Extending vines

Extending vines

Year 77 Month 8

Few days after the battle

First things first, loot. Since the beetles did most of the fighting, New Freeka had no right to any of the loot and remains, so, the beetles collected all of the remaining armor, weapons and stuff, which is stored in my [tree-asury]. Ill trade them for something someday, though, there seem to be some magical items in there

Next, is my prisoner. Frankly, I didnt think hes going to talk, and actually, I personally didnt really feel like interrogating him, which I feel is a waste of time. After all, Salah is an enemy and were playing defense. The things he can tell me, my prediction is, will be quite worthless.

So, I didn't waste time interrogating Falklay, as my interest in him was more academic in nature. After stripping him of his remaining magical items and storing them in my [tree-asury], I turn to my main objective.

Drugged with all kinds of paralysis and sleep, I put him inside a biolab where I can investigate him, and eventually, I will suck him dry with my vines and feelers. I liked to see how a high level person looked under the hood, just to compare. I have seen the heroes, Jura, Yvon, and now I have this ranger, and I wasted no time, to have a look under the hood.

And there are some notable differences, mainly in where the mana and life force is strongest. The eyes, nose and ears are more pronounced than others, probably due to his need to be sensitive to his surroundings, and his soul spring, with all the stones around it, combined to create a nice fountain. Taking a good look at the fountain, there's a kind of wooden frame around the fountain, in between the stones, and as I reach out to touch the stones, little tooltips come up, telling me what skills he has.

And I try to yank the wood and stones that has this. I mean, its just something I always wanted to try, but did not do with people whom I consider my allies. I had always wondered what could happen if I took one of those rocks out.

So I yank it. And it doesn't move. Ah well. I keep trying, but instead it just hurts the ranger. It seems its magically "tied" and "intertwined" with the soul, via some kind of force.

So I stop, and rest of a while. Maybe I just need more power.

And after drawing a bit more mana and energy from the trees around me, I try to yank a rock on the fountain, again. It shakes, and I could tell that sense a huge amount of pain, but he remains unconscious and strapped in. Thank goodness of paralysis.

The rock shakes, but then something pulls it back again. Its as if Im trying to pull a piece of metal away from a very powerful magnet. I could, a bit, but then the magnet pulls it back once my strength lets up.

Uh.

Not working. Borrowing the root-brains for some processing power, I calculate that the amount of energy I need to break that magnetic pull of the soul spring seems really really really high, so I decide its probably not going to work no matter how many times I try. Maybe this is like the atomic bond of souls, thats why I need shit amount of energy to break it.

Its only if youre trying to break things. Fixing things is a lot easier, since those same forces work with you. The wisp, whispering his wisdom. Thanks dude.

Well, I let the ranger sleep a day inside the biolab, and then I resume testing the next day.

Theres been quite a few other things I wanted to test, and it so happens I have a high level person whos body is suitable for it.

Once again I enter the persons inner realm, and this time, I flooded the body with my mana. Its been something Im curious about since I did it with the hellhounds, and then with Alexiss body when shes contained within me. What if I did it with a living normal person, what happens then?

His body vibrates intensely, struggling in the biolab, as my mana, like a green tide, washes into the inner realm.

[Specimens compatibility with injected mana is low. Specimen body is resisting. Prolonged exposure may result in mana poisoning]

Ah. Did this happen before?

Anyway, I keep it up, I still want to see what happens. The body flails inside the pod, kinda like a fish struggling to escape from an octopus.

[Specimen body is experiencing mana poisoning]

Okay, lets see what happens when I heal him.

[Mana poisoning reduces magic and ability effectiveness]

Really? I try injecting his body with the healing liquids from my [healing fruit], and also the [paralysis poison]. A conundrum, I suppose, but the healing just repairs damage, but does not cure the status ailment.

[Mana poison is still in effect. Specimen bodys organs are starting to suffer damage].

Heal? But I notice the healing is slower.

