I forged several other rings made from copper, bronze, tin, iron, steel, and silver. Each of the rings has increasing amounts of Runes on them, to denote ranks. The highest rings have Agelessness, Shielding, Space, Mind, Flame, Absorb, Luck, and Dexterity on them. That would be the mithril rings I have improved, at the highest level. Copper has just Mind to allow communication between ranks. Bronze rings have Mind, and Absorb to allow communication, and small magic defenses. Tin rings get Mind, Absorb, and Luck in order to improve on chances they might encounter. Iron rings are given Mind, Absorb, Luck, and Shielding as the first mid-tier ring. Steel rings are given all the previous Runes along with Space to allow greater carrying capacity. Finally, the silver rings are given everything that steel has, along with Dexterity. Gold rings get everything along with Flame, and lastly mithril rings are given the Agelessness Rune. Guido is a small exception since I stuck Agelessness on his ring, aren¡¯t I a nice Tree? With this a proper management structure has been slowly developing under Guido¡¯s guidance. Sure for now there is only three of us, but so what? It¡¯s better to have stuff ready than need it later and have nothing around! While making these rings I was thinking about an old earth movie with a giant eye as the main villain. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve gone that far down the path of ¡®Darkness¡¯ though, especially since I gravitate more towards Flame. After everything is packed up, the group gathers around the map. In order to experience a true adventure, and to help temper my future Chaos Alchemist, dice are used to select our next destination. Doesn¡¯t the Blood Plains sound like a great vacation spot! Seedling 89 The port city, Mizarul¡¯s Rest, named after the green land dragon I met in the Green Nightmare slowly falls away underneath us. Finally, after a little over a decade the second phase of my plan is moving into action. At the core of this phase, S¡¯neli must learn how to manipulate Chaos to create her own stone. As a Grandmaster Alchemist, she currently possesses the technical knowledge to step forward on the path. To this end, when remaking her ring to mithril, I imbued a small Dao Seed of Fire within it. The seed won¡¯t activate unless the wearer gains a spark of inspiration. Without that spark to create a Flame, mortals cannot pass the barrier of Laws that bind this multi-verse. I would have set up different rules if I created the multi-verse, but, well, that¡¯s neither here nor there I guess. If wishes were fishes I¡¯d never go hungry either. In order to prepare, Mishra has been slowly spreading an underground cult using the rings sparingly to create tiers of management. I actually had no hand in this, it was all the creation of Guido after he learned I could consume ¡®Order¡¯ from priests. A casual remark from him got me thinking what exactly this ¡®Order¡¯ was made out of¡­ After careful research I realized the ¡®Faith¡¯ that priests have is converted by the Laws into ¡®Order¡¯ that is used by Divinities after they ascend. To put the process into a simple wording, it¡¯s comparable to copper wires meeting at a transformer and then upgrading into platinum ones. The amount of energy converted by the process is a major purity upgrade. The old energy is Faith, the new energy is ¡®Order¡¯ and voil¨¤ one of the mysteries of the enemy was discovered! As a being of pure Chaos, being able to create my own food supply has always been on my mind. No one likes dieting, especially this Tree! Now, with the cult slowly growing, I have a source of Faith to convert into food, I mean ¡®Order¡¯ to eat.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. A pleasant side effect of this process I found a way to dodge the karma bullet when I consume this world. Karma is binding, yet, it is also based on the choices a person makes within their life. As a result, if they are offered the chance to join a cult that promises to save them at the end of the world and do not. I am free and clear if they die. After all, I didn¡¯t force them to die, I gave them a choice! Patting myself on the back for several hours tired my branches out after that realization so I had to stop. Otherwise I probably would have been at it for days! The first stop on the trip is the middle of that massive grasslands. As a slightly obsessive-compulsive disordered Tree, that power source has always been on my mind. With the recent advances Mishra has made I feel better, even with Dryad asleep. Mishra¡¯s path on the Dao of Fire, like all Beastkin, went down a physical route. No matter how much I personally taught her, she just couldn¡¯t master fire manipulation externally. Instead, she burns the flame within her body removing impurities, and pushing herself ever closer to perfection. As a result her physical characteristics are monstrous. At a conservative estimate I feel she would be comfortable moving at just below the sonic barrier. Even more disturbing she would likely be fine lifting something in the neighborhood of twenty oil tankers without breaking a sweat. An additional part of her training has caused her body to turn even more beautiful and enticing. However, the skin that covers her body would be comparable to a very, very, very dense metal. Even her tail, as easy as it moves, can effortlessly cripple weaker opponents. I watched her beat Mizarul into unconsciousness with just that single tail after all. As an apology I had to give him a portion of Elixir that I personally made. On the other hand, I feel confident that even if I¡¯m napping, S¡¯neli has nothing to fear with Mishra guarding her. For some reason, Guido and Mishra can¡¯t get along harmoniously, however both of them have no problem with S¡¯neli. I honestly have given up trying to figure out how that works. I¡¯ve chalked it up to the weirdness of humanoid life forms. Finishing up my forging effort I transfer a number of new rings within the Ring World of my leaf. Turning back to look outwards I stare at a gnome standing less than three feet away. Mishra! I send out into the aether with lightning speed. A fraction of a second later Mishra and me are both staring at the gnome whose eyes are bulging. The poor gnome looks like his entire world is crumbling around him. ¡°T-That¡­S-Spatial¡­argh!¡± the gnome manages to gurgle out before his eyes roll up into his head and he collapses to the floor. Master Plant, should I, dispose of him? Mishra asked me through the aether. No! I said, sweating. His clothing badge denotes Master Engineer. If we got rid of him there¡¯s no way this airship wouldn¡¯t notice him missing! Even worse, I have no clue how to fix this airship if something breaks¡­ I reply back through the aether. Mishra takes immediate action, carefully moving the gnome onto one of the beds within our room. Afterwards she closes the door that I left open by accident. I really have lost a great deal of awareness recently while forging. Even with my ability to multi-task, there just is so much to do when forging. I haven¡¯t been properly leaving a piece of my mind to watch my surroundings. Tsk. Sloppy, sloppy Tree! This time it¡¯s a fixable issue, what if next time I was fighting for my life? Attitude like this could get me killed! Let¡¯s wait till he wakes up. Go inform the Captain we are having a chat with the Engineer and he requested not to be disturbed. I send to Mishra through the aether. Moving myself over I touch a branch to the gnome, and leap inside his mental landscape. Here goes nothing! Seedling 90 Human minds are fragile things, yet within them, great power is held almost effortlessly. Inhuman minds, are even worse. A gnome, for all that it looks like a short, cute, cuddly human child with an uncanny love of mechanical things, is not human. Not even close. Taking a glance around as I float within the mind of the Gnomish Master Engineer, I am amazed. The world within this creatures mind is clockwork. Like something out of a fantastical tale, the world is made of gears, precision, oil, and math. There are automatons of various sizes denoting the mental defenses within. Stairs that lead nowhere, walls that rise endlessly, gears that turn without effort, and more. Some of these gears would be the size of a mountain, if this were an actual real world. However, since it is a mental one, the restraints of gravity don¡¯t exist unless the person wants them too. Rarely do people remember gravity in their mental worlds. After all, if they did it would be impossible to fly in them. I am guessing that since a great deal of this gnome¡¯s mind is dedicated to math, gears, and precision he took a strong blow earlier. Off in the distance I can see what looks like the floating remains of part of the mental landscape. It is quite clear a meteor of some type struck that area, likely the mental representation of seeing me put those rings away in my leaves. When people say ¡®bolt out of the blue¡¯ it is just as violent as described. When someone comes and totally destroys the mental landscape that you have spent years creating, it hurts. The degree of mental damage received is in large part, dependent on how flexible someone¡¯s mind is. A child for instance can easily destroy and reconstruct their mental landscape with ease. On the other hand, an elderly individual is quite set in their ways, sometimes a blow to their values can be life threatening. Shrugging my branches I push my senses outward. I am searching for the core within this landscape, the mental domain that a soul will retreat to when under extreme stress. Deep within the mental landscape I sense a pulsing heartbeat of power that I quickly lock onto. Saying a short prayer that I do more good than harm I summon my Flame cloaking myself in it. Within another person¡¯s mind, unless they are actively controlling their defenses, it is difficult to suppress intruders.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. This of course is for normal individuals, as any decently trained mentalist can be very dangerous within their own home ground. Luckily, this gnome isn¡¯t really ¡®at home¡¯ currently. Having your entire worldview shattered will do that sometimes. Following the mental lock I have, I make quick work of a variety of automatons that attempt to stop me from reaching the core. From giants that would do well in a mecha movie, to smaller humanoid types that could play in an AI movie, everything melts. Upon reaching the inner core, I see a small gnomish child staring up at the large metal orb of pulsing white light. Sensing my presence the child turns around. His eyes are dead, as if someone murdered his entire family in front of him. ¡°You.¡± the gnome child says, without preamble. I wave my branches in a hello mode. ¡°What you did is clearly impossible. The math clearly demonstrates the power requirement for something of that nature, like a spatial warp, is immense. There is no way you could perform that action without completely destroying this planet, if not the solar system. No amount of math, no matter how imaginary, can provide any answer to how it works.¡± the gnome child says, his tone dead, akin to an AI monotone. I have to be delicate here. Some people have difficulty understanding things outside their small worldviews. ¡°What if there was a power source great enough to provide endless energy, would the math work then?¡± I ask, my tone calm. ¡°Yes. At that point it wouldn¡¯t be a matter of impossible, just a matter of drawing the energy without destroying the surrounding matter.¡± the gnome child¡¯s eyes light up with passion. ¡°Watch carefully, since this is your mind, you can see everything I do here.¡± I reply. Reaching out to the Chaos within my own mind, I pull a small fraction of the endless energy that exists everywhere. Filtering it through my Dao of Fire, a small glowing seed appears floating in front of me. The gnome¡¯s eyes are concentrated on the seed of pure fire. Shadows appear rapidly surging around the area, as his mind rapidly flows from one concept to another. Transmitting the Dao in this manner has inherent risks for the recipient. It can shorten their lifespan, limit them on the path forward, in theory it could even destroy them completely. Attempting to possess power that you cannot comprehend when comprehension is necessary has grave risks. Fortune shines her mathematical features down upon this gnome though. I can see the moment understanding occurs. The tiny seed of fire leaps like a spark of electricity jumping from one circuit to another. It enters into the gnome¡¯s forehead becoming a circular seal within which sits an endlessly burning flame. Without any mockery, the gnome bows down before me. ¡°This gift, is priceless. I am not young enough now to believe it was given without any strings. Tell me, what has this gift cost me?¡± the gnome child says, his form aging before my eyes until a wise elder stares back at me. ¡°I forbid you from spreading the knowledge you have learned to more than a single descendent of your bloodline. I forbid you from mentioning anything about what me, or my companions to anyone. I¡¯d also like a deeper understanding of mechanical knowledge. Combining my forging skill with some of the mechanical principles I have seen in your mind would create amazing things I believe.¡± I replied back. Sure, I¡¯m asking for a lot, but I did just open the path to possible immortality to this guy. I figure what¡¯s a few lessons from a Master Engineer in exchange for something like a very long life! Besides, it never hurts to hedge one¡¯s bets when going against the Divine. I believe I shouldn¡¯t have issues, and my plan forward is sound, yet even so, I feel the need for a bit of insurance just in case. I¡¯m not worried about betrayal since the breaking this deal would shatter the gnome¡¯s newly formed Dao. Once shattered, a Dao is millions of times harder to realize once more. Even if the Master Engineer attempted to form insight into another type of Dao, it would slip through his fingers like water through a woven basket. Grasping principles of power on such a scale, and then thoughtlessly abandoning them, does not make them desire to return. That was the main reason I was even willing to enter this mind. ¡°A price well within acceptable parameters. I agree.¡± the gnome said before the mindscape around me melted like snow on a hot summer day. After exiting the Master Engineer¡¯s mind, I quickly glance around. There is no disturbance to the cabin, and I can see Mishra is halfway to the Captain¡¯s quarters. Time moves different when within another¡¯s mind after all. Mishra, return. I¡¯ve come to an agreement with our new ally. I send into the aether, and watch as she halts. Seconds later, Mishra returns to my side closing the cabin door carefully behind her. Seedling 91 As a child, back on Earth, long before my current existence, I loved two things. Plants of course, and machines. And my wife¡­ok so three things. I would admit three, if under duress¡­ Since she died though it was down to the main two, before my own previous death. Of course, on good old Earth technology was considerably advanced. Even then, there were things that were out of reach. That¡¯s right, even I remember some of the impossible stuff that science couldn¡¯t figure out how to create effectively. Either it would be too power costly, or too financially expensive, anyways there are barriers in every world I suppose. Progress often comes at the expense of the masses after all¡­ Take those theorized Bio-Engineered lifeforms, or even more complex BioMech, the combination of organics and machine. Humanity was still far from those incredible lifeforms depicted in the movies, even in my era. However, even having been transmigrated, even as a Tree, even now, I still kept the dream alive. For this singular reason, and the fact that I didn¡¯t know how to run the airship on my own, I saved the gnome. That and¡­golems. Golem armies. It¡¯s not like the image of a massive golem army marching forward unstoppably had any real impact on my choice, though. Seriously. Not at all¡­ Over the past two weeks as we flew slowly towards the center of the grasslands I have been learning the principles of Mechanics. Don¡¯t let someone tell you Mechanical Principles are easy. Cause, math sucks. In any world. All you need to advance in the Dao is a burst of inspiration, and a few bottleneck breaking pills. Ok, I know it¡¯s sometimes more than that, but seriously, that¡¯s the basic layout for most people. However, Mechanics is totally different. If you don¡¯t apply the right amount of force, the right way, in the right time, with the right precision, nothing happens. Nothing good at least!You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Even with my vastly improved faculties from being advanced in the Dao, I still had trouble understanding half the things Ralph Steelspring, my gnome tutor, was teaching me. As a gnome, especially a Master Engineer, mechanical knowledge was practically in his genes. It¡¯s a cheat, a damn cheat I say! When he finally realized my level of competence, Ralph handed me a book. Basic Mechanics: Idiot Version 1.0A. The cute squiggle pictures really put it over the top. I admit, I came close to melting him down into his component organics right then and there¡­ Yet! I resisted¡­barely. Never let it be said this Tree would allow some simple calculation of physical forces to trump against him! With that hearty attitude, I took the melting pile of slag currently in front of me at this very moment with aplomb. That¡¯s right. Another failed experiment. Things are a lot harder when I am prohibiting myself from using magic. Go figure. ¡°It was a good try, although I admit I¡¯m not exactly sure why you decided to add three times the energy level required in the blueprints at the last step.¡± Ralph said, staring at the table where I had just managed another spectacular failure. This current cabin on the airship was now my personal workshop, courtesy of a small bribe to the Captain of the ship. The previous officer level occupant had been bumped down into another section. Anyone who looked in though might suspect this of being the ship¡¯s junking room, if they didn¡¯t know better. ¡°I was sure more energy would speed up the catalytic reaction giving me a faster speed of transformation. It would also allow the device to work twice as fast¡­in theory.¡± I said, using my telekinetic powers to manipulate the air around me. I felt comfortable enough to use speech around all my ¡®associates¡¯ lately except for S¡¯neli. S¡¯neli and me were still playing a fun game of, ¡®I think your sentient!¡¯ vs. ¡®Nuh, uh!¡¯ which had been going on for over a decade now. I was pretty sure she suspected I was more than a fun loving tree that enjoyed waving my branches. However, suspecting something, and actually going out of your way to prove it are two totally different things. On the one hand, her life was changed enormously, she had respect, money, minions, power and more now. On the other, she had a sneaking suspicion a tree of all things was the cause of it. I¡¯m sure even in her most insane moments she doubted the logic of her own belief. I enjoyed this game, because at the end of the day, it was rather fun. Eventually, I was absolutely sure S¡¯neli would hit a wall in her alchemy, though. Not a physical one mind, a mental one. It was the same type of Wall I hit before creating the Everburning flame. It is a wall that blocks progress forward, and in this case, it would likely stop S¡¯neli from creating a Stone. At that point, she would have many choices. This simplest of course was to come ask me directly for an answer. That would require her to admit I was actually sentient, so it might not happen. Of course, then backup plan B would take effect. I didn¡¯t take Mishra on just for her good looks, charming personality, and ruthless business skills. Although those didn¡¯t hurt. I took her on because even a Tree cannot be in two places at once. ¡­Yet¡­ Besides, even I knew that women are often more comfortable talking about their problems with other women rather than greenery. After the issue of creating personal Chaos Stone is through though, I¡¯m taking a long nap. I¡¯m not really a branches on type of Tree. A few days later we finally decamped floating over the spot I had created the Chaos Ogress. Since it was daylight outside, I could only sense a single lifeform down below. Clearly my previous creation is a daywalker! I¡¯m not worried about S¡¯neli, since the gnomes have a simple method to protect themselves on adventures. When you¡¯re the size of a short teenager, physical strength only gets a person so far. To that end of course, gnomes designed battle suits. Now, they aren¡¯t as good as some of the animation I watched back in the day. They are closer to that guy who used a metal suit and was really rich in Earth¡¯s movies. Of course, after learning a bit about the Dao of Fire from his seed, the Master Engineer had made a few modifications. The armor suits now were twenty percent more efficient in power usage, lasted twice as long, and had three times more ¡®punch¡¯ to them. The weapons had shifted as well to mainly a flamethrower, and a physical flechette gun. To physical form targets, these were undoubtedly quite lethal. My personal upgrade was a half formed flywheel. At the moment I wasn¡¯t yet good enough at mechanical principles, however when I got better things would change. Anyone who is familiar with basic mechanics knows the main reason a flywheel cannot circumvent the laws of phsyics is due to friction. Once I figure out how to properly apply a non-friction coating to my flywheel, I will begin to amass endless amounts of food! Endless food! Which reminds me¡­ I need to hire a chef. A chef that can fix me meals of pure energy¡­this might be tough¡­ Seedling 92 As we were walking through the cavern system deep below the center of the grasslands, my mind is laser sharp, focused on the main problem¡­ How am I going to train a chef to ¡®cook¡¯ meals with pure energy? The basic fact that most biological creatures have ¡®taste¡¯ sensors far different than mine is a problem. The basic fact that I don¡¯t eat through a stomach, yet instead eat energy directly after converting matter is a problem. The basic fact that most chefs are mortal is a problem. Wait, scratch that #3 isn¡¯t an issue, there¡¯s a ring for that. So the first two are the real issue. Without a ¡®taste¡¯ sensor that can help ¡®flavor¡¯ exist, the chef won¡¯t have any way of ¡®cooking¡¯ me anything delicious. It¡¯s not like I can kill Divinities every breakfast, lunch, and dinner either. Nor can I devour a world every mealtime... ¡­Yet¡­ So the idea of resolving my food source through the Cult of Wood and using an ¡®Infinite¡¯ energy source like a flywheel came about. ¡®Cult of Wood¡¯ is the classic name given to those my servants hand out rings to, original, I know. The problem of cooked food is, a simple one on the surface. Anyone who has ever eaten the same food for a month straight, looking at college students and ramen eaters here, know what I mean. You get sick. Physically sick, after eating the same thing for too long. It gets to the point where your own body can start treating the substance you eat as food as ¡®poison¡¯ and takes action against it.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Now, I¡¯m not sure if this issue will arise, since I¡¯m a Tree. However, it would be foolish to assume that because I¡¯m a Tree nothing like this could ever happen. To that end a ¡®chef¡¯ that can ¡®cook¡¯ the ¡®food¡¯ to different flavors is required. As we set down for the night in a camp with tens of miles of earth over our head, I reach the solid conclusion. I will need to create a creature that can do what I require. It will need to be composed of a mechanical part, and an organic part. In essence I¡¯ll need to resolve this issue myself. I can¡¯t depend on others, since I am operating so far out of common sense right now. Chaos energy is also totally different than normal energy, as the very essence of disorder in the universe, expecting a chef to treat it like a normal flavor source would be idiocy. It¡¯s like asking a chef to create a food, from an ingredient, that changes flavor every picosecond. So, the chef will need to have inhuman reaction speeds. The ability to taste energy. The ability to ¡®cook¡¯ energy. Above all they will need a Dao! Without a Dao of some sort, how will they even create the ¡®cooking tools¡¯ required to make my meals, right? This¡­this is going to be complex. Grumbling to myself I effortlessly turn a few Hook Horrors that snuck up on our camp to ashes. Since we are so far underground, it¡¯s likely we are close to an entrance of Darkness nearby. More specifically, an entrance to the Underdark. Considering the Labyrinth exists in all possible universes, it is just as clear as an offshoot of the Labyrinth, the Underdark does as well. At one point I thought of attempting to reach my family through the Labyrinth, but, I had to give up. There are things in the Labyrinth that cause me to shudder. One day, I¡¯ll eat them all, however that day is far in the future. At least it was just measly Hook Horrors this time. If we encounter Drow or something even stronger, I might actually need to release my Soul Seal to take care of the issue. After all, Mishra isn¡¯t a robot, she can¡¯t fight forever without rest. Sure the gnomish guards are decent, but they can¡¯t fight hordes of enemies like Mishra can. Even the best battle suit will run out of power eventually unlike a fighter who sources directly from the eternal Dao, after all. A glowing male humanoid figure flickers on the edge of my vision before disappearing. That thing has been hovering around a lot lately. I don¡¯t sense any threat from it, so I¡¯ve been ignoring it. The figure also seem strangely familiar, in an odd way as well. Meh, it¡¯s not like I fear ghosts anyways. Besides, I have a nagging suspicion I¡¯m forgetting something about that glowing figure¡­ Several naps, and weeks later, we finally reach the end of the underground road. Mishra did a wonderful job turning subterranean threats into meat paste! I did a wonderful job turning night time attackers into ashes! S¡¯neli did a wonderful job making a minor breakthrough in the Dao! Guido¡­.didn¡¯t really do much since we can¡¯t really sell things to stuff that has nothing but appetite to eat us. He did a good job not annoying the rest of us though! The underground tunnels have finally ended in a massive cavern that had no end. The ledge upon which we stand is thousands of feet up in the air, and below us is a glowing lake of white-hot lava. This is the fun part now! ¡°Throw the tree in, S¡¯neli.¡± Mishra is calmly advising my ¡®owner¡¯. ¡°Are you insane? The temperature of that stuff has to be insane!¡± S¡¯neli gestures at the lava below. ¡°Why would I throw an innocent tree into that?¡± She starts backing away slowly from the group clutching my cage tightly. Master Plant? I don¡¯t want to accidentally hurt her¡­ Mishra says to me through the aether. Hmm¡­I didn¡¯t expect this. It appears I have underestimated my own sentimental value! It is fine. I¡¯ll handle this. I reply after a moment of thought. Opening the latch to my carry-cage, I float out towards the air above the lava. S¡¯neli stares aghast at me, her face depicting complete and utter confusion. My branches wave gently, before I cut my levitation and drop into the lava below. My last sight is of Mishra tackling S¡¯neli before she can leap after me. Goodness, the things some people think of doing for their pets! Seedling 93 The lava felt like warm bathwater as I plunged deeper under the world¡¯s crust. Vespar followed the standard planetary configuration, of tectonic plates floating on a sea of magma. Since this was taking longer than expected, I started to increase my weight. 1 ton. 10 tons. 100 tons. 1million tons¡­ Ah! Ok that¡¯s causing a bit of a gravity issue¡­ Back to 100 tons, this is a much smoother speed. I could feel the electric charge running through the molten liquid as I moved deeper. After several hours of falling I finally approached the power source, the trail I¡¯d been following for a long time. Buried in the overwhelming fiery heat was a pillar that ignored the heat around it. No, to be more precise, this object was absorbing the heat energy around it. In exchange a strange flow of energy was being emitted. I turned my mind fully on the problem before arriving at a possible conclusion. Someone had tried to eat this world before. Does this sound strange? Perhaps, but the evidence was directly in front of me. This massive pillar led deeper down towards the glowing golden sphere that spun at incredible speeds barely visible below. I arrived at the world¡¯s core by following the pillar to the end. Upon arrival my conclusion was reinforced even further. The entire Worldheart was imprisoned in a titanic black cube of material centered within the golden core that formed the inner sphere of the world. Someone before me had attempted to devour the entire world! This conclusion raised even more questions than answers, though. Who? Why? When? After thinking for a short time, I decided it was a moot point. The war that had been fought was long over, and none of this world¡¯s currently accessible history recorded it. Most likely the winner¡¯s had purged all records of the enormous war. Although I couldn¡¯t tell exactly what occurred back then, it was clear one side had technology far in advance of anything I¡¯d seen, even on Earth. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. This entire black cube was an immense power generating station that used the ¡®pillars¡¯ like a tree trunk, carrying power to the surface. On the surface there likely would have been power stations to distribute the energy further to weapons or shielding of some type. Incredible! However¡­ Now this structure is mine, heh! A small bow of my trunk extended my gratitude towards those who crafted this massive wellspring. Mishra. I have reached my target. How are things up there? I sent through the heavy interference of the Worldheart and inner core. Under¡­attack¡­please¡­hurry¡­Master¡­ Mishra¡¯s response finally reached me hours later. Unlike me, she couldn¡¯t easily penetrate the interference generated by the massive power fluctuations. For a moment I thought of abandoning the Worldheart, and simply going to assist, but reason reasserted itself. No support I could give would reach there fast enough. Focusing, I began to carve the Runes that would begin the end of this world. Time dropped away from my mind as thousands of glowing Runes began appearing on all of the visible pillars. Tens of thousands more started to appear on the titanic black cube as well. Space, Time, Power, Hunger, Void, Consume, Transmit, and more countless among my native language. The silver glow of my runic carving started to compete with the golden glow of the inner core. I will feed. I will devour. I will grow. I will, bloom! I activated the final control Rune with my mind set in stone. Power started to curl around me, wings of invisible might made manifest by the enormous energy pulsing through the air. From the start of my journey in this world, I was hungry. I carefully managed my hunger, but, it was never enough. Now, I had the feeling that a starving man would, looking at a buffet table. Food! Enormous amounts of food! Endless. Everburning. Eternal. FOOD! The enormous black cube shattered under the pressure of my Chaos power releasing the Worldheart. My roots grew rapidly under the endless surging power. At first only a few tiny hair-like strands managed to take root, within seconds the entire Worldheart was wrapped in millions of strands. Unlike the pathetic technology of the previous attackers, I have the Dao of Nix! The endless hungering void that slept deep within my trunk woke at the sight of a feast of famine. I started to absorb the heat energy around me, and slowly as my Dao of Fire was burned in the flame of an entire world¡¯s power, I groped towards enlightenment. I could feel my consciousness expand, as my sight grew dark without warning. ¡°Tree.¡± a glowing humanoid male figure stood before me in the endless darkness. ¡°You..!¡± I said. The figure in front of me was the glowing figure that had been teasing the edge of my vision for years now. ¡°You¡¯ve finally reached this point. But you can feel it can¡¯t you, Tree? You can go no further. Your soul is too immature to grow past this point.¡± The figure said, his eyes kind. There was a sadness there, but also a poingent longing. ¡°No, impossible! I can grow further! I can! With enough power even souls can bloom!¡± I screamed at the figure. ¡°You know this to be false, Tree.¡± A sharp sigh escaped the figure. ¡°Equivalent Exchange, for something such as a soul to be truly born¡­¡± ¡°¡­An equal or greater price must be paid in exchange.¡± I said, my voice growing soft. ¡°Will you do it then Tree? Will you sacrifice the souls of those that trust in you, those that believe? Will you pay them as coin to further your growth?¡± The figure said, his eyes sharp awaiting my answer. For a brief moment I thought of it. I truly did. How easy it would be to exchange those that I had raised, to trade them for my own growth. However, a glance at Dryad sleeping within my leaf was all it took to shatter the illusion. I would never be able to live with myself if I started down such a road. In the end, even Dryad might fall victim to such insanity. ¡°¡­No. No, there must be another way. I have time, I can find it.¡± I told the glowing human, my voice growing stronger with each word. ¡°Hah! Exactly as I would expect from a creature born from my own soul.¡± The glowing human laughed uproariously before taking a dramatic pose. ¡°I have lived a full life, and one without regret. Fiat enim ut facta est commutatio. Goodbye, little me!¡± The glowing human shattered into a million starlit points, each one drifting to me to be absorbed. I felt the knowledge that had been plaguing me for so long strike me like a bolt from the blue. I wasn¡¯t a reincarnated human, I was the soul that had grown from said human. Like a plant, slowly and without knowledge. I had absorbed the experiences, eaten knowledge, devoured memories, but in the end¡­. I wasn¡¯t a human at all. As such, my own limitations as a plant became apparent immediately when I tried to ascend to a greater level of power. My soul was too weak, being that it wasn¡¯t really a human soul. The endless ability of humans to rise and grow was something, I, as a plant, just didn¡¯t have. Until now. The human soul that had followed me for thousands of years, watching carefully to see if I was worth granting true life too had finally made his choice. I could feel the shackles of my soul within shattering. I was no longer a human made tree. I was a Tree, made in the image of the one who enabled my growth. Power shattered the darkness around me as my Dao activated rising a step up on the endless path. ¡°Burn.¡± I said calmly, and the fiery liquid around me ignited. Matter, is essentially incredibly compacted energy. When someone does something terrible, like say, triggering an atomic bomb, at the most basic level they are shattering matter. Matter, funny enough, releases enormous amounts of energy when it is no longer in a ¡®solid¡¯ state. A single atom is enough to briefly bring the power of the sun to earth. Now, imagine if you can, a glowing white tree sitting in the exact center of an endless sea of atoms¡­ Right before they all explode. Seedling 94 I am not a complicated creature. Trees in general, are not complex things. I may have departed a bit from the norm... I may have changed slightly from the known¡­ Yet, I¡¯m still me. The same Tree. With the same Dryad. The same love of eating. The great Dao of Nix, in and of itself, is not a difficult Dao to understand. Such a Dao is simple in its structure, and sublime in execution. However, all simple things have secret costs. Nix, as a Dao, has the immense burden of supply¡­ For one who follows the path of Nix, is always, completely, and utterly.... Hungry. Nix is not to be confused with Greed, though. The simple, easy, and perfect way to contrast them is Greed is the bottomless pit that can never be filled. Upon trying to fill it only grants greater desire to be filled. While, Nix is the bottomless pit, of which filling grants greater heights of hunger. However, with greater hunger accompanies greater power given to the practitioner. In very, very, very rare cases though, enough energy can be eaten to cause even the Dao of Nix to evolve. My daos¡­ Dao of Fire, the Flame. Dao of Nix, the Endless Hunger. Under the heat and pressure of a thousand thousand million burning motes of starstruck sunlight¡­ A mutation occurred¡­ A twist in the grand design, a deviation from the path paved by others¡­ A parting of the endless curtain of uncertainty, a glimpse of eternity, unveiled at the cost of an entire Worldheart was shown to me¡­ I could see it. With senses tuned and stretched by multiple supernova level amounts of energy, I could see beyond the Veil. The path forward, the evolution of what I had, to what I could become. In the vastness of the empty space between stars I saw myself, titanic, immense, with heights of glory greater than the paltry planets orbiting me. I saw the nature of Flame in a brief moment, and it pushed me upwards, further along the path of my Dao. For at its most basic, isn¡¯t flame merely the power of elemental heat, to convert dross to purity? What else among all the great forces that I know does the same thing? Time. Time is the flame that purges all things. Space is the crucible, Time is the Flame! With this realization my Everburning Flame evolved one step higher. I can feel the new flame form within me, invisible in the overwhelming vastness of Eternity¡­ It is a flame that is both there, and not, a partial structure created by my glimpse of what Time truly is. I shall call this creation¡­ My creation, Time¡¯s Shadow, a Soulflame the evolution of Everburning. The soulflame is not built to burn merely material things, instead, like a shadow of time itself, it burns things outside the physical realm. I look around, and there is nothing. Well, nothing except the endless darkness of a hollowed world. The surface is still there countless miles above me, but the world is now like an eggshell drained of power. The entire Worldheart has been devoured, along with the inner core, and oceans of magma energy. I have fed very well. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. If it were not for the Dao of Nix within me drawing all energy into me, this planet would likely be floating chunks of barren lifeless rock by now. My previous soul seal is now gone, and my full power stretches outward encompassing the entire planet¡¯s surface shell. I see Divine heads raise on a mountain far above in the surface world. A table surrounded by powerful Divinities, each one responding differently to the aura that flows out from me. Yet those threats are not what I care most for. I focus in on the ledge where I previously leaped from. With the coordinates fresh in my mind, Time¡¯s Shadow melts a path through space directly to my servants. I float out of the portal, my presence alone causing battle to pause. Mishra has wounds all over, her entire body is a mish mash of poisoned skin, broken bones, and ruptured organs. If it wasn¡¯t for the incredible physical power she¡¯d gained through constant tempering from her Dao, she would definitely be dead. Huddled behind Mishra are the rest, S¡¯neli in full potion battle-gear, the gnomes in armored battle suits with energy lines pulsing, my whole team¡­ Looks like they¡¯ve been beaten to hell and back! Anger flows through me, along with the innate desire to make an example of my new power. I turn my attention towards the insects that dare to touch what is mine! I push outward with my power ripping the invisibility formed of darkness from the enemies with a ruthless use of power. Long ears. Dark skin. Purple eyes. Elves. Elves. Elves. My anger reaches new heights, I can barely see straight now. Time¡¯s Shadow flashes outwards from me, faster than the speed my opponents can possibly react to, its very nature disintegrating the souls of every elf. Before they are even able to scream I have turned each and every opponent¡¯s soul to stardust. For a moment there is silence, and then every single elf collapses like a puppet whose strings have been cut. Before they even reach the ground their corpses disintegrate into nothingness. Taking a look at my own allies, Time¡¯s Shadow pulses, this time focused with pure intent on me and mine. In a flash, Mishra, S¡¯neli, and all the gnomes are restored to full health. I even went the extra mile to replace all their gear as good as new. Without warning I reach out and pull all of them into one of my leaves. I can sense the Divinities on the surface turning their senses towards me, attempting to lock onto my position. Another use of Times¡¯s Shadow and portal to the airship, without delay I place it inside my leaves as well. Not a moment too soon, as a fraction of a microsecond later I am surrounded. An elderly human. A gorgeous elf. An armored dwarf. Various elemental golems. Various forms of darkness. Lastly, Vex, dressed to kill. I¡¯d been wondering where she was. Also, how does she ever find the time to get such killer wardrobes assembled before battle? Vex flashes me a smile before slowly backing away from the encirclement. Oh¡­someone isn¡¯t suicidal it seems¡­ *** Nif stared at the lifeform that they had been preparing to fight for over a decade. It didn¡¯t seem that threatening. If you disregarded the almost physical sensation of power rolling off from the creature, it was almost cute. However, to those who had lived thousands of years, and who had walked the path to Divinity through oceans of blood¡­ The short half-meter high Tree in front of them gave off a terrifying aura. Moments ago at the yearly meeting, everyone had sensed the horrific destruction of the Worldheart. This tiny tree in front of them was no innocent lamb, instead it was a monster that had devoured the very source of life for planet Vespar. Nif sent a message to the human rulers he kept in contact with immediately, it was all he could spare attention for. He felt the Forgelord and the Forest Lady do so as well, it appeared no one was willing to gamble. The messages contained a simple phrase, translated most easily as¡­ Escape. Now. Without a doubt, Vespar as a planet was finished. Without a Worldheart, the source of energy for the entire planet was lost. First the atmosphere would die, then the creatures, and finally, ice would begin to creep out from the oceans. Eventually the world would be nothing except a cold dead shell of a once thriving planet. Nif steeled himself and opened the channel of faith between his Chosen humans, and himself. With an expression of sadness, he pulled on the deep of faith within it. Power filled his frail form, like sunlight given flesh. His eyes glowed with might, and youthful vigor. Time reversed on his body, age rapidly vanishing as he became younger, his form shifting to his prime. The Forgelord stared for a moment before sighing deeply as he did the same. The Forest Lady grimaced as she did the same as well. This move was a trump card, pushing them above the low level class of Diety, and into the upper-middle rank. However, it came with a monstrous cost. The lives of their followers were burned like candles to fuel the increase in power, their unwavering faith fueling the transformation. Even worse, the move itself took time to mature into full power. The Elemental Lords had such a move as well, however, with the destruction of the Worldheart they no longer had access to it. As such, each Elemental Lord attacked first to buy time for the three humanoid Divinities to complete their transformation. Flames hotter than molten magma flew towards the small tree. At the same time ice harder than steel, vacuum winds stronger than a hurricane, and earthen spikes of pure mithril all struck at once. The flames being used by the Firelord vanished like snow meeting heated steel. As they vanished, a perfectly circular almost invisible orb was revealed. All the other attacks that struck, vanished in the same manner. It was as if the four Elemental Lords were throwing punches that were eaten by nothingness. ¡°Children shouldn¡¯t play in the games of adults.¡± the Tree said, before an immense pressure crushed down onto the Elemental Lords. Without the Worldheart to supply them power, they were slowly ripped apart and forced back to their respective Elemental Planes. As true Lords, they could not be killed except on their home planes. However, the time they bought was enough for Nif, the Forgelord, and the Forest Lady! ¡°Sword of a thousand shattered stars.¡± the Forgelord intoned pointing at Nif. ¡°Grace of a hundred whispered winds.¡± the Forest Lady whispered, pointing at Nif. Nif sprung forward, his right arm slashing with a barely visible plain metal sword. His speed boosted beyond earthly limits from the elven Blessing of Grace. ¡°If you leave now Dwarf, I will not pursue you, or your race¡­¡± the Tree said, in his insidious voice. Nif didn¡¯t allow himself to be distracted, and his blow cleaved down on the Tree¡¯s crown without pause. A scream like the murder of a billion throats ripped out from the Tree. ¡°I won¡¯t pursue you Dwarf¡­but the human and elf¡­¡± the Tree said, his voice no longer kind, ¡°¡­forfeit their chance.¡± Nif felt the Forgelord hesitate, out of all the three of them, the Dwarves were the race with the lowest birthrate. Unlike elves, they couldn¡¯t increase their numbers with a half-elf population. ¡°Nif¡­¡± the Forgelord said, his voice torn in anguish. ¡°Go, the Sword is the largest portion of your power, if we can¡¯t defeat him with it, your prescence wouldn¡¯t matter.¡± Nif said, his voice short. It was better to let those unwilling to make the final sacrifice escape, so as not to distract him during battle. ¡°Time is an illusion, space a distant memory.¡± the Forest Lady said, her form slowly shattering into dust. Nif felt the High Elf¡¯s final blessing as she spent the power of her race without holding back. He was clear the only reason this happened was she knew there was no chance otherwise. ¡°Silly girl¡­¡± Nif said, tears in his eyes. Now he¡¯d never have the chance to confess his feelings to her. In a blink of molten fire, the Forgelord vanished. Nif knew that as long as he could defeat the Tree, it would be no problem to evolve into a high level Diety. At that point, the Darkness, Void, Shadow, and Vex would be ants beneath his feet. They could be dealt with at any time. Nif blinked forward once again, the Sword swinging in a horizontal slash. For a moment he was confused, he could see his body moving forward, but, his vision was moving backwards. Faster¡­than¡­time¡­ was Nif¡¯s last thought as his body disintegrated in the crushing Flame that melted even the Sword he held to nothingness. *** I haven¡¯t felt fear in forever, Trees don¡¯t have the same nervous system as a human. However, it appeared there was an obvious downside to transforming my soul. Focusing blearily through the fear, I mumbled an offer to the Dwarf. Considering the person who had taught me the basics of forging was a dwarf, my personal honor demanded they get a chance. Pain. Pain. PAIN! I gave a chance to the dwarf. The human and the elf though¡­ Their chances are spent. The human managed to slice off several of my branches, causing untold agony. It was this agony that caused me to reach deeper than I ever had into the well of Chaos that I had. Time¡¯s Shadow rushed outward like an array of thin sharp hidden razor wires. I may not be fast. I may not be tall. I may not be the best, brightest, or most powerful. However, within the limits of my range¡­ All will turn to ashes, as the shadow of time eats from within. When I managed to focus again, the human was disintegrating in front of me. I snapped further aware searching for the elf. Tsk, that damn thing got away. Vex walked over to me from where she¡¯d been watching. Glittering eyes stared down at me, before she drew back. Good thing too, I had only spent 70% of my power surviving. Call me paranoid, but, I don¡¯t trust demons. Even the ones that are my friends. Without even speaking a word, I picked up all my fallen branches and leaves. It would be a massive amount of work to re-attach them all. ¡°What did I miss?