Treeding water

Treeding water

Year 123

Since time immemorial, man has been searching for means to themselves more powerful. That is true then, and that is true now. Even nature itself is forever locked in an arms race, as species evolved for an advantage, and other species evolved in response to that advantage.

War and evolution are tied together in many ways. This is the latest generation of woodformed weapons.

I showed my latest upgraded versions of the Wooden spears to Jura and the selected Valthorns. I had given out two more upgraded classes, one [Grand Knight], and one [Spearmaster]. It was a small group, less than 10.

Is its effectiveness against demons improved?

Slightly. I had spent a lot of time analysing the crystal matrices, and have managed to copy a little of its effects. But to replicate it wholesale is still beyond me, for now.

Every iteration is slightly better, slightly more powerful. Sad, to think that my [Woodforming] is used in this way. I shouldve made statues instead.

One of the wooden spears shrunk, and the attendees jumped. Wow.

Its now... expandable. That way its easier to move around. I copied the idea from one of the heroes star-mana withdrawable swords. In hindsight, I shouldve made something like this way earlier. Its essentially just a magical lightsaber, but with wood. Not exactly difficult to make a seed-like thing that releases a spear and later on retracts it. Nature already has many similar mechanisms.

In a way, its also partly pocketspace, similar to my [secret hideout].

Itll be tuned to all of you.

Tuned?

Yes, with runes. The gem-inserts have runes and so, add a drop of blood to it and itll recognise you as its owner. Again, not an original idea. Some heroes have invented star-mana weapons that only recognise people who have their blood, essentially as a means of preserving power for their descendants.

The heroes have this?

Well... no. They have better ones.

Ah. Edna said, examining her new lance and shield. As a knight, she gets some mount-specific boosts, and so theres some new wooden protective gear for her mount. Seems like Ill have to fight demons soon.

Its not hard. The rule is simple, focus on your target, and dont stray too far outside Aeons suppression aura. Jura explained. Hes now Level 90.

Aeons suppression aura should be everywhere. Faris said, as he too examined his wooden staff and armor. There were not many weapons I could make for Faris, because he is a ranged and support hero.

I agree. But sadly my suppression auras weaker as I go further.

This means Aeon puts the odds of the heroes winning the next battle at close to zero, doesnt it? Our [spearmaster] asked.

Jura paused. It would be so. Its not exactly uncommon for heroes to die to the demon king. Their recent string of victories is quite abnormal, and has happened no more than 5 times in the past few hundred years.

And so the peace of Harrisan ends. Faris said. An era of relative peace, named after the most visible of the hero kings, Harris. It seems our upgraded classes have not been given out for no reason.

Are you afraid, [Great Druid]? Edna smiled.

Should I not be?

Worry when the time comes. Jura spoke. For now, practice, and keep gaining levels.

Certainly. Edna nodded. Aeon, are there any restrictions of use for these items?

No. Try them out on the hybrids. I recall a large group has been spotted.

Gladly.

Those with the upgraded classes, and Jura went for it. I believe they will succeed. Maybe even Jura himself would be sufficient, with his recently acquired strength.

On the home front, the heroes have been experimenting with new kinds of spells. They wanted to make themselves into a bomb, just like the demon king. I couldnt help them. I mean, I dont have the ability to give them that kind of power. Trees dont blow up. Except for hybrid trees, but thats an outlier.

So they had to speak to others, and Gerrard had been travelling everywhere.

Harris too, had to frequently intervene in his family conflicts. It was just lucky that his curse did not flare up when he was temporarily away.

Aeon. Mirei said, when the two heroes are away. Whats it like, being a tree?

I didnt answer. It was more like, I didnt even know where to begin describing it.

Sorry. Must be offensive. I suppose its the equivalent of you asking me, whats it like being a hero. Mirei said. I asked because well, Im an alcoholic and tea addict now. Rumors are swirling about, that the heroes would not survive the next one. Of my curse, and Harriss.

She looked wistful.

What do you think of this idea, the hero-bomb? It wasnt the first time she asked. I said it was a wise decision.

Its a good one. Its pragmatic.

Mirei paused. I hoped youd not give me the same answer. Tell me its wrong.

Its wrong.

Mirei laughed, and then cried. Fuck it. Gerrards running around in a wild goose chase. I dont think theres any mage who knows how to make themselves into a walking nuke. Even if its a damned good idea.

Keep cursing.

Yeah. I should probably stop wallowing in my misery. Mirei stood. Heres an idea. Write runes inside my soul. Can you do that? There must be a nuclear-rune somewhere. Invent one.

Runes work on physical objects. Well, in honesty, Ive never tried. Im not aware whether runes can be written in the soul realm, but then, the soul spring does have rune-like inscriptions and patterns.

Says who.

No one.

Then can you try?

Writing runes in the soul spring... Im not sure if thats possible, but certainly worth trying.

