Chapter 29: ThreeTree Defense Initiative

y75 m9

The month starts with rain. Rather heavy rain, though nothing damaging, as there is natural drainage within the valley itself. As the clouds dump water into the valley, the roots rejoice, the trees, all crave water, so, the roots lap it all up, absorbed by the growing number of normal trees and subsidiary trees, and it sated, for a moment, the valley’s ever increasing demand for water.

For New Freeka, they had to work harder. Yvon and team had to quickly repair and setup additional drainages. They expanded so quickly to accommodate the large quantities of housing, that the existing drainage is just not adequate. Flooding occurred in a few spots, but with some construction type magic, temporary drainages could be built rather quickly.

The centaurs had some tents run off in the sudden downpour. Again, because one lives on hills and slopes, they are trading off flooding for mudslides and rockslides.

Still a few of the refugees drowned at the sudden flash floods. Nothing like a bit of death and destruction to teach a lesson about infrastructure planning, as morbid as it sounds. And after the event, there’s usually some kind of death ceremony, a burial or cremation, or for the first time, I witnessed a real oddity, the death ceremony of a treefolk, where the treefolk is cut up into many pieces… and served as a kind of soup, for the kin to consume.

“For our loved ones live forever in us, and as a part of us. We are treefolk, and we carry the memories and lives of those who passed away before us.”

Strange, but I suppose the ceremonial, ritualistic aspect of life is very much well preserved.

Lately, I have been getting more… “prayers.” It's a bit like the conversations I used to have in Freeka, with the elves, where they would come and sit next to me and talk. It’s got to do with the [tree of prayer], and their belief that [soul trees] are a way of communion with their ancestors, or gods, or whoever they worship.

So, in some societies, a [soul tree], a [shamanic totem], or a [spiritual rock] has a similar function as a church, or a temple. Like some kind of merger between druid beliefs, and conventional religion.

“Oh tree, oh tree, make me rich, and make me free.”

Huh, a refugee praying for money. As if the trees have the power to grant fortune. “Actually, you do have some limited power to do so.” The wisp interjects, and I brush him off. I’m not going to make somebody rich. Else I’d have people praying to me for winning lottery tickets.

“Oh tree, oh tree, let me be free of my stupid husband.”

Ah… one of those. Do I have powers over domestic happiness? “In some ways, if you are creative, you do!”

Damn it, Wisp.

“Oh tree oh tree, make us safe and stop all of this running. Let us find a home, where we can live in peace of the rest of our lives.”

The common prayer of refugees, sick of running away, and finally finding a place to stay. I totally sympathise, I recall being evicted as a tenant and that’s a horrible experience.

“Oh tree oh tree kill the humans. Kill those who make us go through this suffering.”

Ah, the vengeful too. Such is the anger, from those who lost their families, or friends. Vengeance is a common prayer topic, after all, refugees all have plenty of grievances from the experience they go through.

And, my [Tree of Prayer] responds to such energy, absorbing some of it and converting it into [Essence of Mercy], [Essence of Hope], [Essences of Anger] and [Essences of Vengeance], and in doing so, it also helps to reduce that anger and emotion in those who pray. That said, the rate of conversion is really low. Perhaps as it is just a prayer, the energy within that prayer is minimal.

Or maybe the absorption ratio improves as I level up this skill. Who knows. Maybe I should consider merging a [Tree of Prayer] with an [Artificial soul], maybe that’ll create a [Tree-priest].

This month, ths traders also bring in slightly concerning news about Salah, their ongoing wars with the Nung and Takde Kingdoms.

Salah is winning, and so Nung and Takde now form a coalition, with possibly other nations that have historical grievances with Salah. Of course, in Salah’s eyes, this is treated as an escalation, and Salah is now trying to get its own allies in, so there are hints of a bigger regional conflict brewing. If additional nations join into the war, New Freeka may end up being smack right into the middle of the war, instead of being on the other end of the battlefield.

This is of little concern to me, if Salah gets owned in a battle, that’s not my problem. Bit, this worries Yvon, so Yvon and her council scrambles to send people to all the nearby nations to declare some kind of neutrality to this conflict. New Freeka, as a young nation, still trying to comply with it’s truce terms and safeguard it’s new citizens, is deeply concerned with any disruption to its growing trade, and food supply.

Personally, my ideal outcome is for the battles to be fought around me, without affecting me, such that I gain the souls from all this… conflict.

But this conflict also exposes the [ThreeTrees of Mana], as its a big blue “shoot me” sign in the area. Its huge, its obvious, and it does nothing else. Its also quite far from me, as that is where the leyline is…

At this moment, I am uncertain whether anyone will react to the presence of the [ThreeTrees of Mana], perhaps the nearby nations will ignore it, perhaps they will think it’s some kind of strategic asset and seize it… or anything, really.

