Converting the three girls into Perfect Souls was a relatively quick process. Following the conversion itself, the machine stimulated the natural healing process of the soul in order to prevent the occupant from spending hours unconscious as they adjusted to their new states. Instead, the total process took roughly fifteen minutes per subject.

During that time, James continued to modify the machine any time he sensed a deviation within the flow of fate. Naturally, he wouldn’t do this for everyone they converted, as it consumed quite a lot of energy. However, with each modification, the machine became more stable.

By the time he was done… James couldn’t say that the machine would have a one hundred percent success rate, but it would at least be ninety-percent, rather than eighty-seven. Of course, that left the next step. The original perfection chambers were not designed to handle someone with such a firm, solid soul.

Thus, they would need to be reconfigured in order to allow those who had reached perfection of the soul to also achieve perfection of the body. Thankfully, James was willing to personally work on this project with the girls, as it meant that he would be able to ensure that Chel would always remain at his side.

Sailing through the void of space, a lone Deckan ship explored deeper than it had ever gone before. Like many that had journeyed from the homeland, this was an exploration ship, one looking for new worlds that their people could inhabit with the passing of time. This ship, created with the newest technologies afforded to the allied worlds at the time of its construction, had a sleek appearance that hid its true potential.

“Captain, we’re about to arrive at the target planet in five minutes.” A young human spoke up, his smile bright as he looked towards the captain. Unlike some of the other exploration vessels, this one had fully encouraged other races to participate and join its crew.

“Understood. Sound the alert, and make sure everyone is prepared.” When the captain gave that order, she leaned forward, brushing her red hair out of her face. Their deep space scans had indicated that this planet met all the criteria for habitation. Thus, she was excited at the prospect of finding a new world.

Another crewmember, this one an elven woman, pressed a button before speaking towards her console. “All crew, be advised. The Eclipse will be arriving at our destination in five minutes. As a precaution, all combat personnel must report to their stations, and all non-combat personnel may enter the safety zones. We will update the situation as needed once we have arrived.”

As the alert went out, several individuals were forced to stop what they were doing, making their way towards their posts. This was standard procedure for exiting a long warp, as they could never be sure of what they would encounter upon their arrival. Thus, most of the crew was rather casual about their preparations, going through it with practiced motions as they waited to hear the news that it was safe.

Within five minutes, the ship was at full readiness, the guns fully armed and deployable troops standing by in the hangar. The crew barely felt the jerk of the ship dropping out of warp speed, counting the seconds that passed. However, when the call to stand down was not issued, they began to grow concerned. At the same time, though, there was no call to deploy, leaving them equally confused.

Within the bridge, those present all were dumbfounded expressions as they looked at the display before them. It should be noted that deep space scans could not be activated while in warp, as the intense speed interfered with their energy. Thus, their most recent scan of this planet came from three weeks prior.

Still, three weeks was not a long time when you considered the scale of a planet. Typically, celestial bodies would not undergo any change within such a short amount of time. “Cadet… these are the right coordinates, aren’t they?” The captain asked, prompting the navigation officer to check his console again.

The human gulped with a nod. “That’s right, captain.”

“Then where’s the planet?!” Outside the ship, nothing could be seen but a scattered asteroid field, floating through the void of space. No planets, no moons, no star… nothing.

“Maybe there was a problem with the navigation systems?” The cadet offered, before another voice spoke up. This one was from a kitsune male with black hair.

“I’m getting nothing on the deep scans. Within ten lightyears, all systems have vanished. The nearest star is thirteen lightyears behind us… and the closest one ahead of us is a hundred and fifteen lightyears.”

The captain furrowed her brow at that. “Send an emergency notice back to the homeworld. We might have another incident like the Metong. I want immediate scans of this system. Any traces of energy should be reported.”

“Understood!” The kitsune nodded, adjusting the scanner to focus on their current system. “I’m picking up trace amounts of mana, though they are fading. There were living creatures here within the last eighteen hours. Aside from that… heavy dimensium signatures, thousands of times above normal concentration.”

The captain thought about that for a moment, looking like she was about to speak. However, before she could, the kitsune gave another report. “Captain, I’m picking up what appears to be debris from an artificial construct among the wreckage!”

The captain’s face went stern at that news. “Show me.”

At her command, a screen was displayed in front of her, showing her a large piece of worked metal, dented and scorched, floating among the asteroids. It looked like it had simply fallen off of whatever it was previously attached to. However, its presence here, along with the energy readings, confirmed that this was the work of another space-faring vessel.