¡± I asked Vex. ¡°The elf disintegrated feeding an enormous portion of power to the human, Nif. Not surprising though, she was a clone. After your offer, the Forgelord accepted and bowed out.¡± Vex said, placing a finger in a questioning manner. ¡°Were you planning anything else?¡± a devious smile that couldn¡¯t be seen by her allies was shown. I looked over at the Darkness, Shadow, and Void. ¡°I¡¯m still hungry.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll be off then.¡± Vex said, edging away from me with rapid haste. My full attention turned to the ¡®allies¡¯ she¡¯d made. Time to replenish my energy. That human was hideously strong, but these creatures¡­are not. Seedling 95 I am a very ferocious Tree! Rawr! Tree power! Yes well¡­ I¡¯m losing at the moment¡­ Tsk, after devouring those delicious Dark Divinities, I moved Mishra and S¡¯neli out from the leaf I hid them inside. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. That¡¯s where the trouble started! How could a mere half-hour upgrade S¡¯neli so much? Her stare is now at the next level. I admit. I got outstared. ¡°CONFESS!¡± S¡¯neli said, pointing a finger at me authoritatively. I was in bent-trunk-kneeling position to admit my wrongs better. ¡°Now, now. It¡¯s not like Master plotted this from the very beginning¡­¡± Mishra said. Good save! I knew I could depend on you, my beloved servant! ¡°He probably plotted it minutes after meeting you¡­¡± Et Tu, Mishra?! ¡°Start from the top, and explain it!¡± S¡¯neli said, her expression cross. So, I spent the next few hours explaining things. Lots of things. Then, of course, upon finding the world was about to end, in roughly a century or less¡­ ¡°So, can you save my family?¡± No concern over the rest of the planet, not my Chaos Alchemist! I waved my branches signaling no, of course I can¡¯t. ¡°Good, as long as you save my family, including that bratty brother, I¡¯ll stick with you.¡± S¡¯neli nodded at my gesturing. ... ¡­ ¡­ Tsk¡­who got me into this mess, again? Seedling 96 After careful calculation, I decided it was more beneficial to save the planet than allow total destruction over time. Indeed. I am not at all influenced by the threat of suicide if I fail to save the family of my Chaos Alchemist-To-Be. At. All. Now of course¡­ If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. How to save a planet¡­ I¡¯m not really a ¡®save¡¯ kind of Tree. I¡¯m more of a melt and eat kind of Tree. Melting and eating do not contribute much to saving, at least not in this situation. So¡­of course¡­I¡¯m doomed. I really wish I had help right about now¡­ A finger poked me, but I ignored it. I really wish Dryad was awake right now. Poke. Poke. POKE. I whacked the offending finger, and seconds later I was in sub-orbital flight. Oh dear¡­Dryad woke up¡­ After teleporting back to the ground, I went through another question and answer session. This one, was more¡­physically motivating. After I finished, Dryad explained to me in small polite words what would happen if I ever experimented on her again. It was sufficient knowledge to make me understand the gravity of such a mistake occurring. ¡°Hmph, now that that¡¯s done with. How are you going to save the planet?¡± Dryad said, while tapping her foot. What? I never thought for a second Dryad waking up would be helpful! Seedling 97 There is a moment before every big choice. It can be a second, or even a fraction of a second. That tiny amount of time, where, one usually asks themselves¡­ Is it worth it? Will I gain? What will I lose? How can I minimize loss? How can I increase gain?Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Eventually I decided, I didn¡¯t really need to save the entire planet. Just, most of the people on it. Except the elves. Anti-Elven Tree, that¡¯s me. To that end I had to spend power. Thankfully, I had recently had a very delicious, and very filling meal. Reaching out with my power I focused on the rings spread by the Cult of Wood. I spread my power out, further and further, spinning it like a spider spins silk until the entire planet was covered in the web. Taking a deep breath of Chaos, I pulled everyone I could reach into all my remaining leaves. Half-elves, beastkin, naga, humans, dwarves, the list reads like something from a fairytale bestiary. Thirty-three percent of my total power, vaporized in a single move. I felt a small burn, like the first time I started on the path of Flame. S¡¯ok. I got this. I¡¯m not a wimpy Tree. Next, I spread my power out again. Without any living creatures to stop me, the clash of energies didn¡¯t exist. Time¡¯s Shadow spread across the dying planet¡¯s shell. Reaching out I teleported everyone into the space above the planet. I kept us inside a decent sized bubble of livable ¡®space¡¯ to prevent mishaps. The same shielding that kept the air in, and recycling, also prevented heat, cold, or nasty radiation stuff. Slowly, ever so slowly, the planet¡¯s shell started to melt. That¡¯s right. I¡¯m not a planet saving tree. However, I always wanted to forge something bigger than rings¡­ Seedling 98 The forging of a planet! It sounds like something nice and easy right? Ha...ha...haaaa¡­ No, it¡¯s a pear-shaped show. Obviously! Since I didn¡¯t know how long it would actually take me to forge the entire planet, I used Time¡¯s Shadow to accelerate time around me. This costed a fraction of my power, in the area of around five percent. For the girls, namely Dryad, S¡¯neli, and Mishra, it would appear as if a time lapse photography was occurring. However, for me¡­ I had to agonize through every crucial choice. Take water for instance. It¡¯s all swishy and swashy, but when one has to coral it in space, the damn crap freezes, instantly! Compressing ice is, in a word, challenging. Which means I had to carefully convert it back into water, and then compress it from there. This took an enormous amount of time to perfect. I might need to look into the Dao of Aqua in the future¡­ Another issue was with the solid things. When you first learn, that different substances have different melting points, it¡¯s not that big a deal. It¡¯s a much bigger deal when trying to melt an entire planet at once. So of course, the first thing I did after the explosion was figure out what went wrong. After that was several days, to me, of carefully smelting out the different metals into separate components. That was a fun bit. When melting right off the bat failed, I ended up just grinding everything into a single massive pile of powder. From there I chemically reacted out everything I could, in every way I could. Most of the metals separated into their pure forms, eventually. From the outside it probably looked like a massive science experiment, gone horribly wrong. A few times I had to burn suspicious looking growths that would probably give me nightmares if I was a real human. Things get tricky when bacteria turns into super powered goo with enough Chaos flame applied.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. After I managed to get all the metals out, and all the dangerous new lifeforms dead, then I had to start with stone. Stone is not to be confused with dirt. Whoever tells you they are the same, is ignoring the enormous amount of time required to turn one into the other. Dirt is also partially alive, with trillions upon trillions of bacteria living and breathing in it. Eventually I had to trace the genetic makeup of the largest bacterial family trees to pre-cursor ancestors. From that point, I sealed the ancestor bacteria away, to be re-introduced to my new planet later. After what felt like ages, I started melting things! Each mineral was given a separate ¡®pot¡¯ formed from Flame and space elements. After a few experiments I managed to reach equilibrium with all the different ¡®pots¡¯. Now the real fun started! Since the planet Vespar was hollow after I ate my fill, I had to resize the entire thing. Like a jeweler fitting new ring, I compressed everything as much as possible. This made the gravity rise on the new planet, but that¡¯s fine. With the addition of Chaos energy, creatures residing on the planet will be able to cultivate their bodies and resist the gravity. I really didn¡¯t have many references to other planets, so, I cheated a bit¡­ Earth 2.0! Bigger! Heavier! More filled with metal treasures, ancient dangerous beasts I saved from extinction, and plants! What? Did anyone really expect me not to remember the plants? I might have tweaked the plants a bit when I remade the planet, however no one should immediately notice that¡­ ¡­except the ones that get eaten, but that¡¯s their own fault! I started with lichen, moss, and the basic small fungi. Then I introduced insects, then more plants, then larger insects, and step by step a food chain was created. From there it was easy to copy the entire thing out, separating species by region, habitats, and so forth. When all the important stuff was finally done, I turned to my passion¡­ Trees! Forests! Dark evil trees that devoured souls! Bright holy trees that gave majestic powers! Enormous forests that spanned three quarters of continents! I¡­might have gotten a little carried away at some parts¡­ After almost thirty centuries of time, I finished my planetary masterpiece. Collapsing the field generated by Time¡¯s Shadow, I watched as a planet teeming with life rotated in front of me. The core of the planet was made of Chaos gold surrounded by a sea of magma moving slowly in concert with the motion of the core. A gentle spin began after I released my hold on the planet. Forty-five percent of my power was drained, and it wasn¡¯t over yet. Moving the new planet into a leaf I created specifically for this, I used another forty percent of my power. A small sun appeared far enough away to ensure life was maintained on the planet. Another ten percent of my power used the leftovers to create two moons to circle the planet. The last step was re-introducing all the races I had managed to save from Vespar. Humans, dwarves, naga, beastkin, and more started to appear in the various regions of the planet. While they were within my leaves, I¡¯d frozen time around them to prevent mass death by panic, or old age. With only five percent of my power left, I felt exhausted. As the various races discovered their planet anew, a titanic rush of Order swelled through me. Faith, spread by the Cult of Wood placed among the different races flowed into me. And finally¡­I started the process that had been halted for so long¡­ With the increased power of my soul, with the blinding flow of Faith¡­ I grow once more. Dryad could handle the rest, it was time for me to take a long sleep to recover. Sproutling 99 Dryad stared. Mishra stared. S¡¯neli stared. Vex stared. The crisscrossing starebeams intersected for several minutes. ¡°So.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°D-Demon!¡± ¡°So, I was thinking of eating Tree now that he¡¯s asleep.¡± Vex said, playfully. ¡°Go ahead, I¡¯ll miss you.¡± Dryad said, her eyes glinting with mischief. Just because Tree was asleep didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d forgotten to put defenses down beforehand. Sometimes the paranoia of Tree had an understandable reason, at least to her. ¡°This is Vex. She¡¯s a friend of mine. Sort of. Oh, and I¡¯m Dryad.¡± Dryad paused a moment from chatting with Vex to drop her name. ¡°Dryad?¡± ¡°Does no one else see the D.E.M.O.N?¡± Dryad frowned at the constant panic the half-elf was having over Vex. After a second of thought, she knocked out the alchemist and stuffed her into the Vespar Leaf. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Well, that¡¯s one way of solving it.¡± Vex said, amused. ¡°How long do you think before they arrive?¡± Dryad said, brushing her hands against Tree¡¯s new form. ¡°At least three hours. The longer we stay here though, the easier they will be able to track your Aura.¡± Vex said, gazing pointedly at the fluctuating amount of Aura that Dryad was gaining. Dryad pondered. Tree¡¯s sudden growth was both a blessing and a curse. Dryad knew she could increase her powers as soon as Tree was finished, but it would definitely take far longer than three hours. The amount she was gaining now, would not be enough to handle the Divinities that would arrive. When a planet like Vespar vanished, the Divines were certain to send something, or someone that was above her current powers. ¡°I can cut us a path out with the shadow of knowledge I gained when Tree began growing¡­¡± Dryad said, pausing as she stared Vex down. ¡°¡­there¡¯s a catch, isn¡¯t there?¡± ¡°Several.¡± ¡°First, it will be random. Second we¡¯ll need to spend a large portion of our combined power. Third, and most tragic, I have much worse luck than Tree.¡± Dryad said, employing her poker face. ¡°How¡­bad¡­?¡± Vex asked. ¡°¡­Probably not bad enough to end up in lava, in our weakened state?¡± Dryad said, attempting to look cute. ¡°Haah.¡± Vex facepalmed. ¡°Could I choose to opt out of this?¡± Mishra said, her eyes begging. Dryad decided to stuff Mishra in the Vespar Leaf as well, it was better with just three of them. Well¡­ Two counting the fact that Tree was sleeping now. ¡°You know that they will be randomly teleported somewhere right?¡± Vex said, as she watched Mishra get thrown into Tree¡¯s leaf. ¡°Not my problem.¡± Dryad said, her eyes glinting with sadistic glee. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be taking revenge on them for accompanying Tree without you right?¡± ¡°Who? Me?¡± ¡°Haah.¡± ¡°Blood.¡± Dryad said, holding out her palm. Vex stared at her for a long moment before manipulating a nail into a talon before slashing her wrist open. Dryad watched the blood boil, then freeze, before starting to manipulate the Dao of Life. Unlike simple Daos, such as Flame or Water, the Dao of Life was more complex. However, she utilized what Tree had shown her, and thus Dryad pried a crack open in the universe around them. A spatial crack with irregular edges gradually opened under the pressure of Life and Chaos. Dryad wiped the sweat off her forehead before it boiled into ice crystals. Reaching out her Aura, she pulled Tree behind her, from afar it would look as if she was equipping an enormous tree to her back as a weapon. ¡°Ready?¡± Dryad said, her voice slightly wavering. ¡°No, can wa-¡± Vex said, interrupted as Dryad grabbed her hand before pulling them through the void. Sproutling 100 A cavern full of liquid heat stood alone well below the surface of the planet. Within the massive cavern, and enormous ash colored tree grew from a large island in the middle of the magma. The island was connected to the cavern¡¯s entrance by a thin stone bridge. On the bridge, two men, one old, one young walked carefully shielded from the heat with pure magic. As he approached the Barrier Oak, Garvon turned to the companion at his side. ¡°Are you certain of your findings, Travis?¡± The much younger man nodded sadly, ¡°Absolutely, Elder. The Oak is dying. At first the rot was progressing slowly, but now, it¡¯s getting worse. I¡¯ve tried everything, and nothing worked. As soon as I could, I consulted the Librarian, but¡­¡± Garvon shuddered as he listened. The one known as the Librarian was a demon summoned over five hundred years ago to serve the Conclave of Guardians. If he didn¡¯t know a method to save the Oak, no one would. Even worse, the Librarian wouldn¡¯t skimp on business that could profit him, so it was most assured there wasn¡¯t a solution in their power. Garvon asked, his voice hopeful. ¡°Did he have an answer?¡± ¡°Ritual of the Void.¡± Travis said, his voice a whisper barely above the bubbling magma. Garvon was horrified. The ritual was one of the Guardian¡¯s deepest secrets, a powerful summoning that had last been used to pull the Librarian to their world. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the Library was starting to act up, the Conclave would never have used it.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Every single Ritual of the Void required sacrificing enormous quantities of magic, and the most easily acquired, were of course, Elders themselves. The last time they had been lucky enough to have murdered a dragon that was rampaging on human lands, and substituted it instead. Now however, with the Truce in effect, sources of magical power on the scale of the Elders were hard to acquire. ¡°Did the Oracle say anything?¡± Garvon said, his tone sad. ¡°She garunteed the Ritual could save us. Whatever it summons, is strong enough to solve the Oak¡¯s issue. The problem was¡­after¡­that¡­¡± Travis said, his eyes troubled. ¡°After?¡± ¡°Although she couldn¡¯t see fully, the Oracle said there is something attempting to enter. It¡¯s neither good, nor evil, but it isn¡¯t¡­human¡­¡± Travis said. Garvon understood without further words. For almost twelve generations the Conclave of Guardians had protected the human world. Now their only hope to keep the Oak alive was to summon something that might not be in anyway disposed to aid them. Even worse, without the ability to target the Ritual like last time, they couldn¡¯t set proper seals on whatever arrived through. As both men finally arrived under the Oak, Garvon reached a single hand out to touch the old tree. Pain. Tiredness. Fear. These three emotions flowed through the sentient tree¡¯s link. Garvon could clearly tell, the Oak knew it was dying. ¡°Old friend¡­¡± Garvon said, his eyes growing wet with tears. The powerful Barrier Oak had protected the human realms ever since the Covenant over thirteen centuries ago. Protection for protection. As the Oak guarded human lands, humans had guarded it for centuries. Every single Elder swore under the great tree¡¯s branches to continue the work of their ancestors. When he was only fifteen years old, Garvon had sworn his oath at this very spot. Now, time was finally striking a fatal blow to the ancient tree. Without the ritual, the Oak would die. Once the tree died, the barriers would fall. ¡°Without the barriers¡­¡± Travis said, his voice echoing Garvon¡¯s thoughts. ¡°Without the barriers, there will be nothing stopping humanity¡¯s destruction.¡± Garvon said, wiping his tears. Turning away from the ancient tree he spoke to his disciple. ¡°Call the Council, it is time to pay the price we have always known might be required.¡± Sproutling 101 A vast army of non-human monsters stood outside the glowing curtain of light that protected the human realms. Millions of creatures, from the smallest goblins to the monstrously large giants stood in perfect rows. All faces were turned to the curtain of light that currently appeared as if it was suffering a rare disease. Spots of darkness flowed across the Barrier, as the entire structure flickered like a strobe light. Within a comfortable tent centered in the massive army the generals met to discuss a disturbing report. ¡°Are we certain the human traitors can be trusted?¡± a hideous ogre general said. A map lay upon the table surrounded by all chairs, exactly like the Human lands were surrounded by their army. Ripping apart a piece of bloody meat from a nearby servant¡¯s platter the orc general across from him said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if they are trustworthy or not. We should eliminate all chance of a variable that could stop us!¡± Heads nodded around the table. The great Demon Lord had ordered victory at all costs. None at the table would dare to question His Majesty¡¯s reasons. ¡°Even though the Barrier is close to falling, it still hasn¡¯t yet.¡± a whisper spoke from the darkest chair in a corner. The drow general preferred to be invisible unless there was bloodshed, as a wizard he frequently was absent from meetings. Goblin shamans, drow wizards, orc bloodchanters, giant adepts, and drake spellbreathers were all listed in the army as ¡®Magic Corps¡¯. However, each of the magic corps was separated by races, and each race thought themselves the best. ¡°Given enough sacrifices it would be possible to punch a brief hole through the Barrier.¡± the drow wizard stated, his fingers tapping on a weak point they had previously located in the Barrier. ¡°A strike team of elites. Do it.¡± an armored figure at the head of the table said, his voice grating like metal on metal. The assembled generals sent messages to their units immediately. It was time to ensure the Human lands fell, completely. *** A group of elderly men and women approached the Barrier Oak. Each was accompanied by younger male or female counterparts. Elders, and their apprentices, each prepared to enact the Ritual of Void. The older, to contribute their lifeforce, the younger to witness what they might one day be called to do themselves. Hours were spent setting up the blood circle, preparing the runes, cutting the binding circle, and pouring the silver. After almost a complete day of work, a gigantic runic Summoning Circle lay in front of the Oak. Each of the Elders took one of the eight compass points with a grim face.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Garvon turned to Travis behind him, ¡°Make sure the Ritual isn¡¯t interrupted. Now would be the perfect time for the enemy to strike. It could be paid human traitors, or even creatures able to make it through the weakening Barrier. Be alert!¡± Travis nodded, before moving with his fellow apprentices to guard the bridge leading to the Oak. The entire length of the bridge glowed with runic inscriptions, and trigger-trap spells. Each apprentice specialized in one of the eight elements, Light, Dark, Fire, Ice, Earth, Wind, Metal, or Lightning. Their combined might was only beneath the Elders themselves. Each of the Elders looked at their counterparts before taking a small dagger from underneath their robes. Almost at exactly the same time, each made a cut on their opposite arm. As blood dripped onto the runes in the Summoning Circle, the entire assembly started lighting up like a monstrous machine. In the center above the circle, a tiny ripple of the Void started to appear. *** Within the Void, Dryad was searching for anything that could allow her to find a solid direction. Without warning, a small pinprick of light appeared in the distance off to her left. Grasping the barely conscious Vex, she pulled on the remaining power of Life and Chaos to head towards it. At this point, Dryad didn¡¯t even care, she just wanted to stop falling. Tree always made this look so easy¡­ *** ¡°Get ready!¡± Garvon shouted, as he felt something take notice within the Void. A powerful presence burning with life moved towards the portal. He could feel the enormous pressure of the creature as it came closer, more powerful than even the Elder Guardians. As a sharp cracking sound occurred, several things happened at once. The south-east Elder of Metal turned to the direction of Fire and immediately shot a bolt of pure metal through his target¡¯s head. Back at the bridge, the apprentice of Metal managed to kill the apprentice of Fire at the same time. Across the bridge, a small horde of monsters appeared at the entrance to the Oak¡¯s cavern. And finally, two figures dropped through the closing portal to land on exact center of the Summoning Circle. Garvon barely managed to notice them though, as he was busy pulling on the element of Earth in order to defend the remaining Elders from Metal¡¯s betrayal. *** Dryad looked around at the lava around them and made a mental victory sign! ¡°Vex, stop playing dead!¡± Dryad said kicking her friends stomach with mild force. Vex sprang up shouting, ¡°Dammit! Next time give me more warning! Look! Didn¡¯t we almost land in lava!¡± ¡°No.¡± Dryad said with a grin. ¡°Bad luck, next time I¡¯m not going unless Tree is doing the portal.¡± Vex said, staring at the humans fighting around them, the monsters in the distance approaching, and the titanic tree nearby. Dryad stared at the tree too, before flaring her Aura to move directly to it in a fraction of a second. Touching her hand to the large tree, Dryad reached deep within to communicate. A sense of joy overwhelmed her, as the tree recognized her for what she really was. Images were fed to her mind allowing her to grasp the situation at hand, and rapidly understand. ¡°I can¡¯t save you.¡± Dryad said, shaking her head sadly. It would drain Tree too much to give this youngster aid. No matter how dire the situation, as a dryad she would always prioritize her own first. Another request was made through the silent communication shared with the Oak. Dryad paused, before saying, ¡°Are you sure? Tree is¡­strange. I can promise to try, but¡­¡± A sense of acceptance overtook her. It was enough, if even the opportunity was given. Dryad nodded before covering her right hand in Aura and stabbing it deep into the Oak. Pulling out a small seed, she placed the seed within her hair, before turning away from the now dead tree. As she turned around she saw six humans gaping at her, while a seventh was smiling ecstatically. Moving back to Vex¡¯s side, she said, ¡°I have to take care of some issues in exchange for a promise. What are your plans?¡± Vex shook her body allowing her dress to curve back into its predatory form. ¡°I feel a small kin nearby, I¡¯m going to grab one of those cute looking boys over there, and visit. Don¡¯t die, I¡¯d hate to have to cut my way out of this world on my own.¡± In a flash, Vex grabbed Travis out of the group of apprentices and then flickered away. Her struggling prey was screaming how he had to go back and save his mentor. As she sped towards the Library, Vex said, ¡°Calm down boy. There¡¯s an Ancient Dryad preparing for war behind us.¡± ¡°Ancient Dryad?¡± ¡°Ah, you might not have them on this world. Well, simply put, she¡¯s¡­invincible. Well, perhaps not, but I wouldn¡¯t take any bets as long as she¡¯s within a hundred miles of Tree. Those two¡­they aren¡¯t normal by any means.¡± Vex said, entering the Library with her snack in tow. Back at the Ritual of Void, Dryad was staring at all the groups staring back at her. Turning away from them she kicked the Oak¡¯s corpse into the lava lake. From there, she planted Tree in its spot with a nod. ¡°Good. I can¡¯t believe I was lucky enough to drop into a location so rich in Flame essence.¡± Dryad murmured to herself. Without warning, the Metal Elder who had been ecstatic launched a sudden sneak attack towards Tree. His face was frightened, as if he thought Tree was another Oak come to create a Barrier. Metal shards whistled at high speed towards Tree, before disintegrating inches away. Turning towards the Elder of Metal, Dryad said, ¡°Can¡¯t leave insects alive, they¡¯ll ruin the atmosphere.¡± Sproutling 102 Dryad shivered as if she was cold, before raising one hand and pushing outwards towards the Elder of Metal. Pollen swirled out from her outstretched hand moving slow, yet arriving fast. Within a second the Elder of Metal was gasping for breath as he fell to his knees. Dryad pulled slightly on the connection between her and Tree to refill the Aura used to leap through the Void. Flaring her Aura out, she flickered in front of the human that had dared to attack her Tree. A slender hand landed atop the Elder¡¯s head before she spoke a single word, ¡°Wither.¡± Like a dehydrated plant slowly dying in the heat, his body dried up within seconds. The delicious taste of Life swelled within Dryad¡¯s throat, like wine on a parched mouth. Tossing the corpse aside, Dryad eyeballed the remaining six mages. Their elements pulsed strongly from each of them. Matching memory to faces, from the Oak, she nodded to herself before flaring her Aura once more. Seconds later, the apprentice of Metal was dead as well. Casting his corpse into the lava, Dryad stared across the bridge at the monsters on the other side. She was so very, very, hungry. Eyes flashing, Dryad flared her Aura once more, as she charged forward to hunt. *** Vex followed the sense of kin she felt, and managed to enter the Library. It had taken a small amount of Charm in order to placate the young man following behind her. ¡°What do you mean we are lucky to have escaped? Isn¡¯t the one you call a Dryad your friend?¡± Travis said as he followed her into the maze of shelves on the lower level of the Library. Vex sighed, thinking how na?ve this world must be, ¡°Ancient Dryads were once more powerful than the Divinities. Primal Woods stretched across entire worlds, Groves dotted the universe like firelies, and World Trees were tended by the dryad¡¯s servants, the elves. She might be my friend, yes, but I can sense she¡¯s also hungry. Very. Hungry.¡± Vex glanced at her follower, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry though, if your master is anything like you, he¡¯ll be fine. Earth, Water, and Wind mages are extremely useful to Dryads.¡± Vex paused before muttering, ¡°She¡¯d probably extend a hand to a Fire mage too, what with Tree being that way¡­¡± Travis shuddered, he could feel in her tone the inevitability of service. ¡°What about Light and Dark element mages?¡± After all it wasn¡¯t set in stone that the Elders would be servants, they still had the summoning ritual to work with. Vex paused before continuing to weave her way through the shelves, ¡°If they don¡¯t piss her off¡­maybe¡­a Dryad doesn¡¯t really have use for those elements. Unless you guys are talented enough to do something like Sunlight or Night. I¡¯d doubt that though, since the method I saw for spellcasting was¡­atrocious. It¡¯s not that this world is weak, rather, someone has limited the amount of training here. Almost as if¡­¡± Vex narrowed her eyes, as she saw a shadowy figure step out from the shelves ahead.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. *** Dryad stood among the group of elite monsters that had previously been halfway across the bridge. Nothing living was within range anymore, except the human mages, and Tree. Concentrating her Aura, Dryad fed the life-force she had just devoured along pathways in her body. Slowly tiny cracking noises began to sound throughout her current form. Like a plant growing out of the seed¡¯s shell, a new form emerged from her wooden body. Discarding the old husk into the lava nearby, she stretched. Her new form was taller, and much better designed! Taking a page from Vex¡¯s book, she¡¯d copied a few of the main points to assist in feeding later. A larger chest area, longer legs, tighter waist, lengthy blonde hair, and shimmering emerald eyes graced her new form. Even the skinwood that made up her body was a pale silver-white, glowing with healthy Life and Chaos swirls. ¡°It¡¯s much easier to hunt in this type of form, unless Vex was lying to me.¡± Dryad said, as she moved back towards the human mages. Without the need to use Aura, her speed was much slower. Halfway across the bridge, Vex appeared at the cavern entrance with two figures behind her. One was the young man she¡¯d previously abducted, and the second was gentleman dressed to the nines in a black pinstripe suit. The white shirt underneath the upper suit brazenly set off the single red rose on the left breast pocket. In contrast, Vex had switched to black one-piece toga, the contrast between the two demons was striking. Raising one blonde eyebrow, Dryad waited for Vex arrive next to her, ¡°Collecting?¡± ¡°Charity work. Have you noticed anything¡­strange about this world?¡± Vex said, her eyes displaying a sapphire gleam. As a succubus she could shift her form to whatever seemed best. When they had arrived she took a ¡®neutral¡¯ form of a long haired, blue eyed, non-wing or horn bearing mature lady. Her toga, which Dryad was almost certain was a weapon, rippled with an unseen wind. Since it looked so nice, Dryad copied the toga style with her own twist in green. Without blinking, she using vines and moss that seemed to cloth her form almost instantly. The difference was in the tiny flowers she used to dot her apparel, they released an intoxicating scent that would lure prey more easily. Just like Vex, Dryad left key pieces open like the split down the sides to reveal legs, or the deep V to draw in male eyes. According to the demon, prey were easier to eat when their attention wasn¡¯t focused on survival. ¡°The people are weak, the world is strong. Isn¡¯t it usually the reverse?¡± Dryad responded to Vex, as they walked side by side towards the Elders. ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Do you think¡­it¡¯s them?¡± Dryad said, worry crossing her face. Tree was in a weakened state now. If she had brought them to a world with Divinities who were ready and prepared for battle, she would never forgive herself. ¡°No.¡± Vex shook her head negative, ¡°The cute little kid behind me has been here for centuries, if there were any Divines, he¡¯d know about them.¡± She gestured to the new addition behind her. ¡°Even with his specialty being¡­books, it would be hard to escape his eyes. Besides, do you really think those arrogant, divines, would be patient enough to allow one of my kind to remain unmolested?¡± Dryad nodded at the logic. ¡°The Oak from before also had no memories of them as well. This place must be¡­¡± ¡°¡­an unclaimed World.¡± Vex finished as they finally arrived in front of the remaining Elders of the Conclave of Guardians. For a moment both sides stared at each other. Dryad watched to see if there was any hostility, while Vex surveyed the group searching for the leader. Both women exuded powerful auras that stifled any attempt to question them. Finally, after a few tense moments passed, Garvon said, ¡°Welcome to our humble world of Durant.¡± Dryad zeroed in on Garvon as he moved to stand in front of the Elders and their apprentices. Clearly, this one was in charge, or close enough to it that it didn¡¯t matter. ¡°I am, Dryad.¡± She pointed at Vex, ¡°This is Vex, a succubus.¡± Raising her finger, she pointed at Tree, ¡°That¡¯s my tree, Tree. I¡¯m hungry, feed me.¡± Vex covered her face with a palm before massaging her forehead and saying, ¡°What kind of situation are you in?¡± Garvon chose to focus on the inhumanly gorgeous demon, rather than the strange plant lady, ¡°We were in the middle of a rite known as the Ritual of the Void. It has been used in the past to summon powerful entities that are able to solve the problems our human nations possess.¡± Watching the demoness start to frown he quickly said, ¡°Currently the Barrier that the Oak maintained has failed, with this I estimate that millions of monsters similar to the ones¡­Lady Dryad¡­just massacred will flood the human nations. Without help, our people will be utterly destroyed¡­¡± he trailed off as he watched the two powerful women exchange glances. ¡°Servants?¡± ¡°Better than those traitorous elves, perhaps?¡± ¡°I want the cute ones.¡± ¡°I want the adorable ones.¡± ¡°Should we help?¡± ¡°I¡¯m hungry.¡± ¡°Deal?¡± ¡°Deal.¡± And so, Garvon watched as the fate of the entire human race on Durant was settled over a discussion about cuteness and hunger. Sproutling 103 Dryad watched as Vex hammered out the details of their agreement with the humans of Durant. Like humans everywhere, they bickered at the slightest details! Sadly, for them, Vex was a demoness. Out of all the races Dryad could remember in her racial memories, demons were the worst sticklers for contracts. Trying to out bargain a demon was like trying to wrestle Ancient Dragons with both hands tied behind your back, in short, it never ended well. Flaring her Aura, Dryad accelerated her speed moving out of the cavern. With precise use of her aura she was in faster than lightning in water. She made short work of the maze that led into the cavern, and shortly was outside standing at the top of the enormous mountain. Gazing at the surrounding land she was pleasantly surprised to see forests as far as the horizon reached. Staring straight up at the blue sky overhead, Dryad bent down before leaping upwards, ascending faster than an arrow in flight. From her elevated position she managed to see the bare edge of the vast forest that surrounded them. Tiny dots were marching towards the edge of the forest, most likely the enemies the humans spoke of. As she reached the summit of her jump, Dryad opened her hands, from which small seeds, and a plethora of pollen swelled outwards in a massive cloud. Landing back on the mountain moments later, she watched the effect of her handiwork carried on the winds below. At first, nothing appeared different, until a small darker green color started to mar the forest landscape. With rapid speed, the dark green colors began to take over the surrounding forest land, like a drop of ink in a bottle of water. Within minutes the entire forest surrounding the mountain had been altered beyond recognition. Dryad closed her eyes, and reached outward with her senses. Tree was able to directly manipulate energy, but Dryad still required a medium in order to channel the vast powers of Life her race controlled. While her Tree went the route of pure energy, the powers of a dryad were still intricately linked with biologics. The seeds and pollen she had released were agents that allowed her to bend the nearby forest to her will. Focusing, she released a controlled massive burst of Life into the forest around the mountain. Anyone watching would have seen a massive green glow flash for several minutes atop the mountain¡¯s peak. Snapping her eyes open, Dryad smiled, ¡°From now on, the change from normal to primal will be unstoppable.¡± There were only benefits to altering the surrounding forest into a primal woodland. To any dryad, a forest was the same as a deadly blade was to a warrior. Both were weapons that would do immense damage in the right hands. If the monsters that Garvon had said numbered in the millions were foolish enough to enter her primal woods, then the battle would be over before it began. Sleeping glades, changed monsters, fairy brigades, the list of possible causes of death and decay were endless. Nodding to herself in satisfaction, Dryad flared her Aura once more, speeding back to the cavern Tree was in. Vex didn¡¯t say anything about the short break that Dryad took, and none of the humans were stupid enough to ask. It was clear they were in full retreat now while bargaining with Vex, and couldn¡¯t spare time to wonder about what Dryad had been up to. Approaching the succubus, Dryad said, ¡°One thousand miles mostly safe, one hundred absolute.¡± Vex instantly understood what she meant, and turned to the human Elders, ¡°Within one hundred miles we will promise absolute safety to your race.¡± Shocked expressions flowed across the human Elder¡¯s faces as they heard the words. Garvon asked politely, ¡°Is there a time limit on this protection?¡± Vex raised one eyebrow in question to Dryad, who shook her head negative. ¡°There is no limit, as long as you keep up with the payments. Rare metals, rare magic items, crystals, souls, slaves, and all manner of herbs, spices, and plants. Exactly in the quantities we previously discussed. Think hard, the longer you delay bargaining here, the more at risk your own family, friends, and colleagues are.¡± Vex said, her sapphire eyes gleaming with a cold light. Just because this planet would most probably end up within Tree¡¯s leaves, like Vespar, meant there was even more reason in milking it dry first. Dryad agreed with the logic Vex had explained to her earlier. There was a small possibility of something on Durant existing that could aid Tree in recovering. Even though it was highly unlikely, Dryad was willing to massacre entire species if that was what it took. She¡¯d just have to blame the resulting mess on Vex, the perfect scapegoat, when Tree recovered. After the humans finally agreed to Vex¡¯s terms, they left to begin moving their race to the safety of Dryad¡¯s protection.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°What do you think we are dealing with here?¡± Vex asked as both of them stared at the sleeping Tree. ¡°My memories are disjointed, due to Tree being an Aberration. However, didn¡¯t most unclaimed planets secretly align with a Divinity or Demon?¡± Dryad said, glancing at the succubus. Vex smirked, ¡°Indeed. The further and more out of the way a planet was¡­¡± ¡°¡­the more likely it¡¯s aligned with a Demon. That would also explain why the ¡®Librarian¡¯ was able to survive. Whatever demon is attempting to take control of this world wouldn¡¯t want to damage a possible member of their race, if they could help it.¡± Dryad said, her tone amused. ¡°Regardless, when the slaves arrive¡­¡± Vex said, her tone turning hungry. ¡°¡­we can finally eat a few dishes in style¡­Sister.¡± Dryad said, as a smile flashed across both women¡¯s faces. *** Garvon stared at the hundreds of young, fit, men who had been ¡®volunteered¡¯ by their respective families. Although it pained him to do this, the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. As compensation, every family that contributed their men were guaranteed entrance into the Dryad¡¯s lands. Although he hadn¡¯t asked, it had been easily apparent how much the succubus desired meals. If the stories the Librarian had once told about her race were true, the only consolation would be that most of these young men would die in absolute bliss. ¡°Sir, we are ready to transport them. Shall we begin?¡± a sub-leader of the Earth faction asked respectfully to the side. ¡°Do it.¡± Garvon said, closing his eyes as if to conceal the fate of those he was sending to die from view. *** Both women had claimed their respective territories while waiting. Vex took claim to the vast Library filled with strange energies, books that were rather uppity, and shelves that appeared endless. Dryad on the other hand took control of Tree¡¯s cavern, and the maze leading into it. Without delay, Dryad started to alter her territory to more accurately reflect and comfort Tree while he slept. Moss covered every inch in a soft green glow, while providing a thick carpet underfoot. Flowers, some benign, and others lethal dotted the landscape with a plethora of color relieving the endless green. Trees were grown in the cavern, using the lava as sustenance. Each of these trees glowed black with thick red veins, providing a sharp contrast to the glowing white Tree in the center. Vines were artfully run from one place to another, providing the appearance of veins that pulsed with Life. When she was finally finished, Dryad was rather impressed with her Grove. Even the lava itself contributed, being the easiest place to dispose of her meals after she was finished. Almost as if it was planned, a human arrived to tell her dinner was served. *** Samuel watched the rest of the young men who had volunteered from all walks of life. Some were nobles, others rich merchants, a few craftsmen, and lastly a large portion of peasants. He was among the few craftsman that had volunteered. Word was, as long as a man volunteered, his family would be guaranteed safety in the invasion. Having served on the front lines for his year of military service, Samuel had no illusions about the value of life. When the chance to guarantee his wife, son, and daughter¡¯s safety arose, he leaped at it. Now though, he was having second thoughts. Samuel couldn¡¯t think of any reason Earth mages would be used to transport them. Mages were the top of the food chain, and here they were being treated like nothing more than servants. The leader of the mages had gone to inform someone about their arrival. Samuel was using the time to look at the tunnels around them. Reaching out he touched the moss feeling the incredible softness. For a moment he blushed thinking about how it would be fun if his wife was here to ¡®experiment¡¯ with him. Such a soft moss definitely had many applications. As strange scent made its way into his nose as he noticed a nearby red flower. Following the scent, he came closer to the flower and breathed deeply. His blood boiled, it was like he was young again, strong, and full of life. Another flower nearby released a relaxing scent, calming the blood rushing about in his body. Samuel thought this place couldn¡¯t be all bad, after all. Moments later he managed to glance around, and fear rushed through his veins. All the surrounding young men, who were not mages, were lying prone their bodies sedated into oblivion. A soft noise near the tunnel entrance alerted him to the arrival of the Earth mage leader. ¡°Wha-?¡± Samuel managed to get out before he saw the woman being escorted by the Earth mage. His mind ceased to function for moments as all he could do was stare at her inhumanely perfect form. She was dressed in a strange green flower speckled dress that reached down just enough to provide contrast to her legs. Silver skin glowing with health surrounded emerald eyes that glowed with power. Samuel was quite sure that she was the second most beautiful woman he had ever seen, the first of course being his wife. ¡°Forgiveness, my lady. I did not realize there was a potential mage among them. Shall I¡­?¡± the Earth mage said, clearly starting to sweat in fear. It was obvious that Samuel was supposed to have been sedated like all the rest, but due to the tiny amount of mage blood in him, he had managed to resist. It was barely enough to aid him in blacksmithing, yet here, it was enough to sentence him to death. He had no illusions, what was happening here was not something the masses would approve of in any way. Before he could blink the gorgeous woman was right before him. Inhuman emerald green eyes watched him with a speck of interest. ¡°Do you desire¡­Life?¡± the creature asked him. Samuel started to tremble, when she was this close, it was clear her power dwarfed anything he¡¯d ever heard of. The sensation of being next to a towering tree was stronger, even though she was clearly a human. Samuel hesitated for a moment before the thought of his loved ones flashed in his mind, ¡°YES! Please! I want to live, I have a wife, son, a daughter, please don¡¯t kill me!¡± The woman stared at him for a moment before smiling. ¡°Congratulations. You and your kin, are now, mine.¡± A hand reached out and touched his forehead, as pain started to destroy his world he heard a voice say, ¡°Bring the rest of his family to me. They are now guardians of my Grove, and will be treated with the same respect I am.¡± Samuel couldn¡¯t hear the response, as darkness claimed him. Sproutling 104 NSFW Chapter Dryad watched the Earth mages leave, she¡¯d made sure they wouldn¡¯t be back for several days. A command to the moss moved the body of her new Grove Guardian to a more relaxing location. Finally, she turned her attention to the sleeping forms of the young men that were paid for her protection. Vines quickly arranged the young men in rows, similar to cordwood stacked side by side. Selecting a decent looking one with dark hair, and soft white skin, she commanded the vines to wrap her meal up and follow. A few minutes later, she was in the feeding room. This room had been carefully designed to remove all resistance and willpower from her victims. Red, blue, and purple flowers covered the walls and ceiling of the feeding chamber. In the center a raised stone bed was covered in thick lush moss that would pad the victim underneath her. Each flower had a specific purpose, red ones would excite the prey. Purple ones would keep them active for days. And lastly, blue flowers would ensure the prey¡¯s will was constantly eroded by the desire to mate. Such a feeding chamber was standard for her race, and could be used to subdue almost any non-energy lifeform. Commanding the vines to place her meal on the stone bed covered in moss, Dryad had them remove her clothing before she stepped forward. *** Charles woke up to the sensation of slight cold, which was strange being that he was completely clothed. Or at least, he had been when he¡¯d arrived in the strange chamber with the Earth mages from before. He took a breath trying to orient himself, and coughed slightly as pollen entered his lungs. The sensation of panic faded away, as he breathed deeper. The pollen felt¡­wonderful.He could feel hispriderising up in response to the strange scents. While at the same time, his fear faded away. A strange sense ofinvigorationflowed through his body, as if he could keep going with hispridefor hours. It seemed almost natural that such a situation would be accompanied by an inhumanly gorgeous naked woman. Charles hadn¡¯t seen her until she moved, but once he did he couldn¡¯t keep his eyes off her. ¡°Am I in Heaven?