At your own risk

Aldi had left for Utgard at noon. Since then a few hours had passed and it was now time for the evening prayer.

It was obvious that things couldn't continue as they had before the incident.

The incident had been too well prepared and all the people had been in their houses. They must have known but chose to keep silent and hide. It wasn't a true betrayal but clearly showed their priorities.

'Should I retract the bloodlust-barrier?'

Just at that moment, Nerida left the town hall and slowly walked towards me. She gave a smile that was so forced it made me want to throw up.

Except, I had neither the ability nor anything to throw up...

"Hey, I'm glad you didn't get hurt!!!!!!"

...

"Well... I never thought the noble would suddenly attack you... I'm sorry I couldn't come immediately but I had to relieve myself."

"So you were relieving yourself in the town hall for multiple hours? Nerida, you are horrible at lying.

You don't need to pretend. I know about your meeting with the noble."

"But can you blame me? I just wanted to have revenge for my father and all the others who were killed!"

"Have I ever rejected the idea of helping you settle your grudge? I have to say I greatly misjudged you."

"Are you even still Eldar? Your voice changed and you act totally different. You changed!"

"I didn't change, your actions forced me to change, it was your distrust that made me what I am now!"

"We won't leave! You can't take our home from us!"

'You are free to stay at your own risk.'

"So you'll just let the beasts kill us?

...

Eldar? Answer me! Don't just ignore me! Dammit!"

A loud bang resounded throughout the town. Nerida, driven by her anger, had transformed into her beast form and punched me. I didn't take any damage. My density was far beyond what her strength could successfully make a dent in.

Instead, her fist was now bleeding and looked quite gruesome. Her hand was unable to withstand the counterforce her own punch produced. She promptly retreated holding her hand and disappeared into the town hall from where she had come.

\u003cWill you retract the bloodlust barrier?\u003e

'No. There is no need to bother with them. I should focus on getting stronger instead.'

\u003cGood answer.\u003e

'Any suggestions on how to get stronger?'

\u003cGather magic for the next evolution as a large amount is needed, gain proficiency in magic and find ways to attack with it, find additional ways to find, collect strong blueprints of beasts for future use, collect beast's corpses for future use.\u003e

'Looks like I have plenty of work ahead of me.'

I heaved a mental sigh and began to seriously consider my options. Gathering magic was the easiest for me so I would first concentrate on that.

When I had been placing my subordinate trees I had already positioned them in a formation used in my former world. It was used to make magic slightly gravitate towards all inside. However, its effect was rather poor and only useful in long-term plans due to its simplicity.

Since I wanted to get strong as fast as possible this formation alone wasn't going to cut it. I lay all my focus on my subordinate trees. Under my meticulous control, countless rows of tiny runes appeared on the trees, wrapping around them like snakes.

The ground shook as beneath it my roots first decayed and then regrew, forming patters below ground. Even these new roots were covered in runes.

The result was near-instantaneous. My subordinate trees began to glow in a pale blue light as the magic circle I just created was fully activated.

Magic came rushing towards me, the epicenter of the circle. The magic density in my surroundings increased to the point where it even became somewhat visible to the naked eye.

Another thing about such a high density of magic was that it was harmful to beings that couldn't absorb it. Like for example the humans in town. The town's proximity to me would no doubt result in adverse effects for the inhabitants.

Before the incident, I hadn't been willing to use this method to attract magic but since my conversation with Nerida, that had changed.

It was their choice to leave or stay and I wouldn't use the beasts to purposely antagonize. However, I would no longer hold back for their sake either.