Chapter 148: 148: Predatory Forest

Sensei hadn't said anything but there was definitely something there. I could feel it moving along the tip of my left horn and in the air, I fought against the urge to reach for it. 

Above the ground, I saw the pink leafed forest and all of its trees swaying gently in the wind. As pretty as they were, I regarded each one with suspicion, taking care to avoid the branches as I flew past. If they could move before, nothing stopped them from doing so again. 

The tiny figure of the dark fae was hovering in the distance, and she seemed to have stopped to let me catch up. Our telepathic connection was still active, so I drew closer to question her.

[Hey, what's on my head?] 

[Horns?] The dark fae said without looking at me. She was still sulking and had her tiny arms crossed. [Hurry up and follow me. You need to meet our leader.]

[Look again.] I said with urgency.

This time she opened one eye to peek, and then she tilted her head in surprise, before proceeding to buzz curiously around my left horn. That was all the evidence I needed.

[What is it?] I asked her.

The tiny fae peered closer. [Looks like a leaf.] 

Okay. So maybe a twig had gotten stuck on them by accident, it was nothing serious. [Can you take it off?]

The dark fae began to tug on the leaf with both arms, pulling until she was out of breath.

[I can't!] She exclaimed in surprise. [It's... stuck.]

In her arms she held the broken fragments of pink leaves and moss, held together by intricate stems that were smooth like string. It wriggled around in her arms, the broken pieces repairing themselves, before attempting to wrap itself around the nearest object – which happened to be her body.

The dark fae shrieked, immediately letting go and the pink moss fell to the ground.

"Okay enough with the silence. What's on my head?" I questioned Sensei.

«It seems the tree spirits intend to hold you to your promise.» He cryptically replied. «You should have run away faster.»

"Tree spirit?" 

I told the tiny fae to pull out another piece and hold it out so I could see it. She did so with hesitation and squealed as tendrils of moss crawled all over her arms. My flimsy promise had to be the reason leaves were suddenly growing out of my horn, so I appraised the strange plant.

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Name: The Nymph's Kiss

Specie: Valdium Sapling

A parasitic sapling that feeds off the magic of an organism to grow. It is the primary method of propagation for tree nymphs that infect creatures who encroach on their forest. As the sapling matures, it erodes the organism's mind and leads them to return to the forest they were originally infected to die. The sapling on their corpse then grows to become a new Valdium tree.

[Rarity: A-]

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Reading the appraisal results nearly had me crashing into one of the trees in shock, and the dark fae turned back to give me a confused stare.

"What the hell? They're planning to eat me?!" I shrieked incredulously.

«It's a safeguard.» Sensei sighed. «To make sure you will keep your promise. I told you making promises was a bad idea.»

"Promise? What promise? I was just mouthing off!"

«Well. It seems they took you seriously.»

I stared at the dark fae who smiled blissfully as she flew and chuckled darkly. Don't tell me she repeated all of my nonsense to them? If so, this was her fault. But a safeguard that would turn me into a tree, if I didn't follow through – how evil of them. 

"And so shackling me is their solution?"

«Do you expect them to trust you after a few words?»

I didn't. But that didn't stop me from feeling upset. I seemed to recall seeing something similar before, on the horned Arkhor monster the elves had killed. 

The creature's entire body had been covered in greenish moss that clung to its body, its fur so impossibly entwined together with it that it was impossible to tell where fur or flesh began. If it continued to spread from my horns, wouldn't I get covered in pink moss in the same way? It was dangerous and he was taking it lightly.

"That's it, I'm leaving." 

I was done. The tree spirits could go to hell for all I care. I had to figure out a way to get the thing off me.

«You can't. That will only make things worse.» Sensei cautioned. «Only one of them can undo the kiss. You have to meet them and convince them to trust you.»

"Are you really defending them right now?" I couldn't believe him!

«Weren't you just planning to run away?»

"I was. But that's different."

«Well…they must put that thing on you for a reason.» Sensei chuckled. «Perhaps they have a history with untrustworthy little snakes. You have to remember this is simply a way for them to reproduce, they aren't taking it out on you just because they can.»