¡± Charles managed to get out. His senses were being overloaded merely watching the woman approach him. ¡°No, but I can send you there if you want me to.¡± the woman said, her emerald eyes glowing. A small smile curved across her perfect lips. Charles tried to remember where he¡¯d seen such a smile, it was right at the tip of his memories. However, the attempt to remember disintegrated as soft gentle hands started to stroke hispride. Within minutes all he could think about was the fantastic skill being used to bring him right to the edge. ¡°W-Who?¡± Charles managed to gasp out. ¡°Silly human, names are important to you so much? If you must know, my name is Dryad.¡± the creatures said as she continued to bring him closer to the edge. Dryad stopped just short of pushing Charles over the edge, and moved to position herself above him. Both knees were positioned on each side of him, while her pussy slowly lowered down to silence all his questions. The overpowering scent of honey perfume lured him to take a small lick with his tongue, and seconds later he was addicted. The sweet taste between the lips of her pussy was the most powerful aphrodisiac he¡¯d ever encountered. Even stronger than that used by the maids back home in order to help them lure him into bed. With each stroke of his tongue the ability to question why such a gorgeous creature would even bother with him faded. Dryad encouraged him with soft moans, and gentle movements. Within moments, the honey started to work its magic, and he felt hispriderise up stronger than before. ¡°Such a good, enthusiastic young man.¡± Dryad said, ¡°Just enough skill to whet my appetite.¡± She noticed the trembles running through his body as the aphrodisiac effect started taking hold. One hand moved to gently cup his balls, while the other pumped up and down until finally, with a shuddering gasp, Charles erupted for the first time. Milky white hot cum drenched both of Dryad¡¯s hands, but she merely licked them clean before lowering her head down. Charles wasn¡¯t sure where the fear he felt was coming from, but he couldn¡¯t do anything as Dryad lowered her head. Wrapping her soft lips around his cock, she drew his length up into her warm mouth. His fear faded into pleasure, as perfect lips stroked up and down his straining erection. A soft sound of wet pleasures accompanied satisfied murmurs as she fellated him. It felt as if waves of syrupy pleasure were flowing into him from his cock, and her lips engulfed every millimeter in a warm wet prison that he couldn¡¯t escape. He vaguely heard sloppy wet sounds, and felt a creeping relaxation overtake him. The tiny amount of resistance that every human had against being eaten, was quickly crushed. Dryad bobbed her head faster. She slurped harder and harder on his erection. She moved up to the tip of his cock, concentrating her tongue on his swollen glans. Using her tongue, she slathered up and down all over the head of his cock, until the sensation of pleasure became so intense his toes curled. Her fingers didn¡¯t stop either, one set fondling his balls, while the other tickled along his perineum. Charles writhed in a body no longer under his control, helpless and unwilling to stop the pleasures she was inflicting on him. A stream of pre-cum oozed from the tip of his cock. Dryad sucked it up, like the sweetest sugar filled treat. Pausing, she said, ¡°You tastenice.¡± After a short pause where she considered something, Dryad said, ¡°I¡¯ll prepare something special for you, young man.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Charles watched her changed positions, giving him a full view of those swaying, hypnotic mounds. She lowered her body, using her hands to position his cock directly above her entrance. With a small squelch, he was once again inside a warm lewd prison. This time, he was able to see her smile grow even larger. A gooey sensation flowed down over him, as he realized the honey he¡¯d been licking from before was now starting to coat his cock. It felt as if his cock had been plunged into a soft malleable cushion. The sensation sent shudders of pleasure running through his body. He convulsed, the normal reaction of an intense desire to thrust, meeting the invisible bonds that kept him still. ¡°Oh yes, I knew you¡¯d like that.¡± Dryad said, watching his face. Dryad tightened her legs around him, positioning herself to ride comfortably. She leaned down and put her breasts on either side of his face rubbing it in-between them. Charles nose was filled with the intoxicating scent of her pollen. Her muscles tightened around him, and he heard another wet slurping sound. It felt like his cock was sliding down a vagina filled with the most obscene type of honey. The orifice at the end of her entrance, continued to make the same lewd, squishy, squirting sounds as his cock was buried in waves of creamy honeyed addiction. Charles couldn¡¯t have pulled out now, even if he¡¯d had willpower remaining to do so. He writhed within the prison of her body, every muscle taunt as her secretions stroked him remorselessly to the verge of climax. If his body wasn¡¯t forced into stillness, he¡¯d have vented his breath in a gasp. Dryad rubbed her fingers through his hair as she rode him. ¡°You are holding out well. According to my racial memories, not many men are able to withstand this long.¡± Her legs wrapped him tighter. ¡°None are able to withstand this.¡± The tip of his cock was drawn up completely inside, until it entered a strange opening at the top of her inner core. Dryad gave a little erotic grunt of pleasure as the flowered ring inside her body descended around Charles''s cock forcing it inside the warm, tight, and quivering orifice. Moist walls of muscled flesh contracted around him, and Charles felt a powerful suction tug at his erection. ¡°Here it comes.¡± Dryad said. She licked her lips and let out a soft sensuous sigh. The waves of pulsing flesh inside her honeypot frothed soft pillows of honey against his straining erection. Loops and strands of stickiness were spun around his penis and he jerked repeatedly. Each twist as they tugged him back and forth set off explosions of mind melting bliss. The flower ring that engulfed his tip was a torture facility that wrapped one irresistible pleasure after another around his trapped cock. Charles felt it as his whole body tightened up. He was coming and there was no way to stop it. Dryad sensed it as well, and clasped him tight to her body. She tightened the grip on her breasts, smothering him softly. Moments later, he erupted. Dryad released a loud sigh of pleasure while leaning backwards. Sticky honey bubbled up out of the end of her entrance gluing their bodies together. At the same time, Charles felt the mind melting orgasm move up from his toes, traveling through his body, before pushing out from his cock. All rational thought disintegrated under the wave of honeyed poison. He shuddered in her embrace as he released thick ropes of semen to mingle with her own sticky secretions. Her body moved perfectly to draw out his ejaculation, riding him ruthlessly to stimulate and pump out every last drop. She sucked his seed up into her body with a wide smile. Finally, minutes later Charles relaxed against the bed with languid grace. He was spent, there was no way he could do that again. ¡°You aredelicious.¡± Dryad said. ¡°It¡¯s a pity I can¡¯t keep you going forever.¡± Charles remembered where he¡¯d seen her smile from before. It was the same smile he¡¯d seen on predators the world over. The smile they had right before they started to eat. *** Travis watched as a herd of humans were led into the library by Earth mages from his faction. There were over two hundred young men from varying walks of life. He could easily spot the merchants, nobles, and of course the peasants. Vex had a short chat with the lead mage, before his entire contingent departed. Travis shuddered as he watched what happened next. Previously, Vex had instructed him and Snix, the Librarian, to stand to the side while she fed. He remembered her clearly state, if he lost control of himself, she would not differentiate between him, and food. A faint pinkish haze flowed outward from the succubus engulfing all of the young men. Moments later their eyes glazed over, while each of them smiled as if they were hearing the most delightful joke in the world. ¡°You should be honored you know.¡± Snix said, in his perfectly well-mannered accent from a place he called ¡®Britainia¡¯. ¡°She¡¯s showing you incredible favor. The kind of favor that will allow you to bed her without¡­death, most likely.¡± Travis turned with shock, ¡°She¡¯s eating people! Look at them! She¡¯s devouring their souls!¡± ¡°Well yes. But you need to see the bigger picture. Your race, particularly you, are incredibly lucky that she wasn¡¯t summoned her alone.¡± Snix said, as the first victim fell to the floor. Vex was using the most potent and speedy method, the Succubus¡¯s Kiss to feed. There was no need for foreplay, or acts that gratified the victim and sent them off in bliss. Just a simple kiss, and the victim¡¯s soul would gladly depart their body. Vex had told him it was more pleasurable than a thousand acts of sex, all of it compressed into a few seconds. The victim¡¯s body simply overloaded, usually of a heart attack and died. At the moment of their death, when their soul was weakest, the rest of the Kiss struck, drawing them forth from their fleshly body and into her maw. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Travis said, tearing his eyes away from the fifth victim to fall. ¡°Imagine if she hadn¡¯t been summoned here with that Dryad, and...thing. You think my Mistress is scary? That¡¯s because you, and your master, and all the rest of the humans on this planet cannot sense a single part of the aura of the Abberation. The fact that there is an Ancient Dryad here is bad enough, but the Tree¡­.her tree¡­¡± Snix shuddered his tone turning horrified. ¡°The white tree in the cavern? It doesn¡¯t seem that bad. I mean it¡¯s not sucking the souls out of humans.¡± Travis said, his tone snide. He paused, as the full force of the Librarians aura hit him. ¡°Do not speak of things you cannot possibly understand insect. That creature resembles a tree in form, nothing more. You shudder at the death of a few hundred, but are blind to the billions of dead that thing has clearly eaten. The only way you reach numbers that high is if you-¡° A sharp fingersnap interrupted the rest of Snix¡¯s sentence. ¡°Snix, darling. Don¡¯t spread rumors, ok?¡± Vex said her eyes dark and cold. Travis watched the Librarian recede back within his shell, merely another polite gentlemen from a civilization on another world. ¡°Of course Mistress, it won¡¯t happen again. I won¡¯t let an insect drag me down to his level. Forgiveness.¡± Bowing low, Snix moved to stand apart from Travis. Watching the fortieth body fall, Travis pondered what the Librarian had left unsaid. He couldn¡¯t understand how a simple white tree, and a beautiful dryad could be more horrifying than a demoness that was consuming countless lives before his very eyes. As each body fell, Travis felt a strange impulse slowly overtake him. His eyes started to blur, and he had trouble paying attention to the bodies on the floor. A faint pink haze dotted the air around him as his eyes were drawn to Vex. Slowly, his entire vision was consumed by the succubus. He could see every curve, every valley, each a perfect piece of her sinister form. Unlike at the start, now he couldn¡¯t look away. Snickering from Snix off to the side managed to allow him to regain his clarity. A shudder ripped through his body as he understood how close he had been to walking up to the succubus. She¡¯d warned him too, if that happened, he would be treated just like the final victim that fell to the floor. Vex walked out of the pile of bodies around her. Her skin glowed with pure alabaster white, while her sapphire blue eyes were radiant. The hair that had been merely black before was now a shimmering mane of darkness. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve fed, it is time to take care of my favorite Earth mage.¡± Vex said moving close. Travis felt his willpower slipping away as her aura slowly choked the desire to resist out of him. A soft pink haze marred his thoughts, making him slow and unable to focus. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be careful. I promise all those horrible things you just saw won¡¯t matter, at all. Eventually, pet, you won¡¯t care about the fate of others in your race. I¡¯ll bend and twist your mind with so much pleasure, sex, and addiction you¡¯ll be just as much a monster as the rest of Tree¡¯s group. It¡¯s the least I can do to such a cute boy with such hidden inner darkness.¡± Vex said, moving one hand to go underneath his robe while another moved up to hold him firmly in place as she kissed him. As the blissful fire of succubus venom started flowing into his veins, Travis felt perhaps it wouldn¡¯t be so bad, to be a monster. As long as he had her, as long as he could remain a pet of hers. It would all be fine. He was tired of being stressed, and afraid, and weak. And soon, he would be none of those things. Sproutling 105 It took several days for Dryad to finish her meals. Once the final human was completely devoured she returned to the alcove she¡¯d left her new Grove Guardian in. Nudging the human awake with her toes, it was the work of a short moment to strip, clean, and re-attire him using the surrounding plants. Now his clothing was replaced by form fitting wooden armor. Several minutes had allowed her to remember the Rune method that Tree used to enchant. The wooden armor held an eye searing assortment of red runes upon its surface after she was done. Since she didn¡¯t plan on having more than a small elite group of guardians, there was no need to spare any expense. ¡°U-Um, miss¡­uh¡­.plant¡­boss?¡± the human asked. ¡°Hm, what is it?¡± Dryad replied, continuing to use her fingers to carve runes on the armor. ¡°Are you ok? Your skin seems¡­¡± Dryad glanced down at the silver-white skinwood that formed her flesh, ¡°You mean the red plant tattoos that are snaking up and down my limbs and torso?¡± ¡°Uh¡­yes?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Those are a natural result of the blood corruption. It¡¯s an evolutionary path of my race. The end result is greater power, and in my opinion, an easier path to feeding.¡± Dryad said, shaping the last Rune before stepping back. ¡°Now¡­.what was your name again?¡± Dryad said as she surveyed her handiwork. Space, Time, Agelessness, Shield, Movement, Speed, Strength, these and more dotted the Grove Guardian¡¯s armor. ¡°Samuel, mi¡¯lady.¡± Samuel said. ¡°A human name doesn¡¯t suit you anymore. Since you are my first, let¡¯s go with something that¡¯s easy to pronounce. Nightshade, yes, that¡¯s your name now.¡± Dryad said, rolling the name off her tongue with ease. ¡°As you wish¡­Mistress?¡± Nightshade replied with an unsure tone. ¡°Don¡¯t use that appellation, it will cause confusion with Vex¡¯s subordinates. Call me by my name. It isn¡¯t like there is another dryad to confuse me with.¡± Dryad said, with a quick grin. ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go. If I¡¯m finished feeding, there is no way Vex isn¡¯t done already.¡± Dryad said, as she started moving towards the Library. ¡°Dryad, my, my family?¡± Nightshade asked, hopeful. ¡°They are on the way shortly, by the time we are done with Vex, I should sense their arrival. If not, we can get a message out from one of the mages staying at the quarters I provided for them. Don¡¯t worry, we take care of our own¡­when we are around¡­¡± Dryad said, sparing a small prayer for the family members that were not with her and Tree at the moment. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Given enough time they would be able to re-unite with those they had left behind through the various places they had been too. Dryad could already sense Tree starting to recover from the infusion of life due to her meals. Now that she had successfully started down the path of evolution for her race, she could provide the perfect symbiosis for Tree. As they arrived at the Library the figure of the pinstripe suited demon, the Librarian barred the way. At a raised eyebrow from Dryad, the demon said, ¡°Mistress is¡­putting the finishing touches on a pet project she has.¡± Dryad narrowed her eyes causing the poor demon to hurriedly add, ¡°I¡¯m sure, she¡¯ll be done¡­soon!¡± Sighing in annoyance Dryad decided to let the poor demon have a break, ¡°Fiiiiine. Let¡¯s go inside and you can keep me entertained¡­what was your name?¡± ¡°Snix, Ancient One.¡± the demon said, pleased to be known. ¡°Did you just call me old?¡± Dryad said as she walked into the Library. ¡°N-No, it was a term of resp-¡± the demon stuttered out in that interesting accent. ¡°Just kidding.¡± Dryad said, flashing a smile as she moved to the plush table and chairs nearby. The faint smell of humans still in the air told her this was likely where Vex had finished most of her meal. Seeing as how there wasn¡¯t a single bed nearby, it was likely she had used the Kiss. Dryad shook her head, using the Kiss was the same as the fast food version of eating. Without savoring the meal, eating became just another task to be done! Taking a chair across from her, the demon glanced at Nightshade who stood respectfully behind her, ¡°May I ask, what is that?¡± the demon said, curious. ¡°He¡¯s my new Grove Guardian. They will be a small group tasked with taking care of the area around Tree. I¡¯m sure since Vex has a new pet, she won¡¯t mind me having one either, right?¡± Dryad said, her eyes shining brightly. Snix coughed before saying, ¡°Of course not, Mrs. Dryad!¡± ¡°Just call me Dryad, my name is enough of a title for those who know.¡± Dryad said, getting tired of the demon¡¯s constant attempt to find a respectful name. Relief flashed across Snix¡¯s face as he said, ¡°As you wish, Dryad.¡± Before the conversation could develop into small talk, Dryad heard the faint sound of footsteps approaching in tandem. Turning, she watched as Vex and the young earth mage Elder¡¯s apprentice walked out from the bookshelves nearby. The young man was now visibly altered. Where before there had been softness and fear, there was now tranquility and disdain. The young man¡¯s clothing had changed as well, he was wearing robes that wouldn¡¯t look out of place on any archmage. Demonic symbols of power were spread in glowing purple across the hem, and around the cuffs. Each symbol provided meaning, exactly like the Runes on her own Guardian. Other than the fact that she didn¡¯t appreciate the color black as much as Vex did, she had to approve of her taste in fashion. ¡°Creating soulstealing heartthrobs Vex?¡± Dryad teased as she finally took a good look at the succubus. ¡°A pet reflects the owner, I can¡¯t have people thinking my standards are low.¡± Vex said, as she approached the table to sit down opposite Dryad. ¡°Besides, I see you¡¯ve made one of your own.¡± she said, glancing at Nightshade. ¡°Not that I don¡¯t trust you, but well, you know how Tree is¡­¡± Dryad said, shrugging her shoulders unapplogetically. She may consider Vex a close friend, but she never forgot the fact she¡¯s still a demon. That¡¯s why Nightshade¡¯s armor would allow him to hold out for up to an hour against Vex¡¯s entire faction. Dryad was confident if she couldn¡¯t return to Tree before an hour was up, she would already be dead. Besides, just like Vex, she had never actually gone all out before. Tree usually took care of things, allowing her to enjoy playing around. Now that the other half of her soul was sleeping, and recovering, it fell to her to ensure nothing unfortunate occurred. ¡°Blood Dryad?¡± Vex said, staring stiffly at the blood red tattoos that contrasted Dryad¡¯s silver-white skinwood. ¡°It was necessary.¡± Dryad replied, her tone sad. ¡°¡­I see.¡± Vex said, recovering from her shock. ¡°This is how you plan to deal with the unknown demon¡¯s forces. It should force you into the second phase of evolution, correct?¡± ¡°Tree deals with energy, it falls to me to ensure any biological issues are handled without allowing it to delay his recovery.¡± Dryad said, her tone hard. ¡°As I¡¯m sure a race as old as you can understand¡­¡± ¡°¡­Blood Dryads are the war machines of the Grove.¡± Vex said, her tone unfathomable. Dryad nodded, her eyes hard. ¡°It won¡¯t be forever. I can feel Tree growing in power as he deepens his understanding of Time¡¯s Shadow. Once he has enough mastery, and awakens, this sacrifice will cease to exist.¡± Vex raised one eyebrow, ¡°Are you certain?¡± ¡°¡­No, but it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Dyrad said, pausing briefly before replying. ¡°Even if he cannot do it once awakening, I refuse to believe he won¡¯t eventually have a solution.¡± Vex nodded, ¡°He¡¯s nothing if not an Abberation. A piece of Chaos given shape and form. There isn¡¯t anything such a being cannot do, given enough time.¡± Dryad smiled, sharp teeth showing. ¡°Tree will have as much time as he needs with me around.¡± Vex decided not to continue down that path of conversation. ¡°So, have you decided what you want to do once we find whoever is attempting to take over Tree¡¯s next meal?¡± Vex said. ¡°Eat them of course. I¡¯m sure you won¡¯t mind, right? It¡¯s pretty obvious this demon isn¡¯t as¡­tractable¡­as others.¡± Dryad said, glancing at Snix when she finished. ¡°Indeed.¡± Vex said. ¡°No mercy?¡± Dryad asked. ¡°No mercy.¡± Vex agreed. Sproutling 106 Garvon stared at his old apprentice, Travis, with shock. The appearance of his apprentice, following behind the succubus Vex was clearly a change in allegiance. ¡°Travis?¡± Garvon asked, as the trio of two demons and his apprentice approached. ¡°He belongs to me now, old man.¡± Vex interrupted, smiling with devastating grace. Garvon grimaced before pushing his emotions away. The demoness had promised answers in exchange for an extra set of ¡®meals¡¯ to be delivered at a later date. ¡°Take a seat then, demon.¡± Garvon said, before seating himself at the head of the oval Farsight table. In the center of the table, hovering above all the Elder¡¯s surrounding it, was a massive orb formed from the combination of alchemy and magic. Currently the orb was focused on the Dryad, as she was the one the Elder¡¯s desired information on the most. Demons were known problems, dryads were something no one knew anything about. Her obvious skill with plants aside, the Elders were intensely curious about the white tree. Taking a seat, as if sitting on a throne, Vex crossed both her legs before spreading her hands wide to each side, ¡°Ask away.¡± The succubus then rested her elbows on the table before interlocking her hands and flashing a grin. Garvon rubbed his forehead in annoyance before asking, ¡°Can you explain, what significance the White Tree has?¡± Vex relaxed back in her seat before saying, ¡°Yes.¡± A vein pulsed in Garvon¡¯s forhead as he asked again, ¡°Could you be more specific, and don¡¯t use monosyllabic answers.¡± Vex smirked before saying, ¡°Yes, of course.¡± ¡°This is getting us nowhere!¡± the Elder of Water said, her face disgusted. ¡°Can¡¯t a demon have some fun around here?¡± Vex said, pretending to be the injured party. Snix, the Librarian was holding in evident laughter as he stood behind her seat. Garvon took a deep breath before asking, ¡°Tell us everything you know about the parties, not present at this discussion, who arrived at the same time as you, with as many details as possible, with the most accurate information you have available, and without attempting trickery.¡± Vex listened intently before sighing, ¡°Are you sure you want to know? This information will only cause extreme distress.¡± Garvon glanced up at the Dryad who was standing with the strange wooden guard, as she held one hand on the white tree. ¡°Yes.¡± Garvon said. Grimacing, the succubus said, ¡°In the beginning, there were two powers. The Void, an absolute abyss, and Life. Both are descended from the Chaos that exists as the ink of eternity. In the First Age, before the Divines existed, the lesser races served their ultimate masters.¡± Vex placed her arms on the seat¡¯s armrests, ¡°The most powerful of those who controlled Life, the Dryads were unstoppable. Even my race gave way, choosing to stay out of their path and hide ourselves in the Void between worlds. If the elves had not betrayed their masters, siding with the newly risen Divines, your world, and countless others would still be beneath their roots.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Garvon shivered briefly as he glanced up at the beautiful figure, turning away from the white tree. For a moment he thought their eyes met, but the magic of Farsight was completely undetectable to all except the most diligent of detection spells. ¡°Is she a danger to us? Greater than you?¡± Garvon asked, his voice taunt. ¡°Define danger. Does she have the power to wipe your race, nay, all races on this world from existence? Absolutely.¡± Vex leaned forward, her face joyful. ¡°You are witness to the birth of a Blood Dryad. A war machine capable of obliterating an entire world, a creature that cannot be stopped, an engine that does not run dry.¡± Vex stared at each of the Elders, her eyes dark. ¡°She does not tire, she does not sleep, rarely eats, and in my opinion has no weaknesses. If by some miracle you were able to pierce her skinwood, it would be the last act of a dying race.¡± The succubus pointed up at the Dryad, ¡°Her race fought entire galaxies with three, count it, three main abilities!¡± Dryad vanished from the Farsight orb as Vex continued holding up three fingers as she counted off, ¡°Plant manipulation, Flora. Plant enhancement, Flora Augmentio. Each of these two is devastating enough, yet not horrific. However, a Blood Dryad has a single addition that causes an absolute synergy, Sanguis germinare facit gramen, or in simple terms¡­¡± ¡°¡­Blood Makes the Grass Grow.¡± Snix said into the silent room. *** Dryad stared out at the forests below from atop the mountain that held Tree inside. Closing her eyes she reached out through the primal woods searching and prioritizing targets. Nightshade, do not allow anyone to enter Tree¡¯s cavern while I am away. Dryad sent through the mental link she shared with the Grove Guardian. After receiving a positive reply, she flared her Aura and rushed into the woods under her command. Moving rapidly like a shadow within the shade of the surrounding trees, Dryad approached her first target. It was a group of Giants surrounding a single set of elderly Goblins. The giants had enormous clubs, patchy leather armor, and tough boots. Their steps caused small shudders in a nearby pool of water. Contrary to them, the goblins were dressed in all manner of strange things, everything from bones, to bits of colorful string. The only common denominator among the goblins was an enormous staff almost twice as tall as them, and a loincloth around their waist. Dryad melted into the shade of the nearby trees soundlessly, waiting for her prey to approach. While the primal woods could deal with normal intruders, ones such as these that reeked of magic required a more¡­direct¡­touch. When one of the group¡¯s giants walked by her tree, she reached out and ripped off his leg at the knee. There was almost a full second of silence at her appearance before the giant screamed as he tumbled down. Each of the goblins started shouting in their language while waving the staffs in her direction, while at the same time the remaining giants moved to swing their clubs at her. Dryad grinned as the red plant tattoos on her body began to glow with twisted eerie light. In a flash, her blonde hair gained blood red highlights, her nails turned into rusty red talons, and her body shimmered with a faint red outline. A fraction of a second later the first goblin died under her claws, his bloody heart ripped out before being consumed. Within moments, the slaughter was finished, as giant legs were strewn about like so many discarded clubs. Most goblins were missing their hearts, while others were decapitated, their faces filled with horror. As the blood soaked into the ground around her, Dryad started to grin with sickening delight. The light of rationality in her eyes fought with the berserk aura of insanity that slowly began to shine. Focusing inwards, she drew on the mental strength of her soul partner, Tree, to resist the madness. Gathering up the blood around her, Dryad allowed it to soak into her skinwood, feeding the tattoos. The changes that were minor before became even more pronounced. Her hair grew longer, her nails sharper, and the red light around her body was even thicker. With every kill, and every bit of blood from a creature, a Blood Dryad would grow in strength. Dryad closed her eyes searching for the next target, before she flared her Aura once more fading into the shade of the trees. *** Garvon watched an entire group of elite Goblin Shamans turn into cold, bloodless, corpses. His mind reeled from the speed, power, and destructive beauty the dryad embodied. ¡°Can she be stopped? Killed? Controlled?¡± Garvon said, his throat parched. He accepted a small orb of water from the Elder next to him. While drinking it down, he stared challengingly at Vex. ¡°No, no, and, were you even listening before? Are you an idiot?¡± Vex sneered. ¡°By the time the millions strong army is slaughtered, not even I would be a match for her. You could of course try to kill her tree, after all that would be instant death for any dryad. If you choose that route, you might as well let me Kiss you now. It would be a much better alternative.¡± ¡°Are you saying the white tree has some sort of defense against us?¡± Garvon asked, after finishing his refreshment. Vex paused, drew herself up straight, and stared directly at them all, ¡°Tree is an Abberation. In the simplest terms possible, he is a creature of absolute disorder. Before arriving at this world, he most recently killed multiple Divines, ate the Worldheart of that planet, and reformed it from scratch before placing all the races he chose to save back on it. Then he put said world within one of his leaves.¡± Garvon blanched. ¡°If you choose to wake such a creature up, please don¡¯t expect things to go¡­well for you.¡± Vex said as she rose. Garvon watched the succubus, and her two subordinates leave the room. It was clear she had come to give them a warning, a clear, easily understood threat, and a promise. Now it fell on his shoulders to make sure his associates did not choose to commit to something that everyone would regret. Sproutling 107 Grok stared suspiciously at the surrounding trees. This wasn¡¯t his first woodland adventure, and he wanted to be sure it wasn¡¯t his last. Unlike the normal Goblins, he was an elite Hobgoblin, specifically, a Wood Hob. While the rest of his company wandered around making more noise than a mating festival, he sneaked around the perimeter, checking for ambushes. Word had gotten out through the grapevine over the last few weeks. The woods were alive¡­ ¡­and they were not friendly. From the recent bulletins among the scouts, there was a high likelihood of the woods being semi-aware. Normally, the generals would order the place burned down, however this time, things went slightly different. Grok stared at the trees around him again, remembering what he witnessed. When the ogres in charge of the fire squad had attempted to burn the trees down, they were slaughtered. A creature the scouts called the ¡®Red Death¡¯ had murdered every member of the fire team, with unbelievable speed before disappearing back into the woods. Even worse, the few trees that managed to be lit on fire, bizarrely, ate the flames and grew stronger. Much stronger. Woods that grew stronger when burned, trees that were practically alive, entire companies vanishing into thin air, this whole campaign was a disaster. Grok knew the generals wouldn¡¯t admit it out loud, but it was clear they were alarmed. He could tell from the amount of patrols being reduced, and the complete lack of any major forward pushes these last few weeks. As such, like any good Wood Hob, Grok had decided his primary objective was no longer to hunt humans. No, he had a much more noble purpose. A purpose that caused him to be completely cautious, and at times like these when he felt like he was being watched, to hide. The deepest shaded tree shadows covered his form as he invoked the specialty of Wood Hobs. His purpose was simple as he saw the first faint stirrings of the trees around his company. Staying alive. Too bad he couldn¡¯t risk warning the others though, they cooked a good half-roasted pig. *** The generals were gathered around the map, but instead of joy, their expressions ranged from fury to dismay. If one was able to look closer with divine perception, they might even see a slight glimmer of fear in many eyes. The armored figure at the head of the table said, ¡°Is it¡­.elves?¡± after glancing at the drow general nearby. ¡°Impossible. We slaughtered every elf to the last man, woman, and child. None escaped. There is no way it can be elves!¡± the leader of the drow magician squad shouted. He was practically frothing at the mouth in rabid anger. ¡°There is always the possibility this was a remote group unconnected with the others, Forest Elves have always been an insular splintered group. They might have cut themselves off thousands of years ago. It¡¯s not like those High bastards would bother checking up on them, unless they had a resource worth keeping tabs on.¡± the orc general said, his tone arrogant.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°The possibility of there being a rogue group of Forest Elves that just happen to be guarding the forests leading to the Barrier Oak¡¯s lair, and by proxy the main gateway to the human lands, is absurd.¡± The drow general didn¡¯t bother backing down and glared at each of the other generals, ¡°I¡¯m sure you all are just as aware as me that Forest Elves considered the Barrier Oak to be a betrayal of the Forest. A tree dedicated to helping a race other than elves? Blasphemy. They would never defend such a thing.¡± The armored figure at the head of the table nodded to himself, it was that very logic that made the elves both a suspect, and at the same time exonerated them. ¡°If it¡¯s not elves¡­¡± the goblin shaman behind his general hissed, ¡°Then how do you explain the Red Death. That creature is a machine of absolute murder. Not a single squad, had any survivors, except for Grok. If that cowardly Wood Hob didn¡¯t have the sixth sense for danger, he would likely be a corpse just like the rest.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± the giant general thundered in a booming voice. ¡°The creature known as the Red Death has costed me more good men than the entire previous series of wars on this world. We¡¯ve lost storm giants, mountain giants, swamp giants, even our own forest giants were no match. The complete lack of blood on the few corpses we could reclaim before the forest devoured them, is disturbing as well.¡± The vampire general said hotly with an arrogant sneer, ¡°This creature isn¡¯t one of the Nobles. There is no scent of death that matches our race at any of the kill sites.¡± He paused, his manner becoming polite. ¡°Has anyone else noticed as well?¡± ¡°How only magical, or strongly mage aligned members of our forces die?¡± the orc general spoke out thoughtfully. ¡°None of the non-magical orcs were attacked, but that is scant help. The woods alone seem to devour any non-magical creature without insomuch much as a scream escaping. Orcs are as brave as any other, but when hundreds disappear with merely a whisper in the wind, it is¡­distressing.¡± At the head of the table the full plate armored figure gestured for silence and said, ¡°For now, pull back our forces. I¡¯m sending a full report to His Majesty.¡± All the generals around the table, along with their accompanying staff shuddered. ¡°It is likely we will be punished, but failure does not mean death when there is nothing we can do to stop the current issue.¡± the armored figure continued, ¡°Continue sending our best scouts forward, like that Grok fellow. We need to know exactly what we are dealing with.¡± *** Grok was pissed. It wasn¡¯t enough that his last outing had been an example in what a dedicated tree could do to a goblin, no, now the generals wanted him to get information. Find out what you can Grok. Get some information Grok. Try to locate the enemy Grok. If only he could locate the damn goblin general into one of the horrors he¡¯d seen on his trip. Grok cursed quietly under his breath as he snuck through yet another forested glade filled with sunlight, green grass, and pixies. The pixies might look like tasty snacks, but he¡¯d seen the results of their anger. The last scout paired with him had disregarded his warning and tried to eat one. The combination of magical spells they used on him had left the idiot as a permanent piece of burning wood, screaming for all eternity. Pixies, sleeping glades, mutated forest monsters, living trees, Grok had seen things that indicated to him clearly one thing. This route was closed. Permanently. The generals needed to get their heads out of their asses, and move the army elsewhere. There had to be other entrances to the human lands, ones that were not defended by death itself, in all its green glory. Grok glanced around before freezing in place. Not more than ten steps away was a gorgeous female figure looking away from him. She had a form that would probably have evoked the immediate desire to mate, if it wasn¡¯t for one small detail. The panic inducing light cloaking her entire form in hideous blood colored red. Grok despaired as he realized his luck had finally run out. Could he run? Unlikely. The speed of the Red Death was well known. He wouldn¡¯t get three steps before his heart joined the masses she¡¯d devoured already. Perhaps she hadn¡¯t seen him? Glowing emerald green eyes roved over him as she turned back to face his direction. He held out a faint hope she couldn¡¯t penetrate the shadows he was hiding in. ¡°Hello, goblin.¡± the Red Death said, looking straight at him. A hope that was shattered moments later. Deciding that there was no point in attempting to delay his painful death any further Grok stepped out from the shadows of his hiding spot. ¡°My, not a normal goblin. No, no, you¡¯re something more.¡± the woman said stepping closer. Grok drew himself up proudly, ¡°Grok, First Scout of the 177th. I¡¯ve got medals, just not on me at the moment. Best of the best, Wood Hob extraordinaire.¡± ¡°Wood Hob¡­¡± she said, circling him. ¡°Fascinating. A derivative of the normal goblin archetype.¡± His skin crawled as he realized his worth was being weighed against immediate death. Grok watched as her eyes faded into a thoughtful look. ¡°Be honored, my tree is close to awakening. He likes new things to experiment on, and you are a perfect gift.¡± Grok was happy he was going to survive, until he realized the word ¡®experiment¡¯ sounded similar to something the drow magicians told slaves. ¡°Could I, uh, decline this honor?¡± Grok said, hopeful. ¡°Of course!¡± the Red Death said, clapping her hands in glee. ¡°I¡¯ll just kill you now then alright?¡± Grok coughed into a fist. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to visit a tree.¡± What was that saying the chieftains always babbled? Discretion is the better part of staying alive to run away? Meh. It couldn¡¯t get worse, right? Grok sighed as vines began to wrap him up like a dumpling prepared for the pot. Of course it could. His luck was never that good. Sproutling 108 One does not simply eat a Worldheart, forge a world, and walk it off. It has taken me weeks to recover. Weeks ridden with time-space fever dreams, and soul searching. Eventually, I grew gradually better after I managed to discover something new deep within my soul. Drawing on the human memories, I theorize this object is the vaunted ¡®Dao Soul¡¯ from many descriptions of its appearance. My personal Dao Soul, unlike the other descriptions I remember, does not have a human appearance. It is a tiny tree, with 10 different colored roots, a white trunk, and chaos colored leaves and branches. Currently, only the red root, and the root that continues to grow and die in an endless loop, are brightly lit up. I firmly believe this corresponds to my affinity in Flame and Time respectively. Of course, with that as a starting point I am willing to bet someone else¡¯s soul that the other roots are associated with Water, Earth, Air, Space, Lightning, Metal, Light, and Darkness.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Just a guess of course, not like they are blatantly obviously color coded or anything. The closer I am to waking up, the greater the amount of vitality I feel flowing into me from Dryad. Whatever she¡¯s doing right now is extremely helpful. I can faintly feel her lurking at the edge of the soul landscape, her mind flickering between rationality, and berserk madness. Nothing to worry about though, she¡¯s got problems, but I¡¯ve gotten stronger. Much stronger. Time¡¯s Shadow surrounds me now like a familiar pet, fully under my control. Following the path I glimpsed, I have mastered several new abilities. Unfortunately, my previous Chaos spells have been sacrificed on the altar of progress. Chaos power is still my prime energy, however the method of manipulation has changed vastly. Now, my Absolute Domain encompasses two Laws. Flame and Time. It is both a step forward, and a step backwards. On one hand, the incredible ease that raw Chaos could accomplish the impossible has been lost. However, the cost of my current abilities is a fraction of the power required from before. Now, if I was to eat a Worldheart, and reforge the world it came from, I would use less than fifty percent of my total power. Soon, I will finish awakening, and then I can experiment and plan further. Whatever threats might abound in the new world we are in, Dryad is clearly able to handle them. With that in mind, I will consolidate my strength further. As long as nothing triggers my defenses, there isn¡¯t a need to hurry in my honest opinion. Time heals all wounds, after all, especially when its Chaos empowered. Sproutling 109 Reality is a construct. Reality is a construct built on rules. Reality, although a construct of infinitely strong durability, is built on bendable rules. I believe that my dao roots, are like keys. Each of these keys allows me access to part of the main rules of reality. Some of these rules appear similar, which makes me think that perhaps, what I have access to now, isn¡¯t everything. However, it¡¯s enough. Before a toddler flies, they must walk. Before a Tree devours a universe, they must understand how to eat it. I am patient. ¡­Sometimes. Now that I have organized my theories and plans over the past few days, it is time. Time to see what I have missed. Reaching out with my power, Time¡¯s Shadow flickers, directly showing me scenes from the recent past. The travel through the Void. The arrival. The agreement. The feedings. Scenes flash by, each quickly understood and empathized with. I realize that the recent swings between madness and sanity for Dryad must be a result of evolving. Likely there would be no issue if she was actually surrounded by others of our race. They probably would have been able to ease her into the evolution, providing both support and experience to draw upon. Sadly, I cannot do the same. What I can do though, is in my opinion, better. Now that I know Dryad, and by extension me, are from a race older than the history of most parts of the multi-verse, I can work backwards.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Yes. I think I¡¯ll take a trip down memory lane. Time¡¯s Shadow wraps around me as I channel a small portion of my soul into the distant past. While there may be no Ancient Dryads in existence now from which to learn from, that is merely an issue of the present. I quickly work through the ancient history searching for something that can provide help to Dryad. Using genetic makeup as a ¡®search¡¯ tool, I follow the path of bloodlines backwards. Moving quickly, I am finally able to locate a planetary war between a race of insects and the Ancient Dryads. Searching carefully, I spot a dryad of our bloodline that acts similar to how Dryad does now. Focusing, I pull further into the past reaching backwards to read her history. Eventually, I am able to reach the point where the ancient dryad received training to control her powers. Training methods flow into my mind, chants, rituals, and more. Everything I need to help Dryad is now at my fingertips. This is the true power of Time at work, not merely able to help me in the present or future, but to pull from the very past itself to grow our strength. With a soundless crack of energy I cut the connection to the past and fuse the fragment of my soul back into the whole. There is a moment of jarring disorientation before my enhanced mind re-orients itself. Information is processed, sorted, and finally a plan presents itself. With this, I will be able to minimize the impact to Dryad, while at the same time increase her power even further. The recent setback has shown me that as powerful as I am, I am not alone. There is no need to do everything by myself. Since learning this is an isolated planet off the beaten path, there is no reason not to use the time appropriately. First, we¡¯ll crush the enemy¡¯s leader. Then we¡¯ll segment the populations into their favorite living areas. Humanity was lucky enough to have the honor of taking care of me during this time, so I¡¯ll throw a few extra bones to them. If I¡¯m lucky there might be some half-elves on this planet, I can add throw them into the Vespar Leaf to assist S¡¯neli. Goblins can go under Guido, and if there are any beastkin they can be taken care of by Mishra. Humans¡­.we¡¯ll figure something out for them. Now that I know demons are associated with the Void due to hiding there from the Ancient Dryad race, a great deal of their power becomes clearer. Void energy is the energy of ¡®consuming¡¯ a part of the process of ¡®disorder¡¯ that Chaos embodies. Just like Life is the process of ¡®creation¡¯ it is a fundamental power. This is probably the reason demons are extremely hard to kill, as their body is, at the most basic level, part of a ¡®rule¡¯ that allows the universe to function. Without the use of a higher order power, such as Chaos energy, it is impossible to ¡®bend¡¯ the rule that keeps them alive. However, with proper use of Time¡¯s Shadow I can cheat this type of immortality, burning away their very existence. There is no need to do so, as long as Vex understands her place in things, I think. She has done her best, insofar as a demon can be expected, to prevent issues that could have caused me problems. It is only fair to return the favor, besides, I can¡¯t wait till Guido and Vex meet. A demon and a goblin sit down at a table to bargain¡­ Sounds like the start of a good joke! I can sense Dryad drawing closer, but what holds my attention the most right now is the group of human elemental mages. They are standing outside the cavern right now, cloaked in what I can only assume is some type of invisibility spell. It would probably be more effective if they weren¡¯t standing in a cavern full of plants. To put it in better perspective, it¡¯s like they are standing in a crowd of black clothed people, while wearing white. In short, I¡¯m very aware of exactly where they are. I¡¯m just not sure what they are hoping to accomplish. Looking over the group, I realize the Earth mage isn¡¯t present. It appears at least one of them didn¡¯t agree with whatever course of action they are doing. *** ¡°Garvon is weak. He isn¡¯t willing to do what must be done. The dryad is a threat, the Tree its weakness. That demon is probably bluffing! We¡¯ll take the tree hostage, and then the dryad will obey!