Splicing Roots

Year 157

Jura departed, along with many others for their onward reincarnation. Their souls will go on and rejoin the world, eventually. But my mind still swirled with the conversation we had before we left.

-

“Why did you attack the demon king at that time? Did you feel like it was something you wanted to do?” 

Lovis and Jura thought in my soul realm, and shrugged, “I’m not sure. At that moment, it felt like it was something we should have done. I knew I had a shot, and I just took it. I didn’t think of it that much.”

“I see.” Darn. Is that ‘should-have-done’ some kind of demon-king influence? How do I separate what they did as whether truly their own free will, or some kind of godly influence? How was Jura and Lovis’s action different from Kei when they met the weakened demon king?

-

Maybe we will cross paths again. The world keeps reincarnating everyone. Those who died will take new forms, but forget everything. Maybe he’s already reincarnated as a baby in the central continent, and I wouldn’t know it either. 

The day immediately after he left, I felt... lonely. It was strange to lose his presence, and in some ways, was just as bad as that time, when I was trapped and imprisoned by the demon fire and corruption. 

“We will be here for you, master.” My artificial souls reassured me. I felt similar sentiments from the trees, everywhere. They’ve done this many times, when I felt down and unsure. I sometimes feel that my identity is clearer during these periods of loss.

“I know.” But time for grief is over. With the demon king killed, we’ve merely reset the timer, and there’s a lot to process. I believe it’s quite unlikely for the demon king to appear in the same continent twice, consecutively, but then again, it’s quite obvious there is some intelligence on the other end, so they may choose so.

Regardless, preparations must continue. Based on that single sample of demon king battle, we’ve observed that hero items are clearly super effective. Explosive area-traps are also very useful and can deal some damage to the demon king. 

So, the directive to the rest of the continent is clear. We needed a lot more high-density magical munitions. Things that I can stack together, or use as projectiles would be great. My anti-demonic weapons were useful, but somehow, against the demon king, their effectiveness was just average. If there were bombs loaded with anti-demonic weapons, that may be a way to mash them together.

Either that, or the demon king itself isn’t a ‘demon-element’, thus it did not feel or suffer any weakness from anti-demon weapons. My gut feels this is the most likely case, that the demon king is ‘unique’ and ‘different’ from the rest of its spawn.

After this battle, I also feel that depending on the ‘anti-demon’ advantages I have to carry the day feels risky, it's entirely possible that the demon king can adapt and have changing elements, just like some overpowered pokemon, or the spawned demon king just has specific resistance. Thus, generic weapons should be more successful in the long term. I’ll also can rely on this arsenal against any rogue hero that decides to come my way. 

-

Edna was stronger, and firstly we noticed her stats gains had accelerated. Her 14 levels effectively tripled her overall strength. It seemed my earlier theory was not correct, the catchup to the heroes triggered a lot earlier, at Level 125 onwards. That said, even with these levels she is still behind the heroes. 

Her movements were quick, even faster than Jura and the best of the rangers, despite being a ‘knight’. 

“This kind of power is surreal.” Edna said privately. If she was anywhere mad, the utensils around her would break, and the ground itself would crack. If she stomped the floor, it would break too, unless I reinforced it. Her ‘shield’ abilities too had shared in her growth, but those abilities made her feel... bitter. 

The same way I related to my new [Court of the Deitree]. Bittersweet. But no matter, it’s time to test it out. 

The [Court of the Deitree] essentially allowed me to award special familiars to up to 50 members, and these 50 members are each like the Possession of the Devoted, with a wide array of extra perks. The best perk is the retention of abilities from past warriors, and 50 members meant I can keep the best abilities of 50 of my best warriors. One of them kept about 10 of Jura’s best skills. 

At least, I won’t have to totally start from scratch even if I lose those that I helped to level. In Edna’s case, she wanted Lovis’s skills. She thought the mix of Lovis’s offensive skills would be a great complement to her current defensive abilities. 

“Oh... I get a [Lady of the Court] familiar!” Edna said, and briefly activated Lovis’s spear skills and she was able to move and attack with the exact pose as Lovis. After Edna used her move, she just stood there for a moment, quiet. She muttered something to herself, so quiet I couldn’t hear it. But I could tell its a feeling of gratitude. 

-

“I have something to discuss.” Yvon asked one day. “I’ve seen the strength that Edna now possessed, and I’d like to know whether its’ possible to remake us in that manner.”

“Huh?”

“I mean... it’s an open secret that you’ve been helping them gain strength, and I don’t know how it’s done, but I’d like to know whether it’s something that can be done for me.”

I was puzzled by Yvon’s request. She’s at Level 70 as a [Training Tree]. 

“I want to fight. I’ve trained so many and hoped that my training is enough when the time comes. But after I’ve heard of the battles against the demon king, I feel an urge, a calling within me to fight once more.”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t know whether I should. 

-

Kei had gained about 40 levels in 1 year. She adapted quickly to her new form as a crystalline golem. At level 30, she evolved, and the crystalline golem was taller, more refined and more flexible. Now, she could look like a crystal statue and her colors could change. 

