Altura

System, unarchive notifications

393 Early-Plantling stage beasts killed: 393 × 300= 117900

176 Mid-Plantling stage beasts killed: 176 × 500= 88000

83 Late-Plantling stage beasts killed: 83 × 700= 58100

51 Early-Plant stage beasts killed: 51 × 1100= 56100

39 Mid-Plant stage beasts killed: 39 × 1300= 50700

41 Late-Plant stage beasts killed: 41 × 1800= 73800

Retainer level ups detected: 35738 Qi gained

Total Qi gained: 480838

Level up!

Mid-Plant (115350/153600)→Late-Plant (595688/307200)

Late-Plant (595688/307200) (Additional Requirement unmet)

Begin trial?

Ok what. What just happened. How did I just level myself up to Treeling level? Well I did kill hundreds of beasts, but if that was all it took then why…oh right, where else would you get hundreds of beasts of such levels. And then there was the retainer Qi. I wasn’t even going to pretend I knew how it worked.

I suppose it was time for me to brave whatever trial the System had in store for me.

System, begin trial.

And suddenly I found myself back in my body when I transmigrated. And then came the flashback. The initial panic with the dire wolves, the trap set by the Clans, the events that followed. I went through them all. I realized how much I had changed, how much I had been through in these past couple of months.

And then I found myself standing before my Plant as it grew, metamorphosed into a Treeling. A hole formed on one of its branches, and asked me a single question.

‘Tell me, Archduchess of lands still unnamed, what do you wish to be?’

What do I wish to be? Now there was a hard question. A few months ago the answer would have been free. I had always felt restricted, unheard, back on Earth. But not here. Here, I had power. The power to change things, affect things. But that was not all. I also had responsibility. Responsibility to my people, to their well-being, to their future generations’ well-being.

And I carried that responsibility with pride. After that there was my responsibility to Duke Reinar, who had helped me selflessly over the years…even if it was because he thought of me as his daughter. And there was the King. The King I had been horribly rude to. Not being allowed to ignore proper treaties was a given. The King would be at fault if I didn’t enforce it. But I had blown up on him, going too far. I suppose an apology was in order.

But I did have an answer for the hole. I want to be a good ruler to these people, a good friend and more than that. I want to bring change to this world, to make it just a little more fair.

And the hole accepted it, collapsing into a fruit, solidifying the Treeling. I suppose the duchy had another occasion to celebrate now. After all, they had another Treeling in their midst. I wonder how far along Kerrin was. And Aswelth had to have leveled up too right?

Aswelth

Aswelth stood before his Treeling as another hole formed among its branches. ‘Tell me, General, have you found your fame? A few months ago you were asked what you wished to be, today I ask you, what are you?’

What was he? A puzzling question. As expected of a Treeling barrier. Aswelth had heard about how in more prosperous lands, the young ones could be quickly leveled up to Plant stage, but it was at the Treeling stage that they failed. Each question was trickier than the last, and this continued in each small realm. Even the Tree realm.

But Aswelth had the advantage of a cheat today. The hole had asked the question on the wrong day. ‘I am Aswelth, General and protector of these lands, tomorrow I may care for fame, have it even, but today I am a General. A General that holds the fort.’

The hole shivered at that, shrinking as it replied, ‘An unexpected answer, but it holds truth. But remember General, though luck is a part of a person’s power, it also fails easily. Think upon yourself, for these questions build on one another, and the next is the hardest that I shall ask. After that you are within the hold of my brother, and his questions are harder still.’

Another fruit formed on his Treeling, but Aswelth did not have time to pay any attention to that. Or to the hole’s warning. A large aura had just neared the fortress, bent on destroying it. The leader of the beasts had entered the scene, and it was time to end this war.

Kerrin

Kerrin laughed as he plunged a blood sword into the Treeling's side. Blood ran down his face, half of his bones were broken, and his Qi was nearly gone. But he had done it. A Treeling had fallen to him, a deed that he was sure few had accomplished. And now he would gain his reward. The Treeling stage stood before him.

A few minutes passed as the Qi poured into him, and then he was back where his journey began. The killing of that first snake and all that followed. Truly, much had changed since he was a little kid in the City. Now he was bigger, perhaps better.

And more than that, he had a purpose. A thing that drove him. A sense of belonging. The duchy was his home, he knew that no matter what happened, the Archduchess would welcome him, and it warmed his heart that it was so. The hole had truly erred here, it had asked him a very easy question.

‘I wish to be of help to the duchy and its Archduchess. To work to make my home a better place.’

And the hole accepted that, not that it had much of a choice. Kerrin wondered if anyone even failed at questions like this, how was it that people did not know what they wanted to be?

The King

The King sighed as he relaxed on his chair. The conversation with Altura frustrated him. While he could understand her position, and he would likely do something similar if he was in her position, it did not justify losing her temper at him. What had he done to deserve that? What that foolish ducal heir did was not his fault.

And that idiot was most assuredly at fault. The Royal Organization for Covert Operations had uncovered how he had collaborated with the Shadow Prince’s little organization to instigate an attack on her duchy. But what he did not realize was that attacks like this could easily turn into opportunities.

At this moment, General Aswelth had broken through to Mid-Treeling, and was getting close to Late-Treeling. Even Altura and Kerrin had broken through to the Treeling stage. Sending Kerrin to the Treeling area had been a test. Not a very wise one given that it had the possibility of making an enemy, but a necessary one to gauge exactly how powerful this retainer was. The answer was too powerful.

And then there was that Ducal guard of hers. How many had broken through to Plant stage? Plantling stage? Too many, he wagered. Altura’s little duchy now held enough power to counter the entire Kingdom. And that was not all. The Council of six, formed of the six founders of the Six Jewels had just informed him that her ancestor, the most talented Prince to be born in his family, had successfully broken through to the Grand Tree stage.

A person had only one chance to answer the questions presented to them in the Tree and Grand Tree stages. The Tree stage hole would ask you questions about your seed’s nature, the questions changed, but they were always about the seed in question. The Grand Tree questions were even harder, they asked about casting, the methods of casting. No one had successfully answered those after the founders. Not until one Prince.

The Council would most certainly ask for a Seventh Jewel to be instituted, and the duchy would be what was chosen. No other place sufficed. The duchy was land deeded to a descendant, and had enough of an army to justify making it a Seventh Jewel. And that meant that Altura would soon talk to him as an equal.

But she would not be an equal. Not truly. The other Jewels had already caught onto her growth, and they were not happy. Not after her ancestor already blazed through the stages. And they had one excellent tool to use against her. The Elder Tourney. A once in a decade competition that the Jewels had to send participants to.

Of the hundreds of young Trees they had sent, only one had returned. And that one had now caused the formation of a Seventh Jewel. The Grand Elder would reward every force that represented her, depending on their contribution. And since the Six Jewels were considered a single force, they all received awards. The one representing gained 25 and the rest 15. How were they going to change that now? Dividing between Seven Jewels would reduce everyone’s share. The Jade Sect would be happy though, they had the next turn. No one liked losing Trees after all.

The reward for Altura, Kerrin and Aswelth representing was bound to be luxurious. So now there was a question, what should he do? Support her even after what she did? Or leave her on her own, to live or die on her own terms? The King sighed at that, the life of a ruler was truly not easy. Especially when things like this were thrown into the mix. The mess had been born, and it was up to him to fix it.