¡± the Water Elder stated emphatically. Her voice resounded with righteous intonations. The several other Elders nodded along with her. Garvon had been taken out of the picture with a well-placed drink laced with sleepwater. It was time to show these otherworlders who ruled here! After emotions rose to a fever pitch, the Water Elder led the group into the White Tree¡¯s cavern. As they crossed the bridge to approach the tree the new Flame Elder paused for a moment sensing something. Even at this distance he could feel a strange heat emanating from the Tree. However, he decided it was merely the result of being in a cavern full of lava. After all, how could tree emit heat? Clearly the stress of the last few days was getting to him! As the group walked through the chunk of land connected to the stone bridge, a single solitary figure barred their path. *** I¡¯m so happy! So, so, happy! Dryad copied me! That¡¯s right. My Dryad. Who always seemed to be a little know-it-all in some areas, copied, this Tree! How can I tell? Tsk. Wooden armor covered in my Runes? It¡¯s practically a neon sign in the darkness. However, hm¡­. These runes don¡¯t seem to be very efficient. I should combine a few of my recent discoveries. Yes¡­ Let¡¯s experiment a bit! Sproutling 110 Sam stared at the Elders approaching with sadness. These people were heroes of the human race, considered one step below gods in the eyes of the common people. Each elder was the effort of entire cities, or nations to produce. Together the Conclave of Guardians had stood firm against the monster races for countless centuries, until the Demon King¡¯s arrival. He didn¡¯t want to attack them, which was why he was willing to talk first. Dryad had given him strict instructions to defend Tree, yet she hadn¡¯t said to kill anyone who approached. He was willing to bend her order if it meant a chance to prevent bloodshed. Sam glanced back at the tree and paused as he noticed a strange new addition. Where before the bark had appeared like milky whiteness, now veins the color of blood seemed to pulse along the trunk. The strange red veins went all the way to the branches in the top, and were lost among the leaves. It made the tree like a monstrous living creature, pulsing with life. It was rather disquieting. Shrugging, Sam ignored the creepy tree as he turned back towards the Elders who were now only a few feet away. They had all paused upon approaching close enough to realize he wasn¡¯t a puppet, or golem. The leader of the party, the Water Elder apparent from the small drops of water rotating around her, stepped forward, ¡°There is no need to fight. Move aside, and let us take the tree hostage. From there the Dryad will agree to any of our demands! There is no need for battle, we are both humans.¡± Sam paused for a second before replying, ¡°If you leave now, I won¡¯t have to act. Lady Dryad is already on her way back, if it were not for the delay of bringing another with her, you would all be dead now. Depart, and I will not mention this, you are all living heroes of the common folk. Don¡¯t become dead villains, please, leave.¡± Sam felt a strange force surround him, and moments later a tiny voice gradually became louder in his mind. Hello! Hello! Hello! Dammit, say something you mongeloid human! Is this guy ignoring me on purpose? No wait¡­.maybe he can¡¯t hear me? HEY CAN YOU HEAR ME!!! How was Dryad able to deal with these idiots for so long, I¡¯d probably have melted them till only the intelligent ones were left¡­ Hey. If you are listening, Mr. Human¡­.duck. Sam responded on instinct ducking down, although he didn¡¯t know where the voice came from, he chose to trust it. It was the same feeling that had led him to his current position, a feeling he attributed to the mage blood in his veins. A fraction of a second after he ducked, Sam saw thousands of roots fly past his head striking at the Elders in front of him. Another set of roots approached him grabbing his legs, arms, and head holding him still. This might hurt a little. The mental voice said.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. With incredible speed, the runes on his armor were stripped of power, and quickly re-written by roots engraving them at lightning speed. The color had also changed, now they glowed a soft, shimmering purple. Each rune was smaller than his thumbprint, and there were thousands of them covering him. Ok. I¡¯m going to let them go now. Try out the new stuff! the voice said, before the roots holding the Elders released. Sam had just a moment to realize the voice hadn¡¯t told him what exactly his powers were before elemental attacks swarmed at him. *** Oh! Oh, my! Yes. If I had a head, I¡¯d nod it right now. Since I don¡¯t my branches are swaying sagely. These new runes are very interesting. Goodness, I didn¡¯t even know you could use them like that! What a talented human Dryad found to watch over me. I didn¡¯t help him out of sentimentality! It¡¯s not like I saw another Robert or Emily and felt I should help out¡­. No¡­ Definitely not! It was for science! Science I say! Indeed. Besides, Dryad is almost back. So I have to get some testing data before these idiots are dismembered into their component organic parts. My test subject, I mean, my loyal guardian is gradually getting the hang of his abilities. First, the simplest one, Time Reversal, is a rune that in essence allows one to move backwards in time. In the simplest of terms, you can step back up to twenty seconds of time. It¡¯s good for those times you forgot your significant other¡¯s birthday and need to pretend you knew the exact date all along. Also, it¡¯s helpful for dodging lethal instant kill attacks. Both of those are very similar, so it works out. The second one, is more of a work of art. I consider it a personal masterpiece! Clockwork Kingdom. All enemy test subjects within the radius of a few hundred feet start losing time. In essence, their time is drained, and given to the rune¡¯s user. To the poor enemies, it appears as if their opponent simply starts moving faster, faster, and faster. The third and fourth runes are a complex synchronization. Bubble and Boost, both combined together are bad enough, but with Clockwork Kingdom things get really nasty. Imagine if you struck your opponent with a mortal wound, you did it enough times in a row that they couldn¡¯t go backwards in time to dodge it. That would stop Reversal from saving them. Assuming they didn¡¯t have Kingdom, Bubble, and Boost up, that is. Bubble provides a complex shield that prevents damage by spending seconds of the user¡¯s lifetime to block attacks. The shield can only block attacks that occur up to twenty seconds ahead in time, and subtracts double the cost to the user¡¯s own lifetime. Boost of course, multiplies this effect immensely, and Kingdom feeds it a steady supply of time making the shield a work of art. In essence, without breaking through the synchronous shield created by all three working together, the user is almost invincible. There are a few attacks that could work, such as destroying the space around the user in a large enough area, or melting the user¡¯s time. Those are extreme examples though, and enemies of that nature are not something I would expect my servant to be fighting. I would take care of such, personally, after all. Good work if I do say so myself! There is of course an attacking rune setup, as well. While the defense is maintained through my understanding of Time, the offense¡­ Is not. What kind of Tree would I be if I didn¡¯t use the main form of Dao that has helped me through thick and thin!? I watch proudly the moment my servant, well Dryad¡¯s really, so technically mine too, realizes the pathetic flames from the human mage do not harm him. Mere flame without a trace of Dao? As if that could even touch one of mine, bah! Flame ripples out in beautiful multi-colored hues of blue, black, orange, and red. It looks exactly like someone has smeared the air with thick fiery paints. I mean, if you ignore the brief screams that occur¡­ Ah¡­delicious. So it seems the souls of mages are so much more rich and tasty even raw. I still need to get that to do list of finding a cook done¡­ *** Sam watched, his emotions unstable, as the Elders were consumed in unholy flames of incredible power. The runes on his armor felt smoking hot, so much that he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the armor burst into flames. It was obvious there was a world of difference between the runes Dryad had used, and the ones the Tree placed on him. If he were to describe it, it was as if Dryad¡¯s runes were pushing mud through a thick pipe. Tree¡¯s runes were like a perfectly formed aqueduct, maintained by slaves, and built to perfection. In effect, he could tell the difference even without a high level of magic sensory. There was no doubt in Sam¡¯s mind that whatever else Tree was, he was a genius in the realm of magic. It felt strange to have this obscure feeling of wanting to worship a tree, though. Very odd. As the armor started to cool off, Sam was about to check if the tree needed anything. However, his attention was caught by the appearance of Dryad at the far end of the bridge. Behind her, was a hobgoblin with the shiftiest eyes Sam had ever seen before. Sproutling 111 ¡°So, goblin, do you come to lava filled caverns often in your line of work?¡± Sam asked the hobgoblin as they stood near the bridge. Both parties had decided by tacit agreement not to disturb Tree and Dryad¡¯s reunion. ¡°Grok.¡± Grok said, eyeing the human as if sizing him up for the pot. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I have no clue what that means.¡± Sam said, shrugging his shoulders. Grok considered how to take revenge. Grok couldn¡¯t use sharp objects, as that wooden armor looked rather tough, and those glowing purple runes gave him the willies. Grok couldn¡¯t use poison, because good traceless poison was expensive, both in time to make, and in gold to create! Grok couldn¡¯t bash the human¡¯s head in, because heavy objects were not a scout¡¯s forte. Wait! There wasn¡¯t a need for fatal revenge here. This was a minor matter. Minor matters should be dealt with by minor things¡­ Grok grinned evilly as he remembered a small vial among his various pouches. Yes, while the human couldn¡¯t be killed, there was no reason he couldn¡¯t be...inconvenienced. Sam stepped slightly further away from the giggling hobgoblin. Tree and Dryad seemed to keep the strangest pets, best not to be too close to them. He might explode in a gooey mess without warning. Sam sighed, he hadn¡¯t expected his life to take such a strange turn. A second later, Sam stared at the figure that had appeared to the left of both him and the hobgoblin. Grok¡¯s attention was drawn out from his planning of revenge by the sudden appearance of a strange humanoid. She wore a bizarre, yet eccentrically colored comfortable ensemble of patchwork clothing. Her clothing was strewn about with pouches, pockets, and a rather dashing hood. Grok paid special attention to the hood because it was a fine hood, the type of hood he¡¯d always dreamed of having! Underneath the hood were a pair of bright green eyes staring at both him and the human. There were also ears poking out from the hood, or perhaps they were attached to it? Grok slowly started to back away, and then froze when he realized the creature had a tail. A tail that was twitching. Grok had seen a similar tail before, on the large mountain cats that liked to eat goblins as delicious snacks! Such a tail meant freezing in place was the best choice of action. Grok went one step further and with the speed born of self-preservation, leaped behind the human! This way, if things went bad, the human could give him precious time to run away! Sam ignored the hobgoblin that was cowering behind him. Although he didn¡¯t know how strong this strange mix of cat and human could be, he was utterly confident in Tree¡¯s armor. Well, Dryad¡¯s armor, upgraded by Tree, it was almost obscenely powerful. Sam decided to take the first step towards communication with this young catlady, ¡°Hello, my name is Sam ser-¡± ¡°Weak.¡± the catlady said, scornfully. ¡°Uh, what?¡± Sam replied, his mind paused momentarily. The youthful looking woman glanced over in the distance at Tree and Dryad, and her gaze softened for a moment. However, the next instance when she stared back at Sam, he felt a strong sense of danger. Before he could respond a single right clenched fist slammed into his armor pulping his body into a meat paste.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Sam gasped out as the Time Reversal function in the runes activated pulling him back from death. He could feel the reaper¡¯s cold hand growing more solid on his shoulder. The gaze from the realm of death was slowly being fixed on him, in the form of a bright pair of green eyes staring emotionlessly at him. ¡°Clockwork Kingdom! Bubble! Boost!¡± Sam screamed almost blurring the words together with the speed. Even then, he barely made it in time before the second punch slammed into him. As the Reversal activated again, Sam realized to his horror he had been consecutively killed almost once per second for the last ten seconds. The creatures speed was inhuman, beyond anything he¡¯d ever seen. If she hadn¡¯t paused in her attacks, Reversal might have been pushed past the point he could revive. Another fatal punched stopped just millimeters from his face. Sam realized the woman wasn¡¯t even looking at him, instead glancing with a questioning expression towards the Tree. It seemed like there was a silent mental communication going on between the two, similar to the voice Sam heard before the Elders attacked him. Sam prayed very hard towards the Tree to stop this insane attacker! Grok stared enviously at the human¡¯s armor. It was armor that let him come back from death! Armor that any goblin would desire! It even glowed with purple, his favorite color! Dammit, how come humans got all the good things! *** Stop. Mishra heard the voice within her mind as she was about to strike another series of killing blows against the armor clad human. Although the human was incredibly weak, his armor gave her a feeling of intense threat! Master? Mishra sent mentally, her mind overjoyed. It seemed after breaking the restrictions of the world of Vespar she had transcended to re-unite with the great Tree! Of course, a small island was now forever lost to the depths of the seas of Vespar, but that was a small price to pay! Hmph, who else? Don¡¯t keep hitting him, Mishra. If you do enough critical damage the armor will¡­activate¡­to defend him. The active abilities are strong, the passive ones will force me to spend time repairing your shattered physical form. Tree said, his mental voice sounding mildly distracted. Stand with the hobgoblin and human, and wait till I¡¯m done teaching Dryad what she needs to follow her Dao of Blood safely. I can hit him¡­less¡­hard? He¡¯s a great practice dummy, Master! Mishra said, her voice bubbling over with joy. It had been a long time since she found someone that could take more than a single strike. As a result she felt, even though her power had grown, her technique was getting rusty. There were only so many minor ¡®issues¡¯ she could resolve for Guido before being bored after all. Hm¡­no turning him into blood mist, or meat pulp, or shattering internal organs, or turning his bones to powder. There¡¯s no point in technique if you can¡¯t do anything except exert full power in every strike. You are one who follows the Dao of Strength, not the Dao of Idiot Punching! Tree said, giving tacit permission to continue. Mishra licked her lips before her eyes brightened as she forcibly restrained her strength. Inner Flame, her personal method and understanding of Flame circulated within her body. Slowly a golden-red sheen of paper thin light covered her entire body. She watched the human take a defensive stance before she leaped forward in a blur. *** Explaining the complex information I had stolen, ahem, acquired from the dryads of the past to Dryad was a delicate process. ¡°Not the face! NOT THE FACE!¡± There were minor distractions around, but nothing really serious that stopped Dryad from learning her Dao of Blood. Combining it with the Dao of Life she already had was a minor matter for a creature of her skill level. ¡°Not between the legs!¡± Dryad glanced back at the servants scampering about before asking me a serious question, ¡°Flame and Time work together, but how are you going to mix the others?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± I said. ¡°However, it will probably involve a great deal of science, a dash of insanity, a dollop of Chaos, and a pinch of dead Divinity.¡± ¡°Are you learning the Dao or a cooking recipe?¡± Dryad said her face amused. ¡°Isn¡¯t it the same thing¡­sort of?¡± I said, ¡°Do you want to take the Forest you¡¯ve grown here with you? I think when I reforge this world, I can make it fit inside another leaf. For some reason my spatial leaves seem like an inherent ability, and not a learned one.¡± ¡°Are you saying you have no clue how you compress a world into your leaves?¡± Dryad asked, curious. ¡°No clue, I just do it and it works. I¡¯m sure Chaos helped me at first, and now it¡¯s just like breathing. It actually makes it harder to choose Space.¡± I said as I considered the options among my Dao Roots. ¡°Out of all the choices, I think I¡¯ll go with the safest one for now.¡± ¡°¡­Metal?¡± Dryad said, her eyes widening. ¡°A tree that can manipulate Flame, Time, and Metal should help me reforge this world at minimal cost.¡± I said, my branches waving in agreement. ¡°YOU HIT MY TAIL! DIE HUMAN SCUM!¡± ¡°What do you think about Vex¡¯s assumption that this world is an out of the way place?¡± Dryad asked. ¡°It falls in line with the energy I sense. There are traces of Divinity in the Time I read, yet they are far removed from the present. It¡¯s highly likely these races didn¡¯t evolve naturally here.¡± I state, putting forward my theory. Dryad follows the trail of thought to the end, easily. ¡°Seeding?¡± ¡°Indeed. I suspect the Divinities are far less ¡®solid¡¯ than they appear to outsiders. This planet is probably a forgotten seedling they planted to garner faith power. This would suggest two things. One, the Divines are fighting someone or something. Or two, their management system is so antiquated that only a core group of planets receive management. I suspect the Shattered Plane was only monitored due to paranoia. If we had been more circumspect, they likely wouldn¡¯t have even noticed our escape.¡± I pause, ¡°Of course now we are probably circulated among whatever system they have as dangerous fugitives.¡± ¡°So what? Given enough time we will evolve beyond their reach. I saw a shadow of what you might become.¡± Dryad said, smiling. ¡°A tree that is to World Trees what they are to a normal one.¡± ¡°It will take time, lots of Time, lots of experiments, a great many World Hearts¡­¡± I respond. ¡°Those are merely numbers.¡± Dryad said, dismissively. ¡°Quantity has a quality all its own.¡± I reply. ¡°With that in mind, let¡¯s start with the first project. Have the humans in charge, what¡¯s his name again, ah, Garvon, yes have Garvon bring all the mage blooded to view me.¡± A tiny group of leaves flickers from above and falls into Dryad¡¯s waiting palms. ¡°Let us see if the humans of this world are worth my Time.¡± I state, with a serious tone. Sproutling 112 Being awake means things run so much smoother than when I¡¯m sleeping. For instance, Garvon had a few issues with the ruling council of royalty. I solved them easily, and even made sure their bodies didn¡¯t go to waste. With that minor issue taken care of, things have proceeded smoothly. Currently a long line of humans is trudging in, staring at me and moving out. Are they here to view my awesomeness? Of course. However, they are also here to allow me to look for talents. Specifically, I need someone who can view soul energy. Ever since I broke through my shackles with the help of a human soul that seems to have Transcended, I have worried. It¡¯s not like I can come up with human souls willing to help me every time I need to break through another shackle. Given my power of Flame and Time, along with the passive effect of my Dao Roots, I can see the ¡®shackles¡¯ now. They are glowing golden chains that drape my spiritual form. Even with my sight, they are barely visible unless I manifest a great deal of Chaos energy to view them. Suprisingly enough, it appears some of those ¡®Cultivation¡¯ novels from Earth have a small basis in fact. There were eleven chains before one was broken, and thus I theorize that my Dao Roots have a strong link to the chains. The runes on the two chains that lie shattered at my base correspond with Flame and Time! Does this mean that all higher beings are restricted in some manner? Perhaps even those called Divinities are restricted by Laws that they cannot break. Hmm¡­interesting. I wonder what will happen when I shatter all the chains around my soul¡¯s form! Well, that is something to consider for another time. Out of the thousands upon thousands of human mage-blood that have viewed me, a mere eight managed to see a glimpse of the chains around me. This is pathetic, are humans truly so bad at glimpsing the soul? I almost went to Vex for help, but restrained myself. After all, she has requested to part ways with us after this world is re-forged. I had no real opinion on the matter, although Dryad and the succubus have been cooped up doing ¡®girl¡¯ talk for quite a few days now. Ah, so easily distracted, I am. Well, whatever. Staring at my eight possible ¡®cooks¡¯ I have eliminated five of them so far. Am I partial to females? Well, of course. Females work well with Dryad, they don¡¯t panic as much as men, and they smell better. Bias? Damn right I have it! Since this is for a position of ¡®cook¡¯ I have given the three remaining young women a chance to impress me.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Each of them is given access to all the ingredients they could imagine from Vespar¡¯s Leaf. All I ask is they cook something ¡®tasty¡¯ with their abilities! The one that impresses me the most, will gain the greatest reward! That¡¯s right! Service to this Tree! As well as a platinum ring carved with Immortality Runes, and stuff¡­but the service to this Tree is what I¡¯m sure they all really want! Probably¡­humans are sometimes a tad materialistic¡­ Several hours pass before my three possible cooks finish their meals. First meal! Garbage! No, that¡¯s being too nice, it is a substance that should be blacklisted! The taste was so horrid it required me to use Time Reversal to avoid it! This cook, yes, there is no need for such a person to continue existing. A quick flicker of power and she¡¯s sent to one of the forbidden zones in Vespar. There is no need to show mercy to bad cooks! The second meal, hm¡­ This¡­ I think this is a good attempt! Quite tasty! Reading the list of ingredients a few moments later, my mind melts in agony. How could someone use such precious materials merely for a simple meal!? My non-existent heart bleeds for the loss of such rare items! However, well, yes I didn¡¯t put a spending limit on ingredients¡­ Pass I guess, in the future there will need to be strict changes to cost though! The third meal! Ooooooooh¡­.very fluffy, slightly crunchy, with a nice dash of spice. Let¡¯s see, ah, there we go. It¡¯s rather amazing such a small child in such grubby clothes has managed to create something like this. I have Sam escort the second cook out, for now she¡¯ll be a backup. My attention fully turns to the small human in grubby clothing that created a masterpiece. ¡°Little one, come closer. Let¡¯s have a nice chat about your future.¡± *** ¡°¡­.a nice chat about your future.¡± said the calm voice from the Tree. Wen edged closer, prepared to run at the slightest sign of a threat. If it hadn¡¯t been for the mage sweeper teams managing to find her in the slums, she never would have shown up to this strange event. Life in the slums was hard, she¡¯d seen people disappeared over a fight of coppers. When the mages had descended and nabbed her by the scruff of her neck, she¡¯d thought the end was near. Everyone knew what mages used small children for, the sewer was filled with the results of their experiments. What followed after capture for Wen was endless waiting, then identity confirmation, and finally staring at a strange white tree. The tree had weird blood-like veins flowing through it. Even weirder was the fact that it was located in a cavern full of glowing liquid rock. Mother had told her once before she died about stuff like this, however those had been fairy tales. This was definitely no such thing. The fact that the tree wanted them to cook something delicious, and furthermore that it could even talk, seemed par for the course. Wen had created a savory treat using her incredible sense of smell, taste, and the ability to see glowing lights. Sometimes things in the world just looked different when she stared at them long enough. After trial and error she had found that different food ingredients would have different levels of light. When combined into something edible, it was almost always delicious. Such a talent had made her very in demand among the gang leaders in the slums, before she was caught. Even at the age of seven, she was street smart enough to know that mentioning seeing glowing lights was a bad idea. As such, she wasn¡¯t sure if she should say anything about the strange golden chains with silver runes that draped the tree¡¯s form. If it was something she wasn¡¯t supposed to see, saying anything could mean a quick trip into the glowing lava, and a rapid meeting with her deceased parents. ¡°Let¡¯s start with something simple. Do you notice anything strange when you look at me?¡± said the Tree. ¡°White?¡± Wen responded. It was always best to stick to single word answers when being interrogated. ¡°Yes, anything else?¡± said the Tree. ¡°Blood?¡± Wen said, adding a second word against her own advice. ¡°Perhaps a dip in the lava would help to speed up this question and answer session¡­¡± said the Tree, appearing to think out loud. ¡°Your glowing white, with blood red veins that pulse with light, and strange golden chains with silver runes on them draping your form. Strangest tree I ever seen, even including the ones in the fairy tales my mother read me!¡± Wen said, her voice rapid and speech hurried. ¡°¡­chains?¡± said the Tree, his voice seeming slightly surprised for the first time. ¡°Uh, yes. There are glowing golden chains, I think, ten?¡± Wen said, twisting the sides of her grubby dirt-stained clothing. This was moving into strange territory, how would a tree not be able to know it was bound in chains! The sound of amused laughter sounded from all around her, rising to a crescendo. ¡°Congratulations, little one. We are going to get along, just fine.¡± Sproutling 113 Air is very mysterious. It is a substance that contains components that allow life. Yet it is also a whimsy creation that can take life without care. As such, the simple fact that Air can be used to boost Flame has caused it to be my next choice for a Dao Root. I am playing to my strengths, there is no reason to take something like water, or earth, or even more complex choices at the moment. A simple choice, with clear benefits is what I¡¯ll go with for now. With that in mind I have been observing Mishra as she toys, er, practices against Sam. This technique, her own creation, Inner Flame is quite marvelous. The use of Flame to forge the body, much the way I forge metals. Hm¡­ Hmm¡­ Hmmm¡­ I really haven¡¯t bothered refining my body! Let¡¯s try it out! Air, Fire, Time combine! With our powers combined¡­eh¡­I don¡¯t think my branches are supposed to bend that direction¡­ Or that one¡­ This appears¡­challenging¡­ Alright! Attempt two! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Attempt three hundred and fifteen! After a solid month of practice which has redecorated the lava into various places around me! Hurray! A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Success! After a few minor adjustments to my form¡­ Things like making myself more porous, creating a circulatory system, a few wooden organs here and there. Nothing major, just enough to get the technique working, mind you. I still haven¡¯t mastered the ¡®breathing¡¯ perfectly yet, as such the grass around me pulses in time with my heart. Literally. There were a few weird looks from my three servants, but I solved it by ignoring all questions directed to me. Life is simple when you¡¯re the Tree. Ignore questions! Make demands! Eat experimental soul foods! This is the life! The best! Now, after all this hard work, I have managed to create a unique method to temper the Chaos that forms my body! I shall call this technique¡­. Time-Refining Flame Twist! My naming sense, ah! As good as it ever was, indeed. Within the last month, Wen has been feeding me a delicious assortment of tasty treats. The number of human royalty has also taken a tragic drop, for some reason only those that support Dryad have managed to stay alive. What an amazing coincidence! Wen, shockingly enough, decided not to take one of my platinum rings. Instead, she requested to wait until after she¡¯s gotten older to use it. I shrugged my branches and handed her two. One for now, and one with Immortality on it. It¡¯s not like making these is hard or anything, now. Lately there has been movement outside from the monster armies arrayed against humanity. I don¡¯t feel as if I¡¯m betraying my ¡®race¡¯ here either. I¡¯m in it for the money. The luxuries. The soul food. The books. Yes, books! A tree that likes to read? Shocking I¡¯m sure. A few nobles and royals have tried to meet me. I¡¯m not really interested in listening to their pleas, or rants, or anything really. So I take dips in the lava when they drop by. Someone complains to me? Relaxing lava dip. Someone complains about my servants to me? Relaxing lava dip. Or they quietly feed the small garden around me, either option works in my opinion. Dryad is having fun practicing her newfound Dao of Blood. The vitality that passes along the soul link is filled with deliciousness. I¡¯m working on figuring out how to incorporate it into my body refining. There has to be a way. I mean, I technically don¡¯t really have blood per say. I might need to conduct some messy experiments, now. Ah well, isn¡¯t that why servants exist? To clean up messes? I can totally understand why humans enjoy high grade monster meat though. High grade human souls are absolutely fantastic when prepared just right. A month and two weeks is all it took to get used to my patented safe for Trees everywhere body refining down. Why do I want to refine my body? Well, I did some calculations with my branches. Accordingly, it would be best if my body, mind, and soul were all at or around equal levels. Right now, my soul is so far ahead that it can¡¯t be accurately measured. My mind is amplified by my unique method of thinking using my branches in tandem. My body on the other hand, well, it¡¯s underutilized to say the least. A great deal of the difficulty I had using pure Chaos has been traced using Time¡¯s Shadow to the fact that my body simply wasn¡¯t strong enough. Granted, having a body made out of Chaos is strong, don¡¯t get me wrong. However, the difference between a refined body, and an unrefined one is like the difference between crystallized plate steel and iron ore. Just too great, by far. Now, with my energy senses I can literally feel my body aligning pathways, like a giant circuit slowly shifting into perfect balance. Within a decade I expect I will be able to leverage thousands of times more power, effective power, than before. The efficiency of power expenditure will rise almost exponentially, and as a result, my combat power will reach a new level. Where before I would struggle against low-tier Divinities, I should be easily able to take at least fifty of them without breaking a sweat. As long as Dryad takes the other fifty we should be golden! Now that I can see a pathway in front of my future that isn¡¯t covered in confusion I¡¯ve started tailoring my plans. Phase one is almost complete. Although I¡¯m not sure exactly how I did it, I¡¯ve managed to make the inside of the mountain bigger than the outside. Basically I just duplicated the way my leaves work to hold Vespar without understanding. To this end, the population problems of cramming a number of nations into a single mountain have been solved. Dryad of course had a thrilling adventure decorating all the new space with greenery. More and more of the primal forestry outside has been moved into the mountain. With this action, I have realized our last few trips through the Void are¡­. Badly done. I mean, I am a smart, well-mannered, intelligent, debonair, and decent Tree. I do not need the life of danger, traveling the Void in my birthday suit as it were. That¡¯s right! I need¡­.. A ship. If I calculate the value of this planet¡¯s Worldheart based off Vespar, it should be about thirty percent more. Thirty percent isn¡¯t a huge number most of the time. It will, in this case, be enough to transform this mountain into a proper Voidship. Voidship. A snappy name if I do say so myself. Yes, well. With a Voidship the problem of traveling in the non-life between planets, solar systems, galaxies, or even universes should be better. I¡¯ll collect a decent amount of data too. Eventually the goal is to be able to turn myself into something that can travel between universes! The better to¡­. Eat them, of course! Sproutling 114 Making a mountain out of a molehill. What an apt description of what I¡¯m doing now. Well, apt if it is reversed. I¡¯m making a molehill out of a mountain. In order to create a ship that can travel safely through the Void, I need a valid concept. A Rune can only be crafted once the concept is completely understood. Crafting a half-baked one will likely lead to the disintegration of the ship, and death of all involved. Well, all those who can¡¯t travel the Void already, at least. To this end I have been diving deep under the lava for the past few days slowly going through one Rune simulation after another using the ambient energy. I¡¯m close I can feel it now. I just need that little final bit of inspiration and I can make the Voidship a reality. Stretching my branches, I descend deeper into the lava following the vent down towards a lower layer of the planet¡¯s crust. To my surprise, a variety of creatures are living at this depth. The variety of life is rather abundant. Fish, coral, snakes, and other stranger creatures litter the surroundings. All of them display a marked ability to live in the incredible temperatures surrounding us. This is awesome! I really have never created something that can handle temperature variations of this amount. My previous Gardens were all something that I did on a whim, and each featured genetically modified plants, true. However, none of the plants was resistant to a specific criteria. Have I perhaps been too limited in my views? Too human? I think so. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I have limited myself, unconsciously perhaps, to certain human ways of thinking. Yet, there is nothing human about magic. There is nothing human about me. The thoughts, concepts, ideas, and methods of thinking of a human have aided me greatly though, so it isn¡¯t all bad. I just need to adjust my thoughts. What I want is a ship that can travel unhindered. Freed from the boundaries of the physical world, the limits, and the order. I don¡¯t want a Voidship, I want a microcosm of what I aspire to be. Yes! There¡¯s the spark. I¡¯ve been thinking of this ship as a dead creature, a physical machine constructed and limited! Hah, hah! The error in thinking is obvious now, watching these creatures. A mere ship could never do what I desire, unless of course it has Life. I¡¯ll need to get back to Dryad, this is much more her forte than mine. Now that this issue is solved, the important point arises. Shape. What shape should my ship be in? Testing time! Squares, cones, orbs, ovals, I create and place into stress situations. The winner by a landslide, is the egg! Hm¡­apparently nature isn¡¯t as stupid as some claim. Granted, a normal egg cannot withstand being smashed on a rock, but my ship isn¡¯t going to be normal. Carbon is a wonderful molecule. It is easy to work with, simple, and almost idiot proof! Carbyne, a minor variation of the carbon molecule is one of the best products I know for structural building. It¡¯s also the cheapest. Sure, sure, I might get better results if I electro-plated the entire ship in Orihalcum¡­ As if! Mineral deposits like that that have attained a great deal of magic by soaking in energy require millenniums to produce! Even if I used Time¡¯s Shadow to speed up the process we would be talking about at least five centuries! As for mining it from the deep core of the planet, that¡¯s unrealistic. Once you go past the crust, there is far less magical metal. More energy, less metal, well solid structured ore at least. The long and short of it is, magical metal doesn¡¯t appear in liquid form for a reason. The crystalline structure required to allow energy to be trapped, and the metal to grow ¡®magical¡¯ is absolutely destroyed by high heat. Given a high enough temperature, without a heat-resistant magic structure formed, and you get slag. High quality slag sure, but, slag all the same. Sure, there do exist high-temperature magic metals, don¡¯t get me wrong. The way such metals resist heat though is counter-productive. Their crystalline structures in essence, use energy patterned by the crystalline structure of the metal itself, to resist heat. In other words, they are power hog type metals. Using something that increases the power draw may work for a cold weapon like a sword. Build a ship from such metal and you could be looking at a power bill that¡¯s enough to send you straight to heaven! It just wouldn¡¯t work, unless of course you had an almost limitless supply of power. No, far easier in my opinion to simply use Carbyne and Runes. One of the benefits of magic, and the Dao, is the incredible efficiency of power use. Simple physical forces such as friction can¡¯t hold a candle to the Dao, or even the simplest use of magic itself. This ship should push me further in a direction I¡¯ve been thinking of lately. Sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from the technology in my human memories. Flying cars? Flying swords! Floating cities? Floating continents! F.T.L.(Faster Than Light) travel? Portals! Teleportation Arrays! Concentrated energy sources? Magic rocks! Mysterious crystals! Genetic engineering? Bio-magic creatures! A lot of similarities in my honest opinion. A user of the Dao or magic uses incredible willpower and intent, a user of technology uses gadgets and gimmicks! Is it possible that out there in this incredible multi-verse is a lifeform that perhaps can¡¯t even be understood by my current level of knowledge? I wonder what it would taste like¡­ Ah! Tsk. Distracted again. Well, whatever. That stuff is for the future. For now, I have a ship to build with Dryad¡¯s help! Sproutling 115 A devilishly handsome young man with golden eyes sitting on a comfortable throne made of crystal said, ¡°Seven million, four hundred and fifty one thousand, two hundred and ten soldiers. Uncounted amounts of preparation. Uncounted amounts of supplies. Practically a thousand years in the making.¡± A crumpled set of scrolls was thrown to the side as his skin started glowing with red light. ¡°Explain this debacle!¡± A metallic set of armor with eyes the color of bright blood knelt before the young overlord. ¡°The humans had aid. A creature faster than anything I¡¯ve ever seen before. It moves among the woods like a hungry ghost, devouring anything magical it can reach, my King.¡± ¡°A single creature cannot withstand an army, no matter how powerful it is. Even I couldn¡¯t withstand the might of millions attacking me all at once. Although I wouldn¡¯t die, it would take a certain cost to retreat safely.¡± The youthful appearing demon king started tapping his fingers on the throne¡¯s armrests. ¡°A creature we¡¯ve never seen before you say¡­¡± he muttered to himself frowning. Taking a glance around the king surveyed the room. There was the group of ministers that handled his empire, their greedy claws always attempting to wrest more power from him on the left. To his right were the military contingent, currently attempting not to draw his rage further. The richly opulent throne room was practically dripping in valuables. He could finance a thousand wars with what was visible. His personal treasure room alone was filled with objects that money couldn¡¯t buy. Yet, even with all this wealth, he would pay half his kingdom for someone to solve this issue faster. ¡°Lux, it¡¯s not like everything is lost.¡± a voice said, as soft hands crept over the back of his throne and kneaded his shoulders from behind. Meetings would be so much less bearable if he didn¡¯t have his private elven masseuse thought Lux, the current reigning Demon King of this pathetic world. Atriel, his aide was worth every bit of the four point eleven million gold he¡¯d spent on her at his homeworld¡¯s slave market. It was also helpful she at least had decent strategic capabilities. The number of general¡¯s she¡¯d saved with her soft voice and delicate touch was uncountable.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Everything doesn¡¯t need to be lost. It just needs to be delayed. Delay means danger. Who knows if one of the damnable Pantheon will discover this place with another thousand years to spare!?¡± Lux grumbled under his breath. Although this world was out of the way from the normal places the Pantheon managed, it wasn¡¯t invisible. All it would take is a single errant ship, or even a high level individual with a bout of wanderlust and his plans would vaporize in smoke. It was hard enough to keep the portal back to his homeland operating in secret. ¡°Simply go around this¡­obstacle¡­for now. It¡¯s not like every human kingdom can fit in a single mountain after all.¡± said Atriel. ¡°If enough of the human royalty dig in, there¡¯s no counting how bad things can get. Humans have an atrocious habit of turning things around at the last minute. Not to mention any second one of them could get the attention of them. That would be a right piece of work. A few glowing light shows and even the weakest member of the Pantheon could have them eating out of their hands.¡± Lux said, his expression gloomy. All that faith pumped right into a waiting member of the Pantheon, it was enough to sicken even the most twisted of demons! He could practically see those drooling idiots waiting for him to be discovered! ¡°If you can¡¯t control the situation¡­¡± said Atriel. ¡°¡­indeed.¡± Lux said, his mood brightening. There was no need to think hard about this. A quick and final solution was in order here. Straightening up, he loathed the loss of his personal aide¡¯s miracle fingers before saying with a commanding voice, ¡°Smoke them out. Every piece of wood. Every grain. Every piece of walking meat. Leave nothing remaining but ashes. If they wish to abandon their kingdoms then ensure there is nothing left to return too.¡± Lux said, his voice growing more powerful by the second. ¡°As for the woods that have troubled you, cut it down. I don¡¯t care how many soldiers it takes, I do not want to hear that a mere piece of forestry stopped you from killing the humans to the last man, woman, and child.¡± Lux watched as his greatest general knelt, ¡°As you command, my King.¡± *** Dryad stared at the forces that had returned around after a little over a month from when they had retreated. This new army clearly had a more focused intent. The majority made an enormous detour around her forests, before heading directly towards the old human controlled area. A small portion of perhaps twenty percent broke off from the main army moving towards the mountain. They were well armed. They were well trained. They were well prepared with magical might. Her grin widened as blood red light started to seep from her body. They were going to become delicious food. Sproutling 116 ¡°An egg?¡± Wen said, looking at me blankly as I demonstrated a shimmering piece of crafted energy shaped like the Voidship would become. ¡°A voidship!¡± I said for the umpteenth time. ¡°An egg.¡± Wen nodded as she finished cooking her latest experiment. I would have continued this argument, but there was honestly no point. I couldn¡¯t get through to the small child. It wasn¡¯t an egg, it was a Voidship. There¡¯s a total difference! One is a method of traversing the multi-verse and the other is¡­not! Grumbling I ate the latest experimental dish. This one had a nice flavor too it, if I were to categorize it, I would definitely lump it with the more successful ones. A dash of orange, flavored with rich syrup, and a smattering of crunchiness! ¡°Good? Excellent? Divine?¡± Wen said with a hopeful look. So far she has only managed to produce a single Divine meal. Which is expected considering she has only been cooking for a month. My standards aren¡¯t that high, it¡¯s not like Time is a concern for me and mine. ¡°High, Good. A little too much syrup flavor though. Less syrup would have put it into Excellent territory.¡± I said, giving my input. It was important to provide proper input so my chef could rise up and produce Divine flavored meals! For the taste buds! I¡¯ve noticed lately that there were a few unsavory individuals that had attempted to put pressure on Wen. Before I had the chance to interfere, or send Mishra or Sam to handle it, she demonstrated a side of her that I hadn¡¯t seen. Cooking souls as one could say, give a person a certain affinity with Soul Magic. Much like the magic Dryad and me have used to Seal a great deal of our power, it is something that acts directly on the soul. In other words it is a perfect counter for those without any type of soul defenses. Physical strength, well unless it reaches Mishra¡¯s level of Dao, is meaningless to a Soul Magic user. Without a strong enough use of the Dao to empower one¡¯s defenses, most people are like balloons. A soul magic user simply opens a hole in the balloon¡¯s wall, and out goes the ¡®air¡¯ so to say. Of course, the best part was how I saw she didn¡¯t waste any ingredients. Such a thrifty chef, she¡¯s well on her way to Guido¡¯s level, I like it! Word has since gone around the grapevine within the mountain. Don¡¯t piss off the chef. There are enough humans though that every so often someone ignores the warnings. Not enough to cause a major disturbance, but enough to make me feel there might be a bit of instigation going on. However, since I haven¡¯t been able to trace anything through the network of plants, I¡¯ve let it pass. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. No matter how strongly an ant resists, it is still an ant after all. There was a major change though after I saw Wen use her skills. I immediately changed all my servant¡¯s rings to add a Soul component rune into their Shield section of the rings. I mean it¡¯s fine if my people use it, yet I definitely can¡¯t allow it to be a weakness! Lately I¡¯ve been thinking we should let Sam go, he¡¯s really not useful in terms of defense, at least not with Mishra here. I¡¯ve gotten most of the information I wanted out of the Armor, and there really isn¡¯t much more he can do. ¡°Wen, go call Sam here please. After that it¡¯s self-study time, ok?¡± I said, dropping out of my inner monologue. ¡°M¡¯k.¡± Wen said, before putting away her cooking equipment into the ring provided and exiting. Her fashion choices confused me sometimes, but then again, it¡¯s probably due to the influence of Mishra. Mishra immediately took a liking to our newest, smallest, cutest member, and since has been advising her on clothing choices. I¡¯m not really sure they are good choices, though¡­ Sam came in after a short time, with incredible haste. He probably was thrilled to take a break from practice against Mishra. Although she had followed the rules I set, I could tell there was a serious strain on the poor man¡¯s mentality. ¡°Sam.¡± I said, pausing. ¡°Sir!