World Keeper

Chapter 596: Verdant Growth

Once my time with Terra was up, and she left the room with a rumbling purr, I pulled up the controls for my world. I didn’t want to fast forward too much, but I did need things to accelerate a little bit. Thinking over it, I considered the rate of advancement for technology and magic within my worlds, as well as the rate of exploration for Lorek, looking for a good balance point.

In the end, I decided to make this a ten year leap. Enough time for every world to have a certain degree of progress without letting things spiral out of control. With the time dilation between the normal worlds and both Lorek and Spica, that meant five hundred years for them. Which… for most civilizations, would be an insane amount of time.

However, one was a cultivation type world while the other was a world of elves. Five hundred years couldn’t even be considered one full generation. Thus, a ten year skip would not be anything too terrible.

Is it my turn to go? Gracia asked, looking at the five golden figures sitting around a large, wooden table. It wouldn’t be long before the seventh of her sisters were born, and they had decided that it was time for them to give birth to a new tree.

Of the six golden sylvans present, Gracia’s domain of influence served as the most practical for a new tree. Aside from her Protection, the other five were Cities, Rain, Magic, Endurance, and Song. While rain could facilitate the growth of a forest, being able to protect it would ensure a greater degree of safety.

This was something that all six of them had decided together. They each knew that it would be their destiny to create their own tree in the future, as the call of their instincts sounded even now. However, they also had to guide their people. In their mind, it was a mistake for Cicily of Learning to create her tree before a sister had been born. The knowledge of what happened existed within the tree, and so they knew that their people had been left under the management of outsiders.

Will you prepare the song for me? She asked, looking towards one of the smiling sisters. Janice of Songs nodded her head gently, opening her mouth. When she did, a pleasant tone seemed to fill the room, resounding throughout the great tree.

Go, my sister. Janice spoke mentally to Gracia. Go, and spread new life to the world. May your branches extend past the highest sky.

The other four golden sylvans began to hum, called by Janice’s song and releasing their power. Of them, Philia of Cities released a particularly strong energy, gathering the combined force of all lesser sylvans and transferring it towards Gracia.

Of the six, Philia was the most powerful, her cultivation realms beyond anyone else. If not for Gracia, she would have been chosen as the next tree. However, a message had been sent to the six of them long ago, after Philia showed her talent in cultivation. She had been forbidden from creating her own tree before reaching the realm of godhood.

With the energy gathering around Gracia, she closed her eyes to hear the song. Distorted scenes of distant lands flashed in and out of existence around her, before she stretched her hand out to touch one of them. Then, with a burst of energy that shook the room, she vanished.

When Gracia appeared again, she found herself alone in an unfamiliar world, her eyes scanning the horizon. Before transforming into a tree, she must first ensure that the location was large enough to support it. Had she appeared atop a mountain, within a body of water, or on an island, she would have to find a better place to take root.

As she examined her surroundings, she shivered slightly from the cold. The world she had just left was one of extreme heat, and her people had evolved to withstand it. While this new world was no arctic wasteland, the more normal temperatures felt positively freezing to her.

Thankfully, she did not appear to be on any sort of difficult terrain. There was a long beach in the distance, and endless plains on the other side of her. Far on the horizon, she felt as if she could see dilapidated structures. Perhaps there were ruins nearby? Those thoughts meant little to her, as a ruined civilization would not threaten her tree.

Gracia’s hands came up to her chest as she closed her eyes. Thick roots extended from her feet, burrowing into the ground below. As she caused her divinity to surge according to her instincts, a thick layer of bark appeared to wrap around her body.

On that day, a new tree appeared within Lorek, residing at the southern tip of the massive ursa continent. This tree was unlike any other, growing several meters every day. The sight of it, and the energy it released was enough to draw star beasts from over a hundred miles away.

However, the fate that awaited any who dared to approach was the same. Either sharp, spear-like roots struck up from the ground, or razor-sharp leaves flew down from above. After six months, the tree was ten thousand meters tall, and figures appeared surrounding its base.

Unlike the previous two trees, it was not the green worker sylvans that appeared first, but rather the red warriors. Twenty thousand troops armored with wooden armor and weapons formed a perimeter around the growing tree, under the watch of a gentle-looking golden woman.

Narissa of Growth stood beside the tree. With her power aiding the tree, its growth speed was doubled. It only took another six months for the first generation of workers to be born.

Twenty years after the appearance of the tree, a band of ursa cultivators walked into the forest, their leader furrowing his brow as he looked at a map.

“Is it much farther?” One of the warriors behind him asked, cautiously holding his scimitar as he surveyed the surroundings. They had been in the forest for two days in search of an ancient city that had been depicted on one of the maps they found further north. However, they knew better than to let their guard down in a forest. There were too many places that they could be ambushed from.

