Chapter 120: 102: Elevation

In the weeks worth of time something of a small town had cropped up at the heart of the once untamed forest. Shelters were torn down and houses were erected. With the large demand for materials for the construction, many industrial facilities had to be made such as bloomeries, stonecutters and brickworks. The need for timber was a difficult problem to solve, for despite being surrounded by trees, a special care and distinction was required to accrue them without upsetting the local dryads. This in turn led to the creation of the sacred groves and the Nymphaion. Huge swathes of land, full of trees  different from the fruit orchards were reserved for housing the two tree nymphs, the nymphaion was a place of rest and worship for the humans as much as it was a home for the spirits. In addition to its intended purpose as a park for the residents, it served as a basic tree nursery. In taking care of the trees of the grove, the dryads could safely harvest lumber, though the volume of wood acquired in this manner was as plentiful, it was the only option.

Dryssia herself has brought up the option of “making more dryads” to Alicia. More dryads could ramp up the acquisition of lumber without straining the ecosystem. Since dryads were spirits borne from trees, it was relatively simple to make a tree bear a dryad. Only problem being the tremendous amount of magical energy needed for the procedure. Alicia on her own could make one perhaps two Dryads, with help from Alice, at least four and maybe five if they’re lucky, without falling into a small coma. But since it would be an artificially induced process rather than a natural one. The newly born dryads would be extremely underdeveloped, likely incapable of understanding any form of speech; plants had no need to communicate through vocalizations after all. That being said with Dryssia and Apricot to act as mentors and guardians it wouldn’t take long for them to fit into their new forms. For now Alicia settled for only one new dryad.

After a long trek following Dryssia, she was brought to a rather average looking tree. It wasn’t the tallest, oldest, biggest, unique from the others or anything. She wasn’t quite sure of the species of the tree, but looking at its leaves she at least knew it was different from Dryssia or Apricot. Guessing that Dryssia saw something in the tree that she couldn’t see, Alicia kept her tongue from saying something that could be interpreted as rude. The feeding of energy was a relatively straightforward process, the only issue was that it had to be a slow and constant transfer. Much like watering a soil, it was a gentle drizzle that nourished it, not a stormy downpour. Once she had started to funnel her mana to the tree, eventually she had become accustomed to the process and after that she didn’t need to concentrate at all. Without noticing she had fallen into a meditative trance. She didn’t feel the hours passing by at all, until something came up that required her attention back at the settlement and broke her out of her glaze.

But by then, it was almost all but done and Dryssia could take over and complete the transfer. Alicia quickly returned, and didn’t think too much about it. Until she noticed Dryssia was missing for a whole day and a half. Just before she started to become concerned she showed up with a young girl trailing behind her. Strange cracked crusts covered various parts of her body, with a closer look almost all of her body’s skin - spare the hands and the most of the face - was composed of the hard exterior of a tree bark. Alicia half expected another nude woman to show up as all her previous experience with nymphs led her to believe all of them to be nudists. Apparently, having visible bark is considered an incomplete transformation, evident from both Dryssia and Apricot distinctly lacking them. The girl didn’t speak or react to any stimulus, this much was expected. The new dryad was of an Alder tree and would be under the two tree nymphs’ care until she matured, so to speak.

Thanks to plentiful food and security taken care of, the Elves started to rekindle their traditions. Mostly reserved to arts, woodcarving and other craftsmanship, it was a rediscovery of their culture. This rekindling had led to modest creations of Elvish nature. Which unsurprisingly was quite popular among the newcomers. Not only was it something new and exotics, but also durable and aesthetically pleasing without overdoing it.

While the stock was small there was no doubt that Albertini would want to get a hold of a few articles to sell high elsewhere. Which led to the dilemma. His caravans were running quite late even accounting for the damage and delays caused by the recent conflict over Viveria. Charlie had already been recalled, and the Devil’s Crown agents were laying low, effectively putting all of their usual operations on hold for the time being. The patrols of the outer perimeters outside the forest led by Delta too much information to relay. However a recent increase in highwaymen,  and looters along with the appearance of military deserters,  stragglers had been brought to attention. They wouldn't even come even remotely close to the forest, while the exact cause is indeterminate it wasn’t hard to guess why. As such it was safe to rule them out. Few more days passed by without anything noteworthy happening. Except the fact that the humans kept walking into the perimeter alarm webs and had to be rescued a few times. Those who were saved by the Araneae in their spider forms had signs of lasting trauma which led to the elven rangers patrols having to respond regardless of how long they would take to get there.

One morning Alicia was greeted with such message from Alfred.

Alpha wouldn’t be so casual if it was something serious.

Something told her she would not like what was ahead of her.