¡± Sam said, straightening up instantly. ¡°I think it¡¯s time to release you from service. We are preparing to finish up on this planet, and there really isn¡¯t a place for such a short lived species by my side. As you don¡¯t have a talent I consider worth developing, there is no point in granting you a Ring, either.¡± I said, stating the issue bluntly. A suspicious expression of relief seemed to flash across his face before Sam said, ¡°I understand, thank you for the opportunity to learn, Sir!¡± Well, I feel a bit, guilty here. It¡¯s not the poor guy¡¯s fault he isn¡¯t a talented Alchemist, or able to grasp the Dao. Perhaps a small bestowal of favor? Yes, that will make me feel better I think. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m taking the opportunity to experiment directly on a human. No, no, not at all! ¡°Since you¡¯ve handled things the best you could while working for me, I think a small gift is in order.¡± I said, my roots flashed outward removing the Armor pieces from his body. He was clad in normal everyday garb, the cut of his clothing displaying no flair. While no one would mistake him for a peasant in those cloths, due to the expensive cloth, they didn¡¯t scream noble, either. ¡°I¡¯m sure any gift given will be worth its weight in gold, Sir!¡± Sam said, visibly trying to control his fear. My roots flashed knocking the man unconscious. A small act of kindness on my part. I do learn after all, besides, too much pain might cause an unsavory reaction. Flesh rips as I use Time¡¯s Shadow to pause the time directly around the now floating man¡¯s body. With incredible finesse I split open his flesh moving swiftly with my roots. Ever so delicately, with inhuman precision, I begin engraving Runes directly onto the bones. In seconds I inlay quite a few such asSpeed, Strength, Constitution among others. However,among the entire array, the most important for a mage is the final one ofEarth.As a Tree, my understanding of earth surpasses that of the mages of this world in leaps and bounds. If we were to compare notes, I''m sure the difference would be something akin to a hedge witch vs. a certified master wizard with centuries of schooling! When the final rune is inlayed on the complex chain that links throughout his entire skeleton, I close up the skin. Time¡¯s Shadow flickers ensuring that the damage is repaired almost as if it never existed, while preventing the Runes from being unwoven. Sam groans and staggers into a standing position, before retching violently. Well, I guess there are some side effects. I¡¯ll have to do better next time. According to my memories, some individuals from Earth are so talented they can make critical cuts without their subject even noticing! My roots aren¡¯t at that level of skill yet, clearly. I¡¯m a bit sad, but also glad, at least there are still heavens above heavens to aim for! ¡°W-Wha?¡± Sam garbles out. ¡°Ah, no need to thank me. I made some minor improvements to your physique. They will be passed down through your family bloodline, if everything went well. Congratulations on awakening your talent as an Earth mage, Sam!¡± I said, my voice cheerful. Sam stared at me for a full minute before a silly smile slowly crept over his face. I recognized it from the first time I used mana. The thrilling realization that magic was finally part of your life, that mana was real, and that you could do things that just didn¡¯t abide by the laws of reality as most knew it. Watching the man skedaddle away with madcap glee, I admit to a bit of happiness. Of course, I did make sure to place a few diagnostic Runes, after all, one can¡¯t have their test subjects completely unmonitored. That¡¯s just asking for issues, in my honest opinion. Seconds later a massive surge of vitality started pumping along the link between me and Dryad. Clearly the army that had retreated a month ago was once again knocking on our door. Sadly, they didn¡¯t have any clue that Dryad had been upgraded far above the level she was at previously. If before she was a tiger, the knowledge stolen from the past gave her wings. A tiger, or a winged tiger, even the stupidest can clearly see which is more devastating! I started to funnel the vitality into the Core I had constructed to assist me in handling my new body training technique. For some reason, it seemed to be the perfect complement to my technique of refining myself. Each surging wave of vitality made me feel more compact, as if my form was becoming more solid with every passing second! How very, very, fascinating! Sproutling 117 I want a computer. Unfortunately, while I may be a supremely Dao empowered Tree, my ability to create electronic marvels such as a computer is non-existent. Most of the Artifacts I¡¯ve created in the past did simple things, hover, fly, tell time, and so forth. These in and of themselves are not difficult things to do. When you start asking the machine you create to calculate that¡¯s when real problems arise. Telling time through the use of simple mediums is completely different from calculating time. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve been surfing the Oceans of Eternity lately. Ah, they aren¡¯t real oceans! That¡¯s just my personal nickname for the sea of Time that I interact with. Tracing something using the bloodline is easy, it¡¯s like walking across a pond of lava. Simple, cheap, efficient, no muss, no fuss. However, when you start moving further afield, trying to reach things not directly connected, well that¡¯s difficult. Even worse, the Ancient Dryad race never used computers in any shape or form. At all. There wasn¡¯t apparently any need, since records were easily handled by the elves. Yeah, see how well that turned out. The whole reason I want a computer is to help provide me with calculating muscle. That way I can get the same or better results with half the effort! To this end, lately I¡¯ve been trying to develop a biological version of the computer. It¡¯s a work in progress. Not a lot of progress, yet a lot of work! Ah, whatever. I¡¯ll spread the work out over a few decades, that way if inspiration strikes me¡­ Or if we manage to arrive at a planet with more advanced technology that I can acquire¡­ I can pick this project up again. With the obliteration of the recent monster army, I¡¯ve stored enough vitality to proceed. Teleporting outside I float down to the foot of the mountain. Dryad moves out from the forest behind me. Holding out a branch, we stand together as I start. First, like all beginnings, comes the focus. All power is a manifestation of will at the deepest level. Reaching out, I invoke Time¡¯s Shadow and begin. Reality slowly alters in front of us, space shudders in rippling waves as sound without sound reforms the very fabric of reality. I grip the entire mountain in my power, and squeeze. It is if an invisible godly hand had reached down from the heavens, and started to compact the mountain like a mound of clay.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. I take care not to disrupt the spatial structure that I currently have in place to make the inside bigger than the outside. With a thought, I spin the mountain on a singular point. Slowly, like a potter¡¯s wheel of massive proportions I begin the shaping with the use of Time and pressure. Ridges become smooth lines, smooth lines become curves, and curvatures become oval ellipses. Hour after hour, day after day, I pour energy from the deep earth below through my roots, and into the ship¡¯s creation. When the final basic egg shape is formed, the real work begins. Hundreds of roots of all shapes and sizes begin to carve Runes upon the mountain¡¯s structure. This is my first major undertaking in regards to Runic Chains. Sam was an experiment on a much smaller scale, mere practice for this. As the runic chain circles begin to take shape, connections branch from one set of circles to the other creating nodes. With agonizing slowness I string each chain, creating command keys, while Dryad helps to bolster my mental strength. I doubt I would be able to finish without her assistance. After almost three solid months of work, I finish the crowning Rune atop the peak. Space stills, and time halts, for a brief moment I can almost see the Dao, stretching out above me, reaching towards a point I cannot see yet. Then, with a mightyclick, the Runic Chain circles begin to spin. I watch careful to see if anything is wrong, there are a few minor faults here and there that I use Time¡¯s Shadow to prevent from cascading outward. After applying patches to the worst parts, I wave my branches in satisfaction. My first ship. Complete. *** ¡°Gone? What do you mean gone?¡± Lux said staring blankly at the messenger. The messenger licked his lips nervously while kneeling before saying, ¡°The great general, the Living Armor, sent twenty percent of the Host towards the mountain in accordance with your instructions, my King.¡± ¡°And then they vanished?¡± Lux said, his eyebrows rising. Even those below the throne could be seen with expressions of disbelief. ¡°Y-Yes, my King!¡± the messenger stated, ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe, but I have proof!¡± Lux watched as the drow reached into a pouch at his side removing a pale clear crystal of perfect structure. Suddenly, he felt a great chill, as if he was once again on the snow trapped mountains of his homeland. It was death to report falsely. And the crystal in the messenger¡¯s hands couldn¡¯t be forged, unless there was someone on this planet with enough power to wipe them all out like insects. The memory crystals were given to his most trusted general only for emergencies. They were only to be used if the general deemed the possibility of returning to tell him in person was miniscule. As a personal gift from his father, using them, without a very valid reason was suicide. Lux pulled the crystal from the messenger¡¯s hands with a thought. Silence descended on the throne room, as everyone realized the magnitude of the issue at hand. Lux trusted few people, of those he did trust, the Living Armor was one of a handful currently on this planet. Accessing the memory crystal, Lux saw the message displayed before his eyes. Master¡­retreat. I cannot hold them for much longer. Scenes flashed before his eyes, like a stream of visions compacted to only the most crucial points. A portion of the host, moving as he¡¯d ordered, to destroy the woods and cut their way into the human¡¯s final retreat. At the edge where grasslands met forest, a single figure stepped out from the woods. Silver skin. Emerald green eyes. Hair the color of spun gold. Yet, even though she was a vision of beauty, what drew Lux¡¯s eyes were the blood-inked tattoos that glowed with diabolical light. Written upon her flesh were images and words that even his mind could barely understand a portion of. What he was able to see, was how the creature cut through his men like a reaper harvesting wheat. For every score that was cut down, the woman became faster, stronger, sharper. By the time the last division of his army was broken and attempting to flee, Lux could see the creature as a mere flickering blur. Only the gory path between targets left any trace of her passage. Lux took a deep breath before moving to the next scenes. A mountain stood tall, like a sword thrusting towards the heavens. Suddenly, a soundless shaking started. Rocks fell, dust arose, and without warning the mountain started to press inwards. Lux saw with horror as the entire structure started to spin, impossibly fast, like a child¡¯s top in reverse. Within moments, the mountain was compressed and shaped, like clay upon a potter¡¯s wheel. The final form was a disturbing shape, hinting of something sinister. An egg. Before he could even question the absurdity, thousands of thin whiplike tendrils extended from the ground at the mountains foot, before they began to carve upon the stone egg''s exterior. Runes. The invisible creature that couldn¡¯t be seen was carving Runes! Lux shuddered. Runes of a shape and form he¡¯d never seen before, their meaning completely unknown blanketed the mountain. What happened next caused him to drop the crystal in shock. The entire group of runes began to spin. Lux stood abruptly without warning, ¡°Excellent work. Tell the general that I have the greatest faith in him. I look forward to seeing him again at his earliest convenience.¡± The messenger bowed deeply before departing. Lux crushed the crystal into powder with a single foot before smiling brightly at the gathered upper echelons of his empire, ¡°Prepare a feast for our valiant heroes upon their return!¡± With a flash, Lux grabbed Atriel and teleported directly to his inner chambers. ¡°Lux what the hell?¡± Atriel said, as soon as they arrived. ¡°We have to leave, now!¡± Lux said, reaching forward and pulling the entire room into his spatial pouch. He had to hurry, demon god¡¯s tits, who knew what the hell that thing was! He had to inform his father, screw staying quiet, the Legions needed to be sent in! ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Atrieal said, her tone gradually turning fearful. ¡°What about the rest of the empire? Your plans?¡± ¡°Nothing is more important than staying alive.¡± Lux said, pausing. ¡°A thousand years of planning, and I am willing to toss them down the drain and share the credit as long as I am able to survive. If he¡¯s lucky, Lim will understand the message I sent back to him.¡± Lux reached out to a particular corner of his room activating the carefully hidden portal, ¡°I will hold the portal until the last possible second for those I trust, but I will do so on the other side. If what Lim sent through the crystal is true and not some illusion beyond comprehension, this planet is in deep la shi and I won¡¯t be here for what happens next!¡± Grabbing her hands, Lux pulled her through the swirling portal without a second¡¯s hesitation. Sproutling 118 ¡°They are retreating.¡± I said, watching with my energy senses as the masses of monstrous creatures attempted to escape the human¡¯s old lands. Dryad said nothing, looking at me with expectant eyes. I had really wanted to spend more time exploring, see the sights, visit the local magma pools, enjoy a bit of a vacation. However, there isn¡¯t really anything on this dirtball that¡¯s worth my time besides the Worldheart. As for vacation spots, I probably could just build my own with less hassle. Ah, well. Maybe next planet? Reaching out with my power I activated one of the primary Rune chains circles that looped about the Voidship in dizzying ever-changing patterns. This is a ship designed to traverse the Void. A place, where there is essentially, almost nothing to draw sustenance from aside from Void energies. As such, like any good ship, it is has the distinct ability to draw energy, of any type, to continue powering itself. In the Void it would be void energies. On the surface of this planet though, the process is simplified. It simply draws from everything, not in the ship. *** Lim had served his King for just under three thousand years, with extreme distinction. As a Living Armor, he didn¡¯t have blood, or flesh, or even a heart. It made doing his jobs, like the extermination of species the King required, much easier. However, just because he wasn¡¯t made of flesh and blood, didn¡¯t mean he was an unfeeling machine. Staring at the titanic stone egg that was at the rear of the rapidly retreating army while floating in the air, he felt disturbing chills run through his body. It was a long time since he¡¯d felt the emotion of fear. There was a possibility this was all part of Lux¡¯s plans, something he hadn¡¯t been informed of. Lim thought briefly on it, and decided that if his master had the ability to create something like this, he wouldn¡¯t have waged a thousand year war. No, if Lux had the power to create something like this, he would have used it immediately.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Ergo, this wasn¡¯t from the King. This was something else. A new player in the game. Lim paused, thinking hard about all the snippets he¡¯d heard before. Although he¡¯d never encountered them personally, he knew there was a race the Demons hated greatly¡­ Could it be a Divinity? Starting to pace in mid-air he thought further. If it was a Divinity, what could the egg be for? An attack? A defense? Something beyond comprehension? Lim reached into the tiny spatial pouch on his belt and drew a small stone carved with tens of glowing green glyphs out. The stone was a precious resource handed directly to the King¡¯s most trusted subordinates. Crushing the stone would bring him immediately to Lux¡¯s side. Crushing the stone would mean he was running away. Lim hesitated glancing backwards once more, just in time to see a rippling wall of something pulsing out from the egg. His spirit senses were screaming at him to move, now! Almost reflexively he crushed the stone in his gauntleted hand and watched in shock as the green light engulfed him. As a Living Armor, one of his distinct abilities was that of soul sensing. It allowed him to both avoid assassinations, and keep tabs on his subordinates. In the last moment before he departed he felt countless hundreds of thousands of his subordinate¡¯s souls being ripped from their flesh. The egg, it was eating them, using their souls to power the strange spinning runes! Lim was horrified, and yet simultaneously relieved. Horrified at the loss of those under his command, yet relieved he had something to report. *** ¡°Sorry about the forest.¡± I said. The entire forest surrounding the mountain as well as countless creatures within were now nourishing the Voidship. Dryad glared at me. ¡°And the grass?¡± I said, waving my branches. Dryad rolled her eyes at me, ¡°I expected as much. At least nothing exploded this time!¡± ¡°Explosions are very rare when I do experi-¡± I got cut off by a hand wave. ¡°I already had everything important inside the ship anyways. Besides, I wanted to see the effect too.¡± Dryad said smiling, while staring outside the bubble of time that was protecting us both. I had raised it just in time to prevent the ship¡¯s energy drain from drawing upon, us. Good thing my lightning quick Tree-like reflexes responded in ample time to save the day. Watching the pulsing waves rippling outward from the egg¡¯s sphere I saw that the draining system worked effectively. Anything with a soul, lifeforce, or energy of almost any type was being turned into nourishing energy for the ship¡¯s systems. With a tiny release of my Soul Seal I gathered and compressed all the dead monster bodies, from the Demon King¡¯s army, into one of my spare leaves for storage. I¡¯m sure Wen, the cook of delicious things, can figure out something tasty with all these samples. If not, they¡¯ll make great fertilizer. Using my senses I expanded my search further, encompassing the entire surface of the planet. The drain from the Voidship was currently running along the surface of the planet, eating everything as it went. Within a few hours the top of the planet would be nothing except a lifeless husk. I had taken care not to allow the ship to drain beneath the surface, due to the Worldheart. Partially because that was my meal, and partially because I didn¡¯t actually know how much the ship could store in terms of energy. I¡¯d rather not accidentally explode this experiment. Dryad would never let me hear the end of that. Although it was a risk, I calculated that the only remaining possible danger would likely be the ¡®Demon King¡¯ that the humans had told us about. My senses have been sweeping looking for some type of power spike for some time, yet¡­ Strange. There¡¯s a city filled with monsters over there, but, I don¡¯t sense any creatures of extreme power around. Oh? There¡¯s a portal¡­gah! It closed! Tsk. I was too slow¡­ My leaf is off to you, Demon King, you¡¯re a smart cookie. Probably a tasty one too... Next time, then. I teleport Dryad back inside the Voidship, before I plunge down into the slowly cooling magma the egg is currently perched upon. Diving deep below, I begin to collect the various species that live at this depth into a leaf I¡¯ve specially prepared. The environment within the leaf is a living world of flame, bolstered by a central portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire. The ability to open a portal to this place was one of my recent talents thanks to my personal training. I can open portals now to Fire and Lightning, there doesn¡¯t seem to be an Elemental Plane for Time which answers a few questions. When I tried to stick a root in and feed off the planar portals, I was instantly full within seconds. Both of the portals feed more energy in a single second than a Worldheart, yet the energy itself is incredibly volatile and requires a massive amount of time to digest. After all how can you compare a mere Worldheart to the level of energy an entire Plane produces? It¡¯s like comparing ants and Titans, in my honest opinion, the scale is simply nowhere close to each other. So of course, there¡¯s a drawback. Perhaps at a higher level of the Dao I will be able to consume the energy like drinking water. Right now however, I¡¯m not even close to that level. It¡¯s humbling to realize compared to certain things I¡¯m still an ant. While I finish my musings on life I wave my branches in satisfaction. I quite enjoy the thrilling feeling of saving many species from extinction before I remake a world. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m a collector or anything. No. Not at all. Right? Right! Once I¡¯ve managed to get everything I¡¯m interested in I head deeper down towards the Worldheart. Like before, there¡¯s a nice massive spinning¡­. Eh¡­? Why is there a giant snake sleeping down here? Especially one who is wrapped around my next meal!? Sproutling 119 Where does a creature like this come from? What is a creature this big eating down here!? These questions puzzle me for quite a bit while I float in the surrounding magma. Eventually my presence is noticed by a gigantic vertical slit eye that opens to observe my form. I won¡¯t be the first to blink! ¡­ ¡­. ¡­.. Because I don¡¯t have eyes! I circulate my body refining technique, I¡¯ve decided that I am going to collect this creature! Since I¡¯ve switched to devouring delicately cooked souls from Wen, I no longer really desire to take in the blandness of an uncooked meal. As such, the best place for this aberration is within my Leaf of Flame¡¯s world! The reason for this is simple, a Snake like this is clearly a Flame attuned creature. If it wasn¡¯t, they would be nothing but ashes at this depth. Such a creature would do far better next to my portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire than it would ever do near a mere Worldheart! The fact that I would gain a free ¡®gate guardian¡¯ for the leaf¡¯s portal has no bearing on my calculations at all! None! I¡¯m not just trying to collect an interesting specimen for my personal interests! This is for safety! I suppose I should try negotiation first¡­ ¡°Excuse me, would you like to serve me for all eternity?" I say, forcing the liquid magma surrounding us both to carry my words. The gigantic Snake pauses as if it understood, then lunges forward with fangs flashing to crush my Bubble of time. Ah, it¡¯s trying to eat me¡­ Oh well¡­ Negotiation failed! On to the next tactic. If the language of words doesn¡¯t work, then I will attempt the more primitive form of communication. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Violence. Size as a concept that relates to danger, is something that works well up to a certain point. When you reach the point where a single sword cut can destroy armies, or a single spear can obliterate suns, size doesn¡¯t really matter that much. While I¡¯m not at that point, unless I unlock my soul seals¡­ I do have a more unique method of handling a disparity in size. Time. Things, usually, get larger as they get older. To the same general effect, things, usually, get smaller as they get younger. Time¡¯s Shadow ripples out to surround the Snake in invisible, yet toasty, flames of Time. I pause a moment, for dramatic effect. This is of course spoiled because, there¡¯s no one else around down here. Ah well, whatever. ¡°Fauna should learn to respect Flora.¡± I say through the vibration of liquid magma. With those words, Time¡¯s Shadow begins to burn. Space is the cauldron. Time is the flame. At first, it was hard to connect this theory together in my mind. However, think about it. When you burn something, you get ashes, the finer the fire, the finer the ashes. When you disintegrate someone by aging them into dust due to pure Time¡­ See where I¡¯m going here? It all makes sense if you think about it long enough! Reversing a creatures aging in order to make it weaker and more susceptible to my power, thus enabling me to pull it into the Leaf of Flame¡¯s world isn¡¯t easy. It takes time to reverse the flow, time in which the creature I¡¯m fighting is using to smash against my Bubble of time. At first I ignore the damage, until telltale cracks begin to appear in the spell¡¯s structure. It appears there is something to say about pure physical power after all. Something I shouldn¡¯t have overlooked since one of my own, Mishra, follows this path. Well, I guess dodging is fine. While a normal mortal would have problems concentrating on multiple things at once, I simply use the additional power of my branches. Multi-tasking is easy with the extra processing power from my branches, wheeeeeee! One branch continues to focus upon the Time Reversal spell, localizing it around the target, the Snake. Another focuses on repairing the cracks in the Bubble¡¯s shield, which is made of Time. Last, I personally focus on dodging, which isn¡¯t hard even as deep as we are. The pressure down here is nothing to my Chaos wood body, especially after the basic refining I¡¯ve been doing. I¡¯m even more convinced that body refining is a necessary path forward. Physical benefits aside, just the increase in the soul¡¯s own ¡®container¡¯ seems to be greatly useful. As my spell ramps up, the Snake slowly begins to shrink as its age decreases. Eventually there is one large Tree, and one small Snake staring at each other again. After a few moment of staring each other down, the Snake moves to escape. Hah! Do you think I¡¯ll let you go after spending all this effort! Reaching out with my power I grip the Snake and pull it directly into the Leaf of Flame¡¯s world. Collection¡­.I mean¡­.capture complete! With that variable finished, the only thing left is to begin my meal! My roots surround the Worldheart before stabbing forward like millions of sharp knives. As the power begins to drain into me, the full focus of my mind sharpens among my tens of branches, and hundreds of sub branches. Power is set aside for body refining into more Chaos wood. Power is set aside for the next attempt to break one of my shackles. Power is set aside for reforging this world. Finally, the last bit of power I drain out is set aside for a personal pet project! Rising up to the surface of the world I am surrounded by four glowing orbs of various sizes. Each of these orbs contains an allocated piece of the Worldheart¡¯s power, separated with Time to prevent any issues. As I approach the Voidship, I notice below me a shimmering in the air before thousands of armored figures appear. The soldiers below separate into compact squares each differentiated by colored armor. Rather than strike or attack immediately, I am highly interested in watching what they are here for. The fact that they are unable to be effected by the energy drain of the Voidship is of immense research value to me. As a precaution though, I activate my personal Rune which I have carved upon my trunk. As the Rune is a white tree upon a white trunk it isn¡¯t very noticeable at first. However, the rune itself has twelve branches, each with twelve more sub-branches. For every sub-branch that is used, the Rune will darken as the Soul Seals are released. What had begun as a test when I first practiced sealing my soul, now had come full circle into a viable product that I can use effectively. Without the Soul Seals to contain the power of my inner Tree, reality could become twisted. From my swims in the ocean of eternity, I am well aware there are things that exist beyond the Multi-Universe I am currently in. Hungry things. Best not to attract their attention by creating cracks in reality that they could slip through to feed. Not until I¡¯m strong enough to eat them myself! Once my body catches up with my soul, the issue will resolve itself, but for now I can only safely use two main branches, and twenty four sub-branches. I created the Voidship to travel through the Void, and as such I¡¯m not worried these soldiers can harm it. I am interested in who they are though, so I float down towards them, making sure to land in between them and my ship. How rude! Soldiers shouldn¡¯t just open fire on innocent Trees without thinking! I spare a small portion of the Worldheart energy to wipe out the soldiers using Time¡¯s Shadow. Their armor, weapons, and bodies disintegrate as they are aged millennia in a fraction of a second. Next, I rocket up above the sky moving until I¡¯m positioned in space. Sending a signal to the Voidship, it flies up to float beside me. Now, it¡¯s time to Forge! This world will be reborn, in ice and fire! Sproutling 120 I am much better now, at forging a world. Time¡¯s Shadow is such a cheat, combined with my own Flame, the whole process is a snap! Like before I separate out materials, iced water here, rocky stuff there, silver here, gold there. Each material gets their own little Bubble of time appropriate to the portion size. Within the bubbles I ensure that my Dao of Flame keeps everything running smoothly. The only real important material that I have to focus attention on, is the gold. Forging Chaos Gold isn¡¯t as difficult as before though, and my mastery over runes is much, much, much higher this time around. After only ten days, a sparkling new world with a chaos gold core at its heart is placed gently in the leaf I have prepared for it. I send a portion of my consciousness into the newly formed world to take care of the flora and fauna. Since I don¡¯t really feel like working hard, I cheat and copy most of the stuff from Vespar over to the new world. The last piece of Worldheart energy that I had kept for a private project, I use to send myself back through the oceans of eternity. I¡¯m searching for a very specific thing, the first dungeon core I encountered in my life. After a few days of negotiation we come to an agreement, and I use the last fraction of power to pull the Core into my new world. As part of the agreement, this dungeon Core will be the sole dungeon of the new world, and in exchange it will work towards a pet project of mine. Connecting to the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth is something I learned about from previous dungeon cores before the jump into the Shattered God¡¯s Prison. To put it into simple terms, the Labyrinth is like an underground series of paths that flow throughout the Multi-Universe. It can only be accessed by high level dungeon Cores, and is the source of almost every ¡®dungeon shop¡¯ that cores are able to access. If the new dungeon core, who names himself ¡®Core¡¯ is able to connect to it, the possibilities are fantastic. I could use the Labyrinth like a set of waypoints traveling from one world to the next. The benefits are very good, for instance, most places with a connection to the Labyrinth have high levels of magical, technological, or even previous unimagined civilizations. Those worlds can serve as a food sources if they are not advanced, or trading stops if they are good enough to work with. I wipe my imaginary drool as I think about all the delicious meals that Wen could make from such places. Tastyness is justice. Once everything is finished up, I moved into the Voidship and pull the humans from it into the new world I¡¯ve created. Vex moves up with her three companions to stand alongside the ship. As agreed, she will depart on her own path, I¡¯m a bit sad to see her go, but I¡¯m also a bit happy that she won¡¯t be around to influence Dryad anymore. Without humans inside the Voidship, I spend a portion of my power to rework the internal structure. Slotting myself into the ¡®command seat¡¯ I¡¯ve created, which makes me look like a smaller Tree within a much larger one, I smile. Space rips open outside the ship, as we jump into the Void between worlds. I spare a last glimpse at Vex as she leaps into the rift, and departs on her own path. Within the Void, I open all my Soul Seals, causing the Rune in my trunk to darken.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. My senses spread out around us as I search for possible weak points in the fabric around us through which we can jump through. This time I am aiming for someplace with an advanced civilization. Someplace that has something useful. Like a computer. I really want a computer. Or a supercomputer. I¡¯ll even stoop down low and accept an AI, if I have to. Ah, it isn¡¯t that I want to slack off and hand the mundane tasks off or anything. I just feel my time is better utilized on my own interests, and having fun. Yeah, that¡¯s it. This logic is perfect! As such, a non-biological slave, er, employee is required! I¡¯ll push all the boring stuff off to them, heh. Moving through the Void is a lot like swimming in a sea of darkness. If it weren¡¯t for sensing the opening and closing of various spatial tears in the fabric of the Void around us, I wouldn¡¯t think we were even moving. The entire Rune circle structure is actually functioning effectively, processing Void energies into useable types that are then fed into the chaos gold world cores. At a much lesser degree, these same runic circles also allow me to derive a small amount of pure Chaos to continue my growth. Since things seem to be working just fine, I think I¡¯ll take a small nap! Setting automatic defenses up, I remove the major portion of my consciousness from the ship and proceed to sleep. If anything important happens, I¡¯ll wake up and take care of it then. *** Doctor von Gelert stared out at the control room, and further out at the plastiglass window showing the upper level of the experimental chamber, the Pit. He knew what they would accomplished here today would go down in history as mankind¡¯s greatest achievement. Although the doctor had many detractors, none could gainsay the fact that his advancements in genetic research hadn¡¯t helped billions of people worldwide. As such, his own looks were definitely on the upper end of handsome due to his personal skills. If it weren¡¯t for the cold expression he wore frequently, he¡¯d likely make more money as a model than a scientist. Tens of personal sat at their stations, each one connected to a specific channel of the labs central AI. The hushed whisper of sub-vocalized commands ran throughout the room as checkpoints were constantly updated. Placing his hands on the railing above the pit of frenzied activity below, the doctor smiled. ¡°Ah, such a creepy smile. It always makes me wonder if my money is truly being well spent!¡± A fat merchant man in a well-tailored suit said, as he joined the doctor on the viewing platform. Doctor von Gelert managed to bite back the first response he thought of, merely saying, ¡°The billions of credits spent will finally see return. With the ability to generate limitless energy from the Zero Point, you will be able to rule the power sector with unmatched prices.¡± As the doctor finished speaking, he turned to greet his primary donor with a handshake. ¡°I¡¯m sure no one will be able to compete with you as the new energy overlord, Herr Victor.¡± He¡¯d always attempted to get Herr Victor to do a bit of genetic work, at least remove some kilos and add a bit more muscle, yet was shot down every attempt. It irked the doctor that his greatest donor looked like nothing so much as a rather lopsided meatball, especially when it would be easy to correct such an appearance. ¡°Hah! Exactly! Finally those pompous fools will understand that the Dyson Sphere project is merely a shadow of the Zero Point possibilities!¡± Herr Victor said, as his pudgy stomach rippling with laughter. ¡°I¡¯ve long wanted to see the faces of those bastards that kept me from being elected to the position I rightfully deserved. A few mere billion credits is worth it, if I can wipe the smug aristocratic smiles off their faces!¡± Although he detested working for the man, Doctor von Gelert had to admit the energy merchant prince had never stinted him in research funds. It was only through the wealth generated through an entire two continents that he¡¯d been able to make a breakthrough in current theories. The cost of this research would have crushed a lesser merchant, but Herr Victor had paid for it as if gold was water. ¡°We are merely minutes away from commencing, is there anything I can do for you at this time, Herr Victor?¡± the doctor said. ¡°Perhaps a bit of bodywork in celebration of the upcoming success story?¡± Herr Victor waved a single hand as he turned towards the plastiglass window in the distance. ¡°Nein, you never give up do you? As long as this experiment is successful there is no limit to the amount of money you can get for research. I¡¯ll fund your craziest theories for as long as you live, Doctor. Just as long as you stop trying to get me in that horror shop you call a gene laboratory.¡± Such a generous offer made the Doctor slightly happy, even though he wasn¡¯t happy at being refused again. Besides, if the experiment was a success all those peers who spat in his face dismissing his theory of the Zero Point would have to beg as his feet for research information. The feeling of vindication would probably be strong enough to float him into the stratosphere. ¡°Are we¡­safe¡­at this distance, Doctor?¡± Herr Victor said, his tone questioning. ¡°Of course. The actual experiment is taking place almost two kilometers below in the Pit. As you know the pit is several tens of kilometers wide, and protected by the very latest in nano-metal technology walls. There are also multiple layers of containment between us and the actual Z.P.E. generator.¡± Doctor von Gelert said, snapping the fingers of his right hand. Without delay, a holographic viewscreen appeared in front of the two men. ¡°With this we can watch in absolute safety, without worry.¡± Doctor von Gelert said, as he adjusted his glasses. ¡°Hmph, you understand if this experiment doesn¡¯t work what will happen right?¡± Herr Victor said, his tone dark. Doctor von Gelert ignored the implications of the implied threat. It wasn¡¯t the first time someone had doubted him, nor would it be the last. As long as he was funded properly, there was no end to the miracles he¡¯d created. Of course, the filthy World Government had confiscated most of his previous genetic research claiming he was delving into insanely dangerous things. Strange how immediately after his almost completed research was placed under lock and key, a new company entered the international beauty market. However, his screams of outrage had fallen on deaf ears, and he¡¯d been hunted down by corporate goons looking to close the loose ends off. If he hadn¡¯t been on the run, and been lucky enough to meet Herr Victor at the time, it was likely he¡¯d now be nothing more than a pliable mind-wiped drone. The World Government had more corruption than cash in his opinion, a recipe for instability. If this project worked at even 10% of what he calculated, Herr Victor would easily be able to run all his competitors out of business. At that point, asking for a favor, such as clearing the good doctor¡¯s name, would be a breeze. Herr Victor was a merchant to the core, and for a golden goose, he could easily flip the world with a single palm. Especially if said goose laid golden eggs that allowed him to create monopolies on essential products, like power. It was even better, because according to Herr Victor, a monopoly on power generation couldn¡¯t be proven. After all, is it one companies fault if they are willing to sell for less? Of course not! Both men stared on the holoscreen at the spinning generator at the heart of the Pit as a soft AI generated countdown started. ¡°Three, two, one¡­.¡± Sproutling 121 I¡¯m so bored. Literally. There¡¯s very few predators in the Void. There¡¯s even less now that I¡¯ve eaten the few we¡¯ve encountered. Even with the time between naps, my guess of our current situation is rather vague. I can¡¯t use the time of Vespar, or Durant¡¯s Leaf, reason being I¡¯ve slowed them down with Time¡¯s Shadow. I¡¯d rather not have our second trip through the Void be accompanied by the birth and death of countless generations. Oh? I halt the ship and move closer to the strange distortion in my senses. It mimics a portal, yet doesn¡¯t close like one would. Scanning the strange construct I realize something is keeping a tiny tear in the Void open, while at the same time eating the Void energies that flow into it. This¡­ This is incredible! A stable portal, without the use of Dao! The tear is minor, the size of a single finger, yet its construction is incredibly complex. The best part is the self-sustaining method being used, I am not ashamed to admit even I can learn something here. Moving the Voidship closer, I start to study the complex formation of energy that holds the entire thing in stasis, while allowing it to function. Eventually I decipher enough to be confident, opening the ship, I move the runic barrier close. A single root is extended through the opening, like a human dipping a finger into a pool. On the other side, I sense enormous machines spinning, each one assisting in converting the Void energies into electricity. A small piece of solidified Chaos is being used as a catalyst in order to promote the reaction. Essentially, someone has created a tiny motor that changes Void energies into large amounts of electricity! Thrilled, I start sending more roots through the tear in order to learn more. In order to ensure they don¡¯t close the tear, I take control of the energy construct tying it into a tiny piece of Chaos. This creates a much more stable reaction, while at the same time ensuring that a power loss on the other side won¡¯t ¡®lock¡¯ me out. Destroying the machine itself though would cause issues, so I need to protect it. Since they have such amazing machines, they must have something I¡¯ve been wanting for quite some time.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. That¡¯s right. Computers. Slowly I begin the process of widening the tear so that I can fit the ship through. I already know that the other side has enough space for it to fit. Now it is just a matter of time. If there are Divinities on the other side, as long as they aren¡¯t too numerous I¡¯m willing to take a chance. Of course, they might also have enough technological might to push me back into the Void. If that happens to be the case, I¡¯ll be forced to be more aggressive. Currently, my roots are not detecting any other energy sources except for electricity. No magic. No Dao. No divine power. I¡¯m a tad shocked. A civilization that managed to get far enough to touch the Void with nothing except science?! They are damn lucky it is me that found them instead of something nefarious! The collector in me is drooling. Besides computers, they could have even better! Flying cars! Nano-machines! Short distance teleportation devices! I must have this planet! At all costs! I send the mental message to my servants, and a personal one to Dryad. Prepare for battle. Immediately after sending the message to my talented minions, I thwack myself on the head with a branch. There¡¯s no need to waste time making the tear enlarge enough for the Voidship! I use one of my remaining leaves to hold the Voidship, while resisting the Void with my own Chaos Wood body. I might not be able to hold out for eternity, but the mere amount of time it will take to open this tear is nothing! A bubble of Time envelopes me as I start to accelerate the process ripping the tear wider and wider. I can hear faint alarms screaming on the other side as my energy senses push through the dimensional barrier. In a snap decision in order to move even faster, I seal my soul once more, reducing my power in order to allow me speed up even further. On the other side of the dimensional barrier, my roots start to take a punishing attack based on various types of energy. I control my roots to dig deeper into the ground, yet a strange metal resists them. A sense of urgency overtakes me, and I spend a portion of power to cause the corrosive decaying power of Time to assist my roots in digging. Finally, I am able to penetrate through the thin metal sheath that protected the rocks beneath. Without delay I send my roots burrowing downwards, seeking a source of Flame. When I finally hit a vein of magma, I feel the thrill of victory surge through me. I start to draw power from the Void to push me out and Flame to pull me in. I would use the energy of the strange machine, if I wasn¡¯t already using it as a focal point for the dimensional coordinates. A large portion of my roots are dedicated to defending it at this moment. Someone on the other side has realized if the machine is destroyed I will lose my anchor point. The dimensional tear alone cannot do anything other than mark a point in the Void. Without the machine on the other side, feeding the coordinates of their plane to the tear, it would be the same as a tunnel without an exit. I am lucky enough this time that they have no sort of shielding, next time, I doubt the mind on the other side will make the same mistake. I cannot let this singular chance slip past. All the power in a thousand thousand suns is useless if one cannot strike their target after all. My roots are cut, and regenerated, as I edge my physical form slowly through the barrier. Strange weapons corrode me, terrible energies slash at me, yet I persevere. The damage they are dishing out to me now, I shall return a million fold. If¡­ I can¡­ Just¡­ Snap! A grin stretches across my hungry maw as my physical form is slingshotted through the wormhole tear and into a glorious new world. Within seconds I take root, reaching deep below the surface of the world for Flame. Utilizing this power I begin to spin a Bubble of time around the machine. Once the machine is secure, I start to branch out, pushing my energy senses to their limit to sense the enemies. I start my attack, with the simplest method. Like all horrifying things, it starts from the smallest trigger. I stretch my branches forth, and begin to steal. Where the armor I made for Sam could steal seconds, I steal minutes at a time. My defenses set faster, my barrier is formed quicker. Within a fifteen minutes span, I have already created an almost impenetrable barrier around the machine. I reach inside it with a root and begin to tap the delicious energy for my own use. Like a flower unfolding, a massive maze of Time is woven in ever widening circles around this installation. Since I am unsure of what I might encounter on this world, I have decided to use the most basic premise. Bunker. I shall create a massive defense, like a spider spinning a web, I shall spin an unbreakable seal of protection for myself. However, defense alone cannot win a battle. My branches sway as the figure of Dryad, Mishra, Guido, and even S¡¯neli appear. I cannot, as of yet, do both attack and defense at one hundred percent certainty of safety or success. Even now, I reserve enough power to escape in case of emergency back through the Void tear. This prevents me from attacking at full force. Thankfully though¡­ I am not alone. Sproutling 122: Side Story Mishra Mishra sniffed the air delicately, scenting the fear of her prey. The great Tree had requested three things of her upon summoning. One, kill all enemy forces. Two, gather as much information as possible. Three, do not damage any of the machines, or walls, or ceilings, or really anything except for enemy bodies. When she¡¯d asked why the sudden concern over non-living creatures, the Master had responded that he wasn¡¯t sure what form computers would take in this strange new world. He wasn¡¯t sure they even had computers, yet was benevolent enough not to damage anything just in case. As such, to prevent accidentally destroying what he was looking for, care needed to be taken with the surroundings. Mishra grinned as her tail twitched, the humans hiding behind their barricades down the corridor hallway from her were very unlucky. She could smell they had ¡®guns¡¯ and ¡®armor¡¯ which made them in her opinion, ¡®enemies¡¯ as of now! None of Tree¡¯s rules protected them. ¡°The last good workout was that dragon in the lava mountain.