“I honestly like this body.” She said after a battle with hybrids. I have not started the whole dungeons thing, not yet, anyway.

“Really? Why?”

“It’s just a feeling. Like... I’m more aware of my body, and I can change it if I don’t like it. And I feel like a million bucks. And I’m shiny like a diamond!” She laughed.

Did she just try to joke? 

“I mean seriously. I can sparkle like I’m so fancy, like y’know, a vampire.”

“Vampires don’t sparkle.”

“Yes they do.”

“No they don’t.” What are the kids reading these days that vampires sparkle? “Unless they are golem-vampires.”

She paused and seemed to think about it seriously. “They must be blood-crystal golems then, since they need blood to replenish their strength.” I didn’t want to continue this conversation, it’s getting absolutely retarded.

“Let’s not talk about sparkly vampires. Your friends, they’ve not said anything, or made any pronouncements since you died. Well, sort of. Why? Are you guys close?”

“I thought we were.” Kei said, she made that ‘I don’t know’ pose. “But I guess I’m out of their strike zone so they don’t care anymore. And we’ve been apart for years, pretty sure the relationship between us isn’t tight anymore. We’ve drifted apart, pretty much.”

“Really, are friendships really so weak and brittle?” I mean, to be fair, for highly mobile and powerful individuals like them, relationships are difficult. Everyone else treats them like they are someone to be feared, or someone to be obeyed. Equals are a rare thing, though to me, I guess I’m lucky I have been meeting those that I do consider my equals, like Lilies. 

“I don’t know. I guess we’re just not that good at being friends. We’ve been sent here together and friends out of necessity and convenience. I honestly feel you are a better friend than they are. Truly.” Kei said. “Even Astia feels like a better friend, as aloof as she is.”

-

Speaking of Astia...

“Attempt 494.” She said, as she swirled mana before her eyes. She was surprisingly determined when she actually got down to it. In the past few years, she gained 25 levels as a [Mage], and her focus is attempting to touch Void Mana. Anyone with a brain would put one-and-one together and surmise her performance must have something to do with her [Late Bloomer] ability.

Level 25 as a mage is pretty low, of course. It makes her just slightly ahead of an apprentice mage who are normally around level 10-25. 

Void mana was both hard and easy. Controlling and containing it was extremely difficult, but easy enough to generate, if one did not care for one’s own health. So Astia had numerous visits to the [soul forge] for repairs. 

“Home is a great motivator.” 

“Indeed. Though I don’t have much there, I still feel like I have a duty to return. At least, with this, I have the choice to return.”

“What if it’s a one way trip?”

“Then I will have to live with it. But that’s a bridge I will cross when I get there.” Astia, or Stella kept practicing. At night, she would sleep and use my [dream academy]. She seemed to be really into this whole [mage] thing, but it took time for magical studies to pay off. Magic is such a broad and deep subject, that mastery takes a long time for most common folk. 

-

It’s a lot harder to develop [ocean grass] than I expected, and the clear problem was the lack of sunlight. Is it still a plant, if a plant does not depend on sunlight and perform some kind of photosynthesis?

One of the easier shortcuts is to go the way of Lilies, which meant large floating platforms with roots that stretched all the way down to the ocean floor. But the ocean is also home to massive waves and typhoons, and the monsters that live in the oceans are huge. The seafarers bring home tales of their ventures on the high seas, of giant leviathans and krakens, of ancient sea creatures. 

For now, I concentrated my work on expanding seagrass to most of the continental shelf, the land where the seas are somewhat shallow, and light can still reach the sea floor. Already I’ve made many discoveries of sunken ships and other various hidden treasures. There’s nothing quite like a constantly growing seagrass to truly ‘scan’ the sea floor for sunken items. 

So, as the development kept going, I had a very pleasant upgrade.

[Giant Attendant Tree variant added : Seagiant Trees].

This allowed me to add giant trees on the shallow seas, and more variants to my trees too.

[Biolabs upgraded : Sea-variant labs added]

There were more to see in the seas. Fishes, monsters, and even insects. New types of sea-insects, sea-crustaceans, and also all kinds of plants. 

There was a patch of sea where the continental shelf extended a little further than the norm, and the seagrass expanded on this path. Then, my [rootnet] met something new.

[....foreignthoughtsdetected.]

There was a growing intelligence in the mass of sea corals and algae in this part of the sea. An emergent sea-spirit similar to Lilies in a way. It was young, and I could tell because it was incoherent and a mess. 

“Master.... Should we block it out?” 

“Not yet.” 

My seagrass expanded even more, and we had more contact points with that sea-coral-reef-spirit. It transmitted thoughts. 

Sea. Roots. Tendrils. Fish. It felt like it was trying to learn language, and we responded with words. This went on for months, as it transmitted more thoughts. During this time, my seagrass pretty much encroached on the entirety of the reef, and I got close enough to use [Inspect].

[Reef Mind]

Oooh. There were no details to it, other than the name. I spoke of this to Lilies, and they were rather interested.

