Year 73 Month 11 Week 2

The chiefs finally meet. It’s their first time in Freeka. Three from each of the three camps.

The treefolk instantly prostrate themselves before me, and sing some kind of song, from the moment they see me. It sounds a bit like aboriginal songs, if that makes any sense.

“What are they doing?” I mentally ask Jura.

“Some treefolks worship tree spirits. They are like a crazy version of elven tree huggers.” Jura chuckles at that. "They are everywhere after all."

The young elf chief glance at the treefolk and shakes his head. “It’s just a tree spirit...”

The elder elf next to him ribs him with his elbow, and whispers. “Shh. Not so loud.”

“What? It's pathetic. It's just a very large tree with magic, and absorb our elvish souls. It can’t even protect itself, and needs us elves to fight for it.” He speaks back to the elder, his voice is a little bit softer, despite his defiant words.

The treefolk though ignore his words, and continue to sing their songs and hymns. It's rather pleasing, actually, once I got used to it.

The centaurs, the two chiefs and one older centaur that seems to be the shaman or mage of the tribe are unperturbed by the acts of the treefolk or the elves.

“Hello.” I speak directly to their mind. “And please stand.”

The treefolks stand. It feels like they jumped, at how fast they moved. I think their limbs have some kind of spring action in it. Not exactly.. trees.

“I’m TreeTree, tree spirit of Freeka. All of you are here because I’d like to set some norms and processes, on conduct between us, to minimise conflict with me, the elves, and each other.”

I spent the whole night thinking what to say, without coming off as too asshole-ish. I thought of starting it by saying I am Lord TreeTree of Freeka, but then again, I'm not a lord.

The centaurs nod, “So, the purpose of this meeting…”

“Is to just tell you all, I exist, and as the entire valley and forest is within my influence, I hope we can all coexist peacefully. I have no intention meddling in your respective affairs, if all of you do not meddle in mine.”

The young elf chief shakes his head. “My priority as chief is the safety and survival of my people. If it suits us, but no promises.”

“What are your ‘affairs’, Tree Spirit? Would it not be better to set certain boundaries of each of our territories?” The centaur male instantly, with a wooden stick, starts drawing on the ground. I can’t see it, my vision is after all a spiritual/magical one, but Jura helps to explain. In short, the Centaur claims the entire left slope, the Elf claims the far side of the forest and a big piece of the lands after, and Treefolk a circle around the pond. Anything not covered is mine.

At this point, I feel like a host that suddenly has guests, and now the guests are demanding a room. Their boundaries will still cross with my roots, after the last expansion of the eight subsidiary trees. And I can extend even further. So carving up 'my' territory feels not really nice.

“That boundary drawn is nothing more than a 'designated area' for each of you, such that you don't unnecessarily create conflict. But this entire valley, remains under my care, as my roots extend everywhere. And no chopping of trees."

"Uh....."

The elf chieftain shakes his head.

Well, I want to grow the trees in the valley… It won’t help if all these new people are chopping down trees, right?

“That, is not reasonable. You, are a tree spirit. Nothing more. What gives you the right to dictate what we do?" The elf chief stands forward. "We may need to chop some trees to survive, and we will need to hunt. Restricting us, you may as well chase us away."

I pause. So do the centaur and treefolk. Strong words.

The elf chieftain turns to face the other chieftains. “Look. We are just dealing with a few elves and a tree spirit. I say, our needs are more important. There’s a few hundred of us! Why should this tree spirit and a few elves be allowed to say what we can or cannot do. I say we do what we want, regardless of what this tree spirit wants. It's just a foggy old tree.”

We just started the conversation and the elf is already so hostile. Why?

The centaur look back at the elf, and then look at Jura and myself.

They want to see my response.

It feels like the elf's words is intentional. He means to provke me, to test me, and pretty much force me, so, a display of power is necessary. If I back down now, I will look weak, and I will not be able to protect the elves and my home from their ransacking. I cannot allow that.

Sigh. Although I know force is right, but I still feel a bit reluctant. I wish these elves did not force me. Refugees, after all.

I felt like being nice. I mean, these elves, centaurs and treefolk, they are all refugees, fleeing from the non-human slaughter in their home kingdoms. But this sort of entitled behavior is unwarranted, unreasonable.

This is my home and these are my people.

No. I say no.

A [root strike] shoots out of the groynd, and it flies just next to the elf chieftain’s head. The force of it root creates a loud swoosh, and the elf chieftain falls down onto the ground.