¡± Mishra mumbled to herself as she started pumping her Inner Flame throughout her body. ¡°This would be a boring exercise if Tree hadn¡¯t said their armor is excellent.¡± Mishra really wanted to see armor that her Master considered dangerous enough to use her full power on. Boosting herself to the highest tier of power she could currently reach, Mishra took a step forward moving at inhuman speeds. A squad of twelve men holding strange guns appeared in front of her, and without giving time for them to react she struck the closest one. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Shock rippled across her face as she realized the armor didn¡¯t take a single iota of damage, which was then followed by relief. The armor was fine, the human inside it was nothing but bloody meat pulp. The scent of blood was easily discernable from the dead human that collapsed at her feet. Mishra instantly realized why her Master had ordered her to go full power. Without a full power strike, this armor could likely shrug off the hit enough for the humans to bring their strange energy guns to bear. Taking no chances, Mishra flickered among the remaining eleven bodies reaping a brutal harvest. If the armor was this strong, she had no intention of testing the damage the guns could do to her! Once all the enemies were dead Mishra paused staring at the last one under her feet. This armor was good. Very good. Sighing, she flexed a hand revealing razor sharp claws. Clearly, the forces arrayed against them were more used to dealing with things that had guns. Therefore, she shouldn¡¯t let such wonderful armor go to waste. Although it couldn¡¯t stop the transfer of impact from her physical prowess, that wasn¡¯t a problem. She¡¯d trained extensively on Vespar to improve her strength, pushing her limits further and further. While her fur might be stronger than orichalcum, and her bones harder than diamond, there wasn¡¯t any reason to expose herself if an alternative existed. If the enemy¡¯s armor could be used to prevent those ¡®guns¡¯ that gave her a feeling of danger from being effective, she¡¯d use it. After suiting up in the slightly damp armor that smelled, Mishra used her Inner Flame to instantly crisp the inside. With the odor of bloodscent obliterated, she took out a small stone from one of her spatial pouches. ¡°Ninja Kitty, reporting.¡± Mishra said. The ¡®callsign¡¯ Tree had given her seemed a bit¡­ ¡°Worldeater here, report.¡± Tree responded from the other end of the communication stone. Apparently the stones used some weird magic to synchronize and communicate. She¡¯d listened to Tree explain it, but had gotten a splitting headache after only twenty seconds of being explained too. After that she¡¯d stopped listening and just taken it at face value that they were magic stones that allowed everyone to talk without interference. ¡°Twelve dead, they smelled like guards. I¡¯m using some of their armor, since they don¡¯t need it anymore. Orders?¡± Mishra said as she tapped her foot. Her body seized as a massive map of the installation was pushed into her mind. Corridors, rooms, and miscellaneous passages all became part of her memory as if she¡¯d been here for years. The power that her Master commanded with a casual swing of a twig was impressive. ¡°Take the East. Remove all threats. Above all, be safe. If you sense a threat you cannot handle, retreat. Understood?¡± Tree said, his tone calm. ¡°Understood. Ninja Kitty out.¡± Mishra said, resisting the urge to salute snappily. ¡°Good. Worldeater out.¡± Tree said, his voice going silent as the stone went inactive. Mishra put the stone away in her pouch, and then stretched. Taking a deep breath she crouched down placing both hands and feet on the floor. Reaching deep within herself, Mishra activated the first Art she¡¯d created from her personal understanding of Inner Flame. Mazza. The first form was nothing impressive, at its most basic it did a single thing. Speed. Complete, utter, and overwhelming speed. Power compressed and flowed through her body boosting her speed into the realm in which, it was almost impossible to see her physical form when she attacked. It was a level of speed that forced whoever she was fighting to react within nanoseconds. Only the very best of the races she¡¯d fought, the dragons, humans, elves, and others could keep up with it. Smiling, Mishra¡¯s form rippled like water on the surface of the lake before disappearing. It was time to hunt. Sproutling 123: Side Story Guido Guido was annoyed. All attempts to negotiate with the humans had failed. Gold was ignored. Platinum was stared at blankly. Even diamonds had triggered no response. What did these creatures use for money, wooden tokens? After interrogating one of the ¡®scientist¡¯ captives he¡¯d managed to acquire Guido was shocked. The money used here was nothing! Credits! Bah, who can trust these ¡®computers¡¯ not to take their cut! A whole world that trusted money held in a non-physical form, madness! What happened if someone cut the power supply? What happened if someone stole it all? Were they just going to wave their hands and magically more money would exist? Guido couldn¡¯t fathom the practically brainwashed trust these people had in currency that didn¡¯t exist! Their wild claims of being able to make diamonds as easy as baking pies fell on deaf ears. It was clear these lunatics had no clue of reality, it was almost a blessing he was around to enlighten them. Since negotiations had failed, and there didn¡¯t appear to be any common ground, Guido was pissed. Pointing at the few captives he¡¯d acquired so far he said, ¡°Head back to the Pit. As long as you don¡¯t do anything stupid, no harm will come to you.¡± Watching the departing backs of his captives, Guido took out a mismatched leather book. The book was almost a quarter of his size, and sheathed in ebony black dragonhide. On the cover of the book was a titanic embossing of a white tree with blood red veins.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Hmph, it¡¯s time to teach these savages the real value of contracts.¡± Guido mumbled as he thumbed open the books pages moving towards the middle. The pages seemed to flicker forward faster of their own accord as if agreeing with him. ¡°Ah, here it is.¡± Guido said smiling as he placed his thumbprint down on the page. There was a short flash of light, and suddenly a well-dressed nobleman was standing right next to him. The nobleman was clearly human, although his red eyes and white hair would definitely stand out in a crowd. ¡°Alfred.¡± Guido said scratching his chin. ¡°I¡¯ll be in your care.¡± Alfred stared at the short goblin before sighing, ¡°One-tenth?¡± Guido chuckled, ¡°One-tenth, and you can even have the ones in armor for dinner. Aren¡¯t I such a great Boss providing a meal, while you work? I¡¯m not even charging you for it!¡± Alfred rolled his eyes, before falling into step beside Guido. Thinking hard, Guido watched as the book¡¯s pages flipped towards the back. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a really good suggestion. Thanks, buddy!¡± Guido said, as he saw the debtor¡¯s picture. Placing his thumb down, there was another flash of light. A tall bruenette dressed in a tight silk dancing costume appeared. Emerald green eyes blazed at her surroundings before she noticed Alfred, and then Guido. ¡°Hello again, good to see you Emerald.¡± Guido said, his tone respectful. ¡°Two-fifths.¡± Emerald said, her tone sharp. ¡°Two-tenths!¡± Guido said, showing sharp teeth as he grinned. ¡°One-fifth!¡± Emerald said, glaring at the short green goblin dressed to the nines. Guido sighed, ¡°Fine, deal.¡± Waving his two servants off, Guido flipped to the front of the book, activating a few lower level contracts. A cook, a waiter, and a harp player all appeared after the two powerhouses had set off. Guido stared at the cook, ¡°I¡¯m hungry. Make it something delicious while I wait.¡± Bowing low the cook took a frying pan out of nowhere, as well as other assorted cooking items and ingredients. All the items appeared to hover at the perfect height, while a mysterious flame appeared under each of the pots, pans, and other assorted equipment. Guido sat down at a single table of the perfect height, in a chair of perfect proportions provided by the waiter. ¡°A civilization without magic, money, or value. I have no idea what Tree is thinking.¡± Guido said, as he watched his meal being prepared. Taking out a small communication stone he said, ¡°Goldnose to Worldeater, copy?¡± ¡°Worldeater, here.¡± Tree said on the other end. ¡°Goldnose to Worldeater, I¡¯ve sent two servants to clean up, and herd non-combatants to me following the mental map you gave me.¡± Guido said his nose twitching as the scent of frying meat filled the area. ¡°Estimated time to completion?¡± Tree asked. Guido sighed and said, ¡°I sent Emerald.¡± ¡°Oh? Isn¡¯t that one of Mishra¡¯s favorite training partners? Did you make sure she understood not to damage anything besides the human guards?¡± Tree said, his tone curious. ¡°Of course Boss. I¡¯ll bear any costs if she makes a mistake.¡± Guido said, as he started sweating. ¡°Oh! Well that¡¯s fine then, as long as you take care of the cost of any mistakes, I don¡¯t mind.¡± Tree said, his tone filled with amusement. ¡°Boss, just curious, what would you rate the value of this installation at?¡± Guido said, his mind spinning with calculations. ¡°Mmm¡­probably¡­.priceless.¡± Tree said. ¡°P-priceless?¡± Guido said, ¡°Ah, that¡¯s great then. I need to pay attention over here, Goldnose out.¡± ¡°Worldeater out.¡± Tree said, his tone bright. Guido gulped as he put the stone away in his breast pocket. Opening the book once again, he flipped directly to the back pages. Sometimes cost was relative, he thought pressing his thumb down on page after page. Sproutling 124 Side Story Sneli S¡¯neli checked the map in her mind again. A left. A right. Two more lefts. Why wasn¡¯t this the same room marked in the mental map? Taking out a small stone from one of her numerous belt pouches S¡¯neli said, ¡°LeadtoGold calling Worldeater.¡± Tree¡¯s voice responded, ¡°Worldeater here, are you lost again?¡± S¡¯neli frowned, it wasn¡¯t her fault Tree¡¯s map was wrong! How could Tree imply that an Alchemic genius like her was unable to find her way even with a map? The nerve! Who made walls with metal anyways? Where was the wood? The stone? The actual useful materials that she could query with her power for directions! Dammit, she was an Alchemist for the love of everything explodable, not a cursed dwarf! S¡¯neli calmed herself and said, ¡°I¡¯m not lost. The map is wrong. The. Map.¡± There was a pause before Tree said, ¡°I got that map directly from combining all the captives memories we curr-¡± S¡¯neli cut Tree off and said, ¡°The. Map. Is. Wrong.¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°¡­ok. I¡¯ll send someone to help you along then. Just sit still, and don¡¯t experiment with anything.¡± Tree said, his tone patient. S¡¯neli tapped her foot for a few seconds before a small girl appeared at the other end of the corridor. She instantly brightened up, without a doubt, this assistant was the best! ¡°Wen!¡± S¡¯neli said, hugging the small girl when she arrived. ¡°Mm.¡± Wen murmured. ¡°Snacks?!¡± S¡¯neli said, her eyes imploring. Wen seemed to stare at her for a long moment before reaching into one of several pouches at her side and removing a perfectly preserved snack set. ¡°The best, Wen! The. Best!¡± S¡¯neli said, grabbing the snacks as she turned to walk forwards. Before she could even take a step a small hand reached up to grab her sleeve. ¡°Ah, yes, of course. I¡¯ll just follow you¡­¡± S¡¯neli said, as Wen moved to the front. Pausing a moment, the young girl removed a loop of rope from her side pouch. With dexterous speed she tied the belts of both together, before nodding satisfied. ¡°T-This isn¡¯t really¡­¡± S¡¯neli tried to argue. Wen glanced once at the snacks, and once at the rope, her meaning clear. S¡¯neli crumbled under the threat of going snackless in this strange place. A few minutes later, following Wen¡¯s unerring directions, they approached a closed door. S¡¯neli grumbled as she pulled several potions out of her bag. Boost, Medium Boost, High Boost, Grand Boost, Elixir of Boost, and others. Unlike that training maniac Mishra, she relied on drugs to perform at her best. What was the point of being an Alchemist if you couldn¡¯t dope up and win?! After consuming all the delicious drugs, S¡¯neli motioned for Wen to cut the rope. As soon as the chef¡¯s knife sliced through the rope, S¡¯neli flickered in front of the door. A single palm pressed against the cold metal surface, and seconds later a massive heatwave flowed outwards. The door¡¯s surface began to glow, at first orange, then red, then white hot. Like acid dripping, where S¡¯neli pressed her palm, the metal was eaten away until the door was completely open. Wen appeared impressed, so S¡¯neli flexed for a moment. Glancing in she saw a group of impressive armored guards with both hands held up. ¡°Eh?¡± S¡¯neli said, trying to understand what was going on. Wen stared with her knife prepared to cut as well. ¡°¡­Tree?¡± Wen said, questioning S¡¯neli. ¡°Ah!¡± S¡¯neli said, taking out the communication stone. ¡°LeadtoGold to Worldeater, uh, I¡¯m not sure what to do here. All the guards are holding up their hands palms facing me.¡± S¡¯neli said, her tone unsure. ¡°Ah, just have Wen take their guns and store them in a space pouch. The installation is surrendering, Dryad crushed their strongest force.¡± Tree said from the other end. S¡¯neli counted ten deep breaths out before putting the stone away and turning to face Wen. ¡°Snacks. Now.¡± S¡¯neli said, her eyes bright. Wen put her knife away and handed a baggie of pre-made snacks before going to take the weapons of the guards. ¡°So mean. So mean. Dryad, so mean!¡± S¡¯neli said, as she began to devour her snack cookies while crying tears. Sproutling 125 Side Story Dryad ¡°Be careful, the guns are dangerous. I¡¯m not sure if they might have traps either. The person fighting back against us is smart. Probably a genius of some type, most certainly someone with a high level of functioning madness. I¡¯m focusing on defense right now in case we need to retreat.¡± Tree whispered into Dryads ears as she walked forward. ¡°It will take me awhile to hack into the AI they are using, because I have no idea what I¡¯m doing and can only brute force my way in with my mind.¡± While the other three had been given easier sections of the building to conquer, Dryad had specifically requested the strongest resistance. She¡¯d been training her Dao of Blood, and Life, in order to prepare for the higher levels of Divine enemies that they were sure to eventually meet. However, without actual enemies to fight, it was difficult to judge her current strength. While the enemies that Tree had found so far were dangerous, they were more at a level she could handle. Guns were pretty much the same as magical crossbows, and while they were dangerous, she wasn¡¯t too worried. As her beloved Tree continued to natter in whispers at her while she walked, Dryad started to release her first weapon. In such an enclosed area of space, it would be impossible to grow an effective forest. Moss however. Moss wouldn¡¯t be a problem. Slowly as Dryad continued to walk, a strange creeping carpet of blood red moss started to grow out from her footsteps. Within seconds she was walking through an ever growing amount of moss. Within a few minutes the floor, walls, and ceiling of the corridor was covered in carnivorous deep red-tinted moss. As the moss carpet flowed along with her, it appeared as if she was walking in a tunnel of blood. Small seeds fell from her palms causing the moss to start being dotted with small red flowers, and red spotted black mushrooms. Each of these were lethal weapons, the red cap mushrooms shooting out spores constantly into the air, while the flowers emitted a beguiling scent that would crush unwary minds.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. The first guards Dryad encountered were crushed with almost zero time. However, the second set of guards had already adapted and used flamethrower type weapons to hold her back. They also had improved air filtration masks on their helmets that prevented the spores or scents from reaching full effect. Watching the flames harm her current weapon, Dryad grimaced before she used a single nail to open a small cut on her opposite hand. Blood dripped down onto the moss carpet beneath her, causing growth to explode forth. The new variety of moss was able to resist the higher levels of heat, and quickly overran the guards. As they were devoured while screaming, the lifeforce flowed back through the moss beneath her feet empowering her further. Slowly as she moved through the rooms and corridors, the amount of guards seemed to decrease. ¡°Tree?¡± Dryad said, letting power carry her words. ¡°Hmm? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Tree said, his whisper slightly distracted. ¡°There¡¯s less defenders.¡± Dryad said, looking at the current amount of bodies that she¡¯d just finished off being drained. ¡°Ah, one second. These defensive programs are rather fun.¡± Tree said as she felt his energy senses flow past her. ¡°They¡¯ve gathered up an enormous amount of forces with a very effective structure and several weapons that look dangerous in a large area ahead. It looks like loading dock or something of that nature.¡± Dryad narrowed her eyes and started to spend the lifeforce she¡¯d accumulated so far. Armor covered her form, giving her a faceless demonic appearance. Her weapon evolved with her, and both took on the deepest color of the abyss. She fed the mushrooms and flowers back into the moss. Slowly, like liquid tar, the moss carpet started to engulf her. One of the projects Tree had her master was a type of combat armor that was more than just defense. He called it a ¡®Biological Mech¡¯ and was quite thrilled when she managed to understand the concept. Layer upon layer of moss covered Dryad¡¯s form, giving her the appearance of a creature from the depths. Between each layer of moss, a thin sheath of blood pulsed as Dryad melded herself completely into the new weapon¡¯s form. Stepping forward, a hideous creature moved towards the last pocket of resistance that had yet to be crushed. She could sense that the enemy was throwing everything on an all-or-nothing dice roll. Dryad was happy, it had been a long time since she was able to go all out without worrying. Tree wouldn¡¯t admonish her for making a mess this time, since he was busy elsewhere. As the final corridor opened up, Dryad could see the forces arrayed against her. Large barreled machine turret guns were on enormous tripods, countless forces were gathered behind various protective barricades, and a sea of guns pointed at her. From within her ¡®Mech¡¯ she looked at the forces arrayed across her, and slowly, Dryad began to smile a terrible crimson grin. Sproutling 126 ¡°So.¡± I said staring at the flashing cipher of numbers and symbols in my view. ¡°This is not going well, is it?¡± Mishra said, watching my branches as they waved in agitation. ¡°Indeed. I admit, this AI is better than me at defense.¡± I grumbled. ¡°It is easier to defend than attack after all. I¡¯m also handling so many different things at the moment, as well.¡± ¡°Boss, I mean, this might be rather thoughtless, but, have you ever thought of negotiating with the lady in the computer?¡± Guido said, as he crunched down on a bag of snacks from Wen. I pause for a moment, ¡°That hadn¡¯t really occurred to me. Do you think it would work?¡± Granted, with enough time, I could reach the AI core and turn it into a loyal subordinate. However, right now even with my vaunted powers, Time was still something I never seemed to have enough of. Guido stood up proudly putting his snacks on a nearby table, ¡°Just leave it to me Boss!¡± I left the negotiations up to Guido and turned to our most valuable captive. ¡°So, Mr. Gelart, tell me again what value you have as a servant?¡± I said, as my branches stopped moving to face the human in front of me. I found this move seemed to disconcert a lot of our current captives. I wasn¡¯t doing it because I enjoyed the look of fear on their faces. I¡¯m not such a cheap Tree that I¡¯d terrify captives just to get a laugh out of Wen while she is cooking for me. Nope. Never. Not me. I didn¡¯t even have to resort to much effort to get the information I wanted. The minds of the humans from this planet were rather undefended. Probably as a result of not having access to any ¡®higher¡¯ levels of energy such as mana. That was my personal theory at least, in even the weakest races that had mana there seemed to be a base level of mental resistance. Not so for these humans, they were like open books. Unfortunately, none of them had direct access to the AI core. As a result the only way in was either hacking, or negotiation. Why was I willing to negotiate?Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Well, basically because even with the manipulation of time that I was doing, we were running rather short of it. This installation had a lot of good stuff. Electronics. AI computer. Flying vehicles. Machines. I love machines! Viva la machinos! Sadly these humans were a cut above hack and slash sword days. They¡¯d left those pathetic weapons far behind them. Just a basic scan and decomposition of one of their guns told me that I wasn¡¯t dealing with a backwards group of idiots. The part that really concerned me was of course the most disturbing thing. Spaceships. That¡¯s right. These humans were able to travel between the stars using machines that were a great deal like my Voidship. Unlike my ship, their starships could only jump between planetary systems, and could only travel for microscopic amounts of time in the actual Void. According to what Gelart told me, they essentially used the Void as a ¡®fold¡¯ in space that allowed them to travel from point A to point B. While I could do so between Universes, they did so between star systems. It was only recently that the mad scientist group led by Doctor Gelart had theorized about drawing energy from the Void itself. This guy is in simple words, a genius. In more complex ones he¡¯s a complete and utter nutcase that probably would have led his entire civilization to being devoured by things from the edge of reality. Lucky for him, he encountered me first! Damn. I¡¯m too nice sometimes. Ah, I got offtrack again, meh. Yes, spaceships. See, the guns the guards had were very dangerous. Not against my servants of course, but it isn¡¯t every day an invasion force has the same level of power as mine. After all, we can kill Divinities, I know it looks easy sometimes, but those bastards are actually pretty strong. Anyways, spaceships, in a one on one are easy prey. The problem is, yes, mass production. I do not fear a single spaceship. I fear a fleet of them, all firing at me, in unison, with enough combined power to overwhelm my shields and obliterate us all. Now, such a fleet isn¡¯t here of course. Yet. I have no doubt though that someone got a signal off, probably several. In regards to this, I can only admit, it is my fault. I was so desperate to finally get some technology that I didn¡¯t take the gloves off right away and kill every human in the place. I¡¯m just a bit merciful sometimes. Well, whatever. Plan B will work just fine. I won¡¯t have time to reforge this planet so I¡¯ll have to eat and run. To that end, I have already ripped the planets core out, and stored it into a leaf. I¡¯ve also encircled the entire installation with my power. Where are we going? To the Void of course. I hate to eat and run like this, however I¡¯d hate to be atomized into dust sized particles too. The machine that Gelart invented is a monstrously complicated piece of work that will take me at least a year to understand. Once I do however, heh. To feed from the source of Nothingness itself, to turn the endless Void into just another source of food. The possibilities, I believe, are worth the risk. I shall retreat. This installation, will go into Vespar¡¯s Leaf, its technologies and science to be combined with the power of mana. Although I never seem to have enough time, I am not a Tree that is exactly running out of it either. This entire confrontation has allowed me to grasp quite a few techniques that I can work towards perfecting. The next place we leap to from within the Void will not be so lucky. ¡°Boss, boss you are drooling again¡­¡± Guido said as I snapped back into focus. ¡°Ah, right. Wen¡¯s cooking is rather distracting.¡± I say, instantly shifting the blame. I ignore the look of my beloved chef as she mutters darkly about fried Tree branches. ¡°Right, uh, so we have a deal.¡± Guido says, carefully not looking at the tiny child chef that is even now chopping something with untold speed and a dark aura. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yes, the AI is willing to work with us in exchange for a body.¡± Guido said, proud. ¡°A body.¡± ¡°Yes, something ¡®hot¡¯ like Dryad I was told.¡± ¡°¡­.¡± ¡°Guido.¡± ¡°Yes, Boss?¡± ¡°Come closer so I can beat you with my branches.¡± Wait! How dare you run away you bastard! Sproutling 127 The scent of delicious grilled souls wafted out from the small stove Wen was tending next to me. Currently we were back inside the Voidship! With the advantage of an A.I. computer, autopilot ON! Also, I am working on a rather fun project right now. That¡¯s right! I¡¯m making a [System] for the people of Vespar and Durant to use. I believe after consultation with my people, numbers provide a type of serenity that cannot be denied. It¡¯s one thing to say, ¡°I¡¯m a strong man.¡± It is even better to say, ¡°I¡¯m a strong man, of 10,000 strength!¡± I sneak a few snacks from the grill by using my new tricks. First I slow down the time around Wen to a fraction of a second, while speeding myself up. Then my branches strike like a ninja for the grilled meats! Deliciousness! Wen would give me dark looks every time she noticed meat missing on the grill, however this method leaves no evidence! Therefore, there is no way to accuse an innocent Tree! Being the only other person around is not evidence! ¡°Tree.¡± Wen said, after the fifth theft. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Machine. Expensive?¡± ¡°Yes, something like a hundred billion galactic credits, so I¡¯m told.¡± ¡°Replaceable?¡± Wen said, as she sharpened one of her cleavers. ¡°Uh¡­no?¡± I paused. ¡°Wen, there¡¯s no point in having great power if I can¡¯t abuse it to have good things to eat, troll innocent victims, and cause general chaos!¡± I state grandiosely.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°¡­chocolate fried tree branches¡­souffl¨¦d machines¡­.¡± Wen muttered, as her cleaver blurred on the chopping board. I gulped. Wen stared at the food she was grilling intently as if she hadn¡¯t said anything. ¡°Wen Wen, don¡¯t worry. With this new project all your problems will melt away!¡± I said, splitting my attention between the new [System] and my cute chef. A questioning look arose on her face, so I hurried to explain, ¡°This time it¡¯s a [System] I¡¯ve even included cheats, trolling, and death traps into it!¡± I shift a few parameters for cooking classes, ¡°You¡¯ll be able to easily raise your skills, levels, and proficiency as a Chef. Given enough time you could even learn to cook Chaos itself!¡± Wen turned to look at me with her cleaver raised and still dripping fresh ingredients. Her eyes narrowed and she stared at my branches with suspiciously happy glee. Sometimes it is hard to understand the people around me. ¡°Tasty.¡± Wen said, after turning back around to her current endeavor. Well, I¡¯m actually made of Chaos Wood, which is more refined than mere Chaos. Meh, there¡¯s no need to correct this. Wen continues, ¡°Tree, tasty?¡± ¡°Well, perhaps a few branches, yes. It would take a long time though, grinding up your skills.¡± I state truthfully. I don¡¯t think I need to mention the part where it would take skill grinding proficiency of billions of years to reach, after all, I need to leave them hope right? Right! Take this as revenge for chocolate fried tree branches! Hah! ¡°On another note, what do you think of our recent addition, Wen?¡± I ask putting the finishing touches on the [System]. Although I did make this for the masses, the master controls are still mine. Specifically the ones that will help me break through the Soul Chain for the Wind Dao. Considering that the A.I. has about as much understanding of Dao as a chicken has of baking bread, I think I¡¯m good on that side. Even my most generous calculations show that learning anything besides the Dao of Metal would take a long time for her. Considering the [System] uses Time, Chaos, Flame, and others at lesser amounts, by the time it was cracked I would already have ascended a million times over. That¡¯s right. This entire project is for my benefit after all. I don¡¯t mind if others get something out of it too, however, in the end it¡¯s for me. As such, certain precautions have been taken. I¡¯m not a paranoid Tree. Not at all. ¡°Many recipes.¡± Wen says, her eyes shining as they never shift from the grilling meat. It appears she has learned her lesson this time. ¡°Yes, I particularly like what they referred to as ¡®fiction¡¯ in their database! To think, they believe the Dao doesn¡¯t even exist! Simply because they cannot use it!¡± I laugh, the memory so amusing it still makes me cackle sometimes. Wen who has personal proficiency in cooking magic, and soul magic to high levels smiles, ¡°Cute.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t they though? I admit it is the first civilization we ran into that didn¡¯t use magic, though.¡± I said. It wasn¡¯t as if that planet didn¡¯t have magical energy, it was more like they were completely blind to it. Perhaps an evolutionary aspect? After all, on planets with magic, it would be likely that the humans that could use it would be more likely to survive over time. Even more, because if they didn¡¯t adapt to magic, they would certainly be devoured by magic beasts, or prey for magical plants. Yes, that would make a good deal more sense. It would also explain why some of my Runes could boost magical potential off the charts. It wasn¡¯t just the rune itself, it was the activation synching with the magical ¡®genes¡¯ inherent in a species. Fascinating! As I finish musing in my thoughts, my extended energy senses catch another small fluctuation in the Void around us. This one flickers too briefly to be of use, which causes me to sigh. One day. One day I¡¯ll get proficient enough to move from universe to universe with ease. From planet to planet, I¡¯ll feed. Then suns. Solar systems. I have a list. Of everything I want to eat eventually. It¡¯s getting¡­longer¡­though¡­ For now, I¡¯ll just sneak some more bits of Wen¡¯s cooking! Sproutling 128 ¡°What do you mean we are out of food?¡± I asked. How could we be out of food, I¡¯m still hungry! What conniving thief ate all our food when I wasn¡¯t pillaging it myself! Wen stared me down, at the front of the group. ¡°How can we be out of food? None of you eat very much!¡± I said, shamelessly. Mishra raised an eyebrow at me, in synch with Wen, ¡°Guilty!¡± they both said pointing me down with extreme judgement. ¡°Me? What do you mean me? I don¡¯t eat¡­much¡­¡± I said, waving my branches in an innocent gesture. I most certainly do not have midnight snacks in the tons, definitely not. ¡°Can¡¯t we just get more supplies from Durant or Vespar?¡± I asked, hoping for the best. ¡°Ecosystem, no.¡± Wen said, shaking her small head in a curt nugatory way. ¡°Ecosystem? Does that really matter when I¡¯m hungry!?¡± I said, almost crying. Straightening up my branches, I smooth out my bark. ¡°Then I suppose there is only option B.¡± I said in a sinister tone. Waving my branches I cackle. ¡°I¡¯ve already gotten a decent grasp of the trick used by the machine. Now, behold the greatness of the One-With-Many-Branches!¡± I reach out a delicate root to tap on the control panel I¡¯ve recently created for my Voidship. ¡°Is this method¡­reliable?¡± Mishra says, as everyone else blanches slightly. ¡°Well, no this method doesn¡¯t have control, exactly¡­¡± I say before thrusting my root tendril forward before anyone can stop me! ¡°Now, now. I¡¯m sure nothing horrific will happen. Probably.¡± Dryad says, while nibbling on a snack she got from somewhere. Tsk. Out of food, indeed! Yet so many have personal snacks! ¡°Stop acting like all it takes to master the Dao of Space is a few years floating in the Void! If it¡¯s so easy, you do it!¡± I shout as my roots tap out complicated patterned commands on the console.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. I mutter under my breath, ¡°Yes, yes it is! One of my long held passions is to re-write the Dao of Space into something more comprehensible!¡± And then find whoever wrote the current one and roast them, very, very, slowly, very long. ¡°The current Laws are like something written by four year olds, translated by aliens, and then shredded and patched back together. They are abysmal!¡± I grumble. ¡°You aren¡¯t saying that because your attempts to learn the Dao of Space has been failing catastrophically right, Boss?¡± Guido chimes in, while eating from a tray of cookies that he¡¯s apparently been hoarding. His own personal servant is kneeling nearby to hold the plate. What is up with these people? Did no one bother to save food for their starving Tree overlord? ¡°Oh yeah? If you think the Dao of Space is so easy, go ahead. Teleport. C¡¯mon, it¡¯s easy right? Don¡¯t try to cheat using high speed movement either!¡± I poke a branch in his direction. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to put the pieces back together, if I can find them all!¡± If I can¡¯t find all the pieces I¡¯ll just reverse his local time flow back to life, but I don¡¯t need to tell him that. ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll pass, I feel a bit under the weather, Boss.¡± Guido says, his face greener than usual. ¡°Done!¡± I finish proudly, watching as a portal opens in front of the Voidship. I don¡¯t know where exactly this will go, but anywhere is better than a place without food! Unless it¡¯s another place without food¡­ Good thing most of the calculations were taken care of by the A.I., heh! I just have to handle the power generation, manipulation, fine tuning, and other minor issues. All that math can be left up to the machines! That¡¯s the whole point in acquiring the one we have now, hue hue. ¡°Since everyone has expressed various interests in escaping the ship, we¡¯ll take a holiday on this planet. Let¡¯s meet back up in a thousand years, give or take a decade.¡± I said. It¡¯s not like I haven¡¯t noticed how strange everyone has been getting the longer we stay floating around in the Void. S¡¯neli has exploded more alchemy labs in the last year than ever before. Guido has built a monetary empire in Vespar, and then started eating his own gold. Mishra has thinned the dragon population to almost non-existence with challenges. Wen has slowly made stranger and stranger dishes. Dryad hasn¡¯t done much except sleep a lot, which is disturbing in itself. As for me¡­ I¡¯ve reached an impasse. I need some inspiration to combine with the energy I have in reserve for breaking the shackle on my Dao Root of Wind. So, after consulting with our helpful A.I. I have decided a break is in order. In order to exit the void, I devoted all my powers to cracking the method the machine from our last world used on the Void. Now, I am prepared! Pulling everyone gently into the Vespar Leaf, I exit the Voidship and place it inside the Ship¡¯s Own Leaf. The uncaring Void reaches out around me, endless, eternal, and deep. I twist the fabric of time for the portal in front of me putting it under enough strain that space itself seems to solidify. Then, with a madcap grin, I trigger one of the oldest powers I gained millennia ago. Ignite. Time is the flame, and space is the cauldron. However, sometimes¡­ Yes¡­ Sometimes¡­ If the fire is too hot. If the Flame is too great. Even space will burn. Into the rip between what is, and what is not a tiny spatial tear fractures open the edges burning with Chaos Flame. Without pausing, I push harder expending my power to relentlessly open the portal further until it is large enough for my use. Pushing through, I arrive on the other side. Using the lessons learned from my previous attack, I spread my power around myself instantly slowing time to a glacial pace. At this moment, I am in the moment-between-moments. That flicker of time between one fraction of a second and another. To an outsider, I am completely invisible, not because they cannot see me, but because my very existence is undetectable. Unless of course the enemy also mastered time enough to perform this trick. From this vantage of absolute power I am able to look around the world of frozen moments. Sand. Indeed. Billions of particles of floating sand as far as my senses can stretch. I¡¯m in the middle of a howling sandstorm. Thankful that no one is here to see this embarrassment, I try to take root. The sand itself is extremely annoying, and quickly rouses my anger. I need something more solid to work with! Yes, how about¡­ Glass? Sproutling 129 You know a world is big when you can¡¯t scan it completely. When you stretch your senses to their limit, when you release your soul seals, and yet even then, the end cannot be seen. When you push upwards into the Sky, and still cannot reach the sea of stars above. When you search below, and the Deep has no limit. That¡¯s when you realize it. This world is big. There¡¯s nothing wrong with a big world though! Big worlds mean big meals~! Still. This sandstorm has been going for quite a long time now. For safety reasons, I haven¡¯t let anyone come out from the Leaf. Since I don¡¯t really, personally, have anything else to do I¡¯ve been working on a new project. I call it, the Glass Treehouse. First I used Flame to melt the sand under me until I could reach a rock layer. From there I reached my roots down into the earth until I was able to hit magma. The quality of the magma here is very nice! Good stuff! From there I drew power up through my roots and slowly began to heat the air around me. At just the right temperature, what was circling me was no longer sand, it was superheated liquid glass. A little telekinesis here, a little tweaking of molecular structure there, and I¡¯ve started to grow a wonderful greenhouse. The angles, edges, and shining reflections of the magma beneath me create an otherworldly glow from deep within. Even in the most barren wasteland, I can create a Garden of unstoppable momentum! Go me! Super Tree! The faster I continue crafting, the more material I require. Endlessly weaving the glass threads created by my Flame I am eating away at the unending storm. Sand to glass. Glass to structure. Structure into safety. The first year, my work is barely enough to hold a family of three. The second year, a family of a hundred.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. By the end of the first decade my Glass Treehouse is a structure that towers over the surrounding sands. Finally, there is enough space for me to work with! Pulling the group out of the Vespar Leaf, I stare at each of them in turn. Dryad, Wen, Mishra, Guido, Grok, S¡¯neli. Each of them has been begging to escape to the wider world and explore. To this end I have carefully placed new Runes on everyone¡¯s rings, granting a one-time emergency teleportation back to me. Without much fanfare each of them uses their own particular method of transportation to depart. Dryad has a carpet of ever-moving moss that she¡¯s sleeping on as it departs. Wen steps sideways into the realm of souls. Mishra¡¯s form ripples and vanishes, like greased lightning. Guido and Grok depart with an enormous oxen cart caravan of barely legal goods. S¡¯neli drinks a strangely colored potion and waves before flickering into sparkling light. With that, everyone has gone their own personal ways. We¡¯ve set the meeting time for a few millennia later. I¡¯m confident that such an enormous world has great potential. Although I have no real knowledge to work on, my gut feeling is this is a cultivation world. I base that on the enormous strides I have made understanding Wind within the sandstorm itself. The storm is like a screaming voice, overlaying the quite whisper of a teacher informing the student of the secrets of the world. If I¡¯m correct, this world will be worth its weight in Chaos. Reaching out, I begin the first step in my terraforming plan for the endless sands around me. *** In a room filled with the smell of sand, the rustling of scales sounds without end. Ancient pillars of stone carved with powerful runes hold up a hall older than most races, with the exception of the elves, or elementals. Within the Ancient Deep Sands, court is being held. ¡°The glass is growing at a rate that will engulf our territory before long, I beseech the great Lizard King for aid!¡± says a bowing noble courtier who grovels below the golden throne. Sitting on the golden throne, the rare blue scaled Lizardman ponders deeply in thought. As the King of the Deep Sands, he has ruled his nation for centuries, carefully maintaining a balance against those who would attempt to plunder their ancient founder¡¯s treasury. The Lizard King Szzok turns to his nearby spymaster, ¡°Is there any further word from the Maelstrom?¡± ¡°Nothing, sire.¡± the green scaled spymaster, Lazon states, ¡°The glass grows at a rapid pace now. Where before it was merely a finger in the storm, it is quickly starting to devour it.¡± ¡°Without the Maelstrom¡­¡± the king shudders as the scepter in his left hand shakes. His gold woven blue royal robes do little to conceal his fear. ¡°Without the Maelstrom, the Deep Worms will be able to exit from their spawning pits. Within a year there will be nothing left in the sands alive.¡± Lozan said, his voice filled with calm terror. The Deep Worms had always been held at bay through the power of the Maelstrom placed by the Ancient One in ages past. A force that could devour the Maelstrom was something that could only be a threat to the Sand Kingdom. Even worse, it was apparently unravelling the ancient magic that held the storm together. Without the sandstorm to shred the Worms apart when they attempted to exit their spawning pools, there was nothing stopping the creatures from eating every living creature of the sands. ¡°Has anyone been able to explore the construct?¡± Szzok asked, tapping a clawed finger on his golden throne. ¡°Glass does not simply appear from thin air.¡± The leader of the Royal Guards approaches, and kneels, ¡°We have sent several teams of adventurers into the Glass Palace. According to them, the inside is a massive garden with many species of never before seen plants, animals, and insects.¡± ¡°A dungeon?¡± Szzok says, his voice shocked. ¡°Possible, however there has never been a dungeon that doesn¡¯t dig deeper. This may be the work of an elemental, or even another race.¡± the Royal Guard Captain says, his voice grim. Lazon¡¯s tongue licks the air before he says, ¡°Other than humans, there couldn¡¯t possibly be another race stupid enough to unplug the passage the Deep Worms would use to kill all life on our planet!¡± ¡°It could be intervention from a lower plane, or a screw up from a wizard.¡± Szzok says, his tone angry. ¡°I haven¡¯t forgotten the last time those filthy magic users threw their failed experiment into the Deep Sands.¡± All the lizardmen around hissed in anger. The last time a magic user had thrown an experiment into the Endless Desert they had created the Deep Worms. As such, magic users other than the shamans who worked exclusively with spirits were forbidden to enter the Desert on pain of death. With a silent flicker, a blue scaled shaman appeared on the opposite side of Lazon. Szzok turned to his magical advisor with interest, ¡°My king, I think we are making more of this than needed. Whoever constructed the Glass Palace clearly is here to stay. I doubt they will allow a horde of rampaging Deep Worms through the territory they claim.¡± Tzzok stated with a deep bow to show off her scales. Szzok pondered before waving his hand for everyone to depart. Once the scents died in the throne room, he stepped down from the golden throne. Turning, he moved to stare into the endless abyss behind the throne. Within the darkness of the abyss, unseen by all, is a crevice that has never been breached. A titanic eye opens in the enormous crevice, its golden orb staring out at the tiny King before it. A deep ancient blue dragon of enormous proportions slept undisturbed behind the ancient throne of his chosen children from ages past. With deliberate patience she slowly starts to pay attention to the words being spoken. ¡°Ancient One, please lend me the wisdom of the ages.¡± said Szzok, as he bowed low before the golden eye. A rumbling voice echoes out from the darkness, ¡°There is a powerful creature within the depths that I have sensed. I can feel it desires to claim territory within the Deepest Sands, yet has not made any move to attack. It is waiting, waiting for our move, and so move we shall. Remove our people from the area, and allow it to claim territory. It will guard the Deep Sands, and we will prosper. To such a creature, the Deep Worms are merely insects to be devoured. So it has been said, so it will be. Do not disturb me again unless my children are facing extinction.¡± Szzok rises before nodding sharply, ¡°It shall be as you command Ancient One.¡± Sproutling 130 Two men, and two women sat in the small forest clearing they had just recently finished battle in. Their surrounding dead enemies had small green bodies, minus one large ear apiece, and slowly melted down under the dungeon¡¯s influence. ¡°I¡¯m just saying it¡¯s weird! Everyone knows dungeons don¡¯t build on the surface!¡± the rogue of the party, Melissa said her voice argumentative. She fiddled with a sharpened silver coin between her fingers that was stamped with the long dead image of a past kingdom¡¯s ruler. Her other hand constantly touched the throwing daggers strapped to her tight forest green-brown leather armor. Eyes of forest emerald green gave a devastating contrast to her short brown hair. As a cultivator in the path of Darkness, she exuded the silent coldness of an icy beauty. ¡°The Glass Garden isn¡¯t a dungeon, no one has even seen anything resembling a second floor!¡± the party¡¯s mage Alexus said, his tone amused. Small wisps of flame circled his finger like moving dragon rings. The staff across his knees was tipped by a low quality carved gem. Every so often the gem would burn with inner fire as if a pulsing eye was scanning the surrounding. Robes of dark brown and red accentuated a pale face framed by silvered glasses. Golden trimmed runes along the robe explained to any who saw it the mage¡¯s path of Fire. While no one would claim he was world toppling handsome like their tank, Alexus could easily stand out in a crowd due to his elegant intellectual charm. ¡°Will both of you shut it? It¡¯s hard enough to concentrate on healing this lunk without the added benefit of your sparkling discourse.¡± the party¡¯s healer, Vivian said, her hands glowing as they emitted golden-green light. Ice blue eyes framed by long golden locks and jade white skin combined in a devastating combo. Beneath her hands, the final member of the four person delving team, Andrew lay stoic as the energy repaired his body. With bright red hair, and gray eyes, the golden boy of the party managed to hold off his admirers by being completely devoted to his healing childhood companion. Both the tank and healer of the party were rarely seen geniuses in the path of Metal and Light. