Tree of Aeons

Year 84 Month 11

The heroes have been busy fighting smaller battles, and yet, they have been unable to stop the demon king from going where it needs to go. Which is the site of the previous, most recent demon king’s death.

It’s probably a problem for everyone. I also reckon, logically, that if the demon king intends to somehow tap into whatever’s left, this next one is going to be way stronger than the one they faced on the Eastern Continent. But probably not at the level of the demon king.

For the group of heroes that are here, it’s probably a tense time. What if the demon king aimed for them? Can they fight it?

Already, four other walkers have been spotted throughout the continent, and the brief peace we had before once again shattered. 

It’s... just annoying.

I just want to grow.

Can I create a massive wall somewhere that all these demons cannot go?

Or maybe just go live on the moon or something, where there’s no demons to bother me.

Yeah, live on the moon. What would it be like, to live on the moon?

Can I be the moon-tree? Or tree-moon? If I terraform one of the moons into a land covered in trees, would it look green, and yellow when I change their leave colors from so far away? Which moon should I live on?

For a short while I entertained the idea of living on another object where there are no demons and no... monsters. 

Just... trees. And maybe animals to help the ecosystem get going. It’ll be like those sci-fi movies where some guys travel to some faraway planet there’s home to ravenous trees. 

A tree can dream, right?

-

“I want to fight monsters!” Lausanne protested. “I’m so sick of demons.”

“I lost count how many times you’ve said it.” One of the other Valthorns sighed. To them, it was one of Lausanne’s teenage frustrations. 

She sulked in a corner. The other Valthorns practiced, in between the regular battles. Some Valthorns took the chance to just catch up on sleep and rest, since they’ve been deployed periodically to fight the demons.

The knight-trainers from the nearby kingdoms arrived too, and they started to train the junior Valthorns in basic knight stances and moves. It’s rather simple stuff, like... stand in a knightly manner, how to hold your sword, but I suppose one needs foundations.

“Come, let’s spar!” Nero was one of them who regularly sparred with the Valthorns, thanks to Yvon’s meddling. He wasn’t at Lausanne’s level, but he was at least competent enough to spar with the newbies and the later initiates. 

He would regularly get beaten up, of course, but he seemed to be taking the pain better. 

“What level are you, Lady Lausanne?” Someone sat next to her and asked. I think it was one of the adventurers. 

“Level 65.” 

There was an awkward silence. It’s highly unusual for someone of that age to reach that level in combat. There has been cases of high levels, but usually in more menial roles, perhaps farmer, or herder or rancher. 

Of course, that’s due to all the training and leveling aura effects that I have. I have 4 dedicated training skills, one dedicated Treeiner, and a bunch of other practice things. Thinking about it, it didn’t feel that cheating. The heroes get close to level 100 within 2 years. Lausanne started training when she’s... 6? And now she’s already 14 turning 15. 9 years for 65 levels, versus 2 years for a 100 levels, I think heroes are still at least 7 times faster, ignoring the fact that the higher levels are harder!

Man, that makes my hero fragments super overpowered.

I should think about weaponizing or ‘sharing’ these shards someday. I wonder whether it’s possible to ‘lend’ the effects onto an item or as a ‘blessing’, such that they gain it’s effects?

[The first 100 fragments cannot be given away].

“What.” I wondered to myself. Why such a restriction? What’s the first 100 fragments for?

No answer. It seemed like this wasn’t something the system was willing to tell, yet. 

Fine, can I set up a proxy, such that the effects of the fragments are shared, even if the actual fragment remains physically with me? A ‘cloud aura server’, with my trees acting as my transmitters. 

No answer. 

Does that mean it’s impossible, or it’s possible? 

Yeah. 

Why should a benefit be solely hoarded by me anyway?

“TreeTree. I’m sick of demons.” Lausanne protested and decided to have some pastries.

“I know.” 

She decided to eat some cake. I miss cake. I would like to have a nice coffee cake. I miss coffee cakes. 

I asked some of the servants to mix coffee powder into some fertiliser, and pour it around me instead. At least I can somewhat ‘taste’ it, but It’s just different. Really sucks not having a taste bud.

Wait. There are those giant insect-eating bugs that resemble lips and mouths. Can I evolve those and make them have taste buds? Then I can still taste food!

“TreeTree, why did you ask the servants to pour coffee?” It was strangely Laufen who breached to topic.