“Huh.” The elves react in shock. They probably did not expect that, seeing how the elf chieftain's reaction is a mix of shock, horror, and probably fear, a sudden realisation that I could kill him. I think.

If that is meant to be a test of strength, I think I passed. The root strike made all of them sweat.

Jura, though, smiles. He stands, and opens his two hands. “Our tree spirit here has survived many creatures, including demon champions. If you think you could just walk in and do what you want, in this valley, you are wrong.”

The centaurs share an awkward, uncomfortable glance. The three treefolk instantly prostrate themselves.

The elf chieftain stands again. “How dare you!” He feigns arrogance, defiance, but from my vision, his spirit is uncertain, his body shaking.

“Should I hit the head, this time?” I mentally transmit into all of them.

He gulps. Everyone also gulps. The centaurs take two steps back.

The elder stands in front of him, trying to cover for him. "No." He holds up what looks to be a wooden buckler, as if that would stop my roots.

“The roots can come from anywhere. You can’t protect him. In fact, I can hit anyone in this valley.”

They both gulp. Everyone probably realise that if they make enemies, they won’t leave this valley alive.

Jura then stands up and walk to the elf. “We understand that you are refugees, and there are many of you. We want to help, and we want to share. But you cannot just march in and demand things from the caretaker of these lands. We can let you stay, but on our terms.”

The elf chieftain grunts. “Ugh!” And he walks off.

The elder nods. “I apologise, he is young and only wants the best for our people. I think I will convince our chieftain to obey your rules and I will try to convice him that as the tree spirit here, this is your home and we are... guests. We.. we can decide on the rest of the details later. For now we will stop any chopping of trees. We will speak again when everyone cools down. As you know, winter is soon to be on us, and travelling now is a hazard. May we stay through the winter at least?”

Jura smiles and nod. He then turns to me. “Is that okay?”

“Fine. You all can stay, as refugees, but if I see any unpleasant behavior or actions from your people, I will not hesitate to take what I deem necessary."

The centaurs nod, and I can see their body language is nervous. “We believe that is a good suggestion. We will meet again.”

The treefolk rise from their kneeling position, and walk backwards, their heads still bowing. "As you wish."

And they leave for their respective areas.

“That did not go very well.” I mentally sigh.

“I thought it went wonderfully.” Jura shakes his head. “Power is sometimes a great way to enforce peace. I think the chiefs, all of them got the message, that we are not one to be messed with.”

“For a peaceful coexistence, to be forged by power and fear?”

“The people need a uniting force. ‘Force’.”

Year 73 Month 11 Week 4

No news from the other camps or further out, but that's fine. Trees are growing even more, and I just crossed 1,600 normal trees within my rootnet. It seems my growth rate slows down in winter.

The winter cold is starting to bite, and all the elves, centaur and treefolk are hard at work, gather food, hunting, and for the treefolk, collecting fruits. The animals are spawning, even in winter, and apparently some smaller forest foxes and small bears has reappeared again. The refugees try their best to hunt, with some success.

Still, they lack proper storage facilities, and so the food may not last them that long. Perhaps some of them have food preservation skills and abilities, and if so, their chances of surviving winter would be better.

Jura too, occasionally hunts animal for food, and thanks to everyone’s efforts, we are going into winter with a surplus in our food store, and new warm clothing.

Anyway, the presence of these newly spawned animals, I wonder how are they just “created”? And whether they have a soul.

So, out of curiosity, Jura captures a few of the new animals for my [biolab]. In fact, I would really love to see how centaurs and treefolk look in the biolab. But.. next time.

Eriz stopped crying, finally. Her mistress is still not contacting her. But, she got tired of crying, or maybe she just had enough of venting. Roma is responding well to the infant formula, so much so ,the elves are also giving it to Lausanne. Adding olives into the child-syrup maker produces a kind of nutrient infused syrup, so I think this machine just creates “baby-friendly” food, with whatever given to it. In fact, Roma’s weight stabilised and is starting to regain some of his lost weight.

Now that its cold, Emile, Laufen and Belle got down to preparing some warm clothing using a mix of cotton and animal wool, kind of like a basic jacket, first for the kids, and later for the adults.

They spent so much time at it that they got [Tailor] as a skill. Laufen cried when she got the skill, as it reminds her of another lady in the village that used to make all the clothes.

So, the start of winter is probably pretty pleasant. The production of the cotton and olives reduced substantially in the last week, but quite a lot of cloth and olive has been made, and for cottons some of them are left unharvested.

