Located smack in the center of the 5th sector, the magical forest of Nilhal is one of the largest plant habitats in all of Ragnarok, with trees dating back centuries still in existence. Chock full of life, nature, and vitality essence, the forest is considered a haven for many plant Awakeneds, so much so that in the last hundred years, a total of sixty-two plant Awakeneds have chosen the forest as their burial site, further increasing its spirituality with the essence of their Advancement. The forest is controlled by the Awakened council and isn’t easily accessible, even to nobles; however, it is known that fortune finds any herb gatherer who manages to make it in.

  Struggling herb gatherer and merchant.

  Elovnius Berkentile.

  Sector 5, 2270.

  While they waited for the other students to finish up the multiple-choice part of the exam, Aodhán’s mind raced with excitement and a dozen other emotions that made him utterly unable to keep still.

  The written exam had been quite simple, revolving mainly around the identification and harvesting of awakened plants as well as their common uses. Aodhán had finished all 50 questions in twenty minutes, and now he blamed himself for rushing so much.

  The duration of the exam was one hour, and from how slowly some students were writing, it seemed as if they intended to use their time completely. Thankfully, Andrew joined him a few minutes later, just as eager as he was, if not more. However, that only meant Aodhán had to spend the next twenty minutes with a partner who was just as excited as he was for the exercise. It was torture.

  Time passed slowly, but eventually, the exam ended, and Gwendolyn gathered all the students in a circle within the hall to brief them on the exercise.

  “Nilhal is a dangerous place,” she began, looking each and every one of them in the eye to make sure they understood before proceeding. “I know you have all heard great things about it, but the great forest isn’t just restricted to its resources alone. The essence of this exam is to get you familiar with herb gathering if that’s a profession any of you would like to pursue; however, despite our best efforts, we’ve been unable to completely eliminate the element of danger.”

  She glanced at the Agent Everglade and said,. “Agent Crownstar and his partner have managed to chase out every creature above the 24th tier from within a small section of the forest. This section is where the second part of the examination will be taking place, supervised by myself, Agent Crownstar, and Agent Everglade. Our belief is that everyone here is able to fight up at least 3 tiers, and with the lowest tiered person among you—she consulted a list—being at the 21st tier, we believe you to be capable of defending yourselves against tier 24 creatures.”

  Some students shuffled uncertainly, but Aodhán and Andrew simply considered the ‘supposed element of danger’ as more cores to exchange or absorb into their classes.

  Gwendolyn continued. “You’ll each be given a spatial ejector if things become dire; however, note that ejection equates to submission. If you have gathered no plants before ejection, that simply means you have failed the second half of this exam.”

  “Along with the ejector, you’ll also be given a special spatial ring to house the plants you gather. Please remember, you are to gather a total of ten Awakened plants regardless of rank or affinity. However, a higher rank will obviously get you more points.

  Gwendolyn continued speaking for the next few minutes, and although it was useful information to have, Aodhán was impatient to begin. He shuffled back and forth, only a little less anxious than Andrew, who was teetering on the edge of glee and insanity, impatient for what was to come.

  Rahim walked into the hall as Gwendolyn was rounding up her speech, looking a little annoyed, and a few seconds later, Aodhán realized why.

  Rahim walked towards the center of the hall and glared at Gwendolyn. “I am not your ferryman, Miss Blackwood. I’m a damned noble for ascendants sake. The next time you need to do an impromptu mass teleportation, get Kaelith to do it. I’m sure it’s part of his job description anyway.”

  Gwendolyn just smiled as if Rahim had made that exact statement hundreds of times before and said, “I’ll keep that in mind; now please help me.”

  She and Rahim talked logistics for a moment, and when they were done, Rahim turned his attention to the students and snapped his fingers, immediately creating a swirling, purple portal nearly 15 feet in height and just as wide in the center of the hall. Too eager to wait behind all the other hesitating students, Aodhán pocketed his ejector, grabbed the special spatial ring, and, without hesitation, he rushed towards the portal. Yet, somehow, he managed to arrive third, beaten both by Andrew and Azul Fetherson, the latter of whom Aodhán couldn’t even imagine what made her so excited.

  He stepped into the swirling portal, and the next instant, Aodhán was nearly overcome by the dense, heady scent of earth and life that greeted him the moment he arrived within the ancient forest of Nilhal.