“Coffee... is beneficial to trees.”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing.” 

“Only ancient, ancient trees like myself.” I lied. “Only those who have lived the aeons would desire the taste of things.”

“Ah. Then would you like tea as well? Or chocolate?” 

“Yes. That would be great. Pour it into the small hole next to the tree of prayers.”

I should first evolve my roots to have taste receptors. Now I just need to block out the taste of... dirt.

Year 84 Month 12

< Do not fear the outworlders >

< Fear them >

Huh? Lilies’ randomly had a statement. 

> Am I... talking to the same person? <

< A mass, a hive, are many, made of many, and many minds make many different ways. A nation is one being, and one being is a nation. Only a nation, can comprehend another >

What? 

< We are many. And we have many ways. We are aggressive. We are passive. We are quiet. We are loud. We are everything, and we are nothing. >

Oh. In short... because Lilies is like a choir... there’s bits of it that has... different personalities? And each of them does things differently?

> Is there one in charge? <

< Yes and no >

I... decided not to think about it. It’s like I’m talking to a bunch of schoolkids and each of them have a word to say. 

Apparently the heroes had a skirmish with the demon king. Somehow, they managed to escape the fight itself. But it was quite... uh... stupid of them. 3 against the demon king? What were they thinking? At least none of them died. 

Meanwhile, the other heroes in the other continents are still ‘clearing’ their respective continents of the demons, and apparently, making some plans. Are they coming?

As winter sets in, I sensed unusual energies coming from the heroes’ tower. I didn’t know what it is, and I tried to get the labs to scan, but the energy fluctuated slightly, and then... was back to normal again. It felt like star mana, but without any detailed results, I wasn’t sure.

-

This winter, we’ve managed to get a bit more evergreen plants to grow. Some traders managed to bring in winter-resistant plants from faraway lands, and that made me very happy. It’s nice to have fellow winter-friendly trees. 

Down far south, near the Lake Lilypod, the Lake itself is a source of warmth, and it doesn’t freeze over. The unmoving giant tree-walker, sprawled over the ground, now overgrown with trees. 

It’s warmer here. South is nearer to where the sun is after all, and some simple astronomical rules still apply, even if there are more moons to complicate the water-level movements. 

“The giant walker just... died.” A trader mentioned, walking past the giant thing. To them, it’s dead. The difference between a dead giant walker and a giant walker infested with vines and trees, in practice, is really still a dead, unmoving thing. 

“The King ordered that no one approach the walker though.” The King referred to the ‘elected’ ruler of the Giant Lilypod City, truly, just the ruler of the humans. I suspect Lilies is in communication with him to some degree, but then, it’s probably a secret it doesn’t want to share. 

A few carts filled with corpses move past. And later, they dumped all the corpses into the lake. 

“It’s really quite fast that the walker is covered in trees, though.” A trader said. They were just walking past my [giant attendant trees]. “And these massive trees, they just... appeared.”

“Must be the Lilypod magic.”

“Really, you think so?”

“All tree spirits have the ‘bloom’ effect. It’s like... a fact.” One other trader said. “I’ve never heard of a tree spirit without having some kind of supergrowing ability.”

“Why would the Giant Lilypod do such a thing?”

“Maybe the giant walker’s like... super fertile or something? It does have a lot of magic in it.”

“Really?” I think this trader just says ‘really’ all the time. 

“I’m guessing. I’m guessing!” The trader laughed. 

A bunch of adventurers quickly pushed them on. “Good sirs, please, let’s get moving.” 

“Ah, yes yes.” 

Escorts are still needed after all. Demons aren’t over yet. 

Huh. I would like to visit a floating city for a change. I wonder it’ll be more like Venice, or whether it’ll be like those floating markets of Southeast Asia? Or is it more like living in some kind of floating oil rig?

-

The demons kept up their attacks, but without the walkers, the regular armies aren’t really much of a problem. 

“That’s the 30th Demon Elite I killed.” Lausanne complained. “And no levels this time!”

Jura laughed. “Maybe... you should let them do the fighting. You just help when they really can’t do it.” There was a bunch of other Valthorns, the strongest of them in their level 30s, a pretty good level for their age. Almost-genius, even. 

“Uh... okay.” Lausanne realised she just said something that wasn’t going to go her way.

“Try to play a [leader] role then, instead of the vanguard. Maybe you can get some kind of leadership class.”

“Can’t I just ask TreeTree for it?”