Furthermore, there was something… strange about this forest. They were not offered the relief of a cool shade after entering the forest. Instead, the shadows cast by the massive canopy carried with them a sweltering heat. Not just a humid heat, but as if they were truly walking into a furnace.

“It should be just ahead.” The leader said, though even he was clearly confused. The markers which existed on the map were nowhere to be seen, causing him to believe that they may have taken a wrong path. More to the point, there should not have been this kind of ancient forest anywhere near their location.

Although the map was from a time long forgotten, the size of the trees in this forest certainly suggested that it should date back to a similar period. That was when he heard it, a rustle of a branch above. His eyes shot upwards, hand going to a short staff on his waist.

The last thing that he expected to see was a green-skinned woman with leaves covering her body, staring back down at him. And then another that appeared on a similar branch… and another. By the time the tenth appeared, officially outnumbering their small group, he showed hesitation.

When the hundredth appeared, his face became pale. And when their numbers kept growing, emerging from networks of branches high in the trees, he signalled the others to lower their weapons. Trying to fight against such overwhelming numbers would only be possible if they held an absolute advantage in cultivation. But with this distance, he couldn’t accurately measure their cultivation to evaluate that.

No, rather than saying it was a matter of distance, it would be more accurate to say that the forest itself was shielding his perception. He would normally not have any problems with sensing creatures at such a range. And yet, they appeared as if they were one with the trees around them.

“You don’t have to fear us.” A voice spoke from nearby, in a language familiar to the ursa. While not the language of their own world, it was one from an allied world of theirs, Desbar. When the leader of the group turned to face the source of the voice, he was met with a strikingly beautiful woman with golden skin. While leaves covered her body as well, like the others, her curves seemed to be almost fighting to free themselves.

“Your people are known as ursa, correct?” Narissa asked with a motherly smile, drawing on the information buried deep within the mother tree. “May I ask which world this is? I’m afraid my information is a little outdated.”

It was only then that a flash of realization hit the man, the pieces coming together. He had heard rumors that Desbar played host to a plant-like race of women, capable of growing massive forests with ease. However, such rumors were rare in Lorek, where information of the other worlds only came in once every other month.

“You are… sylvans?” He asked her, to which she nodded her head. “This is Lorek. I’m sorry, but… how did you get here?”

“Lorek?” She muttered, digging through her memories. She didn’t have a very strong impression of this name. If it had been discovered during the first generation, it seemed that Cicily failed to pay attention to it. “No matter. I am Narissa of Growth. I have been in this place for twenty winters. If you need something from the forest, you are free to ask it of me.”

“However, the children cannot speak as I do.” As she said that, her eyes swept over the green sylvans above. “I do not possess the same talents as Cicily, so I’m afraid I can’t create vocal fruits as she did.”

“Then, how are you able to talk?”

Hearing his question, Narissa smiled. “I grew my own vocal chords when I noticed that we had guests. I apologize for taking so long to greet you, but I had to wait for them to fully develop. Now, as I was saying, is there something you need here?”

“Ah…” The leader looked down to his map, unsure if he should admit that they had gotten lost. However, Narissa followed his gaze, seeing the area of it which marked their current location.

“You are after the ruins.” She said in a confident tone, surprising the group of ursa. “I’m sorry, but the buildings there were reclaimed by the forest. If you’d like, I can give you the items that were kept inside.”

“You still have them?” He asked in shock, to which she nodded her head.

“I felt that they had value, and planned to give them to a sister to study, if one was born with the aptitude. Since you’re here for them, I can just give them to you.” She spoke with a smile, turning and walking deeper into the forest. “I’ll take you to the hollow where they are being kept.”

“Is it ready?” A dovah woman asked fearfully towards the halfling standing next to her. The halfling looked up at her and offered a small smile, nodding his head.

“Three strong horses have been prepared.” He said, lifting his hand to issue a signal to those behind him. A red-haired human woman stepped forward, holding the reins of the three horses which he mentioned.

“May winter pass in silence.” The dovah muttered, clenching her fists. The entire population stood at the edge of the town, gathered nervously to watch what was happening. Outside of the town stood a large, dark forest, its trees having started to shed their leaves.

When the halfling gave a nod towards the human, she produced a small knife from her pocket. With a deft movement, she stabbed the flanks of all three horses, scaring them and sending them running off into the forest to escape the danger.

The people of the town watched the horses flee, blood dripping from their sides. They dove through the trees, their pained whinnies still echoing within the ears of the citizens. Until suddenly, those sounds came to an abrupt halt.

“May winter pass in silence.” The townspeople spoke in unison, parents holding their children close before pulling them back towards their homes.