  The forest stretched for miles in all directions, with towering trees wrapped in gnarled vines that dripped with crystalline dew. Only a few miles away, the nexus of sunsets shone, blinding in its intensity as it bathed the entire area in hues of gold and orange so deep and rich that they almost looked like paint.

  The light filtered in through the dense canopy of leaves above, casting a kaleidoscope of colors on the humming foliage. The ground beneath his feet was dry, but not starved despite the lack of rain in the last four to five months. All around him, vines hung, partially wrapped around tall branches, while twisted roots coiled over the floor like watchful serpents.

  An overwhelming feeling of peace engulfed Aodhán, and it was so strong that he had to lessen the effects of {Eye of the Storm} just to keep himself from dozing off right on his feet. All around him, birds hummed, insects tittered, and even without core sense, Aodhán could feel an abundance of essence and spirituality in the air.

  This forest was in no way normal, and although it wasn’t sentient, it was alive in a way that no other forest Aodhán had explored felt before. He took a few minutes to take in the beauty of the forest around him before bringing his mind back to the task at hand: plant gathering.

  Now, there were two ways he could go about this task, and had he been more interested in sharpening his natural skills, he would have gone with Gwendolyn’s method of sight searching. However, he was here to make as much money as he could while passing the exam, and he definitely couldn’t do that with his eyes alone.

  So, without hesitation, Aodhán spread out his core sense until it touched one side of the conceptual barrier the agents had erected to keep them within this section of the forest.

  Multiple cores blazed to his senses, but of the dozens of cores around him, only five were that of his fellow students, none of whom he was particularly close to. He scanned his surroundings quickly, getting the lay of the land, and with a gleeful smile, Aodhán whispered. “Wind.”

  Immediately the words left his lips, his senses experienced a drastic turn as cores and plant nodes dimmed all around him, while others exploded in intensity, each one blazing with wind affinity.

  Not bothering with the cores, Aodhán focused on the blazing plant nodes and rushed towards the closest one, weaving past gnarled branches and shrubbery to avoid the surprisingly large amount of creatures around him.

  In this section of the forest, most of the creatures were low-tiered, and Aodhán felt it truly was a waste of energy to even bother with them. Hard as he tried, though, he still had to kill a tier 7 Sibilis, a serpent-like creature with hard leaves for scales and root-like protrusions for fangs. The hissing creature died from a single swipe to his claw, courtesy of a partial activation of {merge}, and Aodhán didn’t even bother fishing out its core as he continued on his way towards his first wind-awakened plant.

  When he arrived at the location, a breezy area filled with scattered outcroppings of rocks, he bent down excitedly and slashed a bush of overgrown ferns out of the way to reveal a delicate purple plant with gold-edged leaves that almost seemed to dance as wind swirled around it. Aodhán recognized the uncommon-ranked plant immediately. It was Zephyrsage, and despite its uncommon rank, it was one of the most common wind affinity plants mentioned in the textbook as a result of its unique functions.

  Aodhán’s grin widened when he recalled how in demand the plant was by alchemists and wind awakeneds, which further boosted its potential price in the market. Giggling like a schoolgirl, Aodhán harvested the plant, taking a moment to carefully place it within the special spatial ring Gwendolyn had given them before turning his attention to the next blazing cluster of nodes.

  On his way there, he came across a trio of Tier 15 kanimas. Their presence wasn’t surprising considering the environment, but it was annoying because the deer-like creatures weren’t ones to shy away from violence. Expending a little energy, Aodhán cut down the first two with a single beam of red lightning, creating a small explosion that threw the third kanima several feet back.

  The kanima tried to scream, but a quick activation of {Elemental Lightning—Green} put an end to that immediately. This was the first time he was using the insidious skill in a battle, and its effectiveness was horrible.

  The green beam smashed into the kanima’s open mouth and healed the bruises it had sustained from the explosion. Halfway through the healing, though, its nefarious effect revealed itself. The lightning ran rampant, causing the kanima to choke and stagger as a web of sickly green and purple energies erupted from its neck and began spreading outwards, reaching the kanima’s heart in only a few seconds. The kanima heaved, its spine arching dangerously as its eyes bulged out their sockets and exploded in a shower of blood and gore.

  The kanima’s body went next, and Aodhán cringed in distaste at how sick and messy the skill’s effect had been. Resolving not to use it on animals for the time being, Aodhán continued on his journey to the next plant.