“Stop asking TreeTree for everything, Lausanne. A good champion doesn’t depend on handouts.” 

“But heroes got their powers handed to them on a silver platter!”

Jura paused. “True, but still, if you depend on someone else’s power, it means you are not there yet!” With how cold winter is, everyone’s practicing indoors. We have plenty of space.

-

Stratreegos found a magic spot. 

A large, dark cave was located on one of the mountains. It’s further west, even further from the volcano. There were monstrous bats, large crab-monsters. 

I sighed. 

Probably a ‘black’ element location again. I honestly don’t understand why my soul forge is blue. I’m a tree, shouldn’t I be green? But magic does what magic does, it is what it is. Is black, red and blue magic more common in this world? 

Should I still take it though, since I have one forest rod. 

But with the heroes’ power growing so quickly, their summoned armies already sweeping through many parts of the continent, destroying demons in the process, the odds of me locating a demon rod for ‘capture’ is slim. 

Already, more rumors and news comes from the land beyond. That the heroes are able to call on units that are like... superunits, able to take on a demon walker single handedly. That meant they could now attack the demonic forces on multiple fronts, expanding their force projection ability to counter the demon’s reach.

Have they passed level 100? It sounds like some of them did. 

If so, the odds of a final battle with the demon king is soon. 

I want a superunit too. It’s quite unfair that I have to get a heroic soul to summon a titan, and they can do it with... level 100. The gods really loaded the die with them. 

-

Year 85 Month 1

A new year begins. 

It’s almost 3 years since the demon king has arrived, by my own clock, year 82 Month 2. This war has gone on for far too long. 

Everywhere, it’s weariness. A sense of exhaustion in the people. Rumors of frustrations among the many kings and queens. What’s taking the heroes so long to just get to it. Even me, I’m just tired of demons. 

For the past 3, no 4 years I’ve been battling demons throughout my domain. 

But there is also rising hope. 

It’s going to end soon. 

The question that happens, inevitably, is when, and where it’s going to end. And for most of the kings, how to avoid being... collateral damage in the cataclysmic battle that occurs. 

The question of ‘where’, is most certainly our current continent. The demon king is finally at the site of Demon King, and predictably, consistent with the Astaroth incident, it summoned a demon. A demon shaped like a large airship. 

It didn’t seem like the demon king was intent on going anywhere else. It wasn’t moving, and instead, it stopped, and released a massive energy blast that incinerated the surroundings of the former site, what was once a crater, turned into a larger one. 

And we all felt it. 

A strong energy that pushed back against my auras. A kind of energy so ‘dry’, that I felt like it’s attempting to strip my mana away from me. The tower vibrated, it’s divine energies triggered to create a shield, and even then it felt the tower pull, no, demand energy from the surroundings to reinforce itself. 

So strange. 

But it was a taunt. 

Thanks to that unidirectional wave, we all know where the demon king is. Like a blazing fire, all we have to do is follow the warmth. 

It calls out to them. The demon king and the image of the previous one.

I can almost feel the words that it meant, through that wave. Come, heroes.

Time to settle this fight. 

-

That energy wave triggered magical defensive spells, like how lightning sometimes triggered alarms.

Even in New Freeka, some simple enchantments, like door reinforcement spells, or enchanted weapons made unusual sounds and had strange shapes appear on them. 

And the hex? The residual hex that’s now pooled together, cordoned away from the general masses? They reacted strongly to the wave. It wasn’t absorbing it, but it didn’t like it at all, and a strange, purple-ish glow appeared over them. 

So, it was time to bunker up or run away. Some of them choose to travel further away from it. It’s a sensible choice. The demon king is taunting the heroes to go to it, but at the same time, it’s a signal to everyone else to run away.

Which many did. 

For those that didn’t, or couldn’t, we bunkered up. The sewers and underground tunnels project thankfully completed, the citizens started stocking up designated storage areas in the underground tunnels. 

The tunnels go quite deep into the ground, after all, the demon kings clearly have incredible destructive power, and shallow, near-surface tunnels are still going to get destroyed easily. 

I’ve also restocked my constantly growing arsenal of anti-demon wooden bolts. If it ever comes down to a fight, I’m not going to go down easily. 

I hope I don’t get involved. But a part of me knew that’s wishful thinking. It’s on this continent after all. 

In the long eternity of time, one day, I will have to face the demon king. Whether by chance or by intention.