< A new spirit of the seas. Vallasira would know more. >

> Then I must speak to him. < 

< I will attempt to call him. > 

I didn’t know when Vallasira the Zaratan would return, I recall that their sense of time is somewhat distorted by the travel between worlds. For now, I kept communicating with the Reef Mind. Perhaps it will soon speak to me. 

-

I also returned to focus on the hybrid demon-plants in the Rottedlands. Now that I’ve seen what the world of the demons looked like, I wanted to prepare myself for an eventual war on their homeland. Perhaps one of the ways to end this conflict for good is on the other side of the rift. 

If I could stop them from creating the rfits for good, or push the battlefield onto their world, that’ll prevent the demon kings from ever coming to our world.

To do so, I’d have to find ways to establish a foothold on the other side, and have a force that can stand up to the might of the demons on their homeworld. I’ve seen from the few raids that the power levels of the champions are significantly stronger on their homeworld, probably due to some kind of magic there, and also perhaps to the weakened, dried state of my trees and plants.

Now, at the hybrids, I’m looking for drying-resistance, if there’s such a word. Things that can endure a dry, arid environment. 

I contemplated whether it’s a good idea of even upgrading beetles to adapt to such an environment, but Horns, typically, was a massive advocate of the beetles for all environments. He insisted that beetles can be adapted to fight on the dry worlds. 

Personally, I was thinking of cockroaches. Mainly because the idea of insects in a dry world just reminded me of that cockroach on Mars manga.  But I suppose beetles also could do. 

It’s a set of research I have to do secretly, since making plants and insects more demon-like will probably ring all the wrong kinds of bells among the general population.

“I think it’s a good idea, but the portal should come first.” I shared the idea with Edna, of course. She was the only one left of the four. “Taking the war to their homeworld would avoid a lot of the problems, but personally I think maintaining an open portal will be the biggest issue. Else, any force left on their homeworld is on their own and it’s a death sentence. We need your support and presence if we ever step foot on their soil.”

It’s like landing a ship on enemy territory. 

On that front, I’m still working on the void mana. But progress is slow.

-

“Mom.”

“Yes?” Lausanne turned to face her growing daughter. They were home, then. 

“Have you ever thought of stepping into Uncle Jura’s shoes?”

“Sometimes. But I’ve decided not to.”

“Aeon’s searching, right?” She said as she munched down her breakfast.

“Of course. If you know someone, do let me know. I’m sure Aeon’s interested.” Arlisa frowned at Lausanne’s comment. “Your classmates, perhaps?”

“Ugh.” 

Arlisa was finally enrolled in the Freshlands Treetiary College. She initially had a stint with the Valthorns, but due to her relatively low levels and rebellious nature, Lausanne suggested that she try the college instead. 

“My classmates probably can’t kill a fly.”

“Oh?” Lausanne smirked. “I had the impression that the nobles from the outer rings all had combat experience, either on the high seas, or against the hybrid demons.” 

“Nah. No way.” 

“You seem to think very little of them. That’s not a good attitude to have, my dear.” Lausanne shrugged. “You’d be surprised how quickly people can grow and level under difficult circumstances.”

Arlisa paused. “...nah. They’re not good enough.”

“Well, you never know.” Lausanne smiled. 

“If you say it that way, why search? Anyone could do it.” Arlisa protested. 

“Not everyone desires it, and has the right personality for it. Some things are not about talent, but more about choices and desires. Whether they want to step out to fulfill that role.”

-

It’s true that after the death of Jura, Faris and Lovis, there is a gap in the pinnacle of the Valthorns. But the Valthorns is a vast organisation, and they are in every sense of the word, a professional army with an even more elite chosen. 

There are already many other Valthorns with upgraded classes in the level 70s and lower 80s, that now I have to test and train, to push them higher up to their limits and to achieve level 100. More candidates to vet through.

Most of these are from the existing training programme, essentially my child soldiers, as abhorrent as that sounds to those from Earth. But we can’t apply the laws of a world without magic to one with magic, at least, not totally. To these soldiers, this is a career, a legitimate, well paying career that can get them out of poverty. 

If one believes everyone has different talents, it would not be a stretch to say some people are just meant to fight, and are good at it. That sort of talent is diminished back on earth, where everyone is relegated to operate in a capitalist society. 

With my new dungeon ability, I also have additional ways to test whether these Valthorns are able to perform at higher roles. 

Essentially, my new ability meant I can spawn dungeons where there is an unused leyline. I don’t have a lot of control over what happens inside the dungeon, and no control over the monsters either. But, I can decide their ‘challenge’ rating, essentially whether these are level 20, level 40, level 60 or level 80 dungeons. The quality and strength of the leyline also affects the max level I could go.

So far, the best ley line I found can go up to level 70. I thought whether I could ‘hack’ into the ley line and make it even stronger, perhaps with a runic formation. That’ll be something to experiment on.

In any case, a Level 70 dungeon actually spawns a ‘dungeon-boss’ at level 80, so that’s not a bad challenge for the existing Valthorn elites. From the adventurer circles, normal dungeons rarely go past level 70, and those are considered difficult dungeons. But there are some rather special dungeons where there are monsters in the level 100s, but most of them are lost to time. 

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