Chapter 177: Tree and the Snake

Year 194

A few more years to go, and I’ll be 200 years old in this world. That’s really long, though honestly, it only felt like a few years. Time is relative to lifespan. For a person who will live to 100, 10 years is 10% of his life, but for a tree that could live to 1,000 years, it’s only 1%. 

The levelling system, therefore, is clearly rigged in favor of those with longer lifespan, though the levels itself allow those with shorter lives to live, far, far longer. Like Edna..

Roon and Johann were just one level away from Level 150. Roon was an [Aeonic Sharpshooter], and Johann was an [Aeonic Master Ranger]. Both were ranged combatants, unlike Edna. Alka was level 143 [Aeon’s Field Scientist]. 

They were a little restless. After all, they were so close. I totally understand how they felt. After all, I lingered at the edge of that level for a long time, too.

There were new people, of course. Every year we admitted more into the Valthorns, and from that, an even smaller group that received the [Soul Strengthening Seeds]. 

Looking at the entirety of my talent pipeline, I had three bottlenecks.

One - Individuals who were able to reach their level caps of Level 80 to Level 90s were not many. Not everyone had the disposition or the personality to strive, and keep pushing. Some just wanted to back off and just relax. This problem was mostly solved by expanding my recruitment to cover the entire continent. With hundreds of millions across all the cities, it’s very possible to get the talent needed.

Two - training my talents to the level caps, and then beyond that, to the domains. I could cheat with [experience seeds] and give them upgraded classes and upgraded skills, and my gift to level them up to level 60, but all of these were like giving a powerful car to a driver who may not be sufficiently well equipped to use them. They needed a good foundation, and then only the powerful skills could then make a difference. 

Three - The soul strengthening seed that broke the level cap. There was a finite number of soul strengthening seeds I could make per year. The fact that these damned ginseng required long gestation periods only made this even more painful.

But I wondered, why did it have to be me?

So I approached both Aria and Lilies for help. 

“This here is a [soul strengthening seed], made from ginseng. Are you guys able to make similar items?”

“No.” Aria said.

<Maybe.> Lilies responded and then produced a lotus root. 

-

We would select Tree of Life. In the end, I thought the ability to invade other worlds, and establish bases in other parts of the world to be too enticing for me to let go. Not just that, it fundamentally allowed me to engage with heroes with a lot less fear, since now, they’d have to kill all of me, not just the main tree. 

No, the first thing I wanted to do if I chose Tree of Life, was the damned moon base. 

“You cannot be serious.” Stella looked at me. “You want to send a seed to the moon?”

“Yes. I am.”

“You’re destroying the natural environment of the moon.”

“Is this a conversation about preserving the natural environment? Because as far as I know, trees are natural.”

“Not native to the moon.”

“The moon’s uninhabited.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Then more reason for me to go to the moon.” I argued. “Can a tree go into space? No, can a tree go to the moooooooooon?”

Stella frowned and smacked her head. “That’s lame.”

“I”m a tree. I am unable to walk. If I were an animal, I would be lame.”

Stella rolled her eyes “...fuck you.”

“So will you open a portal to the moon, or not?” 

“Fine, I’ll try. I’ll need some time to prepare.”

-

I selected my level 200 domain, and I felt power surge and flood through all of my body. I felt my Heart, deep underground melt, and then, it split apart into five parts. One, immediately embedded itself back to where it was. 

I had four more seeds. [Seeds of Aeon]. They were small, the size of a basketball. 

At the same time, I felt the other powers of the domain activate.

[Lumoof has been added to your pantheon automatically]

[Pantheon invitation sent to Edna, Lilies, Aria] 

Eh. Strange that the system knew to invite them 

[Edna has accepted.]

[Aria and Aispeng have accepted.]

There was nothing from Lilies. Not that he wanted them to urgently accept. They were probably still debating the specifics of such a pantheon. 

[Skill upgraded: Tree of Prayers now also emit a healing aura around them]

“Eh. That’s another skill.”