Year 73 Month 12 Week 1

Tree growth is really slow this week. I think only 50 trees sprouted in this cold weather. In fact, it’s pretty awesome that they still sprout despite the biting cold. It’s not freezing or snowing, yet, but I think a bit more it will. At this slow tree-growth rate, I think my estimated time to reach the [soul forge] is going to be delayed.

On the last day of the week, it starts to rain. Cold, cold rain. It rained the whole day, pouring water into every corner of the valley, and some parts of the valley start to flood.

And with it, cold winds, so everyone stays indoors during this time. For the area immediately around me, my roots are able to quickly absorb the excess water and so there’s no flooding, but still, it’s an unpleasant environment, so everyone gathers in the main [secret hideout].

Because the main tree is the safest, in a way. But I have confidence in my subsidiary trees, they are all large, thick, solid trees, and they share my buffs.

“I wonder how the others are doing…” Eriz sits about. “I mean… the centaurs and all… they just got here and it's already winter. It’s probably tough.”

She’s the most sympathetic to the refugees, being one who assists her mistress on such matters prior to this. And perhaps helping refugees is how she wants to repay her mistress.

Jura suddenly snap his fingers. “Did we just harm them by stopping them from chopping wood? They… they might need it for firewood!”

These elves have it good. The [secret hideout] and [customisable branches : external rooms] are temperature controlled and contain natural ventilation, and even water drawn from the roots, and so they are quite comfortable and warm all year round. As a result, they have little need for firewood. Any cooking they need to do, is with collecting dried branches, which regularly drop from trees, and they have a healthy stock of that.

Elven and treefolk societies generally try to avoid using firewood, except when really necessary. When they do, its usually via a farming method where only branches are cut off. As a result, their conventional sources of warmth is either energy crystal, heating metals or oils from the trees, either peanut, cashew, palm or olive oils. Furthermore, thick, mature trees, are able to retain heat quite well, so the homes built within them need minimal heating.

“Ah.” I pause.

Oh.

I mentally check on the three camps.

The treefolk seem fine, their bodies naturally able to withstand rain or winters without much additional heating. From what I can observe, they used their natural abilities to shape the trees into a hut-like structure, and smaller shrubs into fences, and that seems to be adequate, for now. They don’t seem to really fear the rain, and are quite fine with being outdoors. Of the three camps, the treefolk seem to think rain is normal, in fact, some of the treefolk are still walking around in the rain.

The elves, also use a kind of wood-magic to bend the trees into housing, but their constructions are structured differently from the treefolk. They also try to shape trees of the forest, into their dwellings. As the forest is relatively young, the size of the trees, and their trunks are small, unlike my [subsidiary trees] which spawn naturally large that they can fit a dwelling, or multiple beetles.

As a result, the elves are not well protected from the rain. So they huddle together in the largest of their mixed tree-houses and tents. Using whatever fur and water-resistant clothing to cover themselves, some rain and wind still gets into those shelters, and they look uncomfortable.

The centaurs, their massive tents are able to provide shelter from the rain, and similarly, they are also a little cold. From my tree-vision, some of them are running inside those tents, in circles, to keep themselves warm. The location they picked to perch their massive tents seem to have little issue with the deluge, as the slopes means water run downwards, not into their tents.

“Do you think they need food?”

“Hmmm. I don’t know.” I look at the camps, and see their spiritual presence fluctuating. Maybe that’s a sign of weakness? But then, everyone’s presence fluctuates.

“Doubt it, they’ve just moved here for a month, If anything, what they have is barely enough to get by, and they probably have not built any cold cellars or chambers.” Eriz muses. “Refugees may have some skilled builders but they need resources and tools, and time.”

“Should we help, if they need it?” I pose this question to the 8 elves now gathered. Of course, the manner of aid should also be carefully considered, but to be fair, we only have a surplus of dried branches, fruits, cloth, oil and potatoes. The meat supply is relatively short, as the animals are relatively recent appearances.

Lausanne, is the first to answer. “Yes! Heroes help people. And I would like to help!”

Ah, this child got her head in the right places.

Eriz too, while rocking Roma to sleep, “They are refugees, and my mistress would have helped.”

Emile and Belle both nod as well, “I suppose a bit of support will help smooth things out between us and them? I mean... we do have quite a bit of surplus, with the cotton clothes and all...”

Jura and Laufen nod. “Very well. A bit of generosity is also a show of strength.”

“Then it is decided. We help, a bit.”

“How do we deliver all these things there in this rain…” Emile points to the cloth and food. It is a concern if these things get wet.