Why did it seem like Sensei was taking their side instead of mine? I wished I could hit him. 

[We are here!] The dark fae chirped as we arrived at a distinctive stretch of trees. 

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It was the centre of the forest and the trees here were ancient and timeless, their tall structure disappearing into the mist above. 

They should have been rough with age, yet their limbs were smooth with a soft curtain of pink leaves that draped down each branch. Some of the trees were wreathed while others were still bare.

Their gnarled roots dipped in and out of the ground and here, the trees grew too tightly together to fly between, so I had to land on the ground to continue. 

The dark fae disappeared behind a curtain of pink leaves, and I had to be careful not to break any of the roots as I moved. To my surprise, their branches reached out to me as I approached and I instinctively evaded them, but unlike before, they weren't aggressive and their leaves softly draped over my scales like a caress.

I was mortified, but I didn't back away. Just what had the tiny fae told them to change their attitudes this much?

The trees grew in clusters, their exposed roots seemingly connected to one another in an intricate maze. Their canopies spread out quite wide, some twisting along neighbouring branches, before merging together to continue to grow to look like one vast network. And when the wind blew through their pink leaves, there was a distinctive flowery scent.

I parted the leaves to continue moving, and soon, I saw a beautiful woman, sitting on one of the roots, looking at me. She had pink flowing hair, elongated ears like an elf, and light, almost silver eyes. 

Her skin was pale with the pink hue of a peach and the exposed parts of her body was covered with vines and flowers.

I was fully convinced she was a person, until I saw her legs, which were semi transformed into roots and firmly planted in the ground, where her body had seemingly grown out from. She gave me a rather awkward smile and didn't seem offended when she saw me staring at her legs.

Amongst the trees are more groups of scantily clad women, some connected to the ground by their roots and others lounging on branches as they stared at me. 

And in their centre was a slender tall woman, tending to some flowers in a flowing, almost translucent dress made entirely out of pink leaves. She looked very different and much taller than the others, with a laurel of leaves around her forehead.

The dark fae flew over and perched on her bare shoulder, and only then did she look up at me. 

There were far more than I expected, and I didn't know how powerful these 'tree women' were, so I steeled myself to appraise the nymph with the laurel crown. All the others were waiting on her to speak and she seemed like their leader.

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LV42 Veliae                                                       

Specie: Ailith Nymph

HP: 680/680          Defence: 518

MP: 706/706          Intellect: 380

SP: 420/420          Magic: 620

Attack: 560            Agility: 446

Skills:

[Oblivion: LV10] [Longevity: LV8]

[????? ????????: LV?] [?????????: LV?]

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Her appraisal results were far too scary, compared to her harmless appearance.

But the thing bothering me was...Why was Sense so quiet?

I expected him to say something, but he had gone quiet as soon as I spotted the first spirit.

Don't tell me…

"Sensei?" I called out, but he didn't answer.

Was he so spellbound by their appearance that he had forgotten himself?

Was this why he kept defending them earlier?

I was immediately annoyed.

However when I looked at the nymph's face, the feeling seemed to fade away. Our eyes met for what felt like a long time and I felt a familiar painful sensation in my head. I willed our telepathic connection to form without resisting, and she began to speak.

[This fae speaks very highly of you.] The tree nymph said. [She tells me you are trustworthy and that we should let you go.]

I thought of a good response and wondered if praising her appearance would be seen as rude.

Sensei finally spoke up. «Just be respectful and you'll be fine. They hate to be disrespected more than anything.»

"Oh? So now you know how to respond?"

[I was told you speak well, why are you quiet?] The nymph asked.

I gave her a slight bow of respect. [I apologise. I was overwhelmed by your beautiful appearance.]

I heard Sensei burst into laughter and I immediately wanted to cry. The bastard!

The nymph blushed and laughed, the delicate sound like the rustling of leaves in the wind. [You are…indeed well spoken.]

Huh? Such a cringe line actually worked?

This was going to be a lot easier than I thought.

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