Chapter 48: Chapter 48 – There’s a baroness on your lawn

The inside of the tree was large. Weaves of glowing twines dangled from somewhere above them, coating the space in a light violet light. They created an interesting crisscrossing tapestry, some coiling together in large luminescent tangles. Only hints of the tree's hollow nature could be seen through them even further up.

Scarlett turned her head down and focused on the middle of this 'room'. There, on top of a multi-leveled circular dais of roots and wood that grew from the floor and covered nearly half of the free space, was a gathering of large leaves that arched up in the air like the petals on a flower. They were a bright green and had a clear luster to them, but the edges of all the leaves had started to fade into a more lifeless brown color.

Between the leaves was an empty space, like an altar or a throne, lined by crowns, where a lean figure with blue-green skin waited. Its features were vague and androgynous, with bark growing in spots across its body, along with tufts of pale hair that glimmered slightly. Thin, long ears pointed up in the air, and the hair on its head was more akin to thin filaments of translucent grass than anything else. The lower half of its body was also soft bark that grew into the wood itself beneath it.

The being watched them as they entered its abode, one of its eyes nothing but a large golden iris that had an almost childlike gleam to it. The other eye, however, was sickly and colorless.

This was the last boss of this dungeon. [Eupherbia Wildshimmer].

Scarlett wasn't sure if that had been its name in the game, or simply the type of creature that it was. But that didn't matter.

She looked back at the others. "Leave the handling of these matters to me, and do not act unless absolutely necessary," she said. After seeing that they all understood, she looked back at the center of the room and cautiously began walking forward, gauging the figure's reactions as its gaze repeatedly shifted between her and the other members of her group behind her. Thankfully it didn't seem to find any reason to take any hostile action towards them yet.

This had been an annoying fight in the game.

Eventually stopping a few meters away from the flower-like throne the being was part of, Scarlett glanced down at the floor. Several roots, the size of even some tree trunks, began just a foot or so ahead of her and grew around the throne in a circle. This was probably the point she didn't want to cross past.

The Eupherbia's head tilted to the side in a strangely fluid motion, its single eye focused on Scarlett now. "Human?"
"Human"
"Hum—"
"an?"
"Human"

Its voice echoed out like a note throughout the inside of the tree, as if it came from several places at once. Both as a question, a statement, and a command.

Scarlett waited a moment for it to speak again.

"Why?"
"What?"
"Who?"
"No"

Although the voices all came at once, oddly enough, she had no issue telling them apart.

"I am Scarlett Hartford," she declared in a loud voice. "A noble of the Graenal Empire, and baroness of Stagmond. I am here in search of a trade."

A puzzled expression formed on the fairy being's face. "Trade?"
"Barter"
"Deal"
"Steal"

Scarlett looked around. She wasn't quite sure where the last voice was coming from. It seemed to vary. "I am no thief," she announced. "I would form a covenant to prove as such, and to offer you a bargain."

The Eupherbia's golden eye widened "Covenant?"
"Covenant"
"Covenant"
"Covenant"
"Covenant"
"Covenant"
"Covenant"
"Dishonest"

A cacophony of voices sang out at her words.

A covenant was in many ways similar to a deal with a demon, but was something only those beings related to the Wandering Realm could make. While a deal with a demon was almost guaranteed to be in your own disfavor, a covenant with a fairy was a much more safe thing. If you were a Spirit User, for example, special covenants with these creatures were how you gained much of your power. Scarlett couldn't strike that particular kind of covenant—that required some skills she unfortunately lacked—but she should still be able to make use of the process. In fact, she had to. Otherwise her plans here were likely to all fall apart.

The Eupherbia leaned forward, its lower half somehow growing forward through the ground as it did. Scarlett saw how the roots on the ground near her twitched.

"Bargain?" it asked, this time only the single voice coming out.

Scarlett gestured towards the deteriorating parts of the leaves that surrounded it, and the Eupherbia gazed toward them with a languid expression.

"Foreign elements have invaded your dwelling. You are weakening. Perishing," she said. Not all creatures related to the Wandering Realm were friendly to each other. "What I offer is something that can aid you. In rejuvenating yourself, and your home."

The Eupherbia looked at her. "Friend?" it asked, then its eye moved toward Scarlett's group behind her.
"Ally?"
"Help?"
"Frien—"
"No"
"Fiend"
"EVIL"

The voices grew in volume, becoming more erratic. The roots in front of Scarlett suddenly shot up from the floor like writhing tentacles, screaming faces forming on the dark bark. The Eupherbia's expression grew more agitated as dozens of these roots appeared, and Scarlett hurried to take a step to the side, putting herself in front of the fairy's gaze.

"We are no threat," she said, holding her hands up in the air in front of her. "We have slain the Doomscreamer Gaspaw. Our purpose here is not to cause you harm."

The roots stilled for a moment, as the Eupherbia's attention was now focused solely on her.

Glancing back, Scarlett saw that the roots surrounded her allies. Although Rosa looked a bit shaken, all of them looked ready to fight any second now.