  The next plant was a Whistlewhisp rose, a common-ranked plant with reddish-green petals, and Aodhán marveled at how large it had grown. Usually, a matured Whistlewhisp ranged between 15-20cm in height, but this particular plant stood nearly 30cm in height, hidden only partially by a bush of translucent mundane vines.

  Wondering how old the plant was, Aodhán bent down, tore apart the translucent vines shielding the plant, and harvested it. Placing that safely within his special ring, Aodhán began his hunt for the next plant.

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  For the next few minutes, Aodhán hunted, killing creatures, gaining cores, and harvesting awakened plants left and right. He came across a few of his classmates along the way, some of whom looked miserable as they futilely searched the bushes for any signs of awakened plants. Aodhán didn’t have the time to stay and chat, so he simply acknowledged each person with a nod before rushing to the closest cluster of plant nodes blazing to his senses.

  After successfully harvesting the 6th awakened plant, Aodhán decided to switch affinities, and with a grin, he whispered, Light.

  His senses shifted once more as the cores that had blazed to his senses in the last fifteen minutes suddenly dimmed, replaced by a smattering of cores and nodes that shone with the mesmerizing intensity of light.

  Giddy with excitement, Aodhán spent the next half hour hunting. He gathered a total of eight light affinity plants, after which he shifted his search to mist, water, earth, and then life.

  At the 45-minute mark, Aodhán had gathered nearly three dozen awakened plants, the majority of which were common ranked. He still had fifteen minutes left till the end of the exam, and although he had already completed the exam, Aodhán didn’t even think about stopping. He shifted his search to another common affinity: Shadow, and as cores dimmed and exploded to his senses, Aodhán picked out the nearest plant and practically raced towards it.

  Shadow affinity plants mostly grew in dark and shadowy areas, so after gathering a total of three shadow affinity plants, Aodhán wasn’t too surprised to see that the next plant grew within a shadowy cavern. However, he noticed that the density of shadow essence in the area was much higher than usual.

  With quick steps he moved towards the cavern, only to sigh in annoyance when he came across a tier 23 Shadow Slytherin guarding the entrance. It wasn’t the highest-tiered creature Aodhán had come across in the last fifty minutes, but from the way it hissed and moved, it definitely seemed to be the most intelligent.

  Aodhán didn’t stop walking, though, not at all threatened by the Slytherin’s presence. When the Slytherin noticed this, it hissed out one more warning, creating shadow copies of itself to further guard the entrance.

  Aodhán smiled, a little impressed at the creature’s ingenuity, but ultimately unthreatened by it. Despite being at a lower advancement tier, Aodhán was confident of taking down this creature without even employing his willpower, and that was exactly what he did. He summoned a small storm cloud above himself, and with a wave of his hand, he activated {Lightning Spear Rain}.

  It was overkill. Dozens of lightning spears rained down, stabbing the Slytherin and hooking it to the floor. The sudden descent of lightning banished the shadow clones and any other shadows in the immediate area, rendering the Slytherin completely useless.

  The Slytherin hissed and screeched as it tried to unhook itself from the crackling spear, but its efforts were all for naught. Aodhán could easily kill the Slytherin by exploding the lightning spears, but there was just something about intelligent creatures that made it seem wrong to kill them.

  So, rather than finish the creature off, Aodhán unhooked the other spears, leaving only a single spear to hold the Slytherin down, and bent down to speak to it. “Hi, I’m about to invade your home and take whatever plant you’ve got growing back there, and for that, I deeply apologize, but to be honest, I’m not very sorry. I’ve got a massive debt to pay off and not a lot of time to do so. Frankly, speaking to you is even wasting my time, so how about I leave you with this as compensation?"

  Aodhán took out a blazing black core from his spatial space and laid it on the ground beside the Slytherin, who didn’t seem to have heard a word he’d just said or maybe it just didn’t care. The core Aodhán had given it was a tier 24 shadow affinity core Varéc had brought home from one of his recent nightly hunts. It wasn’t a great substitute for an Awakened plant, but at the moment, Aodhán needed the plant more than the Slytherin did, or at least he believed so.

  Huffing, he dusted his knees and made his way into the cavern, ignoring the hissing and screeching of the Slytherin. As soon as he stepped into the cavern, though, he noticed that the density of shadow essence had increased again, nearing levels that shouldn’t have been possible, except…

  Aodhán’s eyes widened, and he rushed forward, bending to maneuver himself deeper into the cavern. The deeper he walked, though, the darker the cavern became, and at some point, Aodhán had to create a lightning bolt to even see his surroundings.