At this point, I supposed I should respond, so I telepathically spoke to both of them. Yes, nobleman. You called? A vine emerged from the ground and crawled in through the window. The teenager looked deathly pale.

The nobleman instantly prostrated himself before the vine. Greetings, Aeon. So it is true, those rumors of Aeons ever-presence in the Freshlands.

Had it not been true?

Indeed. It is just that us, those on the fringes do not feel your presence.

Have the Valthorns not sent their men to deal with the hybrids?

...ah. I was wasting my time.

Is there anything serious?

...no. I just wanted to test my skill.

Ah. I sometimes wonder whether my presence and surveillance was a good thing.

---

I floated in my soul realm, and watched the souls drift in. There were about 150,000 souls in my [soul realm], all awaiting reincarnation or whatever awaited their next step. When they are ready, they will shed their outer shells, and only the inner core will move on, to inhabit whatever that the gods had planned.

I wondered whether theres a standard process to it. I recall Mozart, the being that reincarnated me, referring to himself as the administrator of this entire process. To think, since that day, I now play a part in the same process that they administered.

A cog in the big machine.

I once described the soul as a car and a driver, the driver as the inner core, the car as the outer core. But maybe its also more accurate to imagine their bodies as the car, their clothes and look as their outer core, and their physical body as the inner core.

One can change their outer soul shells, just as how Meela and Alexis adopted new [classes] and new [skills]. The outer soul is after all just a frame, and the skills that are attached to that frame.

Now that I have four colors, my ability to interact with these floating souls improved. Some of them are in need of repairs. In a way, this entire realm is my body, and there are segments where these damaged souls are repaired.

Theres a lot of memories. Of their families. Of life in this world. I had chosen to just ignore these flashbacks. In a way, Im just behaving like a soulless office administrator, putting a stamp on their documents before sending them on their way.

I didnt want to care about their life story. It was too much. In fact, the more I learned of their life story, it just made me feel worse, because here I am, as a soul tree. Its like that meme from the MCU movies. I guide others to a treasure I cannot possess. And here, I see memories of a life had and lost, that I cannot obtain.

> Are you a soul tree too, Lilies? Do you have a [soul realm]? <

Ah. > What do you do with their... memories? <

I paused. > Yeah. Me too. <

Maybe it was right that I didnt go through their memories. Do they deserve at least that bit of dignity?

I recall that Lilies was rather aloof about this whole arrangement, that they looked at it all from the angle of an overarching ecosystem. That the death of one is but a necessity.

Am I becoming like that, desensitised to death? Now that my domain and grand mind tree is able to block outside influences, is this... really me thats transformed into this jaded tree?

> Im... Im afraid of what Im becoming. < I didnt know why I said that to Lilies, but at that point, I really didnt have anyone else to turn to for advice on life as a tree.

I had become desensitized. When I think about it, some of my choices are not my best. Even when I tried making better choices, it doesnt always turn out better.

Lilies didnt reply for a whole week, then one day they just responded.

How? Where? I dont know.

[Grand Mind Tree had blocked outside influence from fellow trees]

Override.

[Grand Mind Tree has temporarily allowed outside influence.]

I felt a sense of comfort. My fellow forests. Our now vast network of trees that stretched the entirety of the Freshlands. The land has been damaged by the demons, but weve brought it back from the dead. The land is hurt, but we can fix it. Must I become one with the rest of the forests? Our fates are tied together. These trees depend on me, and as it is, I too, depend on them.

> Do you lean on your fellow trees? < I suppose as a crutch. Maybe Lilies doesnt need it, because she, they, were born this way. But I was human, and my mind still has the lingering structure and processes of a human. It is a lot.

I feel like it is.

-

The two of them sparred. Jura was quicker. Edna was still about level 60s, though she had an upgraded class, Juras [Warlord] class is pretty much an upgraded-class too, though a common one. But as a [Grand Knight], she had a unique set of skills.

It was the whole debacle of the fused classes, such as warlord, versus specialist classes, such as Grand Knight and Great Druit.

The other Valthorns watched, Yvon, too.

Juras gotten a lot stronger.

He somehow broke through his level cap.

Its a secret, of course. No one knew how he broke through the level cap, just that it happened. But Yvon was no fool, and she quickly concluded that I did something. After all, it wasnt the first time I tried to help Jura break through the level cap. She was also smart enough not to publicly say it.

Faris was level 50 plus, his leveling was a little slower as somehow he didnt gain levels as frequently from battling hybrids or demons. If he wanted, his ability to influence trees was quite strong.

Luckily, he couldnt get past my defenses.

I wonder if the [Lord of the Forest] could, so, I decided to just destroy that seed instead. If I wanted it again, I could just merge 30 [Great Druid] seeds, but keeping it lying around was a risk I didnt want to take.

-

Spaizzer

Thanks for reading my story. It's already august OMFG. Seriously I need more time to do everything that I need to do.

ps - patreon has 3 more chapters, for $3 (and a side story), do check it out :P