-

I watched Ken and Snek stalk my Valthorns around Freshka. They were extremely amazed when they saw Edna walking on the streets. They were almost caught a few times, but I told my Valthorns to ignore them. I wanted to see what they would do.

“That woman is special!” Snek said in amazement. “I could feel her radiant power here. We must see this tree. To think this background energy that we felt all the way in the Northern Isles was all from this place!”

“The tree was in the north?” Ken asked. 

“Yes. It was.”

“When?”

“For a long time. I thought it was just some residue of this world, like something normal.”

Ken laughed and sneered. “You have eyes, but you could not see Mount Tai. And you’re a fish out of water, no, a snake out of the forest.”

“I’m a snake-person-turned-spirit! We live underground, we survive mostly on magic and our diet consists of underground monsters.” Snek clearly was on a different conversational wavelength. 

“Do you think it’s possible for me to take a spiritual form?” Ken wondered. “Think about it, a spiritual form. I’ll be a ghost! If I’m a ghost, nothing can kill me.”

“Of course it is, but as I said, there are risks. Nine out of ten attempts to take on an ethereal, spiritual form fails, catastrophically.” The snake said. “And of course nothing can kill you! You’re already dead!”

But these two guys got in trouble, not with my people, well, maybe they are my people indirectly. There was an Aiva delegation in Freshka, as part of our peace arrangement with the Temple of Aiva. 

An Aivan high priest immediately stopped and saw them while they were in town. “You.” He pointed at Ken without knowing who he was. “I sense a foul ghost lingering about you. What are you doing, stalking about town with that ghost.”

Ken was defiant. “Last I checked, having a ghost for a friend isn’t a crime.”

The Aivan high priest discussed and whispered to his guards. “It isn’t, but I can still punish evildoers as I see fit.”

“No, you won’t.” Ken said, and he ran. The Aivan priest and his group of guards ran after him. Bloody hell. Ken moved quickly, apparently he picked up some [Rogue] classes. Snek, unfortunately, shielded him from Patreeck’s pervasive mind reading. 

But Patreeck could still pick up random thoughts and little bits that they didn’t manage to protect. Snek spent most of his spiritual powers to protect Ken, and Snek’s was partly exposed. There were moments when we saw little glimpses of what Snek desired, and it was a bit of wonder and intrigue. 

I found it interesting that Patreeck’s power could even be used on spirits. I didn’t manage to use it on the demon parasite previously, but maybe that was because it was inside Alvin.

He managed to lose the Aivan priests. “Damned holy people. They really don’t like you.”

“It is not my fault they confuse me with the undead.” Snek responded. “I really don’t understand this world’s culture of despising certain forms of magic.”

Ken shrugged. “People have prejudices. You are probably just blind on your own.”

I had enough of observing them from afar, and so, I sent Roon to confront them. We knew where they walked and lived in Freshka. Roon knocked on their door, they borrowed some money from Prabu and rented a place of their own. 

“Who the hell?” Ken wondered and activated [Detect Presence]. “Shit, it’s the Valthorns. Have we been discovered?”

Roon knocked again, and then said. “I know you’re in there, Mr Ken. I’m Roon of the Valthorns. Aeon wants to see you. Both of you.”

Ken stared at Snek and whispered. “How’d he find us?”

Snek shook its tiny snake head. “You mean, what finally made him decide to send someone and get us.”

“Ugh. Are we dead?” Ken turned to the door and shouted. “What does he want?”

Roon said. “He just wants to see you, and your spirit-companion. He has some interesting questions.”

“He knows.” Ken whispered. “Should we bail? Do you think Prabu exposed us to him?” 

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Roonhad preempted that. “There’s really no use running, Ken. We’ve been watching you for some time.”

“That’s a lie. My [Rogue] skills didn’t pick up shit.” Ken responded. 

“It only means your skills are too low levelled.” 

Ken looked around. “Can we run?” 

Snek shook its head. “Think, you fool. We have a high levelled operative outside our door, and I think this Aeon could easily catch us anywhere we go. Our odds are fucked either way. We should cooperate.” 

“Are we in danger?” Ken shouted.

