356 Who Would Accept This Mission?

"My friend! Can you feel my anxiety?"

The great druid's question surprised Baiyi, and the expression on the soul armature's face turned to one of confusion.

'I'm not even your homie, man. How am I supposed to detect a sudden increase in your anxiety? Besides, aren't you a goddamned tree? How can trees be anxious? Even if Ultimate Infestation begins to disassemble the environment, you would still be alright, you know?"

As though sensing Baiyi's confusion, Grandfather Tree said, "Sense it. Use the Gnosis that you were taught to try and sense it…"

Baiyi was speechless. The vigor he originally had to engage the great druid in a private conversation had now disappeared. What he had heard so far made him think that he and Grandfather Tree operated on different levels of cognitive reasoning.

Out of options, Baiyi could only truthfully admit to Grandfather Tree that he had yet to reach a tangible level of understanding on the Gnosis of Nature, so he could not practice it. "So, please, be more specific with your meaning."

The shrub shook its shoot as though it was shaking its head in regret. "I see. So, the Gnosis truly is something that cannot be gifted…" It murmured.

As the great druid mulled over this discovery, he switched bodies from the shrub to a gigantic toadstool growing at the foot of a tree. The toadstool suddenly leaped into the air and landed on the shrub that had just been vacated. 

'What was the point of doing that?' Baiyi's wondered. 'Do all druids have similar transfiguration hobbies? Seriously, we should be grateful that they can only transform into animals or plants, for if they ever become able to transform into beautiful waifus…' 

The toadstool began to explain why it was in a state of distress. However, its explanation was riddled with mumbo jumbo and sequiturs that defied logic; this was probably caused by the lengthy period of time the great druid had spent living as plants. It caused Baiyi a lot of effort to understand what Grandfather Tree was saying.

This thick, large woodland, which made out of the largest percentage of forest within the kingdom, was known as the Eternal Ocean of Trees. Now, it was under duress.

The Eternal Tree Ocean was so vast, Baiyi's current location was nothing but a small dot within a great green circle. The Eternal Tree Ocean had always been blissfully silent, and as it was where the fairy civilization was started, the fairies considered the land their mother. For some reason, the fluttering of the leaves in the woods now sounded like cries of agony. It was as though something terrifying had come to threaten its existence.

The druid's understanding of the Gnosis had allowed him to perceive a trace of fear in every tree residing in Eternal Tree Ocean, and their almost-silent pleas for help were now almost deafening to him.

Baiyi was sure that Grandfather Tree had left out some important details, but it seemed that the druid had said all it could. Whatever those hidden details were, the overview of the situation was still clear: something really bad was about to happen.

"Er… I have a question. Do you guys have any festivals coming up?" Baiyi slowly said.

The toadstool shook sideways at the question.

Baiyi let out a breath of relief. "Okay; this can't be happening because of Sylvia's return, right?"

The toadstool shook sideways again. "The omen appeared a long time ago. It is not recent."

Baiyi became convinced the great druid had chosen to inhabit a toadstool because it made shaking sideways easier.

"Then, what? Has any more information pertaining to this omen been discovered?" Baiyi pressed on.

The toadstool druid shook sideways again. "Nature… is not humanlike. Sometimes it is perceptive, and other times it is blunt. I have spent a lot of time and tried my best to trace the origin of the omen, but my search was fruitless. Could this result be another premonition?"

'Using premonitions as an excuse? Damn, this druid has the potential to be a scam psychic,' Baiyi snickered in his mind, but outwardly, he said, "I don't understand. Why tell me about this? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yes. I need you to help me find out the reason for this unrest, which has become a source of fear to the entire Eternal Tree Ocean," the great druid replied. "For the sake of our great mother forest, and for the sake of your wife's home…"

Baiyi froze, unsure of what to say. 'I came here for the Caudillo Butterfly bow, okay? I also want to recruit two fairy archers into my academy. Now you're telling me, a Voidwalker, to save your Eternal Tree Ocean? Shouldn't there be more qualified people out there who could do this?' 

The toadstool seemed to have read through his mind. "You possess the Gnosis of Nature, and you are perceptive. You are the best candidate for this task. Forgive the sudden request, really, but there simply is no better than you. This is your duty."

"With all due respect," Baiyi started, with a sideways shake of his head, "As I mentioned earlier, I have not realized the Gnosis to the extent you have. It's not that I'm shirking my duty; it's just that I simply am not the man for the job. I don't even understand the forest nor do I recognize it. Perhaps, you should ask other druids or those powerful archers to help."

To Baiyi, this sudden mission was nothing more than a drag, which could not hold his interest. Moreover, the request did not have any rewards attached to it. If Grandfather Tree had said that the Caudillo Butterfly bow was the reward, Baiyi would have accepted the mission straight away. However, all the great druid could offer for now were speeches of morality, responsibility, and other holier-than-thou reasons, so Baiyi did not give in to the demands.

He was busy and had no time for the environment. If something big really was going to happen here, he could just return to Isythre and remove archery from the curriculum.

With that in mind, nothing the great druid said moved him. The Fifth Walker shook his head sideways and said, "Please forgive me, but I must decline."

After that, he turned to leave.

The great druid did not try to stop him. He merely watched Baiyi leave before quietly muttering, "You'll return. The Gnosis in you does not fool me. It has not been tarnished…"

At that moment, Baiyi could see the great druid as nothing more than a scam artist. With a sideways shake of his head, the soul armature walked away from the toadstool.

He soon met up with his students and the Fairy Walker, and he saw them having a pleasant conversation. The students seemed to have gotten fond of her.

'Great; she's already acting like the team mom,' Baiyi sighed and walked towards them.

The Fairy Walker's eyes lit up when she saw Baiyi. "You're done? Oh, what did Tree Gramps say to you?"

"Um, nothing really. Just some weird stuff." Baiyi shrugged. "Maybe we should walk why we talk about it. You know, to the village."

As they walked to Eom village, Baiyi told the Fairy Walker about the strange mission the great druid had tasked him with, and he told her he rejected the request.

The Fairy Walker quietly listened, and when Baiyi finished, she said, "There is one thing I'm sure that Tree Gramps was right about."

"What's that?"

"You'll return to him," the Fairy Walker said.Hearthstone again. Gosh! It's either jade golem or this!Humans — including waifus — are animals, too. Technically, it is possible. Depends on how your harem game's going, though! Hee hee.Who? Hippies?