Mash didn’t think he could get sick anymore. Magical effects aside, he was fairly certain he could prevent anything else. Despite all that, his stomach felt like it was twisting at the moment. He sat across from some Elders and Kishiv, who had become elders. Of the Elders he had met earlier, only elder SerJi and AvJi were present. They had fewer leaders now that there was only one tree. There were four total leaders now. Which felt small considering how many people were in the city.

The other two leaders were Kishiv whom Mash had not met before. One was named OlarJi and the other was TerraJi. Even if the Kishiv were not the same as the Elders, it was a rank that they had been given. And it turned out that the Ji at the end referred to their rank, not people. When they had changed worlds, their society had changed too. The Elders explained how Priscilla had encouraged it. She had claimed that he would’ve wanted more intermixed people, and they were very accommodating to his preferences.

They were seated across from him, and they had already spent several minutes talking. The building was made out of wood. The furniture and floors and everything were wood. He was surprised to learn that they already had several farms set up. The world seemed to encourage plant growth heavily. Already cotton was being grown for cloth and furniture. Mash currently sat on a large cotton pillow with his legs crossed. Everyone was doing the same, but his position was at the center of the circle. His friends were on one side and the Elders were opposite them. Mash was the only one who sat facing both. The significance didn’t escape him. Despite his lack of involvement, they treated him with a lot of importance.

He learned why that had happened too. Priscilla had been heavily involved with the people as they developed their cities. She also helped protect them from the weather. The people here had been astounded by Priscilla’s magic. All of that was made even grander by the sheer size of Priscilla’s body. She normally kept her size small for convenience’s sake. Honestly, he kind of forgot that she could change her body's size. She didn’t though, and her body in this world was big enough to crush a house with her body alone. The others had almost thought it was a monster when they saw it. It had been easy to meet with the elders, but it had been hard to be treated like some grand hero or savior.

The guilt wasn’t even the worst part. He just felt awkward. Priscilla had done an outstandingly good job, but she had deferred all of the credit to him. Mash was glad that Priscilla was so effective. But he couldn’t accept their gratitude. He had very literally left them to their own devices. His rules and preferences had been mere suggestions. He did leave Priscilla to watch over them, but he hadn’t given her any specific orders. Most of what she had done had been independent. She simply acted with his ideals in mind. And she was doing a better job than him. The elders had been telling him of what had happened since they got here.

Mash was most impressed by the construction itself. That was something that Priscilla couldn’t help with. She could make wood for materials and shape them for basic houses, but the people had decided to just use the surrounding trees. It made it so that village would blend in with its surroundings more. The city was big, and it made him realize just how big his world really was. The elder’s old world had been small, but Mash’s was enormous. All of the Kishiv and Elders lived in this city. They said that buildings were spread around the area, and they never really felt the need to expand into separate cities or villages.

Once Mash learned of the size of the place, he realized that it was bigger than most cities. He had mistakenly thought it was a village. But the Elders had come up with their own name for it. They called it the Citadel of Trees. An appropriate name. A grand one that felt too elaborate for what it was. Scattered buildings in a forest didn’t really sound like a citadel or even a city for that matter. The size on the other hand made it too big to be a village or town. Mash didn’t bother sharing his opinion. Even if the Elders wanted it; he didn’t feel like he should say anything. The Elders and Kishiv hung on every word he had said, so he was being especially careful.

As far as Mash was concerned, he had done enough to change these people's lives. They didn’t need or deserve anything else. Priscilla seemed more than good enough to manage them. So, despite his uncomfortable guilt, he was relieved. The anxiety that had mounted with his earlier thoughts was gone. This was the second time that Priscilla had saved him from a lot of grief. And he was doubly glad to know that he could leave the job to Priscilla. He didn’t feel much like a leader. Despite his brother’s words, despite the expectations that Priscilla had of him; he was no leader.

All four of the Elders sat across from him, eyes filled with expectation as they stared at him. So far, they had just given him a rundown of what they had been up to. Mentioned things like their city development and motivation behind designs and the like. About farms that had started to yield crops already. It wasn’t just trees that grew quickly, which apparently made farming significantly more profitable and difficult at the same time. Grass, weeds, and trees would invade farms. Mash wondered how trees grew so rapidly, but they apparently had seeds or something to spread. He had listened to everything so far, and now he felt like he needed to share the reason behind the changes and what dangers might appear.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

“I’m glad to hear that you guys are all okay. But my powers changed, and you will be seeing more monsters and maybe other things like fruits and stuff. I’m not sure what exactly is going to happen. I got stronger and this world seems to respond to the changes.”

