Chapter 2: World Announcements

---World Announcement---

Lothar, Storm Knight of the Kingdom of Silverglade has slain The Pale Lady in the Ruins of Rkund.

'What?'

I read it in confusion.

'What's a world announcement?' I wonder at the screen in front of me.

Based on the little I can gather from this, I guess the world announcements are the system announcing major events that happen all over the world.

'I should probably remember this Lothar guy for the future as he is probably very strong to get a world announcement.' I think in aww

Ding!

---World Announcement---

Everglow, The ghost light has slain Lothar, Storm Knight of the Kingdom of Silverglade in the Ruins of Rkund.

'Or not I guess' I think in disappointment.

'I'm going to assume that this 'Everglow' thing is a monster that is for lack of a better term, A monstrous being to be able to kill Lothar who was himself probably very powerful. Or another thought is that Lothar was weak after fighting The Pale Lady and Everglow just sneak attacked him before he recovered.' I think for a bit and leave on that the Everglow is a powerful monster who also sneak-attacked to get a quick kill on Lothar.

After I get done thinking I use [Wait]

 

Year 2 Month 6

Race: Tree (Apple Tree)

Skills: [Create fruit I] [Root Control I] [Tree with ears] [Tree with eyes] [Wait].

Level: 2

Height: 4.3ft (131cm)

 

So it's getting close to the end of winter and Leo started walking, he started when he was 8 months old and now he is 9 months old and has been running around the area I am in a lot, I think that it is apparent now that the family lives very close to here if not right next to here. When lily is not looking I sometimes use my [Root Control I] to play with Leo, sadly because it's only level 1 I can only use one root at a time to play and I can only do a little playing with it because it's only a root. 

Year 2 month 7

Ok so a lot has happened in the last month, spring came so my growth will be higher and Leo said his first word, it was tree or as he said 'twee' (I love him now), and Lily got super annoyed at that.

"I wanted his first word to mom or dad, not twee!" Lily frustratedly vents to a chuckling John.

"It's fine dear, he is always around that apple tree we planted so it's only natural he would like it a lot" John smiles at Leo as he says this.

"I know but still!" Lily complains.

"Babe it's fine, we can't control what he says, it's not the end of the world," John says trying to calm down the annoyed mother.

"Fine" Lily drops the topic but is still visibly annoyed and she walks back the same way as always, which I assume is the way back to their house.

Through their conversations, I have learned that World announcements are a common occurrence that happens every 2-3 years which is a good thing to know.

 

Year 3 Month 1

Name: twee

Race: Tree (Apple Tree)

Skills: [Create fruit I] [Root Control II] [Tree with ears] [Tree with eyes] [Wait].

Level: 3

Height: 5.3ft (161.5cm)

 

Once it hit the 3-year mark I got a new level, so I now know that it's one level every year and with that level, I got an upgrade to my [Root Control]. Ok so when I got this skill at level 2 I could only move 1 root at a time but now at its second level I can move 5, I have since used 4 of the 5 to dig down because I will probably need deeper roots at some point in the future and it is always good to be prepared. The last root is still being used to play with Leo because he is a fun kid to be with and I have been bored a lot recently with nothing to do. On that note, Leo has started talking which is very good and I am happy to see the little guy's growth, sadly it's the start of fall and it's been getting colder so Leo can't come as much. Another thing of note is that Leo will be getting a new sibling soon because Lily is pregnant again, I think she is 2 months at this point so in half a year there will be another member of their little family.

Its been a week since I started my digging with my roots, and I found something strange, I found what looked like an absolutely huge ore vain but it is glowing and gives off pulsating energy That I can't identify, I will assume for now that it is mana but no promises on that.

Ok so after a bit of thinking I have come up with a way to find out what this is, I will use a root to bring it up to the surface and see how Lily or John reacts to it if it is good I will mess with it more to see if I can do anything with it and if it is useless/harmful than I will dig around it and ignore it for now.

I just dragged the ore to the surface which took me a day and a half because I had to drag it through the dirt which kept getting in the way and the dirt deeper down is harder to move through for some reason, I swore that everything about a tree is made to take too long to do anything, which now that I think about it would make sense because ya know... It's a tree, but I will ignore that for now.

'There they are!' I think when I sense the family coming closer to me, I am really glad they came today because for my plan to work I need to be here for when they find the rock and if they didn't come today I would need to wait for a whole day.

"Het babe, what's that?" Lily says to John as she looks at the glowing ore by me.

"What's what?" John questions as he has not seen the rock yet because he is holding hands with the giggling Leo.

"That shiny rock by the tree," Lily says in exasperation at John's obliviousness when around Leo.

John reluctantly looks up from the cute boy at his side to see what Lily is talking about but when he sees the rock he stops dead in his tracks. His face goes from a shocked expression to a scared one.