Roon smirked at the question, and then knocked on the door. “You’re not, don’t worry. But as for your spirit companion, it really depends on what your friend is willing to share.”

Ken looked at Snek. “Oh, you fucked.” Ken opened the door, and saw a carriage was already prepared. One of the continent’s finest. A small convoy of beetles.  

“Good.” Roon smiled. “Please get in the carriage.”

Ken nodded and went in. Roon followed. The carriage was magically enchanted by our mages for comfort, and security.

“Where are we going?”

“Didn’t I say so earlier? You both are going to meet Aeon, of course.”

“What does he want?”

“I don’t know.” Roon shrugged. “You’ll have to see for yourself.”

Snek stared at Roon. “What level are you?”

“It’s classified.” 

Ken looked at him, “Certainly below level 150. But I’m guessing it's very close.” They had seen Edna and Lumoof both in Freshka, so they must have got a sense from their relative power levels.

Roon smiled. “Good one.”

“What changed?” Ken then said. “My friend here says you’ve been watching us for some time.”

“Oh, I wasn’t watching you, but in Freshka, someone is always watching.”

“Freaking police surveillance state.” Ken responded. 

-

We brought them deep into the Valthorn’s Keep, and brought them before one of the larger Tree of Prayers. 

Snek was immediate. “This isn’t Aeon.”

Roon smiled. “Very observant, snake-spirit.”

Lumoof then walked in, and sat on the chair opposite them. Roon gave Lumoof a nod and left the three. Snek eyed him intensely.

“Greetings, and a very belated welcome to Freshka, the administrative capital of the Central Continent.”

“You...” Snek said. “I didn’t see it before, but...”

Lumoof eyes glowed, and I descended upon my avatar. At that moment, both Ken and Snek felt an oppressive pressure. “Greetings, Ken and Snek.” My voice was amplified by the avatar power, and it sounded like a thousand men said a single word. 

The little snake spirit just whimpered. Ken looked at Snek in shock. “Uh.”

“I have much to ask of Snek.” 

Ken paused. “How’d you know...”

“This is my city, and nothing here escapes my eyes.” I said and as I stared at Snek through Lumoof. “Tell me the truth, Snek, and nothing but the truth. What are you, where are you from, and what are you doing here?”

Snek’s little snake body whimpered, and Ken just stared. He had most likely never seen Snek behave in such a manner. Eventually, I lightened the pressure, and the small snake managed to move. I could use the entirety of Patreeck’s mind reading powers at this distance, but I wanted to see what it was going to do. I wanted to apply some of Patreeck’s power, to force a bit of honesty. 

But I decided to hold back, and wait. The snake adjusted itself, and then said.

“I am Sawabesarulars, a snake-person turned Snake spirit from a world consumed by demons.” 

“Is that the truth?” I applied Patreeck’s power, and the Snek vibrated from the mental shock. Patreeck said yes. “Good.”

Snek nodded, shaken but it steeled itself. Ken immediately said. “Wait, you’re using some mind reading powers?”

“Your snake has some kind of possession ability, it is but a taste of its own type of power.” I responded. 

“How’d you know?” Ken asked. I ignored the question and just looked at Snek.

“Sawabesarulars, continue your explanation.” 

“Our world was lost to the demons about five hundred and sixty-three years ago, when the Gods stopped summoning heroes to our world. Our gods, Gayas, Deyar and Marak all abandoned us simultaneously, and we were invaded by the Dragon-demons. The surface world was mostly lost, and the few surface dwellers that remained lived in hiding, in fear of the consuming dragons.”

I checked. It was honest. 

“We retreated to the subterranean tunnels, and that was where the survivors lived ever since. We dug deeper and deeper tunnels, and our people changed. But we always wanted to return to the surface. So, about five hundred years ago, our people hatched a plan. The idea was simple. We knew that there were multiple worlds, and gods summoned heroes to them. We learned this from the zaratans who once lived in our world. At least, before the surface water was consumed.”

Again, no lies. I commanded Patreeck to continue, and only alert me if it lied.