I think I can do something about that… a bit of wood-forming magic will do. Using [Wood shield] but point them upwards, it acts as a massive umbrella, and so the elves can then load some of the extra cloth, small bottles of olive oil and food onto the cloth bags at the side of the beetles. There are 3 beetles assigned for transport and utility duty, equipped with cloth bags and compartment at the side.

And that, is how my first aid convoy went out. Beetles carrying cloth, olive oil, some potatoes and fruits, covered by wood shields acting like a massive umbrella.

“Hello chieftains.” Jura arrives at the edge of the centaur tents. They seem surprised to see Jura pop out of the forest.

“Yes?”

“We would like to offer a gift, to help your people tide through this first difficult winter.”

The two centaurs, the leaders ride out and see the beetles.

“These are…”

“Cloth, some food, some dried wood branches, and olive oil, which you can use to maintain a small fire for lighting.”

The centaurs pause.

Jura starts unloading them, placing them at the side of the tent. “It’s a gift.”

The two centaurs share a few whispers, before nodding.

Jura departs once all the goods are unloaded, then returns to the main tree, the beetles’ cargo reloaded, and once again, set out for the elves.

The elves instantly draw their weapons the moment they see Jura and the beetles.

“What do you want!” The elf chief shouts, defensive. He brandishes a big sword, and wears armor.

Jura smiles, his sword sheathed at the side. “I’m not here to fight. We have some gifts for you.”

He didn’t want to argue with the other elves, or talk, really. The elf chieftain’s probably going to argue and shout, so he just unload all the cargo, place them at the side, say what they are, and then leave.

The elf chieftain looks shocked, but then the other elves shamelessly start to grab the items. Survival comes first, pride, can be decided later on.

Lastly, Jura made a similar trip to the treefolk. The treefolk nod, and smile. “I believe we have little need for such items, we are well used to rain and cold weather, due to our heritage.”

Jura nods. “I see, but it is only fair that we leave some for you as well.”

“Actually… Actually we have a request to make, but it didn’t seem appropriate to request it in our meeting previously.”

“Which is?”

“A few of our children are sick from the long journey, and we’d like to know if the tree spirit has any healing items. We are willing to trade what we have for it.”

Jura pauses, “I.. I need to check.”

“Oh, healing fruits? Sure sure.” Thanks to [winter resistance], I can make fruits all year long.

Later on, Jura returns with a basket of healing fruits, and the treefolk promptly administers them to the young treefolk.

It seems the long journey causes the younger treefolk to suffer from some kind of “movement-sickness”, a problem that goes away naturally for the more mature treefolk. It’s nothing fatal, but it causes a bit of vomiting and slows down their natural growth. Still, as parents, it still saddens them to see their child being weak, so a simple healing fruit is all that is needed to fix it.

As a gesture of thanks, the treefolk elder passes a small wooden box.

“This is?”

Inside the wooden box is a root.

“It’s a medicine. Helps boost a person’s strength. But only take it if you’ve never taken it before, else it’s not so useful.”

“Ah....”

Jura returns to the main tree, with the box of… medicine.

“Have you seen this before?” He shows it to everyone else.

“It’s… a root?”

“How do we eat it?”

“Yes… That’s what the elder says, but we’ve never eaten it before.”

Eriz looks at it curiously. “Ah.. it’s looks like a some kind of herb.”

“Oh?” Herb? I would like to make that!

At that point, the root goes into the [biolab] pod for analysis. And after an hour, I gain a level.

[You’ve gained a level. Level 116]

[Essence collection upgraded]

[Essence infusion unlocked. Essence-infused fruits, leaves and barks now available. Essence-infused subsidiary trees now available]

[Biolab : Analysis of specimen completed]

[Specimen is Low-grade ginseng root, 2 years of age. No special enhancements. Provides small permanent boost to disease-resistance and stats]

[New unique tree ability obtained]

[Limited-series Tree-type unlocked]

[Magical ginseng plant]

[Ginseng plant is limited to 3 growing plants at any one time (can be increased with level). The qualities of the ginseng depends on the age of the root, overall health throughout it’s life, essences infused, mana infused, materials infused, the environment, astronomical conditions etc. Ginseng roots, when consumed, give permanent boosts to various stats, resistances, skills, mana or abilities. Permanent Effect diminishes with subsequent use.]

[Warnings]

[Cultivating ginseng will slightly increase monster spawn rate]

[Ginseng plant does not share any defensive or support buffs of the main tree.]

[Ginseng does not work on Trees]