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"Geez, how long has Earth had treants?" -There are so many...- Running across the opy of a forest nearly three hundred meters off the ground, I looked around at the endless sea of treants unsure whether to question what I was seeing or to simply enjoy the view.
"Hm?" Dragging herself out of thought, Eve gave me an odd look before quickly eborating. "Oh, we've found ways to artificially create them about thirty years ago, so, outside of the handful that have grown in the capital, they're all quite young."
-Huh?- "Wait. 'Artificially create treants'?" -That's possible?-
Slowly easing her nerves as she nodded, her stiff, stressed tone slowly started to ease. "It's pretty easy, you just force a 'living core' into one of a few types of trees, and if you're lucky, the core will possess the tree and bee a treant... Although.. it's ly that simple."
-What the hell?- Seeing how casually she spoke, I couldn't help but let bewilderment wash ay face. "And by 'living core' you mean dungeon core?" Essentially it was a mana core that had some level of intelligence, akin to a monster, giving it the ability to manipute whatever its enviro was as if it were its own body, be it the rock of a cave or the wood of a tree.
"Yeah, dungeon cores definitely have the highest success rate, but living cores aren't limited to just dungeons." Looking at the horizon, her face stiffened with seriousness. "In any case, we should be getting close. Do you remember many of Mother's rules around The Oak?"
Gently shaking my head, she was quick to tinue.
"Alright then, for starters, the capital of Leyfa Askr is Moriai, the paradise of elves and birthpce of spirits oh."
-Wait a minute... Birthpce of spirits?- My eyes instantly lit up as an old memory surfaced. "Does that mean you have a World Tree here?" They were a type of treant that would grow se it stretched out of the atmosphere, using its leaves to guide huge volumes of interpary mana to the p's surface.
It was essentially an oversized mana geor.
But Eve seemed to only think of it as a symbol of prosperity, tinuing after a prideful nod. "Mave me a seed of The Oak before I became a system merary so that while I was traveling through worlds with the help of the system, I could look for a suitable pce to pnt it, aually, I made it here." Fondly looking up into the dark night sky, she seemed to almost get lost in old memories. "Here, we call it the Olive..."
But that was only because she wasn't looking at me. -WHAT?!- I holy couldn't even believe my own ears. -Michael was worried about my presence even though he has a WORLD TREE GROWING HERE?!-
The thing was, while high mana level areas were typically sought after as it could advance people's levels with just guided meditation, something called cultivation, on a rge scale, rising mana levels would lead to the system advang the levels of monsters scattered around the rest of the world and possibly eveo seemingly ued rank ups.
This was something that almost always lead to the destru of all but the society based around the World Tree, with Eve's homeworld being one of a handful of exceptions.
-A Michael was worried about me?!- I almost couldn't believe it. sidering he was an administrator, there was no way he didn't know what a world tree was. "Uh, Eve. If I may ask, how tall is the Olive..?"
Snapping out of her thoughts for a moment, she gave the horizon an odd look before her expression washed with pride. "Well, why don't you look for yourself!"
-Hm?- Finally looking ahead, I lost my tongue, watg as a tree nearly eight kilometers tall endlessly climbed over the horizon. -Well.. I guess it's still young, after all...- pared to the Oak, it was nothing more than a sapling. -But give it a few more years and it'll be a bigger problem than I am...-
Eventually reag the end of the treants, we came to a stop and were presented with a breathtaking view of the colossal ke that surrouhe Olive, refleg the night sky so perfectly you couldn't tell where the horizon was, and with water so clear that the fish appeared to swim amongst the stars.
It made for a view more beautiful than almost anything I had ever seen, to the extent that I was holy taken aback.
"Wow..." -To think a pce like this exists oh...- As my gaze drifted over the water, trag the tless glowing lines where the water was illuminated by mana oozing from the tree's roots, I couldn't help but be reminded of some of the worlds I had seen in the past.
But, even those old vistas cked what this one had.
Life.
Ahe forest bordered the water, the glow of torches and nterns filled the opy, and on the balies of buildings built around the branches of the treants were people, some rushing around in a panic while others simply enjoying the view, just as I was.
But while I could have easily spent the night simply enjoying the view, fate had other pns.
Gently raising her hand, Eve used light magic to fsh a signal across the ke before promptly receiving a sequence of fshes in response.
-To think they still use that kind of signaling even with the teology they have...-
"Alright," Turning bae after sending signals bad forth with someone quite a distance away, she spoke through a mask of stress. "Auntie, I o go meet with some people to discuss how we are going to hahe rank-up. If you would like to e, please do.. I wouldn't mind you pitg in your two ts, but if not, I bring you to the pace, or if you'd like, you roam around and check out the city, just don't go to the ground, or touch the water."
"I may as well e along." -It 't hurt to try and make some es...- "But," As we got moving, I spoke up. "Why is it you 't go to the ground or water? Is there a poison or something?"
