After reading the letter I had several revelations. One was that the previous owner did not have whole library floors added for his use he had been allowed to go to the libraries and use the books there. If he had by chance left something in the previous library it was lost to him. Based on my insight I knew that what he said about leaving books in a library might be the case. But it would also be different for me.

I spent the rest of the day looking at the tomes he left on the shelves. I found quite a few interesting books. One grabbed my attention more than the others. This was a tome containing Rogul’s notes on treating cores to provide known skills and XP. This explained the path to power he wrote about and I am sure that is what he meant. From what I could tell the process was alchemical, and I had no alchemical skill at the moment. That would be an issue I would need to correct. I did not find one on the shelves, maybe there would be one in the first library.

I had hopes for this first library since it was a former royal library. After I was looking over the books I went back to the main floor. The guardian was there in his still tree-like form. When I came into view his face appeared.

“My friend, what did you find,” he asks jovially?

“More than I expected! Have you heard of Saurault?”

“Saurault was one of the kingdoms of the Shigan. If I am correct in my recollection, it was one of the first that the demons destroyed. The king of Saurault was known for fostering innovation. They were known for being the best with wards and formations. The shigan had few mages but were expert craftsmen” he said contemplatively.

We continued to talk for some time. He would go in and out I could tell he was managing multiple things. I could only imagine managing a forest this size.

“When I first saw you, I thought you might be a dryad. But that thought went away rather quickly.”

He became contemplative. “What is a dryad, my friend?”

I start to explain I also explain the dryads and even ents whom he resembles. He explains they are called nymphr here. There are no ents only the avatars of the trees. The trees are not able to move on their own, and only even a few trees could become conscious.

“I wish I could find a group of nymphr it would make managing this forest so much easier,” he said with some minor frustration.

“Well, if I find some, I will bring them to you I said laughing.”

You have received the quest BE on The Look Out! The entity known as the Golden Guardian Tree would like for you to try to find Nymphr for his forest. Nymphr are a rare species. Quest difficulty/ Epic.

After that, the next two days were spent chatting with the avatar. I gained as much information from him as I could. He admitted again that his knowledge was limited since I was the first visitor he has had in thousands of arcs. So based on what I had figured out the last time he had visitors was sometime between two and four thousand earth years.

During this time the workroom had become available. I had walked with the avatar to the place where he collated the stone and wood. I collected more stone and wood for my projects. There were a few things I wanted to test. I had made most of my equipment at home, on earth. I wanted to see what would happen if I made something here. I wanted to test my prowess now that I had magic available. From what the avatar told me something like my cloaked campsite stone would be worth a fortune here.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The first project was to try to carve the rune patterns into the stone. The process was much easier due to the upgraded tools in the workroom. All of the tools now had a metallic sheen. And carried some of the same properties of my tools. They were not all metal though I had looked into it. I could upgrade them but I needed raw metal to make that work. The good news was that I had an idea of what I needed to look for. The other thing was that I had access to a shigan library coming. If anyone knew what to look for in metals it would be the dwarves.

On the morning of the third day, I woke up to an animated avatar. He seemed to be happier than I had seen him.

“By tonight my final gift will be ready. But before that there are a few other things I wish to give you” he said excitedly!

We walked for a bit through the grove where he plucked more fruit for me. I had been subsisting on mostly fruit for the past few days. I had not noticed being hungry even once. The fruit must have had some type of benefit since I also found myself energized after eating.

We walked for almost a full hour before we hit the base of the tree in a new section. He waved his hands and a section of the base of the tree opened up. It was a massive hollow where even he could walk comfortably. On the floor of the hollow were hundreds of chests.

“Back when I used to have guests, they would bring me things. Some of it was to trade, and others to curry favor over the arcs I amassed a large amount of stuff. None of it does me any good though, since no one comes anymore.”

He led me to two massive chests at the back of the hollow. He opened one and I could see that it was full of cores. The second one had coins and polished stones in it.

“Now, that might be just enough with everything else to balance the scales. There should be enough here to do it. I know you did not ask me for wealth and to be honest, I don’t know what these are worth at this time. There might be enough to see you through a few days, or there might be enough here to live like a king. It just feels like it’s right plus honestly, I have no use for it. I used to use it to pay adventurers, but since no one comes anymore” his face was solum. “Anyway, take this, either way, it is of more use to you than to me.”

I stuck my hand into the chest with the money. There were coins of copper and silver and even a few gold coins. The vast amount of the chest was filled with polished stone. The stone pieces were square and were each a different type of stone. He did not know which stone was worth what. He could not even say if the stones were worth anything. I would find out, either I had a fortune or nothing it was like the lottery.

I decided to look at the other chest. The cores inside were different than the cores I have. The colors are more consistent. When I inspect one of the cores, I get new information.

Processed Skill Core.

That was a first this core had been processed. I had not seen one before. Roguls notes had alluded to that was how he became so powerful. As I concentrated, I could see how now.

Processed Skill Core.

This core has been treated to grant a skill (Resilience). Plus 5% XP from the beast that the core was taken from.

Looking at the core I could see that as he gained skills, he also gained XP. If he had used the cores, he could have ramped up his leveling process. I could see myself doing so if I hit a wall, I could see using the cores to push through. I put both trunks in my inventory. I would put them in the cottage later. I had found that things put into the cottage did not impact my inventory.

The rest of the day was spent just talking. I liked my new friend and enjoyed his company. Even though it was weird at times talking to a big tree. It was not as strange as it once would have been. Human media had made tree-like beings mainstream.

I went to bed after a dinner of more fruit. I had asked him about the fruit, and he had told me about some of the fruit’s properties. The fruit he had been giving me was in preparation for his final gift. They let one eat them and not feel hungry, but that was the second benefit. One of the fruits helped to purify your system. The other strengthened mana circulation and mana channels. This had been something he and Rogul had discovered. Rogul had told him that he had wished he had known this earlier. If he had he would have done just what my friend had done for me. By doing this unbeknownst to me he had been preparing my system for the best possible outcome.