Got delayed by reading savage divinity...
Not much happening in this chapter but a few clues are seeded that will sprout in the next couple of chapters (this comment was completely unnecessary, just needed an excuse to do a plants pun).
The italics are for when they change language (it's pretty obvious but I wanted to point it out so it doesn't difficult the reading for anyone)
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‘shit, shit, shit, the ward!’ Luke thought while he watched the beautiful woman pale rapidly. The ward drained faster the longer anything stayed inside. Luckily for her, she hadn't been here long (the ward didn't have the ability to knock out, so she must have been unconscious before appearing. So the noises he heard were from her crashing down indicating that that was the exact moment she arrived).
Luke wasn't proud of it, but he hesitated. He didn't have anything against women or other races though he would like to confirm she wasn't hostile before saving her. Quite pitiful would be for him to die by her hands just after saving her.
Suddenly, a comfortable and somewhat familiar feeling invaded him.
With no more excuses, he proceeded to gave her a temporary pass. It was something he had discovered after some tests: he could allow a being to not be affected by the wards with restrictions. Those could be based on time or actions. Like not being affected for an hour or while they remained friendly. He wasn't sure how the last one was possible but he suspected the actual condition was ‘as long as Luke consider your actions friendly.
Seeing her still unconscious form, he applied Minor Heal three times before her eyes trembled open. They were an attractive grey, almost like silver. It was easy to find your reflection in them. If she was gorgeous with her eyes closed, she was enslaving when they opened.
Luke couldn't help himself, gawking intensely at her. It took several minutes and shaking his head more times than minutes to compose himself. It helped that after the first few seconds she broke eye contact and blushed furiously. That didn't help until he realized she was more nervous than him.
“Hello, I'm Luke.” Luke said stuttering slightly.
She sat in the bed while she looked at him. She tilted her head as if finding something curious or unexpected. She tried to speak two times before coughing and trying for a third time.
“Sorry, I don't understand. What kind of language is that? Where am I? Who are you? How did I get here? I was checking on little woo when everything went black. Why do I feel the goddess energy in the room?...” the girl continued with her tirade without breathing. Hearing to her speaking made Luke want to facepalm. He had assumed she would speak English but that didn't work out well. Luckily, she was he was able to comprehend her. He understood how when he noticed she was talking in the Runic Language. That was interesting and worrying. Throwing such a rant demanded an amount of Mana not low. He could repeat the feat without issue due to his deep Mana pool and his high recovery rate, but most human even if they knew the language, they wouldn't be able to speak from lack of Mana. The other point that grabbed his attention was that she could immediately feel the presence of Druantia which made him suspect they were connected in some way. She didn't appear to be ready to stop, so he decided to put an end to the monologue.
“Slow down. I'm Luke. I spoke before in the language of this lands without realizing you wouldn't understand. You're in my house and forest. The goddess asked me to heal you. Now calm down. And please tell me how I should call you, except if you prefer me referring to you as you constantly.” he wasn't used to speaking the language, but the skill proved to be extremely useful at this point. It was like talking in his native tongue. Fluent and without issues.
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She looked at him suspiciously for seventeen seconds (Luke counted them because it distracted him of her curvaceous figure) finally reaching a decision.
“If the goddesses trust you, then who am I to distrust? I am Dahani, daughter of the forest, priestess of nature and of the nature elves race. I have been protecting wooded territories for years since I assumed my role and its consequence. Now can you explain what happened to me?” Dahani said. She had stood up from the bed while she spoke. Luke found the titles intriguing and the sight distracting. It took all his willpower not to ogle her.
“I don't know what caused your sudden change of location. My world was one without any form of magic until recently. It is unknown to me why you appeared here unconscious although I imagine Druantia had something to do. As you arrived, you triggered my defences making it impossible to remain your strength. If the goddess hadn't guarantee that you aren't a danger to myself, I would had healed you and thrown out of this glade before you woke up. You look hungry, come I will prepare something.” Luke didn't bother to wait for an answer. Dahani would comply, after all she couldn't remain in this room forever. While his attitude may appear rude, he was hungry after traipsing in the forest and fighting goblins. Besides since he changed race he preferred to spend as much time as possible outside (actually he did the same even before changing, but now this tendency was accentuated).
Luke went down the stairs and grabbed some fruits from the kitchen. He had discovered that an added bonus from awakening the trees was that they produced a significantly higher amount of fruits (and tastier at that). If not, he would have exhausted his reserves in the next few days. Now, he had more than he could healthily eat in a week dropping daily. Luke had made the habit of eating outside. It was the only way of sharing meals with Steve now that he was too large to be comfortable inside the house.
Dahani followed close behind without speaking before leaving the house. He felt her start to vocalize a question when she spotted the imposing treeline. In this last week, they had grown to be above fifty meters and didn't show signs of stopping soon (he hadn't measured it accurately, but he estimated their growth at two or three meters each day). Luke turned around to pass her some food to find her with her mouth wide open, staring at the forest.
“What's this? And awakened forest? How is that possible? Incredible, the amount of Mana gathered in this place is denser than in my own region. Who did this happen? You are really lucky to find such a place. It usually takes thousand of years for a forest to awaken it's first tree and hundreds more to awaken the rest.” Dahani exclaimed surprised. Then she gazed at him as if she was reassessing her evaluation of him.
Luke didn't know how truthfully he should answer but Druantia had vouched for her so there should be no problem in telling the truth.
“It was a fluke. I was in this house, planning some wards when I got curious and tried to establish a connection with one of the trees with my Mana. Suddenly, the tree grew exponentially and I got a notification that the forest was starting it's awakening. That's how my forest awakened.” Luke said while scratching his neck like a children confessing his wrongdoings to his mother. This was probably a reaction to the intense glint on her eyes. There was something oppressing about her that made him feel as if he had wronged her somehow and had to justify his actions to her.
“You're telling me you awakened a forest and claimed it? Preposterous! I had guarded and lived under the same trees for decades without getting such results. However I can feel your connection to the plants all around. Even to the little grass. How long had this place been awakened for?” After her outburst, she deflated rapidly. It seems that she found the circumstances hard to believe, but the evidence proved it to her beyond doubt. Luke relaxed the vigilance he still kept. For the reactions he has seen up to now, he could guess she really loved forests. Besides, he could feel and see the desire of the grass to be closer to her. It moved and bent unnaturally in her direction. A person so loved couldn't be evil.
“A week. Take this, it's not much but I don't know what you can eat or what effect this world food could have on you so better start simple right?” Luke said while he passed Dahani an apple. It looked redder and more delicious than it had a right to be.
With a distant look on her eyes, Dahani bit into the apple while Luke pondered this new developments.