  His journey through the cavern continued for two whole minutes before he finally reached the end, and despite having suspected, Aodhán still couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

  Within the darkest reaches of the cavern, surrounded by writhing shadow tendrils, stood a nightshade lotus, a rare affinity plant with inky black leaves and stem. At the top of the small plant hung a single black fruit the size of a tennis ball that seemed to glow with black light.

  The plant was beautiful, and with very delicate movements, Aodhán harvested the entire plant, knowing fully well that he had hit the jackpot.

  The nightshade lotus was one of the rarest shadow affinity plants, mainly used to grant extra purity to a shadow core during class evolutions. It was other great uses also, like helping to break past certain mental and spiritual limits, and when processed into an alchemical pill, the plant acted almost like the elemental lightning pill Ludacris had given him.

  Aodhán couldn’t even think about the price of the plant right now, too overwhelmed by the find to do anything more than stare at the plant in wonder. He spent the next few minutes in this manner until he realized he only had a couple of minutes left before the exam ended. With delicate movements, he transferred the plant into the special ring and rushed out of the cavern, aiming to gather as much as he could in the next four minutes.

  When he stepped out of the cavern, he unhooked the last lightning spear from the Slytherin and threw out a dozen shadow cores at it, shouting, “I’m so very sorry for invading your house and stealing this massive treasure. Take these cores as payment.”

  The Slytherin screeched angrily, but before it could take more than a few steps forward, Aodhán had already vanished, heading towards the next shadow plant at insane speed.

  ***

  When Andrew appeared within the ancient forest of Nilhal, he took a quick look around to assess the area and grinned. He had heard a lot of good things about Nilhal before, but it was such an amazing experience to witness the beauty of the ancient forest in person.

  Despite being on the outer reaches of the forest, Andrew was completely surrounded by trees, housing so much spirituality that he could have mistaken them for Awakened plants had he been ignorant. Vines crawled beneath his feet, entwined with roots and shrubbery. Everything in the forest was connected one way or the other.

  Roots tangled, branches overlapped, and vines intertwined. It was all so beautiful.

  With an eager smile, Andrew let out his aura, imbuing it with willpower so that it expanded to cover a large area, and as expected, the trees ruffled and shuddered in pleasure, their vines and branches leaning towards him almost as if they were sentient.

  In less than a minute, Andrew transformed the entire area into a domain of sorts. Nothing could get through this domain without him knowing or allowing it, and even geniuses like Cyrus and Aodhán would have to expend a large amount of energy and willpower to take him out here.

  It was a precautionary measure, but it wasn’t necessary, despite his plans.

  In a sense, he was with his kind here. He was one with the forest, but Andrew wasn’t content with being one with the forest, not while he had the potential to be more.

  With a whisper of preparation, Andrew extended his hand to the ground and looked up, his eyes squinting through the golden rays of the nexus to stare at Agent Crownstar and Agent Everglade, who were watching them from above.

  “Agent Everglade?” He whispered, his voice choked with the tension of anticipation. Still, the agent heard him, and when he turned to glance in his direction, Andrew smiled. “I think I might need your help very soon.”

  Agent Everglade frowned and then nodded, his insight affinity most likely revealing Andrew’s intentions to him. With his safety and that of his fellow students now assured, Andrew placed his hands firmly on the ground and activated {Mycelium Network} for the first time since he’d gotten the skill.

  The skill activated with an intensity that caused his mind to shudder as tendrils of energy and something else stretched out from within his spirit, diving deep into the forest floor and connecting to the vast network of roots and mycelium that lay beneath. His consciousness surged into the immense web of roots, dead and alive, awakened and mundane, and began spreading, linking with trees, shrubs, moss, and fungi in every direction.

  With each new link, his consciousness expanded, absorbing more information than he ever thought possible at the speed of light, and just when Andrew thought his spirit was going to rip itself apart, his mind exploded with a host of foreign sensations; sounds, scents, touch, and sights invaded his senses. Foreign emotions erupted within him, and with these emotions came understanding. An overwhelming flood of understanding that threatened to shatter his mind to pieces.

