After a while, Baranduin and his entourage disappeared.
“Now you can explain”, urged Chief Pai.
“Yeah Acma, they must be planning something sinister upon you. Why are you easily agreed with their appointment?” Li Susheng asked.
Everyone were looking at Acma, waiting for his answer.
“If I were to say, I agreed because I had a noble reason which is to prevent a future trouble for this town and Orca Village, would you believe me?”, replied Acma solemnly. He took a deep breath.
“But it’s obviously a trap. Why didn’t you consult with us first? You didn’t even ask what the Guardian is” Chief Pai, who looks angry interjected.
“There is no need to ask, whatever it is, it’s just a camo to hide their real reason. Like Mr Li said, they be planning something on me”
“You knew, but you still agree”
“I’m sorry Uncle Pai for being selfish”, responded Acma short as he look toward the eastern horizon.
“We came to this world and we know nothing about it. So, I want to explore this world and I want to interact with its inhabitant. But, as you know, I killed a lot of them and I even taken their prince as a hostage. Most probably that I can’t even step out of this place without shedding more blood. So, I saw their appointment as a golden opportunity for me. I know it’s a trap and I know it’s dangerous, but somehow I don’t worry about them. I feel that even if they’re planning something sinister against me, I can escape safely. Well, if they want fight, I will give them fight. If they try to take my life, I will kill them, definitely”, he continued calmly.
“...”
Everyone were stunned and Elder Ma was sighing.
“I thought you agreed because you want to go for the princess. I heard you’re quite intimate with her yesterday. Touching her chin, massaging her neck. I will believe you if you said you want to go chasing her. She’s gorgeous”, said Elder Ma, smirking.
“...”
“I’m joking”, said Elder Ma as he raised his hands when everyone were looking at him.
“...”
“Mr Ma, are you okay with Young Friend’s decision?” Shi Ming asked.
“Yes, somehow, because both his reasons are acceptable. Our relation with Isebial Kingdom is still shaky and him accepting their appointment will stabilize it a little” replied Elder Ma.
Elder Daquan stepped forward and patted Acma’s shoulder.
“If those elves do anything funny, they’re looking for trouble. Brother Pai, don’t worry. Little Acma will be okay no matter what he do. Stop torturing your brows. You will get old faster”, he said.
“I’m already old”, Chief Pai grumbled. He still knitting his brows. Then he looked at Shi Ming. “Mr Shi, since the meeting with the elves have been concluded, I have to return to my people. But, Elder Ma will stay here to discuss our future plan together”
“Thank you very much Mr Pai. I hope we will meet again in the future”, replied Shi Ming.
“Yeah, me too. Kid, let’s go”
After a while.
‘TELEPORT’
Acma, Chief Pai and Elder Daquan arrived in front of Nokium mine.
“Brother Daquan, please gather all the elders and squad leaders. We need to discuss about the treaty with the elves and our next plan”, said Chief Pai.
Elder Daquan nodded lightly before walked away.
“Do you want to join the discussion?” asked Chief Pai.
“No need. I will go with any decisions from the villagers”, replied Acma.
“Okay. So, what are you going to do now?”
“Go back home and sleep”
“Haih, you really are not worry about tomorrow”
“Of course I’m not. There is no use to worry about that. What was destined to happen will happen. So, what is Uncle Pai’s plan for the Orca Village?”
“Personally, I prefer to stay here. It’s much safer and there are an abundance of food and water. But that’s my choice, I’m not sure about everyone’s decision. I will let you know once we get a decision”
“Okay, I’ll go first”
“Sure, take a good rest”
‘TELEPORT’
Acma reappeared in front of the underground vault inside his villa.
“Thank you Alice”
“You’re welcome, Master”
“Did anything happened around the villa? How about those cow head and lizardmen?” Acma asked as he walked into the vault.
As he reached the table at the middle, he lined up all the weapons he previously taken from the vault before setting out to Orca Village. Then he unequipped FREEDOM and put it back to its place.