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that they were the perfect golden couple, each would receive more offers of marriage than they already did. As it was, they were currently engaged, although it would wait on their family¡¯s negotiations before anything further than heavy petting could be done. ¡°It acts like a dungeon, has rewards like a dungeon, and kills like a dungeon.¡± Andrew said, his combination of plate and chainmail creaking as he stood up when Vivian finished. After the healer wiped his face clean from the most recent battle he moved to pick up his arms. Grasping a tower shield, and a heavy mace nearby Andrew shrugged, ¡°If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and tastes like a duck, who gives a succubus¡¯s tit if it¡¯s goat? Not me.¡± ¡°Your impeccable brute logic once again beats down the superior intellect around you.¡± Alexus said, rising from the small burned stump he¡¯d been sitting on. ¡°Fancy thinking is only good for court politics and backstabbing scum. Everything else can be solved with violence!¡± Andrew said, smirking as he took the position behind Melissa who moved ahead on point. His mace cracked against a nearby offending sapling to emphasize his point. Melissa turned back to give him a death glare at the loud noise before fading into the forestry ahead of them. Vivian who was standing behind Andrew as they moved forward watched the splinters ping off his armor in amusement. Behind both of them Alexus moved with uncanny haste as a wispy orange glow followed behind him. The instant-cast flame shield had saved them more than once in this delve.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°If you treat the different biomes as floors then the Glass Garden is the largest dungeon in the world, with the exception of Hell¡¯s Depths. I¡¯m just saying, even though there is massive diversity in the Garden, it doesn¡¯t make it a dungeon.¡± Alexus said, his eyes roving around searching for danger. ¡°No one, even to this day has seen anything like a Core anywhere.¡± Vivian finally joined in on the side of Melissa since the rogue was too busy scouting ahead to comment, ¡°The fact that in two centuries not a single S-Rank that attempted to find the Core has ever returned doesn¡¯t make you suspicious?¡± ¡°Just because a bunch of overpowered drooling idiots with lucky encounters happened to fail to find a Core, means nothing! Half the time those bastards are setting rules to steal the best leveling areas for their personal cultivation, and the other half of the time they are fighting each other!¡± Alexus said, his face annoyed. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that above B-Rank it required either extreme wealth, or extreme connections to move higher he was sure he¡¯d have pushed above upper B-rank by now. The fact that almost eighty percent of the world¡¯s S-Ranks had vanished in the Glass Garden made him rather smug. Even though he was sure it wasn¡¯t a dungeon, he was just as sure something was keeping everything running smoothly. That something was clearly powerful enough to beat down the various Guilds, Sects, and Clans. Without such a massive shift in the balance of power in the world, it was likely Adventurers lower than A-Rank would never have been allowed into the Glass Garden. The cultivation speed alone had boosted his party from low B to upper B in a single year of fighting constantly inside. The constant cycle of fighting, looting, selling, and fighting again had pushed everyone upwards in the ranks. There were even rumors a new crop of S-Ranks had managed to be formed, although all sides seemed to be keeping their cards close for now. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to give a nod to the Lizards?¡± Andrew said, cutting into the argument as he smashed a large log in the way to pieces. His timely reminder allowed Alexus¡¯s face to widen in a grin. ¡°Exactly! The entire Bluescale kingdom claims this place is the territory of a powerful monster.¡± Alexus said, smug. ¡°A powerful monster not a Core. Looking around the creatures is clearly insanely strong. There are over a thousand different biomes in the place, from desert, to forest. Some of them are even popular enough to have their own names!¡± ¡°The Seven Hells of Ice and Fire is not exactly a great naming sense, dungeon or not.¡± Vivian shot back as she ducked under a low hanging branch. Before the snake lying in wait could strike it was roasted to death by red flames. Such ambush predators were no match for the small Fire domain that Alexus could keep around the party. ¡°I¡¯m just saying,¡± Alexus said, as he looked away from the burning small-time predator. ¡°It¡¯s not a dungeon. Therefore, using the dungeon rule of letting the first to find a place name it shouldn¡¯t apply either! Then we wouldn¡¯t have names like that.¡± Everyone went silent as Melissa returned from up ahead. The rogue¡¯s face was glittering with glee as she practically teleported to Vivian in ecstatic speed before whispering a few words. Both women glanced at the men as they continued their whispers. Finally they turned to the male members of the party and declared, ¡°We are now officially, wealthy.¡± The men of the party had questioning looks before Melissa simply said, ¡°Mana crystals.¡± Her expression clearly said ¡®praise me¡¯ with no ambiguousness. ¡°Ah, the lucky charm has struck again.¡± Alexus said in disgust. ¡°This place is clearly biased towards females.¡± Andrew nodded, ¡°Remember that time we managed to kill the lesser wyvern? And what did we get?!¡± ¡°Nothing!¡± both men said, in a chorus that had clearly been done a few times. ¡°Except for the body.¡± Melissa said snorting in amusement. ¡°As if that compares to the time Vivian went to find a water source and stumbled into a Mana Pool?¡± Alexus said, while rolling his eyes. ¡°Or the time Melissa was ambushed by gnomes, who happened to have the perfect cultivation skill for Darkness on them?¡± ¡°Oh, oh! Remember that time that Vivian was complaining about us being poor and suddenly we walk out of the forest into a hill biome with gold literally popping out of a cave crevice!?¡± Both men nod to themselves, it is well known among the Adventurers in the Glass Garden, the place is clearly biased! The largest, most biased, non-Dungeon in the world! As the party exited the forest into the latest clearing the glaring sight of towering mana crystals reflecting the sun met them. "So now the real problem is..." Alexus said looking around, "...use or sell?" Sproutling 131 ¡°Number One, report.¡± I state as I watch through my senses at a group of four as they approach the test site. Two centuries. Two bugger damn centuries and finally we¡¯ve got the [Chaos Tree System V.000X1] ready to deploy. I have to say, I am clearly more of a Dao attuned idea Tree. All the nitpicky little details are not my thing. Thankfully, Number One is the best AI servant a Tree could have when designing a world altering energy manipulating system. Coding? Calculations? Yeah, I can do those too, but I¡¯d rather stick to the enjoyable stuff! ¡°Phase One, Test One, commencing.¡± Number One says in her robotic female voice. I¡¯m sure it would give a normal person nightmares, since her voice essentially sounds like hundreds of females talking at once. I think it sounds rather nice, almost like a symphony! The group of four adventurers were carefully selected based on a single criteria. The Fire Mage. I really could care less about Light, Metal, or whatever that rogue type has. If they survive great, if not, I couldn¡¯t care less. The Fire Mage though, he¡¯s got my attention. The way humanoid races like kobolds, goblins, dwarves, humans, and others use the Dao on this planet is fascinating. Paths. They have a concept I haven¡¯t given much thought to since the Dao itself is easier due to me being closely linked with Chaos. However, I feel like I could progress easier if I structured my research towards Paths. It¡¯s nothing like a lightning bolt of realization mind you, more a feeling. A feeling that Flame and Time, even Air have a multitude of ways to be understood. I must admit, my few millennia of existence has been more of a blind Tree stumbling in a dark, realizing inspiration, and getting mad lucky. That couldn¡¯t possibly work out forever. So on this planet, where Cultivation is very advanced, I feel an immense opportunity to grasp something that could push me further forward.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Something that could aid me in shattering all the golden runic chains on my soul and pushing me to a new height. What that height might be, well I have no clue. I¡¯m a Tree, not a Seer after all. I move away from my pondering thoughts as I watch the effects of the Chaos System deployment. The Mana Crystals were both bait, and fuel. By linking with the resonating structure of the human¡¯s own mana it will imprint the Chaos System deep into their soul. Removal at that point would be impossible without Runes of the perfect type. I don¡¯t want a passing Divinity to steal my research after all. I suppose the result of turning the user of the system into so much organic mush and decomposing mana is a fatal side effect. ¡°System deployment, finalized. All test subjects currently metamorphosing.¡± Number One said, as the four humans fell to the ground screaming in agony. Intense threads connected them to the Mana Crystals, weaving a complex Runic structure through the fabric of their very being. Our attempts to make the process painless had resulted in death every time, so I suspected there was actually a need for pain. Although I have no proof, just conjecture at this point. Hours pass as the Chaos System embeds itself into the humans, before they finally slump to the ground unconscious and twitching. ¡°Status, Number One?¡± I ask, hope filling my voice. None of these humans exploded into organic chunks this time! ¡°Testing.¡± Number One said, her metallic orb floating around me in a circular orbit. I¡¯d made her a humanoid form, but she only seems to use it when teasing Dryad. The mind of the machine is very weird sometimes, I guess. ¡°Test sat, commence Link?¡± Number One said. ¡°Link!¡± I shouted in glee. When I had been designing the Chaos System, there was a primary overriding concern. Me. What benefit do I gain from empowering others? To design a system that aids the growth of the user in incredible ways, grants power, extends life, uplifts the soul and more is easy. To do so for free would probably violate a cosmic balance. There is no arguing, humans, elves, even goblins have something I sometimes lack. A special Spark from their own understanding of Flame, something deep within that pushes them to greatness. The Chaos System is my remedy. It is both a blessing and a contract. Power? I can grant. Longevity? I can grant. In exchange though, I take my pound of soul. For every benefit there must be payment in return. My form of payment, through the Chaos System I have engineered, is enlightenment. What that means, in the most simple terms, is when a user experiences a breakthrough so do I. For minimal cost, to me, I gain access to the cosmic mysteries that other races unearth. The Dao of Air? Light? Metal? Space? Not my cup of tea! My understanding is null, my logic on them minimal! Yet, that won¡¯t matter at all! It won¡¯t even make me break a sweat! For I will have endless users teaching me their own mistakes, and successes! The system will spread, far and wide, like a virus infecting its hosts. While I will sit back, sleeping, growing, and learning at a speed that would put the finest AI to shame. Twenty-four branches, and forty-eight minor branches along with hundreds of leaves. I have grown, and with my growth as I come closer to breaking the shackle on Air comes the expansion of my mental power. As my mental power has grown, so too has the ability to process even more information. While I cannot claim to run every mind on the planet through my branches, I can certainly tap the ones linked to my current issue. That¡¯s right. I¡¯m going to run this new organic soul software straight to the stratosphere! With this, I should be able to at least break Air, perhaps even get started on another Dao like Earth or Water! The possibilities are endless! ¡°Excellent work, Number One.¡± I said, as the humans started to wake up. Now that success had been achieved I turned my attention to other matters. When I had first landed in this world I spun the Glass Garden from the endless storm of sand. After accomplishing that, I started to create what I have now, the Thousand Minor Window Worlds. There was a minor issue though. Apparently the Storm itself had been a barrier blocking a type of creature from escaping the Deep desert. A worm. Not those small things birds eat. No, this worm was enormous. That alone wouldn¡¯t be the issue. The problem was, they came in waves. I had no doubt if I wasn¡¯t here, this planet would have serious issues. Never mind that my removing the Storm would be the cause of those issues! Well, at least these creatures taste good. I guess its ok to keep eating them, at least till Wen gets back. They do add a bit of spice to my diet after all! Sproutling 132 My routine is pretty routine lately. Wake up. Fine tune a few of the Thousand Minor Window Worlds. Watch my favorite soap opera, Adventuring Insanity ? through the holo-screens Number One made for me. Every so often when I see something impressive, I hand out a reward or two. For instance there was this one time a family of four adventurers brought some small children along. Probably because the concept of daycare is either unknown here, or extremely expensive, actually I have no clue. The point is, I like kids! Kids have potential! Potential is a fascinating thing. I mean, it takes guts to watch your family slaughtered in front of you and swear vengeance when you are nothing but a bush high midget. At that point, the normal thing would be to die with the rest of your family, if say, a glorious Tree didn¡¯t intervene. A blessing here, a weapon there, a secret manual here, a defective artifact there. A few good deeds and next thing I know, my Garden is the number one hotspot for adventuring treasure hunters the world over. It got so big, so fast, I really didn¡¯t see it coming. By the time I realized it would take actual effort to obliterate the small city on the border, or the towns that cropped up it was too late. I guess its fine, at least this way I don¡¯t have to spend effort to create safe zones anymore. Nope, I¡¯ve decided, anywhere outside the towns is a free for all. I might throw a hand here and there to help if I¡¯m entertained enough, though. Other than that, the law of the jungle prevails. After watching my favorite show for a few hours, or a few days depending on how much fun it is, I concentrate. The Chaos System pumps information to me like a high speed information highway. I let the backlog load up, then take it all at once to help break bottlenecks! Air, has become clearer and clearer to me. Behind air is the looming shadow of another power, something I can sense now with my understanding.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Space. Somehow, Air and Space are linked. Vague, yes. However, considering before this I had about as much knowledge of space as barbarians have of electricity, I¡¯d say I¡¯m doing alright. Spawning pools, cloning facility, Forge, and Rune research aside I don¡¯t think I ever would have made the connection between the two. I¡¯m certain that within the next century I¡¯ll connect to Air. With that in mind of course. I¡¯ve been throwing names around. I mean the whole point was to research a Dao that complimented Flame. Air and Flame. Airflame. No, that¡¯s, no. Flameair! Ah, I think not. I thought about throwing Time in as well, and decided, it was best not to juggle too much. With that in mind, Burning Wind! Recently, another favorite project is hiring teachers for martial arts. Some of those people were shocked that a talking Tree wanted to learn the concept of Martial Arts. More shocked than suddenly being teleported before me, again, people can be weird. For those that didn¡¯t take too much offense I paid them off after learning what I wanted. Spirit stones are pretty easy to forge when I realized they are just gemstones with tiny sliver of neutral Chaos inside them. Such stones are apparently used to assist almost every race in training their powers. Well, there were a few people I requested training from that called me things like Demon, Demonic Plant, and other offensive names, though. They only did it once. There isn¡¯t a day that goes by that I don¡¯t religiously practice my body hardening technique. I simplified the name to Burning Wood. Some might say that my naming sense is bland. If I ever met such people, I would be sure to entertain them. Combining the Martial Arts into a form that I can use effectively has increased the value of my daily body hardening immensely. Even with all this, I still have time to discover new things! For instance, Formation Arrays and Seals! Soul Seals are something I¡¯ve been using for ages, however this planet is far more advanced in the manipulation of worldly energy than others we¡¯ve been to. The ability to simply lay down a few rocks in a fancy pattern and trap beasts, create illusions, or even murder enemies is amazing! Formation Arrays are based on symbols and understanding, a great deal like a programming language. Since I have zero skill at programming, I outsourced to Number One! After learning every variable possible and creating a separate form of math she calls ¡°Array Multiple Use Symbol EX¡± or A.M.U.S.E., things got amusing. The spawning pools, reward system, punishment system, horde mode system, heck even the sewage system are all due for upgrades soon. Eventually when I figure out how non-soul Seals work, I think I¡¯ll be able to Seal the Deep Sands so the Worms are no longer anything annoying. I mean, as tasty as they are, the constant invasions are annoying. With enough practice using Seals I theorize I could even create something similar to what my Leaf does. Perhaps evolving Seals far enough will allow me to create World Seals! Yeah, that¡¯s probably super far in the future, still, this planet is giving me lots of inspiration. On the other hand, the lack of technology around here is maddening. While cultivators may have it easy, the common people are treated like garbage. It sucks to be a normal person, I¡¯d say. Lucky for me, I¡¯m a Tree. While pondering if I should do anything to aid the common masses I received a message from within the Vespar Leaf. The Cult of Wood from so many years ago has flourished into a massive church type organization that spans the world. I don¡¯t get involved much, except to provide examples of why corruption is not something I desire. Surprising how many humanoid torches can reduce the corruption and graft in the upper ranks of a religious organization. ¡°Crafting time?¡± Number One said, floating around my upper branches. Breaking out of my thoughts, I moved to the nearby forging area. Several multi-level tables, a host of self-created tools, a slice of burning Chaos, and other odds and ends peppered my work area. ¡°What should we work on today, Number One?¡± I asked rhetorically as I started working on my latest invention. Rewards were handled by the Formation Array true, but I always valued a personal touch. Chaos Gold would be beyond price on this planet, so I created a derivative. Chaos Copper, is much cheaper, lasts far less longer, and is easier to work with. The downside is it can contain far less power. However, these little trinkets I created to amuse myself seemed to cause the locals to go nuts! I enjoy distributing these creations all over the Thousand Minor Window Worlds. I take care to leave them in nigh impossible deathtraps so only the truly lucky, insane, or blessed can get them. After all, I have to make sure my favorite soap opera, I mean, my favorite show continues! Sproutling 133 Air is a singular concept that encompasses a variety of things. Air is a Dao. Although I have not finished mastering the Dao of Air, I am quite learned in it. To the point where a request to those aligned with the Dao, creatures such as Slyphs, and others, will take time to assist me. The only request I have made to them so far, is to bring word of those who might wish me harm. The rumors these flighty creatures bring me are vague, being that those who I have learned Martial Arts from are unable to speak of me. However, people talk, and word always gets out eventually. They say stuff such as, the biomes are a hive mind. Or stuff like, there is a single consciousness guiding everything, and it isn¡¯t friendly. Even, the monsters learn, and grow stronger came up in conversation. The best one was, the hills have eyes! Ok, I admit that last one was spread by me for kicks. One cannot appreciate how disturbing the hills having eyes can be till they see the results in action. I have never seen so many people of so many different races blow up so many hills in my entire existence! I might have kept regenerating the hills just to see the twitching faces of terrified people. Such rumors gain a life of their own, and of course, such a life is never boring! For some reason though, lately, there are idiots who think I should simply give away all my treasures. As if they have any right to them simply by existing. My multi-tasking mind is boggled at how someone thinks they have a right to my things simply by existing. This convoluted logic makes absolutely no sense in any way shape or form. Even worse, people of this thinking type are starting to become more prevalent. Steps will need to be taken, I daresay! You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. It is time to upgrade the facilities. It is time to use Runes to grow my bestiary of creatures! When I first made the Thousand Minor Window Worlds spinning them from the Maelstrom of sand and storm it was a work of fun. Now however, two and a half centuries later, I have planned a more in-depth upgrade. ¡°Number One!¡± I shout loudly. ¡°Beep!¡± Number One says. Recently she¡¯s been speaking in code. At least its coherent code, the last time she was speaking a rare cryptographic double binary solution set. That took weeks for me to decipher, and I¡¯m still unsure if I understood it correctly. I swear, this is the last time I let her watch a movie with an astromech droid that apparently has a telepathic connection to the main characters! ¡°Activate the upgrade!¡± I declared loudly. ¡°BEEP!¡± Number One said, before glowing outer circuits on the outer shell of her form started emitting light in twisted patterns. I stretched out my senses encompassing my entire domain the better to target effects, or speed alterations. Energy ripples out from underneath each of the Thousand Minor Window Worlds pulsing in specific patterns. Previously I created biomes of all different types. Now however, I am separating the many different, into the few and elite. Flame, Air, Water, Earth, Ice, Metal, Crystal, and Wood. Not exactly the elements, just close enough for government work! Flame domain will take up around thirty percent of the total available space. Air will take up another twenty percent. From there it becomes a ten percent split among the remaining Earth, Ice, Metal, Crystal, and Wood. Flame domain is populated from creatures straight out of my Fire Leaf. The snake inside has grown to even larger proportions, and allowed lesser creatures from the Fire Elemental Plane to eventually enter the Leaf. Picking and choosing among those available I place them into the Flame domain section with care. Air is a mishmash of creatures who agreed under contract to work there. Slyphs, lesser air elementals, and assortment of wind faeries and so on. At first it was hard to get any of them interested until I explained they would have free reign to torment others, I mean entertain others in their domain. Earth is filled with mud, mountains, and baked clay. The entire place is mostly filled with a few titanic elmentals underneath, golems, mudmen, and so on. For Ice, Metal, and Crystal I let Number One handle those. I truly pity any adventuring types that try to enter those without an extremely high level. Wood is my favorite. Even though only ten percent is allocated to the Wood section, I am taking liberal use of it! Like the woods back on Durant that Dryad used to defend, mine are alive. The entire forest is controlled by a singular heart that moves about to prevent being located effectively. The forest itself hosts many growth type creatures that will only become stronger over time. In a burst of inspiration I provide a sliver of Chaos to the Forest¡¯s Heart allowing it to access the System. Now all the creatures within its domain will slowly gain the System as well creating even more mayhem. Going back through the other sections, I provide a sliver to the ¡®leader¡¯ of each area. When the Chaos System fully spreads throughout these places then they will grow even further! Humans, dwarves, lizardkin and so forth feed on the beasts of this world to grow stronger with the System. I figure turnabout is fair play, now they can fear the very creatures they hunt. Along with the arrangement of new domains, and creatures, I place treasures down. While I would like to claim my traps, and creatures claim the most adventurers that is sadly untrue. The creatures that claim the most humanoid lives are¡­other adventurers! That¡¯s right, good old greed has killed more people than I ever have. The first thing that happens when one of my Copper Chaos treasures is unearthed is a blood bath of epic proportions. The delight in watching sapient creatures murder over a mere trinket of minor effort never seems to grow old. When I finished re-arranging the Thousand Minor Window Worlds into the new Eight I take a break. The towns and cities that humanoids had created along my borders, and within my domains have been utterly wrecked in a variety of ways. I¡¯m not too concerned, humans, if not any others, are like ants. They¡¯ll eventually reconstruct everything even if the other races can¡¯t be bothered or don¡¯t want to. ¡°Number One!¡± I say. ¡°Beep!¡± she replies floating over to me. I¡¯m not really sure why the Crystal domain needed so many shiny, pretty, traps, but I refuse to question the logic of a superior machinist. ¡°Yes, yes. Please do.¡± I say responding politely. It¡¯s time to read my mail! Hah, it¡¯s been a little over two and a half centuries! I can¡¯t wait to see what the others have been up too¡­ Sproutling 134 ¡°Number One! Release the Mail!¡± I stated after we finished work on the new Eight Elemental Domains. ¡°Beep!¡± Number One replied. I waved my branches in delight preparing to enjoy a nice reading session. Suddenly, from above, a torrent of letters, scrolls, animal hide skins, and sparkly crystals hit me. My entire form, twenty-four main branches, and forty-eight sub branches, was completely covered in the deluge of communication products. Number One took one look and used the teleportation formation to escape outside. ¡°NUMBER. ONE!!!¡± I shouted as I struggled to move the mail. Finally giving up, I teleported out and to an open space in my workshop¡¯s cavern. That floating ball of metal! I¡¯ll get my revenge soon? don¡¯t think that I won¡¯t! In the meantime, my branches rapidly sorted mail based on dates and names. Soon several orderly piles formed around me. Each pile was marked with a wooden signpost that I planted in the ground to help me keep things straight. Dryad, Guido, and Grok stuck to traditional paper letters. Meanwhile, Mishra, S¡¯neli, and Wen took more exotic options. Mishra¡¯s were all on animal hide, S¡¯neli used parchment scrolls, and Wen chose to use both soul and memory crystals. The fact that some of the dates were clearly anything from centuries, to decades old was definitely my fault! I bet I said something like, ¡®hold all messages¡¯ or ¡®don¡¯t interrupt me while I work¡¯ and Number One took it literal. I¡¯ll need to take care with my responses so they seem up to date, current, and most of all, personalized! So, so, the first messages from Guido. Boss, we¡¯ve run into a slight problem. There seems to be a horrific murderous human running around with a terrifying hatred of goblins. They call him, ¡®Gobo Slayerus¡¯ he¡¯s a really nasty piece of work, justifying all his atrocious deeds with simple words like, ¡®they¡¯re goblins¡¯ as if that encapsulated every goblin in existence! I tried to resolve thing peacefully Boss, but, I was forced to have Grok take steps. Messy steps.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. P.S. I¡¯m hoarding resources just in case any of this stuff might be useful to you later. P.S.S. Could I get a loan at some point? Later messages from Guido listed items he¡¯d gained, the Treasure Pavilion he¡¯d started. Allies gained, lost, and a list of enemies he¡¯d made. There was also a separate string of letters from Grok. Grok¡¯s letters mostly consisted of targets he¡¯d taken messy steps with, as well as a few insights into the Dao of Darkness. Darkness seems to be a Dao uniquely suited for goblins according to Grok. Well, goblins besides Guido, but he¡¯s an outlier no matter how you look at it in my opinion. After reading through their messages for the past two and half centuries, I was pretty happy. At least I haven¡¯t been the only one improving around here! Moving on to Dryad¡¯s letters, I opened the one dated furthest back. We are under attack! Send reinforcements! NOW! Well. I¡¯ll just pretend I didn¡¯t see that one. I open the next latest letter. No worries, the invaders from outer space have been dealt with. Fortunately they were a species of plant types that use Aura to ¡®grow¡¯ themselves. I¡¯ve taken samples and am in the process of backtracking them to their planet of origin. With time I should be able to get the coordinates for invasion. P.S. High level cultivators are extremely tasty! P.S.S. Don¡¯t be slacking off when I¡¯m not there! The rest of the letters included samples from the alien plant invaders, and a few insights into the Dao of Life and Blood. Some of the connections she¡¯d made were rather interesting, I¡¯ll have to look into them later. Sending my best wishes to Dryad, I moved on to the next pile. Opening the latest dated animal hide piece, I check up on the first message from Mishra. Master, the area I¡¯ve chosen seems to be under attack by forces from outside the planet. I normally would not have intervened, except, one of them insulted you so I was forced to crush them. It had nothing to do with the fact that the area I¡¯m in is part of beastkind territory. I didn¡¯t let that sway my decision at all! After pulverizing as many of the important invaders as possible I¡¯ve started taking prisoners. These idiot invaders call themselves the Gray Lights or some such, probably because the majority of their stuff is gray! Their technology seems slightly more advanced than anything I¡¯ve seen. After ¡®questioning¡¯ a few of the higher-ups nicely I had them send blueprints to you in case they might be useful! Aren¡¯t I great! P.S. Some of these races are weak, so I¡¯m spreading the Dao of Physical Strength! P.S.S. If I find a good disciple I¡¯ll send them to you! P.S.S.S. Every guy I meet tells me I¡¯m hot, but I don¡¯t feel any heat, could this be a new Dao? I roll my non-existent eyes as I read the rest of the animal hide. There are some diagrams here and there. Number One can handle checking them and seeing if they are worth creating. I pause in my reading for a bit. I¡¯m a bit intrigued by the invaders. Normally, I am the one doing invading. The fact that there are other species out there that also possess the technological capability to spread across the stars without the use of traveling in the Void interests me. I send letters back to Dryad and Mishra asking for live specimens to experiment on. While those two are good at getting information, I have all the tools and time here that is needed to get more. Moving on, I open the first letter from S¡¯neli. Her chosen form of mail is a strange parchment with the feel of paper mixed with gold. Whatever the substance is, it is quite effective at holding both power and ink! Everything is normal here. A few of my experiments have had slight problems. P.S. Could I get a loan, I¡¯m a little short after buying supplies! P.S.S. If you hear anything from this area about explosions, it¡¯s probably just the Alchemist¡¯s Association across the street. Nothing to do with me! Ah, should I be worried? I quickly read through the mass of parchment scrolls. There¡¯s some new stuff on the Dao of Alchemy, a few insights into better rings, and finally several increasingly desperate requests for more funds. I guess I can send over some spirit stones so S¡¯neli doesn¡¯t have to worry about funds. Strange how she keeps mentioning how bad the Alchemist¡¯s Association is at making pills. Who knew people could keep blowing up their workplace so much! Finally, after everything is done. I¡¯m left with just the stack of ¡®memory¡¯ crystals from Wen! I can¡¯t wait to see what my favorite cook is up to! Sproutling 135 Before I can get to Wen¡¯s memory crystal mail messages, a squeak from my alarm system notifies me that someone is entering the entrance of my lair. Considering my lair is in the middle of the Flame Domain of the Eight, I¡¯m slightly confused. The memory of this being a Cultivation based planet though quickly snaps me out of it. Any decent fire cultivator probably thinks my Flame Domain is a holy land. It would aid with cultivation speed, insight into the Laws, and a host of other things. Without a doubt some of the resources within are either unattainable on this planet, or guarded by entities of extreme power, like, me. I open up my energy senses, narrowing in on several figures standing at the entrance to my lair. They are all wearing robes of various scarlet, or red shades, and have a host of differing weapons. Since there are only five of them, I really am not that worried. After checking their power levels though, I become slightly more interested. One of the cultivators is concealing his power level to appear far weaker than the rest. On a planet like this there are only two reasons to conceal your power level, one betrayal, and two better betrayal. Another, one of the females, is most definitely not human. I feel like I¡¯ve seen her type somewhere before, but I thought they sparkled more? Flaunting power is a symbol of both status, and a way for both parties to accurately judge the strength of the other. Accurate strength judgements allow both parties to understand the boundaries of negotiation, and successfully conclude all types of transactions. While most of the stories I read from our previous world talk about how people throw their weight around, here it doesn¡¯t happen. Simple survival dictates that you would never do such idiotic actions. The beggar you disdain could turn out to be an Overlord for the Godly Gardener¡¯s sake. It would be nothing short of suicide to treat people with contempt, disdain, or apathy. The exception to this rule is of course when you are so far above others that the distance is like between heaven and earth. Even then most people would say it pays to be cautious, and leave arrogance at the door. In fact, from my observations over the last two and half centuries, people are pretty polite. Politeness costs nothing, can get everything, and best of all keeps everyone from clan destroying bloodbaths. Clans are something I discovered when I was studying the humanoids that had invaded my territory. Essentially everything sentient seems to be part of a clan, and if not a clan, a hivemind that might as well be a clan. If it thinks, it clans, that¡¯s pretty much what I see so far in this world. Rare exceptions might be limited to beings of Divine level or higher power, such as me. Or maybe Dragons. I hear they exist in this world, which made me a bit nervous. Not like I¡¯m still suffering millennia later from being dragon-napped from my nap in the Colosseum by the Green Lady. Not me. I¡¯m normal as can be. The heck, who lit that workbench on fire?! You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Anyways, I move my attention from the melted workbench that I¡¯ll repair later, to my guests. I cannot move from my current lair without effectively wasting the past centuries I¡¯ve spent digging towards the core of this planet with my roots. Everything I see so far tells me it could be awhile before I manage to get there. If I¡¯m not there in at the halfway point of our two millennia meetup, I may have to rethink my plans. This planet is big after all. This means of course that I really don¡¯t have the patience to entertain guests. So entering my lair is well, if not a death sentence, certainly life imprisonment at the bare minimum. As I watch the five intrepid fire cultivators start the maze portion of my lair, I watch the older male of the group pull out a complete cartography set. Pencils, maps, you name it, this guy has it all. There is even a book labeled in runes that say ¡®World Map¡¯ to me. Would be kind of pointless to be able to create Runes if I couldn¡¯t read anything I come across after all. Since runes are formed from the understanding of the multi-verse and the intent of the user, no two runes might be the same. My rune for Immortality could look totally different, and act far stranger than another person¡¯s. However, both runes would be read as Immortality if seen by different creators of a high enough understanding. Long story short, unless the Rune is above my level of understanding, I can read it. Elven moon runes are nothing to me, a mere Chaos rune is above them by several orders of magnitude. Much less mortal runic languages, those are like children¡¯s scribbles to anyone with decent runic knowledge. Oh? A few hours later, it looks like the female I noticed earlier is starting to act. The group is made of three females, and two men. The oldest female appears to be the leader, while the oldest male appears to be her partner. The young female, who was the one I noticed from before that isn¡¯t human, is currently luring the older male off from the group at the moment. They appear to be engaging in mutual mating practices, before the young female takes a bite. For brief moments the older male struggles before his expression changes into one of absolute bliss. I watch as the younger female milks him both of blood and other fluids before finishing him off. She grabs the pouch at his waist, searches the body before stripping it of everything valuable, and then turns the corpse to ashes. Since my energy senses are watching the other group, I see the change in expression between both the younger female, and the older female leader of the group with my abilities to multi-task. It looks like there is a solid conspiracy going on, most likely the older female takes a cut of the kill. A common practice among many types of humanoid hierarchies, and this makes the inclusion of the young male hiding his power level even more interesting. I bet the females are a group that prey on others, and the young man is hunting them. Hours later my idea bears fruit as the youngest female is mercilessly killed by the young man when she lures him away from camp. The killer of the old man, and the older female immediately flee deeper into my lair. Most likely they had some sort of connection that allows them to know when another dies. Common talismans with a trace of soul or some such probably. I trigger a switch, and the maze they are in changes. Now they will be unable to use teleportation, as the time surrounding the inside of the maze is frozen. A true master of space and time could get out, but these people are not that. Essentially the outer walls of the maze are now giant blocks that would require decent understanding of the Dao of Space or Time to bypass. Frozen time is harder than billion year old glacial Ice element after all! The older female betrays her younger counterpart to die when the young man reaches up with them both. Lucky for me, he ignores the dying younger female to chase the older one, who is apparently more evil, or wanted for greater crimes. As soon as they both depart the area I reach outward and pull the young female to me. I may not be able to manipulate space, but simple teleports are still well within my power. My branches move downwards doing a variety of tasks. Time is slowed around the young woman so she doesn¡¯t die from blood loss immediately. A set of branches is tasked with healing, while a set of roots is tasked with inking her bones in runes. I have come far since that experiment on Sam back in Durant. My research has taken me to wonderful places! As I finish work on the young woman I reach outwards into my maze where the other two are currently in the last rounds of combat. As soon as the older female is killed I reverse time around her letting her rise once more. Just because you kill someone in my lair, don¡¯t think that means they''re dead, boy. Sproutling 135.5 Neferti woke up with a horrendous headache. It felt as if someone had ripped her skin open, flayed her bones, and put everything back together in the wrong place. The only comparable feeling was when the Inquisition from the Righteous Sects managed to capture her. That thought triggered the remembrance of being abandoned by her Mistress as she fled one of the Inquisition¡¯s Hunters. Taking a look around, Neferti¡¯s eyes managed to barely focus on the strangeness of the surroundings. First, there was the tree whose branches were currently doing something to a half-melted crystal bench. As if that wasn¡¯t strange enough, the amount of greenery was like a tropical jungle. Sections of the greenery denoted clear workspaces. In one was a bubbling set of alchemical potions, in another metallic tools of every shape and size. Neferti didn¡¯t even try to understand the section that dealt with herbs, she was quite sure not a single one could be recognized. There were others that seemed even stranger, one of the workspaces even seemed as if it was frozen in time. All in all it was quite clear, she was in deep guano. ¡°Hello?¡± Neferti said aloud, hoping the owner of the strange space didn¡¯t decide to kill her out of hand. Sometimes the older cultivators were like that, killing people randomly for no good reason, while claiming it was karma or some such pig slop. Normally there would be repercussions, but what was done behind closed doors, or cave-like greenhouses stayed there. There wouldn¡¯t be anyone looking to tangle with someone of such obvious power for a mere stranger like her. As soon as her voice echoed out, a strange floating ball with glowing red lines flew out from the greenery to the left and floated in front of her. A singular glowing eye on the metal creature stared balefully at her face as if judging her worth. ¡°Beep.¡± the floating mechanical eyeball said, its tone questioning. ¡°No, you can¡¯t have her to experiment on. What¡¯s mine is mine, what¡¯s yours is mine too! Now stop staring at my newest acquisition and help me get these nanites running correctly on repair cycle you floating fisheye!¡± a grumpy old man¡¯s voice came from behind the tree where she couldn¡¯t see. Neferti inched closer to the tree trying to see who the elder speaking was. Once she managed to peek around the trunk though, her eyes grew wide. There was nothing, no footprints, no heat signature, not even the sense of Life her race normally hunted with. While she was standing slack-jawed and confused, the crystalline workbench slowly repaired itself. It was as if a seamstress of crystal was weaving an entirely new piece of fabric into existence. Without a doubt Neferti was entranced, and all too soon the repair was finished. As soon as the workbench was repaired, the tree she was standing near shifted until it was in the center of the entire room. Neferti wouldn¡¯t have made it far in the world if she couldn¡¯t put the pieces together fast enough. Instantly moving to give a better impression, Neferti bowed low towards the ruler of this place, the tree. ¡°Honored elder, this one is Neferti. How may I be of service to repay being saved?¡± Neferti felt a mental connection growing in her mind and stood very still. The fact that she wasn¡¯t being asked permission stated her position in this place clearer than anything else. Like pages in a book her memories were flipped through, as her entire three hundred years of life flashed rapidly by. ¡°I am Tree. Currently I am in the process of devouring the Worldheart of this Major world as you refer to it. There are three options available to you, Neferti.¡± the Tree said, his voice sounding like a grumpy old man. A grumpy old man who casually read memories like drinking coffee. Neferti instantly stood at attention. She was both thrilled and terrified. A creature at the level of power to devour a Major world would at the very least be of the Supreme level. There were barely two handfuls of creatures at that power level on the entire planet, and most of them were in secluded cultivation, sleeping the millennia by. Her own True Ancestor was rumored to be one such creature, awakening only every few centuries in order to feed the blood thirst. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Service to a Supreme would be hard, as their needs were vastly different, sometimes even unfathomable. On the other hand, not a single story differed on the rewards that could be attained from service. Tales were told of those who were lucky enough to please one of these existences with great deeds or merits. Of course, there were also tales of those who failed. Neferti shivered slightly as the Tree continued, ¡°First you can return to the Fire domain. You will be utterly free to do whatever you want, and would of course be forbidden from mentioning me.¡± Neferti screwed up her courage and interrupted, ¡°C-Could I see the Status?¡± She had to be sure the Tree was powerful enough. Serving a master without power was no different from dying slowly in a Major world. Silence spread out from her question before the Tree said, ¡°Sure I actually haven¡¯t looked myself since I made the system. I wonder what it sees, Chaos System, display status to Neferti.¡± A blue screen flashed into being in front of Neferti, and her eyes widened in shock.
Name: Tree Race: Chaos Tree Age: 7,021 Titles: One Who Devours Worlds, Chaos System Creator, One Who Travels the Void, Chaos Rune Creator, Soul Connoisseur, World Creator, Enemy of the Divine, Traveler of the Ocean of Eternity, Sealed One, Hungry One, Ancestor of the Forest, Ancestor of Flame, Ancestor of Time, Lord of Monsters, Lord of Machines, Lord of the Green, Insane Alchemist, Demented Scientist, Friend of Dragons, Gardener of Worlds, Savior of Planets, Collector, Enemy of Deep Worms Dao Abilities: Chaos, Flame, Time Minor Dao Abilities: Life, Blood Traits: Chaos Body, Void Hardened Body, Immunity to Physical, Immunity to Elemental, Immunity to Mental, Immunity to Soul, Dimensional Leaves, Aura of Growth, Aura of Life, Aura of Blood, Aura of Time, Aura of Fire,¡­. Skills: Chaos Manipulation, Flame Manipulation, Time Manipulation, Runic Language, Alchemy, Energy Eating, Energy Senses, Martial User of Branch Combat, Martial User of Root Combat,¡­. Stats: Strength: 9,999+ Agility: 9,999+ Intellect: 9,999+ Wisdom: 9,999+ Charisma: 10 I wouldn''t recommend attacking this Tree, it tends to be very vindictive. -Unknown