Alicia had been mostly focusing on the infrastructure to support utilities. Plumbing, central heating, disposal system and such. Having warm water flow out through the rudimentary showerheads from the bathrooms of each residence was a luxurious living standard that could put shame to some large cities. The bathrooms with warm water slowly phased out the public baths that were hastily put together to deal with hygiene, however there were still quite a few people that used the public baths as a sort of point of socialization. The concept of central heating provided by radiators though still seemed to elude the people’s mind. Only thing they cared about was that it kept their homes somewhat warm during the cold nights and was mostly a well received success if one could overlook a few incidents where people tried to warm water or cook their meals on top of them. Public amenities were still lacking, by her standards and would have eventually been addressed, unfortunately.

Alicia’s room was often cluttered with unfinished or failed prototypes.

While she herself didn’t mind the mess, it was not ideal for receiving guests, especially considering they could be dignitaries.

‘Okay then… time for some house cleaning. We might need a storage room or a warehouse…’

Many days have passed since Reynold had parted ways with Alicia. Picking up the pieces from the Empire's aggression was busy work, not to mention the administrative bookkeeping to get on top of. However nothing could have delayed his visit more than the plan he and his old friend have been hatching behind the scenes. His current visit to a forest beyond the edge of Kingdom’s territory was the last step, after that, only God knew what would happen.

His deep thoughts were interrupted by one of the forward scout’s report. Completely dressed in white attire of foreign make, the long white hair. He remembered her, Alfred she called herself. Despite looking similar to her mistress at glance, she was far more memorable, in unsettling terms. She was the one to direct him to a certain merchant who had been doing business with them. Even now some of their caravans were coming along to guide the way. Although the distance between them was so great that he couldn’t make out much more than just her figure, he felt as if their eyes met. Even now he could almost see her bland smile, the dark eyes that seemed to pierce through him.

After some time riding towards their destination, they were finally reached within a speaking distance. She had been holding her hands behind her back all this time. Generally, hiding one’s hands was considered disrespectful as it indicated that they were hiding something, perhaps a weapon. As such most of his entourage was wary of her before one of his attendants spoke. To him it was anything but, as she stood statuesque for more than an hour now. Straight back, level gaze and open front. No, she didn’t hold this posture to conceal a hidden weapon or make a lousy surprise attack. Hands behind one’s back were useless to protect vital organs, it was signifying openness, indicating herself as not being a threat and… exemplifying her confidence and control of how she felt no threat from the couple dozen odd armed soldiers approaching her.

As their convoy halted, before his attendant could speak she performed an action similar to a curtsy. Foreign to their culture of course but even the uninitiated could tell what it was and see the flawless execution.

And so they entered the once prohibited forest. As they made their way through the woods, all of them were agitated. It was deathly silent beyond the sounds of their horses’ jog and the clattering arms. Winds on the leaves made it seem that the trees themselves were whispering among each other. No bird sang, no animal scurried, it was them and the desolate forest. Every crack of dead branches and the deafening crunch of leaves made them jump because of how loud they were in comparison. No one could shake off the feeling that something was watching them, just out of sight. Feeling the nervousness of his men Reynold asked as such;

There they found their answer, though it was meant to be reassuring, the feeling of being watched was nonetheless distressing. How many were there? What were they thinking? Some sense of reassurance could be found from the few merchants being awfully nonchalant about the whole situation. It seemed that they were quite used to being inside this forest.

Soon after they were at the edge of what could be called a town deep in the heart of the woods. First a few isolated dwellings, the hamlets and villages. Bizarre yet captivating architecture could be seen everywhere. From buildings entrenched deeply into the ground to triangular houses hanging just above the ground, supported by the nearby trees. Suspended wooden walkways connected the lofty trees overhead, as people walked over them. Closer to the center as they went, the more lively it became. If one paid attention they could make out the sounds of children playing, running and laughing in the distance. So deeply integrated into the forest, it was difficult to tell where the town started and the forest ended. Perhaps the town too was a part of the forest itself. The residents of the dwellings peeked through their windows, watching them curiously as they passed. Besides humans they counted many Elves. Yet they seemed wholly different from those found in human countries. Taller, slender, sharper, somehow… more alive and active.

Most of the merchants had broken off the convoy with the intent of browsing goods that caught their interest and barter. What surprised the humans in the convoy were humanoids with lanky limbs hauling in a corpse of a massive monster that many of them didn’t even know existed. People flocked to the humanoids with pale blue skin, presenting their bags of coin, salt and whatever else fit for bartering, some even dropped a bag of bones. Men and women alike pointing at various parts of the creature, the humanoids quickly went on to butcher it. Carving meat, skinning the leather, sawing off the tusks, extracting the organs and preserving them in jars of fluid before trading it away. They worked with such impressive speed and efficiency that the monster would be stripped down to bare bones in minutes. At Reynold’s discretion his aides went into the crowd of people to question the people. Each of them answered half-heartedly, concerned with buying up the quickly disappearing meat. Piecing together the various answers thusly they relayed to their lord.