Well, this didn't surprise her. She hadn't quite expected this reaction either, but she could understand it to some degree.

Turning back to the ruler of this place, Scarlett put her hand into the pouch at her side and pulled out the core they'd taken from the giant worm monster's corpse. She held it up in front of her. "This is proof of my words."

The Eupherbia stared wordlessly at the glowing object. Then another root grew up from the floor—this one without any faces on it—and reached for the core.

Scarlett pulled it back and put one hand forward. "A bargain is what I proposed."

The root stopped where it was. The Eupherbia's eye was locked on the core in Scarlett's hand, and it stayed like that for a while. Then it looked up at Scarlett.

"Covenant."
"Covenant"
"Covenant"
"Covenant"
"Covenant"
"Covenant"
"Covenant"

A wave of voices echoed across the inside of the tree, and this time Scarlett couldn't make out one voice from the next as all the faces on the roots around them sang the same word.

The Eupherbia brought up one of its hands, gesturing towards Scarlett. She cautiously took a step forward, and when none of the roots moved in response she inwardly breathed a sigh of relief before walking up to the fairy.

It held its hand up, palm faced towards her. She brought up her free hand, placing it against the bark on the Eupherbia's palm.

"Covenant," it said once more.

She more or less understood what it wanted. "I, Scarlett Hartford, hereby proclaim that I am not here to precipitate any violence upon you or those of yours, nor take that which is not mine. I have slain the creature that drained your home of its life, and swear to aid you in recovering from the corruption it has caused, in return for a trade."

A bright green light rose from her hand as a circular shape engraved itself into it. Yet, unlike the time she made the deal with the demon, there was no pain here, just a cool sensation on her skin.

Now the Eupherbia looked her in the eyes. "Help," it chanted.
"Help"
"Aid"

Scarlett glanced down at the core in her hand.

The way she understood it, this core was a pure concentration of the mana and life energy that had been stolen from this space by the [Doomscreamer Gaspaw] over a long period of time. The worm had essentially been a very large parasite, and the core was where it saved most of what it took. This also meant that the core itself was worth a lot as a magical item and reagent. That's why it had dropped from a 'mini'-boss like that.

Honestly, she would have liked to keep it. But the path she was choosing was far better for her.

She looked up and offered it to the fairy, who reached forth and grabbed it in both hands. The Eupherbia held it in front of its torso as it stared into the translucent purple surface. It then turned away from her and moved to the center of its natural throne. Scarlett then heard how it crushed the core. A blinding light sprang out and blocked her view for a couple of seconds, but the light itself soon began being absorbed by the Eupherbia's lean shape. The fairy's skin grew brighter and brighter, at the same time as the leaves surrounding it began regaining their color on all of the damaged parts.

The change wasn't immediate, going on for about half a minute, but when it was finished it turned back to look at Scarlett. Both of its eyes now shone a clear gold. It nodded its head. "Helped."
"Good"
"Good"
"Trade"

[Side-Quest completed: Help [Eupherbia Wildshimmer] recover its power]
{Skill points awarded: 2}

Oh? It tracked that as a side-quest? That did surprise her somewhat. But this was an optional way of clearing the dungeon, so maybe it shouldn't be that unexpected.

For a while, the Eupherbia stood completely still as it observed Scarlett. Then it turned its head to the side and moved its arm. Part of its throne morphed at the motion, with three spots in the wood suddenly rising. Three items revealed themselves.

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One was a long staff of curling dark wood. It had several leaves growing off of it, and odd symbols were engraved on its hilt. At its top, the wood coiled into itself around a large amethyst that glittered as light fell on it.

[Moonshadow's Crown (Epic)]
{Endowed within this staff is the harmonious power of the lunar, tranquil in its state as it waits to envelop its surroundings}

Next to it was the second item. A wooden shield that looked like it had grown out of the trunk of a tree, with twisting roots that spiraled into a tear-shape and had moss covering parts of it.

[Pastoral Glade's Bulwark (Epic)]
{Endowed within this shield is the arcadian power of the forest, calm in its rest as it waits to protect its surroundings}

Those two items were certainly impressive on their own, but they weren't where Scarlett's focus was. She was looking at the third item.

It was a small ring of carved wood that had an almost golden luster to it—one could almost mistake it to be made of gold, if not for the telltale grooves of the wood itself—where its upper part was like two horns that enveloped each other.

[Lifeblood's Eternal Circuit (Unique)]
{Endowed within this ring is the lifeblood of Temisbrook Glade, overflowing and eager with the ambition to support its wearer}

This was Scarlett's main goal in visiting this dungeon. Because, while there was a plethora of other powerful artifacts and items that she could try to find, this was one of the few ones that solved one of the largest concerns she'd had recently.

Namely, that of her own fragility.

The description of the item itself this time wasn't too bad when it came to describing the actual effect. But if one were to be more specific, this ring gave her access to the class spell [Sidhe's Flowing Garbs], which belonged to the Druid class tree, a variant of the Spirit User tree. Just like class spells such as [Adumbral Cape] or [Mana Barrier], [Sidhe's Flowing Garbs] gave you a magical barrier that defended against damage. Something she had been sorely lacking, considering one attack from most things would be enough to kill her.