So, if a conflict does happen, protecting the ThreeTree will also be something I need to do. If the nations turn hostile, defending it is my priority.

I mean, theoretically speaking, the location of the ThreeTrees of Mana is already contested territory. Abandoned during the previous demonic battles, it’s last owner is the kingdom of Salah, but historically that plot of land has changed owners a few times. Unlike the valley of Freeka, which is somewhat-legally, under the truce arrangement, a part of this new nation of “New Freeka”.

Even if Yvon manages to get some kind of neutrality declared for the valley, that neutrality would likely not extend to this newly claimed area of mine. In fact, it may even be seen as a hostile act from New Freeka for claiming that dungeon. So, I may have invalidated the truce already!

But! I would not part with the leyline. That’s fact, so if a battle does pop up, I will defend it, and unfortunately for the New Freekans, I’ll have to drag them into the battle if I have to.

Ah, so many moving variables though… so many “ifs”. If only i have eyes and ears into all the nearby nations...

Hah.

“You’re overthinking.” Meela pops up, poking her head into my thoughts.

“Why? I’ll end up dragging the refugees into battle… which is a bit too bad for them. So I should be thinking about what to do next carefully, no?”

“It didn’t happen yet, right?”

“That’s not how I see it.” Not planning for things is how I got into trouble the last time, I should do better, right?

“I think you’re getting a bit too into that whole long termist tree thinking.”

“Uh, and that’s wrong because?”

“Uh… how about the here and now?” Oh come on, don’t tell me that.

“It’s reality that I have to plan a bit more into the future. I’m a tree, I can’t just wing it.”

I also discover that Meela did experience some change from the additional repair from the [soul forge - black]. She gains a bit more “awareness” of my thoughts, and to some extent, knows what I think. It’s unnerving, as I don’t enjoy having my mind read. But she denies it, she just says she has a very good innate sense of what my thoughts are, but she’s not reading my mind.

But all souls do get their minds read.. A little. According to the wisp, a soul tree can very well read and rummage through the memories of the souls that pass through it, if certain conditions and abilities are met, and this exchange is… mutual. Of course, for most souls, this doesn’t really matter because when they reincarnate, they forget them. Heroes however… retain their memories, and if they carry knowledge of a soul tree into their next life, that makes them rather… dangerous. Frankly, the mechanism is still confusing. Apparently some reincarnation gods will wipe the memories clean, but some don’t.

Someday if I meet Mozart again, I need to ask him about this memory wipe thing. How does it even work...

Ah.

“Meela, so, what would you do? If this war happens, my leyline is under threat.”

“Fight them off then.”

“So you agree with me.”

“No. How does anyone know that bunch of trees is anyway related to New Freeka anyway. Most people can’t even tell two trees apart!”

Meela’s spirit bobs around and twirls.

“So, act as if the two sides are separate unrelated camps. So find a way to delink the two, visually. If they look different, nobody’s gonna suspect the two tree groups are related. Don’t you have some kind of ability to make it as if they look different… or you don’t? Some [camouflage] or [illusion] skill? And do you have a way to remove the straight line of [subsidiary trees] that, so that it’s not so.. Erm.. obvious?”

I pause. That’s a good idea. “When were you this smart? You’ve always given me the happy but slightly mentally retarded hero girl.”

“Uh. I’m a designated reincarnated “hero”. I get like super-boosts to my intelligence stats.”

“Really!

“Yes! Apparently all of us heroes get like “tactical genius” as a perk.”

Really, that sounds like rubbish. I don’t recall them being tactically smart at all, and in fact, often rely on their cheat ability to get out of tough situations.

“You sure don’t act like it all the time.”

Meela pouts, “Okay I lied, there’s no such perk! But I mean, I can think if I want to. We’re not exactly idiots.”

“Then?”

“That’s me rejecting the need to work hard, and refuse to think too hard through my solutions. I live life with the pareto theory. If 20% effort is sufficient to get an 80% score, I’ll do it, and leave the 80% effort for fun stuff. Anything that pops up, I wing it with my natural talent and ability.”

Mental slap please.

“I mean, that’s the best you can do. Cut the connection, and if they are under attack, defend it. They might not even pay attention, and the location of battle may not even be there, and you’ve just prepared for nothing... So, do what you can, and then not worry about it.”

“Fair, fair. Are you still considering my offer as a secretary?”

“No.”

“Trevor, did you catch Meela’s suggestion? Are you able to alter the look of the forests around the ThreeTree of Mana?”

“Yes sire. The energy and mana from the ThreeTrees of Mana contain certain specific aesthetic variations, courtesy of the [soul forge - black], that we can apply to the florae in that locality.”

