Chapter 6 The Treant

I awoke with my senses fully aware and a small knife already in my hand. Something had disturbed me and I felt uneasy. I continued to lay there listening for a few minutes and then opening my eyes I looked around. It was predawn with the grey morning light filtering through the trees. A fog lay on the land and covered the island in a grey mist which could have hidden anything.

I slowly stood and equipped all my weapons then shouldering my pack I walked down a hidden game trail and was soon lost in the mist. I traveled to the edge of the island and forded the river at a shallow point then turned and made my way towards the mountains.

Whatever had awoken my had left the area or I was unable to locate it. I decided it was time to explore, during my last few forays here I had always headed south this time the mountains called me towards them. The land was empty, I had never seen any other intelligent beings here, only wildlife. The hunting had been good and the solitude had nurtured my spirit. I had time as I traveled to think about everything I had learned.

In the end, my conclusion was, the world was a shitty place and life was hard, but it was now my world and it did have benefits. I had no idea how I was supposed to help the world and to tell the truth I did not care. Those sorts of things would happen when they happen. My dad had always told me just live day by day, life was like a river and you could fight it and get tired or flow with it and master the currents, either way, it was going to move you. Smart man my dad, I really missed him and mom.

By noon I was entering a region of foothills, loosely covered with deciduous forests with a sprinkling of pine. Climbing a small hill, I found myself on a plateau, a large meadow took up most of the space with a small river fed lake at the far end. What caught my attention was the lone structure I could see near the distance. I had never seen anything fabricated before and I was instantly on alert.

Slowly I made my way to the lake then towards the structure with all my senses tuned to my surroundings and my Henry Lever action held at the ready. I could detect nothing the meadow seemed empty and with the exception of a fish jumping in the lake the area was still. As I approached the building I noted that it was a tower about 3 stories high and 20 meters around. The doorway was open and had been that way for a long long time. I entered the building noting the thick construction used in the building of the tower. The interior was one wide open space with stone stairs climbing to the next level. Aside from some old wooden furniture, benches and a table the first floor was empty.

The air had a musty smell and no sound was to be heard. Keeping the Henry at the ready I climbed to the second story here the layout was the same but this must have been the bedroom/ den. A large bed and a bench and a desk were visible. I climbed up to the 3rd floor and saw that it was a library/study. The walls were lined with old books and scrolls, the shelves held no dust on them. Everything was in a state of perfect preservation; clearly, strong magic had been used here.

I climbed the last flight of stairs and opened the small door to the roof, stepping out I realized that the roof was a garden with a small tree-like statue in the middle and many flowers and shrubs spaced all around him. It was a peaceful and pretty place with the lazy hum of insects and the quick flight of small birds going from plant to plant. I strolled the perimeter not seeing any danger and looked down at the lake and the meadow. From the height of the roof, it was apparent that the meadow had once been cultivated.

This would make a good place for a small village perhaps up to 100 people could survive here in peace. Between farming the land, fishing and hunting there would be no danger of hunger. The climate here rarely dropped to below zero Celsius it was a quiet removed area. As I was thinking about these things I was slowly walking towards the strange tree-like statue. As I walked within 5 feet of it I suddenly realized me danger when it opened its eyes and extended its hand to me.

Firing off three darts from its hand it then used the other hand to throw a cloud of spores at me. The darts had penetrated my skin and immediately frozen my body with the exception of my airways. As the spore cloud reached me it seemed to settle around my head and after a minute I had to take a breath in and that was when I passed out.

Waking up slowly I felt a lethargy in my body and a heaviness in my head. I tried to move but found my limbs and torso were immobilized by vines which were growing out of the ground. As I twisted my head I felt a sharp pain in the back of my skull, persisting I saw that a vine seemed to be running from my skull to the tree-like creature. Holy Hells. Suddenly I heard/felt a voice speak directly to me from the creature.

“Mortal man, do not be alarmed, I have restrained you to facilitate this conversation, you have my assurance for what it is worth that no harm will come to you. I am a Treant, my name is Okar and I am unfortunately the last of my kind here in this empty world. I am sure you have some questions so I will let you ask and I will answer.”