“We had great leaders, and great mages. But only heroes could defeat the demon king.” Patreeck sensed an uncertainty here. “We thought, if the gods wouldn’t send us heroes, we would have to steal them from elsewhere. Our leaders and ancient masters had a good grasp of the higher magics of the world, and were masters of spiritual-blood magic. We knew that it was very difficult to send a person from one world to another. But if a person was in a spiritual form, it was easier to endure the perils of the dark void.”

The snake continued.

“I, along with many other mages and wizards, were sacrificed as part of a blood ritual that stitched all our souls together. This transformed us to a spiritual existence. That was the first step. Next, we had to gain levels. A powerless spirit could not hope to steal a hero-class.”

I paused and asked. “How did you learn how to steal a hero class?”

“In our ancient history before our fall, our mages once helped a hero lose her class. It involved using soul fragments of other souls to significantly empower an underlying soul, such that it could shake off the hero-class that was latched to it. It was harder to do, if the hero class was at a higher level, as each level gained in the hero class enhanced its grip over the soul.”

“Continue.” Huh, so the solution was really that simple. Make the soul strong such that it could get rid of the hero class? If I gave someone a really powerful ginseng, could it achieve the same effect?

“So I was made into a spirit, and next, we waited. We waited for the moment when the twin-headed Dragon Demon-king of our world was sent to another world. The demons had magical rifts that opened paths to other worlds, and when those rifts were open, I snuck into the rifts. But I didn’t come out on the other side.”

Ken looked.

“I waited in the dark void, for the moment when the heroes would fly through. There were many near hits, but many of these heroes rebuffed my attempts to speak to them. But finally, when Ken and his group travelled from the other side, Ken agreed to talk to me, and it seemed we got lucky that he wanted nothing of this too.”

I looked at Ken. “Lucky for you, the spirit you picked up doesn’t seem exceptionally malicious. Didn’t your parents tell you not to talk to strange creatures when travelling through the void?”

The former hero sniggered. Patreeck confirmed he wasn’t lying, at least. He could still fake it, but I didn’t see a need to.

“So you got what you wanted. What’s next?”

“I need to send the hero class back, of course. The only way I knew how to send a hero class back, sadly, involved consuming a powerful soul.”

“Did the gods say why your world was lost?”

“No. Maybe.” Maybe if one of the gods got out of range, all of the Gods decided to pull out together? “I came here to look for answers. We felt it when a god descended, and I had questions. My people wanted to know why we were forsaken.”

Ken nodded and added. “I thought I should see his journey to the end, that’s why I came here with him. He’s spiritually bound to me, and he can’t stay too far from me.”

“I see. Tell me more about your blood magic.”

Ken’s eyes widened in shock. “Wait. Why blood magic?” Snek was in thought and failed to protect Ken’s mind. Patreeck, at that moment, read the now-not-a-hero’s mind. ‘Fuck, it’s really an evil competent military empire with an evil god at its helm. We’re so fucked. We’re dealing with the Empire and this person is the Emperor.’ 

I was amused at the thought. Snek continued. “Our blood magic involved the use of souls and spirits for augmentation. The idea was the soul of many is stronger than the soul of one, and it should be possible to enhance one from many. Our origins were troubled by malpractice, forced sacrifices and wrongful use, but over the years we focused on the key elements of good blood magic. That involved wholly willing sacrifices, and clean rituals. Consent and willingness was a fundamental concept, a powerful component that can significantly change the nature of a blood magic ritual. If we failed to consent, the ritual would generate hex.” 

If consent and willingness negated the harmful effects. “How do you know someone truly consented?” 

“We would do test-rituals to confirm consent. A smaller ritual involving just the blood of the participants. Consent and willingness is written in our soul and our identity, and parts of it can be detected in the blood with the right ritual.”

“Fascinating.”

Ken’s mind was just full of suspicion. ‘Oh god is this magical tree going to sacrifice people en-mass? What have I done? No. No. Play it cool. Don’t alert the Empire. Find the resistance.’

Snek was entirely cooperative. “May I ask you some questions too?”

I nodded through Lumoof. “Sure, if it is reasonable.”