Two full days passed, as I constantly drown the rangers body with my mana. Hes not dead yet, because one of the vines continue to supply his body with nutrients and air to stay alive, so I can continue to observe whats happening.

Im actually curious, does the body actually gain compatibility over time? Or does the body continue to naturally reject my mana?

[Specimen bodys organs are failing.]

Ah. Heal?

[Healing effectiveness is significantly reduced due to high levels of mana poisoning in the physical body. Specimens body is dying.]

Oh.

I couldnt stop it. The decay in the body is surprisingly quick, as the mana poisoning somehow makes to body turn on itself. Its as if the body is rejecting itself, and strangely, I kept watching. A part of me was like, this is a rare opportunity to witness death under a microscope, and some.

And where I paid attention to most was the soul spring.

I see the land surrounding the river and lake that forms the persons mana start to break apart, as if a great earthquake is shattering them into small pieces, then the water in that river and lake start to leak out into the nothingness, and it reveals a crumbling riverbed of some kind, filled with unusual marks. I couldnt see much, as the crumbling went on rather quickly.

I wonder is it because he is dying too quickly.

But I didnt wonder long, because i had to focus. I want to see what happens to the soul spring then.

As the crumbling riverbed closes in on the soul spring, the spring starts to dry up, the height of the spring falling and eventually, stopped. Then, the rocks and the structure surrounding the soul spring start to break up too.

This is something I waited for, so I reached out to it, and tried to grab hold of the rocks. As I touch them, they vanish, and poof-ed into dust. All of the rocks did.

And all thats left is a bare, empty hole floating in the nothingness, as all the land and riverbed has crumbled away, the background changed into that of a bare emptiness. In a way, its like a black hole sitting solitary in space. Perhaps at that empty whole, there was once a star, a soul here once.

The soul has gone. The wisp whispers to my imaginary ears again.

I see.

[Youve managed to salvage some of the decaying skills! Due to the decay of death, the salvaged skills are of a lower quality than the original skills possessed]

[Youve received the following, which can be used to create [seed-infused skill fruits]!]

[class seed - ranger] x 3

[class seed - beast tamer] x 2

[skill seed - archery] x 2

[passive seed - spark of brilliance] x 1

Oh man. All these skill fruits are useless to me. But I guess Ill find use for them somewhere. Maybe Lausanne.

[Youve witnessed death as it happens in the inner realm]

[Familiar contracts upgraded - skill salvaging chance increase!]

[Biolab upgraded - post-mortem equipments, death sensors, death-delaying equipment and body preservation added!]

Hey. Thats something good. Finally. The physical body of the ranger stops flailing, like a puppet with their strings cut off. Lifeless, the body is pale, greenish from the damage of the mana poisoning over the past few days of experimentation. I later arranged for the corpse to be burnt.

Meanwhile, the victory over the Salah army had made a lot of New Freekan devotees. A few days after the victory, they held some kind of feast in the courtyard of the [tree of prayer], where the leaders of the New Freeka thanked their lucky stars and the protection of the valleys spirit for their victory.

It has free food, drinks, dances and performance, some kind of prayer and worship led by the treefolk, things like that.

I mean, well, I feel somewhat flattered, that the citizens think that way, but the words of the leaders do feel quite hollow. Despite all the praise of their guardian and the so called will of the valley, they somehow manage to worm in a word or two on their supposed contributions.

Perhaps its a thing with politicians, even in this world.

Year 77 Month 9

"Tree Spirit." Yvon speaks, it is rare for her to come alone to the main tree's courtyard, but the fact that she did, means, probably there are changes in the way things are organised in the New Freeka council.

She presents jewels, and other items I had previously requested, stored in some kind of a magical bag.

"As you requested."

"What is it, that you want?" Jura sneers. "For Lady Yvon herself to deliver the jewels, surely there is more to just delivery."

Thats not what I meant. We must know what exactly we are dealing with here, and to do so, we must recognise we are very vulnerable. The other councillor rebukes. Its a messy argument, with a lot of side conversations.