I thought for a moment, I could sense no guile or deceit within the Treant, so relaxing I asked him, “What happened here, why is this world empty and what is that dark presence I have felt?”

Okar nodded his head and said, “This world was once populated by my people, but a strange race of beings appeared from the stars, they wielded powerful magic that was much different from the magic of my people. By the time we realized what was happening we were too few to do anything but hide. The strangers somehow took our magic and that of the world, then they left, but they also left behind a being we call the watcher.”

“We are masters of life magic and yet we cannot detect life in the watcher, all we know is that it travels to and fro across the world and when it finds a Treant it destroys them. I am the last of my kind and have used much of my magic to remain hidden but now my time is ending. My magic is failing and that is why the watcher is searching, it can somehow sense my being but it still cannot locate me.”

“You are fortunate, it was not looking for you, it probably saw you as an animal and left you to be. Once my magic fails it will come here and then it will destroy me.”

I nodded, “Is there anything I can do to help you? I asked. I felt that this old wise creature deserved better than to be hunted down and destroyed, let it spend its last days in peace. I waited for Okar to respond and was surprised at what he said.

“I have a proposition for you, young human. If you will help to ensure the survival of my people I will help you. I am connected to you by what you would call a microcluster of nerves which I have grown into your cerebral cortex, this is how we are communicating. As I did this I scanned your body with my life magic and realized that you are damaged genetically. You have the best of two races within you, Human and Elf, however, the code that makes your being has been altered by a DNA virus at the molecular level.”

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I nodded it was the damn Vampire virus, I knew it had altered me. “Please continue Okar, how has the virus damaged me, I am slightly stronger and have better hearing and vision. Fortunately, I don’t have to search for a victim to receive blood from as my body is still capable of making blood. While I did not ask for it the virus has not changed me that much.”

“No, not yet,” Okar began, “But it is still at work on you, in 10 or 15 of your years you will be what did you call them, a Vampire. I cannot reverse the virus, but I can tweak the benefits and stop any further change. Also, I can add some Treant DNA strands which would be of use to you especially if you agree to help me.”

I was silent for a moment I had thought I was free from the curse of being transformed, it was a shock. Still, if Okar could stop the transformation and “tweak” as he put it the benefits that would be a help to me. “Okar,” I began, “That sounds good, but what is this Treant DNA you want to add, no offense my leafy friend but I don’t want to grow bark.”

I felt the Treant laughing at me and suddenly I smiled back, it was just a funny moment between us but I suddenly felt I had a friend here.

“Nothing like that my friend, I am afraid that is beyond what I am offering. What I can do is increase your recovery time if you are in sunlight, and increase your strength, trees are strong as you know. Also, you will have an affinity with nature, plants will respond to you and the earth will be gentle with you. Your mana flow will increase and you will be able to take mana from all growing things. Plant-based poisons will not have any effect on you and finally, your lifespan will be dramatically increased.”

I sat back stunned those were amazing attributes to receive as well as the fact that I would not have to worry about turning into a Vamp later. But as good as it gets I know that there is always a hook. “So, what is the price I pay for these “gifts” and how long will my lifespan be increased?”

Okar nodded his head and said “Your half-blood heritage as a Human Elf cross has insured you about 500 years of life, by adding Treant DNA your lifespan will increase at least tenfold, perhaps even twenty times longer than you would have normally lived. During this time, you will be growing stronger as you age, your strength is already respectable at level 14? It will probably double within 6 months if we proceed.

The price is to carry 5 seeds, they will be implanted in your chest, once you decide to plant them you will have to cut them out. Your healing factor will also increase but not as dramatically. Still, in a couple of weeks, all you would have are 5 scars on your chest. Once planted in a safe spot the saplings will stay rooted for one hundred years, then they will become mobile. During that time, you must be their guardian, their protector, their father. I know that seems a long period of time, but when you live for thousands of years’ time takes on a different meaning, believe me, it will pass quickly.”

I nodded it seemed a small price to pay. “How long till I have to plant the seeds, Okar?”