“There are no movement among the lizardmen but the minatours began to congregate at one of their main camp. Their numbers are about 300”, Alice reported.
“...”
“Deliver a visual report about the minatour to Uncle Pai”
“Yes, Master”
“Please clean all the weapon on the table. Make sure they’re ready for use as soon as possible. Run a thorough examination on FREEDOM too. Give me the report later, I want to take a shower” said Acma. Then he headed toward a bathroom with just his black brief boxer.
“How about the weapons inside your inventory, Master? Some of them need to be sharpened”, Alice asked.
“Eh?” Acma almost stumbled. “You can access my inventory?”
“Yes, I can”
“Why you never told me?”
“Master never asked”
“...”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Can you take out anything from my inventory?” asked Acma from within a shower room.
“No, I can only sort the items inside”
“...”
“Okay then, please categorized everything inside my inventory and separate them into several folders. Also, I want to know what I have inside my inventory”
“Yes, Master”
After the shower, Acma headed toward the medical room which connected to the vault. Having a medical check up right after a prolonged operation with FREEDOM was a standard procedure to detect any anomalies in his body. Acma felt that this medical check up was really important since FREEDOM had evolved after it got the Void’s blessing. He also want to know the effect of levelling up to his body.
Acma stepped into a circle before a transparent glass tube descended. Then several tentacles-like wires latched itself onto several parts of his body. Acma took a deep breath to relax himself. He raised his hand to drag an oxygen mask and wear it on his face. Once he wore the mask, the initial procedure was completed.
Next, a light green liquid began to flooding the tube until Acma’s body was completely submerged. Once the light green liquid filled the tube, slowly, Acma fell unconscious. The liquid acted like an amniotic fluid inside a mother’s womb but with additional function like scanning the body condition and healing the wounds or injuries.
A few hours later.
“Welcome back, Master”
Acma took off his oxygen mask after the light green liquid was drained.
“How long I’ve been unconscious?”
“7 hours 49 minutes and 37 seconds”
A mechanical arm from the ceiling handed him a towel after he walked out the tube circle. He cleaned himself while flexing his body and he felt nothing wrong with his body.
“How’s my body condition?”
A hologram depicting Acma’s body appeared in front of him.
“Master’s body condition is great. There is an increase in muscles and bones density, which let them packing more power and able to handle more pressure. All damages from the previous battles also was healed. But there is something abnormal. Your cells were aging slower but I don’t know the exact reason why it’s happened”
“Which means?”
“Master will live longer, unless there are accidents, caught in diseases or master didn’t observe your food intake”
“...”
“Live longer huh. Although it’s sound unbelievable, but it still a good news. Alice’s accuracy is almost 100%, so it’s definitely real. Is this only happened to me or everyone else also have a similar conditions? Too bad that mother didn’t allow anyone else to enter this room. If not, I’m surely will check the villagers’ body to compare their conditions with mine”, he thought while staring at the hologram.
A long while after, Acma was sitting on a recliner in the living room upstairs. He already changed into a tee shirt and a short, revealing some of his fair skin and toned muscle.
“Is there any news from father or mother?” Acma asked. His hand is holding a piece of pizza. He finally got Alice to bake one after a long series of negotiation.
“No news, Master”
“6 days but no news about them. Although that was normal during the previous world, but the current situation is an emergency. Most likely they can’t contact me. Should I stay here or go out looking for them?” he questioned himself while eating the pizza.
“Where is their last known location?”
“Shanghai”
“Shanghai huh. That’s close to the East China Sea to the east. I guess it’s better to go out looking for them. Even if they suddenly return, Alice will notice me and I can also return here immediately. In the mean time, I can explore this world and increase my strength. Who knows they might need my help in the future ... With my current strength, there is no way to help them”
“Alice, I want to make a journey to the east to look for my parents. It will be a long journey”
“I’ll do my best to help Master on your journey”
“Thank you, Alice”
“You’re welcome, Master”
Acma leaned his back on the recliner.