“Send that report. Request confirmation from the March that they have not journeyed into this sector.” The only races aside from the kitsune that should have had access to such deep space in this realm were the March and the Metong. The Metong’s ships were composed of liquid metal, so a warped metal plate like this obviously did not belong to them.

Philia sat within a large terrace, hanging beneath the highest branch of a mighty tree. This was the area she had created for herself for contemplation. By now, all of her sisters had left the mother tree, and it would no longer bear any fruit. Its life was sustained by those it had given birth to, but its spirit had been depleted.

With the other sisters having already left to establish their own colonies, Philia was the only one left to govern this colony, watching as the nature of her people seemed to change. When the spirit of the tree died, it lost its ability to serve as a host for its people’s knowledge. It could not even be used to act as a hub for communication.

After centuries of sharing one mind, the lower ranks of the sylvans had been cut off. The tree survived for nine hundred years in total, with most of its children having survived until this point. Those who were first born were showing signs of age, their leaves wilting and joints stiffening.

“So this is what becomes of us when the mother tree perishes?” Philia asked herself, gazing at the forest below. The blue sylvans had it better. They were used to thinking creatively. After getting past their initial shock, they were able to use natural energy and ki to restore some of their youth.

The red sylvans were used to following orders, thus making it easy for the blues to rally them into a peacekeeping force. The real problem was the greens, which were the vast majority of the population. Their minds were simpler, more prone to panic after being cut off from the collective. They were the caretakers of the forest, the workers that kept everything alive.

When they stopped, the forest began to die around them. Although they did their best in their panic to revive the forest, they no longer had the coordination to properly divide their tasks. Every month that passed, Philia watched more of the forest die.

She had done her best to help, using her divine power to open connections between different parts of the forest. But without being connected to the collective, the green sylvans failed to understand what she wanted. They thought that they were being told to focus on one single section until orders were given to move again.

At this point, Philia was forced to acknowledge just how primitive her people were as a species. They had never been through a situation like this, and thus had no way of overcoming it. “In the future, I should advise the others to rely less on the collective mind… save that for the blue children.” She nodded her head at that thought, slowly rising.

The primary problem here was in how their civilization was raised. They took advantage of the tree and became dependent on it. None of them knew what would happen when the last fruit fell from its branches. Playing it out in her mind, Philia knew that their race would be able to continue after the tree fell, as long as they did not panic.

Those who had reached the end of their lifespans would be preserved much as the blue sylvans had done for themselves. The only thing that would be lost was the collective mind.

Philia walked to the edge of her terrace, seeing how the death of the forest would soon arrive at the great tree. Children of the forest. She spoke, projecting her voice out into the minds of all within the forest. Return to the mother tree, and I shall take us to a new grove. It is too late for us to save this home, so we shall aid another in its growth.

Of those that heard her call, many were left shocked. They were being told to abandon the forest that they had spent centuries tending. The home that they had all built together as one collective. Not only the greens, even the blue sylvans had a hard time accepting this.

Only the reds obeyed without questioning the order, turning and walking towards the tree at the heart of the forest. Their dismissal from their earlier acts caused more confusion from the ranks of those that they had been patrolling, but this was all that Philia could do. Without being able to re-educate them all from the beginning, the only hope for their survival was to enter a new grove.

There, they would be able to learn the proper way to survive, and gradually rid themselves of the innate flaws that Philia had discovered. It was sad, but there was no way for her to save the tree which had given birth to her. Its spirit had already departed, so she could only offer it a fond farewell.

As she felt the red sylvans closing in, as well as those from the other classes that had answered her call, she closed her eyes. Over the years, she had given birth to nine daughters herself, sending them to nine worlds to become nine new trees. When each of these trees was born, Philia felt an instinctive connection to it, one that crossed the boundaries of space.

With just a thought, she could reach out and touch the branches of any of these trees, as if they were all connected. And whenever she did so, it would cause a golden gateway to open before her, one that led directly to the tree she was focusing on. This, she imagined, was the true power belonging to a sylvan god. The power to connect every branch that came from them together, to form a true World Tree.

When the first of the sylvans arrived before her, she focused on one of her more developed children, deciding that she would first correct their upbringing before visiting the others. This was a matter which would take a great deal of time, but was one that she must accomplish to ensure the prosperity of her people.