The elders were quick to pick up on his words. Their stares were intense and uncomfortable. Elder SerJi was the one to take charge and respond.

“We have noticed some of these changes. The trees have become much more valuable. But what do you mean by monsters?”

Mash paused wondering how he would explain. This wasn’t the same question as the test from before. These people just needed to know what to expect and brace for. Carefully choosing his words, Mash replied slowly.

“The ones you will need to deal with will be like more dangerous animals. Priscilla said you had seen the rats already. They were the ones that walked on all four, had grey fur, and big teeth.”

Nods from the elders encouraged him, and he kept going. Now he felt more comfortable and didn’t speak as slowly.

“Some will be especially dangerous. The things that fly would be bad. Priscilla can help, but she probably wouldn’t win against them. Try to build as many defenses as you can. Maybe the new trees can help? The wood has some magical attributes.”

Mash hesitated for the last question. He wasn’t sure what his trees could do for them, but the elders nodded eagerly. Strangely, they seemed confident rather than afraid. He thought that they didn’t understand the danger. Having noticed Mash’s confusion, one of the Kishiv elders spoke.

“The special wood will make powerful servitors. Material is important.”

Even after spending some time with them, it was hard to tell which elder was which. The Kishiv were almost identical. And Mash for one couldn’t separate the two. They didn’t have mana or something for his domain to help him separate the two. He ignored that for the moment.

“What do you mean those things from before?”

Now Elder SerJi jumped back in and gave a slightly more in-depth explanation.

“Yes. Their powers and abilities have to do with the material used. I believe these new trees will provide us with extremely capable servitors. The other elders are already working on several different weapons. We should be able to defend ourselves against most of these monsters you have explained.”

“Still. If Priscilla tells you something is too dangerous, please don’t try and fight it. She said you had places to hide from the storms, I recommend you hide from some monsters too. They could get really dangerous.”

Mash put as much emphasis on the danger as he could. He didn’t doubt that the elders could make something impressive. He remembered their servitors and the moving floors and furniture in their buildings. They had figured out things that he could not understand. He was sure that the weird trees would be useful. The conversation went a bit more smoothly, but he kept stressing the danger of some creatures. Especially the wyverns, wolves, and dragons. All three would be too dangerous regardless of any weapon. They were definitely skeptical, but Mash thought that would be okay. Except for the wolves, dragons and wyverns rarely hunted small prey. They wouldn’t bother eating things like these people. If anything, they might help deal with the larger wolves that show up. At least he liked to believe that.

The rest of the conversation went quickly. Mash kind of wanted to leave as soon as he could, but the Elders all insisted that he look around. He would’ve refused, but the Elders explained it was for the other people. The regular workers and people would feel more secure if they saw him. Whether it was guilt or duty, Mash nodded. He begrudgingly agreed to stroll through the city like some kind of hero. Resigning himself to the task, he didn’t waste any time. He stood abruptly and started walking toward the door. He only turned back when he noticed the others were still seated.

“I’ll do it. Let’s just go.”

The Elders seemed pleased and rose to follow. Of his friends, only Luke had a genuine smile. Jill had a smirk that revealed her thoughts. Red just rose slowly and followed after the others. With the group in tow, Mash walked over to the door. The building was mostly empty on the inside. The bedrooms were on an upper floor and there was a basement for other things. It seemed like these people preferred having a lot of empty space in their buildings. Mash understood that. If he ever bought a house, he would probably do something similar.

It was a fairly large building, and the doors were similarly big. It had a set of double doors and a wooden plank that could be placed to lock them. Why would they need a barricade? Then he remembered the storms and imagined they could break a simpler lock. The lock was down too. Mash lifted the wooden block easily and noticed that they had something to lean it on right beside the door. It was clearly designed so that someone could raise and lower the bar with simple pushes.

Mash opened the door quickly, wanting to do this quickly. He froze upon seeing what awaited him. When he had entered the building, there had been a relatively large empty space in front of the house. It was no longer empty. Hundreds of people had squeezed in between the trees and surrounding buildings. Some people had been sitting on trees, and others had climbed onto the roofs of buildings. They were all looking at the building. At him. For a second, he met their gazes, and then he shut the door.