“Open: Status”
Acma Heart Level 387 Race Human Class Emissary of Void HP 19800/19800 MP 189400/189400 Dark Mana 15700 Strength 1568 Agility 1337 Intelligence 2239 Luck 310 Unallocated point(s) 125 Title Lord of The Heavenly Villa, The Benevolent, The Grand Summoner, The Puppeteer
“Just 387. That idiot’s level is 779. I’m still have a long way to go. If I’m going to fight someone at that level, I can’t rely on Black Hole spell alone. I need the Dimension Splitter too. So I need to go to the Metal Kingdom to find a suitable weapon for me as that man said. But that’s probably not enough too.
...
Dark magic is out of option for now because I don’t have enough dark mana. So, my other option is to gather a lot of strong soul beast like Sawa or stronger. Yup, I need to hunt more named beasts. By doing that, I can upgrade my current soul beasts and getting more skills.
Oh, I haven’t try that, I almost forgot”
Acma quickly stood up.
“Open: Inventory”
Seed Pouch
He opened the pouch and took out a seed which was a seed of Elder Redwood Treeherd.
The notification appeared.
“Not here”
‘TELEPORT’
Acma reappeared 100 metres outside of his villa’s entrance.
“Yes, I want to make a contract”, he said hastily.
A green glowing circle with many complex runic letters appeared underneath Acma’s feet and the light began to envelope the seed in Acma’s hand. The seed then flew away and stopped 10 metres from Acma.
A second later, the light enlarged and shone toward the sky and gradually forming a 10 metres tall humanoid tree.
Elder Redwood Treeherd LVL 328
“Only level 328? It’s about 85% of my level”, said Acma softly.
~Ding
You’ve received a new title: Favoured By Trees
Increase willingness among the trees to be your contractor by 15%
+15 LUCK
~Ding
A Contract panel appeared in Acma’s sight. It have two pages, a front page and a Tree page.
“Tree is written on this page. I wonder if I can make a contract with other type of creatures too, like beast, monster or something else. It would be great if I can”, he thought.
There was a picture of a treeherd on both pages. When Acma focused on the picture, an information about the Elder Redwood Treeherd appeared.
Elder Redwood Treeherd
Mana requirement: 7500
Skill: Redwood Bramble, Redwood Thorn, Redwood Wall, Redwood Knuckle, Redwood Growth Acceleration
“...”
“I never thought that they have skills like this. With skills like this, they could be used as close and middle range attacker while Wall and Growth Acceleration are support skills. This is great”
He was satisfied and this treeherd was a great addition to his strength.
He quickly checked his inventory for more seed pouch. In his memory, he have seven of them. Two from the first battle against the knights where he killed two magicians. Three from the magicians who were guarding the captured residents and the final two were from the killed magicians who were bombarding the temple’s barrier with their treeherd.
“I hope all of them contains the treeherd seed”
Luckily, they did contained the seed and he made a contract with them. Currently he had four Elder Redwood Treeherd and one Elder Pine Treeherd. He failed to make a contract with two of them. He did tried repeating the process, but he still failed.
He sat crossed legs on the ground and emptied the pouches. He put four of the treeherd seeds into one of the pouches and the other two into separated pouch. He planned to give them either to Chief Pai or Shi Ming. Maybe they could find someone to make a contract with these seeds.
“This is a Peach seed, this one is ... hmmm.. Mountain Eater? Awesome. This one is Dragon Vine, to bind things ... Bougainville, Rose, Jasmine ... Salvia? This should be a hallucinogenic plant”, Acma murmured while sorting out the pouches’ content.
In the end, he made a contract with all the seed and having a success with most of them. He divided the seeds into several categories like attacking plants, support plants and miscellaneous plants.
“Unsummon: Elder Redwood Treeherd”
He also unsummoned the other trees and they return to their previous form, a seed. Acma put the seeds into the seed pouch.
Acma looked up to the sky and scanned the horizons. The night already began to descend. It was the sixth day, so the night is much longer than the day.
“I should train with the trees and incorporate them with my summons and guardians. Alice, lets go to the Void Realm”
“Yes, Master”
‘TELEPORT’