  Andrew gasped as a feeling of utmost clarity came upon him, and in that moment, he felt completely in tune with the world around him. He felt in tune with nature. He could feel the silent wisdom of the forest around him, the intensity and wavelength of light, the seismic vibrations of the earth, and finally, the familial relationship every tree bore with the other; each root, each leaf, each particle of soil seemed to be a piece of the same story.

  The forest was one, and now he was a part of it. He was silent, unmoving, and brimming with vitality. He was a watcher, a protector, but most importantly, he was a nurturer of life.

  In that moment, Andrew’s mind cracked and the world shifted. Reality fractured and crumbled, replaced by a vast realm of verdant essence and chaos. The origin plane of nature spread out before Andrew, a boundless realm filled with plants and greenery, so myriad and bizarre that it was simply astounding. The plain was an endless forest, and Andrew quickly lost himself in its beauty.

  He only had a second to take it all in, though, before the whispers of chaos erupted in his mind. Rather than fight it as he instinctively wanted to, he welcomed the chaos, not heeding its words but not fighting against it either.

  The whispers exploded, becoming much louder, but that got the attention of the origin plane faster, and the next instant, an overwhelming consciousness descended upon him. Like a deranged mother, it caressed his mind lovingly, scrutinizing his thoughts and memories before ravaging through it in a bid to search out his worthiness.

  Andrew gritted his teeth as the whispers of chaos grew even louder, urging him to stay, to become one with this realm, to give up his humanity for something more…

  The words enticed him, but Fortuna had prepared him for this, and without hesitation, Andrew began chanting. “Mosswillows, Nightshade, Whistleblooms, Aquafrosts, Luminpetals, Jorgumien…

  Andrew had been learning this particular chant for as long as he could remember, and although the words didn’t lessen the whispers of chaos or grant him even a moment to think, they grounded his mind long enough for the consciousness to fully search his mind and approve him.

  The approval, though, was even more than Andrew had expected. It washed over him in a manner reminiscent of a tidal wave, granting him a slight burst of clarity just before the chaos rushed back in. Heat engulfed him, and his chest burned as he was branded with multiple seals at once.

  Chaos surged into his spirit, then into his core, and Andrew cried in euphoria as his core advanced to the next level and then the next, and then another. The influx of chaotic energy was so much that Andrew nearly felt like he was drowning within it.

  Still high on his advancement, Andrew was not prepared for what happened next. Heat engulfed him again, but this time, rather than a brand on his chest, a statement was emblazoned in his mind. It burned with a fiery intensity that banished the whispers of chaos for a moment, but before he could understand what had just happened, his mind was thrown out of the origin plane.

  Andrew came back to reality with a choked gasp, but he barely had the chance to take his next breath before the twisted effect took over his mind, so violent and overwhelming that it plunged his emotions into the negative spectrum and drove him crazy instantly.

  With a roar of sudden hatred, Andrew recited the words emblazoned within his mind. “I am a protector of nature. My vines are inexorable.”

  The moment he uttered the words, reality rippled, and the forest was instantly plunged into chaos. Trees groaned as the effect of his icon bled into them, turning the beautiful domain he had created earlier into a deathtrap of poison and thorns that began expanding outwards at a brutal pace.

  Thankfully, Agent Cale and Agent Crownstar were there to arrest his momentum and send him to a holding chamber before he killed every single thing that walked within the forest.

  ***

  [STATUS]

  Name: Andrew Willowood

  Class: Evolved plant Awakened: 100% (Criteria for class evolution met)

  Title: Neophyte, Bronze, Sealbearer (3), Verdant Spirit, Origin Marked, Icon Bearer, One with Nature.

  Tier: 24—36%

  Icon: Vines of inexorability!

  Glimpse—->Opening: Increases elemental affinity and abilities by 2.5%.

  Technique: Perfect will imbuement, Heart of the forest (Sacred)

  Skills {Innate}: [Plant Creation] [Plant Manipulation]

  {Other}: [Spore Cloud] [Forest of Thorns] [Secret Poison] [Accelerate Growth] [Create Seeds] [Mycelium Network] [Wood Skin] [Symbiotic Bond (New)] [Animate Plants (New)] [Nature’s Gift (New)]

  Bloodline: Willowood Ancestry (Epic)

  ? Amplifies Verdant abilities and skills by 2.5%

  ? Grants major increase to regeneration and poison resistance

  ? Aura of Verdance