Here their quiet guide, Alfred, spoke to them.

He felt as if he stepped into a snare just then. Yet thrashing too forcefully against the quicksand might only make him sink further.

As they advanced, more and more sights both peculiar and unlikely they came across. A giant spider monster carried a veritable mountain of materials to an ongoing building site. Grand orchards brimming with fruiting trees, flower fields teeming with vibrant flowers. It was as though they stepped into another world. Although it had only been a short while, the sights they saw were enough to make for a lifetime of adventuring. Before long they were surrounded by tranquil quiet and they were on their way towards a magnificently large great oak tree, under its leaven shade a mansion stood. Compared to the marvels that they were exposed to just before now, this building seemed quite subdued in its appearance. Nonetheless there was a certain sense of grandeur that could be felt. Unlike the curated gardens of noble estates that tamed nature and put up boundaries with cut grass and stone walls, the mansion here seemed to be one with the woods itself free from constraints. It was as if it laid claim to the entire forest, making it seem that much larger. Outside the mansion stood nine individuals in line, their attires though broadly uniform in their theme, each were highly personalized. Their guide until now, Alfred, broke off and stood in front of them in the middle, making the count ten.

““““““““““We welcome thee.””””””””””

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In a glorious chorus that couldn’t be reproduced with decades of practice they greeted them. Reynold turned to his men with a stern gaze.

Near the end of a delightful dinner1Lunch as per medieval times. Dinner would be supper. Reynold was informed that Alicia was ready to receive him. Leaving all the unnecessary personnel behind, he and one of his house knights was brought to an unassuming door. By now he had learned that nothing was as it seemed in this place. As Alfred opened the door in front of him, a bright, spacious study came into view. Rays of sunlight, filtered through the foliage peered through the large windows. Tools, gadgets, and strange artifacts were neatly placed on the shelves against the walls. In the overhead loft, there was a workshop of sorts with numerous piles of drawings and unfinished contraptions. The owner of the room, sat behind a large desk, and as soon as he entered, her gliding quill stopped. Depositing it back into the inkwell;

Alicia tidied up the paperwork in front of her as she spoke.

With a simple nod, she went to retrieve her.

So far the knight at his side was quiet, but no matter how suppressed, the restlessness in him couldn’t be hidden from Alicia who could feel his heart beating rapidly.

Stumbling with his words a little with the sudden shift in topic he was caught unawares.

‘Excellency… great, another one to add to the pile.’

‘Broken ribs, crushed organs, internal bleeding… yeah, sounds pretty lethal. And Paxton’s medicine was enough to have him standing right here, usually she disposes of her test subjects more often than them being alive and well… I should reward her for a job well done… though how the hell do I reward a spider? erhgh’

Saying that he made his exit in a hurry.

Reynold came up to her desk and placed the sealed letters and a small box. Just as he had finished placing the letters. The door to the room opened after two quick knocks. Alfred had returned with Rosalia.

The usually proper girl abandoned all sense of her manners and sprinted towards her father. Kneeling down to embrace his daughter;

Glistening tears of a grown man was a rare sight to see, especially of someone so high in standing.

‘I’m not good with the sappy stuff, I’ll just let them calm down… let’s start with the letters in the meantime.’

Trying her best to appear uninterested, she grabbed one of the more interesting looking envelopes, broke its wax seal and unbound its ties. As she was uninformed about the various seals of the Kingdom she had no clue who or where it was from. Being fairly large the contents of the letter had multiple stamps and seals with some even having faint magical signatures. Due to the high-flown language within, she couldn’t make out much but she did notice a few things that jumped out at her. Oddly short paragraphs, use of rare notations, numbered lists and referencing of some other document. She had seen this type of writing before.

‘What is this, a contract, legal document…?’

As she was mystified by the letter she was brought back into reality by Reynold who had recomposed himself. His complexion had become much more lively now that he had reunited with his lost daughter.

‘My fucking what?!’

Auratic

Here's a Spooder vidya: The evolution of webs.

I also I did use some of the free credits from my Dall-E to make another uhh... artistic rendition of another character. This time it's Alice, but... jank.

I let Dall-E do some more on the peripherals but seems to have forgotten the memo about which style the hair was supposed to be. Also This version of Alice looks significantly older because I couldn't very specifically use the words "young girl" together. I'm guessing that is because some people kept trying to... let's say finagle around the NSFW filter to create their perfect waifu to fuck.

I had to edit the eyes to be red myself because Dall-E can't seem to give me normal looking red eyes. I ask for red eyes and it basically gives  the me variations of the glowing eyes red meme.

Before I continue is there any style that these generations... should follow? More photography-esque, LN/Manga like or a digital art/illustration like? Lemme know. Also who next, who you wanna see rendered with the glory of shitty AI. I might need to do some serious doctoring to the results but hey, at least it's something to see.

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