“You can take as long as you wish, but the world must be a safe place for the saplings. What say you, do you agree?”

I nodded and agreed, Okar was happy I could tell and then I was floating in a sea of nothingness. When I awoke I was felt different, the sun was more than warm it was invigorating, I could feel that my energy was topped off and as I looked around the rooftop garden I could see a light green flux around each plant, walking over to the nearest shrub I gently waved my hands through the energy and felt my mana begin to increase.

Calling up my interface I noted three things, first that my mana bar was no longer blue but now was a bright green color. The second thing I saw was that I now had a new spell called mana regen and a new permanent buff called green energy. They were both self-explanatory, I could leach mana from growing things and I would receive energy from light.

Looking over I could see Okar only now he looked shriveled and many of his leaves had fallen off him. Walking over I could tell that he was fading fast, once he noticed me he gestured for me to listen. “You must return to your own realm as soon as you can, the watcher is nearby, he can now sense me and knows I am weakening. I have gathered many books from my library downstairs and placed them in this pack of holding, use them to teach yourself and the saplings. Now you must go, my time is over and I will free myself from these mortal remains.”

With that he was silent and I knew it was over for him. Suddenly I could feel an oppressive force begin to come closer. I stretched out my hand as Bill had taught me and opened the doorway back through the diorama. Stepping thru I observed Okra standing tall one last time before a shadow fell upon him. As I observed the shadow I was aware that it was observing me then the magic faded and the diorama once again became the original placid scene I had stepped into. I walked over to the diorama of the tropical beach and stood and stared at the two small figures on the beach.

Leeann was on top of Bill and he was holding her hips as they made love, she soon bent over him and he began to kiss her nipples, at this point I walked away. I did not want to feel like a dirty peeper watching other people love one another. I also felt a degree of sadness return, it was not that long ago it was Leeann and I making love.

Going to the room Bill had given me to use as a guest I unpacked and began to clean and oil my guns. Then I sharpened all my knives. Final stripping off my top I began to wash. I stared in the mirror at my arms they were now covered in pictures with were actually made from microscopic computer code. On the left side of my chest was a picture of Mary, again it was all drawn in microscopic computer code.

I looked at my interface, I had received two good spells and two good buffs. It was now time to find a class and start to maximize my skill set and power. There were the normal classes and then the occasional rare class book could be found. Turning I saw Bill and Leeann staring at me from the doorway, I had been aware of their approach from when the had entered the hall.

Leeann said, “My god, you have another tattoo,” while staring at the picture of Mary. I smiled and looked at both of them. “Glad that you two have found one another, “I said.

Bill looked at me and then whistled and said, “Crap man you look like an old-school biker with those tatts. I thought that we healed two fast for tatts to stick now. I am sure it is a story but first I wanted to tell you, Leeann and I, we are together now. I hope it is all good with you but she is the one for me.”

I nodded at them and smiled and said, “I know, that is one of the reasons I came here with Leeann, I knew that you two would be good for each other. But Enough of that, I need to know where would be the best place for me to find a rare class book. It is time that I find a class and I want something unknown and unexpected. Where would you suggest I go to search?”

Bill smiled at me as Leeann looked at me with curiosity, then Bill said, “Two places maybe three, first, the original Royal Saskatchewan Museum, just across the road south of here. It is deadly and no one has really explored it. Second, the parliament building on the other side of Wascana Lake. It was a great place of half-truths and lies and there is an aura of power hanging over it, not dark, but not light. The last place would be the old Science center and Imax theatre further down the lake it is on the far side of Broad Street and you have to go through Wascana Park. That is where many of the Beastmen have their villages and no one has been there since the change. One last place might be the University of Regina, but that would be damn hard to get to. The only safe way would be to leave the city on the west side and circle it past the Ring road until you come near the old Indian federated college. That would be the first building than the rest of the university.”

I nodded he was right, but still, the chance was good of finding a rare class, all of these places were now considered dungeons and unexplored ones at that. Most dungeons needed a 5-man group to clear and it helped if you were a level or two higher than the dungeon. This would take some thought.