This was also why it had been absolutely vital to her that she sacrificed the [Doomscreamer Gaspaw]'s core to help the Eupherbia. Otherwise, the only way to clear this dungeon was to fight the Eupherbia. Its condition would then rapidly grow worse, and while you still got loot from the encounter, they were corrupted versions of these items; more fit for offense than defense.

Scarlett bent down and picked the ring up, palming it in her hand as she turned it around. Like when she originally acquired the [Charms of Apperception] and her other items, she felt a warm sensation from the ring for a moment when a connection formed with it. Putting it on, she could feel the connection at the back of her mind, just asking to be pulled.

She did.

She saw how a faint shimmer formed around her arms and hands. It reminded her a lot of the magical barriers Kat, Allyssa, and others used, but it was more purple in its coloration. Looking over her body with her artifact-powered vision, she also felt like her barrier was a lot more transparent—or perhaps clearer—than the other variants she'd seen. It wasn't quite as everchanging as [Mana Barrier] was, for example. There were also fewer of those points of instability that she'd trained herself to look for in Kat's and others' defenses.

"Pleased?" the Eupherbia's flowing voice sounded out from beside her.
"Happy?"
"Trade"
"Promise"
"Covenant"

Scarlett looked up as the voices echoed out. "Yes, this is a satisfying prize."

She looked at the staff and shield, moving to pick them up too. They were heavier than they looked—Scarlett was still not in the best of shape—but it was nothing she couldn't handle. Holding both in her arms, she walked back to her group. The roots that had been surrounding them had returned back into the ground by now.

Handing the items to Fynn for the moment, Scarlett turned back to the Eupherbia. It looked at her with a curious gaze, then pointed to Scarlett's group. "Leave?"
"Go?"
"Elsewhere"
"Bad"
"Away"

Scarlett paused for a moment, then nodded her head. "Yes. Our purpose has been fulfilled."

It leaned its body to the side, then pointed at Scarlett herself. "Stay?"
"Friend"
"Home"
"Good"

Scarlett's eyes widened slightly. It was expecting her to remain? She shook her head. "No, I will also be leaving. I have a home that I have an obligation to return to."

The voices went quiet, and the Eupherbia stared at her for a while. Then it moved its hand and a root made its way towards Scarlett. For a brief second she thought it was attacking—Fynn and Shin even moved to get in front of her—but the root stopped a short distance away. Then the tip of the root glowed a light blue and a small blue crystal took shape. Scarlett only barely managed to react and catch the object as it fell.

"Gift."
"Gift"
"Gift"

She stared down at the crystal.

[Mark of the Fey (Rare)]
{A mark of gratitude from a being of the Wandering Realms}

She had no idea what this was. She'd never gotten it in the game. Was this some quest reward she had missed? But that didn't make sense. She'd done this in the game.

She looked up at the Eupherbia, who was looking at her with anticipating eyes.

As far as she was aware, her actions in this dungeon up till now hadn't been too different from what she'd done in the game. She was pretty sure this just wasn't an item you could get in 'Chronicle of Realms', even if it appeared to have a description and all that here — a feature she'd thought only in-game items had retained in this world.

She didn't really know what to do with this.

Throwing one last glance at the item description, she gave the Eupherbia a slow nod. "I appreciate the gesture," she said and put the crystal inside her pouch of holding. She would try and figure out what it was later on.

The Eupherbia smiled, the gleeful expression looking very childlike on its face. Then, without so much as another word, it sunk down into the tree and disappeared.

[Quest completed: Cleared Temisbrook Glade]
{Skill points awarded: 5}

Silence filled the inside of the large tree as the quest completion message appeared.

"Well, that sure was something." Rosa's voice sounded out.

"That fairy was weird," Fynn said as he stared at the spot where it had vanished.

Allyssa shushed him. "It could still be listening. Don't be rude!"

"It called us bad though. Wasn't that rude?"

Allyssa shook her head. "No, I don't think it meant us specifically. Maybe it just doesn't like humans in general."

Scarlett turned around to the exit. Shin stepped closer and looked at her. "Will it be safe for you to leave?"

She gave him a questioning look. "I believe so. Why would it not be?"

"Many of the collected stories of fairies and the Wandering Realm describe people being abducted against their will. It seemed to want you to stay, so can we be sure won't try to stop us later on?"

She gestured to the pouch at her side. "It is unlikely. What it gave me was a sign of gratitude among its kind. It would not express that by also confining me here."

He leaned his head back, quiet for a moment as he gave her an interested look. "You know a lot about them."

"That I do." She simply nodded her head and began walking towards the exit, gesturing for the others to follow.

"It is time that we return to Elystead. I believe we will have ample time for rest during what remains of the night, then we will leave in the morning. Ensure that you gather any useful materials as we move."

This dungeon had given a good haul, but now it was time for another kind of excitement.

If you could call it that.

It was soon time to attend the Elysian Proclamation.

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