"So, so, can we have some consensus? I believe it's clear we will refuse having a king. But are we willing to give Jura and Laufen a seat, and accordingly, authority?" Yvon tries to steer the conversation back to the topic. These councilmen tend to go off tangent sometimes.

There is an awkward look among everyone, as they shrug. It took one of the more daring councillors to finally say, "Yes.", then all the others started agreeing.

"Fine, now that we agree to give them a seat, what will be their authority? Remember, it must be something concrete, with actual powers, else the Tree Spirit will not agree."

"Then what are we willing to give?"

"Administrator of the valley? Forest master?"

"The tree spirit won't accept that. It's no fool. Its already master of the valley, and does not need us to grant it that sort of authority. It must come from something only we can give. Our men. Our money. Ability to directly intervene in our affairs. "

"Fine, lets go about giving Jura and Laufen combined voting rights over the military, diplomatic affairs, they also get a share of our tax collection as 'tribute', and smaller voting rights on domestic, trade, and policing."

The councillors went about debating the finer points of the proposed rights and powers of Jura and Laufen, as politicians are often inclined to do.

"Okay, so those are their rights and powers, but how do we give it to them without making the rest of the population feel that this is something arbitrary and without basis? As it is, some districts are already uneasy over their representation, and are demanding for more councilmen."

One of the rare centaur councillors then speak up. "I believe, the treefolk worship the Tree Spirit, do they not?"

The councillors, turn, mostly out of surprise.

"If so, we can follow how some elven kingdoms have special positions for the senior members of the church."

"Are you suggesting elevating the tree spirit to a god?"

"In principle, yes. From the powers we have seen, he is might as well be a local deity. So, a spokesperson of a local deity surely can be given a formal position in the ruling council, with special rights reflecting the local deity's influence in the area."

"...ah"

"There is precedent. The Dwarven Nation of Prummash far north gives the Great Forge Serpent's chosen a special position in their advisors council."

"What matters is then how we convey this decision to the people"

"If the tree spirit accepts it."

"If it doesn't?"

"...we'll have to figure it out."

And with that, Yvon's meeting is over, and Yvon returns to meet us, this time with 6 other councillors.

"So, have you agreed?" My voice speaks into their mind.

The 7 exchange glances before Yvon takes a gulp, and she steps forth. "Tree Spirit, we we are truly humbled that you've assisted us during the defense of New Freeka, and our words cannot describe the gratitude we have for sparing us from the bloodshed of battle."

"Ah the freeloader has finally learnt gratitude, eh?" Horns seem to be happy.

"Spare me the flowery words. I take you've decided not to accept my proposal." Ive been in enough meetings to know that what starts flowery often ends in a refusal.

They pause. I wonder how I sound in their minds sometime.

"Ah we we have a counterproposal. Something that would be more aligned to our own founding ideals. We would propose to create a special religious role for both Jura and Laufen, whereby the Tree Spirit is elevated to that of a local deity."

Jura pauses, he seems to be thinking.

"In this way, Jura and Laufen gains a position as the Voice of the Tree Spirit, which will have similar rights and authority to that of a religious leader. As the Voice, they will have significant authority, in areas of the military, diplomacy, and external trade. We also commit that our military will be split into a few divisions, with one third of it will be under the command and rule of the Voice, and to enforce the demands of the Tree Spirit, within the framework of authority that the Voice has."

Ah, hmmm, a third of New Freekas forces.

They will be given a special name of your choosing, such to differentiate them for the regular military.

Theres a silence, perhaps for a few seconds, before Yvon continues.

And we will formally now set up a new institution under the Voice, and we will contribute a sizeable portion of our tax collection to this institution, which will also fund the force.

Oh, and tax revenues too. A third. Of all tax revenues and collections. I speak into their minds, and they freeze. The 7 councillors exchange glances, and then they nod.

Yes. A third.

Anything else? At this point, New Freeka is willing to offer a third of their military, and their tax money to me, so, Im actually quite satisfied with the offer.