“Good, next is, how about that… hiding the line of trees that link this valley to the leyline?”

“We can create [subsidiary trees] that are mostly hidden underground, like a kind of small tuberous plant, with only a small shrub appearing above. That way, while there is still a portion of trees that is above ground that can be spotted, they would not stick out as obviously, and can be easily disguised by a thick overgrowth of other shrubs and weeds. But the trade off is that they lose their [customisable branches] function, and our line of sight in that area is significantly reduced.”

“Well, it’s worth it, I think, so do it.” Ah things are going smoothly!

“Yes sire. As you command.”

“Wisp, your turn. Are we able to merge an artificial soul with the [ThreeTrees of Mana]?” The logic of me doing this is simple. If it can level up, it’ll be stronger, and with some sentience, that ThreeTrees can defend itself better.

“No. That is actually a connection with your [soul forge - black], so you cannot merge it. It’s like a forge trying to forge itself.”

That makes sense. “Fine, so I need some kind of defensive unit at that location then…”

And I turn to Meela.

“Since you have so much to say… mind being some kind of defender?”

“I like talking with you. No thanks. I like being here a lot more.”

“Come on, you’re the best! Besides, you can still talk to me-”

“Master.” Trevor and Horns both butt in.

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“Yes?”

“Riders spotted on the horizon, heading towards us at speed. They will probably close in on the Treefolk village soon. They all have rather significant magical presence.”

Ah, how strange. It’s as if they are advertising they are powerful mages to everyone, so, I hover over to check it out, as they pass by some of the [subsidiary trees].

“How far is it?” I hear them say, riding. It’s a group of 5, all on horses.

“No idea, but its ahead.”

“The horses are exhausted. And I am out of [vitality restoration].”

“We’ll arrive by nightfall. Hang in there, horses.” One of them pats the horse, trying to encourage them to keep riding.

“Should we interfere?” Trevor asks.

“Wait. Watch.” I think they are not hostile, at least, not yet.

They soon arrive at the forest, but the treefolk was not their focus. They head straight to New Freeka, and demand to meet the leaders. Are they some kind of magical emissary?

Thanks to a [subsidiary tree] right next to the meeting place, I could somewhat eavesdrop on the conversation.

“Hi, who are you people?” A man asks, one of Yvon’s inner circle, and one of those involved in the dungeon raid, he is armed and stands in front of the rest of them. He’s the first to appear from the leader’s house.

“We are representatives of the King of Baroosh. We come in seek of a great healer, wizard and magician, to aid our ailing princess.”

“Oh. There’s no-” The man was about to respond.

Yvon steps ahead, signalling the man to let them keep talking.

The Baroosh man, the leader of the five of them, continue. “The Princess, is gravely ill, and we seek the aid of the great healer, to come to our capital and heal our Princess.”

“Yes we heard that. But why would the great Baroosh come to our town in search of such a great healer? Surely the great cities have far more talented mages, wizards and priests…”

“Ah… I am afraid the disease our Princess has is… unique. Our great oracle, has a vision, that here lies the cure, the solution to that disease.”

“I am afraid there are no such… great healer here.” Yvon shakes her head. “You may ask every one of us, if you do not take our word. You may walk and explore our town, and knock from door to door, but we know not of any great healer or cure.”

The man pauses, perhaps thinking of some kind of retort. “Hmmm… Is that so… never mind. May we rest in your town for a few days or weeks? Perhaps, among the refugees are some hidden genius in the art of healing.”

Yvon smiles, “Certainly, please do feel free to make use of our guesthouse.”

Later in the guesthouse, the Baroosh men talk. Once again, courtesy to a conveniently placed [subsidiary tree], I can catch some of the conversation.

“Is she lying?”

“No. My [truth detection] did not trigger, nor did my [detect false statements]. They are being honest if they say there are no great healers here.”

“Hmmm. Maybe they don’t know.”

“Exactly. This place is a hive of refugees, so many that run here, a few thousand of them. Some of them may be hiding their talents, and the leaders know not of their talent.”

“But Salah never had a great healer either…”

“Indeed… it is strange that the oracle guides us here.”

“You know how oracles are, they will answer your question, but it may be because our question is not correct.” One of the men speak, while munching on some potato salad. “Maybe it’s a trick answer, and we need to look for something else.”

“Whatever it is, we can’t go back without the healer. We’ll get our heads chopped. We start our search for the healer after we rest tonight.”

Year 75 Month 10

My ginseng tree got attacked by a flying creature. It pulled it out of the ground before a root strike struck its head. So once again, I had to restart my ginseng tree. My constant failure to cultivate and protect my ginseng tree reminds me I still have a problem with airborne monsters. Maybe I can get flying leaves as a weapon, kinda like Pokemon.

