Chapter 76: Slumber

Chapter 76: Slumber

A tree, twelve and a half metres tall with smooth ivory bark topped with a canopy of vivid crimson leaves stands at the north most point of a rocky bluff. Said bluff was south of its much larger and less isolated sibling, and both contain the remains of stone and wood structures devastated by the recent battle.

Crimson leaves partially hang over the northern edge of the bluff, the tree’s smooth trunk tilted at a slight angle. At the bottom of a ravine that divides both stone formations lies the wreckage of what was a natural stone archway that spanned the gap. Gét latest novel chapters on nov(e)lbj/n(.)c/om

A seasoned botanist with an unhealthy obsession with plant life that could be described in the most charitable way possible as: ‘unfriendly’, would likely identify the tree as being an evolved variant of the Blight. A carnivorous species of monstrous flora that reproduces parasitically that are common throughout the northern wilderness.

They would then turn around and flee, call a thaumaturge with access to fire skills and have them burn the thing to ashes. Fortunately for Leif, there wasn’t a human in sight. In fact, the nearest humans were towards the coast, hundreds of miles south.

But if for whatever reason a botanist was exploring the undead infested wilderness north of humanity's frontier, and they hadn’t been overcome by terror... Well, they may have noticed something strange.

Because there were several oddities with the tree standing alone on the bluff. There was an abundance of animals living in and around the plant monster's branches. Families of songbirds and rodents called the ivory white branches home, the strange feeling of safety and comfort the tree exuded was highly unusual for its apparent species.

Normally you would expect the immediate area around a Blight tree to be a graveyard of corpses drained of all vitality, and nothing would dare grow within the plant’s territory due to the lack of nutrients in the soil. But for the lone tree atop the bluff, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Plant life thrived all around it. Grasses and ferns broke through hardened stone cracked by powerful roots that dug into the ground and cliffside. The lesser flora seemed to reach for the sky with newly grown stems, their colouration far from the sickly green one might expect.

Moss and vines too latched onto every surface they could, compelled by a benevolent force to multiply and thrive. Ruined buildings had become overgrown, the steep cliffs were practically bursting with life. Where logs had been used for the construction of temporary structures new shoots tentatively began to grow.

And as time passed, the explosion of life only expanded.

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And strangely enough, it didn’t bother him. He now knew what he was, where he was, and why he was there. Leif pulled back his perception and sharpened his focus, just because he was no longer blindly searching for something he didn’t quite understand didn’t mean he could stay stagnant.

There were things he needed to do, places to go, people to see. But he was still exhausted and sore. Even if he wasn’t dead, the battle had done a serious amount of damage to both his body and soul, his cultivated energy was fitfully low and with an exploratory scan of his soul he noted [Healing Palm] was still broken.

Warning! Multiple skill choices pending! Make selections within 12 hours or skills will be randomly chosen!

A system window popped up into his awareness. Leif mentally squinted at the prompt. There were several things that didn’t make sense, he wasn’t certain how long he had been trapped within the vision, it was obviously longer than twenty four hours. He had even grown to a size eclipsing his previous maximum as an unevolved Blight tree, and he had spent over a decade in that form.

Twelve hours... Surely I can rest for a little longer... Eight, no nine hours at least. He grumbled internally, minimising the prompt and letting himself relax. Just because there were things to do, didn’t mean they were urgent.

Warning! Multiple skill choices pending! Make selections within 6 hours or skills will be randomly chosen!

Ugh, that wasn’t nine hours. Leif mumbled, feeling the dull ache throughout his body return as his consciousness focused. You’ve already waited weeks, if not months, stop pressuring me...

Leif tried to return to his restful slumber, but he couldn’t. No matter how much it pained him, he couldn’t deny the fact of his existence. That fact being he found it extremely enjoyable to see his numbers go up, human, tree, he suspected it didn’t matter. Leif let the system expand the prompts he needed to check over, and was promptly overwhelmed by the sheer number of notifications he had to read, and choices he had to make.

What the hells did I do? He grumbled, looking over the almost two dozen windows. Oh yeah, I killed a big insect. Was that really enough for all... what? Six, seven levels? I have to pick four new skills? He thought mentally scanning through the information.

He side-eyed the ‘six hours remaining’ notification and let out a completely metaphorical sigh. I shouldn’t have waited so long, whoops.