Uh Yvon shakes her head. Thats all we could give?

Well, in terms of land, I do control the valley, and thats been my right since day one. New Freeka only controls the un-forested areas further south, the large farmlands, and the town itself.

Never mind.

An awkward silence. Perhaps they are waiting. Even Jura, he looks a bit worried.

I agree to it it, in exchange for my participation in New Freekas defense. My thoughts behind this is fairly simple, I do intend to somehow rule over New Freeka eventually, but at the same time, I do realise that putting Jura, as King over New Freeka is extremely sudden, and most likely, the New Freekans themselves, the 50,000 o non-humans are going to resist it, and I would have a rebellion on hand.

Not that crushing it wont be an issue, but that would delay my ability to gain the necessary resources to further upgrade the rest of my artificial souls and research.

So this sort of transitory arrangement helps, and I think it will give Jura and Laufen the necessary experience needed, let them learn about managing a town, before ultimately usurping the entire New Freeka. Itll be easier to boil the frogs of New Freeka gradually, so let them get used to having Jura as a member of their ruling class, before, one day, taking over them entirely. Ruling the New Freekans by proxy isnt a bad idea anyway, at least the nitty gritty of people-management is left to the appointed proxy, and the world would look at the town, not at me directly.

And really, the tax revenue will help. I can buy more jewels. And weird artifacts. Im really eager to test out that ability I gotten when I evolved to a [starsoul tree].

-

A few days later

Beetle - basic magical lances - completeEye-Tree Stage I research option unlocked - 18 months remainingEnhanced exoskeletons -completeEnhanced interior structures - 1 months remainingLarge beetle pods - 3 months remainingBeetle - anti-magma armors stage 2 - 9 months remainingFruit bombs - increased range and power - 3 months remainingTree - volcanic adaptation stage 3 - 18 months remaining

Ill need to start working on the volcano again. The enhanced exoskeletons grants the beetles stronger, faster bodies, but at the expense of consuming some of my harvested metals and some essences, and also longer regeneration time if they die, while the beetle magical lances, even though I completed the research, is not immediately usable as I need to obtain some kind of mines, before they can be infused into the beetles themselves.

Ah.

So I do need a mine, preferably with one that will supply me with non-ordinary resources, such that I can further upgrade the beetles. There is a natural limit on how I can keep upgrading them with ordinary items, without giving them the ability to level via an artificial soul. Also, at the rate of my mineral harvesting from the earth, I have sufficient metals to support only 4,000 beetles with the enhanced exoskeleton.

So lets recap.

Guys, what are our priorities? I call on my artificial souls for a meeting.

Take over the volcano! Kill all the golems! Horns say. Hes just had his upgrade as a [Baron Beetle], increasing his level cap to 30. The upgrade grants the beetles around him extra strength, armor and speed. Still, its not sufficient to take on the golems. They are just far too large and tough.

And?

Locate additional minerals, resources and leylines. Trevors turn. Were actively sending some beetles to scout on the faraway locations.

Upgrade? Spiders, fruits, healing. All require upgrades.

Thanks for the reminder, Dimitree. We do need anti-air. That reminds me, where the hell did I leave that airship from Salah?

Were you not working on it the last time then you broke it apart and then dumped it into your treasury? I think you got stuck when the biolab couldnt look into the materials or decipher the runes. Thats Trevor, digging through my memories faster than I can remember it myself.

Really? Was it that long ago? I try to dig through my own mind Oh god, its already 3 years ago. I think Im also getting more forgetful.

Trevor, can you do me a favor and help me track all my outstanding tasks.

Certainly. Ill create a task manager in your interface.

And a calendar.

...will do so.

Then mark when the date of the 10 year anniversary from the demon kings death. I want a countdown timer in my interface. I fear I may forget, as I move onto all these lesser missions.

Spaizzer

Oh I got more patreons! Thanks so much! To celebrate, this chapter is early (it's not a week yet ), and I'm working on a few side stories, and will be posting them real soon!