Right?

Or shoot seeds as a projectile, like a rapid fire machine gun in PvZ. I already have fruit bombs, so launchable fruits would turn them into fruit-artillery and fruit-flak cannons? Come on system, give me something similar or a skill like that?

A fruit cannon. A seed cannon is fine too. Something to shoot at all these flying stuff that’s starting to really bug me.

System? Give me a skill, please?

[Insect warrior variation unlocked : Web-trap Spiders]

[New customisable branch option : Web-trap spider nests. Home to 3 web-building spiders.]

[Web-building spiders have little direct combat abilities except for their poisonous fangs, but are able to build webbings between your trees, laced with paralysing poisons and build trapping cocoons]

Uh.

Not exactly what I wanted, but, I suppose a spider able to build traps is still better than nothing, so I designate one.

A spider crawls out, and it’s really rather tiny, about the size of a small dog. Each of the spider can build and maintain three sets of webs, so, one branch, has three spiders, and so, nine webs.

The first spider quickly demonstrates it’s ability, building a massive web between the branches and trees, about 10 meters across and wide, and it counts as “one” web. For anti-air, it’s not exactly ideal, after all, if a dragon or something came up, a trap like this isn’t going to work, is it?

Ah, a tree can’t pick the insects to decide to live in it, so fine, webs and spiders.

“There’s a spider!” Jura shouts, and pulls out his sword. He just came out of the hideout and is surprised to see a spider so near the main tree. I guess having a bunch of webbings right above his head kinda shocked him too.

“No. Stop. It’s my minion.”

“...really?”

“Yes.”

“The girls are not going to like it. At least the beetles kind of look like a giant armor, but this spider looks like a fuzzy… monster. And it’s dark brown and black.”

“I frankly did not realise it’s creepy.”

“EEP!!!” Belle screams when she too steps out of the hideout, and spots the spider.

“It’s my new… minions. They are… my anti-air defense.”

“Can we not have them near here, at least?” Laufen too, comes out, after hearing Belle screams.

Hmmm… I mentally command the spiders to build their webs higher up, perhaps between the canopy layer of trees. That way they don’t come across the refugees or elves so often, except for the ginseng tree area, which I will cover in multiple layer of webs. Just to prevent airborne monsters from pulling the tiny ginseng tree out of the ground again.

With that, the spiders hide away on the tree tops, and the elves go about their way. Except Jura.

“Paws has been rather talkative lately, since he hit level 20 and capped out.”

“Oh, how is he?” A bear made of wood appears next to Jura.

“I am fine, master. I recently acquired this wood-form summon, which allows me to take this rather weak form, but at least I can act independently.”

“Yeah, he’s been telling me about having to ‘upgrade’ as a eidolon, to unlock more powers...”

“Yes, master TreeTree.” Paws walk up, and stands next to the [Forge Tree], and as he does, a prompt appears.

Paws, Woodbear Eidolon has reached his level cap. To upgrade (ie to Level 30), the following options are available :

• Blue - Armor path - 50 small copper ingots & 5 medium red rubies needed

• Black - Claw path - 50 small iron ingots & 5 medium onyx needed.

Ah.

For artificial souls, they start off at level 20 cap, and if I have a single color soul forge, I can unlock one upgrade, ie, level 30. Each extra color increases the upgrade by one, so, if I have all the necessary resources, I can upgrade twice, to level 40.

It seems, the colors of the soul forge represent something lacking in the artificial souls. Each color adds an affect, and makes a more “robust” artificial soul.

“TreeTree?”

“I’m afraid we need to acquire some resources, can you get 5 medium red rubies and 5 medium onyx, and a lot of copper ingots?”

Jura pauses, “Is this like the blood crystal thing?”

“Yes. Where are you on that, anyway?” Ah yes, Trevor too, needs an upgrade. All 3 of my first artificial souls have reached level cap.

“It’s being shipped here. After the dungeon raid I’ve gotten enough money to buy it, but the trader says the supplier is really far away, so it’ll take some time. Maybe next month we’ll get it.”

“Fine then. Are the visitors bothering you?”

“Yeah. They seem to be looking for some great healer or some great magical cure, but we don’t know of any. But they are still here, claiming that their oracle never lies.”

“Should we be afraid of them?” Lausanne then pops out, asking the question to Jura.

“Well, not really. But Baroosh is one of the larger kingdoms around, at the same level as Salah, so they are a respectable force. Making allies of them would be ideal for Yvon and gang, but we really do not have healers to offer.” Jura’s response is actually meant for the elves, but It’s also an education for me, because the names of all these nations kind of slip past me.

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