"Oh, sh*t" It's the only thing John says as he seems in a daze. This surprised me because I have yet to hear him curse when Leo is around, only ever when it's just him and Lily.

"What? What is it??" Lily says with a somewhat concerned face with her eyebrows scrunched.

"I hope I'm wrong but that should be an aura stone," John responds still in a daze. After a moment and just before Lily asks another question he turns to her and cuts her off.

"Lily please don’t talk about finding this, to anyone, not even Jemma or Olivia," John says in a deadly serious tone as if it's life or death. Lily seeing this takes on a more concerned face.

You are reading story Just an Old Tree at novel35.com

"Fine but why can't I talk about it?" Lily asks in a nervous and slightly shaky tone.

"Because If I am right and word gets out to a noble or to the church, they will tare down the whole town to turn it into a mine to try and get as much of it as they can. It is a very rare resource for training knights and paladins and they want all that they can get their hands on so please don't talk about it." By the time he is done talking his voice is hushed as if he is scared that someone might hear and his arms are clamped on Lily's.

"I am going to bury this somewhere so please don't talk about this with anyone" John finishes talking and starts to jog up the rest of the hill I am on, picks up the rock, and starts jogging the opposite way of their house. Leo at this point of seeing his parent seemingly fighting starts to tear up and starts sniffling with a worried face. Lily looking down and seeing this picks him up from the ground and holds him as she walks back to the house, explaining on the way to Leo that they won't be playing here today and comforting him that everything is ok.

'Ok so that went from zero to a hundred fast' I think after everyone is gone.

'ok sooooo this is aura stone, this might be useful' I think with what would be a smirk if I had a face.

'I will assume that aura is like mana but more physical based on the little I know. Now for the real question, can I absorb it like nutrients?'

I dip all 5 roots I can control down to the ore deposit and wrap them around a medium chunk of it, try to somehow draw out the energy from it, and it works (yay!) but it is very slow (less yay), I don't know how long this will take.

Year 3 Month 6

Name: twee

Race: Tree (Apple Tree)

Skills: [Create fruit I] [Root Control II] [Tree with ears] [Tree with eyes] [Wait].

Level: 3

Height: 5.3ft (161.5cm)

 

'When did I get a name? and why is it twee?' I'm confused for a moment and then I remember what Leo always calls me, twee. So Leo named me I think, is there any way to change this? because I would rather not be called twee for the rest of my life.' 

In the 6 months, I have been absorbing this stone stuff  John has come by trying to find more of the aura stone I left but as it's all more than 1000ft deep, I don't think he will find any more before I claim it all.

'Wait a minute, my roots are 1000ft deep? How? When? My body is only 5 feet tall so my root at 200x my height, dang, impressive.' I get really confused at how I'm missing all this stuff, what else am I missing?

Anyway, back to the topic of the stones, I have almost absorbed the first stone I started half a year ago, it should take a week or so before it's complete.

New topic, Lily is due soon so they stopped coming by, I guess they will start coming back after I'm done with my absorption. Last I saw of Leo he started speaking in full sentences which is great, I sometimes wonder if I should stop playing with him because what if he says something to his parents, that would be bad, very very bad. I don't want to because I like him a lot but I think I will need to at this point, if only for my safety.

 

Ding!

You have gained 1 level in Aura Master

 

'Well that's awesome' I think as I open my status page.

---

Year 3 Month 6

Name: twee

Race: Tree (Apple Tree)

Level: Tree 3, Aura Master 1

Racial Skills: [Create fruit 1]  [Root Control 2] [Root Sense] [Wait].

Class Skills: [Physical Enhance 1]

Height: 5.3ft (161.5cm)

---

'wow, that's a pretty big change' I think as I read my new status.

'What do [Root Sense] and [Physical Enhance 1] do?' I ask the system.

Ding!

---

[Root Sense]:

-Holder gains the ability to have the 5 main human senses in the range of This skill

-Distance of the skill is (tree height)*2*(Skill Level)

 

[Physical Enhance]:

-Increases holder's Strength, Speed, and Durability

-Potency of the skill is +10% per level

---

'Ok so my system got a graphics card upgrade, that's nice' I think while reading my new skills.

'So my idea of the aura being physical mana seems to be right (Score!) and my Senses skill got a better name (Finally!!!).'

I send my roots to a new aura stone, this time a bigger stone so it might take longer but the increase to my new class will be better probably.

 

Year 3 Month 7

'Oh here comes the family, this time with a small new addition.' I think when I sense they are approaching.

As they walk up it's weird, I can smell and taste them which is strange to me. Lily smells like, well lilies and tastes like what most soaps smell like, John smells like sweat and tastes like it too, Leo smells like sweat and tastes like dirt, and the new baby smells clean and tastes clean as well. The sensations that would probably gross out another person don't bother me as much as I think they should, it just feels new and strange, not bad.

As I am thinking this, the family sets up the picnic blanket I first saw them on.