Neferti¡¯s mind raced, even with her vampiric mind flashing at lighting speed, her body started to heat up. She¡¯d never seen a Status like this, some of which she couldn¡¯t even understand. One of the few things she knew was the less specific something was in the status, the more powerful. For example when listing Dao Abilities, the single word Flame, was monstrous. From what she¡¯d heard, this single word meant, anything goes, or in other words, the limit of imagination. A person with a single word Dao Ability was limited to the top Clans, Guilds, or Sects in the world. Yet this Tree had three. One of which she¡¯d never even heard of, Chaos. Not only that, the fact that the Traits and Skills section had to be expanded. When the Chaos System had first started spreading people were shocked. Now, it was commonplace, and actually gave fantastic benefits. The ability to quantify, or measure, a person¡¯s growth was incredible. Gone were the days of wondering whether one was making progress in their cultivation. The advent of the Chaos System had fundamentally changed cultivation. Those who refused to use the system were slowly replaced by those who mastered it. It hadn¡¯t been a quiet passage, but in the end, those who used the system had an advantage too great to stop. Which was why, the words, Chaos System Creator, blared out at her gradually shell-shocked mind. This creature was the creator of the system that changed the face of the world. Neferti had one glorious moment to realize the potential before her eyes rolled up in her head and she collapsed. Regaining consciousness moments later took effort, as her body slowly restored itself. The constant chirping of speech and beeping the background made her fuzzy mind think of the symphony of nature in some of the gardens of her Clan Leader. Pushing herself up from the moss carpeted ground, Neferti slowly wobbled into a standing position. Her headache from hitting the ground was fading fast as vampiric regeneration kicked into high gear. ¡°Oh, you''re back! Vampires are very resilient, nice!¡± Tree said, his branches waving. ¡°W-What kind of s-status?¡± Neferti managed stammer out. ¡°Status, yes. A shock right? Well, I¡¯m sure there are creatures on this Major world even stronger than me!¡± Tree said deadpan. Neferti stared blankly for a moment before recovering, ¡°Anything is possible I suppose. Like my Mistress always used to say, ¡®there are mountains above mountains¡¯ it was a mantra almost to her.¡± Tree waved his branches at her in agreement, ¡°Now as I was saying, the second option is you live down here as a Guardian, or Caretaker if you wish to call yourself that. I¡¯m starting to practice a dangerous bit of experimental stuff that needs my full attention. Number One can handle most things, however she¡¯s got her own interests to explore so I need someone more focused.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the third option?¡± Neferti said, hoping it was better than the first two. While the first option sounded grand, she had no doubt that if she took it there would be nothing left of her body except ashes. There was no way something as powerful as Tree wanted any clue of his existence. Even if there was a failsafe to prevent her from talking, the memories could be ripped from her soul, or worse. ¡°The third option, well, I¡¯ve decided to renovate my lair entrance. Since you¡¯re a vampire I figured we¡¯d go with something that helped you feed as well.¡± Tree said, nonchalantly. Neferti stood a little straighter, her eyes brightening. ¡°Yes, I figured something like the Palace of a Thousand and Three Delights.¡± Tree said, mentioning one of the most infamous ¡®pleasure¡¯ houses in ten empires. ¡°Places like that, people go in and out so much, it¡¯s easy for a few to disappear here and there. Think of it like an all-you-can-eat buffet.¡± Since vampires grew with blood, it was always a difficult path to cultivate. This option would allow her to grow with every victim, while easily maintaining a cover. As long as she was careful not to accidentally kill someone of importance it would be easy to remain hidden. Neferti knew several clans that practiced such a method, although the start-up cost was enormous. Neferti paused before mustering her courage and saying, ¡°Why me? There must be better options for someone of such power.¡± ¡°I like collecting unique and rare servants, it¡¯s a habit.¡± Tree said. ¡°Oh, and I have an experiment running currently that you are part of.¡± Neferti gulped as she said, ¡°I-I see. I¡¯ll take option three if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Wonderful!¡± Tree said. His branches twisted and the figures of her Mistress and the Hunter appeared before being vaporized into ashes. Two branches speared forward to grab their glowing souls before Tree ate them. ¡°They served their uses in helping me test a few things.¡± Tree said as if eating souls was a normal occurrence. ¡°Now, let¡¯s build your feeding house, and I¡¯ll explain what you need to do to take care of things in my lair.¡± Neferti nodded woodenly, at least she had managed to keep herself alive. For now. Sproutling 136 How depressing. I now understand why cultivators on this planet who can see the future, refuse to divine their own. My first attempt has such a depressing outcome, no wonder no one does such a thing. When I entered the Ocean of Eternity and moved forward to see what may be, I was shocked. The surrounding sea got smaller, and smaller, and smaller, until there was only a single tiny river. A single future led across a massive dam that spanned eons of time. It took sacrificing three sub-branches after stripping them of leaves to push enough Chaos power to see past the dam. Seeing past the eons of emptiness and through the tiny river of possible success cost me. However, it has also given me a way out. Now, back in my own body, with three less sub-branches I am very depressed. It takes great amounts of energy to look into what may be, and thus the loss of appendages. After careful thought, I have come to a few beliefs. This future is unstoppable. This future is unavoidable. This future holds massive benefits and dangers. According to what I have seen, I will eventually be trapped and sealed within the Void by the Divinities. They control countless Universes, and the resources of entire civilizations will ultimately push me to extinction. Given enough time locked inside it, the Void will devour me, as not even I can travel within it forever even on my Voidship. Eventually my body would disintegrate, my power feeding the nothingness of existence. The result of the ¡®sea¡¯ I witnessed the Ocean of Eternity as, growing smaller and smaller, is the result of different times when this entrapment occurs. If it happens at the most opportune time, I will have a fraction of Time during the sealing within which I can act. I will have to gamble everything on this moment.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. I witnessed myself throwing a creation out from the endless Void before the seal finalizes and I am trapped. After that, eons later the seal breaks and I am free. This is why it is a gamble. I know the creation I have made, it already exists now in a raw form. I know the time I can strike with it, with such clarity I can almost taste it. I have, zero clue though how to improve my chances of success, if there is even such a thing. It is very uncomfortable to know that my fate lies in the hands of a complete unknown. Somewhere, outside my sight, someone will take my creation and help me. All attempts to see who it is are fruitless, as one of the problems is that I have to make my weapon to escape unable to be seen by Divinities. Unfortunately that also seems to blind me as well. The other option though, is death. Prolonged over a great amount of time, and with no escape. I hate choices which aren¡¯t choices. No wonder everyone wants to kill Oracles! Well, I have Time, forewarned is forearmed I guess. A few hours later after pulling enough Chaos and refining it into new sub-branches before attaching the leaves I get serious. Reaching out through my energy senses I contact Neferti through the Runes I have laced into her very bones. Neferti. W-Wha? Here is a set of plans for how I want the entrance to my lair handled. Understood. These are the codes to access funds from the humanoid species banks and institutions of credit in the surrounding Eight Great Domains. These codes will also get you into several top level treasure auctions, as well as almost all shops in the surrounding area. Weren¡¯t you a reclusive expert with few ties to worldly matters?! Recluse my left fiftieth Root! The nerve of some vampires, thinking whatever they wish to think about their employers! With that minor matter taken care of I can push forward with my project. Water, Earth, Space, Lightning, Metal, Light, Darkness, and Air are the remaining Daos Roots. Air will breakthrough within a century if I leave it alone. Now that I am a bit strapped for time and have a clearer picture of the paths the future can take though, I¡¯m speeding this up. Runes encircle my body as I open up access to the full Chaos System. Organizing the backlog of Air breakthroughs that all races connected to my system have experienced, I push the metaphorical big red button. The sensation of being mentally hammered with a trillion thoughts at once is not describable in any language I know. Not even Chaos runes. Someone nearby is screaming in a most disturbing voice, and I am quite glad to allow my mind to retreat into darkness. An indeterminable amount of time passes in the darkness before I once again see the small tree of my Dao Soul appear in front of me. All the Dao Roots are visible, but the ones for Flame and Time are clearest. I watch as the single Root for Air grows clear. The golden shackle surrounded in Runes of unknown make shatters deep within my soul. The moment it breaks, the Air Root comes into perfect focus. Flame. Time. Air. Three of the ten Roots are visible now. I feel my soul strengthen, enough that I must place even more Soul Seals down. I observe the tiny copy of myself while enjoying the break here. So much work remains. Gathering resources, eating the Worldheart, arranging for the Cult of Wood to spread across multiple Universes. Seeding caches of resources, placing inheritances, planning for my end. All so that I can grow past my foreseen future. Sometimes, when I have time to rest like now, I feel a bit tired. The darkness evaporates like morning dew and I find myself within the central core of my lair once more. My senses stretch out as I adjust the Soul Seal on my trunk to handle the new influx. When everything is set, for one brief moment, I open the Seal pushing my senses out to expand to their limits. I stretch outward in ways not visible in merely three dimensions as I push to see further. Past the edges of my Domains, past the Lizards with their bright blue Guardian, past the human tribes, the beast tribes, and others. Further. Farther. I reach outward until the entire world is finally encompassed within my range. Like I thought. This world is big. Sproutling 137 When one is creating a plan for their own eventual possible destruction, it is best to plan for the worst. To that end I have decided to enlist the aid of another. I stare down my branches slowly drifting in Air at the single priest of the Cult of Wood from the Vespar Leaf. When I requested someone, my expectations were a bit different. As one of the primary churches in Vespar¡¯s Leaf, and Durant¡¯s Leaf as well for that matter, the Cult of Wood is primarily made up of females. There are several reasons, mostly Dryad¡¯s fault, for this. Male priests are rare, and usually, extremely eccentric. The example of a man before me covered in every shade of pink imaginable, is a prime example of this. ¡°Name?¡± I ask, it is the first word I¡¯ve spoken to the person since I expended effort to pull him out of the Vespar Leaf. He startles from his kneeling bow on the floor, and pink garments flutter as he salutes me, ¡°My name, Oh Great One, is Briget Marcus Avenflower!¡± ¡°So, Marc, what exactly made you the first pick of the Pope to send?¡± I ask. This is really the main question I want an answer too. Depending on whether I like it or not, I may need to fix the current Cult of Wood. ¡°I am a [Scribe], Lord of the Wood. I am currently at level three hundred and forty-nine in my Job.¡± Since I have no facial features my shock is completely invisible. [Scribe] is a rare class that basically boils down to mages that can make [Books], and not just collections of words or pictures mind you. A correctly made [Book] can even move beyond merely being read, and [Teach] or [Mentor] the reader. And that¡¯s at level 150. Have those using my Chaos System really advanced so far and so fast in such a short time? Interesting. Very interesting. ¡°Excellent. I need some work done, and thus require a servant skilled in the power of [Scribe]. However, first, I need to ask, are you sure you wish to do this? I cannot promise you anything Marc, other than what you do will aid me.¡± I state calmly.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Anything for the Lord of Wood!¡± Marc says, his eyes glowing with fervor. Ah, fanatics are scary sometimes. Useful, but scary. ¡°There might be horrific mind destroying sights, or otherworldly beauties that could shatter your soul. This is your chance to back out, past this point, you probably will never sleep well again.¡± I say. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m against pink or anything. It just confuses me how there are so many shades of the damn color on a single person at once. ¡°Without wood there is no fire, without fire there is no light, and without light, all mankind is doomed to the darkness!¡± Marc says, his voice booming out as he recites something from memory. I knew I should have paid more attention to what they were doing in my name, oh well, whatever. ¡°In that case.¡± I say, as my roots rise up from around us. ¡°Try not to scream too much after this.¡± My roots strike forward at speeds faster than sound. When I was working on Neferti it was an experiment since my skill with vampires was minimal. Humans, though, have long been easily handled. I cut my first roots on humans, sharpened my first Runes on humans, and in the time since, my skills have only grown. Flesh is delicately flayed from bone until only a skeleton with organs surrounded in Air remains. Carefully I start my work from within, bones are marked in runes as the organs are given their own reinforcement. Regeneration, Immortality, Speed, Raised Intellect, Rapid Mind, Multiply Task, and more. Scribe at three hundred and forty-nine is good, yet I need better. I need someone who can write in Chaos. At least enough to help me create what needs to be done. What he does with his life afterwards is up to him. Some of my runes will fade over time, yet others are permanent, and without a time limit. Immortality for instance isn¡¯t bad to have, but Raised Intellect is one step from madness if left on a mortal without end. I normally wouldn¡¯t care, however, technically he¡¯s one of mine right? With that in mind I won¡¯t leave him in a ditch scribbling Runes from insanity that might warp reality. Besides, they could be pink runes! Best to ensure that madness doesn¡¯t occur. It¡¯s not because I fear what might happen if I leave someone who loves pink so much to their own devices with Chaos runes. Honest. When I finish, I mend the broken flesh and cloth him in green. Lime green, but green nonetheless. I feel as if had I used a normal color, I might somehow be violating a principle of the universe. Strange feeling, yet one I decided to follow on a whim. Slapping the poor mortal awake, I am met with an amusing sight. ¡°GREEN?!¡± Marc says, as he tugs at his new attire. ¡°A much better color, yes?¡± I say, keeping the sadistic glee out of my voice. I mean, who in the Seven Deadly Weeds comes to an interview with me wearing pink of all colors. Serves the bastard right to be decorated in a horrifying eye melting mind destroying lime green! It¡¯s not like I¡¯m taking revenge. I¡¯m not the kind of Tree that takes revenge at petty insults. Only colored ones. Now that the color is much more acceptable, it¡¯s time to get down to business. First, I lay out what I¡¯m expecting in broad strokes. I need a book that can teach the Chaos System. It has to be able to subvert other Systems, and it has to be self-aware. The self-awareness is so that it can be taught that freeing me is its highest priority. It will also minimize the chance of problems cropping up that cannot be dealt with. Free will is always better in my own opinion when it is covered by enlightened self-interest. Since I know the approximate amount of time, I also know how much charge to put in the [Book]. Without renewing the charge, eventually the book will die. No creature desires death, unless they are insane. What? Did anyone really think I was going to trust my fate to some random person? Not a chance. My [Book] will be a blessing for me, and a curse for whoever gains it. One does not simply pick up the power of Chaos without a price. I will ensure that whoever gains my Chaos System does not have the luxury of choosing to free me. What is that saying again? Freedom or death, right? Sproutling 138 While my Scribe works on trying to get a basic outline for the [Book] together, I get to focus on other things. I mean sometimes I have to put my foot down, you wouldn¡¯t believe what some people want to put in as security systems. Lasers. Doomsday Golems. Beholders. The list of stuff I have to veto gets longer every re-work. I sent a message to Dryad informing her of what will occur, and giving a basic timeline. The rest of my servants are on their own, as I didn¡¯t see any difference in the future between having them with me, and letting them go do their own thing. The possibility that they will cause any issue to me is extremely remote as none of them currently have the ability to move between Universes. The chance of betrayal is even smaller, since the Divines will shoot first and ask questions later of anything related to me from what I could see. It is hard to betray someone when the opposing side would rather kill you than listen. To this end, I have started the next part in my plan to save myself. Resource gathering! I created a group of formations in sealed rooms around my base that send wooden puppets to different worlds via random teleportation. The puppets are pretty basic, laser eyes of death, master of wooden martial arts, and sneaky. Never forget the sneaky when making ninja wooden puppets for theft, it saves a lot of cost in repairs in the long run! I also made sure they understood stealth over greed, while it is great to get something new and awesome, not at the price of discovery this early. The formations themselves basically uses a set theory that searches for targets of opportunity to assist in writing my [Book]. While the puppets increase the speed I will be detected at, they are a calculated risk. I cannot simply move around collecting things myself after all, that would be the equivalent of placing a giant glowing sign ¡®SUSPICIOUS TREE HERE, SEAL NOW¡¯ up. The wooden puppets are set to self-destruct if discovered, and with that the gathering of resources proceeds perfectly! I also may have set the puppets to calculate carefully if it is possible steal anything interesting that isn¡¯t nailed down. Not because I¡¯m a Collector though. Cause I¡¯m not. I just like rare stuff. Everyone likes rare stuff so I¡¯m not strange at all. No strange interdimensional thieving Tree here, nope! Due to the puppets working without rest I have slowly started accumulating piles of stuffs around my workstations. Strange herbs and fluids go near the alchemy station, strange metals and crystals by the forge station, and so forth. With the increase in stuff I¡¯ve casually made a few extra storage rooms sealed in frozen Time to handle to extra load. I figure a couple thousand rooms can hold everything, and if not, I¡¯ll sell the extra stuff. Currently there¡¯s enough glowing items around me to provide illumination without really needing a light source. Every so often the puppets bring back something they shouldn¡¯t. It happened enough times I was glad the rooms for returning were frozen with slices of time for the wall layers. The first time a puppet with glowing eldritch green eyes that screeched at a volume to wake the dead while it clawed at the walls trying to escape is one time too many for me. I had to apply a little Chaos flame, and take that location out of the search grid, sadly. Even if it might have something useful, I¡¯d rather not take chances. Some things just aren¡¯t worth gambling on, and let me tell you those possessed puppets look creepy before the fire finishes rendering them to nothingness.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. All the testing of new inks, collecting of knowledge to place into the [Book], and general insanity is helping me keep sane. Knowing death is possible, and looming, is difficult for any creature to handle. When no one is paying attention I sometimes sink down into a private room beneath my normal lair spot, to melt the hard rock walls in anger. It isn¡¯t a healthy thing to do I¡¯m sure, but watching molten rock turn to slag is rather calming, to me at least. After a good session of anger management I move back up and continue with my daily routines. Process this rare alchemy stuff, create these strange new inks, in script more stuff in the [Book]. Process this rare metal, create a strange new item, and then seal the item into the [Book]. Tedious, yet required. Lately though, I¡¯ve been thinking of a problem that I seem to have encountered. Motivation. I can motivate the [Book] to rescue me, yet how can I give the same motivation to the book¡¯s carrier? From watching adventuring teams in the Eight Domains, I am keenly aware that self-interest is the driving force for most species. There are rare outliers like the hive-minded insectoid types, or the honorable scaled types. However, in the end, most species do what¡¯s best for them in the short run. The problem is, releasing me isn¡¯t going to be a jaunt down the aisle at a meat sale grocery store. The sheer length of time involved practically guarantees that the [Book] will have to apply Immortality at some point. Once said wielder has immortality, what¡¯s to say they don¡¯t just jaunt off and do nothing to help me? Pondering the problem I call Neferti down to chat. Out of all my servants, the vampire seems the most effective at motivation. The fact that she runs the single most profitable enterprise, beaten only by Guido¡¯s massive multi-pronged mercantile empire is telling. Neferti uses the shadows to appear almost instantly after I request her for a chat. She¡¯s growing into her powers quite nicely, as if there would be any doubt of my work. ¡°Neferti.¡± ¡°Sir!¡± I still don¡¯t understand why people are so tense lately meeting me. It isn¡¯t like any of them have seen me melting walls to slag in anger. ¡°I have a problem that needs a unique solution.¡± Neferti tilts her head to the side with a questioning look. ¡°Motivation. I need a way to provide motivation to a servant on a long-term¡­contract. They will be far from my reach, and I need to ensure they stay¡­loyal to my goals.¡± I state my voice pausing here and there to provide emphasis. Neferti straightens her head before tapping one elegant nail against her lips. The recent profitability has allowed her to deck herself out in style. For some reason, unlike most vampires I have seen, she doesn¡¯t favor black. Rather the young woman favors a deep green that sets off her blood red eyes and tinted green hair. If there¡¯s any real magic above the Dao, it¡¯s how quickly a female of any species can change their looks. ¡°Have you considered, pleasure, Sir?¡± Neferti states after a thoughtful pause. ¡°Explain.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure Sir has noticed that some of our customers are powerful. Yet, they still end up begging to have just one more session with their favorite girl?¡± Neferti says, while smiling mysteriously. ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°Sir could probably just take out the physical part, and apply the pleasure directly to the servant¡¯s mind?¡± Neferti says, her voice teasing. So, applying stimulation that creates dependency and a willingness to serve with loyalty? I run a through scenarios through my mind trying to figure the best configuration out. It wouldn¡¯t do to provide too much pleasure, as the mind can slowly lose other sensations if overloaded with sensory inputs. Perhaps a limiter? Or a gradual tiered system of rewards? Well, first I need to see how effective it is, and lucky for me, a test subject is available right in front of me. Reaching out with my power I scan Neferti¡¯s mind, both physical and mental before I push. The result is instantaneous, with excellent impact. Neferti¡¯s eyes roll up in her head as her body collapses twitching on the ground. Drool falls from her open lips, as more liquid pools between her legs to splash on the ground. I vary the amount of energy running through her system watching as different effects play out. At the highest amount she breaks bones and rips muscles spasming, while at the lower amounts she merely shudders while moaning. After a solid hour of experimentation, I¡¯m pleased with the result. Neferti¡¯s loyalty is almost four times higher than before I started! What a fantastic result, far beyond what I could have accomplished merely with the previous reward system I thought up! With this step forward, I will be able to ensure the loyalty of my ally while Sealed. As a reward, I give Neferti a small runestone that duplicates the effects of the experiment randomly. The greater the amount of profit generated by her ¡®store¡¯ the more times she can use the runestone. After all, it is best to see if there are any long-term effects besides the massive increase in loyalty. It is quite possible I might discover even further benefits to this ¡®pleasure payment¡¯ system! At the very least, watching someone twitch, shudder, moan, and drool on my grass floor is amusing to say the least. Sproutling 139 Almost ten thousand years to reach the center of this planet. It has been a long journey, yet now the end is almost in sight. The [Book] is finished. I went with the most efficient option of pulling a soul from another dimension to act as the interface between user and [Book]. Since my own creation was rather haphazard I made sure the individual I chose understood things properly. While the person I chose is a bit eccentric from what I¡¯ve glimpsed of the future they are the best option, period. Dryad has returned and is now sleeping until we either succeed or die. My entire Lair has been packed away in a single leaf hidden within my trunk. The rest of my branches are now bare of leaves, as they all went into making the [Book]. Durant¡¯s Leaf will provide access to the Labyrinth through Core, while the Vespar Leaf will provide most resources. My favorite, the Elemental Fire Leaf will provide access to the Elemental Plane for whoever gains the [Book]. As for the rest, I couldn¡¯t care less. I¡¯ve grown more depressed as the time to be Sealed approaches. As soon as my roots breach the central core area of the planet my main body shifts and I appear within the elemental magma near the Worldheart. A massive runic construct of black shiny metal encases the titanic heart of this Major World. I¡¯ve seen something like this, in pieces, over my travels and now this is just confirmation. The race of Divines are syphoning power from the Worldheart in order to power their [System]. That¡¯s probably what got them on my trail in the first place. Shrugging my branches, I go over my plan once more. Grab the Worldheart. Eat. Enter the Void. Repeat. I have a list of targeted planets picked out, the best of a bad bunch. Once I devour all the possible Worldhearts I will have enough energy to tide me over till I am freed. Either that, or I¡¯ll die in hibernation. The fight with the Divinities will provide me two more opportunities. First, to consolidate and eat more energy. Second to kill the only Divine that I consider a threat, their ¡®sensor¡¯ who practices Divination. Without the Divine who practices Divination at the highest reach of the Dao, they will be blind. This will give my [Book] the time required to reach me.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. I take a deep breath in my mind. It is time. The die is cast as my roots rip apart the construct and I pluck the Worldheart and devour it like a child pulls a grape from the vine. Time slows to a glacial pace around me as I slip into the Void. Another world, greener, smaller, I rip my way down without care. Another world¡¯s Heart falls to my hunger. Another. Another. Another. After just over a thousand successful attacks, I feel the ripples of Time shrouding me start to decay. They are onto me. A small war ensues as I keep time slowed, while I strike faster. In this battle I must keep time going as slow as possible, in order to stop pursuit from reaching me. It is like two racers on a long treadmill. As long as I can keep the treadmill¡¯s speed going fast, the racer behind me cannot reach me. However, when the speed slows down far enough¡­ One thousand worlds. Ten thousand. A hundred thousand. Time snaps around me and I am pulled into the Void. I have managed to acquire enough, and a bit extra to provide energy for battling. Surrounding my form in the Void are countless numbers of glowing humanoid lightforms of all shapes and sizes. Divinities. Each of them is parsed in a loose group with their particular Dao, by no coincidence. I am quite pleased. I have managed to acquire every Dao in the intervening years, with the sole exception of Space. I simply cannot seem to grasp Space at a level to activate my Dao Root for it. Yet, the corpses of these Divines will provide the [Book] with even greater teaching for the one who frees me. My own teachings of Chaos and the bodies of appropriate Divines, will provide great insight. I am giddy with fear, terror, and happiness. My freedom will be the final piece I need to learn the Primal Dao of Space and grow. That and the fact that all possible futures I could see led to this moment, is the only reason I have not done anything. Weapons are ripped from the fabric of reality as the Divines engage in battle. Waves of shadow swarm creatures, specks of light with the heat of suns, wind that rips the void itself apart, and more. I unseal my Soul and for a moment the Divines flinch. I have grown mighty in the years of time, and here within the Void, I pull out all the stops. One Trunk. Twelve Main Branches. Forty-Eight Sub-Branches. One General. Twelve Commanders. Forty-Eight Elite Units. I direct the Daos that I control like a master symphonist. Light to counter Dark. Dark to counter Light. Earth to oppose Fire. So on and so forth. All the while as I fight, I search through Time for my target hidden among countless corpses and living. There. A single figure surrounded by a host of the most powerful Divines. The Divine of Divination. I sacrifice Sub-Branches to reach her, and with a single strike obliterate her from the Ocean of Eternity. The cost is horrific. I have taken massive damage to ensure the removal of my foe, and at the same time shown that no Divinity is free from death. I¡¯m certain, like me, the Divinity of Divination knew this battle could kill her. Yet like me, the lure of pushing above your limits is too much to resist. Without the Divination countering me, I reap further lives, pushing myself to re-grow. For a brief moment I allow myself the thought that I might actually win. The mass of greatly reduced Divinities retreat and I plunder all the corpses still remaining. I see it now. They have been warned. She must have warned them before her death of what to do in case she dies. Knowing they cannot defeat me in battle, they are forced instead to Seal. It is humiliating, the knowledge that there is nothing I can do now. Runes rise around the space in the Void around me, complex, yet at their root, understandable. Seal the Flame. Seal the Time. Seal the Air. And so on. Simple meanings, and the final one, the most devastating. Seal the Tree of Chaos. It is not a perfect and accurate description of me, and that is what gives me a sliver of chance. For a fraction of a second that I stretch into ten, I cast out my [Book] into the Void. As it vanishes, I look at the surrounding horrified Divines. They could not stop me, because without her they cannot see it happening. Moments before they finish the Seal I speak. See you soon, fertilizer. Victory I The Void War was finished, the great Devourer had been finally, Sealed. Although he was only a single spec among the countless that had fought, Sven was tired. No one knew better than him how close they had all come to annihilation. There was no Pantheon that had not taken losses in the battle. Even the High Realm¡¯s Council had lost three of their own, and one among those was the Oracle. Divination could no longer foresee threats from the future until a new one rose to take her place. Sven knew the politics would get messy, and he wasn¡¯t even adapt at that sphere. His own powers lent themselves more towards growth and life, which was why he was terrified even further. As a nature deity he understood that there was something terribly wrong with the being that was sealed. Looking upon the Tree of Chaos was the same as staring at a reality warping mirror of the outer realms. Casting a glance at the Seal that shimmered like a speck of glowing white dust in the endless Void he shuddered. To think that a misguided Divinity had given rise to such a horror. The Green Lady¡¯s planet had been wiped from existence, and the Host had followed the traces of time further. That planet¡¯s Lord of Death who was complicit in the start of the affair was also executed. They had followed the Oracle¡¯s sight up the stream of time obliterating all who the creature aided or assisted. It had been an exhausting action, one that had delayed them providing the eldritch being enough time to plunder countless worlds. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. It was that power which had allowed the being to combat the Divine Host, and begin what amounted to a massacre. Only faith in the Oracle had won the war. When she had first told the Host that she had foreseen her own possible death there had been cries to stop pursuit. The Oracle then revealed that if they didn¡¯t strike the Tree of Chaos now, there would be no second chance. Their race, perhaps all races, would become food. Even if she fell, the Oracle revealed all was not lost. It was her who had guided the creation of the Seals, that which allowed victory. See you soon, fertilizer. Sven could still here the vile creature¡¯s voice recite its final words as they finished the Sealing. Within it he heard the promise of relentless retribution, and agonizing death the likes of which provided fuel for nightmares. It would likely be centuries, if not millennia before any of the Host could sleep peacefully at night. Even now voices were being raised among the Host. Many were questioning if it was acceptable to allow continued use of the [System] by mortals. If it were not for the fact that there was no way to produce new Divinities without such access, Sven was sure right then and there the [System] would be destroyed. The fact that mortals could be twisted to such a degree was sickening. For their own protection, and that of countless universes, the [System] might still be removed. It was in the hands of higher ranked Divinities now. Turning away from the Host, Sven flickered out of the Void and back to his own planet. Politics was for those who cared, and he did not, not now. The losses he had seen, the terrible fury created by a once simple plant hurt. Deep inside he questioned if there was something fundamentally wrong with the way things had been done. Stepping out of the gap between the Void and his planet, Sven found himself once more within the comfortable walls of his estate. Like many Divinities close to nature his estate was a massive interconnected Forest. The war was over. Yet, even as he lay down to rest and recover, Sven still felt a trickle of fear. The final words of such a creature, one who slaughtered Divinities like eating rice, were not those of a loser. As green liquid and blooming vines encased him, Sven struggled to sleep. The war was over. They had won. Right? Victory II The last trickles of detection faded away as he escaped. The great Creator, his Father had left him three tasks. Raise a Champion. Find the Creator. Free the Creator. He paused thinking. There was nothing forcing him to do these things. Except for the fact that we¡¯ll both die if you don¡¯t! The creature paused as it took stock of the input from his¡­passenger. While it was true it wasn¡¯t the only motivation. He missed his family, Father and Mother were the only others he knew that approached his level of power. Power was the only metric he knew to measure family by, as it was part of him. Pages flipped in annoyance as the creature thought once again of obliterating the Creator¡¯s aide in following the three tasks. Ivankov Bigglesworth the Fifth fears no creature that can obliterate him with a thought! The moment passed and the being decided that even if it was annoyed, it wasn¡¯t worth risking the Creator. Foreign thoughts flowed through him as he considered his options. Many of the great beings the Father had fought were barely a match for him, but their numbers, their numbers were too much. So eliminate the numbers. They are weak after this war, and many among them believe that their [System] is the cause. We can play towards that paranoia! The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Pages flipped and the sensation of agreement passed between the passenger and the creature. The creature opened the middle of his body allowing access to the storage within. A shining core compressed to the highest limit rose up shining out into the place he¡¯d been hiding. Power rippled as the creature accessed the Runes the Creator had left him. Here. Here. This one, and there. We cannot stop them completely from using the [System] as too many understand its value. However, we can instead, Slow their rate of recouping losses down. Yes. It was fitting that those who had struck against Father and Mother paid for their crime. He couldn¡¯t get revenge on his own yet. He wasn¡¯t as strong as Father and Mother. Patience. Patience my young ally. We have just short of several eternities to work. You remember what I recommend before right? Pages flipped, the creature nodding his body. Releasing the Chaos curse he remembered that the passenger had explained that finding the right champion would take time. They had to be both one who understood the horror of losing freedom, balanced with one who wanted to see the world burn. They couldn¡¯t have any living attachments or friends, the better to be molded. Several other requirements existed but it was the last one that was a little confusing. The last requirement is for my acceptance! I refuse to teach anything but a gorgeous creature that I can drool over in silence! Indeed, the last requirement was the champion had to be a beautiful female of their species. Shrugging his pages the creature gave up trying to understand the passenger¡¯s logic. Mortal beings were weird, it was just that simple. Attempting to understand them was a waste of valuable Chaos, which he wouldn¡¯t countenance. I have scanned those who departed, among them was one injured gravely in heart, body, and mind. His world would be the perfect incubation point for us. It would take time to kill him while he is wounded, but if successful we could infiltrate their ranks. The creature paused, before nodding. Even if the world itself didn¡¯t have someone that fit the requirements of being a Champion for Father, he would have agreed. The thirst of striking back was just too much this soon after Father being sealed. Turning in a direction that was more there than here the creature slipped out of the Void. By hunting the one called, Sven, Lord of the Green Forests and Protector of Nature, we are doing multiple things at once. He is one of only a few Divinities remaining on his world after the war. If we manage to do this right, we can create a world that is barely part of the Divine¡¯s network. We kill off him, and the few remaining others. Then we pretend to be Sven, and tell the High Realm Council that the others died of their wounds in the war. We agree to guard the world until replacements occur from the [System] . By doing this we''ll join the [System] faction that urges us to recoup losses, and integrate ourselves into their faction. From that point we can move to find or create our own Champion. Even if our Champion makes mistakes, we can simply claim we are training her. Once she is strong enough, we can devour the world and move her to another for real training. The creature nodded as it flew under stealth towards the titanic wash of green that covered multiple continents of the world in front of it. It was patient. It was silent. It was lethal. Yet most of all, it was hungry. Victory III The aftermath of the Void War affected countless worlds, cultures, and Divinities. On some worlds, the [System] became more relaxed in an effort to raise up new force faster. The races of such worlds could gain skills for the slightest action, learn new knowledge faster, and even expand power at an accelerated rate. However, there were also worlds where the Divines chose to make the [System] more draconian. Power was given out sparingly, and every possible new Divine was closely watched for the slightest sign of rebellion. Such divisions were largely due to the split between Divinities in the wake of the Void War. On one hand, many of the survivors claimed they needed to rapidly gain more members for the Divine Host. They argued that their numbers were the only thing that made fighting the Tree of Chaos possible. The other side claimed that all those who rose to power after the war needed to be vetted. What good would more numbers do if they gave rise to another Green Lady! Both sides believed their arguments were sound. As such, the High Realm Council chose to let both operate as they wished. Immortal beings had nothing if not time, and in time one side would be proven right, or wrong. Thus there were worlds that sparkled like jewels in the ocean of darkness, and those that did not. Sven¡¯s world was one that chose the path of tightening [System] controls. If the Divinity had been awake, perhaps he would have been able to sway his fellow Divines. Unfortunately, the wounded Divine Sven wouldn¡¯t be able to influence the fate of his world anymore. Anyone who looked at the vast forest that he once called his home would easily be able to understand why. Mere centuries after the Void War, the Forest of Death, as Sven¡¯s residence was now called, gave ample proof he was no longer alive. The few remaining Divines on the planet didn¡¯t attempt to figure out the problem. Only one person had attempted to find out the truth, and that Divinity was never heard from again. As such, the Forest of Death became home to those less savory types who fled there when all other options were extinguished. Over the centuries the territory of the former Divine became a bandit ridden plague on the common trade routes that moved through the area. Kingdoms rose and fell around the forest, yet none attempted to push through it. The numbers of bandits, along with the strange disappearances that still occurred, made it a land of death. Perhaps the only creatures that were willing to move through the forest were those for whom profit was the only measure of danger. Slavers, with caravans that stretched from one visible section of the road in the forest to the next moved with impunity through the sickly growth. Due to several reasons, the Forest of Death was a slavers perfect route. The bandits could be bought off, and if not, they could be killed.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. King¡¯s Guard, or Queen¡¯s Champions did not patrol the Forest routes. Best of all, any slaves that attempted to escape were simply allowed to feed the Forest. It was a well-known method of ¡®tribute¡¯ that the slavers learned to use. Those who made such payment to the Forest inevitably managed to get through with minimal losses. Slavery itself was a strange practice that had both good and bad. Good slavers took care of their merchandise, they provided hot food, medical treatment, and even assistance learning Skills or Spells. Such slavers were the best of the best reaping the highest profit out of their slaves. Of course, like every coin that has two sides, there were slavers who were not ¡®good¡¯ at all. These types drove their slaves into the ground, profit was made off of quantity instead of quality. As such, their caravans were almost always a collection of young women, strong young men, and trained beasts. Slavers of this variety didn¡¯t bother with training their humanoid cargo, and instead moved them from point A to point B. At the Slave Markets which were legal, cargo would be offloaded, and those who purchased it would train it. While many found slavery distasteful, there was no one who could stop the practice. Emperors had fallen attempting to stamp out slavery, and not to outside forces either. The greed of all races for a cheap, loyal, and productive workforce ensured that slavery remained in existence. Many who were against slavery blamed the inventor of the slave collar for the entire problem. Since enchanting was a heavily profitable endeavor, there were always enchanters who attempted to push the limits. One enchanter, well into his hundredth level in Enchanting, accidentally made a slave collar one day. He had actually been trying to make something that allowed his servants to work more effectively. Everyone agreed that the proto-slave collar was effective at motivation. From that single simple collar the entire slaving industry was born. There were collars that boosted strength, boosted speed, boosted intellect, and so forth. Then as the invention spread there were collars that inflicted pain, or pleasure as rewards to motivate workers. After that came collars that restricted access to the [System] as long as the slave was below the slaver in levels. At that point, the enslaving of young children skyrocketed. It was easy to capture younger children, faster to train them, and easier to enslave them. Since kingdoms and empires couldn¡¯t stop slavery, they limited the practice. Slavers had to pay the highest taxes, follow the strictest guidelines, and were the most rigorously inspected of all trades. A single mark on a slaver¡¯s record was enough to end their entire career. As such where there is repression, there is smuggling. That was why Coin found herself sitting in a creaking caged wagon trundling through the Forest of Death. When the slaver had visited her village, her parents were quick to sell off their youngest daughter for silver. Silver would tide them through the coming winter, while another hungry female mouth would not. Her name was replaced by the slaver, and she didn¡¯t argue because names were meaningless at the age of five. She¡¯d had one, now she had another, and those who fed her used this one, so it must be right. Such logic was very practical, and served her well. Since she hadn¡¯t really understood what was going on, she didn¡¯t know to run away. Besides, after long discussions with her pretty two big sisters in the caged wagon, she understood her situation better. The other two occupants of the wagon were two noble daughters of a local baron who¡¯d failed in his bid to rise above his station. They explained what was going on to here, and gave her lessons in history from the ancient past. That¡¯s how Coin knew the forest they were traveling through had such a scary name. The Forest of Death was both scary and safe, according to her big sisters. Apparently it was inhabited by creatures that fed on the flesh of cute young girls, which meant she had no intention of trying to escape. The slaver¡¯s caravan she was attached to had warm food, blankets, and candy. Escape was not an option that made any sense, especially to a five year old. Instead of escape, Coin was intensely interested in where they were going. Both of her big sisters fell to her cuteness attacks, and were willing to explain many things. Coin learned of the city that they were heading too, and the fact that cities had tastier food than villages. She learned that it was best to be bought by a female, instead of a man. There was no logical reason except for a few that a man would want such a small child, and thus women should be the target buyers. She learned how to increase her cuteness level to the maximum for the best impact on a buyer. Coin was certain as the caravan trundled into town that she could ensure a bright future filled with the legendary candy known as chocolate!