Shaking her head as she enthusiastically led the way, she motioned down toward the water. "The rule with the water only pertains to the ke si is sacred. We believe this ke is where the souls of the dead are guided for reination." She held her head high as she spoke. "As for the ground, it's because it's dangerous. If outsiders went down without knowing what to do it cause some major problems for the citizens."
"Is that so?" Using my aura to search for the presenonsters beh the opy, it only took a moment to find several of them scattered about.
But none of them were particurly strong. -Why are they so wary of the ground then?-
"We elves worship nature," Likely knowing what I was thinking, Eve was quick to eborate. "If an outsider were to venture down a into a fight with the monsters, assuming they survive the first ambush, it could not just physically damage the enviro but pletely destroy the bance of the ecosystem."
Pausing and looking down uhe opy as we hopped over a small cove, we spotted a reasonably rge deer-like monster drinking from the ke.
"Of course, we still hunt and kill many monsters, but they are typically limited to those who excessively disturb the ecosystem."
-I see...- She was essentially saying that, as long as a monster could blend in with the ecosystem, they were left to roam free. "So what do you d something like a dungeon break?"
"We pick out the mohat could pose problems, kill them, ahe rest find their p the forest." Looking up at the sky, she let out a sigh. "Haah... I'm just hoping we get away with that during the rank-up..."
-That would be nice, huh...- sidering the elven cities were all suspended off the ground, it signifitly limited what monsters actually posed a threat to the popution. -The native monsters will want to defend their territories as well, so they essentially work as your soldiers.-
pared to a traditional city like Arlington that needed walls, it made for a far safer city when it came to defending from other monsters. -The issue is the level of the monsters...- pared to the level of what the system would be dropping oh during the rank-up, they would almost certainly be decimated.
But Eve already khat, so, to get ahead of the curve, she set up a meeting with the executives of several tries, he Uates, Russia, Greennd, and a tribe of demihumans to the north called The Frostwalkers.
The issue was, while I khat Russia and the Uates were Earth's stro nations, the one Eve chose to warn me about wasn't them.
"The representative of the Frostwalkers is a snow fox demihuman," As we slowed down and started desding through the opy of a treant, she spoke coldly. "Be careful around him..."
-For her to say that...- Looking at her back as we hopped dowree branches aually nded in the grassy courtyard of a massive stone building, my curiosity grew. -He 't be that strong, so why is she warning me?-
But that question was answered the momeered the massive, vish lobby of the building, and I set my eyes on him. "Hoh?" Watg his ears snap to me, his whole body tense, and his slitted reptilian pupils thin, I couldn't help but smile. -So he has dragon blood.-
System Name: 3-Tailed FoxName: Melrakki OrmrStatus: Vigint
Race: Snow Fox/Human/Dragon (52/40/8)Age: 119 years
[Titles]
[Iances]
Level685CssBrawlerGold63,336,573Sponsors
To most people oh, he robably quite intimidating. -He probably has a bunch on-specific skills as well.- But his strength wasn't why Eve warned me. "Oi," Turning my tone cold as I looked him in the eyes, I dulled my expression. "Don't be stupid."
*Vwoom* Gathering my aura around him as a warning, he jolted before uncrossing his arms, showing me his palms, and turning his head to the side to expose his neck.
But it only left a bitter taste in my mouth.
That man wasn't a human, but a monster, not metaphorically, but literally. Being a demihuman with more monster blood than human, it was easy to assume he was extremely instinctual, impulsive, and uable. -That probably makes him a wonderful leader up in the Arctic where split-sed decisions are necessary to stay alive, but a risky ally...- Because the moment they no longer need you and you do something to get in their way, even ily, they will turn you into an enemy.
However, if he was suppressed by raw strength, there was a ce that risk would disappear.
Looking over at Eve, I holy couldn't tell if she had pnned for me to e along to tame his instinctual tendeoward her by showing she had someone bag her who was far strohan he was, or if she was just hoping that, with a disaster ag as a on enemy, they could form a temporary alliance.
But while that was my assumption, and I wasly incorrect, the real reason Eve warned me was something else entirely.
*Vwoom* Feeling an aura sm into the edge of mine, I stopped in my tracks and looked toward it, through the wall of the building we were in. -What is a monster doing here...-
It was strong, siderably strohan even Eve, who was the stro humanoid I had met oh by a margin, to the point that when it got close enough to probe us with its aura, Eve tensed and cmmed up.
And trarily, the fox man's eyes lit up like a child.
"Auntie..." Using wind magic, Eve was quick to whisper to me through magic. "That monster probing us with its aura is the leader of the Frostwalkers..."
-Is that so...- Watg the detailed form of the huge three-tailed fox appear in my mind as it desded through the opy, I watched as it nded in the courtyard before suddenly freezing and log its gaze ohrough the wall.
It clearly felt threatened, but even as it raised its tails in vigihe curiosity in my gaze never faded. -Earth really is full of surprises...-
It was a monster in trol of its instincts; a monster with reason.
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